MacBook Air mid 2011 Geekbench results too low

Question: My MacBook Air from mid 2011 recently only scores about ~1800 on geekbench vs 5300+ that it was before.  I'm starting the benchmarking right after reboot, and the CPU seems initially calm. Any points?
Comment: What version of OS X are you running?
Comment: If you dig into geek bench a bit, you should be able to figure what part of the test is lagging and make guessing the cause a bit easier. Also, do see about checking the temperature of the internals using hardware monitor software since the system will slow the CPU when it's sensing temperatures towards the higher limits for each model to avoid damaging the hardware.
Comment: I'm on 10.7.2. The first thing I checked out this morning was running geekbench while the computer was still cool after sleeping - same result: 1867 points. Also, I found a reference to a command that supposedly gives the *actual* CPU speed: sysctl hw.cpufrequency, and it showed hw.cpufrequency: 1800000000.
Comment: bmike, the exact slow tests are Integer and Floating Point operations.
Answer: I went to the Apple Service, where the guy has booted from an external hard drive and run the Repair Disk Permissions task from Disk Utility. That solved the issue!
Note: I did run Repair Disk Permissions before while trying to solve this problem, but it apparently couldn't fix some of the files due to that the disk was mounted. So, booting from an external disk is crucial here.
Comment: UPDATE: Having the same symptoms again (I suspect it was caused by my accu running empty while the laptop was doing something), this time this recipe doesn't work: the permissions just stay not repaired - that is, running Disk Utility reports the same errors over again. This time found no better way than reinstalling Lion.
Answer: Alright, another solution that worked for me. Got the same symptoms, but nothing helped this time, including my own original recipe (the one marked as the accepted answer).
Long story short: resetting SMC did the trick - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Just FYI, this time I tried the following before coming across the SMC reset trick:

Fixing all permission problems, including manual removing ACL on some system files.
Restoring from TimeMachine.
Clean reinstall of Lion.
Answer: Perhaps there is a background process that is taking away some of the processor's powers. Did you check in Activity Monitor if there was a process that took more than say 10 or 15% for no reason? Make sure the "Show All Processes" is selected.
And perhaps a bit of maintenance with apps like Onyx, CleanMyMac or Cocktail is in order. Never a bad thing to do...
Comment: Yes, I carefully checked to made sure the processor was close to idle. I tend to agree with bmike that something unnecessarily slows it down.


Is this thing bid'ah or is it perfectly normal and good?

Question: If you make it a habit that after every salat you repeat for 4 minutes estagfirullah after fajr; 4 minutes la ilahe ilallah after zuhr; 4 minutes el hamdulilah after asr; 4 minutes ja mukal-libel-kulubi.... after magrib; 4 minutes subhanallah after Isha.You have absolutely no intention of competing the sunnah. Would that be considered a bid'ah that competes with the sunnah and thus impermissible and sinful???
Comment: why using three similar tags while you didn't use the essential tag [tag:bidah] at all.
Answer: Simply speaking bid'ah is an innovation in the religion.
 This means an act of worship which have not been known or practiced by Muslims at the time of the Prophet.
What you describe is a certain dhikr or as sufi's (and maybe others) may say it is a kind of wadifa. Which is a set of dhikrs one intents to say continuously at certain times.
The dhikrs you mentioned by themselves are certainly not bid'ah, but known from the sunnah the practice of the prophet himself.
And as long as you don't think what you've done is a good worship which you invented and which should be performed by others (in the same way) it still isn't bida'h. You should do it for yourself and don't invite others to do it similarly to avoid making it a "sunnah". As early scholars used to say: "A person who think that he introduced a worship or good deed that was not done by the earliest generations of Muslims, such a person is equal to one who said Muhammad didn't reveal the complete religion".
Finally have in mind that performing the dhikrs which the prophet recommended after the prayers is still the best thing to do.


Accidentally transferred Bitcoin to Bittrex Bitcoin Cash account

Question: I accidentally transferred the money from coinbase BTC account To Bittrex BCH account.  It has yet to show up in either accounts.  Can someone help?
Answer: I realise the question is a few months old, and no response from OP, so maybe resolved.
But to answer the question for anyone stumbling across this in future, there's a good chance the coins can be recovered for now, but it depends on the address used.  If it's a "1" address, then the private key can be used by both bitcoin cash and bitcoin.  It's likely a manual task for the support team though, so unlikely they will be too happy about this!
Sending to a "3" address may be different, if it's a plain old multisig it could be recovered (I believe, as that's not been tampered with), but if it's a SegWit address, it may be recoverable - for anyone!  Bitcoin cash has no concept of SegWit, so the coins really are "anyone can spend", and in fact someone did claim them all at one point (not sure on the ethics/legality of that one, but that's another topic).
Immediately after the release of the bitcoin cash fork, all bitcoin addresses were valid on the new chain.  The good news is bitcoin cash is switching to a new address type see this question, so should cut down on the amount of issues this will cause in future.
Answer: If you have sent BTC to a BCH address your coins are lost.
BCH is not bitcoin it is an altcoin with it's own blockchain, it has been deliberately created by its creators to deceive people into thinking it is bitcoin.
Comment: The coins must be somewhere? They can't just be in a dead state / lost? Should there not be an alert on the exchange if someone were to move BTC to BCH?
Comment: The answer is incorrect, the coins are recoverable so as long as the service is happy to assist with the recovery. You will need to contact Bittrex for help.
Comment: You're wrong. The same private key can be used in both chains for that address.


Using a microphone through a guitar amplifier

Question: I'm going to buy a Shure microphone SM58 type but I only have an old Peavey amplifier. The plugs are different. How should I do then to use my microphones, do I need a converter or to buy a new amplifier?
Comment: This can't be answered without knowing WHAT Peavey amp.   They made PA amps, guitar amps, keyboard amps...
Beware of an SM58 being sold much under the usual price.  It's probably a fake, and WON'T sound as good or be as resistent to feedback.
Comment: @LaurencePayne - I use a knock-off SM58 - without even the transformer, ( haven't had time to replace yet)  and it does sound as good. I have several proper ones, and the betas *are* better - and dearer. More handling noise and probably wouldn't survive a drop, but for <£3 for a capsule, it's o.k. for me. Don't agree with the principle of buying Chinese copies, but it's too late now!
Answer: The Canon or XLR plug that's probably on the Shure mic tells it's a low impedance mic. If it has a jack plug, it'll be high impedance, and will work better with your guitar amp. You can buy adaptors which plug between mic lead and guitar amp that will match up the differing impedances, matching mic and amp. So, you need a matching impedance adaptor, female XLR to male jack.
Answer: If you want to connect a Shure dynamic mic (does not need phantom power) such as an SM58, SM57, Beta 58, PG58 etc.  All you really need to make it work is the correct cable to plug into your 1/4 inch jack and mic.  The cable you need has an XLR female plug on one end and a 1/4 inch TS plug on the other end.  See picture below.  Comes in various lengths.

Since your guitar amp is set up more for a high impedance signal and the SM-58 is a low impedance mic, you will probably get better results with a cable with a built in transformer to boost the signal.  You can find an example here:XLR to 1/4 inch with Transformer
One other option is to use an adaptor which will convert the male end of a standard XLR mic cable to a 1/4 inch plug.

Or even better one like this with a built in Impedance Transformer.

Finally - the Shure PG-58 is offered with a choice of XLR to XLR cable or with the XLR to quarter inch cable.  It's a lower quality higher impedance alternative to the legendary SM-58.
Any of these options will work okay as long as you keep your cable length less than 10 -15 feet.  For long cable runs you may get some interference in your line without a balanced cable (like an XLR to XLR).
Have fun.
Comment: Your top pic. shows a *male* XLR...
Comment: @Tim Good catch Tim.  Fixed.  Thanks for pointing out my error.  Obviously selected the wrong pic before.  Nobody else caught that in over a year.  Good job!
Comment: Wouldn't want to be singing using a lead *that* short !
Comment: @Tim  LOL!!!   I wanted you to see the entire cord and pictures of the appropriate length cords only showed the terminal ends and it was not so clear that they were on opposite ends of the same cord.  I do have "comes in various lengths" as part of description of cord.  Obviously a singer would want one of the  longer various lengths.
Answer: A vocal microphone is actually 2 parts:

microphone
preamp

You can think of the preamp like a 1-channel mixer.
So if you are buying a brand new SM58 ($99) then also buy a small microphone preamp ($40) for it, like this one:
ART Tube Mic Pre
If that blows your budget, buy the mic preamp and then buy a $59 microphone instead of the SM58. That will give you better results for your $99 than an SM58 plugged directly into a guitar amp.
The mic preamp has a 1/4-inch output like a guitar, so that you can plug it into the guitar amp like you would a guitar, and the mic pre has an output gain knob that will enable you to feed a guitar-level signal into the amp, which is going to be just a little bit of gain, not the full line-level that the mic pre can give out. That will give you the best sound out of the amp as well as protecting the amp and microphone from accidental damage.
The mic pre will also enable you to plug your microphone into just about anything.
If you happen to also need a small mixer, you can get one of those instead of the mic pre and use the mic pres in the mixer.
Comment: How could the mic. become 'accidentally damaged'?
Answer: I once did that in a rehearsal session with a band I applied for. It was even an old bass amp. It did work and didn't seem to damage the amp, but don't expect anything that's close to a good sound. Speakers of Guitar or Bass amps are not build for such sounds, so it propably will be dull and bassy. Such an adapter for the cable you can get everywhere.
My tip, just get an old, used PA box, maybe active, full range, they shouldn't be that expensive. I also recommend a pre-amp, so you can adjust the signal and maybe even monitor youryself.
Comment: Did you mean PA box, or DI box?
Comment: PA box, like it's written. Maybe I am using the wrong term, I mean a box that is suitable for singing... so, basically everything that's not a guitar amp box =)
Comment: Just a P.A. then - an amp and speakers. A D.I box probably actually would do for the OP, although it's more used to convert high impedance into low.
Comment: Which doesn't solve the problem of the box not being suited for singing
Comment: I thought the question was how to plug the mic into the guitar amp., which doesn't address the fact that it may not sound too good. It won't sound as good as a proper P.A., but that's not the issue - yet.
Comment: Yes, you are right, and that question was answered multiple times now. Just giving additional tips.
Answer: "Shure" alone does not tell a lot.  If it needs phantom power (like condenser mics do), it won't work on your amp.
Also you have to realize that a guitar amp is not general-purpose but intended to make a guitar sound good.  In the line of instrument amps, keyboard amps are likely the best candidates for misappropriation by singers as they are more catered to reproduce the given sound rather than produce it.
Comment: good hint with the phantom power, didn't though of that, I automatically assumed it would be a SM58 =)
Answer: Nice to suggest these adapters but unfortunately the sound you'll get out of a guitar or bass amp is terrible due due to its roll off and different frequency range.  One needs full range speakers preferably, also.


