How long should each chord in a chord progression be played?

Question: For example I am making a 16 bar chord progression for a verse of a song and choose to use the I , IV , V  chords of a major scale.. How can I put these chords in a nice rythm so they sound good and how long should each chord be played ideally?
Comment: It's really up to you and how the song feels. If it is a slow song, you may hold one chord for many bars or if it is a fast song you may change chords twice a bar.
Comment: There are a couple of close votes on this, because as it's phrased, answers have to be mostly opinion-based. If you re-phrased it along the lines of "How long are chords usually played, and how does the speed of change affect the mood of the music", or something like that, then answers could be a little more objective.
Comment: Depends on the melody and the rhythm.
Answer: This is an artistic decision for you to make!
The speed at which chords change is called harmonic rhythm. There are songs that change chords twice a measure and get a hectic energy for it, and pieces that change chords once every two or four measures, drawing out each chord's sound dramatically. In addition, as with regular rhythms, harmonic rhythms can be syncopated so that they start a partial measure (sometimes beat) before or after a measure change.
Each harmonic rhythm has its own effect. You know better than anyone else which rhythms would be best in your situation.
Answer: Generally speaking, 4 bars is as long as a song will stay on one chord.Even at that the single chord can sound tedious, so towards the end it is often changed, sometimes by adding a 7th. Other songs get away with only 2 chords, but change every bar or 2 bars. 'Dance the night away' and 'Jambalaya' come to mind. Theoretically the concept seems boring, but they are both popular songs.If you do stay on one chord, try to move the melody around, and conversely, maybe keep a more static tune when the changes are frequent.
Listen carefully to the hundreds/thousands of songs that employ only 3 chords - almost inevitably the I, IV and V, and you'll get ideas. Don't think you'll come up with something revolutionary - it's more than likely all been done ! But it won't stop another load of 'three - chord - wonders' being written in the next few years !
Comment: Almost every funk song ever written. Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin. Run through the Jungle by CCR. Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood. Exodus by Bob Marley. Many modal jazz songs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_jazz). Showbiz Kids by Steely Dan. The Beat goes on by Sonny and Cher.
Comment: That depends on the style of music. Drum and bass at 180bpm might have chords playing for 8 bars, so 7-8 seconds. I think you're probably better off thinking about how long a chord plays in terms of time, rather than beat/bars. Also, a more laid back song will tend to play chords for longer.
Comment: @Tim This answer is misleading, there are thousands of songs that NEVER change chords or hold a single chord for 24+ bars.
Comment: @Fergus - please explain, as I'm confused. 'Thousands of songs that NEVER change chords' - I can't even think of ONE !
Comment: @Fergus - thanks for that - I'd never realised. Nor played any of them, otherwise I'd have known... In theory it sounds like it'll never work. Wrong !!
Answer: I agree with other posters that it is important to make this decision for yourself, no one here can have the "right" answer.  Having said that, here are a few progressions to consider:

I - IV - V - I
I - V - IV - I
I - I - IV - V
I - I - V - IV
I - IV - I - V
I - V - IV - V
I - IV - V - IV
V - IV - I - I
V - V - IV - I

There are a few ways to "categorize" these progressions, including those that start with I (1,2,3,4,5,6,7) vs those which start with V (8,9), those in which the I chord appears twice (1,2,3,4,5,8) vs those in which the V chord appears twice (6,9) or the IV chord appears twice (7), those which "cycle" through the chords (1,2,3,4,8,9) vs those which "oscillate" between certain chords (5,6,7).  These are not all the possibilities, just a few popular ones to get you thinking about your options.
So that takes care of the "order" of the chords, but what about the "length" of each chord?  I would suggest starting with one chord per bar, which means all the above phrases are 4 bar phrases.  Then just repeat each phrase 4 times (for a total of 16 bars).  Depending on your tempo, if the harmonic movement feels to slow or too fast, just half or double the number of bars for each chord respectively.
Notice here that each chord is always played for the same number of bars.  This is the simplest approach to song structure you can take.  As you become more comfortable with how to put chords together, you can experiment with giving certain chords more measures than others.  It doesn't change the harmony so much as it changes the feel of the song, the tension and release, the emotional impact and the story you are trying to tell.  So that means there are really no rules!  Just do whatever you think sounds best.
Comment: most songs start with I. It pretty well states 'this is home'. For a beginner it is a safe place to start, for that reason.Your nos 8and 9, starting on V, will give  a feel that it's written in Mixolydian,(unless the V is an anacrucis) and could mess the OP up.Think Sweet Home Alabama - there are still arguments as to whether it's in D or G.
Comment: @Tim I agree that "safest" place to start for a "beginner" is with the I chord. But I would say Sweet Home Alabama is in the key of G even though it starts on the 5 chord (in this case D) - as do many songs.  I believe Freebird (by same artist/band) is also in the key of G (starts on G) even though both use F maj chord which is an example of using a flat VII as a substitute for the diminished natural 7th. Otherwise all the chords in Sweet Home Alabama are in the key of G.  I personally cannot reconcile both an F maj AND C being in key of D so I don't know how that argument holds water.
Comment: @RockinCowboy - exactly. With D,C and G it's squarely in G.But so many bands reckon it's in D. Though there's a quick F that pops in. Allman Bros have been known to make the last chord D, so maybe they're unsure as well...     Bit like 'Pretty Woman' is in E. No, it's not!!
Comment: @Tim - I think it's common for untrained musicians to hold the incorrect belief that whatever chord a song starts with identifies the key.  I know better (Sweet Home Alabama being a prime example) so I try to educate folks to that possibility when the opportunity arises.  I find the LAST chord of a song to be a more reliable indicator as most songs resolve to the home key at the end.  Even Sweet Home Alabama when played live ends with F C G (fades out on the studio recording so you never hear the end).
Comment: @RockinCowboy - there's a version on track that finishes with at least 12 bars on D. Still doesn't make it in D though...   Last chord is a good yardstick, as is what 3 chords are prevalent.
Answer: Chords of I, IV and V are in certain relations among themselves.
They are the "strongest representatives" of the three harmonic "functions": the tonic, the subdominant, and the dominant. It's because their base notes are all a fifth apart. Therefore, each of them is explicit in their meaning. If you think in functional terms, such as, e.g. "calmness", "movement", "tension", it may be more obvious which "rhythm" to use. But, "harmonic rhythm" may not be the same as putting the chords into a "nice rhythm", and depending on other factors, you could make a lot of rhythmic content on only one chord, which introduces purely rhythmic tension, which can also underline the overall tension.
You also have to pay attention to the cadenza, or the ending of the chord progression, or the progression of the phrase: it could end on the V, as well as on the I.
Answer: It depends on the genre of music you are playing. If you are playing reggae music, you will play the chords very quickly, you will just "strike" them it must be like 1/16th or 1/8th. If you are playing soul music it will be longer. Ihe s believe it's all about feeling and groove, just play as you feel them. Music is art. Theory is important but there is also a subjective part of the art that gives you a certain freedom. If not, all songs would sound the same.
Answer: i agree with previous posters that there is no hard and fast rule on how long and how much each chord should be played. If the song is upbeat or high spirited, i might play the chords twice in a bar, or if a part of the lyrics needs an emphasis i could even play the chords at each beat.
Sometimes there is a dominant prolongation that can encompass more than 3 bars. To avoid monotony, i would vary the chords - eg. Using V7 and/or V7sus4 after the dominant triad. Sometimes iii or even #iv dim can be substituted for V. Hope this helps☺


Assuming a perfect sensor, what is the physical limit of ISO/pixel area?

Question: Assuming that camera manufacturers can eventually make the perfect sensor that introduces no electrical noise to the signal, at what point (measured in ISO/area of a pixel) will shot noise be so prevalent that you cease to get useful images?
Comment: I'm having trouble figuring out what limits DxOMark uses to determine the ISO rating of a sensor. I think they use a combination of dynamic range and SNR.
Comment: Are you serious about the "no electrical noise", or are you really interested in what is physically possible with "as low an amount of electrical noise as is physically possible"? I don't think it is possible to produce a sensor that has zero noise generated by the electronics (which you seem to imply by the statement "mfg. can eventually make the perfect sensor"), and I think the distinction would affect answers. Even an extremely low amount of thermal noise will exhibit when amplified enough, thereby imposing a limit on maximum ISO.
Comment: This page might be useful, as it has some mathematical formulas for calculating SNR (given you know enough other information): http://learn.hamamatsu.com/articles/ccdsnr.html. Its for CCD's, and I am not sure what the differences for thermal and read noise might be between CCD and CMOS sensors, if there are any (I would assume there are, given the differences between the two technologies).
Comment: @jrista you could build a sensor out of photon detectors, instead of measuring charge released by incident photons, thus achieving zero electrical noise. Whether it would ever be commercially viable to produce such a sensor with sufficient resolution is another question...
Comment: @MattGrum: Even with photo detectors, you still have an electronic gate that is responsible for turning detected photons into something digital that a computer can process. I guess if we could find a way to directly process everything as an analog signal, perhaps with quantum processors, we might be able to eliminate electronic noise in the sensor. Regardless, I guess I was thinking in terms of what is economically viable from a consumer standpoint...but who knows, maybe fifty years from now we will be able to have entirely analog processing systems.
Comment: @jrista I realize we'll never get a sensor with absolutely no electrical noise, but I'm looking for the upper limit of ISO based on the properties of light alone.
Comment: If you take the bottom right image as a properly exposed ISO 100 then the middle image (which is just about usable) works out at ISO 1,000,000 (one million!), Canon just announced a camera with ISO 204,800 so they're not far off what is possible even with a sensor devoid of electrical noise - ergo that ISO setting is probably a waste of time!
Answer: Here's a good simulation of the 'perfect' sensor that you describe (one having zero electrical noise, thus recordning every incident photon perfectly) reacting to widely differing levels of light, from 0.001, 0.01 & 0.1 photons per pixel (top row), 1, 10 & 100 photons per pixel (middle row) to 1000, 10000 & 100000 photons per pixel across the bottom row.

