qid int64 1 74.7M | question stringlengths 12 33.8k | date stringlengths 10 10 | metadata list | response_j stringlengths 0 115k | response_k stringlengths 2 98.3k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
29,482 | I have read that SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash function. On an exam, SHA-1 was given as a possible one-way encryption algorithm. Does SHA-1 require a key as input? Is a key required to qualify as "encryption"? | 2013/01/22 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/29482",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/2053/"
] | SHA-1 is not an encryption algorithm, it is a hash function. I will tell you the difference. A cryptographic function is getting text and key as input. Using the key. perform some algorithm on the plain text and then gives output as encrypted text. Consider if you give 'abcdef' as input and '123' as key it will return a encrypted text of 'abc' using an algorithm like DES, AES etc. This requires a key. It is like putting text in a box and locking the box using a key. The output size will vary according to the input size. That is if you give 1000 characters to encrypt you will get encrypted text having similar size. Size may vary for some algorithms.
Hash function is not to encrypt values. The hash function is like index for values. Consider a simple scenario. I have a number N, and hash of that number is defined N%100. For example if I give N as 123 Hash of N is 123%100 that is 23, if N is 1245621345 then its hash will be 1245621345%100 that is 45. Please note whether i am giving small input or large input the hash will be fixed in length. Here it is 2 digits. In similar way SHA-1 will get input value and calculate its hash. all SHA-1 hash value will have 160 bits. That is whether you give single character or 100000 character, the output size will be 160 bits only. So SHA-1 don't need key. It is used for Authentication purpose. You can Google the uses of Hash functions. | Ciphers are bijective and hash functions are not. Though you can still build a cipher by XORing the input with a hash (encryption) and doing the same one more time for decryption. |
29,482 | I have read that SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash function. On an exam, SHA-1 was given as a possible one-way encryption algorithm. Does SHA-1 require a key as input? Is a key required to qualify as "encryption"? | 2013/01/22 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/29482",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/2053/"
] | This could easily be [googled](http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip180-1.htm) or [wikipedia'd](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1), but here goes:
SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash function, but is not an encryption function. All you work the SHA-1 function on is irreversible.
SHA-1 *could* be done using a key, but that would make it a Message Authentication Code (MAC, see [HMAC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAC)).
I agree with your last sentence. For something to be encrypted, you'll need to have some key, or something that corresponds to one. Say you have a (rather lousy) encryption function flipping the bits of the input, your key is "flip each bit". Another function may be a [feistel network](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feistel_network) using the round function F, and a key K = 281474976710656 as input to that function. | SHA-1 is not an encryption algorithm, it is a hash function. I will tell you the difference. A cryptographic function is getting text and key as input. Using the key. perform some algorithm on the plain text and then gives output as encrypted text. Consider if you give 'abcdef' as input and '123' as key it will return a encrypted text of 'abc' using an algorithm like DES, AES etc. This requires a key. It is like putting text in a box and locking the box using a key. The output size will vary according to the input size. That is if you give 1000 characters to encrypt you will get encrypted text having similar size. Size may vary for some algorithms.
Hash function is not to encrypt values. The hash function is like index for values. Consider a simple scenario. I have a number N, and hash of that number is defined N%100. For example if I give N as 123 Hash of N is 123%100 that is 23, if N is 1245621345 then its hash will be 1245621345%100 that is 45. Please note whether i am giving small input or large input the hash will be fixed in length. Here it is 2 digits. In similar way SHA-1 will get input value and calculate its hash. all SHA-1 hash value will have 160 bits. That is whether you give single character or 100000 character, the output size will be 160 bits only. So SHA-1 don't need key. It is used for Authentication purpose. You can Google the uses of Hash functions. |
29,482 | I have read that SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash function. On an exam, SHA-1 was given as a possible one-way encryption algorithm. Does SHA-1 require a key as input? Is a key required to qualify as "encryption"? | 2013/01/22 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/29482",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/2053/"
] | There is an incorrect but widespread usage of the term "encryption" for things which are not encryption, but, for instance, hashing.
The strict definition of **encryption** assumes that some data is transformed, in a way such that:
* after the transformation, data is not readable anymore;
* there exists a reverse process, called *decryption*, which can recover the original data from the encrypted output, using the knowledge of some extra piece of data which is not publicly known.
It is somehow necessary for encryption that the encryption process uses a parameter which is linked to the secret data used for decryption; that parameter, we call a *key*. When the key for encryption is identical to the secret data used for decryption, then this is **symmetric encryption**. When the encryption key is mathematically linked with the secret data but yet distinct, in such a way that the encryption key can be safely made public, then this is **asymmetric encryption**.
Thus, there can be no such thing as "one-way encryption", and SHA-1 is not encryption. SHA-1 is **hashing**: no key, fixed-size output (160 bits for SHA-1), no reverse process (in particular, the input can be quite larger than the 160 output bits).
Unfortunately, the people who wrote your exam question apparently used the incorrect terminology; best thing to do is to follow their terminology for the duration of the exam. This is the same confusion which leads some people to talk about "encrypted passwords" for passwords which are actually hashed. | SHA-1 is a hash function. Hash functions are intended to perform a "one-way transformation"; the original message cannot be recovered from the digest, at all. Therefore, whether SHA-1 constitutes "one-way encryption" depends on the definition of that term *from your class*. It could have several possible logical definitions depending on semantics:
* If "encryption" is intended to be synonymous with "obfuscation", and "one-way" means "irreversible by *any* means", then SHA-1, as a hash, would meet this (very loose) definition of the term.
The implicitly required "key" could be taken to be the "salt", which is a component of most crypto hashes that changes the produced hash in a deterministic but unpredictable way, and is therefore required to be correct in order to reproduce the same hash from the same message. However, technically the salt as used for hashes is not a secret, like a key normally is.
* If "one-way encryption" == "keyed hash", then SHA-1, in its primitive form, does not meet the definition. However, SHA-1 can be used as the hash function of an HMAC, which is a "keyed hash" designed for message authentication (only the correct message, with the correct key, will produce the same HMAC). HMACs are used in a variety of security schemes, such as in authenticated cipher block modes or in zero-knowledge proofs. The SHA-1-based HMAC is, appropriately enough, named HMAC-SHA1.
* If "encryption" is defined as "a key-based, reversible method of obfuscation", then "one-way encryption" == "trapdoor encryption" aka "asymmetric encryption", which SHA-1 in any form is not. Two keys are used, either of which when used in the encryption algorithm produces a transformation on the message that is irreversible without knowledge of the other key. RSA and elliptic-curve algorithms are examples, not SHA-1. |
29,482 | I have read that SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash function. On an exam, SHA-1 was given as a possible one-way encryption algorithm. Does SHA-1 require a key as input? Is a key required to qualify as "encryption"? | 2013/01/22 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/29482",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/2053/"
] | By definition, a **hash function** is not **encryption**.
>
> **Encryption** is the process of encoding messages (or information) in such a way that eavesdroppers cannot read it, but that authorized parties can.
>
>
>
and
>
> **Hash function** is an algorithm that takes an arbitrary block of data and returns a fixed-size bit string, the cryptographic hash
> value, such that any change to the data will (with very high
> probability) change the hash value.
>
>
>
Encryption provides **confidentiality** while hash functions provide **integrity**.
Hash functions are used alongside encryption for their integrity capabilities. | Ciphers are bijective and hash functions are not. Though you can still build a cipher by XORing the input with a hash (encryption) and doing the same one more time for decryption. |
29,482 | I have read that SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash function. On an exam, SHA-1 was given as a possible one-way encryption algorithm. Does SHA-1 require a key as input? Is a key required to qualify as "encryption"? | 2013/01/22 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/29482",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/2053/"
] | This could easily be [googled](http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip180-1.htm) or [wikipedia'd](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1), but here goes:
SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash function, but is not an encryption function. All you work the SHA-1 function on is irreversible.
SHA-1 *could* be done using a key, but that would make it a Message Authentication Code (MAC, see [HMAC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAC)).
I agree with your last sentence. For something to be encrypted, you'll need to have some key, or something that corresponds to one. Say you have a (rather lousy) encryption function flipping the bits of the input, your key is "flip each bit". Another function may be a [feistel network](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feistel_network) using the round function F, and a key K = 281474976710656 as input to that function. | There is an incorrect but widespread usage of the term "encryption" for things which are not encryption, but, for instance, hashing.
The strict definition of **encryption** assumes that some data is transformed, in a way such that:
* after the transformation, data is not readable anymore;
* there exists a reverse process, called *decryption*, which can recover the original data from the encrypted output, using the knowledge of some extra piece of data which is not publicly known.
It is somehow necessary for encryption that the encryption process uses a parameter which is linked to the secret data used for decryption; that parameter, we call a *key*. When the key for encryption is identical to the secret data used for decryption, then this is **symmetric encryption**. When the encryption key is mathematically linked with the secret data but yet distinct, in such a way that the encryption key can be safely made public, then this is **asymmetric encryption**.
Thus, there can be no such thing as "one-way encryption", and SHA-1 is not encryption. SHA-1 is **hashing**: no key, fixed-size output (160 bits for SHA-1), no reverse process (in particular, the input can be quite larger than the 160 output bits).
Unfortunately, the people who wrote your exam question apparently used the incorrect terminology; best thing to do is to follow their terminology for the duration of the exam. This is the same confusion which leads some people to talk about "encrypted passwords" for passwords which are actually hashed. |
29,482 | I have read that SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash function. On an exam, SHA-1 was given as a possible one-way encryption algorithm. Does SHA-1 require a key as input? Is a key required to qualify as "encryption"? | 2013/01/22 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/29482",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/2053/"
] | By definition, a **hash function** is not **encryption**.
>
> **Encryption** is the process of encoding messages (or information) in such a way that eavesdroppers cannot read it, but that authorized parties can.
>
>
>
and
>
> **Hash function** is an algorithm that takes an arbitrary block of data and returns a fixed-size bit string, the cryptographic hash
> value, such that any change to the data will (with very high
> probability) change the hash value.
>
>
>
Encryption provides **confidentiality** while hash functions provide **integrity**.
Hash functions are used alongside encryption for their integrity capabilities. | SHA-1 is not an encryption algorithm, it is a hash function. I will tell you the difference. A cryptographic function is getting text and key as input. Using the key. perform some algorithm on the plain text and then gives output as encrypted text. Consider if you give 'abcdef' as input and '123' as key it will return a encrypted text of 'abc' using an algorithm like DES, AES etc. This requires a key. It is like putting text in a box and locking the box using a key. The output size will vary according to the input size. That is if you give 1000 characters to encrypt you will get encrypted text having similar size. Size may vary for some algorithms.
Hash function is not to encrypt values. The hash function is like index for values. Consider a simple scenario. I have a number N, and hash of that number is defined N%100. For example if I give N as 123 Hash of N is 123%100 that is 23, if N is 1245621345 then its hash will be 1245621345%100 that is 45. Please note whether i am giving small input or large input the hash will be fixed in length. Here it is 2 digits. In similar way SHA-1 will get input value and calculate its hash. all SHA-1 hash value will have 160 bits. That is whether you give single character or 100000 character, the output size will be 160 bits only. So SHA-1 don't need key. It is used for Authentication purpose. You can Google the uses of Hash functions. |
29,482 | I have read that SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash function. On an exam, SHA-1 was given as a possible one-way encryption algorithm. Does SHA-1 require a key as input? Is a key required to qualify as "encryption"? | 2013/01/22 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/29482",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/2053/"
] | There is an incorrect but widespread usage of the term "encryption" for things which are not encryption, but, for instance, hashing.
The strict definition of **encryption** assumes that some data is transformed, in a way such that:
* after the transformation, data is not readable anymore;
* there exists a reverse process, called *decryption*, which can recover the original data from the encrypted output, using the knowledge of some extra piece of data which is not publicly known.
It is somehow necessary for encryption that the encryption process uses a parameter which is linked to the secret data used for decryption; that parameter, we call a *key*. When the key for encryption is identical to the secret data used for decryption, then this is **symmetric encryption**. When the encryption key is mathematically linked with the secret data but yet distinct, in such a way that the encryption key can be safely made public, then this is **asymmetric encryption**.
Thus, there can be no such thing as "one-way encryption", and SHA-1 is not encryption. SHA-1 is **hashing**: no key, fixed-size output (160 bits for SHA-1), no reverse process (in particular, the input can be quite larger than the 160 output bits).
Unfortunately, the people who wrote your exam question apparently used the incorrect terminology; best thing to do is to follow their terminology for the duration of the exam. This is the same confusion which leads some people to talk about "encrypted passwords" for passwords which are actually hashed. | Ciphers are bijective and hash functions are not. Though you can still build a cipher by XORing the input with a hash (encryption) and doing the same one more time for decryption. |
29,482 | I have read that SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash function. On an exam, SHA-1 was given as a possible one-way encryption algorithm. Does SHA-1 require a key as input? Is a key required to qualify as "encryption"? | 2013/01/22 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/29482",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/2053/"
] | There is an incorrect but widespread usage of the term "encryption" for things which are not encryption, but, for instance, hashing.
The strict definition of **encryption** assumes that some data is transformed, in a way such that:
* after the transformation, data is not readable anymore;
* there exists a reverse process, called *decryption*, which can recover the original data from the encrypted output, using the knowledge of some extra piece of data which is not publicly known.
It is somehow necessary for encryption that the encryption process uses a parameter which is linked to the secret data used for decryption; that parameter, we call a *key*. When the key for encryption is identical to the secret data used for decryption, then this is **symmetric encryption**. When the encryption key is mathematically linked with the secret data but yet distinct, in such a way that the encryption key can be safely made public, then this is **asymmetric encryption**.
Thus, there can be no such thing as "one-way encryption", and SHA-1 is not encryption. SHA-1 is **hashing**: no key, fixed-size output (160 bits for SHA-1), no reverse process (in particular, the input can be quite larger than the 160 output bits).
Unfortunately, the people who wrote your exam question apparently used the incorrect terminology; best thing to do is to follow their terminology for the duration of the exam. This is the same confusion which leads some people to talk about "encrypted passwords" for passwords which are actually hashed. | SHA-1 is not an encryption algorithm, it is a hash function. I will tell you the difference. A cryptographic function is getting text and key as input. Using the key. perform some algorithm on the plain text and then gives output as encrypted text. Consider if you give 'abcdef' as input and '123' as key it will return a encrypted text of 'abc' using an algorithm like DES, AES etc. This requires a key. It is like putting text in a box and locking the box using a key. The output size will vary according to the input size. That is if you give 1000 characters to encrypt you will get encrypted text having similar size. Size may vary for some algorithms.
Hash function is not to encrypt values. The hash function is like index for values. Consider a simple scenario. I have a number N, and hash of that number is defined N%100. For example if I give N as 123 Hash of N is 123%100 that is 23, if N is 1245621345 then its hash will be 1245621345%100 that is 45. Please note whether i am giving small input or large input the hash will be fixed in length. Here it is 2 digits. In similar way SHA-1 will get input value and calculate its hash. all SHA-1 hash value will have 160 bits. That is whether you give single character or 100000 character, the output size will be 160 bits only. So SHA-1 don't need key. It is used for Authentication purpose. You can Google the uses of Hash functions. |
8,791 | I've noticed today that my reputation on ServerFault corresponds to the number of the beast.
It makes me very unhappy.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JSKzV.png)
I don't have in mind any interesting ServerFault-related question which could receive upvotes (and obviously, with such reputation, I'm damned to receive no upvotes any longer), so would it be appropriate to post a bad question or a bad answer intentionally to receive downvotes?
If not, what else should I do to make this unholy reputation number change? | 2016/06/19 | [
"https://meta.serverfault.com/questions/8791",
"https://meta.serverfault.com",
"https://meta.serverfault.com/users/39827/"
] | Although ~~Journeyman Geek~~ an anonymous voter already solved that, another approach is to add a great answer to one of the [44'000+ unanswered questions](https://serverfault.com/questions?sort=unanswered) (or any other question for that matter). | Someone downvoted you. Now your reputation is 664. Now *make sure* you do not get exactly 2 reputation points more. |
20,540 | I have a Kanban board in the cloud-based version of JIRA that uses the JIRA Software Simplified Workflow. When I create a new issue, it automatically assigns a "Backlog" status. I would like the default status to be "Selected for Development" instead.
Does anyone know how to do this? I exhausted all the Google leads I could find. | 2016/11/19 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/20540",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/26660/"
] | Parts of your question smack more of a workplace issue than a Project Management issue, but I'll answer what I can.
>
> Is this common in Scrum teams?
>
>
>
Doesn't really have anything to do with Scrum. What you describe above, assuming the problem actually *is* as you describe (neither exaggerated nor misunderstood/misrepresented), is an issue with the workplace, not the methodology.
>
> What can I do in this scenario.
>
>
>
Don't just bring it up to your ScrumMaster. Bring it up in the retrospective. This is an issue that affects the whole team, and thus should be visible to the entire team.
>
> If I raise a complain(sic) to Scrum Master, he will just say that Scrum is all about team, team works not individuals.
>
>
>
This applies primarily *outside* the team. Within the team, the team itself still has to deal with intra-team issues. To take a hypothetical, extreme example, if someone in the team is slacking off, spouting off racist/offensive remarks, and throwing garbage everywhere, it's not like the problem can just be entirely ignored just because the other team-members are cleaning up after him/her. Yes, it can be considered a problem with the team itself. The team then has to *deal with it*.
Worthy of note is the fact that this is actually *not even being followed, anyway*, as noted by how you mention the senior members take/get all the credit. If Scrum is working properly (as your ScrumMaster claims it is), then the seniors do not get credit. The *team* gets credit.
>
> Any guide you can give me if you have ever been in a situation like this.
>
>
>
Bring up in retrospective. If that doesn't work, first examine and research to make sure you have actually, accurately assessed the problem. If yes, then escalate. If that doesn't work, polish up your resumé. | As a Scrum Master I always like to promote swarming:
>
> The idea is that you get all the developers to work (swarm) on a
> single story, instead of having each developer working on a separate
> story. The goal is to get more stories fully completed. It's better to
> have 80% of the features 100% done, instead of having 100% of the
> features 80% done.
>
>
>
Swarming works well with another Agile practice namely [Pair Programming](http://www.jamesshore.com/Agile-Book/pair_programming.html).
When using these two practices you optimize the team for knowledge sharing, focus and giving room for seniors to teach juniors. It will make it impossible for people to hijack the fun tasks, or in your situation 'fake' to work.
There are some challenges, most importantly you need to be able to cut up a story into work items that people can work in parallel on. My current team takes the following steps:
* Hold a team-wide architecture and design session
* The team starts thinking about a test-plan and come up with test-cases
* They create sub-tasks on our Scrum-board
* They pick up sub-tasks in rotating pairs
I would ask the Scrum Master or the team in a retrospective to try swarming or pair programming for a couple of Sprints. They are classic Agile practices, so it should be very acceptable. Certainly if you feel there are issues surrounding working as a team.
Other reads:
* <https://www.infoq.com/news/2013/02/swarming-agile-teams-deliver>
* <https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/should-a-team-swarm-on-to-one-backlog-item-at-a-time>
* Architecture, Design and testing: <http://less.works/less/technical-excellence/index.html>
* <http://www.jamesshore.com/Agile-Book/pair_programming.html> |
20,540 | I have a Kanban board in the cloud-based version of JIRA that uses the JIRA Software Simplified Workflow. When I create a new issue, it automatically assigns a "Backlog" status. I would like the default status to be "Selected for Development" instead.
Does anyone know how to do this? I exhausted all the Google leads I could find. | 2016/11/19 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/20540",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/26660/"
] | Parts of your question smack more of a workplace issue than a Project Management issue, but I'll answer what I can.
>
> Is this common in Scrum teams?
>
>
>
Doesn't really have anything to do with Scrum. What you describe above, assuming the problem actually *is* as you describe (neither exaggerated nor misunderstood/misrepresented), is an issue with the workplace, not the methodology.
>
> What can I do in this scenario.
>
>
>
Don't just bring it up to your ScrumMaster. Bring it up in the retrospective. This is an issue that affects the whole team, and thus should be visible to the entire team.
>
> If I raise a complain(sic) to Scrum Master, he will just say that Scrum is all about team, team works not individuals.
>
>
>
This applies primarily *outside* the team. Within the team, the team itself still has to deal with intra-team issues. To take a hypothetical, extreme example, if someone in the team is slacking off, spouting off racist/offensive remarks, and throwing garbage everywhere, it's not like the problem can just be entirely ignored just because the other team-members are cleaning up after him/her. Yes, it can be considered a problem with the team itself. The team then has to *deal with it*.
Worthy of note is the fact that this is actually *not even being followed, anyway*, as noted by how you mention the senior members take/get all the credit. If Scrum is working properly (as your ScrumMaster claims it is), then the seniors do not get credit. The *team* gets credit.
>
> Any guide you can give me if you have ever been in a situation like this.
>
>
>
Bring up in retrospective. If that doesn't work, first examine and research to make sure you have actually, accurately assessed the problem. If yes, then escalate. If that doesn't work, polish up your resumé. | Sarov hits a lot of the main points here.
This isn't healthy Scrum. I've of course seen it all to often. As Sarov points out, the team needs to self-organize.
You have another channel to go with as well. That's your manager. If you're team isn't working and that's making you not happy, your manager should know about it. The manager's job is to make sure individuals have what they need to be most productive.
Here's an idea you could try and float: If you could either get yourselves another tester or be willing to take on your own testing you could suggest splitting the team into two teams. You're already at the upper edge of what is considered healthy and recent studies have found 4-5 person teams are more productive. Then put all the new guys on one team and all the old guys on another team.
My guess is the old guys are going to push back heavily. You most likely have a situation going on that I've [blogged about](http://thegorillacoach.com/the-gorilla-pareto-agile-adoption-anti-pattern/) in the past. It's a classic anti-pattern based on the Pareto principle. |
20,540 | I have a Kanban board in the cloud-based version of JIRA that uses the JIRA Software Simplified Workflow. When I create a new issue, it automatically assigns a "Backlog" status. I would like the default status to be "Selected for Development" instead.
Does anyone know how to do this? I exhausted all the Google leads I could find. | 2016/11/19 | [
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/questions/20540",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com",
"https://pm.stackexchange.com/users/26660/"
] | As a Scrum Master I always like to promote swarming:
>
> The idea is that you get all the developers to work (swarm) on a
> single story, instead of having each developer working on a separate
> story. The goal is to get more stories fully completed. It's better to
> have 80% of the features 100% done, instead of having 100% of the
> features 80% done.
>
>
>
Swarming works well with another Agile practice namely [Pair Programming](http://www.jamesshore.com/Agile-Book/pair_programming.html).
When using these two practices you optimize the team for knowledge sharing, focus and giving room for seniors to teach juniors. It will make it impossible for people to hijack the fun tasks, or in your situation 'fake' to work.
There are some challenges, most importantly you need to be able to cut up a story into work items that people can work in parallel on. My current team takes the following steps:
* Hold a team-wide architecture and design session
* The team starts thinking about a test-plan and come up with test-cases
* They create sub-tasks on our Scrum-board
* They pick up sub-tasks in rotating pairs
I would ask the Scrum Master or the team in a retrospective to try swarming or pair programming for a couple of Sprints. They are classic Agile practices, so it should be very acceptable. Certainly if you feel there are issues surrounding working as a team.
Other reads:
* <https://www.infoq.com/news/2013/02/swarming-agile-teams-deliver>
* <https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/should-a-team-swarm-on-to-one-backlog-item-at-a-time>
* Architecture, Design and testing: <http://less.works/less/technical-excellence/index.html>
* <http://www.jamesshore.com/Agile-Book/pair_programming.html> | Sarov hits a lot of the main points here.
This isn't healthy Scrum. I've of course seen it all to often. As Sarov points out, the team needs to self-organize.
You have another channel to go with as well. That's your manager. If you're team isn't working and that's making you not happy, your manager should know about it. The manager's job is to make sure individuals have what they need to be most productive.
Here's an idea you could try and float: If you could either get yourselves another tester or be willing to take on your own testing you could suggest splitting the team into two teams. You're already at the upper edge of what is considered healthy and recent studies have found 4-5 person teams are more productive. Then put all the new guys on one team and all the old guys on another team.
My guess is the old guys are going to push back heavily. You most likely have a situation going on that I've [blogged about](http://thegorillacoach.com/the-gorilla-pareto-agile-adoption-anti-pattern/) in the past. It's a classic anti-pattern based on the Pareto principle. |
274,402 | I have set up our new server at work to have an encrypted HDD. At start up it asks for our password before booting. Great. Except it has just dawned on me that we ssh in to the server all the time. What if I need to restart the machine remotely or the power goes out over the weekend.
Is there a way around this? I would still like to have the entire disk encrypted.
Thanks | 2013/03/28 | [
"https://askubuntu.com/questions/274402",
"https://askubuntu.com",
"https://askubuntu.com/users/38494/"
] | There is no safe way around this.
Either you:
1. Enter the password automatically. Thus negating the security.
2. Or you manually enter it at boot.
3. Or you manually enter it after booting a small unencrypted partition.
The last allows you to boot a minimal system into which you can SSH and then manually mount the partitions with protected data, but it also weakens the security because people can compromise this unencrypted part and wait for you to enter the encryption password.
If your server is equipped with a remote management feature (E.g. Dells DRAC, HP ILO etc) and that is on a secure network then you can also consider using that to remotely grab the console and enter the password (A sort of remote option 2). That assumes you trust the remote management features and network. | Yes, there is a way around this, see Takkat's comment. You need dropbear and busybox in initramfs so that you can ssh into machine and enter password. See above link for details.