counting numbers in a text file

Question: I happened to modify the source code as seen in the topic,"Reading a text file then performing a character count and printing the relative frequency of each one".
   I changed it in such a way that the non-alphabetic characters would also be counted (see the source code below)...
import java.io.*;

public class letterfrequency {
    public static void main (String [] args) throws IOException {
        File file1 = new File ("letternumberfrequency.txt");
        BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader (new FileReader (file1));

        int nextChar;
        int other = 0;
        char ch;

        int [] count = new int [26];

        while ((nextChar = in.read())!= -1) {
            ch = ((char)nextChar);
            ch = Character.toLowerCase (ch);
            if (ch >= 'a' && ch <= 'z')
              count [ch- 'a']++;
            else
              other ++;
        }

        for (int i=0; i<26; i++){
            System.out.printf ("%c = %d \n", i+ 'A', count [i]);
        }

        System.out.println ("Non-alphabetic characters: " + other);
        in.close ();
    }
}

But, let's just say that now I have the following characters in the text file, "letternumberfrequency.txt":
71 geese - 83 cars - 58 cows- 64 mooses- 100 ants- 69 bangles- 90 molehills - 87 noses
The numbers inside that text file would be considered as strings, am I right?
But I want to extract the numbers so that I can also be able to count their frequency - not as individual digits but as whole numbers (that is how many "71", "83", "58", "64", etc. are there...).
Would using "Double.parseDouble ()" help?
Answer:
Would using "Double.parseDouble ()" help?

No, it would not.
You would first split the file on the "-" String, then split the found tokens again on the " " String, trim the result and use Integer.parseInt(...) because the number Strings surely represent ints, not doubles.

counting numbers in a text file


HFS+ case-sensitive or case-insensitive -- which type to use for the primary drive partition?

Question: What reasons are there for choosing the case-insensitive version of HFS+ when formatting the primary drive partition? Would case-sensitive not always be the best choice?
Comment: See http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/46322/what-programs-have-trouble-with-case-sensitive-hfsx-filesystems-and-how-to-fi for a list of programs with HSFX issues and (possible) fixes.
Answer: Use the default (case-insensitive) unless you both a) know what you're doing and b) you absolutely have to. There are several programs (Norton Antivirus comes to mind) that won't work properly on a case-sensitive file system.
HFS is, by default, case-insensitive but case-preserving (i.e. it doesn't care what you type for comparison purposes, but it will remember what you type).
Answer: One or other can break applications, case-insensitive is the default however.  If you've been using case-insensitive without issues then there are no guarantees that a transition to case-sensitive will go well.  Here's one example from the apple support pages:

...don't assume your
  third-party software solutions work
  correctly with case sensitivity.
  Important:  Case-sensitive names do
  not ignore Unicode ignorable
  characters. This means that a single
  directory can have several names that
  are considered equivalent using
  Unicode comparison rules, but they are
  considered distinct on a
  case-sensitive HFSX volume.
Comment: Case-insensitive is standard, and is almost always the better option.
Comment: So what's the standard then? Case-insensitive?
Answer: There is a good reason to choose a case sensitive file system.
If you are concerned by the quality and the security of the applications you run you might be interested by any early mechanism which may discriminate badly programmed applications.
An application which at one time create a file named conf and later
try to open the same file with the name CONF is at
least poorly written. This is just plain bad programming practice.
This kind of application is filled with vulnerabilities with the same
average probability all over its code length. This is a dangerous application.
This dangerous application will most probably crash on a case sensitive file system.
This dangerous application will not crash on a case insensitive file system.
(Some applications will crash on both,
but we are not highly motivated to sort out these ones.)
Hence a case sensitive file system may be considered as a good tool to early detect and block poorly programmed applications.
On the other hand, this level of programming quality control is far from sufficient to ensure that you don't have any other vulnerability.
Comment: It doesn't help the user if he needs to use an application which expects filesystems to be case insensitive (Adobe still has issues there for instance).
Comment: So basically you are saying that as a developer/tester one should use a case sensitive filesystem, and as a mere user a case insensitive one?
Comment: → Patrix: how right you are "Adobe still has **issues** there". Meanwhile, Adobe is sometimes able to make applications which are cleanly programmed and which run without a glitch on nearly every OS on the marketplace (Adobe reader).
Comment: → Patrix: I would advise every user to use **case sensitive** filesystem. No need to discriminate users. Better fight poorly written applications which are the roots of all security vulnerabilities.
Answer: There are some significant applications that will not work correctly with case sensitive. And there's really no reason to do it. I'm assuming since you're asking that you really don't have a reason to do it. You're definitely better off not doing it unless you have a specific reason, and don't care that many applications don't work right with it.
Answer: One good reason to use case sensitive file system is using git repositories. Syncing them to the repo causes problems again and again, if not using case.
But I suggest adding another partition using HFS+ formatted case sensitive for such an application and link the directories you need to that partition. My system partition is still case insensitive not because I kwow why but just because I'm afraid.
Comment: Apparently there's nothing to fear. OS X will run fine on case-sensitive HFS+. Though some applications may not. And I agree: git is a very good reason to do this.
Comment: This answer isn't very helpful, because it is too vague. It would be improved if you gave a concrete example of what can go wrong. I have never encountered any git issues on macOS.
Comment: @ChrisPage one example that comes to mind: when I clone the linux source on Mac case-insensitive APFS, I immediately see changed files where "what changed" is the file naming (uppercase to lowercase.)  Git on mac can't seem to reconcile this - `git reset --hard` or `git checkout [file]` can't seem to make the working tree clean.
Answer: Adobe Creative Cloud apps will not run on a case sensitive system, and can be a major problem
Comment: Just try to install on a case sensitive filesystem, and you will see that the installer don't work. If you want "more" : https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/error-case-sensitive-drives-supported.html
Comment: Any verification?
Answer: Adobe programs are infamous for not working on case-sensitive filesystems. Adobe says:

You cannot install Adobe products on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system, such as HSFX (HFS+) or UFS. This limitation applies to both the startup drive as well as the drive onto which the software is installed.

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/error-case-sensitive-drives-supported.html
Steam cannot be installed on case-sensitive filesystems either.

Steam does not currently support case sensitive filesystems or partitions.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8601-RYPX-5789


Removing buttons from the html editor

Question: I've been searching the codex, and I'm probably overlooking something somewhere, but could someone tell if it would be possible to remove a button/quicktag from the WordPress html editor?
Answer: With the quicktag_settings filter:
function wpa_47010( $qtInit ) {
    $qtInit['buttons'] = 'strong,em,link,block,del,img,ul,ol,li,code,more,spell,close,fullscreen';
    return $qtInit;
}
add_filter('quicktags_settings', 'wpa_47010');

The default is:
$qtInit['buttons'] = 'strong,em,link,block,del,ins,img,ul,ol,li,code,more,spell,close';

Though 'fullscreen' usually gets added too at the end. So I just deleted the 'ins' button.
Edit to add:
If you wish to create a custom button the following tutorial might help.
Comment: `fullscreen` is now called `dfw` (for *distraction-free writing*.)
Comment: Thanks @helgatheviking! I'm sure I've read that article. Don't know how I might have misinterpret that one though.
Comment: welcome! i think in the article they advocate disabling buttons via filtering  $qtInit['disable_buttons'].  but i didn't see that in the source code anywhere.  http://adambrown.info/p/wp_hooks/hook/quicktags_settings?version=3.3&file=wp-includes/class-wp-editor.php
Answer: I'm late to this party I know, but might I add that it's better to be agnostic about the default buttons provided by Wordpress. So instead of typing the buttons you want, I choose to remove the buttons I don't want:
function nmt_quicktags_buttons( $qt_init) {
    $del_buttons = array('del','ins','img','code');
    $qt_init['buttons'] = implode(',', array_diff(explode(',',$qt_init['buttons']), $del_buttons));
    return $qt_init;
}

Now if anyone at Wordpress decides the quicktags-toolbar gets a new button, it will show up in your editor without a code change of your plugin/function.

Removing buttons from the html editor


What is the use of patenting?

Question: If I patented some invention, then who will use it? How are they going to know about this invention. Will the users of this invention pay?
Answer: If you apply for a patent on an invention, the documentation for that invention will normally be made publicly available as a US PreGrant Publication. If the invention meets the statutory requirements to be patented (and the appropriate forms are completed and fees are paid), a patent will be granted (and published as a granted US Patent).
Once the patent has been granted on your invention, you will have a limited monopoly on the manufacture, sale, and use of your invention. You can enforce your patent rights (via the civil court system) on infringers and demand compensation and/or cessation of infringing activity.
Answer: To your last question: you are not guaranteed a payment from user.
The problem is that enforcing a patent right in the court of law take a lot of time and money, something individual inventors usually don't have. Manufacturers know about this, and some may just take advantage of using your patent without paying.
If you want to monetize on your invention, you may want to first make a prototype, then approach a perspective manufacturer and discuss SELLING your invention without disclosing details of your invention. If someone is willing to buy your invention, you are relieved of subsequent legal burden.
But before that, you may want to consider the following:

Can the manufacturer easily reverse-engineer your invention through mere look and general discussion?
Can the manufacturer easily achieve the same result using alternate methods (how crowded is the field, and can you get a very broad patent claim granted that encompasses all alternatives that you can imagine?)

What is the use of patenting?