Click for a larger version where you can make out individual pixels. Image by Mdf some rights reserved.
You can't specificy ISO sensitivity without knowing the saturation point of the sensor (without saturation there is no overexposure), so for your hypothetical 'perfect sensor' you'd have to chose an abitrary saturation point, making the ISO values computed for the images arbitrary too.
However to answer your question it appears about 1 photon per pixel is the limit of getting meaningful images (the top right image, with 1 photon every 10 pixels, looks unrecognisable to me).
Comment: I would say that the one-to-one image was unusably poor (and that makes intuitive sense, due to randomness)
Answer: It's hard to provide a definitive answer to your question, because it
depends on what you subjectively deem "useful", as well as on many other
factors like the strength and quality of the denoising algorithm, the
output medium, etc... Thus, this is not really an answer, only some hints
to help you find your answer.
First, about the parameters to consider. The area of the pixel is not
really important. Although smaller pixels give more pixel-level noise,
you can always reduce the noise by downscaling the image (a side benefit
of antialiasing). The really important parameter is the total area of
the sensor. Also, readout noise is usually only relevant in the darkest
areas of the image, most of the time the main noise source is photon
shot noise. Thus, quantum efficiency and fill factor are also important.
Next, I recommend you take a look at this page from ClarkVision.com:
http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/digital.signal.to.noise/.
It is a very well documented discussion about digital noise, together
with models and lots of real-life data.
Comment: I've no idea what I was talking about, now I've reread you answer it makes perfect sense so I've deleted the comment!
Comment: I disagree with the idea that "the area of the pixel is not really important". The area of the pixel determines how many photons hit each pixel, for a given amount of light coming in through the lens. As you say, you can reduce the noise by downscaling the image, but by downscaling the image 2x, you're effectively increasing pixel area 4x.
Comment: There's a reason film grain size increased with ISO.
Comment: @Evan Krall: My assumption is that most of the time the resolution of the camera is more than enough for the output medium. So you (or your display software, or your printer driver...) will end up downscaling anyway. After downscaling, the effective pixel area is the total area of the sensor divided by the effective resolution of the **output medium**. The resolution of the sensor and its own pixel area are irrelevant.


What exactly is "singing with your head voice"?

Question: I attended a music class several years ago and somewhat learned the keys to proper singing. The teacher said to sing "with your head voice." What does this mean exactly? I have been asked several times as to how to sing properly and frankly, I have no idea!
Comment: I have to say that it's very common for singing teachers to use figurative language to describe how to sing and I find it completely unhelpful. What it is about singing that somehow discourages literal discussion of the physical mechanics of it I really don't know.
Comment: The title question is way too broad, but I think the question about head voice is answerable so I'm going to edit.
Answer: "Head voice", as explained in Wikipedia, has at least two different meanings, relating to vocal "register" and to vocal "resonance".
In relation with vocal register it means simply "high register". A good example of the confusing (although in this case consecrated by tradition) language referred to by Todd.
The vocal resonance usage of the term deserves a more detailed attempt at explanation.
The whole of the head and of the thoracic cavity contribute with specific resonance components to the way the human voice sounds. One theory defines five main resonance points or areas: head, nose, mouth (or teeth), nape of the neck and chest (other models exist that give different names and subtract or add one component, but the essentials don't differ too much).
Depending on the person and the sounds being produced (be it spoken or sung) each of these resonance components appears with greater or lesser strength. One possible way of exploring these components is to understand how they relate predominantly (not exclusively!) to different consonant types:

head - S, T, D, L, Sh, R (as in English "run")
nose - N, M
teeth - B, P, F
nape - G, K, R (as in French "rien")
chest - V, Z, J (as in French "jour", i.e. without the English initial "d" sound)

By uttering syllables with these consonants and several vocals, and focusing one's attention in our bodily sensations, one can start to develop a sensibility to how these different resonance components make up our voice, some more obviously than others.
For example place the palm of your hand on your chest when saying "ZZZAAAH" repeatedly, or lightly pause the tip of your fingers on the curved spot at the top of your head while saying "DAAAH". The vibrations should be clearly felt.
By learning to identify these sensations, one can also learn to modulate our voice at will to predominantly use a specific resonance point or to compensate for a naturally weak one. And by learning to identify and control these components in our own voice we can also start to identify them in other people's voices.
Depending of course on the individual, and their gender and culture, a "good" voice has a somewhat balanced composition of these five elements, and many times we find a voice weird or disagreeable because one of these components is too prominent at the expense of the others.
This is true for the spoken voice as well as for singing. The purpose of the singer should be to maintain, as much as possible, an even balance of all resonance components, throughout their full vocal register.
But it's necessary to take into consideration that (due to the physics of sound), chest and, to some extent, nape, are more important resonance components in the lower registers; mouth and nose (also sometimes called "mask") and head (proper) are more important in the high registers. So the singer should manage a smooth transition of the prominence of these components along the vocal range (up to the point where, with the male falsetto and the very high register of the female voice, the chest component may be negligible).
So if a male singer has a predominantly chest resonance (common situation) he may be told to "use his head voice", specially when trying to reach a high register, without having any idea of what that means.
Comment: I think this is good info but one thing confuses me. Linguistically speaking, S, T, P, F, and K are all unvoiced consonants (Z, D, B, V, and G are their voiced equivalents, respectively). Meaning normally nothing would be resonating when they are spoken. So how do these consonants relate to resonances at all?
Comment: I sing baritone and have been singing the tenor part; however, when I sing in the higher registers I find that the quality of the note is far from perfection, plus I cannot hold it for an extended period of time and afterwards I am usually out of breath.  Are there any breathing exercises or techniques that you would recommend?
Comment: @Briard, albeit an important one, resonance balancing is just one factor when trying to hit the high notes. Larynx relaxation/lower position, is another, perhaps even most important one. Breathing and the so called abdominal support are yet other factors. Breathing and sustaining long phrases is a whole subject in itself, one at which I have some difficulties myself. I believe there are some other questions you can search for info or perhaps start your own new question.
Comment: @ToddWilcox, there is resonance focus when the unvoiced consonants are joined with a vowel. The difference can be clearly felt for example when saying "SAH" (chest) and "TAH" (head) . But you're right, the resonance it is less pronounced than with voiced consonants in any case.  It's a good point that self awareness exercises should mostly be done with voiced consonants (I used them in the couple of example I gave in the answer, but did not make that point explicit).
Answer: The first explanation was very deep and fabulous. I'll give my own simple explanation as I'm a operatic baritone.
We sing with the body, literally. The sound resonances in several parts of the body and it will change depending of your own anatomy and singing range.
When you sing low notes, the sound resonances in the chest. When you sing high notes, the sound goes straight to the head. If there's something in between (not to low and not too high), both places will resonance.
Of course, you need some techniques in order to get a proper rich and vibrant sound in every part of your body. Head resonance is specially difficult for most men (specially low-voiced males) to achieve. There's where teachers tend to use abstract descriptions, like a voice spin, as my own teacher says.
Girls are the other way around. They find more difficult to use their chest voice (specially high-pitched singers), because girl's voice resonate in the head. They need it to stretch their vocal range and in case of low-voices girls (like altos or contraltos), to give really powerful and harmonically beautiful low notes.
Answer: It's the sound that you make when you sing goo (pronounce gu as in glue, but without the l) into a higher note. When most males do this exercise they tend to break into falsetto easily. Males don't usually use their head voice, so it is important to practice accessing the head voice for males to get control of a good mixed voice (head and chest). This month my voice lessons really focus on accessing head voice and have seen great changes in how I hit higher notes now, but depends on warmup, hydration, rest, exercise levels.
Comment: So wait, is "head voice" another term for falsetto?
Comment: Nope. Falsetto is when your voice starts to break up at a higher pitch. Most of this is a quick google search. If you want to know what your head voice is, or if you have one, or exactly what falsetto is, then sign up for some lessons somewhere. Google is your friend though. That is how I figured most of this out.
Answer: Terms such as head voice, falsetto, and chest voice are subjective terms that have little to do with what is actually happening in the throat.
When someone asks you to sing with head voice, they are really saying that they would like to see use less volume. If you follow their advice, what happens in the throat is that the vocal folds will thin slightly.  Singers cannot see what is happening in their throats, so they can only go by feeling and sound.....and when you sing more softy, you may feel that sound having a more "heady" quality...you may also be modifying the vowel slightly to match your mentor's example, which may also support this mental concept of "head" voice.
Answer: When you sing any note there are regions in your throat where much of the sound from your cords is coming in contact and resonating. Let's call that a resonance point. When you sing very low notes, the resonant point is usually  low, like towards the chest. That would be a chest voice. Generally, when you sing high, the resonant point goes up, towards the nasal cavity. The higher the resonant point goes up, the more "head voice" you hear. You could say that someone that sings very nasally has too much head voice because this point at it's very highest is right inside the nasal cavity.


Can Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul self cannibalize?

Question: Would it be possible for Kaneki to eat himself to prevent starvation? Or to keep himself from dying?
Answer: In the manga, I cannot recall that Kaneki self-cannibalized to prevent starvation or save himself. However, in Volume 7 Chapter 59 of the first Tokyo Ghoul,

when Anteiku found out that Kaneki was being held by Aogiri, Yoshimura asked for the help of Shuu Tsukiyama. When Touka asked how he (Shuu) was still alive, Shuu remarked that he just followed Touka's 'advice' and that after he did, he discovered that he 'actually tastes pretty good.' This implies that Shuu self-cannibalized after his battle with Touka. This also presents the possibility that a ghoul can self-cannibalize to heal himself/herself from injuries.