(your /boot partition is unencrypted anyway, I suppose) |
74,000 | I'm trying to build a web3.py program to take in a given user's address, and return the amount of ETH traded since they added liquidity to a Uniswap exchange. Uniswap is a smart contract on the Ethereum platform.
The Uniswap contract has a method 'AddLiquidity' that allows users to add funds, and I want to find when a given user did this.
I looked through the documentation for how to do this. I'm accessing the blockchain via an infura node, and the docs seemed to say that on infura you can't use a filter.
On the contract documentation, it seemed like I could do this via the events object, but couldnt't get this to work. Think the eventslog may be important but as I say have struggled to get any of it to do what I was hoping.
Please let me know if you need any further info to help me and thanks! | 2019/08/17 | [
"https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/74000",
"https://ethereum.stackexchange.com",
"https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/users/55459/"
] | This seems to be a remix bug.
When you deploy it using web3 or so it should work properly.
Everything should be fine. As the other answer stated you can bypass this problem. | I tried the same and my code worked perfectly. There was no such error as well. I cannot say about bug or something, just make sure that you are passing the values properly.[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l9LdG.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dK6AY.png)
***Edited answer:***
I did the same as yours and its giving error
>
> creation of FundRaiser errored: Error encoding arguments: Error:
> invalid number value (arg="", type="number", value=10000000000000000)
>
>
>
What Remix does it whenever you provide numbers, it process it as string(by putting quotes around them) and gives the answer back in numbers. The same is happening here. The error is coming because that time only first value was converted to string and not the second one(as you saw by click on drop-down arrow). Remix couldn't process the second value since it doesn't have double quotes around it and thus giving error.
But again click on arrow and then again. Now both the values with be having quotes around them and deployment will be successful.
This is strange that Remix cannot convert both the values to string together and is doing it one-by-one. But no worries. It's not an error or anything wrong from your side. |
74,000 | I'm trying to build a web3.py program to take in a given user's address, and return the amount of ETH traded since they added liquidity to a Uniswap exchange. Uniswap is a smart contract on the Ethereum platform.
The Uniswap contract has a method 'AddLiquidity' that allows users to add funds, and I want to find when a given user did this.
I looked through the documentation for how to do this. I'm accessing the blockchain via an infura node, and the docs seemed to say that on infura you can't use a filter.
On the contract documentation, it seemed like I could do this via the events object, but couldnt't get this to work. Think the eventslog may be important but as I say have struggled to get any of it to do what I was hoping.
Please let me know if you need any further info to help me and thanks! | 2019/08/17 | [
"https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/74000",
"https://ethereum.stackexchange.com",
"https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/users/55459/"
] | Update Feb-2020 - Tried this again using the new Remix IDE and appears to deploy correctly even with large numbers not enclosed in quotes:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2tJFt.png)
Appears to be sending the Constructor arguments in hex rather than strings:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y3o13.png) | I tried the same and my code worked perfectly. There was no such error as well. I cannot say about bug or something, just make sure that you are passing the values properly.[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l9LdG.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dK6AY.png)
***Edited answer:***
I did the same as yours and its giving error
>
> creation of FundRaiser errored: Error encoding arguments: Error:
> invalid number value (arg="", type="number", value=10000000000000000)
>
>
>
What Remix does it whenever you provide numbers, it process it as string(by putting quotes around them) and gives the answer back in numbers. The same is happening here. The error is coming because that time only first value was converted to string and not the second one(as you saw by click on drop-down arrow). Remix couldn't process the second value since it doesn't have double quotes around it and thus giving error.
But again click on arrow and then again. Now both the values with be having quotes around them and deployment will be successful.
This is strange that Remix cannot convert both the values to string together and is doing it one-by-one. But no worries. It's not an error or anything wrong from your side. |
61,589 | I bought the SG3 (GT-I9300) 6 months ago from Amazon Germany. I have Cyanogenmod 10 installed but wanted to revert it because I'm selling the phone. I want to use [this guide](http://apcmag.com/how-to-unroot-your-galaxy-s3-and-flash-it-back-to-stock-rom.htm) to revert it, but I'm not sure which Firmware I should download from [sammobile](http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/). I didn't get the phone from a specific service provider, so I have no idea which firmware I should use. Any help? | 2014/01/20 | [
"https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/61589",
"https://android.stackexchange.com",
"https://android.stackexchange.com/users/7161/"
] | You can use a SamMobile ROM, but be sure that the model, the country and the original carrier match the phone as different carriers often require different radio drivers if they use different radio spectrum for bandwidth. If you don't know which carrier there are several routes you can use to determine it:
1. find out which radio you have on your device and match it to the appropriate carrier's
2. find out what frequencies your current carrier uses and use that to determine the equivalent carrier for the SamMobile ROMs
3. the version of CM you installed should also tell you which radio is on the phone, on the CM website
4. you can also get the information directly by dialing the code `*#0011#` on your phone, tho it may not be overly helpful (GSM900 is helpful, for example, but WCDMA is not - if it's WCDMA you'll have to [look up the Rx(download) and Tx(upload)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands#UMTS-FDD) to determine frequency)
FWIW, I find that Odin generally is easier to use than Kies for flashing ROMs. | You can download Android 4.3 for s3 i9300 for your device From sammobiles. I think Android 4.3 released in Germany.
OR Else If you have the back up before flashing the ROM, you can restore it from Recovery |
31,343 | My wordpress is installed and uses localhost:/run/mysqld/mysqld/socket
but civicrm only works if I point to localhost
Is there a way to install civicrm through file socket ? | 2019/07/10 | [
"https://civicrm.stackexchange.com/questions/31343",
"https://civicrm.stackexchange.com",
"https://civicrm.stackexchange.com/users/7251/"
] | I think we've worked it out! A while ago some contacts had been manually added to the Smart Group (their status on the contact list for screenshot 2 showed them as 'Added' rather than 'Smart'). Smart groups don't automatically remove these people, so I've manually removed them which should solve the problem.
Going to avoid manually adding people to Smart Groups now and let them do their thing! | In mailing the count of recipients may be different than the count of smart group. The contact in mailing are filtered out if
1. Contacts email is on hold
2. Privacy set to donot email.
3. Same email address grouped together (this is configurable via spanner next to 'recipient count' in the mailer)
4. Contact doesn't have email id
Cheers
Pradeep |
137,189 | Do you need a problem to find a new discovery? Are there any publications that solely exist to classify parts of existing theories without targeting a real-world problem? | 2019/09/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/137189",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/114094/"
] | Feynman noticing the periodicity of wobble and rotation of a dinner plate. The fractional quantum Hall effect. HTSC cuprates. Initial discovery of superconductivity. Michaelson Morely. Many discoveries of new plants and animals. Penicillin. Teflon. The discovery of the Americas. | Probably very common in mathematics, e.g., the Radon transform which was first described in 1917 and found its major applications in the 1960s with the invention of computer tomography. |
137,189 | Do you need a problem to find a new discovery? Are there any publications that solely exist to classify parts of existing theories without targeting a real-world problem? | 2019/09/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/137189",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/114094/"
] | Feynman noticing the periodicity of wobble and rotation of a dinner plate. The fractional quantum Hall effect. HTSC cuprates. Initial discovery of superconductivity. Michaelson Morely. Many discoveries of new plants and animals. Penicillin. Teflon. The discovery of the Americas. | The example that popped into my head was the discovery of the [muon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon), about which I. I. Rabi famously quipped, "Who ordered that?" No one had predicted that any such particle would exist, and we still have no idea why it exists (more precisely, why there are three copies of all of the fundamental fermions). They were looking for [pions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pion), which happen to have a similar mass but are otherwise unrelated.
Since their discovery muons have seen a few practical applications, such as [muon tomography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon_tomography). |
137,189 | Do you need a problem to find a new discovery? Are there any publications that solely exist to classify parts of existing theories without targeting a real-world problem? | 2019/09/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/137189",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/114094/"
] | It is a bit unclear what you mean or whether you are only interested in *applications* of research when you say "real-world".
Almost all research starts out without a well defined problem that is known in the literature. There are classic unsolved problems, of course, and people work on those, but graduate students are advised to avoid them. If a problem has been known for a while it has probably been worked on and the solution is (a) likely pretty hard and (b) the field hasn't yet developed the base to make a solution accessible. If hundreds of people have looked at a problem without a solution it is probably pretty hard.
The *Four Color Theorem* is instructive. Can you color every planar map with only four colors so that adjacent regions have different colors. The theorem has now been proven, but until computers came along the proof was pretty inaccessible. The proof is also unsatisfying to many mathematicians, since the analysis of a large set of cases that the proof requires looks pretty boring. Perhaps someone someday will have the insight for an elegant proof. But for a doctoral student to stake his/her future on finding that proof would be a tactical mistake.
Most research starts out with someone simply wondering about a question they have based on their readings. They don't find the question stated somewhere most likely, but they are puzzled by something and wonder if they can resolve their puzzlement somehow. "How do people balance themselves?" "How do bats find insects in the dark?" "Why do large dinosaurs have holes in their skulls?" "How does the local behavior of a real valued function affect the global behavior?"
A lot of research (doctoral level) starts out with an advisor giving a recent paper to a student with instructions to read it and then answer the question "What do you think about that?". Not very well formed. A research question might arise from their discussion. Is it correct? Can it be extended? Can it be combined with this other thing? Suppose look at what happens if we change *this* assumption?
The research grows out of those questions by finding some methodology that can get close to an answer.
But if you are only interested in applications, I think that the original researchers in most fields don't think much about that. Some do, of course, but more are interested in the pure knowledge that can arise.
The original researchers about bat echolocation weren't thinking about radar and how to catch speeding automobiles. That came later.
Most pure mathematicians study math for the ideas. My own dissertation was so esoteric that I assumed (not quite fifty years ago) that it would never find application in the real world. My results were *unique*, but not useful, most likely.. After thirty years or so, I was proven wrong when someone else found a "real world" use for what I did purely for the intellectual challenge (and the degree, of course). And I was surprised to see the application appear.
Applied mathematicians, on the other hand, do start with a given problem, but, again, it is probably a problem that they formulate themselves, rather than one that they found already fully formed in the literature.
Likewise, people in product development start with an idea for a useful product and work to create it. But that is a bit different from research as an intellectual activity. But no one looked in the literature for the problem "How do you create an iPod?" back in the day. The creation of the problem itself was an important part of the process. \_ | Probably very common in mathematics, e.g., the Radon transform which was first described in 1917 and found its major applications in the 1960s with the invention of computer tomography. |
137,189 | Do you need a problem to find a new discovery? Are there any publications that solely exist to classify parts of existing theories without targeting a real-world problem? | 2019/09/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/137189",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/114094/"
] | The example that popped into my head was the discovery of the [muon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon), about which I. I. Rabi famously quipped, "Who ordered that?" No one had predicted that any such particle would exist, and we still have no idea why it exists (more precisely, why there are three copies of all of the fundamental fermions). They were looking for [pions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pion), which happen to have a similar mass but are otherwise unrelated.
Since their discovery muons have seen a few practical applications, such as [muon tomography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon_tomography). | Probably very common in mathematics, e.g., the Radon transform which was first described in 1917 and found its major applications in the 1960s with the invention of computer tomography. |
137,189 | Do you need a problem to find a new discovery? Are there any publications that solely exist to classify parts of existing theories without targeting a real-world problem? | 2019/09/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/137189",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/114094/"
] | It is a bit unclear what you mean or whether you are only interested in *applications* of research when you say "real-world".
Almost all research starts out without a well defined problem that is known in the literature. There are classic unsolved problems, of course, and people work on those, but graduate students are advised to avoid them. If a problem has been known for a while it has probably been worked on and the solution is (a) likely pretty hard and (b) the field hasn't yet developed the base to make a solution accessible. If hundreds of people have looked at a problem without a solution it is probably pretty hard.
The *Four Color Theorem* is instructive. Can you color every planar map with only four colors so that adjacent regions have different colors. The theorem has now been proven, but until computers came along the proof was pretty inaccessible. The proof is also unsatisfying to many mathematicians, since the analysis of a large set of cases that the proof requires looks pretty boring. Perhaps someone someday will have the insight for an elegant proof. But for a doctoral student to stake his/her future on finding that proof would be a tactical mistake.
Most research starts out with someone simply wondering about a question they have based on their readings. They don't find the question stated somewhere most likely, but they are puzzled by something and wonder if they can resolve their puzzlement somehow. "How do people balance themselves?" "How do bats find insects in the dark?" "Why do large dinosaurs have holes in their skulls?" "How does the local behavior of a real valued function affect the global behavior?"
A lot of research (doctoral level) starts out with an advisor giving a recent paper to a student with instructions to read it and then answer the question "What do you think about that?". Not very well formed. A research question might arise from their discussion. Is it correct? Can it be extended? Can it be combined with this other thing? Suppose look at what happens if we change *this* assumption?
The research grows out of those questions by finding some methodology that can get close to an answer.
But if you are only interested in applications, I think that the original researchers in most fields don't think much about that. Some do, of course, but more are interested in the pure knowledge that can arise.
The original researchers about bat echolocation weren't thinking about radar and how to catch speeding automobiles. That came later.
Most pure mathematicians study math for the ideas. My own dissertation was so esoteric that I assumed (not quite fifty years ago) that it would never find application in the real world. My results were *unique*, but not useful, most likely.. After thirty years or so, I was proven wrong when someone else found a "real world" use for what I did purely for the intellectual challenge (and the degree, of course). And I was surprised to see the application appear.
Applied mathematicians, on the other hand, do start with a given problem, but, again, it is probably a problem that they formulate themselves, rather than one that they found already fully formed in the literature.
Likewise, people in product development start with an idea for a useful product and work to create it. But that is a bit different from research as an intellectual activity. But no one looked in the literature for the problem "How do you create an iPod?" back in the day. The creation of the problem itself was an important part of the process. \_ | The example that popped into my head was the discovery of the [muon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon), about which I. I. Rabi famously quipped, "Who ordered that?" No one had predicted that any such particle would exist, and we still have no idea why it exists (more precisely, why there are three copies of all of the fundamental fermions). They were looking for [pions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pion), which happen to have a similar mass but are otherwise unrelated.
Since their discovery muons have seen a few practical applications, such as [muon tomography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon_tomography). |
151,614 | After reviewing some thread about server monitoring software I end up with a simple question:
Which of the server monitoring tools should I use for automatic detection of "abnormal" situations with recommendations on how to fix them?
I look for software that checks the system performance after installation and calculate some average load values (memory, CPU, etc). And when something happens (CPU load is increased to 20%) then it tries to detect a reason for this. If it is apache, it should check for access logs. If mysql, it should check mysql logs and tell me what happens. It this is because some user decodes a lot of images, I'd like to know which command is executed, when and user name. The same for disk usage, memory, number of processes, threads and so on.
Ideally, this software should periodically checks the system and report problems: errors in PHP error log, outdated packages, security vulnerabilities.
In other words, I'm looking for software that will keep my simple Debian/Apache/PHP/MySQL server without forcing me to monitor the charts every day. | 2010/06/16 | [
"https://serverfault.com/questions/151614",
"https://serverfault.com",
"https://serverfault.com/users/-1/"
] | In contrast to Zabbix - mentioned by [Maxwell](https://serverfault.com/users/8132/maxwell) - is the venerable [nagios](http://www.nagios.org/) (and it's relatively recent fork, [icinga](http://www.icinga.org/)). This framework has been around for over ten years, and is incredibly stable - the only downside is the installation and configuration, which is much more time-consuming (especially the first time) than a commercial-company-backed system like Zabbix.
Both have their place in the ecosystem, of course - so I'd suggest you try both out. As mentioned in my comment, though: the more in-depth type of monitoring you intend doing, the more you should expect to expend effort, whether it be actually writing your own plugins/scripts, or searching/downloading/modifying the work of others.
Good luck! | [Zabbix](http://www.zabbix.com/) monitoring solution can monitor whatever you want and trigger actions accordinately, actions may be for exemple executing a script that process logs and sends back the result if needed. Also you may trigger an action when one or more conditions are met (such has output of log parsing script showing an error and cpu load at more than 40% for example). |
151,614 | After reviewing some thread about server monitoring software I end up with a simple question:
Which of the server monitoring tools should I use for automatic detection of "abnormal" situations with recommendations on how to fix them?
I look for software that checks the system performance after installation and calculate some average load values (memory, CPU, etc). And when something happens (CPU load is increased to 20%) then it tries to detect a reason for this. If it is apache, it should check for access logs. If mysql, it should check mysql logs and tell me what happens. It this is because some user decodes a lot of images, I'd like to know which command is executed, when and user name. The same for disk usage, memory, number of processes, threads and so on.
Ideally, this software should periodically checks the system and report problems: errors in PHP error log, outdated packages, security vulnerabilities.
In other words, I'm looking for software that will keep my simple Debian/Apache/PHP/MySQL server without forcing me to monitor the charts every day. | 2010/06/16 | [
"https://serverfault.com/questions/151614",
"https://serverfault.com",
"https://serverfault.com/users/-1/"
] | There are plenty of softwares like that, a thing to note is that you should run it on a different host or you have a high risk of not being notified if something goes wrong.
As an example, we use a combination of nagios (handles all the monitoring and alerting, in other words it's in charge of waking up someone when there is any need of an operator looking at something) and cacti (could also do alerting but we just use it to collect and aggregate various metrics, ranging from network traffic to system load to email spam statistics).
When the time comes that you get an alert (from nagios cacti zabbix whatever) having some performance data to look at (cacti, zabbix, others will do that) will usually help you in diagnosing where the problem is.
On the usual LAMP stack that you describe the two most common problem situations (in my experience, at least) is the HTTP or SQL server not responding at all or in a reasonable time (a nagios probe will check that) or load average on the system going awfully high.
These two checks will probably catch 95% of your problems, but there are many other things you should look for - examples:
1. apache constantly working with the maximum number of processes/threads you configured means your server is not keeping up with the load
2. system working "ok" but with a failed drive in the RAID (you don't know how often this kind of things goes unnoticed for months - or up to the next disk failure at least ;)
Nearly all of the products you'll find around will be able to monitor / graph everything you can throw at them, you can usually extend them via simple shell scripts, short programs, and whatnot, in addition to their included instruments and the ubiquitous SNMP. | [Zabbix](http://www.zabbix.com/) monitoring solution can monitor whatever you want and trigger actions accordinately, actions may be for exemple executing a script that process logs and sends back the result if needed. Also you may trigger an action when one or more conditions are met (such has output of log parsing script showing an error and cpu load at more than 40% for example). |
151,614 | After reviewing some thread about server monitoring software I end up with a simple question:
Which of the server monitoring tools should I use for automatic detection of "abnormal" situations with recommendations on how to fix them?
I look for software that checks the system performance after installation and calculate some average load values (memory, CPU, etc). And when something happens (CPU load is increased to 20%) then it tries to detect a reason for this. If it is apache, it should check for access logs. If mysql, it should check mysql logs and tell me what happens. It this is because some user decodes a lot of images, I'd like to know which command is executed, when and user name. The same for disk usage, memory, number of processes, threads and so on.
Ideally, this software should periodically checks the system and report problems: errors in PHP error log, outdated packages, security vulnerabilities.
In other words, I'm looking for software that will keep my simple Debian/Apache/PHP/MySQL server without forcing me to monitor the charts every day. | 2010/06/16 | [
"https://serverfault.com/questions/151614",
"https://serverfault.com",
"https://serverfault.com/users/-1/"
] | In contrast to Zabbix - mentioned by [Maxwell](https://serverfault.com/users/8132/maxwell) - is the venerable [nagios](http://www.nagios.org/) (and it's relatively recent fork, [icinga](http://www.icinga.org/)). This framework has been around for over ten years, and is incredibly stable - the only downside is the installation and configuration, which is much more time-consuming (especially the first time) than a commercial-company-backed system like Zabbix.
Both have their place in the ecosystem, of course - so I'd suggest you try both out. As mentioned in my comment, though: the more in-depth type of monitoring you intend doing, the more you should expect to expend effort, whether it be actually writing your own plugins/scripts, or searching/downloading/modifying the work of others.
Good luck! | Opsview is a fully integrated monitoring tool that incorporates the popular Open Source software including Nagios Core, Nagvis, Net-SNMP and RRDtool.
The Catalyst web framework provides an extensible monitoring and configuration user interface. Opsview server software runs on Linux and Solaris 10. It will monitor all common operating systems including Linux, AIX, Solaris and Windows.
Using the thousands of Nagios plugins available Opsview can monitor virtually any device, system or software component.
Opview sees into all aspects of your IT environment including the way they work with your business processes. |
151,614 | After reviewing some thread about server monitoring software I end up with a simple question:
Which of the server monitoring tools should I use for automatic detection of "abnormal" situations with recommendations on how to fix them?
I look for software that checks the system performance after installation and calculate some average load values (memory, CPU, etc). And when something happens (CPU load is increased to 20%) then it tries to detect a reason for this. If it is apache, it should check for access logs. If mysql, it should check mysql logs and tell me what happens. It this is because some user decodes a lot of images, I'd like to know which command is executed, when and user name. The same for disk usage, memory, number of processes, threads and so on.
Ideally, this software should periodically checks the system and report problems: errors in PHP error log, outdated packages, security vulnerabilities.
In other words, I'm looking for software that will keep my simple Debian/Apache/PHP/MySQL server without forcing me to monitor the charts every day. | 2010/06/16 | [
"https://serverfault.com/questions/151614",
"https://serverfault.com",
"https://serverfault.com/users/-1/"
] | There are plenty of softwares like that, a thing to note is that you should run it on a different host or you have a high risk of not being notified if something goes wrong.
As an example, we use a combination of nagios (handles all the monitoring and alerting, in other words it's in charge of waking up someone when there is any need of an operator looking at something) and cacti (could also do alerting but we just use it to collect and aggregate various metrics, ranging from network traffic to system load to email spam statistics).
When the time comes that you get an alert (from nagios cacti zabbix whatever) having some performance data to look at (cacti, zabbix, others will do that) will usually help you in diagnosing where the problem is.
On the usual LAMP stack that you describe the two most common problem situations (in my experience, at least) is the HTTP or SQL server not responding at all or in a reasonable time (a nagios probe will check that) or load average on the system going awfully high.
These two checks will probably catch 95% of your problems, but there are many other things you should look for - examples:
1. apache constantly working with the maximum number of processes/threads you configured means your server is not keeping up with the load
2. system working "ok" but with a failed drive in the RAID (you don't know how often this kind of things goes unnoticed for months - or up to the next disk failure at least ;)
Nearly all of the products you'll find around will be able to monitor / graph everything you can throw at them, you can usually extend them via simple shell scripts, short programs, and whatnot, in addition to their included instruments and the ubiquitous SNMP. | Opsview is a fully integrated monitoring tool that incorporates the popular Open Source software including Nagios Core, Nagvis, Net-SNMP and RRDtool.
The Catalyst web framework provides an extensible monitoring and configuration user interface. Opsview server software runs on Linux and Solaris 10. It will monitor all common operating systems including Linux, AIX, Solaris and Windows.
Using the thousands of Nagios plugins available Opsview can monitor virtually any device, system or software component.
Opview sees into all aspects of your IT environment including the way they work with your business processes. |
151,614 | After reviewing some thread about server monitoring software I end up with a simple question:
Which of the server monitoring tools should I use for automatic detection of "abnormal" situations with recommendations on how to fix them?
I look for software that checks the system performance after installation and calculate some average load values (memory, CPU, etc). And when something happens (CPU load is increased to 20%) then it tries to detect a reason for this. If it is apache, it should check for access logs. If mysql, it should check mysql logs and tell me what happens. It this is because some user decodes a lot of images, I'd like to know which command is executed, when and user name. The same for disk usage, memory, number of processes, threads and so on.
Ideally, this software should periodically checks the system and report problems: errors in PHP error log, outdated packages, security vulnerabilities.
In other words, I'm looking for software that will keep my simple Debian/Apache/PHP/MySQL server without forcing me to monitor the charts every day. | 2010/06/16 | [
"https://serverfault.com/questions/151614",
"https://serverfault.com",
"https://serverfault.com/users/-1/"
] | In contrast to Zabbix - mentioned by [Maxwell](https://serverfault.com/users/8132/maxwell) - is the venerable [nagios](http://www.nagios.org/) (and it's relatively recent fork, [icinga](http://www.icinga.org/)). This framework has been around for over ten years, and is incredibly stable - the only downside is the installation and configuration, which is much more time-consuming (especially the first time) than a commercial-company-backed system like Zabbix.
Both have their place in the ecosystem, of course - so I'd suggest you try both out. As mentioned in my comment, though: the more in-depth type of monitoring you intend doing, the more you should expect to expend effort, whether it be actually writing your own plugins/scripts, or searching/downloading/modifying the work of others.
Good luck! | Nagios Installation
Nagios is a host and service monitor designed to inform you of network problems before your clients, end-users or managers do. It has been designed to run under the Linux operating system, but works fine under most variants as well. The monitoring daemon runs intermittent checks on hosts and services you specify using external plugins which return status information to Nagios.
When problems are encountered, the daemon can send notifications out to administrative contacts in a variety of different ways (email, instant message, SMS, etc.) Having a Nagios installation on your server will help improve your server reliability.
Nagios has a lot of features, making it a very powerful monitoring tool. Some of the major features are listed below:
Monitoring of network services (SMTP, POP3, HTTP, NNTP, PING, etc.)