The name or chemical compound responsible for a specific quality of some spices (numbness)

Question: I'm putting together the results of a kitchen experiment and I'd like to be able to identify a phenomenon that I've noticed when using certain spices. I've felt it in some of what are often called "warm" spices, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg come to mind, but that's by no means a complete list. For lack of a better way to describe it, it's a subtle numbness. I feel it primarily on the hard palate, and the sensation (or lack thereof) lasts perhaps twice as long as the perception of the actual flavor of the spice. It's so subtle that it won't surprise me if nobody knows what I'm talking about, but I'm hopeful.
Comment: The answer to *this* question is eugenol, because it's in the spices you've named, but it's not the only compound that can cause numbness. For example, sichuan pepper has hydroxy-alpha sanshool.
Answer: It could be eugenol that causes the numbing sensation you experience. Eugenol is common to cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, basil and bay leaf and is used in anesthetics & analgesics, among other things.
Comment: I think you're dead on! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenol It's funny that the first 3 sources of eugenol listed in the wiki are clove, nutmeg and cinnamon! I *knew* I wasn't nuts!


Other ways to say 'I plead insanity'

Question: I am writing a one act play about a trial. The evidence is piled against the defendant, and he wants to plead insanity. What are other ways of stating that? What are other ways to refer to that plea? I do not want to be overly repetitive by using only one phrase.
Comment: "Pleading insanity" is a legal concept. If the character tries to clothe it in different words, it might well *not* fit the criteria of the court, and therefore not be an actual insanity plea with all the legal consequences it should have.
Comment: "I plead wibble-wubble-pipetty-poo. π is exactly 3! The little mouse that lives in my beard likes you. Michael Bay films are worth the cost of a cinema ticket. I need my aluminium hat to keep the government satellites from spying on my thoughts".
Comment: I think _mental defect_ may be the actual legal term for _insanity_ these days.
Comment: You could always have him use assorted different synonyms for "plead" and "insanity".  Or you might be able to play games with the "M'Naghten Rule" or some other bit of precedent.
Answer: I was a prosecutor in the US, which does not mean I am right, but it might affect how you interpret my opinion.
First, "plea of insanity" is imprecise. In all US jurisdictions, when the defendant is required to enter a plea, the defendant may plead guilty or not guilty. Some jurisdictions allow a plea of no contest.
Insanity is an appendage to the above pleas. Most jurisdictions allow a defendant to enter a plea worded something like "not guilty by reason of insanity." A few jurisdictions allow a plea similar to "guilty but insane." The root issue of insanity in a criminal charge is the culpability of the defendant. If you believe it is necessary to not be "overly repetitive", then if you study the legal theories of culpability, then you will find much inspiration.
Nevertheless, legal terms such as "not guilty" and "insanity" are extremely precise, and when writing and speaking about law using synonyms for legal terms-of-art is highly problematic. I realize you are writing a play and not a legal memo, but consistently using terms of art will reduce ambiguity and confusion, so you may want to consider not using a synonym except when the speaker does not have legal training.
Off the top of my head, the only substitution that criminal lawyers might make is to say, "The defendant is claiming insanity." In that sentence, "claim" is a term-of-art that is an acceptable synonym for plea.
Good luck with your play. As a former trial lawyer, I don't envy your challenge of making a trial interesting to spectators!
Comment: It always seems astonishing to me that we still rely on rules handed down from a case in 1843 to determine something such as 'insanity'. I suppose that although the technical workings of the brain are so much better understood nowadays, the understanding of the nature of a person's 'mind' and 'intent' has moved on little over the last two centuries.
Comment: Just as a matter of interest are you familiar in the USA with the M'Naghton Rules? This Wiki entry may be of interest.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M'Naghten_rules#Presumption_of_sanity_and_burden_of_proof
Comment: Any competent US criminal lawyer will know all of the concepts described by those rules, but it is exceptionally rare that we call them "the M'Naghton Rules". I have a vague recollection of reading in law school a House of Lords case that tangentially mentioned the term. I don't know of any reason why we don't use the name because we do use other terms of British origin, such as Statute of Frauds.
Comment: @WS2 there's been a lot of change since in how understanding of the workings of the brain has changed "insanity"; those studying the workings of the brain have abandoned it as useful to them, leaving it only for courts and lawyers.
Comment: If there is a God, then may she have mercy on us all if anything is ever abandoned to only the lawyers to explore.
Answer: how about

"use the insanity defense"
"plead guilty due to reasons of insanity"

If you want to be even more roundabout

The defendant's state of mind was central to his defense
Answer: In the UK all this is largely governed by The Criminal Procedures (Insanity) Act 1964 which replaced the Trial of Lunatics Act, 1883.
A number of possibilities are open. A person can be found to be unfit (by virtue of insanity) to plead. If such a condition is accepted by a judge, the trial simply does not take place. one key question can be as to whether the defendant possessed mens rea (an intending mind) at the time of the alleged crime.
They can also be found not guilty by virtue of insanity, or guilty but insane.
There are other possibilities. It is a complex area of the law.
There is a set of rules known as the M'Naghton Rules which were those applied in the celebrated case where Daniel M'Naghton was acquitted in 1843 of murdering Edward Drummond (whom he mistook for the Prime Minister, Robert Peel). In Britain and other Common Law jurisdictions the M'Naghton Rules still provide guidance to judges in determining fitness to plead, or insanity.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M'Naghten_rules#Presumption_of_sanity_and_burden_of_proof
Answer: "[on the grounds of] diminished responsibility."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminished_responsibility

Other ways to say 'I plead insanity'


Was the Holocaust legal?

Question: In the below image, which has been circulating on social media, it is implied that the Holocaust was legal in the same way that slavery and segregation were legal.  Is this true?  Was the Holocaust legal?
Comment: Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/103688/discussion-on-question-by-inappropriatecode-was-the-holocaust-legal).
Answer: According to the Nazis' definition of "legal", it was.
According to the Führerprinzip in Nazi Germany, Hitler was above the law by definition. His directives were statutory orders, i.e. law -- even if...

Many of them are direct evidence of the commission of war crimes such as the notorious Commando Order.

Known directives included Aktion T4 (euthanasia), Nacht und Nebel (condemning political activists and resistance helpers), directive 46 (condemning partisans), and the Severity Order (considering all Jews to be partisans).
There is no historic proof that Hitler directly ordered the mass extermination of Jews in writing, but then, he didn't have to. Whatever the Nazi state did was by definition "legal".
Because, also according to this principle, lower echelons of the Nazi leadership had complete responsibility over their areas, and answered only to their superiors. Law in Nazi Germany was already wildly antisemitic (e.g. robbing Jews was "legal", and Jews were forced by law to hand over any jewelry of value), and henchmen had wide leeway to "interpret the wishes of the Führer" (which could be verbal, or just inferred) even further. The Volksgerichtshof for example certainly did not follow, and did not have to follow, any kind of due process.
The Wannsee Conference, for example, was a meeting of "second-level functionaries" only, but the verdict was clear:

Under proper guidance, in the course of the final solution the Jews are to be allocated for appropriate labor in the East. Able-bodied Jews, separated according to sex, will be taken in large work columns to these areas for work on roads, in the course of which action doubtless a large portion will be eliminated by natural causes. The possible final remnant will, since it will undoubtedly consist of the most resistant portion, have to be treated accordingly, because it is the product of natural selection and would, if released, act as the seed of a new Jewish revival.

The question of legality is a tricky one, as can be seen by the discussions of the legality of the Nuremberg trials (can a court penalize people for something that wasn't illegal in their jurisdiction at the time?) or Befehlsnotstand (can a court penalize people for doing something when refusal to do so would put them in serious harm's way themselves?).
But, as the poster / picture / meme quite correctly states, "Legality[1] isn't a guide to morality". And Germany had seen fit (if regrettably late) to prosecute and penalize those who participated in the Holocaust willingly, or at least without putting up much in the way of resistance. Because the laws of Nazi Germany in this regard, and the Holocaust in particular, were so obviously insane and inhuman that the "legality" of the time ceased to be a guide, or even  an excuse.
This -- that justice has to trump law when the law is evidently and unbearably unjust -- was formulated in 1946 as the Radbruch formula.
Comment: @colmde: I don't see how I could have made it more clear. There was no judiciary in power that *could* have decleared *anything* the Nazi regime did as "illegal". With the Enabling act 1933 and invoking [Article 48](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_48_(Weimar_Constitution)) of the Weimar constitution in 1934, the Weimar constitution was dead, and Hitler ruled by decree. With the Nuremberg laws, Jews were no longer citizens, but merely "subjects". You might not be allowed "by law" to shoot a Jew on the street (?), but there was *nothing* to keep them from rounding them up for deportation.
Comment: "might not be" -> "might not have been". I hope that one was obvious, but felt uncomfortable letting it stand like that. ;-)
Comment: Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/103608/discussion-on-answer-by-devsolar-was-the-holocaust-legal).
Comment: Commenters: Take it to chat.
Comment: Presumably, murder was still a crime even under the Nazis and that was written in the law books somewhere. But was there some kind of wording or exception that would allow for the killings of the holocaust? e.g. Was it ever possible that a fully law-abiding judge or court could convict someone for their part in carrying out the killings (even if the conviction would later be overridden by the Nazis "because we said so")?
Answer: Starting in 1942 Hitler could personally dismiss any civilian judge. Also starting that year the Jewish prisoners became the responsibility of the SS (by an order of Thierack, the newly appointed Reich Minister of Justice.) [source: Law and the Holocaust,
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]
So the only system in which the execution/extermination of Jews could have been legally challenged [thereafter] was the SS, which had its own parallel justice system.
There was actually an SS jurist (Georg Konrad Morgen) who went against the trend so to speak; after the war he claimed that his investigations of various SS camp officers (during the war) were aimed at stopping the killings. The facts however are that he did not manage to prosecute anyone (during the war) for killing Jews, but for other reasons, e.g. misappropriating Jewish gold, which was supposed to go to a state fund. Morgen also tried to prosecute some camp commanders for killings (that he thought hadn't been ordered), but this didn't go very far.