So, to answer your question, then yes, it is possible for Kaneki, and even for other ghouls, to self-cannibalize in order to save himself from starvation or death, as seen in Tsukiyama's case.
Answer: Kaneki is completely able to self cannibalize. Forget the tokyo ghoul universe. even in our universe self cannibalism is practiced. look here.
Also, self cannibalism can be a legit survival technique given the following assumptions hold true:

The healing of the wound uses up less energy compared to what you gain from eating the part you cut off.
Cutting off a whole limb from a joint is the best option. This ensures a large volume to wound surface ratio, optimizing the process.
Cutting off part will also increase your sustainability in the future, lowering the amount of energy your body uses to stay alive/ maintain body temperature.

Given this is a lot more possible in the Tokyo ghoul given the fact that to Kaneki Kun, loss of limbs is temporary rather than being permanent like in our world. It should be possible for Kaneki Kun to delay the regeneration for that part though.
Comment: 'Forget the tokyo ghoul universe.' Shouldn't answers to questions be restricted to what's possible in the Tokyo Ghoul universe? You raise a good point, don't get me wrong, but one does not simply say 'forget about the universe' without adding substantial points to back his/her claim. The link you gave did say that self-cannibalism is practiced but it never mentioned that it was used as a way to treat/heal wounds, which was what the OP wanted to know. (Continued below)
Comment: I would also like to know how you came up with assumptions 2 and 3 and how you were able to figure this out since as far as I know, self-cannibalizing was never discussed in detail in the anime or manga. Peace! :)
Comment: I was saying that starvation prevention is possible by self cannibalism even in reality, so there is very less reason to think it wont be possible in the TG universe.And the assumptions 2/3 are basic biology. I inferred it from what I learnt in school. Also, forget the Tokyo ghoul universe doesn't mean my answer doesn't apply to it, it only means that the question can be answered even without relying on it too much.
Comment: As I said, yes it might be possible in the case of starvation, but as I searched the web, I'm finding it hard to believe that self-cannibalism can save someone on the brink of death. I can't find any study that supports this claim (if you can point me to one, it would be appreciated). Unless there is substantial evidence of health benefits to self-cannibalizing in our world, I guess this is only possible in the Tokyo Ghoul universe, given of course that someone is a ghoul. Also, remember that Ghouls' bodies function differently than humans :)


Asking community to critique work?

Question: Should these kind of questions be allowed? Something like "I've been working on the home page of this website for some time now. I feel all the colors are appropriate, but not sure if the font is suitable. What do you guys think needs improvement?", and similar questions.
Answer: We recently had a similar discussion about "writing critiques":
Policy Change: Writing Critiques Questions Now Welcome
Following that same logic, I would say that graphic design critiques should also be on topic.

In retrospect, the idea that a site about [graphic design] doesn't allow talking about [graphic design] (except in the rather narrow context of objective question examples) was, uh, a bad one. Yes, all critiques are subjective, but we now allow some subjective topics so long as they are constructive. We think [graphic design] critiques, if properly directed, fit firmly in the "constructive" category.

But keep in mind that the critique request has to be part of a specific, constructive question. In other words, you must tell us:

what you were shooting for when you came up with the design
specifically what kind of critique feedback you are looking for
also, what kinds of critique feedback we should avoid, to set boundaries

You cannot simply throw up a screen shot of your design, type in "What do you think? How can I improve this?" and click submit. Vague requests for feedback should be closed as [not a real question].
Of course, discussion on the topic is welcome.
Comment: I'm firmly in the support camp; i think such questions allow opinion to flow; something that i think 'makes' design. My experience says there is little in design that translates to black and white "rules" and mostly the things that do could comfortably be on superuser. Of course we want to make sure that opinions are constructive, adding to the collective knowledge of the community, but thats what boundaries are for. Side note: I think the critique tag is an important stipulation for such questions.
Comment: I agree, but only and strictly within the boundaries of what Jeff writes in that linked question under the "What you must tell us:" heading. Also, an interesting issue is rep gain. Is it healthy for users to earn reputation for showing off an awesome design? (I'm not saying it is or is not - I really don't know.)
Comment: @Pekka: Agreed. I added the "boundaries" to the requirements. That's a large part of "good subjective."
Comment: @Robert after doing some thinking, I'm not sure whether the rule from writing.SE (which I'm sure is going to work fine for them) can be applied 1:1 to graphic design.SE. I think I'm in the "opposed" camp for now - I find  the risk of disappointing some users more acceptable than the risk of being flooded with "how would you improve this menu design?" questions.
Comment: @Pekka: I agree there is a risk and critiques are *very* localized. If you follow the original post, the stipulation was that designs be posted only in context of a *constructive* question. My *original* moratorium against critiques (http://meta.writers.stackexchange.com/questions/58/should-we-encourage-users-to-give-samples-of-their-writing-for-critique/61#61) originally suggested that samples of writing only be used to illustrate a very, very specific question. The new guidelines are really designed to just lighten up on that stance a bit. Something to discuss.
Comment: I could see this is valuable only in the meta section. If possibly the critique was directed in a way of a design or composition of the week type format; the winner would receive exposure. This would be similar to how Photo.SE does it.
Answer: I'm in the other camp.
Not only because I see the questions and answers too subjective, but also because there are loads of sites designed specifically for this when it comes to graphic design. I'm currently not in the writing field so I can't say for sure there aren't any "writing show & tell" sites but certainly there isn't as much competition.
Some sites to back me up (sorry for the obvious web-bias):

Dribbble (most notably)
Five Second Test
Please Critique Me
Critique the site
Concept Feedback
Bounce
Usabilla
Comment: On second thought, I tend to agree with this, at least for the time being while the community is still young. Critiques questions have a *huge* potential of littering the site with bad content. I'd say very specific questions like "Is the contrast in this composition readable enough?" are okay, but general "please critique my design" questions are not.
Comment: @Koiyu, if these other sites are serving the community so well we won't see critique questions here, it will be self moderating. On the flipside i can see lots of sense finding my community in one place, with names i recognize. Also i only took a 2minute look at dribbble, and it does not look like critique; the comments were 90% "wow cool", "i like it". Critique in design is about about trying to understand intent, and then commenting on the effectiveness of the communication of that intent. There is a huge amount the community can learn from a good critique.
Comment: @Pekka & Pearson, We definitely don't want to promote open ended "please critique" questions, but there is a middle ground. And looking at how we are doing on area51, we possibly need more questions rather than less.
Comment: Plus, it would imply or allow some _spam_
Comment: @Jaips both fair points. Maybe the community needs to experiment with this for a while?
Comment: I would also agree. Perhaps if they have some specific concerns about a design and want a few tips, but not a blanket "How does this look" statement.
Comment: @Clem, spam can be dealt with by moderators and the vote to close system.
Comment: @Jaips Good, valid points. Left me a bit unsure with my opinion.
Answer: Over at Area 51, during the definition stage, the question "Does this design look OK?" was the 3rd most off-topic question with 24 off-topic votes, 1 on-topic vote and 3 not a good example votes.
I see two valid reasons for this:

As Pekka and ClemDesm have mentioned, these kinds of questions have the potential to take over the site.
As koiyu mentioned, there are other (and maybe even better) sites dedicated to this.

However, after reading what Jeff has posted at the Writing meta and what Robert posted here, I feel we can have healthy discussions if these review requests are turned into proper, constructive questions.
As far as rep gain is concerned, I have two conflicting opinions:

I think users shouldn't gain rep for posting good or interesting designs for review. So, do make these questions CW.
I think users should gain rep if they post insightful reviews. So, don't make these questions CW.

In the end, I think I'm leaning towards option #1.
Comment: @Jaips I think reputation should be an indicator of quality questions and answers - how the user shares hishers knowledge. A good designer isn't necessarily a good teacher. High quality design *as is* doesn't benefit the community like a good answer or a good question aggregating good answers does.
Comment: If a designer can produce high quality work as determined by a community of expert peers, why shouldn't that designer deserve a high reputation?

Asking community to critique work?


How can one categorize himself as a Beginner or Intermediate Guitarist?

Question: I'm a self taught guitarist(if you don't count Rocksmith 2014) who plays rhythm guitar only as a hobby. I always get tongue tied when someone asks me "are you a beginner?" because I don't know the answer to that myself. I can play an easy song and some intermediate level song of a particular style, like for example I can play a tune like Would - Alice in chains & also something like Disposable Heroes - Metallica, but when i play/learn something like a trivium song or say a country tune i suddenly become a beginner. So how does one assess and categorize himself, are there any prerequisites/techniques under each category ? what is the criterion for this ?
Comment: Every musician, with every instrument will have his own favorite genre. For example, I'm a drummer, and I think that I am a good rock/ska/metal drummer, while in another hand, I'm a poor blues drummer.

Because each genre has its own techniques, you can be an intermediate musician in some, and a beginner in others, and that's pretty normal.