Monitoring of host resources (processor load, disk and memory usage, running processes, log files, etc.)
Monitoring of environmental factors such as temperature
Scheduled downtime for suppressing host and service notifications during periods of planned outages
Simple plugin design that allows users to easily develop their own host and service checks
Ability to define network host hierarchy, allowing detection of and distinction between hosts that are down and those that are unreachable
Support for implementing redundant and distributed monitoring servers
Ability to acknowledge problems via the web interface
Contact notifications when service or host problems occur and get resolved (via email, pager, or other user-defined method)
Optional escalation of host and service notifications to different contact groups
Ability to define event handlers to be run during service or host events for proactive problem resolution
External command interface that allows on-the-fly modifications to be made to the monitoring and notification
behavior through the use of event handlers, the web interface, and third-party applications
Retention of host and service status across program restarts |
151,614 | After reviewing some thread about server monitoring software I end up with a simple question:
Which of the server monitoring tools should I use for automatic detection of "abnormal" situations with recommendations on how to fix them?
I look for software that checks the system performance after installation and calculate some average load values (memory, CPU, etc). And when something happens (CPU load is increased to 20%) then it tries to detect a reason for this. If it is apache, it should check for access logs. If mysql, it should check mysql logs and tell me what happens. It this is because some user decodes a lot of images, I'd like to know which command is executed, when and user name. The same for disk usage, memory, number of processes, threads and so on.
Ideally, this software should periodically checks the system and report problems: errors in PHP error log, outdated packages, security vulnerabilities.
In other words, I'm looking for software that will keep my simple Debian/Apache/PHP/MySQL server without forcing me to monitor the charts every day. | 2010/06/16 | [
"https://serverfault.com/questions/151614",
"https://serverfault.com",
"https://serverfault.com/users/-1/"
] | In contrast to Zabbix - mentioned by [Maxwell](https://serverfault.com/users/8132/maxwell) - is the venerable [nagios](http://www.nagios.org/) (and it's relatively recent fork, [icinga](http://www.icinga.org/)). This framework has been around for over ten years, and is incredibly stable - the only downside is the installation and configuration, which is much more time-consuming (especially the first time) than a commercial-company-backed system like Zabbix.
Both have their place in the ecosystem, of course - so I'd suggest you try both out. As mentioned in my comment, though: the more in-depth type of monitoring you intend doing, the more you should expect to expend effort, whether it be actually writing your own plugins/scripts, or searching/downloading/modifying the work of others.
Good luck! | Have a look at [Zenoss Core](http://community.zenoss.org/docs/DOC-2614), a free and very versatile monitoring software, that many companies use to monitor their networks. It's easy to setup and get started with.
Many types of monitoring and alerting are built in, including history graphs. So called ZenPacks can be installed to extend it. Also, Nagios plugins can be added.
This could be just what you need. |
151,614 | After reviewing some thread about server monitoring software I end up with a simple question:
Which of the server monitoring tools should I use for automatic detection of "abnormal" situations with recommendations on how to fix them?
I look for software that checks the system performance after installation and calculate some average load values (memory, CPU, etc). And when something happens (CPU load is increased to 20%) then it tries to detect a reason for this. If it is apache, it should check for access logs. If mysql, it should check mysql logs and tell me what happens. It this is because some user decodes a lot of images, I'd like to know which command is executed, when and user name. The same for disk usage, memory, number of processes, threads and so on.
Ideally, this software should periodically checks the system and report problems: errors in PHP error log, outdated packages, security vulnerabilities.
In other words, I'm looking for software that will keep my simple Debian/Apache/PHP/MySQL server without forcing me to monitor the charts every day. | 2010/06/16 | [
"https://serverfault.com/questions/151614",
"https://serverfault.com",
"https://serverfault.com/users/-1/"
] | There are plenty of softwares like that, a thing to note is that you should run it on a different host or you have a high risk of not being notified if something goes wrong.
As an example, we use a combination of nagios (handles all the monitoring and alerting, in other words it's in charge of waking up someone when there is any need of an operator looking at something) and cacti (could also do alerting but we just use it to collect and aggregate various metrics, ranging from network traffic to system load to email spam statistics).
When the time comes that you get an alert (from nagios cacti zabbix whatever) having some performance data to look at (cacti, zabbix, others will do that) will usually help you in diagnosing where the problem is.
On the usual LAMP stack that you describe the two most common problem situations (in my experience, at least) is the HTTP or SQL server not responding at all or in a reasonable time (a nagios probe will check that) or load average on the system going awfully high.
These two checks will probably catch 95% of your problems, but there are many other things you should look for - examples:
1. apache constantly working with the maximum number of processes/threads you configured means your server is not keeping up with the load
2. system working "ok" but with a failed drive in the RAID (you don't know how often this kind of things goes unnoticed for months - or up to the next disk failure at least ;)
Nearly all of the products you'll find around will be able to monitor / graph everything you can throw at them, you can usually extend them via simple shell scripts, short programs, and whatnot, in addition to their included instruments and the ubiquitous SNMP. | Nagios Installation
Nagios is a host and service monitor designed to inform you of network problems before your clients, end-users or managers do. It has been designed to run under the Linux operating system, but works fine under most variants as well. The monitoring daemon runs intermittent checks on hosts and services you specify using external plugins which return status information to Nagios.
When problems are encountered, the daemon can send notifications out to administrative contacts in a variety of different ways (email, instant message, SMS, etc.) Having a Nagios installation on your server will help improve your server reliability.
Nagios has a lot of features, making it a very powerful monitoring tool. Some of the major features are listed below:
Monitoring of network services (SMTP, POP3, HTTP, NNTP, PING, etc.)
Monitoring of host resources (processor load, disk and memory usage, running processes, log files, etc.)
Monitoring of environmental factors such as temperature
Scheduled downtime for suppressing host and service notifications during periods of planned outages
Simple plugin design that allows users to easily develop their own host and service checks
Ability to define network host hierarchy, allowing detection of and distinction between hosts that are down and those that are unreachable
Support for implementing redundant and distributed monitoring servers
Ability to acknowledge problems via the web interface
Contact notifications when service or host problems occur and get resolved (via email, pager, or other user-defined method)
Optional escalation of host and service notifications to different contact groups
Ability to define event handlers to be run during service or host events for proactive problem resolution
External command interface that allows on-the-fly modifications to be made to the monitoring and notification
behavior through the use of event handlers, the web interface, and third-party applications
Retention of host and service status across program restarts |
151,614 | After reviewing some thread about server monitoring software I end up with a simple question:
Which of the server monitoring tools should I use for automatic detection of "abnormal" situations with recommendations on how to fix them?
I look for software that checks the system performance after installation and calculate some average load values (memory, CPU, etc). And when something happens (CPU load is increased to 20%) then it tries to detect a reason for this. If it is apache, it should check for access logs. If mysql, it should check mysql logs and tell me what happens. It this is because some user decodes a lot of images, I'd like to know which command is executed, when and user name. The same for disk usage, memory, number of processes, threads and so on.
Ideally, this software should periodically checks the system and report problems: errors in PHP error log, outdated packages, security vulnerabilities.
In other words, I'm looking for software that will keep my simple Debian/Apache/PHP/MySQL server without forcing me to monitor the charts every day. | 2010/06/16 | [
"https://serverfault.com/questions/151614",
"https://serverfault.com",
"https://serverfault.com/users/-1/"
] | There are plenty of softwares like that, a thing to note is that you should run it on a different host or you have a high risk of not being notified if something goes wrong.
As an example, we use a combination of nagios (handles all the monitoring and alerting, in other words it's in charge of waking up someone when there is any need of an operator looking at something) and cacti (could also do alerting but we just use it to collect and aggregate various metrics, ranging from network traffic to system load to email spam statistics).
When the time comes that you get an alert (from nagios cacti zabbix whatever) having some performance data to look at (cacti, zabbix, others will do that) will usually help you in diagnosing where the problem is.
On the usual LAMP stack that you describe the two most common problem situations (in my experience, at least) is the HTTP or SQL server not responding at all or in a reasonable time (a nagios probe will check that) or load average on the system going awfully high.
These two checks will probably catch 95% of your problems, but there are many other things you should look for - examples:
1. apache constantly working with the maximum number of processes/threads you configured means your server is not keeping up with the load
2. system working "ok" but with a failed drive in the RAID (you don't know how often this kind of things goes unnoticed for months - or up to the next disk failure at least ;)
Nearly all of the products you'll find around will be able to monitor / graph everything you can throw at them, you can usually extend them via simple shell scripts, short programs, and whatnot, in addition to their included instruments and the ubiquitous SNMP. | Have a look at [Zenoss Core](http://community.zenoss.org/docs/DOC-2614), a free and very versatile monitoring software, that many companies use to monitor their networks. It's easy to setup and get started with.
Many types of monitoring and alerting are built in, including history graphs. So called ZenPacks can be installed to extend it. Also, Nagios plugins can be added.
This could be just what you need. |
4,626,626 | Are there any highly recommended resources for getting started with HTML5 and CSS3 for designing web applications?
Seems to be the wave of the future..Lets hear everyones thoughts | 2011/01/07 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/4626626",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/428632/"
] | <http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html-css-techniques/html-5-and-css-3-the-techniques-youll-soon-be-using/>
<http://www.w3schools.com/html5/html5_reference.asp>
<http://www.w3schools.com/css3/css3_reference.asp> | I saw this the other day and it is super awesome
<http://html5boilerplate.com/>
>
> HTML5 Boilerplate is the professional badass's base HTML/CSS/JS template for a fast, robust and future-proof site.
>
>
> After more than two years in iterative development, you get the best of the best practices baked in: cross-browser normalization, performance optimizations, even optional features like cross-domain Ajax and Flash. A starter apache .htaccess config file hooks you the eff up with caching rules and preps your site to serve HTML5 video, use @font-face, and get your gzip zipple on.
>
>
> Boilerplate is not a framework, nor does it prescribe any philosophy of development, it's just got some tricks to get your project off the ground quickly and right-footed.
>
>
> |
4,626,626 | Are there any highly recommended resources for getting started with HTML5 and CSS3 for designing web applications?
Seems to be the wave of the future..Lets hear everyones thoughts | 2011/01/07 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/4626626",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/428632/"
] | <http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html-css-techniques/html-5-and-css-3-the-techniques-youll-soon-be-using/>
<http://www.w3schools.com/html5/html5_reference.asp>
<http://www.w3schools.com/css3/css3_reference.asp> | There are about 20 articles covering specific aspects of HTML5 and CSS3 on Dev.Opera. See <http://dev.opera.com/articles/tags/open%20web/> for an overview. |
4,626,626 | Are there any highly recommended resources for getting started with HTML5 and CSS3 for designing web applications?
Seems to be the wave of the future..Lets hear everyones thoughts | 2011/01/07 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/4626626",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/428632/"
] | I saw this the other day and it is super awesome
<http://html5boilerplate.com/>
>
> HTML5 Boilerplate is the professional badass's base HTML/CSS/JS template for a fast, robust and future-proof site.
>
>
> After more than two years in iterative development, you get the best of the best practices baked in: cross-browser normalization, performance optimizations, even optional features like cross-domain Ajax and Flash. A starter apache .htaccess config file hooks you the eff up with caching rules and preps your site to serve HTML5 video, use @font-face, and get your gzip zipple on.
>
>
> Boilerplate is not a framework, nor does it prescribe any philosophy of development, it's just got some tricks to get your project off the ground quickly and right-footed.
>
>
> | There are about 20 articles covering specific aspects of HTML5 and CSS3 on Dev.Opera. See <http://dev.opera.com/articles/tags/open%20web/> for an overview. |
565,921 | Question
========
Can I use a comma (,) before an ampersand (&)?
If no, then why not?
Example
=======
The same products attracted all European countries to India: spices, silk, & cotton. | 2021/04/27 | [
"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/565921",
"https://english.stackexchange.com",
"https://english.stackexchange.com/users/421451/"
] | Ampersands with company names and abbreviations
-----------------------------------------------
There is a famous retail shop in the UK called "**Marks & Spencer**" or simply "**M&S**" it is never separated by a comma, the ampersand is used in place of "and" to join the names of two families, founders, or nouns that are bound together intrinsically, e.g. [**rock & roll**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_roll) (also written as “rock'n'roll”) or as an abbreviation, e.g. **B&B** (bed and breakfast), and **Q&A** (questions and answers).
Commas with Ampersands
----------------------
According to The Chicago Manual of Style, cited in the [LA Times](https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/opinion/tn-blr-me-aword-20190228-story.html),
>
> “When an ampersand is used instead of the word ‘and’ (as in company names), the serial comma is omitted: ‘Winken, Blinken & Nod is a purveyor of nightwear,…’”.
>
>
>
Which suggests that company names or common abbreviations joined by an ampersand should not be separated by a comma; e.g.
>
> Nowadays, tourists have a wider choice of accommodation: hotels, hostels, airbnbs, **and B&Bs**.
>
>
>
In the OP's original sentence, silk and cotton are two different fabrics, where "and" is substituted by the ampersand, which is acceptable in a text or casual correspondence but inappropriate in formal communication. In an English language exam, the sentence should be rewritten as
>
> The same products attracted all European countries to India: spices, silk, **and** cotton.
>
>
> | Whereas the ampersand is just a short denotation of the conjunction *and*, the obvious answer is to punctuate it as one would normally punctuate *and*. One interesting usage of the ampersand is to glue, as it were, noun pairs closer together, in contrast with adjacent instances of *and*, for example:
>
> To participate in this game, you will need patience, pen & paper, and a lot of spare time.
>
>
>
Notice how *&* glues *pen* and *paper* together so that they become a single element of the enumeration:
1. patience,
2. pen and paper, and
3. a lot of spare time.
Observe also that my simple advice does not contradict the answer of *Mari-Lou*, as no one in their right mind would think of sundering composite names with punctuation after replacing *&* with *and*. For instance:
>
> My favourite music genres are rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and jazz.
>
>
> |
565,921 | Question
========
Can I use a comma (,) before an ampersand (&)?
If no, then why not?
Example
=======
The same products attracted all European countries to India: spices, silk, & cotton. | 2021/04/27 | [
"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/565921",
"https://english.stackexchange.com",
"https://english.stackexchange.com/users/421451/"
] | By way of supplementing Mari-Lou A's answer, I note that *Chicago Manual of Style* is by no means alone in asserting that there should be no comma before an ampersand when one appears before the last item in a series. Here are the guidelines that various style manuals provide on this point.
From University of Chicago, *Chicago Manual of Style*, sixteenth edition (2010):
>
> **6.21 *Omitting serial commas before ampersands.*** When an ampersand is used instead of the word *and* (as in company names), the serial comma is omitted.
>
>
>
> >
> > Winken, Blinken & Nod is a purveyor of nightwear.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
From Merriam-Webster, *Webster's Standard American Style Manual* (1985):
>
> When an ampersand is used between the last two elements in a series, the comma is omitted.
>
>
>
> >
> > the law firm of Shilliday, Fraser & French
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
From U.S. Government Printing Office, *A Manual of Style* (1986):
>
> The comma is omitted— ...
> 8.57. Before ampersand (&). (For exception, see rule 15.29.)
>
>
>
> >
> > Brown, Wilson & Co.
> >
> >
> > Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
The exception given in rule 15.29 involves index entries in which a surname appears as part of a company name that also includes an ampersand; USGPS declares that, in such cases, and the company name should be indexed alphabetically by the surname, in the following form:
>
> Brown, A.H., & Sons (*not* Brown & Sons, A.H.)
>
>
>
Bu this exception doesn't involve a series, so it isn't relevant to the posted question.
The only formal style that directly contradicts the generally approved rule not to use a comma before *&* in a series is APA (American Psychological Association) style. According to *Hodges' Harbrace Handbook*, revised thirteenth edition (1998):
>
> Use the ampersand (&) to separate the authors names.
>
>
> **A work by more than two authors**
>
>
>
> >
> > One recent study has shown that people who fear failure are not susceptible to hypnosis (Manganello, Carlson, Zarillo, & Teeven, 1985)
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
I should perhaps also note that many style guides oppose the use of ampersands except in proper names. For example, *The Associated Press Stylebook* (2007) includes this guideline:
>
> **ampersand (&)** Use the ampersand when it is part of a company's name or composition title: *House & Garden* [magazine title], *Procter & Gamble*, *Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway*.
>
>
> The ampersand should not otherwise be used in place of *and*.
>
>
>
So AP style would require the OP's example sentence to be rendered as follows:
>
> The same products attracted all European countries to India: spices, silk, and cotton.
>
>
>
Although the *Oxford Guide to Style* (2002) generally agrees with AP on this point, it adds an interesting exception:
>
> Avoid ampersands except in names of firms that use them, established combinations (e.g., R & D, R & B, C & W),and in some lexicographic work. Occasionally they may be convenient for clarification: in *cinnamon & raisin and onion bagels are available* the ampersand makes clear there are two rather than three types on offer.
>
>
>
*The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors* (2000), follows up on this point by more explicitly asserting the ampersand's ability to indicate a nested pairing:
>
> **ampersand** = **&**, used in some formulae, references, and lexicographic work, in Acts of Parliament, and in business names. Since it may imply a closer relationship than *and*, the ampersand can be useful in grouping items: 'cinnamon & raisin and onion' are two, not three, types of bagels." ...
>
>
>
This notion of using an ampersand to nest a compound entry within a longer series appears to be the central point of Ant\_222's answer, as well. Still, Oxford's discussion of bagel types does not constitute not an endorsement of using an ampersand in place of *and* in a series such as "spices, silk, and cotton." | Ampersands with company names and abbreviations
-----------------------------------------------
There is a famous retail shop in the UK called "**Marks & Spencer**" or simply "**M&S**" it is never separated by a comma, the ampersand is used in place of "and" to join the names of two families, founders, or nouns that are bound together intrinsically, e.g. [**rock & roll**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_roll) (also written as “rock'n'roll”) or as an abbreviation, e.g. **B&B** (bed and breakfast), and **Q&A** (questions and answers).
Commas with Ampersands
----------------------
According to The Chicago Manual of Style, cited in the [LA Times](https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/opinion/tn-blr-me-aword-20190228-story.html),
>
> “When an ampersand is used instead of the word ‘and’ (as in company names), the serial comma is omitted: ‘Winken, Blinken & Nod is a purveyor of nightwear,…’”.
>
>
>
Which suggests that company names or common abbreviations joined by an ampersand should not be separated by a comma; e.g.
>
> Nowadays, tourists have a wider choice of accommodation: hotels, hostels, airbnbs, **and B&Bs**.
>
>
>
In the OP's original sentence, silk and cotton are two different fabrics, where "and" is substituted by the ampersand, which is acceptable in a text or casual correspondence but inappropriate in formal communication. In an English language exam, the sentence should be rewritten as
>
> The same products attracted all European countries to India: spices, silk, **and** cotton.
>
>
> |
565,921 | Question
========
Can I use a comma (,) before an ampersand (&)?
If no, then why not?
Example
=======
The same products attracted all European countries to India: spices, silk, & cotton. | 2021/04/27 | [
"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/565921",
"https://english.stackexchange.com",
"https://english.stackexchange.com/users/421451/"
] | By way of supplementing Mari-Lou A's answer, I note that *Chicago Manual of Style* is by no means alone in asserting that there should be no comma before an ampersand when one appears before the last item in a series. Here are the guidelines that various style manuals provide on this point.
From University of Chicago, *Chicago Manual of Style*, sixteenth edition (2010):
>
> **6.21 *Omitting serial commas before ampersands.*** When an ampersand is used instead of the word *and* (as in company names), the serial comma is omitted.
>
>
>
> >
> > Winken, Blinken & Nod is a purveyor of nightwear.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
From Merriam-Webster, *Webster's Standard American Style Manual* (1985):
>
> When an ampersand is used between the last two elements in a series, the comma is omitted.
>
>
>
> >
> > the law firm of Shilliday, Fraser & French
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
From U.S. Government Printing Office, *A Manual of Style* (1986):
>
> The comma is omitted— ...
> 8.57. Before ampersand (&). (For exception, see rule 15.29.)
>
>
>
> >
> > Brown, Wilson & Co.
> >
> >
> > Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
The exception given in rule 15.29 involves index entries in which a surname appears as part of a company name that also includes an ampersand; USGPS declares that, in such cases, and the company name should be indexed alphabetically by the surname, in the following form:
>
> Brown, A.H., & Sons (*not* Brown & Sons, A.H.)
>
>
>
Bu this exception doesn't involve a series, so it isn't relevant to the posted question.
The only formal style that directly contradicts the generally approved rule not to use a comma before *&* in a series is APA (American Psychological Association) style. According to *Hodges' Harbrace Handbook*, revised thirteenth edition (1998):
>
> Use the ampersand (&) to separate the authors names.
>
>
> **A work by more than two authors**
>
>
>
> >
> > One recent study has shown that people who fear failure are not susceptible to hypnosis (Manganello, Carlson, Zarillo, & Teeven, 1985)
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
I should perhaps also note that many style guides oppose the use of ampersands except in proper names. For example, *The Associated Press Stylebook* (2007) includes this guideline:
>
> **ampersand (&)** Use the ampersand when it is part of a company's name or composition title: *House & Garden* [magazine title], *Procter & Gamble*, *Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway*.
>
>
> The ampersand should not otherwise be used in place of *and*.
>
>
>
So AP style would require the OP's example sentence to be rendered as follows:
>
> The same products attracted all European countries to India: spices, silk, and cotton.
>
>
>
Although the *Oxford Guide to Style* (2002) generally agrees with AP on this point, it adds an interesting exception:
>
> Avoid ampersands except in names of firms that use them, established combinations (e.g., R & D, R & B, C & W),and in some lexicographic work. Occasionally they may be convenient for clarification: in *cinnamon & raisin and onion bagels are available* the ampersand makes clear there are two rather than three types on offer.
>
>
>
*The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors* (2000), follows up on this point by more explicitly asserting the ampersand's ability to indicate a nested pairing:
>
> **ampersand** = **&**, used in some formulae, references, and lexicographic work, in Acts of Parliament, and in business names. Since it may imply a closer relationship than *and*, the ampersand can be useful in grouping items: 'cinnamon & raisin and onion' are two, not three, types of bagels." ...
>
>
>
This notion of using an ampersand to nest a compound entry within a longer series appears to be the central point of Ant\_222's answer, as well. Still, Oxford's discussion of bagel types does not constitute not an endorsement of using an ampersand in place of *and* in a series such as "spices, silk, and cotton." | Whereas the ampersand is just a short denotation of the conjunction *and*, the obvious answer is to punctuate it as one would normally punctuate *and*. One interesting usage of the ampersand is to glue, as it were, noun pairs closer together, in contrast with adjacent instances of *and*, for example:
>
> To participate in this game, you will need patience, pen & paper, and a lot of spare time.
>
>
>
Notice how *&* glues *pen* and *paper* together so that they become a single element of the enumeration:
1. patience,
2. pen and paper, and
3. a lot of spare time.
Observe also that my simple advice does not contradict the answer of *Mari-Lou*, as no one in their right mind would think of sundering composite names with punctuation after replacing *&* with *and*. For instance:
>
> My favourite music genres are rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and jazz.
>
>
> |
37,404,769 | It seems to me they are quite similar. So what's the relation between slab and buddy system? | 2016/05/24 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/37404769",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1112946/"
] | A slab is a collection of objects of the same size. It avoids fragmentation by allocating a fairly large block of memory and dividing it into equal-sized pieces. The number of pieces is typically much larger than two, say 128 or so.
There are two ways you can use slabs. First, you could have a slab just for one size that you allocate very frequently. For example, a kernel might have an inode slab. But you could also have a number of slabs in progressive sizes, like a 128-byte slab, a 192-byte slab, a 256-byte slab, and so on. You can then allocate an object of any size from the next slab size up.
Note that in neither case does a slab re-use memory for an object of a different size unless the entire slab is freed back to a global "large block" allocator.
The buddy system is an unrelated method where each object has a "buddy" object which it is coalesced with when it is freed. Blocks are divided in half when smaller blocks are needed. Note that in the buddy system, blocks are divided and coalesced into larger blocks as the primary means of allocation and returning for re-use. This is very different from how slabs work.
Or to put it more simply:
Buddy system: Various sized blocks are divided when allocated and coalesced when freed to efficiently divide a big block into smaller blocks of various sizes as needed.
Slab: Very large blocks are allocated and divided once into equal-sized blocks. No other dividing or coalescing takes place and freed blocks are just held in a list to be assigned to subsequent allocations.
The Linux kernel's core allocator is a flexible buddy system allocator. This allocator provide the slabs for the various slab allcoators. | In general slab allocator is a list of slabs with fixed size suited to place predefined size elements. As all objects in the pool of the same size there is no fragmentation.
Buddy allocator divides memory in chunks which sizes a doubled. For example if min chunk is 1k, the next will be 2K, then 4K etc. So if we will request to allocate 100b, then the chunk with size 1k will be chosen. What leads to fragmentation but allows to allocate arbitrary size objects (so it's well suited for user memory allocations where exact object sized could be of any size).
See also:
* <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_allocation>
* <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_memory_allocation>
Also worse check this presentations: <http://events.linuxfoundation.org/images/stories/pdf/klf2012_kim.pdf>
Slides from page 22 reveal the summary of differencies. |
19,382 | At university, it was drilled into us to avoid comma splices like the plague, but I keep seeing them in all different types of famous, best-selling novels.
I read things (all in dialogue, in inverted commas) like:
-You wouldn't like it, believe me.
-Trust me, I know what I'm taking about.
-I'm not going, I don't care what you say.