Obergruppenfuehrer Müller was surprised to hear about the illegal executions
  in the concentration camps, namely about the acts committed in the concentration
  camps against the law and he was also surprised at the large extent of crime, but he
  was not at all surprised that there was an extermination of the Jews, that there were
  [sic] inhuman treatment which had been ordered, and, he said to me, ironically, "Why
  don't you arrest me."
[...]
I petitioned the SS Court at Berlin to carry out the investigations into Eichmann on
  the basis of my leads. The SS Court in Berlin thereupon submitted to the chief of the
  Reich Security Main Office, SS Obergruppenführer Kaltenbrunner, in his capacity as
  highest judge, a warrant to arrest Eichmann.
Dr. Bachmann reported to me that this submission resulted in dramatic scenes.
Kaltenbrunner immediately called in Müller, and now the judge was told that an
  arrest was in no event to be considered, for Eichmann was carrying out a special
  secret task of utmost importance entrusted to him by the Führer.

As Eichman recalled the same incident, the charges involved a missing pouch of diamonds (presumably from a Jewish source) but he also says that he ultimately received a public apology:

I heard that Judge Baumann had made an
  application for my arrest to my judicial superior, Kaltenbrunner, and had been turned
  down there [...] and
  therefore I asked for this Judge Baumann or Baumgarten to apologize to me in the
  presence of the members of my Section. And the man came and apologized to me for
  the treatment I had received.

And even Morgen would not challenge the legal status of any order of Hitler...

In Morgen's opinion, the fact that the "euthanasia" order was secret,
  known at the time only to two or three people, does not undermine its status
  as law, despite the traditional conception of law as necessarily public.
  He says that Hitler's powers as supreme lawgiver included not only the
  power to dictate laws but also the power to set the criteria of legal validity,
  hence to cancel the requirement of publicity.

And regarding the killing of Jews more specifically, Morgen knew that some of the orders came at least from Himmler, which was enough for Morgen to judge them as legal, as he related a conversation with Globocnik:

He laid out the story of his life and told me, among other things, what he had accomplished for the Reichsführer [Himmler] with Aktion Reinhard. [...] And from that I saw that because these killings had been ordered, the thing was legal in the sense of National Socialist law, and so as for doing anything directly against this sector, my hands were tied.

Quotes from Konrad Morgen: The Conscience of a Nazi Judge by H. Pauer-Studer and J. Velleman.
So as you can see, the higher-ups in the SS were aware of the orders to kill Jews and considered them legal. And by the arrangements of the German justice system then, they were also the sole German authority on the legality of the matter at the time...
Of course from the perspective of international law the Holocaust was later deemed highly illegal, more precisely a crime against humanity in the Nuremberg Charter.
Comment: For completeness' sake, the legality of the Nuremberg trials themselves was [put to the question](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_trials#Criticism)... (I don't question their *morality* for one second.)
Answer: Its complicated.
As other answers have said, in Nazi Germany the Nazi party was the recognised government, and hence made the laws and administered them. The Holocaust was carried out under these laws, so from the practical point of view of someone in Germany or German-occupied countries at the time the Holocaust was legal.
The concept of Crimes Against Humanity had originated during WW1 with the Armenian Genocide, so the idea that genocide was an illegal act under international law was already around. However set against this was the legal principle dating back to (roughly) the Peace of Westphalia that individual states could govern themselves as they saw fit. It was only with the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials that the concept was extended (somewhat post-hoc) to make it unambiguously clear that crimes against humanity were crimes regardless of national law.
Comment: @Jontia Yes (regardless of whether your question was or wasn't rhetorical). And/but the term 'Genocide 'was coined specifically to describe the Armenian massacres - but this was done in the late 1930s. The events were very well known internationally at the time.
Comment: @RussellMcMahon While the term "genocide" may have been coined in the 1930s the concept of "crime against humanity" was used to describe the Armenian massacre in 1915, including the idea that the responsible individuals would be held personally responsible (according to the Wikipedia article I linked).
Comment: I was not questioning the points you made. The massacre was raised in the English and US 'parliaments' at the time. I noted that the term Genocide was coined to describe the Armenian catastrophe because some claim that the term is inappropriate to use in that context. |Interest only: The days that we in New Zealand celebrate as "Anzac Day" - 'our day of remembrance of those who fought and died far away that others may live', happens to coincide with the date that the 200 Armenian intellectuals were rounded up (and all subsequently hung).
Answer: That depends on how you define "legal", and the conclusion that "legality isn't a guide to morality" is potentially misleading.
If "legal" means "allowed by the letter of the law", and you assume that German laws were legitimately applicable in the conquered territories, then yes - after the Enabling Act of 1933 gave the government the ability to pass laws that overrode even the constitution, Hitler's directives were effectively laws, and a formal distinction between laws and mere orders was increasingly not made as the war progressed.
However, you can also define "legal" to encompass the broader principles of rule of law - that laws apply to everyone equally, that they protect everyone equally, and especially act as a constraint on government powers (which implies a separation of powers). Then, the Holocaust, the directives that "legalized" it and the Enabling Act that made this possible are all very flagrant violations of these principles. As are the other examples mentioned (slavery, segregation).
Therefore, I believe that the principle of rule of law and also a body of laws following that principle are in fact one guide to morality - not the only one you should pay attention to, but by itself useful and valid because it's going to be a whole lot more comprehensive and detailed than the Golden Rule it's ultimately based on.
Comment: This is missing the point entirely. You are assuming that there is some higher "law" (separation of powers? uniform treatment) which somehow governs other laws, but you don't say where that law comes from. If you think it's a "higher power" law, not actually written down, then that becomes "morality" not "legality". And a key point of "rule of law" is that the written law decides what is legal.
Comment: Can you cite reliable sources which support your claim that an act is "legal" even if it violates a law, if that law does not "apply to everyone equally, protect everyone equally, and act as a constraint on government powers"?
Comment: "you can also define 'legal' to encompass the broader principles of rule of law". If you're not making that claim, then that's a vague and misleading statement which you should reword.
Comment: Please cite a reference that shows that German laws were based on the Golden Rule.
Comment: If the last paragraph isn't claiming laws arw ultimately based on the Golden Rule, it should be rewritten to be clearer.
Comment: @Oddthinking: read again: my point is that they were *not*.
Comment: @Sneftel: can you please point out where I am making that claim?
Comment: "As are the other examples mentioned (slavery, segregation)." I'm not sure I understand the argument you are making about slavery here.  Unequal treatment was explicitly written into the US constitution.  Are you suggesting that Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the constitution was inherently null and void?

Was the Holocaust legal?


How to report bugs?

Question: How to report probable bugs or quirks to WRI? What is the standard way to do it? Is there a known list of bugs maintained by WRI? Can we track the status of bugs anywhere?
Answer: Bugs should not be reported here on this site.  If you know that it is a bug, don't post here, contact WRI about it instead (firstname.lastname@example.com).
Questions about how to work around bugs are welcome though.
(I added this information in the bugs wiki a while ago.)

Note: Please don't use the bugs tag for new questions.  The idea is that this will be added to questions when the problem is confirmed to be a bug (based on e.g. community consensus).  This tag can be useful for many reasons (being aware of problems and knowing how to work around them---I found myself searching MathGroup for some old bug several times to make sure my code won't be affected by it), but we'd like to avoid new users reporting bugs here or adding this tag to problems they think are bugs but really stem from misunderstandings.
Comment: Personally I always link to Mma.SE when reporting a bug to Wolfram Technical Support because that provides a broader description of the issue with experiences in multiple platforms and very likely a distillation of the conditions that triggers the problem.
Comment: I like [your idea](http://mathematica.stackexchange.com/q/3568) of a [tag:bug-confirmed] tag, because it clearly announces that [tag:bug] isn't just an omnibus complaint tag.  However, creating a [tag:bug-report] tag--which you also suggest--seems contrary to the advice in your note here.  If you want to be perfectly clear about usage, how about creating a [tag:bug-workaround] tag?
Comment: This policy seems inconsistent to me,  *work around* should not be the only acceptable discussion. Many well received  "bug" questions limit themselves to confirmation in different platforms but end up providing insight on the cause of the problem. Users come here to solve their Mma problems and bugs are clearly one cause of this problems. Having an acknowledgement that the problem exists and in which versions was fixed may not be the ultimate answer, but does help.
Comment: Community consensus is too vague for my tastes. See also [here](http://mathematica.stackexchange.com/q/3568/57)
Comment: @whuber You're confusing Szabolcs and me. The two-label approach is my suggestion, so Szabolcs' isn't contradicting himself. Alternatively to 'bug-report' I'd suggest the use of 'bug-possible' or something similar
Comment: My apologies to both of you about the confusion--I guess I have unconsciously lumped all originators of great replies whose handles begin with "S" into the same category :-).  And yes, [tag:bug-possible] is a little clearer than [tag:bug-report].
Answer: Bug Reporting Revisited
Given the way the March 2018 post of Nasser (169209) has been received (high upvotes, discussion about bugs to be used, close votes because of an essential "WRI technical support issue", chat room accusations and allegations :) ) has triggered my reflection on the accepted answer above, given by @Szabolcs.
I would beg to differ with that answer and would like to provide some arguments. There are reasons pro and con having bug reports here on M.SE and I would like to start with the obvious cons.
Contra Bug Reports
I see these three reasons given against bug reporting on M.SE:

Dead-ends
By reporting bugs here, they never reach WRI and users will get lazy to report them, since they feel M.SE to be a viable substitute for the "real thing".
SE-incompatibility By leading to lengthy and controversial discussions they are not a good fit for the Q&A-rules of SE. Also they often might get closed due to "technical issue for WRI or professional help".
Better Places Incompatibility for SE immediately suggests there may be "better places" for bug related discussions; often Wolfram Community seems to be the natural candidate.