But because I'm not a guitarist, I'll let somebody answer this more specifically :)
Answer: Not the easiest of questions to try to answer, but - exams have always been a way to determine this kind of level. In essence, someone on, say, grade V on any instrument could be construed as as advanced as another who has grade V. Especially if it's on the same instrument. However, there are various different styles of guitar, and playing.This has been addressed by exam boards to some degree. ABRSM and Trinity hold exams for classical; Rockschool for electric, and also other 'band' instruments; and RGT for electric, rock, classical, acoustic, bass, and just coming up - ukelele ! Other parts of the world will have their own exams. (These take place in a lot of countries).
This is only one way to establish one's level, but it is recognised throughout a lot of the world. Obviously, it's not the only way, but it does provide a good idea to those who know the systems. Going through also tends to make one a more rounded player.
A guy I know was first met during one such exam. "I've played for years, and I'm doing my first exam -grade VIII" he said. He failed spectacularly, but fair play, he's been back every year since, now up to grade VII on - electric, acoustic, and classical, along with theory. He says that before, he thought he was good, but now he probably is !!
But - there is always the case of a great classical player who can't play jazz, a brilliant rock guitarist who can't play rhythm, etc. Just keep on getting better at whatever you do. I remember asking a guitarist, at a gig, when I was younger, how long he'd been playing." About 45 minutes," was his answer.
Comment: It's a joke - he'd been playing the first set of three quarters of an hour...
Comment: 45 minutes? May I know what role he played in the gig? for example rhythm guitarist?
Answer: I'm sorry, I can't find the quote, it's pre-WWW.
But I think it was in an interview in "Guitar Player," that Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones once replied to some flattery by saying that he was only an intermediate guitar player.  Because he was better than a lot of guitar players but a lot of guitar players were better than him.
So I'd go with intermediate.  When I was learning, I always had the most fun when I was thrown in with players who were much better than me--they taught me how to turn my limitations into a distinctive style that added to the music we were all playing.
Answer: When answering this question I always answer with 'meh, I know a few chords'. This demonstrates modesty, which some people perceive musicians to be lacking and doesn't set anybodies expectations too high. If people are interested in you joining their band then no descriptions can really be a substitute for actually hearing you play.
Now, in terms of actually assessing your level of playing for yourself it should be against whatever yardstick you set. If you want to play like a certain musician, doesn't matter if its Steve Vai or Bob Dylan, examine how well you think you can do that. If you want to be a Grade VIII, then thats straight forward enough to check your progress against too. This falls under the learning cycle of pick a goal, work towards it, enjoy the satisfaction of reaching the goal, rinse and repeat. Personally I found this to be an effective way to assess my own progress.


From risk limits to pnl projection?

Question: As a fresh risk manager, today I got an assignment to check whether our risk measurements / limits are setup properly (whether the limits are so tight that affect our p&l) . Better if I can project the values of those measurements to our p&l value. We are mainly interested in three kinds of measurements: the values of VaR, of stress test, and value of exposure. We basically have fixed income products, equities, bond, index and commodity futures, as well as some equity derivatives such as vanilla and exotic options (we are a sell-side firm). So I was wondering if someone can name some articles or share some insight of common  practice. Thank you very much!
Answer: I would check performance return from each sectors and test if it will improve with different risk limit while total risk still tolerable.
Answer: Seems like a complicated issue perhaps not well suited for general discussion (too specific to the situation).
What I would do is
(0) Understand in detail what the limits are currently (may be trivial or may involve a lot of questioning and writing things up on your part)
(1) Check which product desks are frequently at or near their upper limits
(2) Check the profitability of such products
(3) Inquire with profitable near-the limit desks whether they could use a bigger limit, keeping in mind however that traders almost always feel that they could be much more successful if they had bigger limits :)
In any case it is an excellent project for you to learn more about the internal functioning of your organization and meet people with different jobs and points of view. But the advice outsiders can give you is limited.

From risk limits to pnl projection?


Excel 2007 modify creation date/statistics

Question: I know how to modify file's creation date, but in Excel (xlsx) in file statistics/attributes/properties/whatever it still has the original creation date/last printed date etc. I was wondering if there is any way to modify this data.
Answer: I figured it out, and I guess it might be useful for some, so Ill answer my question myself. Note this works only for the new Excel file format (xlsx) or other new MS Office formats, ie office 2007 and newer. For older file formats do like Dennis Williamson suggested bellow.
Here are basic steps:
Open the Excel file using a zip utility such as 7zip
Go to folder named 'docProps'
Extract the file name 'core.xml'
Open the file using a plain-text editor such as Notepad or Notepad++
You will see most(all?) file atributes inside angle bracket tags, such as
<code><dcterms:modified xsi:type="dcterms:W3CDTF">2010-10-03T15:59:33Z</dcterms:modified>
</code>
Modify the date or other info that goes BETWEEN the tags ie the date above. WARNING! don't modify the stuff INSIDE the tags (angle brackets) unless you know what are you doing.
Save the file when done.
Go back into the zip utility and change the original 'core.xml' with the one you just edited. If using 7zip its as simple as drag and dropping it back and confirming overwrite.
Go inside excel and confirm that all the information is modified.
The end.
Answer: Using 7Zip as described above works well. Just be aware that time is stored as UTC (aka GMT) and you will need to adjust it to your time zone.
If for some reason you want to cover your tracks, editing the core.xml file will show that the file was modified on the date you made the modification. In that case, you should use Plan B, described in the next paragraph.
Saving to a new file won't work, at least not in Excel 2010; it carries the original creation date along with everything else into the new file. However, moving all of your worksheets to a new workbook gives you a clean start datewise...the date created will be the date you moved the worksheets.
Answer: The created dates, etc., are from the filesystem (I think the printed date is stored in the file) so any utility that can modify those dates for any file should be able to do it for your spreadsheet file. Here is an article that lists a few of those utilities.
Comment: Yep, I already modified those... but it seems the new excel format also has some of that data embedded. Although I modified the attributes in filesystem, when I go to file properties in excel it has all the original dates. If I had little more time I would research the file format and modify the embedded bytes by hand in hex editor or something, but I need this in next couple of hours *sigh*


How to choose micro USB cable for my device?

Question: The plug sure looks like any old micro USB plug.  Will another cable (like the one from my digital camera) work to charge the battery, or do I need one specifically designed for my phone (incredible)
Comment: I took the liberty of editing the title, to make the search device independent, while my solution specifically uses your device as an example. Thanks
Answer: Any Micro USB cable that has the capability of charging your phone does excactly that.
I found a link on USB powering. The source is from 2005 but the issue remains the same.
Some cables do charge your device due to a sufficient power flow through the cable while others don't.
Comment: That's not answering the question you are just saying that if it does then it does.  Any piece of string that has the capability of charging your phone does exactly that.  I'm not aware of any string that has the capability but if it had the capability then it would have that capability. Profound, yes, I know.  Not all cables are capable of charging a phone.
Comment: That's true, but you should look in the cable's description whether the cable is capable of charging or not since your phone already has the charging contacts built into the USB socket.
Comment: I have used three different cables that came with other devices and they have all worked just fine.  But yes, not every cable will be fully wired to support power flow/charging.
Answer: Edit:  Proof of theory is in testing it, so the reults are right on top to encourage making an informed decision while shopping for USB charging cables.
Of late, I noticed that my Huawei Honor 6 device was charging slower and decided to replace USB charging cable. I bought these Tronsmart cables at a price comparable with budget cables. These are 20 AWG thickness for charging (provide best charging) 28 AWG for data (thinner thickness doesn't affect data transfer speeds). Picture below from product

Performance: I have two devices Samsung Note 2 and Huawei Honor 6 both with OEM chargers and OEM cables (nearly a year old). Charging current as measured using OEM cables and Tronsmart cables is very encouraging

Samsung Note 2 with OEM cable -  1100 mA, with Tronsmart cable - 1900 mA
Huawei Honor 6 with OEM cable -  550 mA, with Tronsmart cable - 1750 mA

Caution: Please make sure you don't end up buying CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum Cables) instead of Copper cables. Former are comparatively brittle and have lower conductivity compared to Copper conductors

Standards

USB standard 3.0 in   lays down standards of 10 W: 5 V, 2 A  for smartphones and tablets
Battery Charging Revision 1.2 lays down " standard for establishing the proper way to charge a battery from a USB port "
American Wire Gauge (AWG) is a reference for thickness of cables. In this system, larger numbers indicate thinner wires. USB specification above makes reference to AWG numbers of 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28,

These standards are to ensure that appropriate Voltage and Current are available to the device being charged and selection of  right USB cable is based on these to deliver right amount of Power to charge

This is applicable for all Android phones- OP's device is taken as an example ( see Notes at end )
All USB cables are NOT the same when it comes to charging
Selection of USB cables depends on:

Device it is meant to charge
Length of cable
Thickness of cable in AWG ( externally, they may look the same but what matters is the electrical conductor thickness internally ). USB cables of standard make are marked showing the thickness, for example,
28AWG/2C and 24AWG/2C or 28AWG/1P + 24AWG/2C

This means

The first code is normally the specification of the data signal pair, which is normally 28AWG. "2C" means 2 conductors, and "1P" or "1Pr" means 1 pair. "2C" and "1P" are basically the same.
The important part is the second code, which is the specification of the power distribution pair (relevant to the solution here)

Before we get into details of how to select based on these factors, a quick recap of  basic electrify would help:
Ohm's Law  Current = Voltage divided by Resistance

Resistance = Length  of cable divided by Area of cable (ignoring resistivity)

Power = Voltage multiplied by Current

What do those equations mean?
Current carrying capacity depends on resistance, for the same Voltage.
Resistance is inversely proportional to the area of the wire ( Less area = Thinner Wire = More Resistance = Less Current )
Resistance is directly proportional to length (Longer cable = More resistance and vice versa )
Power in turn is therefore dependent on length and thickness of cable (affecting resistance) and Voltage
In a nut shell, quoting from USB Cable Resistance: Why your phone/tablet might be charging slow

if you are going to replace your cable with an aftermarket cable, it would be best to see if you can find a cable with the thickest possible conductors for the power. If that isn't possible, stick with short (to very short) lengths, as that always works.

Power (Voltage times Current), thickness, short lengths are qualitative and need to be in numbers to choose the right cable. For this you need to know, firstly, Power-  Refers to the charger rating of your device .  Your device as mentioned is "incredible" and  Charger for HTC Droid Incredible shows it to be rated for 1A
Next, is Voltage- For a 5V output, the USB specification demands that the voltage remains within 5% (i.e. an acceptable voltage drop of 0.25V). Some vendors provide a slightly higher Voltage rating

.... some vendors have realized the issue (of Voltage drop ) and decided to push the output voltage up to 5.1v or 5.2v, which is still within USB specification but allows for an extra 0.1-0.2v voltage drop. This is a potentially nice feature as it means the requirements on the cables are slightly relaxed (i.e. maybe even 0.7v voltage drop is tolerable).