-He's a straight shooter, I'll give him that.
-I'm warning you, don't test me.
-I told you, he doesn't work on Mondays.
-Don't worry, I won't tell anyone.
I keep seeing this type of things in really well-known novels.
I know a lot of editors like to avoid using semi-colons and colons in dialogue, and wonder if this is why so many comma splices are creeping in?
Are comma splices more acceptable in dialogue than in regular text, in the way that commas can indicate pauses and so mimic more natural sounding speech?
Is there also an argument that says that commas in dialogue, even if they cause comma splices, are less distracting to the reader than a semi-colon in the middle of a sentence, which they may not fully understand or that may take away from the natural flow of the words?
I was wondering if any writers here would use comma splices in dialogue as above.
Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you. | 2015/10/18 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/19382",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/15309/"
] | I wouldn't use all of them, but I'd definitely use some, and mostly for the reasons you pointed out. Dialogue doesn't have to be grammatically correct; really, it probably *shouldn't* be grammatically correct, most of the time (since most of the time people don't speak in grammatically correct ways).
So in dialogue, instead of using punctuation to follow grammar rules, I think it should be used to indicate the manner of speaking. So if an author is trying to represent the sort of pause that is best represented by a comma, then the author should use the comma, regardless of grammar.
For the record, of the examples you posted, I think I'd change:
"I'm not going" (probably semi-colon, maybe em-dash, maybe even a period);
and
"I'm warning you" (colon, for added drama).
The others I'd leave as commas splices. But it depends on how the author hears the words being spoken, of course. | Most of your examples could be made grammatically "correct" by adding a word (e.g. "I told you [that] he doesn't work on Mondays", but would also make the speech sound much less natural. I would say that it's perfectly fine to splice commas in dialogue. (Who knows, maybe someday it will even be considered grammatically acceptable?)
If I'm really worried about someone complaining about comma splices, I'll sometimes use a dash instead: "Don't worry -- I won't tell anyone." |
224,763 | As per my understanding with grammar, 1 is correct:
>
> 1. I will not stop until it is finished.
> 2. I will **not** stop until it is ***not*** finished.
> 3. I will stop until it is finished
>
>
>
However, for 2, I always contend against accepting that the first **not** is negating the second **not**.
Am I correct that 2 can be written as 3?
Please correct my grammar. | 2015/01/31 | [
"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/224763",
"https://english.stackexchange.com",
"https://english.stackexchange.com/users/86096/"
] | In classical logic, not not p is equivalent to p -- the negation of a negated sentence is equivalent to that sentence. Your example "I will not stop until it is not finished", however, is not of that form, so the two "not"s do not cancel. You might also want to take into account that "until" is equivalent to "while not". | >
> 2. I will not stop until it is not finished.
>
>
> However, I always have difficulties accepting that the first "Not" is
> negating second "Not" and the second line can be written as:
>
>
> 3. I will stop until it is finished.
>
>
>
I don't think that this is a question of grammar, but rather one of logic. And I must disagree that 2 means the same thing as 3; they mean two entirely different things.
(2 means absolutely nothing at all for practical purposes.)
**2.** If you deconstruct 2, then there is clearly something that is in the process of being done or constructed, specifically whatever "it" is. This may or may not be being done by the speaker; that isn't clear. ("I will not stop" does not automatically imply that whatever the speaker is doing is contributing to the completion of "it", though it would commonly be taken that way.)
Here's the problem. If "it" is not finished, then the speaker has cause to stop. Right now. Immediately. Because the stated condition has already been met; "it" is already "not finished".
Once "it" is finished it can never be "not finished" again; time's arrow runs in only one direction only. (See any book by Einstein or Brian Cox.) So if "it" has already been finished, the speaker cannot stop, ever, simply because the condition of "it" not being finished will not exist again in the future. ("It" can be destroyed, but that is not the same thing as "not finished".)
For this reason 2 is, if not actually meaningless, certainly descriptively useless.
**3.** Deconstructing 3 yields a quite different result. In this case whatever the speaker is doing cannot be finishing "it", since if the speaker stops doing it (and is the only one doing it) then "it" will never be finished. This implies that one or more other parties are finishing "it". It also implies that the speaker will cease whatever he or she is doing until those parties finish "it".
To summarise then:
* 2 means: if it is not finished, I will stop now. Nothing is said about when (or whether) I will start again. On the other hand if it is already finished I will never stop.
* 3 means: I will stop now, and remain stopped until such time as someone else finishes it, then recommence whatever I am doing. |
224,763 | As per my understanding with grammar, 1 is correct:
>
> 1. I will not stop until it is finished.
> 2. I will **not** stop until it is ***not*** finished.
> 3. I will stop until it is finished
>
>
>
However, for 2, I always contend against accepting that the first **not** is negating the second **not**.
Am I correct that 2 can be written as 3?
Please correct my grammar. | 2015/01/31 | [
"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/224763",
"https://english.stackexchange.com",
"https://english.stackexchange.com/users/86096/"
] | >
> 2. I will not stop until it is not finished.
>
>
> However, I always have difficulties accepting that the first "Not" is
> negating second "Not" and the second line can be written as:
>
>
> 3. I will stop until it is finished.
>
>
>
I don't think that this is a question of grammar, but rather one of logic. And I must disagree that 2 means the same thing as 3; they mean two entirely different things.
(2 means absolutely nothing at all for practical purposes.)
**2.** If you deconstruct 2, then there is clearly something that is in the process of being done or constructed, specifically whatever "it" is. This may or may not be being done by the speaker; that isn't clear. ("I will not stop" does not automatically imply that whatever the speaker is doing is contributing to the completion of "it", though it would commonly be taken that way.)
Here's the problem. If "it" is not finished, then the speaker has cause to stop. Right now. Immediately. Because the stated condition has already been met; "it" is already "not finished".
Once "it" is finished it can never be "not finished" again; time's arrow runs in only one direction only. (See any book by Einstein or Brian Cox.) So if "it" has already been finished, the speaker cannot stop, ever, simply because the condition of "it" not being finished will not exist again in the future. ("It" can be destroyed, but that is not the same thing as "not finished".)
For this reason 2 is, if not actually meaningless, certainly descriptively useless.
**3.** Deconstructing 3 yields a quite different result. In this case whatever the speaker is doing cannot be finishing "it", since if the speaker stops doing it (and is the only one doing it) then "it" will never be finished. This implies that one or more other parties are finishing "it". It also implies that the speaker will cease whatever he or she is doing until those parties finish "it".
To summarise then:
* 2 means: if it is not finished, I will stop now. Nothing is said about when (or whether) I will start again. On the other hand if it is already finished I will never stop.
* 3 means: I will stop now, and remain stopped until such time as someone else finishes it, then recommence whatever I am doing. | "until" works these two ways
1) An action is in process. It will continue until X happens, then it will stop. This is expressed as a positive:
"I will do [whatever] until [x]."
Or the equvalent negative:
"I will not stop doing [whatever] until [x]."
2) An action has not started, but it will (or at least, can) start after X happens. This is expressed as a negative.
"Do not start your exam until I give the signal."
"I will not drive forward until the light turns green."
To express this as a positive, you would not use "until" (asymmetrical, but as Alan K pointed out, tiime goes in only one direction).
{When/After} I give the signal, you may start your exam.
{When/After} the light turns green, I will drive ahead."
////////////
As others have pointed out, your second sentence, with the double negative, makes no sense. |
224,763 | As per my understanding with grammar, 1 is correct:
>
> 1. I will not stop until it is finished.
> 2. I will **not** stop until it is ***not*** finished.
> 3. I will stop until it is finished
>
>
>
However, for 2, I always contend against accepting that the first **not** is negating the second **not**.
Am I correct that 2 can be written as 3?
Please correct my grammar. | 2015/01/31 | [
"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/224763",
"https://english.stackexchange.com",
"https://english.stackexchange.com/users/86096/"
] | In classical logic, not not p is equivalent to p -- the negation of a negated sentence is equivalent to that sentence. Your example "I will not stop until it is not finished", however, is not of that form, so the two "not"s do not cancel. You might also want to take into account that "until" is equivalent to "while not". | "until" works these two ways
1) An action is in process. It will continue until X happens, then it will stop. This is expressed as a positive:
"I will do [whatever] until [x]."
Or the equvalent negative:
"I will not stop doing [whatever] until [x]."
2) An action has not started, but it will (or at least, can) start after X happens. This is expressed as a negative.
"Do not start your exam until I give the signal."
"I will not drive forward until the light turns green."
To express this as a positive, you would not use "until" (asymmetrical, but as Alan K pointed out, tiime goes in only one direction).
{When/After} I give the signal, you may start your exam.
{When/After} the light turns green, I will drive ahead."
////////////
As others have pointed out, your second sentence, with the double negative, makes no sense. |
362,961 | What is the reasoning behind that I can't add a custom section on developer story?
Surely it would enhance the number of features developer story has. And it would potentially do more good than harm (as people who don't want custom sections wouldn't use it). What are the reasons one can't do it?
For example, with a custom section I mean the user could create a section with any title (e.g. "technical summary"), and it could have a single text area where the user could type in anything he/she likes (e.g. in case of "technical summary" it could have "C,C++, etc"). | 2018/02/05 | [
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/362961",
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com",
"https://meta.stackoverflow.com/users/-1/"
] | One reason could be, if you want to funnel certain data types/values into specific fields at the database levels.
Giving people the option to "free-text it", would mean, from a data-analysis point of view, StackExchange would need to do a possible substantial amount of more work to provide you (a custom field) user with relevant jobs, advertising, etc.
E.G: I could, with this suggested power, setup my whole Developer Story with custom sections, and therefor not gain all of the benefits that was obviously intended with Developer Story. I've personally encountered this (or lack of) on previous data migration projects, where I just wished I could travel back in time and ask the initial devs to please categorize the data just a little better and not give the end users as much free-form input fields.
While I do realize we have a pretty savvy community vs what I'd call a non-technical user base. Meaning, the problem I illustrated above, MIGHT be less of a concern. It ultimately does open a wormhole of sorts for data which will need some TLC to be converted into something useful (should SO want to do so) | Milestone items act as custom sections as they allow you to define your own category.
For example:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zALcZ.png) |
6,512,026 | For storing audit entries for auditing purposes, I've been wrestling with how to record what data has changed.
I've done two different ways in the past, but I'm creating a new system now and am trying to figure out which to use:
1. Have an AuditEntry and AuditEntryChange table. Each changed field value goes in the AuditEntryChange table and has a FK to AuditEntry.
2. Have the changed fields and values stored in XML in the AuditEntry table in a single field.
Which of the above would be more performant for saving and querying? (including the impact of serialization/deserialization if using XML). And which would take up less space?
Also, is best practice to use GUID or int PKs for audit tables? I can think of reasons for each. | 2011/06/28 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/6512026",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/326518/"
] | Basically, "making a language" involves several steps. First, you need a "lexer" which splits your input into substrings belonging to different symbol classes (like "identifier", "number", "operator" etc). Second, you write down a grammar of your language, usually using some kind of [BNF](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backus-Naur_form). Then you eat the banana use a program called "parser generator" which turns your grammar into actual parser code and finally you combine lexer and parser to get an actual complier.
Normally, this kind of things is being done with C or Java, I've never heard of working compliers written in php. Still, you can use php tokenizer for the first part (the lexer) - assuming your language has syntax similar to php - and try <http://pear.php.net/package/PHP_ParserGenerator> to generate the parser.
Sorry if this sounds a bit complicated, but so it is. | This link [Any decent PHP parser written in PHP?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/5586358/120163) discusses parsing of PHP, using PHP.
The value of this for OP, is that the answers provide several ways to obtain parser generators, some that run in PHP itself, which would likely be useful to him. |
25,374,861 | I am learning to develop asp.net Web API with AngularJS frontend framework. I have been doing a lot of research on this for about a week now.I have read about oauth 2, owin and other. But now confused which is better.
I have a couple of Question and hope you guys can help me with it.
1) In my application - Only Registered User will be able to have access in to application through log-in with email and password. Can someone please point me to a good resource or article on how to create a good registration and log-in authentication with API.Which is secure enough as i will be gathering user data and storing them.
2) What type of security i need to protect my API, at first the API would be behind the firewall and then ones project is finished it will be open to the world? and also please point me to right direction if possible.
Please note this is not a duplicate question i have been through most of the post on stackoverflow and asking this after i could not find answer.
Any suggestion or help on this is appreciated.
Thanks for all your effort on this topic | 2014/08/19 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/25374861",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/3196313/"
] | You can use token based authentication using Asp.Net Web API 2, OWIN, Asp.Net Identity and AngularJS.
Asp.Net Web API now fully supports OWIN. Katana is microsofts OWIN implementation.
Asp.Net Web API now supports authorization using OAuth 2.0. OAuth is made possible with Microsoft OWIN components.
Are yo confused with the terms Identity,OWIN,OAuth ... here is brief overview of them.
**Asp.Net Identity** is developed to overcome problems by asp.net membership system. Asp.Net Identity allows us to use different storages(Table storage,No SQL) and allows us to use external identity providers as it uses OWIN.
**OWIN** is to break tight coupling b/w Asp.Net and IIS. OWIN is just a specification. Katana is Microsoft's OWIN implementation. OWIN sits in http request pipeline. OWIN pipeline has middleware components, where we can mention external login mechanisms.
**OAuth** was created to remove the need for users to share their passwords with third-party applications.
**Note:**
Here Asp.Net Identity has nothing to do with OWIN, OAuth and vice versa. They are three separate concepts. Asp.Net Identity is Microsoft's implementation. OWIN, OAuth are open
standard concepts. Because Microsoft has implemented OWIN, OAuth is made possible.
So, Web API 2 uses OAuth bearer token instead of forms authentication cookie, which is more correct in Web API world. Because it allows to use variety of end user devices like mobile devices.
In your case, you can use the default templates provided in visual studio 2013.
1. Create New Project and select Asp.Net web application.
2. Select Web API or SPA template.
3. Change authentication and Select individual user accounts.
4. Click Ok.
Now, everything is configured by default in order to use OWIN, Asp.Net Identity, OAuth. Be cause we use token based authentication, you can find there is no login method available in Account Controller.
1. To register users, use Register method available in AccountController
2. To login, you need to post data in following format to
<http://example.com/token> (Which can be configured in StartUp.Auth.cs)
**grant\_type=password&username=Alice&password=password123**
3. After login, we recieve bearer token, which we need to send with authorization header with every request to access protected resource.
As you are using awesome frontend framework AngularJs, you can save bearer token in local storage, and you can write a http interceptor service, which takes care of sending bearer token with each request.
Here registering the user is taken care by Asp.Net identity, where as authenticating user is taken care by OAuthAuthorizationServer which is present in Providers folder by default.
Bearer tokens, that we recieve are not towards a specific client,so any one can intercept them. So use them only over SSL.
Please go through this links
<http://www.asp.net/web-api/overview/security/individual-accounts-in-web-api>
<http://bitoftech.net/2014/06/09/angularjs-token-authentication-using-asp-net-web-api-2-owin-asp-net-identity/> | Vs2013 webapplication project template comes with a good owin setup. I suggest to look into that |
979,022 | I would like to be able to 'restore' MS Word's document window using Automation.
I already have the application object and I have tried calling App.Activate. Activate will bring the window to the top of the Window stack but not if Word is minimized. I can set the WindowState to Maximized, Minimized and Normal but what I really need to do is restore the window to the state it was in before the user minimized it (this would be equivalent to the user clicking on the application's button in the taskbar).
Is this possible using Word automation?
I am actually using C++ to to the automation so I am able to call Win32 API functions if required.
If there is not direct way to restore the window then the question becomes, 'how can I get the window handle of the ActiveWindow?' | 2009/06/11 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/979022",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/2768/"
] | AIR is more like Safari and Chrome. AIR uses Webkit, and it's a bit behind Safari and Chrome in the Webkit version. Can you see how those work?
I've used jQuery in AIR, but I don't think I've used the animate method in AIR.
Also, try to narrow down whether it's something about color (although I can't imagine what). Try something like height instead of color.
Also, why did you have to use noconflict? Do you have another library loaded? I don't remember having to do that. | If it works correctly on Safari but not in Adobe AIR, it looks to me like its a security issue with your jquery app running inside the application sandbox (default but restricted area on Adobe AIR). Please create a non-application sandbox and run your app in there to see if this is a security issue. The non-application sandbox should work exactly like the browser. <http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/AIR:HTML_Security_FAQ>
Unlike content in the application security sandbox, JavaScript content in a non-application security sandbox can call the eval() function to execute dynamically generated code at any time. However, there are restrictions to JavaScript in a non-application security sandbox. But these restrictions mirror general browser restrictions.
A non application sandbox can be created easily by using an iframe. |
979,022 | I would like to be able to 'restore' MS Word's document window using Automation.
I already have the application object and I have tried calling App.Activate. Activate will bring the window to the top of the Window stack but not if Word is minimized. I can set the WindowState to Maximized, Minimized and Normal but what I really need to do is restore the window to the state it was in before the user minimized it (this would be equivalent to the user clicking on the application's button in the taskbar).
Is this possible using Word automation?
I am actually using C++ to to the automation so I am able to call Win32 API functions if required.
If there is not direct way to restore the window then the question becomes, 'how can I get the window handle of the ActiveWindow?' | 2009/06/11 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/979022",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/2768/"
] | I've had the same issue. The problem lies in that jQuery sets the interval with which the animation needs to be updated on the main window, not on your secondary window context.
I've made a [small patch](http://gist.github.com/115767) to jQuery 1.3.2 that works for me. | If it works correctly on Safari but not in Adobe AIR, it looks to me like its a security issue with your jquery app running inside the application sandbox (default but restricted area on Adobe AIR). Please create a non-application sandbox and run your app in there to see if this is a security issue. The non-application sandbox should work exactly like the browser. <http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/AIR:HTML_Security_FAQ>
Unlike content in the application security sandbox, JavaScript content in a non-application security sandbox can call the eval() function to execute dynamically generated code at any time. However, there are restrictions to JavaScript in a non-application security sandbox. But these restrictions mirror general browser restrictions.
A non application sandbox can be created easily by using an iframe. |
80,050 | I recently moved into a rental property and within the first week the refrigerator stopped keeping things under 50ºF. When the guy came out to look, he said it was due to my chest freezer being near the refrigerator and it caused the compressor to burn out in it. The refrigerator has wood on both sides, going up to the cabinet above it, creating a little nook for it to reside in. There is about an inch gap on both sides between it and the wood. The chest freezer was on one side, next to the wood, with the stove being on the other. The chest freezer's compressor and other parts are in the back corner, away from the refrigerator.
If any other information is needed, ask and I will provide if I can.
I'm highly skeptical about this, but don't want to just take the blame of it being broken. I have no real knowledge if it is possible or not.
So, is it possible that the refrigerator is failing due to it's proximity to the freezer?
**Update**
They have replaced the refrigerator at no cost to us. The guy mentioned that he was going to have it written into the lease to not allow chest freezers at all so I'm thinking he may have something personal against them. Thanks for all the input and help. | 2015/12/15 | [
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/80050",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/users/46666/"
] | **Total, utter, male-bovine-derived-organic-fertilizer.**
The cabinet isn't helping it cool any (and is almost certainly less ventilation space than the manufacturer requires), but the freezer really can't have much effect, being on the other side of the cabinet.
The stove on the other side gets far hotter than the outside of the freezer does - so why wasn't that blamed? Presumably because you added the chest freezer to an extant rental kitchen, and the landlord wants to stick you for price of the new refrigerator?
You are not, however, doing your chest freezer any favors if it was right next to the wood - most chest freezers have the coils running under the skin and also have a manufacturer-recommended minimum ventilation space around them. | Turn the refrigerator off, put a thermometer next to the refrigerator compressor, and let the chest freezer run.
See the tech specs on the refrigerator for maximum allowable ambient temperature.
Measurement trumps opinion, even if the opinion is supposedly qualified.
Added in response to difficulties pointed out by Chris H: You might tie a string to the thermometer so you can pull it out quickly without moving the fridge. |
80,050 | I recently moved into a rental property and within the first week the refrigerator stopped keeping things under 50ºF. When the guy came out to look, he said it was due to my chest freezer being near the refrigerator and it caused the compressor to burn out in it. The refrigerator has wood on both sides, going up to the cabinet above it, creating a little nook for it to reside in. There is about an inch gap on both sides between it and the wood. The chest freezer was on one side, next to the wood, with the stove being on the other. The chest freezer's compressor and other parts are in the back corner, away from the refrigerator.
If any other information is needed, ask and I will provide if I can.
I'm highly skeptical about this, but don't want to just take the blame of it being broken. I have no real knowledge if it is possible or not.
So, is it possible that the refrigerator is failing due to it's proximity to the freezer?
**Update**
They have replaced the refrigerator at no cost to us. The guy mentioned that he was going to have it written into the lease to not allow chest freezers at all so I'm thinking he may have something personal against them. Thanks for all the input and help. | 2015/12/15 | [
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/80050",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/users/46666/"
] | Turn the refrigerator off, put a thermometer next to the refrigerator compressor, and let the chest freezer run.
See the tech specs on the refrigerator for maximum allowable ambient temperature.
Measurement trumps opinion, even if the opinion is supposedly qualified.
Added in response to difficulties pointed out by Chris H: You might tie a string to the thermometer so you can pull it out quickly without moving the fridge. | The installation clearance requirements for that fridge are actually pretty small and I bet the wood cabinet does meet them. According to the [user manual on Sears' website](http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/user-manuals/ftmd18p4kw0-frigidaire-parts-refrigerator-manual?pathRender=fromManualTabPage) that unit requires only 1" at the back and 3/8" on the top and sides. (That model appears to be one with a vent along the bottom at the front which probably explains the low clearance requirements.)
I would just tell the landlord that there's no indication that the freezer has anything to do with the problem, especially considering it is separated by a cabinet wall and the compressor is not even nearby. I wouldn't bother with a thermometer, it won't prove anything. The stove clearly puts out more heat than the chest freezer anyway. |
80,050 | I recently moved into a rental property and within the first week the refrigerator stopped keeping things under 50ºF. When the guy came out to look, he said it was due to my chest freezer being near the refrigerator and it caused the compressor to burn out in it. The refrigerator has wood on both sides, going up to the cabinet above it, creating a little nook for it to reside in. There is about an inch gap on both sides between it and the wood. The chest freezer was on one side, next to the wood, with the stove being on the other. The chest freezer's compressor and other parts are in the back corner, away from the refrigerator.
If any other information is needed, ask and I will provide if I can.
I'm highly skeptical about this, but don't want to just take the blame of it being broken. I have no real knowledge if it is possible or not.
So, is it possible that the refrigerator is failing due to it's proximity to the freezer?
**Update**
They have replaced the refrigerator at no cost to us. The guy mentioned that he was going to have it written into the lease to not allow chest freezers at all so I'm thinking he may have something personal against them. Thanks for all the input and help. | 2015/12/15 | [
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/80050",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/users/46666/"
] | Turn the refrigerator off, put a thermometer next to the refrigerator compressor, and let the chest freezer run.
See the tech specs on the refrigerator for maximum allowable ambient temperature.
Measurement trumps opinion, even if the opinion is supposedly qualified.
Added in response to difficulties pointed out by Chris H: You might tie a string to the thermometer so you can pull it out quickly without moving the fridge. | Having worked in the appliance field for almost 50 years I think I might be qualified to render an opinion here.. First is the refer a frost free type or an older manual defrost unit ? If it is an older unit chances are it would have never worked inside the cabinet.. They rely on convection to move air across the condenser coils in the back of the unit.. Now a newer frost free type has the condenser coils in the bottom of the unit and there is a fan that directs air across the coils in this manner.. The air channel is split in two with the fan being at the back of the partition, air is drawn in across the coils, blown across the compressor and discharged thru the other half of the front of the refer cabinet at the bottom.. The coils can become clogged with lint and dust easily and need to be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner.. The other major screw up people make is the cardboard cover across the bottom of the refer cabinet in the back.. Its there for servicing the compressor and fan.. If by chance when cleaning the condenser coils that cardboard panel was removed and not replaced or properly installed this creates a huge problem.. The fan cannot direct the cooling air in across the coils and out across the compressor because the cardboard acts as the back portion of this boxed channel arrangement.. Have seen it way to many times where the cardboard is left off or not properly installed and the cooling air only goes round in circles thru the fan.. Reinstall the cardboard back or cut a piece of cardboard and duct tape it in place if need be and the magic will start to happen inside of 10 minutes.. The airflow inside the refer will start to cool off.. In basic terms, you are removing heat from the inside of the refer to the condenser coils outside of the unit.. If you cant get rid of the heat outside the box, you don't get no cold inside the box.. Hope that helps.. |
80,050 | I recently moved into a rental property and within the first week the refrigerator stopped keeping things under 50ºF. When the guy came out to look, he said it was due to my chest freezer being near the refrigerator and it caused the compressor to burn out in it. The refrigerator has wood on both sides, going up to the cabinet above it, creating a little nook for it to reside in. There is about an inch gap on both sides between it and the wood. The chest freezer was on one side, next to the wood, with the stove being on the other. The chest freezer's compressor and other parts are in the back corner, away from the refrigerator.
If any other information is needed, ask and I will provide if I can.
I'm highly skeptical about this, but don't want to just take the blame of it being broken. I have no real knowledge if it is possible or not.
So, is it possible that the refrigerator is failing due to it's proximity to the freezer?