So let's have a look:
Dead-ends
While this clearly is a danger, keeping people from repeatedly posting an issue is also a chance (we'll be getting there with the Pros). Clearly using bugs should be a "call of civil duty" to file a report at the same time or even earlier and to provide that information clearly visible for all. Then the dead-end threat will be minimized because not seeing a case number eventually will make me file a report to be sure. And further more, seeing the issue pop up here will maybe serve as a reminder for me to report the long-forgotten issue myself.
SE-Incompatibility
Certainly discussions do not fit SE, but they are far from being banned. SE's main interest is to make money from its users and their knowledge - pardon me :), is to prevent discussions from spoiling concise and useful Q&A to build a knowledge base. That is why we have chat rooms. And lengthy discussions automatically open such a room. Where is the threat?
Q&A are a perfect match for bugs: Firstly, we ask about whether we were too dumb to read and understand the documentation (not necessarily a proof of low IQ...). Then we ask whether there are workarounds or third party packages or whether there are deeper insights and related issues. The community might be interested in the scope of an issue (operating systems) and we may even in our desperation become interested in other tools and languages to provide a solution (not for long, alas).
While ultimately WRI, of course, will have the definite answer, all of the bug-related questions may well find sensible answers here in that nice and concise way, for which we love SE so much.
Better Places
Well, be honest, are there really better places than M.SE?! While to a degree Wolfram Community is decent, it does not match M.SE in quality, speed, and precision imho. A clear downside: It belongs to WRI. Here we can have anonymity and meet on neutral, third-party grounds -- which is a prerequisite often for openness and honesty. Maybe this is, why we have so many visitors from Illinois? :)
Pro Bug Reports
Speed
I hope not to be the only one suffering from a low tolerance to waiting times. But given the average time of responses here, waiting at least 24h for WRI to return with "acknowledged, you will hear from us soon" is simply not an option.
Not everyone is a premier service subscriber entitled to a decent response time.
Transparency
I firmly believe in checks and balances -- e.g. balance of power: Filing bug reports has something of David against Goliath. I am at their mercy and their good will. Making bugs transparent -- if done fairly (-> SE-rules) -- is a very powerful tool to foster accountability and to increase consumer power. It clearly shows, whether WRI considers an issue worth their efforts and it shows, whether we are alone in our requests.
Given the technological dependencies and the recent "breadth vs. core" developments, the last issue is an important one. M.SE transparency will help me manage technological risk far better than simply watching for marketing output nobody with interest in truth turns to anyway...
Efficiency
If used wisely, both sides -- WRI and users -- may profit greatly from this sites' format: Its rules foster concise and useful bug-reports (at no cost for WRI! -- believe me, their showing up here is no coincidence ...). SE works like a filter, thus irrelevant, long-known issues are not flooding the pipeline. It also clearly and quickly shows the interest among users in an issue (again anonymity and speed!).
Our time is also saved, as there is no public record of known issues (bug-tracker?). Instead of wasting hours in trying out and waiting for a response we will quickly see whether an issue has already been reported and for how long it is known. Then we can decide upon all available information whether to also file a report by referencing to the known and published Case #.
Update: There is another angle to having a bug list here. Most often I read that unless many people complain by filing bug reports, an issue will not be fixed. This waste of users' time — who after all pay for working software — can only be avoided by having a public list of bugs and case reports. In that case the number of filed reports cannot be used as a proxy for user interest any more. It seems ridiculous to me to be dependent upon a number of filed reports for having an issue fixed whose functionality was advertised to get at my money. Why?
Conclusion
I firmly believe that the pros far outway the cons. In the end, WRI and we as users, may greatly benefit from a publicly visible and useful repository of issues that are to be considered a bug. I saves time, fosters accountability and bundles the voice of the consumer while also improving efficiency on all sides.
The SE-rules work as a filter here and are imo very much compatible with bug reporting.
I would see these words of guidance:

If not in a hurry and you are clear about an issue being a bug, file a report first!
If you are in a hurry or are not clear about an issue being a bug or if you consider your reported issue of wider interest for the community, make this a good and relevant M.SE question without assigning the tag, e.g. ask for workarounds, related and deeper issues etc.
Wait for responses and let the community decide to assign the tag bugs.
If there is consensus about the issue being a bug, report it to WRI and publish the results (e.g. case opened, final answer).
If the issue is fixed -- you will be notified -- update the bug-header to indicate this. Also indicate the persistence of your bugs on new releases.
Comment: As to lengthy discussions, we've always been more lax here than on other SE sites. Personally, I find the friendly banter that goes on in the comments to be an asset, and helpful in welcoming new people. Also, it can help clarify and/or highlight various aspects of the post itself. I can see why other SE sites are strict about it, but honestly there's a lot of good stuff in our comments.
Comment: TL;DR If a documented feature is not working out as documented (i.e. a bug) then imo it only needs to be reported *once* to trigger two things: Either the bug gets fixed (after all WRI "promised" this feature in the docs and advertised it) or the documentation gets changed to point out the erroneous behavior. Bugs need to be made public as a service to the customer -- if WRI does not publish them, we should.
Answer: I saw Sjoerd removed the bug from this question, so I came here to see what the points of view are. To be clear: I agree with the removal of the tag since it's not a confirmed bug.
On the other hand I would like to have some tag indicating that OP suspects it's a bug. That's the core of the question, not "notebook" as it is tagged now. But it's only indicated in the title, which IMO is not the right place.
I'm for a bug-possible and a bug-confirmed tag. The first one is a better indicator of the status than simply bug, and I would feel invited to test OP's code to see if I can reproduce reported behavior.
When to switch from bug-possible to bug-confirmed? How about: when the behavior is confirmed for the same Mathematica version by at least 2 (or 3?) other users?
I would incinerate the bug tag.
edit (re Mr.Wizard's concerns)
I don't see the problem with neophytes using the bug-possible tag when it's no bug at all. If it is because he doesn't seem to understand how Mathematica works it can be explained in a comment or answer and the tag removed.
Comment: I don't know that I agree with this.  There have been quite a few times that a neophyte user thinks something is a bug which isn't; rather than having them tag it "bug-possible" I think it's better to let it unfold naturally.  It is entirely helpful to be able to search for *confirmed* bugs, but I don't know about *possible* bugs like the one in the linked question.  I'm not voting either way yet; perhaps you can address some of my concerns.
Comment: Also, I think this should problem be a question of its own not buried here.
Comment: @Mr.Wizard - I posted here mainly as a response to Szabolcs' answer and the comments to that. I agree that it digresses from the original question. I'll update my answer re your concerns.

How to report bugs?


Gimp transparency not transparent

Question: I have been using GIMP successfully for a little while, but had no trouble with it.  Now my  transparent backgrounds are not transparent anymore.  I go to Layer and Transparencies then to Add Alpha Channel.  Then Duplicate Layer.  Then I make the image black and white using Color.  I use the Brightness-Contrast control.  Then Invert.After this I paint whatever is needed, and I want transparent Black, and what I want opaque I paint White.  Then to Edit and Cut, back to Layers and  Mask, Add Layer Mask.  Then I go back to Edit and Paste.  When it is ready I go to file and Export As a png.  When I try to use it the background is either black or white. What is my problem?  I have already tried several different things to change this such as making sure that the opacity is set right and that the .Save Background Color is not checked.
Comment: Also your question seems to be a duplicate of [this one](http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/q/37471/64047). You might be able to find an answer there...
Comment: Welcome to Graphic Design! I might break this down into a numbered list of steps (easier to follow than "then... then..."). Also a screenshot of your document's settings might help to get a good answer...
Comment: Following your steps, I can't replicate the problem.  You say "when I try to use it" - but you don't say how you are using it. Perhaps that's the problem.  Have you tried opening the exported PNG in GIMP?  Does it have transparency in GIMP, but not in the application your are using it in?  Can you share the PNG file so I can have a look at it?
Comment: Agree with @BillyKerr You have to distinguish "checking the file in  a known working image viewer" (which can be your browser using `File>Open`) and using it in a web page from some server (where plenty of things can happen, including the server recompressing the image....). In case of doubt, re-download your image from the server, and see if it's the same file that you uploaded...
Comment: Are you by any chance importing in to LibreOffice? I had a lot of trouble recently with rotated transparent images. Straight images worked fine, but rotated images had black blobs; I reckon because LibreOffice re-interpolates the image so it can be exported as an unrotated image in the PDF.
Answer: If no steps are missing from the description, then the active drawable just before the export is the layer mask. In this state, the active layer mask will be exported, which will result in a non-transparent image representing the layer mask.
In order to avoid this, make sure that a layer is active. This is done in the layers dialog by clicking on a layer - and it is noticeable by paying attention to the white outline around either the layer or the mask.
Answer: There are several common reasons this may occur:

Uploaded file gets converted to a non-transparent file type
You are inserting a smaller version of the file from your image library, which was converted to a non-transparent file type
CSS on website is over-riding background color for the image

Try this:
 - Verify file type after uploaded
 - Try inserting a full version of the picture (if using an image gallery)
 - Try a different website theme (if uploading to a CMS, like Wordpress)

Gimp transparency not transparent


Terminal Server 2008 (32 bit) fails to load profile (sometimes)

Question: I'm having an issue with a virtualized Terminal Server running Windows Server 2008 (32-bit). It doesn't seem to be affecting any users connecting with HP Thin-Clients, only with my test accounts which are AD user accounts and all members of Domain Users. In addition to these test user accounts I am also having the same problem when logging in with a domain Administrator account.
The message I receive is:

Your user profile was not loaded correctly! You have been logged on
  with a temporary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be
  lost when you log off. Please see the event log for details or contact
  your administrator.