Choosing the right cable
You know the Power and Voltage , only thing left is to know the thickness and length of USB cable. For that refer to the tables (choose under the current rating of table With Contact Resistance, which is real life, without contact resistance is to give the effect of cable alone) and look for maximum cable length / thickness combinations by choosing "non red" color (green or yellow) which tell you that you can safely choose, as indicated by arrows:

24 AWG cable upto 2 metres in length
26 AWG cable upto 1 metres in length

Google for this cable specs (normally cables are commonly sold as 24/28 AWG ,in  which case select maximum 1 meter length ) and buy from a reputed vendor. Done!!
Notes

You can calculate the voltage drop using Ohm's law yourself. Tables are for convenience. Helpful pointers on using the tables :

If the exact rating of your charger is  not available, say 1.35 A, select the next higher rating or work it out issuing Ohm's law
Green color in table indicates, that the values are compliant to USB standard.
Yellow While yellow-zone figures are not going to be strictly compliant with the USB -0.25V maximum drop, it may still be sufficient for a full charge as many devices can accept somewhat more loss of voltage without detriment to charging
Red Non compliant to standards. Don't use
For lower current rating upto 1.5 A, selection of yellow zone lengths may still be sufficient for a full charge as many devices can accept somewhat more loss of voltage without detriment to charging. For higher currents (more than 1.5V), you need to be more conservative, so you should choose towards the green.

For Tablet users: you need to choose what falls in "green" zone only, since Voltage drop sensitivity is higher. See this as an example Google Nexus 7 Charging
I am in no way affiliated with the source and I believe it to be credible given the detailed logic presented and relates well with other sources which recommend short cables, without proper justification. It is an educative read for those inclined to get into technical details
Comment: A very well informed answer, +1, hope full the person asking the question can make sense of it all
Comment: The picture say Voltage drop at `1000mA and 2000mA` what is it? how you read that? did you crop the image for the 2000mA table? I mean my charger say 1500mA so I guess can get green area at 2 meters for my Tablet?
Comment: 1. Sorry, that was a cut paste problem. Tables are linked in answer and again [here](http://goughlui.com/2014/10/01/usb-cable-resistance-why-your-phonetablet-might-be-charging-slow/) for the source 2. As pointed out in the answer if your rating is not covered in the tables, you can either work out yourself using Ohm's law or  select the next higher rating for tables, which is 2000mA
Comment: I use 2 metre cables for my three devices all rated at 5V 2A and it works fine (two of them are capable of fast charging and no problem with them either)
Answer: My un-technical answer is no.  I have a microUSB AC Adapter for a bluetooth headset that charges my headset just fine but won't charge my phone for some reason.  I also have a retractable miniUSB cable to connect to the computer with and it is fine for data but it also fails to charge my phone.
Comment: That is not an issue with the cable, its an issue with the power source. Some power sources(usb ports or wall worts) will not supply sufficient power for some devices.
Comment: No, it is an issue with the cable.  I know the difference between powered and unpowered usb ports and the ones in question were all powered and worked fine to charge my phone through the stock cable that came with my phone.  I'm pretty certain it was the slim retractable cable that failed because I tried it on 3 different computers. Data' yes; power, no. Also your comment does not take into account the ac charger I mentioned.
Answer: I'd say it depends on the cable, but you have a fair chance to get your phoned charged.
I've tested HTC Hero with 3 types of USB cable (universal, bought with my pocket hdd and bough with my dvd-drive), 2 types of a GPS charger and one type of a GPS car charger. All worked well. :)
Answer: For what it's worth, I purchased a generic MicroUSB cable on Amazon for like $2, which was advertised as being for BlackBerry users, and it works just fine on my Incredible. I use it as my charger at the office.


Difference between "socket" and "outlet"

Question: While translating a technical document I began thinking about socket and outlet. It seems like they're mostly interchangeable. Is that correct? Or is there a difference between the two?
Comment: please accept the right answer!
Answer: The other answers are being too specific.  A socket is something into which something is plugged or fitted (also called a receptacle).  An outlet is something that something comes out of.
A light socket is called a light socket because a light bulb is inserted into it.
A power outlet is called an outlet because power comes out of it.  It could conceivably be called a power socket but this is not usual and is possibly confusing.
Neither of these examples is intended to imply the power doesn't come out of a light socket or that a plug isn't plugged into a power outlet.   Those are facts but not related to the terms in question themselves.
If you are in any doubt that context is not enough, just use light socket and power outlet.

I want to add one more comment, eight years later.   It's also not usual to call the thing that's installed in your wall a receptacle.  In this context, usually the speaker is referring the literal piece of equipment installed there that receives the plug.   In other words, you're mostly talking about what the form of the thing is (a hole for a plug) and not what it does (outputs power).
Comment: Good answer, although I'd use "fitted", not "plugged" to describe the general meaning of "socket" - for example, an eye fits into an eye socket, but I wouldn't describe it as "plugged in".
Comment: +1. This is the correct answer; There are outlets that are not sockets (There's several from the local sewer) and sockets that aren't outlets (particularly if you like putting together cheap furniture).
Comment: @ Ziv, if we ever see you again, perhaps you'd like to accept this answer?
Comment: In your edit, did you mean 'receptable' or 'receptacle'?
Comment: Actually (at least in the US) the term "outlet", "socket", and "receptacle" are all distinct and have a specific meaning in the electrical trade. An "outlet" is the location that can have one or more power jacks. Each individual jack is a "receptacle". A "socket" is actually where a device is inserted: usually a light bulb (but it can be a microchip or some other device, on circuit boards.)
Answer: In British English, 'socket' is the word that normally describes the place in the wall where you put a plug to connect to the electricity supply. 'Outlet' might conceivably be used in some technical contexts, but it has other meanings too and could be ambiguous.
Comment: In American English, both 'outlet' and 'socket' are used to describe this. I believe the usual adjectives for these words are 'electrical outlet' and 'wall socket'. For other uses of these words, they are usually **not** interchangeable.
Comment: If you are referring to an electrical power receptacle, at least in the US, socket and outlet both apply, they just refer to different aspects or characteristics.  It is a socket in the sense that it is the receptacle into which you insert a plug.  It is an outlet in the sense that electricity comes out.  Some people call it a "wall socket", some call it a "wall outlet" or "power outlet".  Outlet is probably used more frequently.
Answer: In American English and when speaking about electrical circuits and devices, a "socket" is something into which a light bulb is screwed, while an "outlet" is something into which electrical cords are plugged.
Light socket:   Electrical outlet:
Comment: Further to other comments relating to BrE terms for these things the fitting into which a bulb is fitted is called a "bulb holder" in BrE and the term "light socket" doesn't exist in normal usage.
Comment: To add to this: each of the individual jacks on that outlet are "receptacles." The term "outlet" is the combined unit that has two (or more) receptacles on it.
Answer: This really does depend on your dialect. This is the first time I have seen this meaning of outlet. I've never heard it before. So if you're writing for a British or Irish audience, socket is your only option.
Comment: For BrE or IrE, is that because 'outlet' doesn't mean anything at all or because it means something else entirely?
Comment: @Mitch. It is used, as a general word meaning "somewhere something comes out of". I'd understand *power outlet*, but I'd expect it to refer to some unusual power outlet, such as those used on building sites. Using that phrase to refer to a normal socket would seem quite odd.
Answer: If you're talking about the endpoint of a logical network connection (such as Berkeley sockets), only the term 'socket' is used. These are never called 'outlets'. Only physical endpoints are ever called 'outlets'.
Answer: The official designation in Australia used to be "General Purpose Outlet" (GPO).  However, the official designation is NOW "Socket Outlet".


What is the difference between "el examen fue largo" and "el examen estuvo largo"?

Question: What is the difference between el "examen fue largo" and "el examen estuvo largo"?
Comment: Spanish people never say "El examen estuvo largo..." that's a incorrect expression
Comment: What did you investigate so far? Note there are quite a lot of questions/answers on this topic, so doing some research can satisfy your needs. For avid users: [Necesitamos una pregunta canónica sobre ser/estar](http://meta.spanish.stackexchange.com/q/2498/1674)
Comment: The question is somewhat incomplete. It lacks a context, and it does not show a previous effort. The more information you provide, the more we will be able to help you. Welcome to [spanish.se]!
Answer: In the Spanish from Spain the former one is used, while the American Spanish uses the second one. There is no difference but the localization, but el examen estuvo largo sounds weird in Spain, as here largo is a quality, not a state.
Answer: "El examen estuvo largo" is a colloquial way of saying "el examen fue largo" in some Latin American regions.
The correct way is "el examen fue largo", but both are accepted.
In those regions, "estuvo" is used just like "it was".
Comment: @fedorqui The "estuvo largo" is more likely to be said in México
Comment: In Chile both sentences are identical. "_Estuvo largo_" is not colloquial, is not wrong, is not uncommon.
Comment: Thanks for your answer. Could you complete it with some sources for your statement? I wasn't aware that this was just a colloquial form.
Answer: This really boils down to the difference in
Ser vs Estar

Fue largo el examen

just means... it was a long test

Estuvo largo el examen

means you're telling a story involving this long test. Consider these English differences.
Ser

How was the test? It was a long test.

Estar

Yesterday, I had to pick up my little sister after taking a test.  It was a long test, and I was constantly distracted by the pretty teacher.

The first example is very passive, while the second example really emphasizes the length of the test.

Ayer assistía a mi clase y me sorprendió que hubo un examen.  Estuvo un examen largo.