**Update**
They have replaced the refrigerator at no cost to us. The guy mentioned that he was going to have it written into the lease to not allow chest freezers at all so I'm thinking he may have something personal against them. Thanks for all the input and help. | 2015/12/15 | [
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/80050",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/users/46666/"
] | **Total, utter, male-bovine-derived-organic-fertilizer.**
The cabinet isn't helping it cool any (and is almost certainly less ventilation space than the manufacturer requires), but the freezer really can't have much effect, being on the other side of the cabinet.
The stove on the other side gets far hotter than the outside of the freezer does - so why wasn't that blamed? Presumably because you added the chest freezer to an extant rental kitchen, and the landlord wants to stick you for price of the new refrigerator?
You are not, however, doing your chest freezer any favors if it was right next to the wood - most chest freezers have the coils running under the skin and also have a manufacturer-recommended minimum ventilation space around them. | The installation clearance requirements for that fridge are actually pretty small and I bet the wood cabinet does meet them. According to the [user manual on Sears' website](http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/user-manuals/ftmd18p4kw0-frigidaire-parts-refrigerator-manual?pathRender=fromManualTabPage) that unit requires only 1" at the back and 3/8" on the top and sides. (That model appears to be one with a vent along the bottom at the front which probably explains the low clearance requirements.)
I would just tell the landlord that there's no indication that the freezer has anything to do with the problem, especially considering it is separated by a cabinet wall and the compressor is not even nearby. I wouldn't bother with a thermometer, it won't prove anything. The stove clearly puts out more heat than the chest freezer anyway. |
80,050 | I recently moved into a rental property and within the first week the refrigerator stopped keeping things under 50ºF. When the guy came out to look, he said it was due to my chest freezer being near the refrigerator and it caused the compressor to burn out in it. The refrigerator has wood on both sides, going up to the cabinet above it, creating a little nook for it to reside in. There is about an inch gap on both sides between it and the wood. The chest freezer was on one side, next to the wood, with the stove being on the other. The chest freezer's compressor and other parts are in the back corner, away from the refrigerator.
If any other information is needed, ask and I will provide if I can.
I'm highly skeptical about this, but don't want to just take the blame of it being broken. I have no real knowledge if it is possible or not.
So, is it possible that the refrigerator is failing due to it's proximity to the freezer?
**Update**
They have replaced the refrigerator at no cost to us. The guy mentioned that he was going to have it written into the lease to not allow chest freezers at all so I'm thinking he may have something personal against them. Thanks for all the input and help. | 2015/12/15 | [
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/80050",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/users/46666/"
] | **Total, utter, male-bovine-derived-organic-fertilizer.**
The cabinet isn't helping it cool any (and is almost certainly less ventilation space than the manufacturer requires), but the freezer really can't have much effect, being on the other side of the cabinet.
The stove on the other side gets far hotter than the outside of the freezer does - so why wasn't that blamed? Presumably because you added the chest freezer to an extant rental kitchen, and the landlord wants to stick you for price of the new refrigerator?
You are not, however, doing your chest freezer any favors if it was right next to the wood - most chest freezers have the coils running under the skin and also have a manufacturer-recommended minimum ventilation space around them. | Having worked in the appliance field for almost 50 years I think I might be qualified to render an opinion here.. First is the refer a frost free type or an older manual defrost unit ? If it is an older unit chances are it would have never worked inside the cabinet.. They rely on convection to move air across the condenser coils in the back of the unit.. Now a newer frost free type has the condenser coils in the bottom of the unit and there is a fan that directs air across the coils in this manner.. The air channel is split in two with the fan being at the back of the partition, air is drawn in across the coils, blown across the compressor and discharged thru the other half of the front of the refer cabinet at the bottom.. The coils can become clogged with lint and dust easily and need to be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner.. The other major screw up people make is the cardboard cover across the bottom of the refer cabinet in the back.. Its there for servicing the compressor and fan.. If by chance when cleaning the condenser coils that cardboard panel was removed and not replaced or properly installed this creates a huge problem.. The fan cannot direct the cooling air in across the coils and out across the compressor because the cardboard acts as the back portion of this boxed channel arrangement.. Have seen it way to many times where the cardboard is left off or not properly installed and the cooling air only goes round in circles thru the fan.. Reinstall the cardboard back or cut a piece of cardboard and duct tape it in place if need be and the magic will start to happen inside of 10 minutes.. The airflow inside the refer will start to cool off.. In basic terms, you are removing heat from the inside of the refer to the condenser coils outside of the unit.. If you cant get rid of the heat outside the box, you don't get no cold inside the box.. Hope that helps.. |
80,050 | I recently moved into a rental property and within the first week the refrigerator stopped keeping things under 50ºF. When the guy came out to look, he said it was due to my chest freezer being near the refrigerator and it caused the compressor to burn out in it. The refrigerator has wood on both sides, going up to the cabinet above it, creating a little nook for it to reside in. There is about an inch gap on both sides between it and the wood. The chest freezer was on one side, next to the wood, with the stove being on the other. The chest freezer's compressor and other parts are in the back corner, away from the refrigerator.
If any other information is needed, ask and I will provide if I can.
I'm highly skeptical about this, but don't want to just take the blame of it being broken. I have no real knowledge if it is possible or not.
So, is it possible that the refrigerator is failing due to it's proximity to the freezer?
**Update**
They have replaced the refrigerator at no cost to us. The guy mentioned that he was going to have it written into the lease to not allow chest freezers at all so I'm thinking he may have something personal against them. Thanks for all the input and help. | 2015/12/15 | [
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/80050",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/users/46666/"
] | The installation clearance requirements for that fridge are actually pretty small and I bet the wood cabinet does meet them. According to the [user manual on Sears' website](http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/user-manuals/ftmd18p4kw0-frigidaire-parts-refrigerator-manual?pathRender=fromManualTabPage) that unit requires only 1" at the back and 3/8" on the top and sides. (That model appears to be one with a vent along the bottom at the front which probably explains the low clearance requirements.)
I would just tell the landlord that there's no indication that the freezer has anything to do with the problem, especially considering it is separated by a cabinet wall and the compressor is not even nearby. I wouldn't bother with a thermometer, it won't prove anything. The stove clearly puts out more heat than the chest freezer anyway. | Having worked in the appliance field for almost 50 years I think I might be qualified to render an opinion here.. First is the refer a frost free type or an older manual defrost unit ? If it is an older unit chances are it would have never worked inside the cabinet.. They rely on convection to move air across the condenser coils in the back of the unit.. Now a newer frost free type has the condenser coils in the bottom of the unit and there is a fan that directs air across the coils in this manner.. The air channel is split in two with the fan being at the back of the partition, air is drawn in across the coils, blown across the compressor and discharged thru the other half of the front of the refer cabinet at the bottom.. The coils can become clogged with lint and dust easily and need to be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner.. The other major screw up people make is the cardboard cover across the bottom of the refer cabinet in the back.. Its there for servicing the compressor and fan.. If by chance when cleaning the condenser coils that cardboard panel was removed and not replaced or properly installed this creates a huge problem.. The fan cannot direct the cooling air in across the coils and out across the compressor because the cardboard acts as the back portion of this boxed channel arrangement.. Have seen it way to many times where the cardboard is left off or not properly installed and the cooling air only goes round in circles thru the fan.. Reinstall the cardboard back or cut a piece of cardboard and duct tape it in place if need be and the magic will start to happen inside of 10 minutes.. The airflow inside the refer will start to cool off.. In basic terms, you are removing heat from the inside of the refer to the condenser coils outside of the unit.. If you cant get rid of the heat outside the box, you don't get no cold inside the box.. Hope that helps.. |
9,301 | The above question is self explanatory, still I would like to break it into two parts.
**Q1.** What is the difference between abstract and summary/conclusion?
**Q2.** What is the difference between summary and conclusion ?
Thanks | 2013/04/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6763/"
] | A conclusion section might for example include speculations about some patterns in the data, or proposals for future research. It basically is really the only place to put your opinions. A summary I expect would not include any opinions and just re-iterate the findings and weaknesses in the study.
As the other answer mentioned, the abstract should include all the main aspects of the paper in an abbreviated form - the topic, the hypotheses, the participants and study design, and the results. | * The abstract is like a movie trailer.
* The summary is an arrangement of actions/events of movie in a short way.
* The conclusion is the objective of the movie in light of the evidence and arguments given in the movie.
The conclusion of one person can vary from that of another. |
9,301 | The above question is self explanatory, still I would like to break it into two parts.
**Q1.** What is the difference between abstract and summary/conclusion?
**Q2.** What is the difference between summary and conclusion ?
Thanks | 2013/04/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6763/"
] | The **abstract** is written for the potentially interested reader. While writing it, keep in mind that most readers read the abstract before they read the paper (sounds obvious, but many abstracts read like the authors did not consider this). The abstract should give an impression of what the paper will be about. Do not use jargon or *any* abbreviations here. It should be understandable for non-specialists and even for people from fields somehow far away.
The **conclusion** should conclude the paper and is written for the reader who already has read the paper. In other words: most readers have read the paper when they read the conclusion. Again, this sounds obvious but, again, a lot of conclusions do not read like this. It does not make sense to write a conclusion like "we have shown this and that by using this and that method". Well, this is what the reader has just read (and what he may know since he has read the abstract). A proper conclusion should tell the reader what she can or he could do with the newly acquired knowledge. Answer the question "So what?".
A **summary** sums up the paper. I am not sure if a paper needs a summary.
I've written some tips for abstracts some time ago:
* **Avoid jargon.** Although this sounds obvious, most abstracts contain jargon in one way or the other. Of course one can not avoid the use of specific terminology and technical terms but even then there is an easy check if a technical term is appropriate: Try to find a definition on the internet (if the term has a fairly stable wikipedia page, there it is not jargon) – if you do not succeed within a few minutes you should find a different word.
* **Use buzzwords.** This may sound to contradict the previous point and in part it does. But note that you can use a buzzword together with its explanation. Again, the example from the previous point works: “Funk metric” may be a buzzword and the explanation using the name “Finsler” is supposed to ring a bell (as I learned, it is related to Hilbert’s 23rd problem). This helps the readers to find related work and to remember what was the field you were working in.
* **General to specific.** In general, it’s good advice to work from general to specific. Start with a sentence which points in the direction of the field you are working in. So your potential audience will know from the beginning in which field your work is situated.
* **Answer questions.** If you think that your work answers questions, why not pose the questions in the abstract? This may motivate the readers to think by themselves and draw their interest to the topic.
* **Don’t be afraid of layman’s terms.** Although layman’s terms usually do not give exact description and sometimes even are ridiculously oversimplified, they still help to form a mental picture. | **A1**: In the context of a journal article, thesis etc., the abstract should provide a brief summary of each of the main parts of the article: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. In the words of Houghton (1975), "An abstract can be defined as a summary of the information in a document". The Conclusions (in some cases also called a *Summary*) chapter is a summary of the main ideas that come out from the discussion (e.g., Katz, 2009) and hence only a subset of the abstract. Usually, the Conclusions sum up the discussion whereas the abstract only reiterates the most important of the conclusions.
**A2**: The difference between a summary and the conclusions is less clear. First, it is not clear if the summary is to be compared with the Abstract or the Conclusions. A summary may also be more appropriate as Conclusions when writing an overview where the conclusions may not be easy to identify. As stated above some journals use the word *Summary* instead of *Conclusions*. Sometimes this can also be labelled *Synthesis* and cap off a lengthy discussion.
References:
Houghton, B., 1975. Scientific periodicals: their historical development, characteristics and control. Hamden CT, Shoe String Press.
Katz, M.J., 2009. From research to manuscript. A guide to scientific writing. Second edition. Berlin, Springer. |
9,301 | The above question is self explanatory, still I would like to break it into two parts.
**Q1.** What is the difference between abstract and summary/conclusion?
**Q2.** What is the difference between summary and conclusion ?
Thanks | 2013/04/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6763/"
] | **Abstract:**
Author short story about what is in it (no matter good or bad, valuable or scrap)
**Conclusion:**
Authors statement about the findings justified by the detailed content (findings/achievement/affirmation of a doubtful fact/negation of an established belief...etc) for a reader who has a guided-travel across by the author. | One basic difference: An abstract is always at the beginning of a academic paper. A conclusion is always at the end. A summary could be anywhere, even separate from the paper itself, so it's a bit more slippery. |
9,301 | The above question is self explanatory, still I would like to break it into two parts.
**Q1.** What is the difference between abstract and summary/conclusion?
**Q2.** What is the difference between summary and conclusion ?
Thanks | 2013/04/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6763/"
] | A conclusion section might for example include speculations about some patterns in the data, or proposals for future research. It basically is really the only place to put your opinions. A summary I expect would not include any opinions and just re-iterate the findings and weaknesses in the study.
As the other answer mentioned, the abstract should include all the main aspects of the paper in an abbreviated form - the topic, the hypotheses, the participants and study design, and the results. | One basic difference: An abstract is always at the beginning of a academic paper. A conclusion is always at the end. A summary could be anywhere, even separate from the paper itself, so it's a bit more slippery. |
9,301 | The above question is self explanatory, still I would like to break it into two parts.
**Q1.** What is the difference between abstract and summary/conclusion?
**Q2.** What is the difference between summary and conclusion ?
Thanks | 2013/04/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6763/"
] | Summary: Its a brief note that gives us an overview, ideas and insight about major topics in a paper.
Abstract: Its a short note that express the contents of the work.
Conclusion: Its a statement/decision reached by the researcher based on findings in the research. | * The abstract is like a movie trailer.
* The summary is an arrangement of actions/events of movie in a short way.
* The conclusion is the objective of the movie in light of the evidence and arguments given in the movie.
The conclusion of one person can vary from that of another. |
9,301 | The above question is self explanatory, still I would like to break it into two parts.
**Q1.** What is the difference between abstract and summary/conclusion?
**Q2.** What is the difference between summary and conclusion ?
Thanks | 2013/04/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6763/"
] | A conclusion section might for example include speculations about some patterns in the data, or proposals for future research. It basically is really the only place to put your opinions. A summary I expect would not include any opinions and just re-iterate the findings and weaknesses in the study.
As the other answer mentioned, the abstract should include all the main aspects of the paper in an abbreviated form - the topic, the hypotheses, the participants and study design, and the results. | Summary: Its a brief note that gives us an overview, ideas and insight about major topics in a paper.
Abstract: Its a short note that express the contents of the work.
Conclusion: Its a statement/decision reached by the researcher based on findings in the research. |
9,301 | The above question is self explanatory, still I would like to break it into two parts.
**Q1.** What is the difference between abstract and summary/conclusion?
**Q2.** What is the difference between summary and conclusion ?
Thanks | 2013/04/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6763/"
] | The **abstract** is written for the potentially interested reader. While writing it, keep in mind that most readers read the abstract before they read the paper (sounds obvious, but many abstracts read like the authors did not consider this). The abstract should give an impression of what the paper will be about. Do not use jargon or *any* abbreviations here. It should be understandable for non-specialists and even for people from fields somehow far away.
The **conclusion** should conclude the paper and is written for the reader who already has read the paper. In other words: most readers have read the paper when they read the conclusion. Again, this sounds obvious but, again, a lot of conclusions do not read like this. It does not make sense to write a conclusion like "we have shown this and that by using this and that method". Well, this is what the reader has just read (and what he may know since he has read the abstract). A proper conclusion should tell the reader what she can or he could do with the newly acquired knowledge. Answer the question "So what?".
A **summary** sums up the paper. I am not sure if a paper needs a summary.
I've written some tips for abstracts some time ago:
* **Avoid jargon.** Although this sounds obvious, most abstracts contain jargon in one way or the other. Of course one can not avoid the use of specific terminology and technical terms but even then there is an easy check if a technical term is appropriate: Try to find a definition on the internet (if the term has a fairly stable wikipedia page, there it is not jargon) – if you do not succeed within a few minutes you should find a different word.
* **Use buzzwords.** This may sound to contradict the previous point and in part it does. But note that you can use a buzzword together with its explanation. Again, the example from the previous point works: “Funk metric” may be a buzzword and the explanation using the name “Finsler” is supposed to ring a bell (as I learned, it is related to Hilbert’s 23rd problem). This helps the readers to find related work and to remember what was the field you were working in.
* **General to specific.** In general, it’s good advice to work from general to specific. Start with a sentence which points in the direction of the field you are working in. So your potential audience will know from the beginning in which field your work is situated.
* **Answer questions.** If you think that your work answers questions, why not pose the questions in the abstract? This may motivate the readers to think by themselves and draw their interest to the topic.
* **Don’t be afraid of layman’s terms.** Although layman’s terms usually do not give exact description and sometimes even are ridiculously oversimplified, they still help to form a mental picture. | **Abstract:**
Author short story about what is in it (no matter good or bad, valuable or scrap)
**Conclusion:**
Authors statement about the findings justified by the detailed content (findings/achievement/affirmation of a doubtful fact/negation of an established belief...etc) for a reader who has a guided-travel across by the author. |
9,301 | The above question is self explanatory, still I would like to break it into two parts.
**Q1.** What is the difference between abstract and summary/conclusion?
**Q2.** What is the difference between summary and conclusion ?
Thanks | 2013/04/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6763/"
] | **A1**: In the context of a journal article, thesis etc., the abstract should provide a brief summary of each of the main parts of the article: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. In the words of Houghton (1975), "An abstract can be defined as a summary of the information in a document". The Conclusions (in some cases also called a *Summary*) chapter is a summary of the main ideas that come out from the discussion (e.g., Katz, 2009) and hence only a subset of the abstract. Usually, the Conclusions sum up the discussion whereas the abstract only reiterates the most important of the conclusions.
**A2**: The difference between a summary and the conclusions is less clear. First, it is not clear if the summary is to be compared with the Abstract or the Conclusions. A summary may also be more appropriate as Conclusions when writing an overview where the conclusions may not be easy to identify. As stated above some journals use the word *Summary* instead of *Conclusions*. Sometimes this can also be labelled *Synthesis* and cap off a lengthy discussion.
References:
Houghton, B., 1975. Scientific periodicals: their historical development, characteristics and control. Hamden CT, Shoe String Press.
Katz, M.J., 2009. From research to manuscript. A guide to scientific writing. Second edition. Berlin, Springer. | * The abstract is like a movie trailer.
* The summary is an arrangement of actions/events of movie in a short way.
* The conclusion is the objective of the movie in light of the evidence and arguments given in the movie.
The conclusion of one person can vary from that of another. |
9,301 | The above question is self explanatory, still I would like to break it into two parts.
**Q1.** What is the difference between abstract and summary/conclusion?
**Q2.** What is the difference between summary and conclusion ?
Thanks | 2013/04/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6763/"
] | **Abstract:**
Author short story about what is in it (no matter good or bad, valuable or scrap)
**Conclusion:**
Authors statement about the findings justified by the detailed content (findings/achievement/affirmation of a doubtful fact/negation of an established belief...etc) for a reader who has a guided-travel across by the author. | Summary: Its a brief note that gives us an overview, ideas and insight about major topics in a paper.
Abstract: Its a short note that express the contents of the work.
Conclusion: Its a statement/decision reached by the researcher based on findings in the research. |
9,301 | The above question is self explanatory, still I would like to break it into two parts.
**Q1.** What is the difference between abstract and summary/conclusion?
**Q2.** What is the difference between summary and conclusion ?
Thanks | 2013/04/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6763/"
] | The **abstract** is written for the potentially interested reader. While writing it, keep in mind that most readers read the abstract before they read the paper (sounds obvious, but many abstracts read like the authors did not consider this). The abstract should give an impression of what the paper will be about. Do not use jargon or *any* abbreviations here. It should be understandable for non-specialists and even for people from fields somehow far away.
The **conclusion** should conclude the paper and is written for the reader who already has read the paper. In other words: most readers have read the paper when they read the conclusion. Again, this sounds obvious but, again, a lot of conclusions do not read like this. It does not make sense to write a conclusion like "we have shown this and that by using this and that method". Well, this is what the reader has just read (and what he may know since he has read the abstract). A proper conclusion should tell the reader what she can or he could do with the newly acquired knowledge. Answer the question "So what?".
A **summary** sums up the paper. I am not sure if a paper needs a summary.
I've written some tips for abstracts some time ago:
* **Avoid jargon.** Although this sounds obvious, most abstracts contain jargon in one way or the other. Of course one can not avoid the use of specific terminology and technical terms but even then there is an easy check if a technical term is appropriate: Try to find a definition on the internet (if the term has a fairly stable wikipedia page, there it is not jargon) – if you do not succeed within a few minutes you should find a different word.
* **Use buzzwords.** This may sound to contradict the previous point and in part it does. But note that you can use a buzzword together with its explanation. Again, the example from the previous point works: “Funk metric” may be a buzzword and the explanation using the name “Finsler” is supposed to ring a bell (as I learned, it is related to Hilbert’s 23rd problem). This helps the readers to find related work and to remember what was the field you were working in.
* **General to specific.** In general, it’s good advice to work from general to specific. Start with a sentence which points in the direction of the field you are working in. So your potential audience will know from the beginning in which field your work is situated.
* **Answer questions.** If you think that your work answers questions, why not pose the questions in the abstract? This may motivate the readers to think by themselves and draw their interest to the topic.
* **Don’t be afraid of layman’s terms.** Although layman’s terms usually do not give exact description and sometimes even are ridiculously oversimplified, they still help to form a mental picture. | * The abstract is like a movie trailer.
* The summary is an arrangement of actions/events of movie in a short way.
* The conclusion is the objective of the movie in light of the evidence and arguments given in the movie.
The conclusion of one person can vary from that of another. |
470,524 | How do I setup my Windows XP box so that I can write Japanese text? | 2012/09/05 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/470524",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/11934/"
] | It's fairly easy to do this, but you'll need your windows install CD. If you don't have your install CD, [this answer](https://superuser.com/a/89277/11934) might be useful to you.
Open your Control Panel and open your "Regional and Language Options" controls. Then
1. Click to "Install files for East Asian languages"
2. Press "Apply" (this is the stage that requires your windows install CD)
3. Now click the "Details..." button
This will show you a list of the "input options" that you currently have installed. We need to "Add..." one.
On the "Add Input Language" screen, select "Japanese" and the "Microsoft IME Standard".
Then click "OK", then "OK" and then "OK"... and you should see the language bar pop up either on your start bar or elsewhere on the screen. You might need to restart if the system tells you to, before you can use the IME.
You can use it with the following key-commands:
* alt+shift : Switch IME modes (between "EN" and "JP" mode, for example)
* alt+~ : While in "JP" mode, switch input modes (between "A"-romaji and "hiragana" mode)
You should be able to switch to hiragana mode, type using "IME-romaji", then use spacebar to select among the possible kanji writings. | To install another language and keyboard layout in Windows XP, follow these steps:
1. In the Windows XP standard Start menu, click **Start**, and then click **Control Panel**.
2. In the Windows XP classic Start menu, click **Start**, click **Settings**, and then click **Control Panel**.
3. Double-click **Regional and Language Options**.
4. Click the Languages tab, and then click Details under "Text Services and Input Languages".
5. Click **Add** under "Installed Services", and then click the language you want to add and the keyboard layout you want to use for that language.
6. To configure the settings for the Language bar, click **Language Bar** under "Preferences". |
15,492 | I have a group of friends who I sit with on the bus. Usually, they have fun talking while I watch and listen, which I'm perfectly fine with. From time to time I join in to their conversation, which usually involves a fair amount of teasing ("banter"), which inevitably involves me at some point. One of the biggest reasons that I stay quiet is because I'm usually quite tired on the bus and can't come up with clever comebacks easily.
I have absolutely no problem with their banter being directed at me, but I tend not to react much since I'm not that good at coming up with comebacks on the spot. For example, at one point this conversation took place:
>
> Friend 1: (joke about me addressed to me)
>
>
> Me: (doesn't really react, has a blank face for a moment since I wasn't expecting to be addressed)
>
>
> Friend 1: Oh no, I didn't mean to offend you! I'm so sorry!
>
>
> Me: No, it's ok, I'm not offended at all :)
>
>
>
My friend however didn't seem to believe me and seemed to think that I was just brushing it off while being offended, so continued apologising. This resulted in another friend making a sarcastic and somewhat annoyed comment:
>
> Friend 2: It's all fun and games till she (me) gets hurt.
>
>
>
(In the UK, and also elsewhere I believe, people who "can't take the banter" are seen as annoying and wimpy/destroying the group's dynamic.)
I want to avoid a similar situation again. How can I point out that I'm not offended in a convincing way? Preferably in a way that isn't overly serious so that I don't perpetuate the "delicate wimp who can't take a joke" perception.
Quick note: I am good friends with these people, and their perception of me as someone who can't take a joke is not one which they dislike me for or tease me about (if anything, they tease me less because they see me that way). | 2018/06/12 | [
"https://interpersonal.stackexchange.com/questions/15492",
"https://interpersonal.stackexchange.com",
"https://interpersonal.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] | I usually find that the best way to assure someone that *their* jokes don't offend you is to make a joke of your own directed at yourself. This has the added benefit that the can be already prepared with a couple jokes since you know yourself more intimately than anyone else, and you know which things you could joke about that would be well received.
Directing a joke at yourself will help others understand that you have no problems handling jokes that are directed at you.
for example, after your friends apology you could say something like:
>
> No problem! I'm just a little slow today and it took a couple seconds for my brain to catch up with your words!
>
>
>
As an aside, self deprecating humor has been linked to good social [health](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5369579/Self-deprecating-humor-good-study-finds.html) as well as general [attractiveness](https://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/95822/self-deprecating-humor-is-sexually-attractive.pdf), so it's a great interpersonal skill to develop! | So from my understanding, you are good enough friends. Therefore is no requirement for reassurances. Even an assurance for such a trivial thing is not required. What is happening here is most likely your body language and/or facial experience exhibits something that they may take as you getting offended.