The temporary fix is:

log on to Terminal Server with an Administrator account
start regedit
goto: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\SIDoftheuseraccount" where you see the actual username when clicking on the folder entry
once you've found the folder (which should have a .bak appended to it) find the coresponding folder which does not have a .bak on it. This folder will have the username set as "Temp.MYDOMAIN" or something similar to that. Delete this entire folder
then remove the .bak from the actual users profile folder
re-log in as the user and the profile loads properly

There are several errors being logged:

Event ID 1515: Windows has backed up this user profile. Windows will automatically try to use the backup profile the next time this user logs on.
Event ID 1511: Windows cannot find the local profile and is logging you on with a temporary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log off.
Event ID 1508: Windows was unable to load the registry. This problem is often caused by insufficient memory or insufficient security rights. DETAIL - The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.  for C:\Users\Administrator.MYDOMAIN.000\ntuser.dat
Event ID 1502: Windows cannot load the locally stored profile. Possible causes of this error include insufficient security rights or a corrupt local profile. DETAIL - The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

Some further detail about my configuration:
This is a Windows Server 2008 Std. SP2 (32-bit) virtual Terminal Server with 32GB RAM running under Hyper-V on a host Windows Server 2008 R2 EE SP1 server with 72GB of RAM. The reason for running a virtual 32-bit TS is because of several legacy 16-bit applications that are essential to our business. These applications are also not contenders for deployment via RemoteApp for various reasons (it's been tried).
I'm wondering if this problem has to do with how memory is configured for the Terminal Server. Is it incorrect build a TS with 32GB of memory and just allow users to log on (albeit with proper GPO's in place)? So, to all logged on users they would see they have access to a total of 32GB of memory. If this is incorrect please let me know what the general practice is.
Currently on the server there is 19GB of memory free with 6 active users logged on.
Answer: I got exactly the same problem. Only my setup is a win2008r2 x64 On Vmware Esxi. Everytime the number of users logged on reached 40, any user that logged on from that moment gets an temporary profile.
Workaround:
Move some of the users to other virtualized Terminal Server instances.
Cause And Fix:
The registry on our Server was bloated to over 2gb. Some printer drivers (Kyocera, Sharp) are malfunctioning, and copy some registry keys every time a user logs on to the Terminal Server bloating it in the process. Once we cleaned the registry the server went back to normal.


What does "halt das Schicksal auf" mean?

Question: What does it mean:

Halt das Schicksal auf, gib mir was einst war mein.
Comment: Yes, it's from [a fairy tale](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6pU2HDO7pw).
Comment: Ok, after watching this I guess "give me what once was mine" refers to youth ("give me my youth back"), and then also "stop fate" makes sense (getting old being fate).
Answer: This seems to be from a poem or the like, probably from a fairy tale. It is hard to understand if you don't know the context. It's easy to translate, though: "Halt das Schicksal auf" translates literally to "stop fate". "Gib mir was einst war mein" means "Give me what I once owned". It's difficult to relate these two half sentences without knowing what is referred to with "what I once owned" or what kind of fate is to be expected.
After watching this (provided by the author of the question in a comment) I'm rather sure that "give me what once was mine" refers to youth ("give me my youth back"), and then also "stop fate" makes sense (getting old being fate).
Answer: Oh, this is the healing incantation from the new Disney's story "Tangled", largerly based upon the brothers Grimm's fairy tale "Rapunzel".
The original incantation is:

Flower, gleam and glow,
Let your power shine,
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine
Heal what has been hurt,
Change the Fates' design,
Save what has been lost
Bring back what once was mine
What once was mine.

The German translation of this song is:

Blume leuchtend schön,
kannst so mächtig sein.
Dreh die Zeit zurück,
gib mir was einst war mein.
Blume leuchtend schön,
lass mich nicht allein.
Halt das Schicksal auf,
gib mir was einst war mein;
was einst war mein.

So, the halt das Schicksal auf ("delay the Destiny", "slow down the Fate", "stop the Destiny") is the poetic translation of change the Fates' design.
The idea behind is that the healing incantation kept the old witch young, so to say stopping the inevitable process of aging ("the Destiny").
P.S.: After having written the answer I have noticed that the author of the question already provided the link to the original, so my suggestion was correct.


1999 Ford Expedition 4x4 5.4 front cracking noise

Question: I've had this problem for several months now. I started hearing this cracking noise when I turned left of right. Only when I've driven the truck a while. I've replaced the boots from both sides and brakes and roters as well. I still have the same cracking noise coming from the bottom. Sounds like it's coming from the front differential. I have no idea what it is. Please help
Answer: You need to identify exactly where the sound is coming from. To do this, jack up the front end and put it on jack stands. If it's what I'm thinking it is, you can probably keep the tires straight, then have one person hold one tire while you turn the other.
If the noise is coming from the differential, as you are saying, you are probably going to need a new one. I am not sure if your Expedition comes with a locking front differential (as in a posi unit or whatever Ford calls it), but would assume it probably does. If the noise is occurring inside the differential, it may be that the clutches inside of it are bad and causing the noises. The noise would only occur when the two tires are spinning at different speeds. When the tires are spinning at the same speed, the differential turns as one unit and would not exhibit any noises in this case.


Does Minecraft PE have commands?

Question: Are there any commands in Minecraft Pocket Edition? I'm looking for both singleplayer and multiplayer commands including admin commands.
Answer: Version 0.16 and later
Support for some commands was added with version 0.16 (October 2016).
Version 0.15 and earlier
No. There is no command functionality, and it's possible that the commands code isn't even present in the program yet.
Answer: If you're talking about chat commands like /spawn and /tpa, some servers do support these commands using plugins. There was no functionality of this in Singleplayer or unmodded Multiplayer, but there is now because of the update.
Comment: What commands are in the update? I have the .14.b4 update and haven't seen any commands work for me.
Answer: if you hit chat and do / (command) some will work but so far when I try I get nothing but try with /gamemode and it will say command gamemode not found.
Comment: what kind of commands work? can u tell us any of them?
Answer: At the present 0.15.10 update, commands in single player worlds are not yet supported. In 0.16.0 (the boss update) Mojang will add a few commands like /time set and /kill, etc. for more info go to Mojang's posts about it here and here. I don't know all the commands they are adding in 0.16.0, but later in 0.17.0 or later they will probably add more commands. 0.16.0 will be released October 18, 2016, and I have heard that 0.17.0 might be released in November.

Does Minecraft PE have commands?


Are multiple lighter deadlifts better than single heavier maxes?

Question: My max deadlift is 350 (still gaining), but I can deadlift 300 twice. Is it better to focus on my 2 lift max or my single lift max to build overall strength?
Answer: Practical Programming's Answer: 1-3RM For Strength
From page 79:

Strength, a basic objective of training and an important component of power performance, is gained using lower repetitions (1 to 3) with heavier weights (90 to 100% of 1RM).

Notice that in this context, Rippetoe is using a narrow definition of strength that does not include power, hypertrophy or endurance. Doing fewer reps and only one or two sets makes for a drastically lower volume and average load at the limit of your ability (I'm paraphrasing from the second paragraph on page 82 there). For these reasons (and the increased danger of injury), I would recommend against using 1RM or 2RM as regular training stimulus.
Though the original on page 60 of PP is better (the gradations from range to range are less stark) this chart from reddit does an excellent job explaining the effects of different rep schemes:

Rippetoe's Reasoning For 5RM Instead of 1-3RM
The key line for you is from page 102, emphasis mine:

Absolute strength is gained by using very low reps (1-3) per set, mass is increased with higher reps (10 to 12), and local muscular and systemic endurance is developed with even higher reps (20+). For the novice, a repetition scheme that is right in the anaerobic middle works best: sets of 5 reps. Fives are close enough to the strength end of the continuum to provide tremendous increases in strength, the primary goal of the novice. Fives are also enough reps to develop a tolerance for elevated work levels, and provide for a good amount of hypertrophy so that muscular weight gain occurs too.

...

Fives are optimal for the novice; they effectively stimulate strength gains and other forms of progress without producing sufficient muscular or neuromuscular exhaustion to cause technique deterioration at the end of the set.

It's very possible that you still fall within the novice range of your potential. If that's the case, deadlifting sets of 5 instead of 1 or 2 would be optimal for overall development. If you've found that you cannot progress with daily increases, or that the 5RM is too taxing despite eating and resting sufficiently, working with sets of 2 or 3 in the deadlift could be better.
Comment: How much difference does rep cadence (i.e. time under load) make?
Comment: There is a fuzzy line between taking breaths during a 5-rep set and doing 5 singles. They've been talking about that difference on Rip's forum recently (it's down right now, so no link). Being forced to do 5 singles tells me that I'm not training or recovering sufficiently to do a good set of 5, so I should probably repeat that weight next time.
Comment: I'm talking more about the speed at which the reps are done — how fast you move your muscles when they are moving.  Some say that moving them slowly is much more useful, and that the theory of rep counts is based on doing reps much more slowly than most people do.  6 seconds per rep seems to be the ideal.  http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/greg8.htm
Comment: "Time under load" may be a valuable method. I'm not familiar with it, though I've heard of it in bodybuilding. Your comment would do well as its own answer (or question).
Answer: Summary
I would stick with novice programming on this lift for now. A 5/3/1 might work, but I think it would be more efficient just to focus on making linear progression work.
Why
If your max deadlift is 350, it doesn't make a lot of sense to worry about your 1 rep max (1RM) or 2RM. At that stage it's more productive to focus on your 4RM or 5RM. You want to focus on building your strength and power with heavy sets of 4-6 reps, not demonstrating it in a max single. This is also much less likely to cause injury, and easier to recovery from.
A 300 pound 2RM deadlift is still well within the range of linear progression. Weekly or twice-weekly sets of 5, adding 2.5 or 5 pounds each session or every other session, should be feasible if you're getting enough rest and eating enough.
Research
I'll be double-checking pages 79-82 in Practical Programming later to make sure this makes sense (per Starting Strength forums).
Answer: I don't think there's a big difference between doing 2x and 1x. Both are focusing on the extreme of strength. I personally prefer to do 1x just because the higher weight (compared to 2) boosts my ego, and removes any ambiguity when I want to calculate set weights based on my 1  rep max.
That said, you'll probably do better to apply stimulus in something more like the 4 rep range, and just use 1 or 2 rep sets to test your progress. For example, my current weekly (well, I use an 8 day week to get 2 days of rest between each cycle) workout (based on the Texas workout described in Practical Programming) is this:

Monday: 6 sets of 4 at 80% 1RM
Wednesday: Lighter supplemental exercises, no deadlift.
Thursday: 3 sets of 4 at 65% 1RM
Saturday: 1RM at 100% (try for a personal record every week)

In a schedule like this, you can alternate 1RM or 2RM on the last day. A reccommendion in practical programming was to alternate 1 and 2 every other week.
Answer: "My max deadlift is 350 (still gaining)"
If you are still gaining, what you are doing is working. Keep on doing it until it no longer works. Don't waste time and energy looking for a magic program.
You wouldn't believe how many guys change their training style while they are still making progress. If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. Work extra hard on improving your technique. This alone will add pounds to the bar.
There are many, many ways someone can keep on getter stronger. Your question implies that you are working up to a max or near-max single when you show up to train your deadlift. Working up to a training max, and adjusting the top weight according to how you feel on that day, is a perfectly worthy strategy. Bob Peoples used this type of training to build his 700+ pull.
Taking a lighter weight (like 280 lb for someone who can pull 350) and doing 10 singles with it, with maximum effort on each lift, is another great method. So is doing sets of 2, 3, 4 or 5 and working up to a heavy set.
Straight sets, or sets across, is yet another. I remember doing 10 x 3 reps with 335 lb from a deficit while my max was about 500 lb. That was fun! And I'm sure it helped my pull. Straight sets will make your technique more constant, and it will improve your work capacity. I wouldn't recommend doing straight sets with more than 70% of max, as fatigue builds up real quick.
Like I said, if doing a heavy singles is working and you are still gaining. Keep going. Heavy singles are the most direct way to improve your max strength; it conditions your nervous system and makes it more efficient.
If you are feeling a little beat-up, just take an easy week and see how things go when you're back to heavy lifting.
Cheers!