It can also mean that the test was unusually long
Comment: While this could be a case, in Latin America they use _Estuvo largo_ with the exact same meaning of _it was a long test_.


how long does it take to synch across devices

Question: I've imported 1,000 photos into Photos on my Mac, and my settings are "Store in iCloud", it is over an hour since I did the import and when I log into iCloud.com via Safari I can see the photos there in Photos however they do not show on my iPhone 6 (logged into the same iCloud account) which has iOS 8.3 and uses Photos. I wonder how long does it take to synch to my devices or is there another step I need to take to get it to synch.
Comment: Just to clarify, you also turned iCloud Photo Library on in Settings > iCloud > Photos on your iPhone 6? Just being logged into iCloud does not enable iCloud Photo Library. You must explicitly do so on each device where you wish to use it.
Comment: Yep, thx, it was switched on, interestingly it said Low Disk Space,18 item to upload, I freed up some space (now have 400Mb free) and it says "18 items to upload". I wonder if it needs to complete this first before it will start to synch with the rest.
Comment: In my experience it uploads before downloading, yes.
Answer: I am seeing the iCloud Photo Library syncing getting faster in iOS 11, even with my backup phone iPhone 5s.
Prior to iOS 11, it takes as soon as several hours, and up to days for the new photos to show up on all my devices. And at that time, it needs WiFi connection for the sync to happen. **The feature is designed the way that plugging into power and connected to WiFi triggers syncing. **
But in iOS 11, the photos even sync on cellular (but limited, eg. videos excluded). And the photos show up on all my other devices almost instantaneously - within minutes. (And my home and office WiFi is upgraded at all)
To conclude, to make the syncing faster:

Update to iOS 11 (it really helps with the photo syncing process)
Plug the device to power
Connect to good WiFi
Suspend other network heavy applications such as App Store Updates.
Answer: Apple advertise the sync as "instantaneous"; however, doesn't state what time it takes to sync photos between devices.
I have 7 devices and so far haven't found any obvious pattern with regards to syncing time. It varies from device to device, from network to network and from OS version to OS version.
What I found is that newer doesn't necessary mean quicker.
From my experience - it could take between minutes and days for photos to appear on the device.
If you have iCloud Photo Library turned on, then there are no additional steps needed to sync; however, you can try to force trigger the sync by putting your device into flight mode and back.
Also check whether you have enough space on your device. Sometimes it prevents photos from being synced if you have less than 300MB available on it.


Are there plans for another mission to Titan?

Question: I've always liked the idea of exploring the moon Titan, most likely because of the atmosphere, pressure, and the fact that it has stable bodies of liquids at the surface. Although it's very cold, these factors may increase the chance of life being there. So, does anyone know if and when we will send another probe (most likely unmanned) to Titan? Are there any missions planned within the near future?
Comment: When asking "are there plans for a mission to..." you can always assume 'yes' for an answer. There are plans for missions to *everywhere*. Now, for ones that went out of proposal stage, never mind have funding reserved...
Answer: A colleague worked on the Titan Mare Explorer (the concept did not proceed beyond proposal stage).  It was an ultra-cool idea that would include to lower a boat to sail the seas of Titan (doesn't that sound catchy?).  Alas, it wasn't selected; instead, NASA selected the InSight Mars lander — NASA keep changing their priorities as to where they want to go.
There are currently no active plans to return to the Saturn system.  Personally, I believe that the next landing in the outer solar system will not be on Titan, but on another moon, such as Europa or Enceladus.  But it will be a bit down the road; neither upcoming JUICE (ESA Jupiter mission), nor Juno (NASA Jupiter mission) include any landers.
Comment: `"the now-cancelled Titan Mare Explorer."` That's misleading. The mission hasn't even made it beyond the proposal stage (there is a new proposal to launch in 2016.) What *has* been cancelled is the development of the required power source.
Comment: @b1nary.atr0phy Valid point.  I have reformulated the first sentence.
Answer: The Phys.org article Researcher sets eyes on Saturn's largest moon describes the Dragonfly project; the potential application of large (~2 meter) quadcopters on Saturn's moon Titan.

Dragonfly is one of two NASA recently short-listed– from an original proposal group of a dozen – as part of the agency's New Frontiers planetary science program.

An artist's rendering shows the proposed Dragonfly quadcopter landing on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan, unfolding its rotors and lifting off again to survey the landscape and atmosphere. Credit: Steve Gribben/Johns Hopkins APL

Dragonfly was one of two mission concepts down-selected for the next New Frontiers mission at the end of 2017. The other is a comet sample return. One of those two will be selected in July of 2019.
Even if Dragonfly is not selected, it is very likely that the "Ocean Worlds" objective will remain for the subsequent New Frontiers call, which would be satisfied with either a Titan or Enceladus surface exploration. The other objectives are a Lunar Aitken Basin Sample Return (though it looks like China may be planning to do that soon), a Saturn Atmosphere Probe, a Jupiter Trojan Tour and Rendezvous, and a Venus In Situ Explorer. Generally New Frontiers objectives remain until satisfied with a mission. Previous New Frontiers missions are New Horizons, Juno, and OSIRIS-REx.
Answer: NASA's currently planned and funded (to some extent) future missions are listed here: http://www.nasa.gov/missions/future/.  Alas, nothing is currently planned for Titan.
I guess other agencies/organizations might have something.
Answer: The boat mentioned by gerrit reminded of another concept. The idea is to put a blimp into Titan's atmosphere and fly around.
Colombatti, G., La Gloria, N., Aboudan, A., Debei, S., 2009. Airship's Dynamics Modeling and Control Strategy for Titan exploration. Proceedings of the 60th International Astronautical Congress - IAC-09.A3.I.12.
In terms of background for your question: There are certainly plenty of types of missions investigated right now. Unfortunately, the chances of such a mission actually receiving the required funding are slim. So the result is a wealth of good ideas, some even developed in very high detail, but virtually non of them fly. My habit is to "ignore" them unless they turn up in high level agency documents and political discussions. Otherwise it is just too painful to see them catching dust over time. From this point of view, there are no missions as of today planed for another visit of Titan.


Demo reel choice

Question: I came across a very interesting article about demo reels and that if you want to start somewhere try to do one.
The problem is the choice of the video for me. What would be a great demo reel for an employer? something that has "unique" effects, or something that has the usual and all-time-classic sounds (walking, knocking, breathing, etc)?
After this decision do you have to suggest a good place to pick up interesting-for-sound-design-videos? or is it clearly a matter of personal choice and point of view?
Answer: A few suggestions from me;
Keep it short: Try to make it shorter than 1 minute. People will not want to go through a 5 minute demo reel so probably they will end up with fast forwarding in which they can miss your best parts.
Emphasize your strengths:  Do not include everything you have done. Include your best works and the ones that showcases your unique skills. You have to give the audience a reason to choose you.
Have sub-reels: One demo reel can never cover everything. Have one main reel and have sub-reels such as "Motion Graphics Sound Design Reel", "Game Sound Design Reel" etc. Use them whenever you are communicating with the people of that area.
Answer: You need a demo that shows what you are good at.  There are a lot of sound people out there an a lot of demos.  Think about what makes you different from other sound designers and present that in your demo.  Stay away from walking, knocking, breathing (unless you've found a cool new way to do Darth Vader type breaths).  Everyone will assume that you already have the skills to cover the basic stuff.  You need to show what is unique about you and what you can offer that no one else can.
Answer: I think you should be clear before you make the reel what kind of work you are hoping to attract eg I have done a few BIG overt sounding VFX heavy films but those aren't on my show reel because it is not the kind of work I wish to spend my future doing....
I've read articles online about the 'right' duration for a show reel, but it totally depends on what your skill is & what you wish to demonstrate. For example think how different your show reel would be if you were pitching to sound design a dialogue driven art film vs pitching to be weapons designer on Star Wars XYZ...
In both cases if the video has great production values & your sound contributes to the drama, story telling & action, then they should reflect well... But its up to you to know what it is you are aiming to present to a future director, producer, employer etc...
Answer: There's a really good article by Kyle Vande Slunt over at http://audiocookbook.org. In it, he provides a list of 12 guidelines for creating a sound design demo reel. Here's the link:
http://audiocookbook.org/sound_design/guidelines-for-making-a-sound-design-demo-reel/

Demo reel choice


Which is the correct spelling: "fairy" or "faerie"?

Question: Fairy vs. faerie — which is the correct spelling?
Comment: Note that you will sometimes see the spelling *faërie*, to indicate it is meant to be pronounced with three syllables. For example, in poetry.
Answer: As others have noted, fairy is the standard modern spelling, and faerie is a pseudo-archaism.
However, in some contexts there is now a semantic distinction between the two spellings! In particular, fairy tales and the associated idea of fairies typically refer to the genre of folk stories printed by the Brothers Grimm, then sweetened and popularized for modern audiences by Disney et al. Faerie stories, on the other hand, are stories about the fae: otherworldly, unpredictable, and dangerous creatures who appear in the folk-tales and myths of England and Ireland. In origin, of course, the fairies and the fae are one and the same, but the connotations and usage of the words today are headed in opposite directions.
A Google image search for fairy vs. faerie shows a lot of overlap, but some very significant differences in tone and content between the two terms. Note that the search for "fairy" turns up a number of simple cartoon drawings and classical, idealized figures, while the search for "faerie" has a higher proportion of non-human and sexualized figures.
Answer: Here we have a difference between sources: the New Oxford American Dictionary reports faerie (and faery) as "late 16th century (introduced by Spenser): pseudoarchaic variant of fairy". On the other hand, etymonline has " supernatural kingdom, "Elfland," by late 14th century, from Old French".
At least one available data point weighs, to me, in favour of etymonline (and thus against NOAD): Oberon, the faery prince: A masqve of prince Henries was first published in 1616.