When you are being addressed and someone makes a joke and everyone laughs and you do not, obviously it is seen as somewhat anti-group dynamics and being offended. Even if you have nothing clever to say, laugh along with them (or at least, smile!). You may even say something like, "so true, how do you know?" or "You are so funny!" (some sarcasm will be okay but do not overdo!)
Lastly look into yourself more, do you have RBF syndrome? (google it!) Do you feel uncomfortable when people talk about you and that is why you are not able to smile? Do you feel your contribution to the banter would be seen as lame/not smart by others? Understand these core issues of your thought process.
If you have a good friend or a family member who you trust, you can ask them to observe your body language and facial conversations so that you can work towards improving them. Many other resources are present for which internet is your friend.
Coming back to your specific query, you should be working towards not even arriving at the reassurance conversation. If even one person thinks you are offended and makes some deal out of it, the fun goes out the window. Hence keep it light, go with the flow and if you do become center of attention, show some signs of life (jk) by saying something light or at least smiling and agreeing. Not responding (whether verbally or through body) at all will almost always been seen as signs of disapproval and getting offended.
Lastly, if the convo does go that way where people are continuously like "are you offended?", you can say "guys calm your titties down, I am not offended/bored/abcxyz, I just have RBF that's all". This may lead to a fun convo about that and you may even get this identity in your group. I had a friend who had RBF but she was a genuinely nice and funny person but most people used to think she was offended/angry even when she was talking about puppies! Key is not to let it go till the assurance/reassurance part and manage it with non-verbal communication cues.
Hope this helps! |
878 | We branded our site with a custom master page, alternate CSS, and site theme. Everytime we create new sites or site collections we have to manually setup these things to get a consistent look. Is there a way to have this set automatically when a new sites or site collections are created? | 2009/12/17 | [
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/878",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/users/256/"
] | Features and solutions is the way to go when deploying your custom branding.
When branding SharePoint also remember the option of using Themes. Themes gives you a way to brand across application pages, standard master pages / page layouts in a consistent manner.
[Branding with SharePoint Themes](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd206912.aspx)
[Master Pages vs. Themes: Which Do You Choose?](http://www.heathersolomon.com/blog/archive/2007/05/13/Master-Pages-vs.-Themes-Which-Do-You-Choose.aspx)
hth
Anders Rask | The way we did this was through features. We had a feature that applied our branding and then using feature stapling that feature was activated whenever we created a new site or site collection.
EDIT: Like Anders says, themes do provide some extra benefits. The benefit of them working on application pages can be handled by a simple httpmodule. Check out my blog post with code here: <http://www.thelineberrys.com/default-category/using-your-sharepoint-sites-master-page-on-all-application-pages-3.html> on how to implement the httpmodule. |
878 | We branded our site with a custom master page, alternate CSS, and site theme. Everytime we create new sites or site collections we have to manually setup these things to get a consistent look. Is there a way to have this set automatically when a new sites or site collections are created? | 2009/12/17 | [
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/878",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/users/256/"
] | The way we did this was through features. We had a feature that applied our branding and then using feature stapling that feature was activated whenever we created a new site or site collection.
EDIT: Like Anders says, themes do provide some extra benefits. The benefit of them working on application pages can be handled by a simple httpmodule. Check out my blog post with code here: <http://www.thelineberrys.com/default-category/using-your-sharepoint-sites-master-page-on-all-application-pages-3.html> on how to implement the httpmodule. | Here is a function that will set the masterpage for your site (including sub sites) that you can use.
Just put it in a feature receiver and you can activate it when creating new sites, etc.
Then you will have the same masterpage for all your sites.
<http://chrisbarba.wordpress.com/2009/12/18/set-custom-master-page/> |
878 | We branded our site with a custom master page, alternate CSS, and site theme. Everytime we create new sites or site collections we have to manually setup these things to get a consistent look. Is there a way to have this set automatically when a new sites or site collections are created? | 2009/12/17 | [
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/878",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/users/256/"
] | Features and solutions is the way to go when deploying your custom branding.
When branding SharePoint also remember the option of using Themes. Themes gives you a way to brand across application pages, standard master pages / page layouts in a consistent manner.
[Branding with SharePoint Themes](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd206912.aspx)
[Master Pages vs. Themes: Which Do You Choose?](http://www.heathersolomon.com/blog/archive/2007/05/13/Master-Pages-vs.-Themes-Which-Do-You-Choose.aspx)
hth
Anders Rask | Here is a function that will set the masterpage for your site (including sub sites) that you can use.
Just put it in a feature receiver and you can activate it when creating new sites, etc.
Then you will have the same masterpage for all your sites.
<http://chrisbarba.wordpress.com/2009/12/18/set-custom-master-page/> |
7,687 | Suppose I'm reading through some open source project and I encounter a block of code that I just don't understand, despite going to documentation websites and utilizing Google search to piece it together. Could I post that block of code here and ask for help from the P. SE community? | 2015/10/23 | [
"https://softwareengineering.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/7687",
"https://softwareengineering.meta.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.meta.stackexchange.com/users/114349/"
] | Code questions may belong on [one of several sites](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/129598/which-computer-science-programming-stack-exchange-do-i-post-in/129632#129632)
* Broken or incomplete code belongs on Stack Overflow
* Working code that you want feedback on belongs on Code Review
* Code does not belong on Programmers *unless* it is supporting your question: while this is a conceptual site, it *is* about programming after all. But a question dealing *only* with a block of code would be closed as off-topic. Think of it like this: if your question is a thesis paper, code is like references. They help, but a thesis full of only references is no good.
That being said, "help me understand this code" is generally off-topic everywhere. *Sometimes* those question will slide by on Stack Overflow, but *only* if there is a suspected bug or other code malfunction (i.e. does not work as expected). I would search Stack Overflow's meta site and maybe ask on their meta first to be safe. | No, code snippet explanations are off-topic for the site.
I'm relatively certain StackOverflow doesn't accept those questions either, but I would search and check on meta.stackoverflow first. |
790,606 | Could anyone explain me [problem 31 of project euler](http://projecteuler.net/index.php?section=problems&id=31)? I don't understand the problem clearly.
Is the problem saying to calculate the coins in any order like:
**2\*£1** or perhaps **1×£1 + 1×50p + 2×20p + 1×5p + 1×2p + 3×1p** ? | 2009/04/26 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/790606",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/-1/"
] | I had problems understanding this problem as well, not being used to British currency.
There are 100 pence in a pound. The following coins (in pence) are available: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200.
You are asked in how many different ways you can combine these values to create 200 pence.
As an example, there are 4 ways to form 5 pence:
* 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
* 1, 1, 1, 2
* 1, 2, 2
* 5
Good luck! | This problem is a special case of a very well known problem called Subset Sum (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subset_Sum>) |
790,606 | Could anyone explain me [problem 31 of project euler](http://projecteuler.net/index.php?section=problems&id=31)? I don't understand the problem clearly.
Is the problem saying to calculate the coins in any order like:
**2\*£1** or perhaps **1×£1 + 1×50p + 2×20p + 1×5p + 1×2p + 3×1p** ? | 2009/04/26 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/790606",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/-1/"
] | I had problems understanding this problem as well, not being used to British currency.
There are 100 pence in a pound. The following coins (in pence) are available: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200.
You are asked in how many different ways you can combine these values to create 200 pence.
As an example, there are 4 ways to form 5 pence:
* 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
* 1, 1, 1, 2
* 1, 2, 2
* 5
Good luck! | The question is basically how many possible combinations are there to get 2£ worth of money (= 200p) when you have the 8 different types of coins available.
Here are just a few (trivial) possible combinations:
* 1 x 2£
* 2 x 1£
* 200 x 1p
* 1 x 1£ + 100 x 1p
* ...
The question is: how many such combinations are possible? |
790,606 | Could anyone explain me [problem 31 of project euler](http://projecteuler.net/index.php?section=problems&id=31)? I don't understand the problem clearly.
Is the problem saying to calculate the coins in any order like:
**2\*£1** or perhaps **1×£1 + 1×50p + 2×20p + 1×5p + 1×2p + 3×1p** ? | 2009/04/26 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/790606",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/-1/"
] | I had problems understanding this problem as well, not being used to British currency.
There are 100 pence in a pound. The following coins (in pence) are available: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200.
You are asked in how many different ways you can combine these values to create 200 pence.
As an example, there are 4 ways to form 5 pence:
* 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
* 1, 1, 1, 2
* 1, 2, 2
* 5
Good luck! | This is a tricky solution that i didn't understand at all. A solution is at
<http://blog.csdn.net/No_End_Point/archive/2009/06/26/4301149.aspx>
And here a good piece of theory: [Integer Partition in Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_%28number_theory%29).
From here: <http://tardate.blogspot.com/2008/10/rolling-project-euler-on-ruby.html> |
4,348,159 | I have a need to integrate a third-party Java applet into a custom web part I wrote for SharePoint 2007. The web part simply loads a user control I created that contains the bulk of the functionality, and that's where the applet will go. I added it to my user control project and it works fine outside of my SharePoint environment.
I installed the updated web part onto my MOSS 2007 development site and the part's page loads fine. The applet is triggered by clicking a link button on the page, which runs some client-side JavaScript to start it. The problem is nothing seems to happen when I click the link. No error messages appear, and the stuff the applet is supposed to do never occurs (it's for doing file transfers via FTP). I have the .jar file as an embedded resource in my user control DLL, which is deployed to the bin folder, and SharePoint fully trusts this DLL.
I used Firebug to step through the initialization code and I saw an HTTP GET that failed with a message about not being authorized, but it didn't give any details and I'm not positive it was related to the applet.
Is there anything special I need to do to make the applet work? Or am I going about this the wrong way?
EDIT: The problem turned out to be the .jar file for the applet couldn't be found. SharePoint is clearly doing something different here, and I need to find out what. Can Java applets be used within a SharePoint site? [This](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1438511/pass-querystring-parameter-from-sharepoint-to-java-applet-webpart) question suggests they can, but in that case a Page Viewer web part was used, which isn't going to really work for me. | 2010/12/03 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/4348159",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/741/"
] | An applet in HTML is handled by applet/object tag. Your webpart should just render the OBJECT/applet tag and its attributes relevant to the applet (code, height, width) or you can let the JavaScript do it all and your webpart can provide the marker div where the applet needs to be rendered. That's about it and Sharepoint does not have to have any more knowledge about the applet since it is all taken care of the browser. The archive parameter points to the jar that can be located on your server than should be browsable. Instead of bundling it as a resource in the DLL , host it on the server just outside of the Sharepoint website. You might have to create a virtual directory in a different website for the same. This simplifies the deployment model. | It is possible the applet make a HTTP call back to the SharePoint site and it does not pass any credentials |
221,216 | I'm unit testing some code that processes data from an external API. That external API serves up a large pile of JSON data.
The right thing to do here, of course, is to use fixtures in the unit tests, so that I don't do a real API call every time the test runs.
Those fixtures can be quite large though - many thousands of lines, even. I'm not sure whether I should put them into git. It seems like a bad idea, since they seem like static files. On the other hand, writing the unit tests really requires specific fixtures, so I do want them shared with anybody working on the project (and shared with our build machinery).
Should large fixtures be committed into a repo? | 2013/12/12 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/221216",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/69206/"
] | Absolutely yes. Anyone should be able to run your unit tests by getting them out of the repository. Any build automation is going to require this (it should, anyway), as will future developers.
An alternative might be to put a pre-test block in the unit test that checks for the files and downloads them if they're not there. That way it's easy for you to update them if the API changes, and anyone getting the code will just be able to run it without digging round your machine to find the missing files.
As Guy pointed out, compressing files is unlikely to help - between the SSD/disk cache and git compressing things you almost certainly won't see a speed increase. With large chunks of static data it might make sense to put a gz wrapper around them (or similar) to speed up loading if that's easy to do in your language. That pushes the size down, and with fairly static data new commits (and consequent diffs) are going to be very rare. | I would commit them to some sort of a repository, yes.
It doesn't need to be the main repository, but you want to preserve the effort you put into creating the fixtures in the first place. Likewise, if someone else works on the project with you, then being able to check out those fixtures will save them a lot of time. |
221,216 | I'm unit testing some code that processes data from an external API. That external API serves up a large pile of JSON data.
The right thing to do here, of course, is to use fixtures in the unit tests, so that I don't do a real API call every time the test runs.
Those fixtures can be quite large though - many thousands of lines, even. I'm not sure whether I should put them into git. It seems like a bad idea, since they seem like static files. On the other hand, writing the unit tests really requires specific fixtures, so I do want them shared with anybody working on the project (and shared with our build machinery).
Should large fixtures be committed into a repo? | 2013/12/12 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/221216",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/69206/"
] | Unless you're talking about terabytes of data (which I don't believe you are here) then I would put it in source control. You really want everything in your source control solution so that anybody can check it out and run the full test suite without requiring any other dependencies to be hooked up.
I would also not zip the data as many source control systems already provide compression behind the scenes and if not the source control system then the media that you store it on may provide compression. The reason that I would generally not compress data is that there are times when you'll want to change the data and you'll want to be able to do a diff between different versions. Say the data returned by the API changes. That's a good reason to change the fixture's data. | I would commit them to some sort of a repository, yes.
It doesn't need to be the main repository, but you want to preserve the effort you put into creating the fixtures in the first place. Likewise, if someone else works on the project with you, then being able to check out those fixtures will save them a lot of time. |
221,216 | I'm unit testing some code that processes data from an external API. That external API serves up a large pile of JSON data.
The right thing to do here, of course, is to use fixtures in the unit tests, so that I don't do a real API call every time the test runs.
Those fixtures can be quite large though - many thousands of lines, even. I'm not sure whether I should put them into git. It seems like a bad idea, since they seem like static files. On the other hand, writing the unit tests really requires specific fixtures, so I do want them shared with anybody working on the project (and shared with our build machinery).
Should large fixtures be committed into a repo? | 2013/12/12 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/221216",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/69206/"
] | Absolutely yes. Anyone should be able to run your unit tests by getting them out of the repository. Any build automation is going to require this (it should, anyway), as will future developers.
An alternative might be to put a pre-test block in the unit test that checks for the files and downloads them if they're not there. That way it's easy for you to update them if the API changes, and anyone getting the code will just be able to run it without digging round your machine to find the missing files.
As Guy pointed out, compressing files is unlikely to help - between the SSD/disk cache and git compressing things you almost certainly won't see a speed increase. With large chunks of static data it might make sense to put a gz wrapper around them (or similar) to speed up loading if that's easy to do in your language. That pushes the size down, and with fairly static data new commits (and consequent diffs) are going to be very rare. | Unless you're talking about terabytes of data (which I don't believe you are here) then I would put it in source control. You really want everything in your source control solution so that anybody can check it out and run the full test suite without requiring any other dependencies to be hooked up.
I would also not zip the data as many source control systems already provide compression behind the scenes and if not the source control system then the media that you store it on may provide compression. The reason that I would generally not compress data is that there are times when you'll want to change the data and you'll want to be able to do a diff between different versions. Say the data returned by the API changes. That's a good reason to change the fixture's data. |
553,097 | I do not know how to install the ASUS USB-AC51 wireless adapter. I am not very good with | 2014/11/24 | [
"https://askubuntu.com/questions/553097",
"https://askubuntu.com",
"https://askubuntu.com/users/351567/"
] | Download the linux driver from [here](http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/USB-AC51/UT_USB_AC51_3001_Linux.zip). The instructions are included in the zip folder and following them will install the driver. Reboot the system after installation to get your USB adapter working.
You can also refer to the user manual which you can download from [here](http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/USB-AC51/E8743_USB_AC51_Manual.zip). | I bought this adapter yesterday, and at first it seemed like nothing helps to make it work.
Luckily, I found **this**: [TP-Link AC600 driver on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS x64](https://askubuntu.com/questions/726569/tp-link-ac600-driver-on-ubuntu-14-04-lts-x64)
*P.S. It is a guide for TP-Link's driver, but it seems to do the trick for ASUS USB-AC51.* |
553,097 | I do not know how to install the ASUS USB-AC51 wireless adapter. I am not very good with | 2014/11/24 | [
"https://askubuntu.com/questions/553097",
"https://askubuntu.com",
"https://askubuntu.com/users/351567/"
] | I struggled to make it work on modern distributions, but since Kernel 4.19 there is native support for mt7610u. Fedora 30 and Ubuntu 19.04 has this kernel version.
These distributions should work without any additional effort. | Download the linux driver from [here](http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/USB-AC51/UT_USB_AC51_3001_Linux.zip). The instructions are included in the zip folder and following them will install the driver. Reboot the system after installation to get your USB adapter working.
You can also refer to the user manual which you can download from [here](http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/USB-AC51/E8743_USB_AC51_Manual.zip). |
553,097 | I do not know how to install the ASUS USB-AC51 wireless adapter. I am not very good with | 2014/11/24 | [
"https://askubuntu.com/questions/553097",
"https://askubuntu.com",
"https://askubuntu.com/users/351567/"
] | There is a newer Linux driver for the underlying chipset "MT7610U USB" here:
<https://github.com/maage/mt7610u_wifi/tree/some_changes>
This worked for me on Ubuntu 14.04.4, whereas the MediaTek drivers did not. The above is a fork of the MediaTek drivers which fixes the compilation errors and warnings. | I bought this adapter yesterday, and at first it seemed like nothing helps to make it work.
Luckily, I found **this**: [TP-Link AC600 driver on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS x64](https://askubuntu.com/questions/726569/tp-link-ac600-driver-on-ubuntu-14-04-lts-x64)
*P.S. It is a guide for TP-Link's driver, but it seems to do the trick for ASUS USB-AC51.* |
553,097 | I do not know how to install the ASUS USB-AC51 wireless adapter. I am not very good with | 2014/11/24 | [
"https://askubuntu.com/questions/553097",
"https://askubuntu.com",
"https://askubuntu.com/users/351567/"
] | I struggled to make it work on modern distributions, but since Kernel 4.19 there is native support for mt7610u. Fedora 30 and Ubuntu 19.04 has this kernel version.
These distributions should work without any additional effort. | There is a newer Linux driver for the underlying chipset "MT7610U USB" here:
<https://github.com/maage/mt7610u_wifi/tree/some_changes>
This worked for me on Ubuntu 14.04.4, whereas the MediaTek drivers did not. The above is a fork of the MediaTek drivers which fixes the compilation errors and warnings. |
553,097 | I do not know how to install the ASUS USB-AC51 wireless adapter. I am not very good with | 2014/11/24 | [
"https://askubuntu.com/questions/553097",
"https://askubuntu.com",
"https://askubuntu.com/users/351567/"
] | I struggled to make it work on modern distributions, but since Kernel 4.19 there is native support for mt7610u. Fedora 30 and Ubuntu 19.04 has this kernel version.
These distributions should work without any additional effort. | I bought this adapter yesterday, and at first it seemed like nothing helps to make it work.
Luckily, I found **this**: [TP-Link AC600 driver on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS x64](https://askubuntu.com/questions/726569/tp-link-ac600-driver-on-ubuntu-14-04-lts-x64)
*P.S. It is a guide for TP-Link's driver, but it seems to do the trick for ASUS USB-AC51.* |
74,841 | I want to discuss these three sentences:
>
> I don't like her
> I dislike her
> I hate her
>
>
>
While 'hate' is pretty clear for its intensity/degree of **'not liking someone/thing'**, what about comparing all those three?
My view:
>
> I don't like her - *polite and harmless*
> I dislike her - *a bit impolite as compared to the above one*
> I hate her - *offensive and rude*
>
>
>
I am more interested in 'don't like' and 'dislike'.
If I care about culture/society, which one seems better? My vote is for 'don't like'. But I want natives' opinions on this.
---
By the way, 'detest' is higher than 'hate' in intensity/degree of disliking? | 2015/12/04 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/74841",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/3187/"
] | I am not a native speaker. If you tell me that you *'don't like'* me, I would get slightly offended, but not too much. On the other hand, if you tell me *'I hate you'*, I would clearly get hurt and probably tell you something like *'Oh yeah ? I hate you too'* ! Same is the case with *'dislike'*. With words like *'hate'* and *'dislike'*, a possible retaliation can be expected (I know I will). But if you say you *'don't'* like me, I might ask you *'why'* instead of saying something of the same degree with you as the subject. The least offensive is *'I don't like you'*. But then again, this is based on personal opinions and how they take offence in these phrases. *'Despise'* and *'Detest'* are much too intense and probably would come as too offensive or hurtful. | I would agree; "don't like" is less severe than "dislike" because "don't like" still allows the possibility of being neutral. I wouldn't call it "harmless" - it would still be a bit rude - but it's not as bad as "dislike" or "hate".
About "detest" and "hate": I think they're about equal. "Detest" might be a bit worse, but not by much - hating a person and detesting them are almost exactly the same. |
74,841 | I want to discuss these three sentences:
>
> I don't like her
> I dislike her
> I hate her
>
>
>
While 'hate' is pretty clear for its intensity/degree of **'not liking someone/thing'**, what about comparing all those three?
My view:
>
> I don't like her - *polite and harmless*
> I dislike her - *a bit impolite as compared to the above one*
> I hate her - *offensive and rude*
>
>
>
I am more interested in 'don't like' and 'dislike'.
If I care about culture/society, which one seems better? My vote is for 'don't like'. But I want natives' opinions on this.
---
By the way, 'detest' is higher than 'hate' in intensity/degree of disliking? | 2015/12/04 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/74841",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/3187/"
] | I would agree; "don't like" is less severe than "dislike" because "don't like" still allows the possibility of being neutral. I wouldn't call it "harmless" - it would still be a bit rude - but it's not as bad as "dislike" or "hate".
About "detest" and "hate": I think they're about equal. "Detest" might be a bit worse, but not by much - hating a person and detesting them are almost exactly the same. | ***Don’t Like*** does not sound very advanced and is used by younger children by a larger margin than the other two.
***Dislike*** is not offensive but less childish.
***Hate*** is very strong. |
74,841 | I want to discuss these three sentences:
>
> I don't like her
> I dislike her
> I hate her
>
>
>
While 'hate' is pretty clear for its intensity/degree of **'not liking someone/thing'**, what about comparing all those three?
My view:
>
> I don't like her - *polite and harmless*
> I dislike her - *a bit impolite as compared to the above one*
> I hate her - *offensive and rude*
>
>
>
I am more interested in 'don't like' and 'dislike'.
If I care about culture/society, which one seems better? My vote is for 'don't like'. But I want natives' opinions on this.
---
By the way, 'detest' is higher than 'hate' in intensity/degree of disliking? | 2015/12/04 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/74841",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/3187/"
] | I am not a native speaker. If you tell me that you *'don't like'* me, I would get slightly offended, but not too much. On the other hand, if you tell me *'I hate you'*, I would clearly get hurt and probably tell you something like *'Oh yeah ? I hate you too'* ! Same is the case with *'dislike'*. With words like *'hate'* and *'dislike'*, a possible retaliation can be expected (I know I will). But if you say you *'don't'* like me, I might ask you *'why'* instead of saying something of the same degree with you as the subject. The least offensive is *'I don't like you'*. But then again, this is based on personal opinions and how they take offence in these phrases. *'Despise'* and *'Detest'* are much too intense and probably would come as too offensive or hurtful. | ***Don’t Like*** does not sound very advanced and is used by younger children by a larger margin than the other two.
***Dislike*** is not offensive but less childish.
***Hate*** is very strong. |
184,658 | I'm trying to identify a story I read as a child in the late nineties or early 2000s. It was otherworld fantasy, set in a fairly standard medieval fantasy world.
What I remember: the main character was a young boy living at a castle. One night they are having a feast and a passing wizard performs some illusions for them. When the wizard leaves the boy sneaks out and follows him to become the wizard's apprentice. The wizard isn't too happy about this, but eventually agrees. The wizard proceeds to erase the boy's overly romantic view of what being a wizard is like.
The only specific example that I can recall is that the wizard wears grey robes. The boy assumes that the grey represents a balance between good and evil, but the wizard claims that black is too hot in the summer and white gets dirty too easily.
EDIT: I may be conflating some of the details with [Circle of Magic](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/363042.School_of_Wizardry) by Debra Doyle (not to be confused with [Circle of Magic](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58889.Sandry_s_Book?ac=1) by Tamora Pierce), but it definitely isn't that series. The detail about the gray robes is unique. | 2018/04/01 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/184658",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/91531/"
] | Oh, I know this one. It’s **Circle of Magic**, by Debra Doyle. Primarily because I've read the book and remember it matching what OP describes, but I did a little digging and found this on the [author's website](http://doyleandmacdonald.com/wiz1head.htm):
>
> Just before noon, Randal found Madoc in the tower. The wizard was reading a small, leather-bound book.
>
>
> "What is it, lad?" asked Madoc, not looking up.
>
>
> "I—I want to be a wizard like you," Randal told him.
>
>
> "How can you want to be a wizard, boy? You haven't go the foggiest idea of what it's all about." Madoc rose and stood glaring down at Randal. "You'll spend most of your life with just enough power to get you into trouble. You'll be hungry more often than you're fed. You'll spend more time in danger on the road than safe under a roof. And maybe you'll survive it all and live to be old and white-bearded and wise—but if you do, most of your friends will have died a long time before. Go back downstairs to your uncle, lad, and one day you'll make a fine knight. Wizardry is no life for you."