Common Integral?

Question: So I came across the integral of $$\frac{1}{\sqrt{x^2+1}}$$ and I've tried substitution and it isn't on the list of common integrals. I used Wolfram Alpha, but it said $\sinh x$, but I was wondering if there is an alternate answer?
Comment: Shouldn't it be **sinh^{-1}x**?
Answer: Two substitutions suggest themselves
$x=\sinh(u)\Rightarrow\sqrt{1+x^2}=\cosh(u)\text{ and }\mathrm{d}x=\cosh(u)\,\mathrm{d}u$ which yields
$$
\begin{align}
\int\frac{\mathrm{d}x}{\sqrt{1+x^2}}
&=\int\frac{\cosh(u)\,\mathrm{d}u}{\cosh(u)}\\
&=\int\,\mathrm{d}u
\end{align}
$$
$x=\tan(v)\Rightarrow\sqrt{1+x^2}=\sec(v)\text{ and }\mathrm{d}x=\sec^2(v)\,\mathrm{d}v$ which yields
$$
\begin{align}
\int\frac{\mathrm{d}x}{\sqrt{1+x^2}}
&=\int\frac{\sec^2(v)\,\mathrm{d}v}{\sec(v)}\\
&=\int\frac{\mathrm{d}\sin(v)}{1-\sin^2(v)}\\
&=\frac12\int\frac{\mathrm{d}\sin(v)}{1-\sin(v)}+\frac12\int\frac{\mathrm{d}\sin(v)}{1+\sin(v)}
\end{align}
$$
Answer: You can some times find antiderivatives by looking in lists of derivatives. See for example here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differentiation_rules#Derivatives_of_hyperbolic_functions
So you have
$$
\int \frac{1}{\sqrt{1+x^2}}\; dx = \text{arsinh}(x) + C = \sinh^{-1}(x) + C.
$$
Comment: Its the square root of 1+x^2.
Comment: Missed the sqrt in the denominator.
Answer: It should be $\sinh^{-1} x$, which can also be written as $\ln (1+\sqrt{1+x^2})$ as shown in Wikipedia.
Answer: The way to do it is via trigonometric substitution. If we substitute $x=\tan\theta$, then $\frac{1}{\sqrt{x^2+1}} =\frac{1}{\sqrt{1+\tan^2\theta}} = \frac{1}{\sec\theta}$ and $dx=\sec^2\theta d\theta$, so the integral becomes
$\displaystyle \int \frac{1}{\sec\theta}\sec^2\theta d\theta = \int \sec\theta d\theta$, with appropriately changed limits of integration. The indefinite integral turns out to be $\log|\sec \theta + \tan\theta|+C$.
Now using the original substitution $x=\tan\theta$ it is possible to express $\sec\theta$ and $\tan \theta$ in terms of $x$.

Common Integral?


Which Aloe Vera plant has the most healing property?

Question: I look for the Aloe Vera plant(s) for exercise-induced (EI) hypersensitivity such as allergic rhinitis. Which Aloe Vera plants has the most healing property?
Comment: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about the health and nutritional aspects of fruits/vegetables; this is specifically off topic per the help center at http://gardening.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic
Comment: @Ecnerwal thank you for the observation, updated to be more accessible.
Comment: If they're actually wanting to grow the said plant, I would think it applies here. If they just want to know which one without regard to it, than I'd say close it (although it's unfortunate there's not another SE site for that topic).
Comment: I mean, it seems on topic for someone to come and say they're looking to grow a cherry tree, but they want one that meets certain criteria, which may or may not pertain to nutrition and health, sweetness, etc. asking for recommendations.
Answer: I recommend Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller, Stockton variety on which related

Which soil should be used with Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller, Stockton variety?

where the stockton variety is the Aloe having the most healing property by the video.


What happens when a BGP link is lost and then came back up?

Question: Let's say we have two routers running a BGP that is fully converged and both routers are advertising routes to each other. The link between them fails (physically so to speak). Now, after the hold down timer and both routers deemed the other as down. What happens when the link comes back to life? Do we have to re-configure the BGP session all over again? If not, what happens to the networks that are advertised from each router to the other? Is it instantly advertised again once the link comes back up, or there is some kind of update timer so that each router deems the other as an up neighbor?
Comment: Did any answer help you? If so, you should accept the answer so that the question doesn't keep popping up forever, looking for an answer. Alternatively, you can post and accept your own answer.
Answer: It's treated as a fresh session up when the peers restart.  TCP handshake, capability re-negotiation, address family advertisement, and then NLRI exchange.  If the hold down timer expires, the peer is marked as dead, the session goes into the IDLE state, and follows its own rules for transitioning from IDLE to Active (actively attempting to establish a TCP connection).  Note that a peer in the IDLE state can still accept an inbound TCP handshake from the other router.
Exact time needed for a specific route to be available again is dependent on the total # of NLRIs to be exchanged between the two routers.  If you're exchanging full tables (500K+ NLRI), depending on processor size on both routers, it could take upwards of 5 minutes.  If you only have 20 routes to announce, they'll process the NLRI real quick like.
Answer: BGP sends KEEPALIVE packets in specified interval (60 seconds by default). If BGP not received 3 keepalive packets from neighbour, HOLD DOWN timer expires and the neighbour is considered as dead. Assuming the neighbor is down, shutting down the BGP session, and withdrawing all routes from it's announcements.
HOLD DOWN timer, it's three times KEEPALIVE (180 seconds by default).
When link between BGP peers came back to life (physically) and neighbours received KEEPALIVE packets the session is automatically UP. Peers starts advertise their routes in announcements, according to specified criteria. You don't have to reconfigure BGP session again. It would not make sense, because in real environments, BGP session fails quite a often.
Comment: @abdelrahman the details vary somewhat depending on the vendor you use.  Please tell us what bgp implementation you're using
Comment: Thanks for the reply, but the question here is, when the link is up again and the keepalive is sent, will the routes be advertised instantly or will it have to wait for a certain time?
Comment: When link is up again and neighbours are in active state. Routes will be advertise instantly by first UPDATE packet. **Network layer reachability information** is part of UPDATE packet where you can find this information.
Comment: How long does it take the neighbors to be in active state?
Comment: It is not an implementation that I am using. I am working on a concept that will enhance the convergence time of BGP. Since the BGP is the routing protocol of the internet, it doesn't advertise updates as soon as it has one unlike IGPs like OSPF and EIGRP. I just need the exact time that will take a route from a Router A to be in Router B's routing table after the link between them is restored. The only thing I came across was that it will take 30 seconds after the link is physically connected again. Need to make sure of this. Thanks a lot for the help.


Why are names considered proper nouns?

Question: Names are supposed to be proper nouns because they refer to a unique entity, right? But what about when the condition of specificity is not applicable? Take the word "Albert". It's supposed to be a proper noun. Why? There are no doubt thousands of people with that name in the world. If you know more than one Albert then just the word in not sufficient for you to know who precisely is being referred to. You'd naturally want to know the full name or any other unique identifying characteristic to pin down the person concerned. For that matter, even the full name (say "Albert West") is something the person is likely to have in common with others on this planet of seven-odd billion people. So while "Albert" (or any other name for that matter) might be a noun, why is it considered a proper noun?
Comment: No, that's not the reason. It's important that it be used as a name, not that it be unique. "Proper noun" is a linguistic term, not a logical one; it doesn't have to make sense. Definiteness and specificity is very common, but a name's a name, however used. All human (and denoted non-human sentient being) names are proper nouns, along with many other names for places and things.
Comment: @Mynamite: A plain "Albert" is a fobwatch chain, but that's a bit dated now. A [Prince Albert](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Albert_(genital_piercing)) is something I'd rather not know about - but since I *do* know it, there's the link so you can join me in my unhappy state of knowledge (avoid looking at the right-hand side of that Wikipedia page if you're squeamish! :).
Comment: @Albert: I am not responsible for "the way it's taught everywhere", which usually means wrong. That's neither the definition nor the "reason why" for proper nouns. For most people, if you capitalize it, it's a proper noun. In grammar, most proper noun phrases either include obligatory articles, or don't take articles at all. Plus they rarely take restrictive relative clauses, and then only with articles.
Comment: 'Albert' doesn't have any other meaning (that I know of), but there are plenty of other proper names that do, so it helps to distinguish them. eg Jack, Rick, Dot, Sally, Peg etc etc
Comment: @JohnLawler: But doesn't the difference between common and proper nouns lie in whether they refer to a class or specifically to an individual? At least that's how it seems to be taught everywhere. When "Albert" is, in effect, a name "common"ly used by multiple people, why is it considered a proper noun?
Comment: @Mynamite: I appreciate that some proper nouns may have other meanings, but I don't see how that matters here.
Answer: The Oxford Dictionary Online (a proper noun) defines proper noun as

A name used for an individual person, place, or organization, spelled with initial capital letters, e.g., Larry, Mexico, and Boston Red Sox. Often contrasted with common noun.