Going further, I looked at the French féerie, which derives from Old French faerie (circa 1188), itself from fae (modern writing: fée) (1140), itself from Latin fata (deities of destiny, or Parcae). This is unlike fate itself, which comes from Latin fatum, -a, ("oracle, prediction").
So, fairy, fay, faeries, farye and the Fates comes from the same Latin root fata, while fate itself comes from the different fatum, -a. Blows my mind!
Comment: +1, great answer.  The OED has the same theory as NOAD: Spencer in the late 16th century (1590), though, so I'm inclined against the etymonline theory.
Answer: I would say the former is correct in modern usage, a descendant of the latter which is seemingly from Old French / Middle English.
From The free dictionary:

For 'Fairy'
[Middle English fairie, fairyland, enchanted being, from Old French faerie, from fae, fairy, from Vulgar Latin Fta, goddess of fate, from Latin ftum, fate; see fate.]
For 'Faerie':
[Middle English faierie, fairie; see fairy.]
Comment: That's right - "fairy" is the standard modern spelling. The spelling *faerie* is sometimes seen, usually by people trying to add a historical or [poetic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Faerie_Queene) air to their writing.
Comment: @psmears or by people trying to sell arty rubbish in their shoppe
Comment: @psmears: Yeah, I wanted to get to the point, poetic archaism aside. A rare one, I would guess.
Answer: The current usage difference is that fairy is the mythical creature, and faerie is the world of fairies. However, Brian Froud, who is considered to be the main authority of fairies, nearly always uses the archaic form faery or faeries. I personally like to use the old form, but my spell-checker doesn't like it, ha.
Anyway, not a linguist here, but rather a fairy enthusiast, who's read the etymology of the word a number of times in my studies.
Answer: As reported from the NOAD, faerie (or faery) is the archaic or literary word for fairyland, or fairy.
As for the origin, it reports it is late 16th century (introduced by Spenser), and it is a pseudo-archaic variant of fairy.
Comment: I think NOAD has it wrong… see my answer for an earlier example
Answer: Fairy is most definitely the more modern, Disney-ised version of the derivatives of the ancient word Fae, which represented all folk in the realm of nature spirits.  Faery and Faerie keep this ancient derivative and are used by Faery historians and artists who connect deeply with all aspects of Faery.  Fairy is more commonly used by Disney and other sources who turn the realm of Fae into complete fantasy and sometimes nonsensical, childish beings who "only exist in the imagination of the child".  Fairy tends to be used to represent modern constructs of Faery, who are often in pink, sparkly clothing with Tiaras and other human attire.  Faery represents the light and the dark of the realm of Faery.  Not only the dark, as some others present on the internet as the difference of spellings.  Faerie or Faery keep the ancient connection to the word Fae, as the modern Faerie world is strongly connected to the ancient.  Where as the modern "Fairy" world seems to be completely removed from its ancestry and brought into a more consumer based modern world.
Comment: You do know that 'faery' is also complete fantasy?

Which is the correct spelling: “fairy” or “faerie”?


Multiple sites, each is either one page (with multiple editable content) or has multiple pages

Question: I tried researching into this on google for a while, but I'm stuck.
Basically what I'm trying to do is this: I have a "big" main website.  Then, on the same drupal installation I want to have a "mini" site that will have a completely different theme, and only one page (but the page will have multiple editable content).  I also will have another site that will have a completely different theme, completely different navigation, and multiple pages.  Final piece that has me puzzled is that this will be on a subfolder basis.  By that I mean / will have the main site, /sitea will have the single page site, and /siteb will have the multipage site.
Any suggestions on how to handle this?
Answer: If you don't need multiple domains (or sub-domains for that matter) you could probably get away with using a custom module to simply switch themes under a given criteria (URI path, user role, etc).
How do I change a theme based on the URL?


Uniqueness of length minimizing geodesic

Question: In a compact hyperbolic Riemann surface without boundary tbe length minimizing geodesic between two points $p$ and $q$ is unique.
Answer: Think about a Riemann surface of genus 2 say. This is a 2-holed doughnut.
It has a curve winding about one of its holes. (Or more mathematically speaking
it has an embedded circle representing a nonzero homology class.)
We can deform this curve so that it is length-minimizing in its homotopy
class. Then the curve becomes a geodesic $C$. Then let $p$ and $q$ be "opposite"
points of $C$, that is the distance from $p$ to $q$ along $C$ is a half of
the length of $C$. Then $C$ splits into two equal-length geodesics between
$p$ and $q$.
I suppose there may be even shorter geodesics between $p$ and $q$, but
I think that choosing the homology class to minimize the length of $C$
shoudl sort that out.
Answer: I'm not a hyperbolic geometer, but I'm going to say no.  Here is my reasoning:
Let $C$ be your compact hyperbolic Riemann surface, so it is the quotient of its universal cover, the hyperbolic plane, by a cocompact Fuchsian group $\Gamma$.  Let $\pi: \mathbb{H} \rightarrow \Gamma \backslash \mathbb{H} = C$ be the covering map.
We have points $P$ and $Q$ on $C$.  Fix one lift $\tilde{P}$ of $P$ and consider all possible lifts <code>$\tilde{Q}_{\gamma}$</code> of $Q$: this will be a full orbit of $\Gamma$.  For
each $\gamma \in \Gamma$, there is a unique geodesic in $\mathbb{H}$ from $P$ to $\tilde{Q}_{\gamma}$ and its image under $\pi$ is a geodesic from $P$ to $Q$.
So certainly there are lots of geodesics in question.  The ones of minimal length are going to correspond to the choices of $\gamma$ such that the hyperbolic distance from $P$ to $\tilde{Q}_{\gamma}$ is minimized.  But it seems pretty clear that we can choose $P$ so as to be equidistant between two such points: choose any point $Q_1$, and then choose $Q_2$ to be distinct from $Q_1$, to lie in the same $\Gamma$-orbit as $Q_1$ and to be closest (not necessarily uniquely closest!) to $Q_1$ among all such points.  Let $P$ be the midpoint of the geodesic arc from $Q_1$ to $Q_2$.  Then so long as $P$ is at least as far away from any other point in the $\Gamma$-orbit of $Q$ as it is from $Q_1$ and $Q_2$, on the quotient we have two length-minimizing geodesics.
I am pretty sure you can arrange for this to happen with a suitable choice of $\Gamma$.  For instance, if $\Gamma$ is such that the fundamental domain is a regular hyperbolic octagon with edges identified in the usual way to get a genus $2$ quotient, then I think it works to take $Q_1$ and $Q_2$ to be adjacent vertices of the octagon.  See for instance the picture towards the bottom of this page:
http://www.math.cornell.edu/~mec/Winter2009/Victor/part4.htm.
Answer: To complement the fine answers given earlier, it could be mentioned that in the context of a hyperelliptic Riemann surface (such as any surface of genus 2, for example), the following simpler construction can be given. Among all pairs of Weierstrass points, take the pair $A,B$ of points at least distance. Then there are two minimizing segments joining $A$ and $B$ (they are switched by the hyperelliptic involution). This provides a counterexample.  Note that the union of the two segments is a systolic loop.


Buddha said "Its better to travel well than to arrive", what does it mean?

Question: I am not sure if Buddha said it or not, I was flipping around some Buddha quotes pictures and found an image saying "Its better to travel well than to arrive".
can anyone explain What does it mean ?
Thanks
Comment: I added a bit more information and references.
Comment: It means "The journey is more important than the destination."
Answer: "It is better to travel well than to arrive." is a fake Buddhist Quote.

Meaning
Hope and anticipation are often better than reality.
Origin
This phrase is a Robert Louis Stevenson quotation, from Virginibus Puerisque, 1881:
"Little do ye know your own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour."
Stevenson was expressing the same idea as the earlier Taoist saying - "The journey is the reward."

Source: The meaning and origin of the expression: To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive
"The journey is the reward." seems to be a Chinese Proverb

If you look at this in the context of Noble Eightfold Path and Nirvana it is better to arrive than how or how well you travel. It seems to me like the opposite of this statement is true.

Although the eightfold path is conditioned [188.8.131.52], its goal, nirvana (nibbāna), is free
from conditions (visaṅkhāra,gata) (Dh 154):
nirvana is unconditioned (asaṅkhata).
Only nirvana is
free from all conditions: it is "the stilling of all formations" (sabba,saṅkhāra,samatha).
This stilling
of all conditions is true happiness (Dh 368, 381). In the Māluṅkya,putta Sutta (S 35.95), the
Buddha defines this stilling of all formations as "the ending of suffering."

Source: The Path of Awakening The way, the life and the liberation of the noble eightfold path by Piya Tan

Now, ayya, is the noble eightfold path conditioned or is it unconditioned?
"The noble eightfold path, avuso Visākha, is conditioned."