>
>
> Randal went, but he felt restless and uneasy. Even if wizardry was as hard as Madoc said, it was still the only thing he wanted.
>
>
>
However, Madoc does not wear gray *robes*. He usually wears saffron robes and a gray kilt.
>
> The newcomer wasn't much to look at: a man about forty years old with a short dark beard, carrying a walking staff taller than he was. He wore a loose shirt of faded yellow linen and a rough kilt of gray wool, belted around his waist and folded up over one shoulder. He's a long way from home, thought Randal. Only the half-civilized tribesmen of the north country dressed like that.
>
>
>
The students wear black robes.
>
> All of the young people wore loose black
> robes over their regular garments; Randal wondered if the
> robes had some sort of significance.
>
>
>
The Masters at the school wear nicer black robes with more colorful tunics.
>
> The other four wizards wore
> heavy, velvet-trimmed robes of rich black cloth, with deep
> hoods thrown back to reveal linings of vivid satin. The
> northerner still wore his familiar gray kilt and saffron tunic,
> but a similar robe hung over the tall chair back behind him.
>
>
> | The boy sneaking to become the wizard's apprentice reminds me very much of the prologue opening scene of *The Dragon Waiting* by Johh M. Ford. Been so long since I read the book I don't recall the character's name, but the boy (who loses an eye for his trouble in bringing the wizard food and ale) becomes one of the protagonists of the main part of the novel. This isn't in a castle, however; the boy is a servant in a small inn in Wales.
The book overall is an alternate histroy fantasy, mainly following events in a magical version of medieval Europe. One of the characters is a vampire, another is a woman physician who had previously worked for the Medicis. In the end, it boils down to making sure the wrong person doesn't wind up on the throne of England. |
232,483 | Is it possible to run a gnu screen within a gnu screen? I'm not sure how the key bindings would work. I need to log into a server that is already running a screen session, from a local screen session. | 2011/01/12 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/232483",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/33184/"
] | You just hit ctrl-a followed by an a to actually send the ctrl-a to the nested screen instance. | 'Ctrl-a a' sends a ctrl-a to the nested screen.
eg, if you want to add a new tab, you do 'ctrl-a a c'
if you want to disconnect: 'ctrl-a a d' |
22,270,320 | I am implementing a SPICE solver. I have the following problem: say I put two diodes and a current source in serial (standard diodes). I use MNA and Boost LU-decomposition. The problem is that the nodal matrix becomes very quickly near-singular. I think I have to scale the values but I don't know how and I couldn't find anything on the Internet. Any ideas how to do this scaling? | 2014/03/08 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/22270320",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1126493/"
] | Based on my experience, the short answer is:
1) **You cannot reliably estimate the 3D pose of the cameras independently from the 3D of the scene.** Moreover, since your cameras are moving independently, I think SfM is the right way to approach your problem.
2) **You need to estimate the cameras' intrinsics** in order to estimate useful (i.e. Euclidian) poses and scene reconstruction. If you cannot use the standard calibration procedure, with chessboard and co, you can have a look at the [autocalibration techniques](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_auto-calibration) (see also chapter 19 in Hartley's & Zisserman's book). This calibration procedure is done independently for each camera and only require several image samples at different positions, which seems appropriate in your case. | You can actually accomplish your task in a massive bundle adjacent procedure up to a scaling parameter. But is is a very complicated thing even if you aren't novice. You dont need 3d reconstruction, just an essential matrix that can be obtained from 2d projections and decomposed i to rotation and translation but this does require Iintrinsic Paramus. To get them you have to have at least three frames.
Finally, Drop Zimmerman book it will drive you crazy. Read Simon Princes "Computer Vision"instead. |
80,250 | The description of the rogue's Sneak Attack feature says:
>
> Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
>
>
>
The description of the Magic Stone cantrip says:
>
> You touch one to three pebbles and imbue them with magic. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling.
>
>
>
The attack is a ranged spell attack (not a weapon attack), but if I use a sling, I am using a "ranged weapon". By RAW does this make it possible to add the Sneak Attack damage or not? | 2016/05/17 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/80250",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/21897/"
] | Yes. You can sneak attack with any ranged weapon.
-------------------------------------------------
Throwing by hand, no. A pebble is **not** a finesse or ranged weapon.
Hurling with a sling, yes. See Sneak Attack in the PHB:
>
> **Sneak Attack** (PHB p.96, emphasis mine)
>
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly
> and exploit a foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can
> deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature **you hit with
> an attack** if you have advantage on the attack roll. **The
> attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.**
> You don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another
> enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy
> isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t have disadvantage on
> the attack roll.
> The amount of the extra damage increases as you
> gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak Attack
> column of the Rogue table.
>
>
>
Sneak Attack considers the weapon properties not the attack type.
While not using the usual modifies, as per spell description, you **are** hurling a stone with a ranged weapon.
Since you normally can apply Sneak Attack to a sling shot, why should using an enhanced projectile be worse than that?
A rogue cannot access the Magic Stone cantrip inexpensively, so I'd consider this clever synergy.
Also the resulting damage isn't imbalanced.
---
The unofficial ruling by [Jeremy Crawford](http://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/11/12/magic-stone-sneak-attack/) is also a yes.
>
> As DM, I'd allow it to work, given how Sneak Attack and magic stone are worded.
>
>
> | No
--
To Sneak need Weapon
Magic Stone gives Spell Attack
So no Sneak with Stone |
80,250 | The description of the rogue's Sneak Attack feature says:
>
> Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
>
>
>
The description of the Magic Stone cantrip says:
>
> You touch one to three pebbles and imbue them with magic. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling.
>
>
>
The attack is a ranged spell attack (not a weapon attack), but if I use a sling, I am using a "ranged weapon". By RAW does this make it possible to add the Sneak Attack damage or not? | 2016/05/17 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/80250",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/21897/"
] | Yes. You can sneak attack with any ranged weapon.
-------------------------------------------------
Throwing by hand, no. A pebble is **not** a finesse or ranged weapon.
Hurling with a sling, yes. See Sneak Attack in the PHB:
>
> **Sneak Attack** (PHB p.96, emphasis mine)
>
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly
> and exploit a foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can
> deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature **you hit with
> an attack** if you have advantage on the attack roll. **The
> attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.**
> You don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another
> enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy
> isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t have disadvantage on
> the attack roll.
> The amount of the extra damage increases as you
> gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak Attack
> column of the Rogue table.
>
>
>
Sneak Attack considers the weapon properties not the attack type.
While not using the usual modifies, as per spell description, you **are** hurling a stone with a ranged weapon.
Since you normally can apply Sneak Attack to a sling shot, why should using an enhanced projectile be worse than that?
A rogue cannot access the Magic Stone cantrip inexpensively, so I'd consider this clever synergy.
Also the resulting damage isn't imbalanced.
---
The unofficial ruling by [Jeremy Crawford](http://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/11/12/magic-stone-sneak-attack/) is also a yes.
>
> As DM, I'd allow it to work, given how Sneak Attack and magic stone are worded.
>
>
> | "The attack must use... a ranged weapon" is not synonymous with "The attack must be a ranged weapon attack". A sling is a ranged weapon; ergo, an attack that "uses a sling" is an attack that "uses a ranged weapon", no matter whether that attack is a "ranged weapon attack" or a "ranged spell attack".
If you ponder whether ammunition is a ranged weapon, then you would also have to conclude that you can't sneak attack with mundane bows either since the arrow isn't a ranged weapon; this is obviously nonsensical but irrelevant since the attack "uses" the sling regardless. |
80,250 | The description of the rogue's Sneak Attack feature says:
>
> Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
>
>
>
The description of the Magic Stone cantrip says:
>
> You touch one to three pebbles and imbue them with magic. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling.
>
>
>
The attack is a ranged spell attack (not a weapon attack), but if I use a sling, I am using a "ranged weapon". By RAW does this make it possible to add the Sneak Attack damage or not? | 2016/05/17 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/80250",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/21897/"
] | Yes. You can sneak attack with any ranged weapon.
-------------------------------------------------
Throwing by hand, no. A pebble is **not** a finesse or ranged weapon.
Hurling with a sling, yes. See Sneak Attack in the PHB:
>
> **Sneak Attack** (PHB p.96, emphasis mine)
>
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly
> and exploit a foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can
> deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature **you hit with
> an attack** if you have advantage on the attack roll. **The
> attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.**
> You don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another
> enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy
> isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t have disadvantage on
> the attack roll.
> The amount of the extra damage increases as you
> gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak Attack
> column of the Rogue table.
>
>
>
Sneak Attack considers the weapon properties not the attack type.
While not using the usual modifies, as per spell description, you **are** hurling a stone with a ranged weapon.
Since you normally can apply Sneak Attack to a sling shot, why should using an enhanced projectile be worse than that?
A rogue cannot access the Magic Stone cantrip inexpensively, so I'd consider this clever synergy.
Also the resulting damage isn't imbalanced.
---
The unofficial ruling by [Jeremy Crawford](http://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/11/12/magic-stone-sneak-attack/) is also a yes.
>
> As DM, I'd allow it to work, given how Sneak Attack and magic stone are worded.
>
>
> | Yes, most definitely all improvised weapons can be ranged. To understand why I say that, read on:
First as Jeremy Crawford points out: <http://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/11/12/magic-stone-sneak-attack/>
Attacking magic stone with a sling is just a spell attack with a sling. (Corollary, using it by hand is just a spell attack with an improvised weapon).
First the rules of sneak attack:
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a
> foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to
> one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the
> attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon. You
> don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target
> is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t
> have disadvantage on the attack roll. The amount of the extra damage
> increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak
> Attack column of the Rogue table.
>
>
>
Now, the rules on improvised weapons:
>
> If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee attack, or throws
> a melee weapon that does not have the thrown property, it also deals
> 1d4 damage. An improvised thrown weapon has a normal range of 20 feet
> and a long range of 60 feet.
>
>
>
Now lets examine the thrown property. (True the wording of previous doesn't technically grant 'thrown' but for additional support.
>
> Thrown. If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon
> to make a ranged attack.
>
>
>
Next lets look at the definition of ranged weapon within the PHB
>
> Every weapon is classified as either melee or ranged. A melee weapon
> is used to attack a target within 5 feet of you, whereas a ranged
> weapon is used to attack a target at a distance.
>
>
>
Since the stone is improvised it gains an attack range of 20/60 per the rules of improvised. Per the rules on what determines what a ranged weapon is "is used to attack a target at a distance" the pebble is a ranged weapon.
Additionally, lets examine the definition of "Range".
>
> Range. A weapon that can be used to make a ranged attack has a range
> in parentheses after the ammunition or thrown property. The range
> lists two numbers. The first is the weapon's normal range in feet, and
> the second indicates the weapon's long range. When attacking a target
> beyond normal range, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. You
> can't attack a target beyond the weapon's long range.
>
>
>
Since the rules of improvised weapons provide the weapon a range increment, it confirms that the stone without a sling is still considered a ranged weapon.
Put very specifically, by RAW anything can be turned into a 'ranged' weapon. Even a dead cat. Applying magic stone to the pebble doesn't change the fact that it is already considered a ranged weapon. The only thing that changes is that it becomes a spell attack with a ranged weapon versus a standard ranged attack with ranged weapon.
On that note, lets examine the Booming Blade cantrip.
>
> As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee
> attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell’s range,
> otherwise the spell fails. On a hit, the target suffers the attack’s
> normal effects, and it becomes sheathed in booming energy until the
> start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves before then, it
> immediately takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.
>
>
>
This is a spell that requires a melee attack roll. Could someone using this spell not benefit from sneak attack on the original attack roll just because they are utilizing a spell? The answer is no, of course they could use sneak attack assuming the weapon was a finesse weapon or had advantage. The fact that they utilized a weapon, and made an attack roll to utilize the spell effect are all that's important.
The same can also be said for steel wind strike (yet your capped at one target of sneak attack per turn, require advantage and finesse). I.E. It's a melee attack that uses a spell attack roll instead.
>
> You flourish the weapon used in the casting and then vanish to strike
> like the wind. Choose up to five creatures you can see within range.
> Make a melee spell attack against each target. On a hit, a target
> takes 6d10 force damage.
>
>
> You can then teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet
> of one of the targets you hit or missed.
>
>
> |
80,250 | The description of the rogue's Sneak Attack feature says:
>
> Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
>
>
>
The description of the Magic Stone cantrip says:
>
> You touch one to three pebbles and imbue them with magic. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling.
>
>
>
The attack is a ranged spell attack (not a weapon attack), but if I use a sling, I am using a "ranged weapon". By RAW does this make it possible to add the Sneak Attack damage or not? | 2016/05/17 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/80250",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/21897/"
] | Yes. You can sneak attack with any ranged weapon.
-------------------------------------------------
Throwing by hand, no. A pebble is **not** a finesse or ranged weapon.
Hurling with a sling, yes. See Sneak Attack in the PHB:
>
> **Sneak Attack** (PHB p.96, emphasis mine)
>
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly
> and exploit a foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can
> deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature **you hit with
> an attack** if you have advantage on the attack roll. **The
> attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.**
> You don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another
> enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy
> isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t have disadvantage on
> the attack roll.
> The amount of the extra damage increases as you
> gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak Attack
> column of the Rogue table.
>
>
>
Sneak Attack considers the weapon properties not the attack type.
While not using the usual modifies, as per spell description, you **are** hurling a stone with a ranged weapon.
Since you normally can apply Sneak Attack to a sling shot, why should using an enhanced projectile be worse than that?
A rogue cannot access the Magic Stone cantrip inexpensively, so I'd consider this clever synergy.
Also the resulting damage isn't imbalanced.
---
The unofficial ruling by [Jeremy Crawford](http://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/11/12/magic-stone-sneak-attack/) is also a yes.
>
> As DM, I'd allow it to work, given how Sneak Attack and magic stone are worded.
>
>
> | Sneak Attack can be used when using a sling to hurl a Magic Stone
=================================================================
However, it cannot be used when just throwing the stone.
Sneak Attack has 3 requirements to be met to activate
-----------------------------------------------------
>
> Sneak Attack (PHB 96)
>
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a
> foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to
> one creature you **hit with an attack** if you have **advantage on the
> attack roll**. The **attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.** [...]
>
>
>
### 1. Hit with an attack
The [Magic Stone cantrip](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/magic-stone) states
>
> make a **ranged spell attack** with one of the pebbles by throwing it or
> hurling it with a sling
>
>
>
So [what counts as an attack](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/a/71247/15991)?
>
> [Making an attack](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#MakinganAttack) (PHB 194)
>
>
> If there's ever any question whether something you're doing counts as
> an attack, the rule is simple: if you're making an attack roll, you're
> making an attack.
>
>
>
Since a ranged spell attack uses an attack roll (PHB 205, Attack Rolls), then unsurprisingly it counts as an attack.
### 2. Must have advantage on the attack roll (or other conditions)
This requirement is circumstantial, but advantage (or other conditions) are not prevented by the use of either a sling, nor by throwing the stone, nor by the attack being a ranged spell attack, so this condition is not being contested here.
### 3. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon
Again, the [Magic Stone cantrip](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/magic-stone) states
>
> make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or
> **hurling it with a sling**
>
>
>
A [sling](https://www.dndbeyond.com/equipment/sling) is listed under the simple ranged weapons (PHB 149), and it is explicitly stated that the attack is being made by hurling it with the sling, so that checks out.
Throwing the pebble does **not** use a ranged weapon, so it does **not** qualify for Sneak Attack damage, due to this condition.
Summary
-------
Based on the above requirements, hurling a Magic Stone enhanced pebble with a sling qualifies for Sneak Attack. If the pebble is thrown without use of a sling, it does not qualify.
Note that the wording of Sneak Attack does not require a ranged weapon attack, as **attacking with a ranged weapon** and making a **ranged weapon attack** are [distinct and separate things](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/145491/what-is-the-difference-between-a-ranged-attack-and-a-ranged-weapon-attack).
### Trivia
[Apparently](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/33923/is-a-spell-with-an-attack-roll-an-attack-for-the-purpose-of-sneak-attack) during the playtest phase the original rules for Sneak Attack did not require a finesse or ranged weapon. As a result, any spell with an attack roll met the requirement for Sneak Attack, which is likely why they added that restriction.
Whether or not all spells were intended to be excluded is unknown, but by RAW (as outlined above), Magic Stone still qualifies. |
80,250 | The description of the rogue's Sneak Attack feature says:
>
> Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
>
>
>
The description of the Magic Stone cantrip says:
>
> You touch one to three pebbles and imbue them with magic. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling.
>
>
>
The attack is a ranged spell attack (not a weapon attack), but if I use a sling, I am using a "ranged weapon". By RAW does this make it possible to add the Sneak Attack damage or not? | 2016/05/17 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/80250",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/21897/"
] | "The attack must use... a ranged weapon" is not synonymous with "The attack must be a ranged weapon attack". A sling is a ranged weapon; ergo, an attack that "uses a sling" is an attack that "uses a ranged weapon", no matter whether that attack is a "ranged weapon attack" or a "ranged spell attack".
If you ponder whether ammunition is a ranged weapon, then you would also have to conclude that you can't sneak attack with mundane bows either since the arrow isn't a ranged weapon; this is obviously nonsensical but irrelevant since the attack "uses" the sling regardless. | No
--
To Sneak need Weapon
Magic Stone gives Spell Attack
So no Sneak with Stone |
80,250 | The description of the rogue's Sneak Attack feature says:
>
> Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
>
>
>
The description of the Magic Stone cantrip says:
>
> You touch one to three pebbles and imbue them with magic. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling.
>
>
>
The attack is a ranged spell attack (not a weapon attack), but if I use a sling, I am using a "ranged weapon". By RAW does this make it possible to add the Sneak Attack damage or not? | 2016/05/17 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/80250",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/21897/"
] | Sneak Attack can be used when using a sling to hurl a Magic Stone
=================================================================
However, it cannot be used when just throwing the stone.
Sneak Attack has 3 requirements to be met to activate
-----------------------------------------------------
>
> Sneak Attack (PHB 96)
>
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a
> foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to
> one creature you **hit with an attack** if you have **advantage on the
> attack roll**. The **attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.** [...]
>
>
>
### 1. Hit with an attack
The [Magic Stone cantrip](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/magic-stone) states
>
> make a **ranged spell attack** with one of the pebbles by throwing it or
> hurling it with a sling
>
>
>
So [what counts as an attack](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/a/71247/15991)?
>
> [Making an attack](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#MakinganAttack) (PHB 194)
>
>
> If there's ever any question whether something you're doing counts as
> an attack, the rule is simple: if you're making an attack roll, you're
> making an attack.
>
>
>
Since a ranged spell attack uses an attack roll (PHB 205, Attack Rolls), then unsurprisingly it counts as an attack.
### 2. Must have advantage on the attack roll (or other conditions)
This requirement is circumstantial, but advantage (or other conditions) are not prevented by the use of either a sling, nor by throwing the stone, nor by the attack being a ranged spell attack, so this condition is not being contested here.
### 3. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon
Again, the [Magic Stone cantrip](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/magic-stone) states
>
> make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or
> **hurling it with a sling**
>
>
>
A [sling](https://www.dndbeyond.com/equipment/sling) is listed under the simple ranged weapons (PHB 149), and it is explicitly stated that the attack is being made by hurling it with the sling, so that checks out.
Throwing the pebble does **not** use a ranged weapon, so it does **not** qualify for Sneak Attack damage, due to this condition.
Summary
-------
Based on the above requirements, hurling a Magic Stone enhanced pebble with a sling qualifies for Sneak Attack. If the pebble is thrown without use of a sling, it does not qualify.
Note that the wording of Sneak Attack does not require a ranged weapon attack, as **attacking with a ranged weapon** and making a **ranged weapon attack** are [distinct and separate things](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/145491/what-is-the-difference-between-a-ranged-attack-and-a-ranged-weapon-attack).
### Trivia
[Apparently](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/33923/is-a-spell-with-an-attack-roll-an-attack-for-the-purpose-of-sneak-attack) during the playtest phase the original rules for Sneak Attack did not require a finesse or ranged weapon. As a result, any spell with an attack roll met the requirement for Sneak Attack, which is likely why they added that restriction.
Whether or not all spells were intended to be excluded is unknown, but by RAW (as outlined above), Magic Stone still qualifies. | No
--
To Sneak need Weapon
Magic Stone gives Spell Attack
So no Sneak with Stone |
80,250 | The description of the rogue's Sneak Attack feature says:
>
> Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
>
>
>
The description of the Magic Stone cantrip says:
>
> You touch one to three pebbles and imbue them with magic. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling.
>
>
>
The attack is a ranged spell attack (not a weapon attack), but if I use a sling, I am using a "ranged weapon". By RAW does this make it possible to add the Sneak Attack damage or not? | 2016/05/17 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/80250",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/21897/"
] | "The attack must use... a ranged weapon" is not synonymous with "The attack must be a ranged weapon attack". A sling is a ranged weapon; ergo, an attack that "uses a sling" is an attack that "uses a ranged weapon", no matter whether that attack is a "ranged weapon attack" or a "ranged spell attack".
If you ponder whether ammunition is a ranged weapon, then you would also have to conclude that you can't sneak attack with mundane bows either since the arrow isn't a ranged weapon; this is obviously nonsensical but irrelevant since the attack "uses" the sling regardless. | Yes, most definitely all improvised weapons can be ranged. To understand why I say that, read on:
First as Jeremy Crawford points out: <http://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/11/12/magic-stone-sneak-attack/>
Attacking magic stone with a sling is just a spell attack with a sling. (Corollary, using it by hand is just a spell attack with an improvised weapon).
First the rules of sneak attack:
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a
> foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to
> one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the
> attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon. You
> don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target
> is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t
> have disadvantage on the attack roll. The amount of the extra damage
> increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak
> Attack column of the Rogue table.
>
>
>
Now, the rules on improvised weapons:
>
> If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee attack, or throws
> a melee weapon that does not have the thrown property, it also deals
> 1d4 damage. An improvised thrown weapon has a normal range of 20 feet
> and a long range of 60 feet.
>
>
>
Now lets examine the thrown property. (True the wording of previous doesn't technically grant 'thrown' but for additional support.
>
> Thrown. If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon
> to make a ranged attack.
>
>
>
Next lets look at the definition of ranged weapon within the PHB
>
> Every weapon is classified as either melee or ranged. A melee weapon
> is used to attack a target within 5 feet of you, whereas a ranged
> weapon is used to attack a target at a distance.
>
>
>
Since the stone is improvised it gains an attack range of 20/60 per the rules of improvised. Per the rules on what determines what a ranged weapon is "is used to attack a target at a distance" the pebble is a ranged weapon.
Additionally, lets examine the definition of "Range".
>
> Range. A weapon that can be used to make a ranged attack has a range
> in parentheses after the ammunition or thrown property. The range
> lists two numbers. The first is the weapon's normal range in feet, and
> the second indicates the weapon's long range. When attacking a target
> beyond normal range, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. You
> can't attack a target beyond the weapon's long range.
>
>
>
Since the rules of improvised weapons provide the weapon a range increment, it confirms that the stone without a sling is still considered a ranged weapon.
Put very specifically, by RAW anything can be turned into a 'ranged' weapon. Even a dead cat. Applying magic stone to the pebble doesn't change the fact that it is already considered a ranged weapon. The only thing that changes is that it becomes a spell attack with a ranged weapon versus a standard ranged attack with ranged weapon.
On that note, lets examine the Booming Blade cantrip.
>
> As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee
> attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell’s range,
> otherwise the spell fails. On a hit, the target suffers the attack’s
> normal effects, and it becomes sheathed in booming energy until the
> start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves before then, it
> immediately takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.
>
>
>
This is a spell that requires a melee attack roll. Could someone using this spell not benefit from sneak attack on the original attack roll just because they are utilizing a spell? The answer is no, of course they could use sneak attack assuming the weapon was a finesse weapon or had advantage. The fact that they utilized a weapon, and made an attack roll to utilize the spell effect are all that's important.
The same can also be said for steel wind strike (yet your capped at one target of sneak attack per turn, require advantage and finesse). I.E. It's a melee attack that uses a spell attack roll instead.
>
> You flourish the weapon used in the casting and then vanish to strike
> like the wind. Choose up to five creatures you can see within range.
> Make a melee spell attack against each target. On a hit, a target
> takes 6d10 force damage.
>
>
> You can then teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet
> of one of the targets you hit or missed.
>
>
> |
80,250 | The description of the rogue's Sneak Attack feature says:
>
> Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
>
>
>
The description of the Magic Stone cantrip says:
>
> You touch one to three pebbles and imbue them with magic. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling.
>
>
>
The attack is a ranged spell attack (not a weapon attack), but if I use a sling, I am using a "ranged weapon". By RAW does this make it possible to add the Sneak Attack damage or not? | 2016/05/17 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/80250",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/21897/"
] | "The attack must use... a ranged weapon" is not synonymous with "The attack must be a ranged weapon attack". A sling is a ranged weapon; ergo, an attack that "uses a sling" is an attack that "uses a ranged weapon", no matter whether that attack is a "ranged weapon attack" or a "ranged spell attack".
If you ponder whether ammunition is a ranged weapon, then you would also have to conclude that you can't sneak attack with mundane bows either since the arrow isn't a ranged weapon; this is obviously nonsensical but irrelevant since the attack "uses" the sling regardless. | Sneak Attack can be used when using a sling to hurl a Magic Stone
=================================================================
However, it cannot be used when just throwing the stone.