[It also conflates proper nouns with proper names, and I will not try to sort that our in this answer.]
As the questioner suggests, Wikipedia defines it as

a noun that in its primary application refers to a unique entity, such as London, Jupiter, Sarah, or Microsoft, as distinguished from a common noun, which usually refers to a class of entities (city, planet, person, corporation), or non-unique instances of a certain class (a city, another planet, these persons, our corporation).

I disagree with the criterion of unique. Rather, a proper noun refers to a specific instance of something. During the bestowing of a proper noun, the naming entity seeks to distinguish the individual accorded the proper noun from others in the generic class. When my father named me Dopey, he sought to distinguish me from my brothers, Bashful and Doc, and whoever else might come along later. He didn't especially care that Mrs. McGillicutty, three streets over, had also named her son Dopey.  Within our circle, Dopey meant me.
There are very few proper nouns that are truly unique. The number of towns named Springfield, Madison, and Franklin are in the dozens apiece. However jurisdictions resist identical names within their purview. A town near me was named Marion and was called that for decades before someone in the state realized there was another town of the same name and our neighbor was rechristened East Marion.
If it were just me and Dad on a desert island, naming me Boy might work just fine. And maybe if only I were in the room and he said Now listen to me, Son, that would be okay. But when he yelled up the stairs, son, all his kids responded or no one did.
To each of us, Dad means the specific Dad (or sometimes Dads) that relate most closely to us. I had a mother and a stepmother, both of whom I called Mom. I can speak of my two moms, but when I address them or use them without a limiter (such as my mom), I refer to them in the capital.
To sum up, things that are virtually never grouped into a class and have been named to be specific within their own circle are always captialized, even when they are artificially aggregated.

All the Alberts in the class should stand.
There are many Washingtons in the US.

These retain their upper case status even when they are converted to a category with a modifier

The Microsofts of the world will have to rethink their strategies.
The Roosevelts were a political and social force to be reckoned with.

But common nouns that are used as a term of address or in lieu of a name without modifier are capitalized in those circumstances, but lower case in others. So

I asked my mother to come over.
I asked Mother to come over.
Comment: Thank you for the explanation. Indeed, that uniqueness criteria that's often included in the definition (which I mentioned to @JohnLawler above) is what was tripping me up. "To sum up, things that are virtually never grouped into a class and have been named to be specific within their own circle are always captialized, even when they are artificially aggregated" makes much more sense as a definition.

Why are names considered proper nouns?


Is Super Saiyan Green an official name or not?

Question: According to the Dragon Ball Wikia, this transformation of Kale is called "Super Saiyan Green". Is this an official name or it was made up by fans?
Answer: Super Saiyan Green was never official.
The transformation Broly makes is called Legendary Super Saiyan, which has some background since that's what it was called in the movies featuring Broly.
Since Kale resembles that transformation, it's better to call it that, but if I recall correctly, no official name was given yet. Or it's Berserk Super Saiyan.
Comment: Berserk super saiyan it's for the transformation of Kale where she doesnt have control of her anger and she's extra bulky with blank eyes


can any han character/kanji be used as part of the japanese writting system?

Question: There is something that's confusing me. As far as I understand, kanjis were adopted by japaneses when they arrived to Japan in the form of official seals, letters, swords, coins, mirrors, etc. And because of this, they have a japanese pronunciation and one (or more?) chinese pronunciations. I also know that there are 2136 "joyo kanji" which are from common usage and which are approved by the ministery of education of Japan. Yet, there are many more kanjis which are used and figures vary from 47,000 to over 100,000 (correct me in anything I'm wrong) . Does this mean, you can take any chinese han character and use it as it belongs to the japanese writing system, or this is wrong and there are chinese han characters that you can say they don't belong to the japanese writing system?
Comment: As far as I know, 漢字 refers to characters of Chinese origin (meaning modern Chinese too).  But it also refers to characters used in Japan, not all of which are of Chinese origin.    However, it might help us answer your question if you could explain why you might find the characters available in Japanese insufficient, or why you might want to use a particular Chinese character not in the 常用漢字.  Incidentally, historically there is a huge ocean of kanji available for use in Japanese.  My 漢和中辞典 has over 9500 characters in it and there are other dictionaries with far more.
Answer: This is a somewhat vague question. Anyway, the answer for this question is not too far from the answer for "Can any German character be used as part of the English writing system?" Characters ö and ß are definitely not part of the English writing system, but you can "use" them if you really need them in your essay written in English.
Can Chinese characters be displayed?: Yes. After the introduction of Unicode, common characters used by modern Chinese people can usually be displayed on most PCs and smartphones available in Japan. You don't need to manually install a special font.
Would they be understood by native Japanese speakers?: Generally, no, but people can often make a reasonable guess.
When is it okay to use Chinese characters in Japanese sentences?: Unsurprisingly, when you are introducing Chinese words, especially person or place names.
Does a character with the same Unicode always look identical in both languages?: No, the standard design of one kanji/hanji may differ between the two languages even if it shares the same character code. From Introducing Source Han Sans: An open source Pan-CJK typeface:

Well, the writing systems for each language, particularly their ideographs that are based on historical Chinese forms, took different paths over time. While some characters remained unchanged and common across the languages, others morphed into regional variations. One can see these in the glyphs represented below. While the variations may be subtle, especially to the Western eye, they are very important to the users of each language.

This means if you blindly copy characters from a Chinese site to a place where Japanese is assumed, like this site, you may end up with awkward characters to the eyes of Chinese people. There is a way to display non-Japanese glyphs on this site.
Comment: Also, not every kanji has the exact same meaning as the corresponding character in Chinese - some words show a bit of semantic drift (e.g. 何 is closer to meaning "why" in Chinese than "what"), and the characters for types of fish can be completely different.
Comment: @Pablo Each country has its own standard set of kanji for common use (for example [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_General_Standard_Chinese_Characters) and [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C5%8Dy%C5%8D_kanji)). Some characters are common, some have small regional variants (as seen in the image above), some are pretty much Japanese-only or Chinese-only.  And yes, the Japanese word 漢字 refers to everything I just mentioned. Looks like "*kanji* as an English word" means something like 日本で使われている漢字 in Japanese... that's a bit funny to me :-)
Comment: My question came from this, if kanjis are han characters adopted by the japanese language system, and since japanese use those characters also with a chinese reading, and since there is 2136 kanjis approved by the ministery of language of Japan, but there are also others 47000 to 100,000 kanjis used in japanese, may be that meant you incorporated all the chinese han characters as kanjis by using its chinese readings first, or that you can use any chinese han character with its chinese reading as part of the japanese language. Who regulates the adoption of chinese han characters to japanese?
Comment: BTW, the definition (incorrect perhaps) of kanji from wikipedia says in japanese kanji simply means "han character". According to that definition, you could think that any han character it is a kanji then. And since kanjis are also supposed to be one of the japanese writing systems, then what stops any han character of being a valid japanese character?  May be in that list of over 100,000 kanjis there are those han characters with chinese only reading you dont use often in japanese.
Comment: This question come from another question where an user pointed that a symbol wasnt a kanji but a han character from chinese, and therefore it wasnt a japanese question but a chinese question
Comment: To add just one thing to this (very excellent) answer: regarding your last point, the character may look awkward, but it usually would not be mistaken for a different character. People educated in Chinese or Japanese are familiar with the concept of allographs of the same character, and can usually recognize them instinctively.  (sometimes by "process of elimination", i.e. by observing that there is no other character that looks even remotely similar.  In fact, 曜 is a good example of this)


In a copper wire, how many electrons does each atom give away?

Question: As an ion, copper can give off 1, 2, 3 or 4 electrons. But it has 1 s electron in the last shell and 10 d electrons. So as a metal, how many of those are delocalised and free to move around, and how many are staying with the atom?
Comment: All electrons that go out on one end of the wire, are replaced with the same quantity at the other end, so the net loss is 0
Comment: @RaoulKessels Sure, but I'm interested in the amount of electrons that can freely move inside the wire.
Comment: $I=\frac{q}{t}$ and the charge of one electron is $1.6\times10^{-19}$C
Answer: This is a number which can be measured via the Hall effect. This reference give the Hall coefficient as $-5.4\times10^{-11}\,\mathrm{m^3/C}$ for a number density of charge carriers as
$$n_\mathrm e=\frac1{\left(-5.4\times10^{-11}\,\mathrm{m^3/C}\right)\left(-1.602\times10^{-19}\,\mathrm C\right)}=1.16\times10^{29}/\mathrm m^3$$
The number density of copper ions is
$$n_\ce{Cu}=8920\,\frac{\mathrm{kg}}{\mathrm{m^3}}\times\frac{1000\,\mathrm g}{\mathrm{kg}}\times\frac{1\,\mathrm{mol}}{63.546\,\mathrm g}\times\frac{6.022\times10^{23}}{\mathrm{mol}}=8.45\times10^{28}/\mathrm m^3$$
So that works out to about $1.37$ charge carriers per ion.
Answer: A good first guess is that there's a gap between the 3d and 4s bands in the electronic structure of solid Cu, and since the 3d band is filled, and the 4s band half-filled, that means only the 4s electron can be considered nearly free.  (Recall Cu = [Ar] 3d10 4s1.)


How do I copy my contact from an old Symbian phone to a new Windows Phone?

Question: I just switched from a Nokia C7 to a a Lumia 520. I have a back up my contacts, photos, and everything else. Now that I have my new Lumia 520, I don't know how to copy my contacts, pictures and video to my new device. Can someone point me to the solution?
Answer: You can use Transfer my Data application by Nokia, that is already on your phone in the  apps list. If not, download it here.
Answer: Use Nokia Suite.

Install Nokia Suite.
Connect Nokia Suite with Nokia C7.
Use Nokia Suite to upload contacts, calendar etc to Microsoft OneDrive. You need to use your Microsoft account for that.
Sign-in with same Microsoft account to your Nokia Lumia 520.
Downloads your contacts and calendar from Microsoft OneDrive.
Photos, music, videos etc you can copy from your PC via USB cable to your Nokia Lumia 520.