Cūla Vedalla Sutta
What this entails is that traveling the path itself is suffering / misery with a view to end suffering / misery. So ending of misery is better than the journey to end misery which is also miserable. Having said this as you progress if the path the misery in general will become less and less and states like Piti and Passaddhi arise. [(Dasaka) Cetanā'karaṇīya Sutta, (Ekā,dasaka) Cetanā'karaṇīya Sutta]
Answer: It is better to travel well than to arrive.
Means Focus on your journey rather than drop point.
Comment: Welcome to S.E. I would request you to follow "How to answer"
Answer: This is probably not an authentic quote, as Suminda points out, and you should always check with Fake Buddha Quotes when you see such statements attributed to the Buddha on memes etc.
However, the sentiment is an authentic Zen teaching in the sense that we believe there is no 'aha!' moment after which you are enlightened and there is no further need of training.
Dogen (the Soto founder) said that practice and enlightenment were one (i.e. without conceptualising, no separation can be found between practice and enlightenment), wrote an essay on the subject of 'ascending Buddhas' (i.e. Buddhas are still and always training) and the final Bodhisattva vow can be translated as 'enlightenment is unattainable, I vow to attain it'.
Answer: I've never read the Buddha but ...sounds like it just means 'don't desire for gain' ('mushotoku'), i.e., don't have any goals for your actions, the view being that it's best simply to 'get into' undertaking them. (In psychological literature this is sometimes referred to as 'flow'.) This means that it's not about hope etc. either, including a hope for the end of the journey (as per Robert Louis Stevenson); it means you should have no goal, hence no hope for an end result. (Not that I suspect that Buddha, if he existed, wanted anyone to think in this way but - throwing ideas of goals away allows you to focus on the task itself thereby deriving genuine happiness. This said, the argument made is also against pursuing an action for the purposes of obtaining happiness too, since this would then also constitute a 'goal' of the action [in this case a desire for happiness]. He's basically arguing the Nike slogan - just do it. Don't have any desires - or goals, which reflect desires.) p.s., Although I've no idea if it's a real quotation or not, the underlying notion overlaps pretty nicely with the idea of shikantaza/just sitting - not sitting/meditating with a desire for an outcome e.g., enlightenment. Doing so seems to detract from/break meditation.
Comment: Like Gita says "Niskam Karma"
Comment: Sounds about right!
Answer: I've read it in the context of life and death. In his quote, "It is better to travel well than to arrive.", Buddha is looking at life as a journey. Although death is, ultimately, the final destination, it more important for one to live than it is to reach the 'destination'. Therefore, it is more important for one to live life well than it is for one to die.


How do I install live wallpapers I get from outside the android market?

Question: I have downloaded lots of Live wall papers from Android market.They work like charm.
I was trying to figure out a way to install Third party  live wall papers (Non-Android Market Specific) on my Samsung ACE 5830 Phone. Is this possible?
Answer: Check if on your phone you have the following option: Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Unknown sources.  Make sure it's checked to allow non-Market installs.
On older (and newer) Android OS versions this option could be under a different menu, or be absent altogether because some carriers disable this it.
Once the option is enabled and you have some Live Wallpapers downloaded from elsewhere, you should be able to side-load them.  Just copy the APK file to your SD Card, then use any one of the free file browser apps from Market to "launch" the APK from the SD Card.  This should invoke Android's built-in package installer and complete the installation.
Comment: IS there a way to move any other live wallpapers from my PC to the Samsung Phone
Comment: I'll edit my answer with instructions.


Opening PDF drawings with comments

Question: On some of my PDF drawings the Engineers review stamp block is covering a portion of the drawing.  I am using Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 -7.0 with ice cream to view this drawing.  I did not have any issues viewing the same drawing with the same "Engineers approval" stamp on my Windows 7 desktop. Can someone tell me if there is a solution or if this is an issue with Adobe Reader 10.2.1?
Answer: Use ezPDF Reader to view that file.
Comment: +1, it does just about everything for PDFs
Answer: This sounds like it could be one of two things: either it could be a problem with the PDF reader on the Samsung Galaxy Tab or that the different screen resolution is just making both images appear on top of one another (more likely). Since the tab has a smaller screen it could be "warping" the image to appear differently when in actuality there's nothing wrong with the PDF. You'll need to shrink that PDF.
There are many PDF viewers on the market that will allow you to view PDFs accurately if the PDF reader is the problem. A simple market search for "PDF" should turn up a number of readers. You can try this approach but it's also likely that the reader on the tab is merely warping the image and that there's nothing inherently wrong with the reader itself.
More likely, you can try shrinking your PDFs down to an appropriate size if they're too large. From what you're describing this may very well be the problem, your exact problem may be occurring because the images within the PDF are extremely large.
They can be trimmed down. This will also reduce the overall file size of the PDF (desirable). For more information see: http://www.ehow.com/how_4937702_reduce-pdf-file-size-easily.html

Opening PDF drawings with comments


Information on the moderator candidates

Question: Where can I find information on the candidates for the ServerFault and other elections?
Comment: That page loads but that's about it for me. Clicking the icons does nothing. Down the bottom there are just a bunch of "Loading... " messages but no activity.
Comment: That page seems to be somewhat broken in any browser except for IE when I try view it.
Comment: @John - you'd have to post a message on MSO or chat for Yi Jiang. I'm only passing the information along.
Comment: @Zoredache - you'd have to post a message on MSO or chat for Yi Jiang. I'm only passing the information along.
Comment: Given that this has been edited out of all recognition, as well as no longer being relevant, I thing it should be closed and deleted.
Answer: Yi Jiang has put together a nice site that use the Stack Overflow API to display information on the moderator candidates.
Click here to see all the information.
The information presented is:
What the candidate wrote when nominating themselves.

Answers/Questions on the main site and it's meta
Up-vote/down-vote ratio
Average reputation earned per post
Average reputation earned per day.
Participation in other Stack Exchange sites.

It displays what Yi Jiang considers to be noteworthy badges and whether the nominee has the badge and a summary of their recent activity.
The information is presented as is with no commentary.
It came about from this question on MSO Moderator nomination possibly useful statistics

Information on the moderator candidates


Why and how do flaps increase the curvature of the wing?

Question: Why or how do flaps increase the curvature of the wing? Do they alter the curvature of the upper surface of the wing?
Comment: Possible duplicate of [Why and when to use flaps?](http://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/5018/why-and-when-to-use-flaps)
Comment: @mins link is not working
Comment: @RonBeyer & ymb1 the image works fine here (also before)
Comment: Nope it doesnt answer my question there...i want to know how do they increase the camber of a wing?
Comment: is it because they are designed with a camber so that when they are attached to the wing there will be two curvatures or two cambers of the wing which will increase the wing camber? thats why?
Comment: Welcome Karim! Is [that](http://i.imgur.com/jg3FwjW.jpg) what you want to understand?
Comment: @mins Try clearing your cache, still not working for me.
Comment: There's actually numerous different kinds of flaps. Not all of them increase camber. If you're talking about the ones at the rear of the wing on most airliners then that's a Fowler flap. And they do increase camber because they are angled downward
Comment: @RonBeyer Link works fine for me, too.
Answer: Flaps change both the camber of a wing as well as its chord line and angle of attack. All the following images were taken from this article.
You can see the camber line here in a retracted scenario:

And here in an extended scenario:

As for the why, flaps are generally used to allow you to slow an aircraft down at a give pitch angle. This allows the pilot to pitch the aircraft down without an increase in speed. Generally a pitch down (given no other things are changed) will result in an increase in speed.
Flaps also change the angle of attack of the wing as well as the chord line:

All of this is a bit of an over generalization as there are many types of flaps and it's worth looking into the different types and how they operate.
Comment: Not only to slow the plane down but also to provide greater lift at a slower speed.  On short-runway takeoff, for instance.
Comment: Regarding the change in angle of attack, lift is roughly proportional to the angle between the relative wind and a "zero lift" line which is usually _not_ the geometric chord of the wing. Wouldn't it be more interesting to consider how much the direction of "zero lift" changes, rather than how much the direction of the geometric chord line changes? I think I recall from somewhere that the zero-lift direction changes more than the geometric chord does.


problem in raster data with arcmap 10

Question: I have a problem when trying to load raster data (a TIF) in ArcMap. ArcMap 10 instantly shuts down and the well known window appears "ArcGis Desktop has encountered a serious application error and is unable to continue.Does anyone know why? What is the solution? i have windows 7 32 bit,1giga video card .
Comment: Any info on your data? Does it have assigned georeference and in what way, with what software(previous ver. of Arc or something else) it was assigned? Size of data? 32 or 64 bits, this does not matter- Arc is 32. Graphic card does not matter. RAM amount does matter, but it is rather unlikely to be an issue here. Firstly, check your service pack. SP 4 is available, but I recommend to stop upgrading on SP 3, due some bugs in 4.
Answer: Loading raster data into ArcMap is a pretty standard thing, it is improbable that it is a bug with Arc itself. Most probably corrupt/faulty data or somethings up with your Arc install. My suggestions to you would be the following:
1) Check the data, make sure it is not corrupt. Perhaps try downloading it again
2) Reinstall Arc
3) If you are desperate and in a rush, then you can try a Open Source alternative such as Quantum GIS
Edit: As an after thought the size of the data file might be something to do with it. Try loading a smaller/different file and see if the error is reproduced.
Comment: I'd concur with this. If its instantly crashing its because you either have bad data or a bad Arc install. Although unlike Zero_Qualms I wouldn't rule out a bug. Chances are its a combination of ArcGIS bug in reaction to bad data (it should never crash, even with bad data). You may wish to send this to your ESRI support if you have it.
Answer: It is possible to overwhelm the 4gig memory limit available to arc. I have encountered it building mosaic dataset overviews. Depending in the size if your tiff this may be your issue. Try loading smaller images before condiming your install of arc. 64 bit os and more than 4gig ram still crashes when arc reaches 4gig mark. The generic error you describe is the same one it gave me.
Comment: Based on the description, it's unlikely to be lack of RAM. We're told it **instantly** shuts down. It takes time to read in 3GB of data.
Answer: Overwhelming Arc in a 32bit system is one option.  Alternatively, I used to get this problem with ArcGIS9.x when I used rasters with a lot of attribute values (>65536). Rasters with this number of attribute values also tend to be large.  The old way to fix this was to hack the registry.  In Arc10, there is a handy utility usually found on this path: C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Desktop10.0\Utilities\AdvancedArcMapSettings.exe.  You should have a PDF documentation file in there too.
Go to the raster tab and bump up the "Maximum number of attribute entries".  Using powers-of-two values is not essential but I think it makes sense. I have pushed this up to 20x without undue issues.  High settings can impact raster loading speed and you need admin access to make this change.
Comment: Based on the description, it's unlikely to be lack of RAM. We're told it **instantly** shuts down. It takes time to read in 3GB of data.
Answer: ArcGIS 10 sometimes has trouble with .tif files. Try installing the latest service pack, this should correct the problem (it worked for me).

problem in raster data with arcmap 10