Sneak Attack has 3 requirements to be met to activate
-----------------------------------------------------
>
> Sneak Attack (PHB 96)
>
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a
> foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to
> one creature you **hit with an attack** if you have **advantage on the
> attack roll**. The **attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.** [...]
>
>
>
### 1. Hit with an attack
The [Magic Stone cantrip](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/magic-stone) states
>
> make a **ranged spell attack** with one of the pebbles by throwing it or
> hurling it with a sling
>
>
>
So [what counts as an attack](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/a/71247/15991)?
>
> [Making an attack](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#MakinganAttack) (PHB 194)
>
>
> If there's ever any question whether something you're doing counts as
> an attack, the rule is simple: if you're making an attack roll, you're
> making an attack.
>
>
>
Since a ranged spell attack uses an attack roll (PHB 205, Attack Rolls), then unsurprisingly it counts as an attack.
### 2. Must have advantage on the attack roll (or other conditions)
This requirement is circumstantial, but advantage (or other conditions) are not prevented by the use of either a sling, nor by throwing the stone, nor by the attack being a ranged spell attack, so this condition is not being contested here.
### 3. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon
Again, the [Magic Stone cantrip](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/magic-stone) states
>
> make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or
> **hurling it with a sling**
>
>
>
A [sling](https://www.dndbeyond.com/equipment/sling) is listed under the simple ranged weapons (PHB 149), and it is explicitly stated that the attack is being made by hurling it with the sling, so that checks out.
Throwing the pebble does **not** use a ranged weapon, so it does **not** qualify for Sneak Attack damage, due to this condition.
Summary
-------
Based on the above requirements, hurling a Magic Stone enhanced pebble with a sling qualifies for Sneak Attack. If the pebble is thrown without use of a sling, it does not qualify.
Note that the wording of Sneak Attack does not require a ranged weapon attack, as **attacking with a ranged weapon** and making a **ranged weapon attack** are [distinct and separate things](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/145491/what-is-the-difference-between-a-ranged-attack-and-a-ranged-weapon-attack).
### Trivia
[Apparently](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/33923/is-a-spell-with-an-attack-roll-an-attack-for-the-purpose-of-sneak-attack) during the playtest phase the original rules for Sneak Attack did not require a finesse or ranged weapon. As a result, any spell with an attack roll met the requirement for Sneak Attack, which is likely why they added that restriction.
Whether or not all spells were intended to be excluded is unknown, but by RAW (as outlined above), Magic Stone still qualifies. |
80,250 | The description of the rogue's Sneak Attack feature says:
>
> Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
>
>
>
The description of the Magic Stone cantrip says:
>
> You touch one to three pebbles and imbue them with magic. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling.
>
>
>
The attack is a ranged spell attack (not a weapon attack), but if I use a sling, I am using a "ranged weapon". By RAW does this make it possible to add the Sneak Attack damage or not? | 2016/05/17 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/80250",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/21897/"
] | Sneak Attack can be used when using a sling to hurl a Magic Stone
=================================================================
However, it cannot be used when just throwing the stone.
Sneak Attack has 3 requirements to be met to activate
-----------------------------------------------------
>
> Sneak Attack (PHB 96)
>
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a
> foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to
> one creature you **hit with an attack** if you have **advantage on the
> attack roll**. The **attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.** [...]
>
>
>
### 1. Hit with an attack
The [Magic Stone cantrip](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/magic-stone) states
>
> make a **ranged spell attack** with one of the pebbles by throwing it or
> hurling it with a sling
>
>
>
So [what counts as an attack](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/a/71247/15991)?
>
> [Making an attack](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#MakinganAttack) (PHB 194)
>
>
> If there's ever any question whether something you're doing counts as
> an attack, the rule is simple: if you're making an attack roll, you're
> making an attack.
>
>
>
Since a ranged spell attack uses an attack roll (PHB 205, Attack Rolls), then unsurprisingly it counts as an attack.
### 2. Must have advantage on the attack roll (or other conditions)
This requirement is circumstantial, but advantage (or other conditions) are not prevented by the use of either a sling, nor by throwing the stone, nor by the attack being a ranged spell attack, so this condition is not being contested here.
### 3. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon
Again, the [Magic Stone cantrip](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/magic-stone) states
>
> make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or
> **hurling it with a sling**
>
>
>
A [sling](https://www.dndbeyond.com/equipment/sling) is listed under the simple ranged weapons (PHB 149), and it is explicitly stated that the attack is being made by hurling it with the sling, so that checks out.
Throwing the pebble does **not** use a ranged weapon, so it does **not** qualify for Sneak Attack damage, due to this condition.
Summary
-------
Based on the above requirements, hurling a Magic Stone enhanced pebble with a sling qualifies for Sneak Attack. If the pebble is thrown without use of a sling, it does not qualify.
Note that the wording of Sneak Attack does not require a ranged weapon attack, as **attacking with a ranged weapon** and making a **ranged weapon attack** are [distinct and separate things](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/145491/what-is-the-difference-between-a-ranged-attack-and-a-ranged-weapon-attack).
### Trivia
[Apparently](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/33923/is-a-spell-with-an-attack-roll-an-attack-for-the-purpose-of-sneak-attack) during the playtest phase the original rules for Sneak Attack did not require a finesse or ranged weapon. As a result, any spell with an attack roll met the requirement for Sneak Attack, which is likely why they added that restriction.
Whether or not all spells were intended to be excluded is unknown, but by RAW (as outlined above), Magic Stone still qualifies. | Yes, most definitely all improvised weapons can be ranged. To understand why I say that, read on:
First as Jeremy Crawford points out: <http://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/11/12/magic-stone-sneak-attack/>
Attacking magic stone with a sling is just a spell attack with a sling. (Corollary, using it by hand is just a spell attack with an improvised weapon).
First the rules of sneak attack:
>
> Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a
> foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to
> one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the
> attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon. You
> don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target
> is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t
> have disadvantage on the attack roll. The amount of the extra damage
> increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak
> Attack column of the Rogue table.
>
>
>
Now, the rules on improvised weapons:
>
> If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee attack, or throws
> a melee weapon that does not have the thrown property, it also deals
> 1d4 damage. An improvised thrown weapon has a normal range of 20 feet
> and a long range of 60 feet.
>
>
>
Now lets examine the thrown property. (True the wording of previous doesn't technically grant 'thrown' but for additional support.
>
> Thrown. If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon
> to make a ranged attack.
>
>
>
Next lets look at the definition of ranged weapon within the PHB
>
> Every weapon is classified as either melee or ranged. A melee weapon
> is used to attack a target within 5 feet of you, whereas a ranged
> weapon is used to attack a target at a distance.
>
>
>
Since the stone is improvised it gains an attack range of 20/60 per the rules of improvised. Per the rules on what determines what a ranged weapon is "is used to attack a target at a distance" the pebble is a ranged weapon.
Additionally, lets examine the definition of "Range".
>
> Range. A weapon that can be used to make a ranged attack has a range
> in parentheses after the ammunition or thrown property. The range
> lists two numbers. The first is the weapon's normal range in feet, and
> the second indicates the weapon's long range. When attacking a target
> beyond normal range, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. You
> can't attack a target beyond the weapon's long range.
>
>
>
Since the rules of improvised weapons provide the weapon a range increment, it confirms that the stone without a sling is still considered a ranged weapon.
Put very specifically, by RAW anything can be turned into a 'ranged' weapon. Even a dead cat. Applying magic stone to the pebble doesn't change the fact that it is already considered a ranged weapon. The only thing that changes is that it becomes a spell attack with a ranged weapon versus a standard ranged attack with ranged weapon.
On that note, lets examine the Booming Blade cantrip.
>
> As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee
> attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell’s range,
> otherwise the spell fails. On a hit, the target suffers the attack’s
> normal effects, and it becomes sheathed in booming energy until the
> start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves before then, it
> immediately takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.
>
>
>
This is a spell that requires a melee attack roll. Could someone using this spell not benefit from sneak attack on the original attack roll just because they are utilizing a spell? The answer is no, of course they could use sneak attack assuming the weapon was a finesse weapon or had advantage. The fact that they utilized a weapon, and made an attack roll to utilize the spell effect are all that's important.
The same can also be said for steel wind strike (yet your capped at one target of sneak attack per turn, require advantage and finesse). I.E. It's a melee attack that uses a spell attack roll instead.
>
> You flourish the weapon used in the casting and then vanish to strike
> like the wind. Choose up to five creatures you can see within range.
> Make a melee spell attack against each target. On a hit, a target
> takes 6d10 force damage.
>
>
> You can then teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet
> of one of the targets you hit or missed.
>
>
> |
12,515 | My company was acquired by one of the biggest companies in the world (think Microsoft, Google, Amazon,...etc). The acquisition took a long time to finalize and several visits were made by the Big Company managers to the company where they held several meetings with us to discuss future plans and talk about our problems.
I want to complain to the Big Company's manager about many things that happened in our department including managerial decisions, the office conditions and of course the manager.
However, I'm hesitant to do such step because I'm not sure about their reaction. Will I sound like a trouble maker? I have A LOT to complain about and everybody else isn't willing to talk because they are afraid.
If I share my complaints with the new company what are the potential ramifications? | 2013/06/20 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/12515",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/9592/"
] | In general complaining is the wrong tactic especially complaining about managers or management decisions. What you want to do is suggest improvements.
Start by prioritizing the problems you see. Pick one that is relatively easy to solve and of **moderate** importance as your first test case. Prepare an analysis of the problem and the possible solutions and rank them numerically (managers love numbers!) and then pitch your solution to the new managers. How they react will give you some insight on how to approach the more important issues you want to bring up. Never bring up more than one at a time or it will sound as if you are a person who is unhappy about everything and thus a candidate to be let go.
Once a moderate porposal has been recieved and successfully implemented, it gives you much more leverage to bring up more serious issues. So don't tackle the more serious issues until you have a track record of proposing successful solutions and a track record of successfully delivering your own work (bad employees are not listened to no matter how good their ideas are.). | Most likely, the large company that bought your little company probably did so because they knew there was 'underutilized potential'. In short, all you would do is confirm what they probably know. What the big company has in mind is work either on their internal systems or clients they already have that they can't service. I have personally seen software shops leave clients hanging for months, mostly because they don't have staff.
Clueless managers and company executives are 'dime-a-dozen' in the software business. The people from big company probably figured this out in less than five minutes of conversation with your manager. The thing to focus on now is the business objectives of the big company. What is your group going to do for them, and what do you, in particular, need to have in skills to make that happen? If you need an outlet for frustration, draw a comic strip and post it on an art website. |
12,515 | My company was acquired by one of the biggest companies in the world (think Microsoft, Google, Amazon,...etc). The acquisition took a long time to finalize and several visits were made by the Big Company managers to the company where they held several meetings with us to discuss future plans and talk about our problems.
I want to complain to the Big Company's manager about many things that happened in our department including managerial decisions, the office conditions and of course the manager.
However, I'm hesitant to do such step because I'm not sure about their reaction. Will I sound like a trouble maker? I have A LOT to complain about and everybody else isn't willing to talk because they are afraid.
If I share my complaints with the new company what are the potential ramifications? | 2013/06/20 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/12515",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/9592/"
] | In general complaining is the wrong tactic especially complaining about managers or management decisions. What you want to do is suggest improvements.
Start by prioritizing the problems you see. Pick one that is relatively easy to solve and of **moderate** importance as your first test case. Prepare an analysis of the problem and the possible solutions and rank them numerically (managers love numbers!) and then pitch your solution to the new managers. How they react will give you some insight on how to approach the more important issues you want to bring up. Never bring up more than one at a time or it will sound as if you are a person who is unhappy about everything and thus a candidate to be let go.
Once a moderate porposal has been recieved and successfully implemented, it gives you much more leverage to bring up more serious issues. So don't tackle the more serious issues until you have a track record of proposing successful solutions and a track record of successfully delivering your own work (bad employees are not listened to no matter how good their ideas are.). | I wouldn't be too quick to offer negative feedback.
**Do**
* Take some time to learn how they do things and see if they already have identified some of the problems. They may see the potential of your office, but they know they have to fix some of the flaws.
* Understand the budget and learn what they can spend and when they can spend it. Maybe they need to keep costs low the first year to see if this is going to work.
* For each suggestion try to have some sort of productivity benefit and include a priority. Do you want a new desk or a bonus?
**Don't**
* Complain about the manager. There may be plans to replace this person. Your manager may improve if given better support and guidanace.
* Complain about past practices. If asked, be prepared to suggest alternatives and let them know what could be learned from these mistakes. This is not an "I told you so" exercise. You may have good ideas, but lack the ability to be persuasive. Sqeaky wheels often get replaced. |
12,515 | My company was acquired by one of the biggest companies in the world (think Microsoft, Google, Amazon,...etc). The acquisition took a long time to finalize and several visits were made by the Big Company managers to the company where they held several meetings with us to discuss future plans and talk about our problems.
I want to complain to the Big Company's manager about many things that happened in our department including managerial decisions, the office conditions and of course the manager.
However, I'm hesitant to do such step because I'm not sure about their reaction. Will I sound like a trouble maker? I have A LOT to complain about and everybody else isn't willing to talk because they are afraid.
If I share my complaints with the new company what are the potential ramifications? | 2013/06/20 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/12515",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/9592/"
] | In general complaining is the wrong tactic especially complaining about managers or management decisions. What you want to do is suggest improvements.
Start by prioritizing the problems you see. Pick one that is relatively easy to solve and of **moderate** importance as your first test case. Prepare an analysis of the problem and the possible solutions and rank them numerically (managers love numbers!) and then pitch your solution to the new managers. How they react will give you some insight on how to approach the more important issues you want to bring up. Never bring up more than one at a time or it will sound as if you are a person who is unhappy about everything and thus a candidate to be let go.
Once a moderate porposal has been recieved and successfully implemented, it gives you much more leverage to bring up more serious issues. So don't tackle the more serious issues until you have a track record of proposing successful solutions and a track record of successfully delivering your own work (bad employees are not listened to no matter how good their ideas are.). | I think you need to be clear with yourself on what reaction you want and why you want to complain. Here's some cases that might be true and some ideas for how to get what you want.
Venting
-------
I honestly think that giving people a place to vent off steam about previous conditions and past issues is good - to a point. People need a place to talk about negative stuff, and for some, it will come out as complaining - particularly the first time you get something off your chest. For those of us who think by talking, a trusted confidant is a must.
Things to think about when venting:
* First perception - Don't let the venting be the first perception a new manager has of you. Let the first perception be the good stuff - your enthiasm for a change, your hopes for doings better in the future, current good work that you are doing. Get yourself a reputation as a can-do person.
* Trust - you really can only vent to someone you trust. Pick your allies. Not every manager is a good venting-recipient - and trust is a hard thing to describe. Certainly if previous history leads you to believe that the manager won't keep your disclosures private, the don't vent. But other points of trust building are very personal.
* Set expectations - coming right out and saying "I need to vent, do you have a sec?" is a fine way to go. Usually 1 on 1s is a safe space for this, or ask to book a meeting. The big thing being that anyone can only take so much whining and complaining in a day, and if the person in question just endured 3 other rounds of stress or pressure, then you may get an undeserved negative response that is far more forceful than you expect. Let the listener have a say in when and where you vent.
* Try to end with a fix - if you can, try to end with a "next time we'll do X better..." idea. I'm not so sure you can ALWAYS have a better answer but try for it anyway. A key to making change is to always keep trying.
* Limit your venting - if you come back to the same pattern or single frustrating incident over and over, it's time to let it go. I don't care how much it bugs you, there's limit to the number of times you can vent about the same thing until you have just agree to ignore it, deal with it, or change jobs.
Trust Building
--------------
Another reason to talk about past mistakes with old bosses is to give yourself a sense of faith that the new bosses will be better. I'd call this baseline setting rather than complaining. Don't state the issues of the past as a complaint or a rant, ask questions about causation and ask open ended questions. Examples:
* What's your thought about overtime? What is "too many" hours? When is it OK to put in that extra effort and how often do you think it is reasonable?
* How do you want to hear status?
* What decisions do you want input on?
* How do you want to communicate? What to you is a "hot issue" that needs urgent escalation?
Those are nice an open ended, but also if you've had specific issues leading to a lack of trust, find a way to ask in a similar situation what would the new bosses do?
This *can* lead to a more frank discussion. For example, I got a question in an interview at one point that was somewhat analagous to "have you ever seen the sky turn purple?" - my response was "I've never seen it, I can't even imagine a case of it - have you had a purple sky issue?" which led to some pretty specific cases of purple skies that were shocking and unpleasant. When probed, feel free to talk about your own past purple sky issues, and why you found that to be a real problem (if it isn't obvious).
Generally, though, let the boss ask the question, if they don't, take their answers at face value. Getting to a point of demanding a promise isn't going to serve you well.
Can we change?
--------------
If some really bad decisions put into effect a bad precedent or process, it's a good time for a change. Some ideas for getting the most bang for the buck:
* limit your focus - if everything is broken, find the 1-5 worst issues and focus in, one or two at a time.
* change is small - find some "if we just did a few things differently..." cases and go for them. Don't try to rebuild the company from the ground up on day 1.
* Ask questions - "We've done X, Doing Y is better/faster/nicer and achieves the same/better outcomes... mind if we do Y?"
* Keep it short - the history of how you came to X really doesn't matter. What X is, why it isn't as good as Y, and what negative impacts it has are the range you need to discuss.
* Choose your language - When it comes to the difference between "identifying a bad choice" and "complaining about former choice-makers", the difference is largely in the choice of nouns. "This choice is bad" vs. "This manager made a bad choice" - probably the same thing, but the first highlights the choice, not the person, and focuses the attention on what can change.
* Offer and easy path - day 1, with little experience, any path to change is best as a "baby step". You don't trust them yet, they don't trust you - taking on faith that the company should make huge risky changes at this point will not be easy, no matter how well you present the option.
The Fan is over here, the flying excrement will be arriving from this vector...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are times when you know for sure that new management is walking into a mess. There's no way to fix it, there is just surviving it. Having grace, being polite, and keeping your morale from tanking is about all you can do.
Yes, it's polite to warn them, but do it once and leave it be. Don't be Eyore (sitting in a corner, believing everything is doomed to failure). And how forceful you are has something to do with how much you like, trust and respect your management.
It's another time for booking a closed door meeting. Phrase it as an update walking through the key events that lead to the mess, and your rationale for what the fallout will be. Have some survival ideas, and some best/worst case estimates. This isn't venting, this is letting management know that some projects will torpedo, whether they like it or not. Stay out of judgements and accusations and "what ifs" - "Management was short sighted" vs. "this was a poor decision in light of long term goals" - "if only we had done X, we would not be failing so miserably" vs. "the decision to Y instead of X lead to Z outcome, worsening our stance". Small rephrasing, but important.
Finish with expressing your willingness to help, even if you are lost on how to make the bad situation better. |
12,515 | My company was acquired by one of the biggest companies in the world (think Microsoft, Google, Amazon,...etc). The acquisition took a long time to finalize and several visits were made by the Big Company managers to the company where they held several meetings with us to discuss future plans and talk about our problems.
I want to complain to the Big Company's manager about many things that happened in our department including managerial decisions, the office conditions and of course the manager.
However, I'm hesitant to do such step because I'm not sure about their reaction. Will I sound like a trouble maker? I have A LOT to complain about and everybody else isn't willing to talk because they are afraid.
If I share my complaints with the new company what are the potential ramifications? | 2013/06/20 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/12515",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/9592/"
] | Most likely, the large company that bought your little company probably did so because they knew there was 'underutilized potential'. In short, all you would do is confirm what they probably know. What the big company has in mind is work either on their internal systems or clients they already have that they can't service. I have personally seen software shops leave clients hanging for months, mostly because they don't have staff.
Clueless managers and company executives are 'dime-a-dozen' in the software business. The people from big company probably figured this out in less than five minutes of conversation with your manager. The thing to focus on now is the business objectives of the big company. What is your group going to do for them, and what do you, in particular, need to have in skills to make that happen? If you need an outlet for frustration, draw a comic strip and post it on an art website. | I think you need to be clear with yourself on what reaction you want and why you want to complain. Here's some cases that might be true and some ideas for how to get what you want.
Venting
-------
I honestly think that giving people a place to vent off steam about previous conditions and past issues is good - to a point. People need a place to talk about negative stuff, and for some, it will come out as complaining - particularly the first time you get something off your chest. For those of us who think by talking, a trusted confidant is a must.
Things to think about when venting:
* First perception - Don't let the venting be the first perception a new manager has of you. Let the first perception be the good stuff - your enthiasm for a change, your hopes for doings better in the future, current good work that you are doing. Get yourself a reputation as a can-do person.
* Trust - you really can only vent to someone you trust. Pick your allies. Not every manager is a good venting-recipient - and trust is a hard thing to describe. Certainly if previous history leads you to believe that the manager won't keep your disclosures private, the don't vent. But other points of trust building are very personal.
* Set expectations - coming right out and saying "I need to vent, do you have a sec?" is a fine way to go. Usually 1 on 1s is a safe space for this, or ask to book a meeting. The big thing being that anyone can only take so much whining and complaining in a day, and if the person in question just endured 3 other rounds of stress or pressure, then you may get an undeserved negative response that is far more forceful than you expect. Let the listener have a say in when and where you vent.
* Try to end with a fix - if you can, try to end with a "next time we'll do X better..." idea. I'm not so sure you can ALWAYS have a better answer but try for it anyway. A key to making change is to always keep trying.
* Limit your venting - if you come back to the same pattern or single frustrating incident over and over, it's time to let it go. I don't care how much it bugs you, there's limit to the number of times you can vent about the same thing until you have just agree to ignore it, deal with it, or change jobs.
Trust Building
--------------
Another reason to talk about past mistakes with old bosses is to give yourself a sense of faith that the new bosses will be better. I'd call this baseline setting rather than complaining. Don't state the issues of the past as a complaint or a rant, ask questions about causation and ask open ended questions. Examples:
* What's your thought about overtime? What is "too many" hours? When is it OK to put in that extra effort and how often do you think it is reasonable?
* How do you want to hear status?
* What decisions do you want input on?
* How do you want to communicate? What to you is a "hot issue" that needs urgent escalation?
Those are nice an open ended, but also if you've had specific issues leading to a lack of trust, find a way to ask in a similar situation what would the new bosses do?
This *can* lead to a more frank discussion. For example, I got a question in an interview at one point that was somewhat analagous to "have you ever seen the sky turn purple?" - my response was "I've never seen it, I can't even imagine a case of it - have you had a purple sky issue?" which led to some pretty specific cases of purple skies that were shocking and unpleasant. When probed, feel free to talk about your own past purple sky issues, and why you found that to be a real problem (if it isn't obvious).
Generally, though, let the boss ask the question, if they don't, take their answers at face value. Getting to a point of demanding a promise isn't going to serve you well.
Can we change?
--------------
If some really bad decisions put into effect a bad precedent or process, it's a good time for a change. Some ideas for getting the most bang for the buck:
* limit your focus - if everything is broken, find the 1-5 worst issues and focus in, one or two at a time.
* change is small - find some "if we just did a few things differently..." cases and go for them. Don't try to rebuild the company from the ground up on day 1.
* Ask questions - "We've done X, Doing Y is better/faster/nicer and achieves the same/better outcomes... mind if we do Y?"
* Keep it short - the history of how you came to X really doesn't matter. What X is, why it isn't as good as Y, and what negative impacts it has are the range you need to discuss.
* Choose your language - When it comes to the difference between "identifying a bad choice" and "complaining about former choice-makers", the difference is largely in the choice of nouns. "This choice is bad" vs. "This manager made a bad choice" - probably the same thing, but the first highlights the choice, not the person, and focuses the attention on what can change.
* Offer and easy path - day 1, with little experience, any path to change is best as a "baby step". You don't trust them yet, they don't trust you - taking on faith that the company should make huge risky changes at this point will not be easy, no matter how well you present the option.
The Fan is over here, the flying excrement will be arriving from this vector...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are times when you know for sure that new management is walking into a mess. There's no way to fix it, there is just surviving it. Having grace, being polite, and keeping your morale from tanking is about all you can do.
Yes, it's polite to warn them, but do it once and leave it be. Don't be Eyore (sitting in a corner, believing everything is doomed to failure). And how forceful you are has something to do with how much you like, trust and respect your management.
It's another time for booking a closed door meeting. Phrase it as an update walking through the key events that lead to the mess, and your rationale for what the fallout will be. Have some survival ideas, and some best/worst case estimates. This isn't venting, this is letting management know that some projects will torpedo, whether they like it or not. Stay out of judgements and accusations and "what ifs" - "Management was short sighted" vs. "this was a poor decision in light of long term goals" - "if only we had done X, we would not be failing so miserably" vs. "the decision to Y instead of X lead to Z outcome, worsening our stance". Small rephrasing, but important.
Finish with expressing your willingness to help, even if you are lost on how to make the bad situation better. |
12,515 | My company was acquired by one of the biggest companies in the world (think Microsoft, Google, Amazon,...etc). The acquisition took a long time to finalize and several visits were made by the Big Company managers to the company where they held several meetings with us to discuss future plans and talk about our problems.
I want to complain to the Big Company's manager about many things that happened in our department including managerial decisions, the office conditions and of course the manager.
However, I'm hesitant to do such step because I'm not sure about their reaction. Will I sound like a trouble maker? I have A LOT to complain about and everybody else isn't willing to talk because they are afraid.
If I share my complaints with the new company what are the potential ramifications? | 2013/06/20 | [
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/12515",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com",
"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/users/9592/"
] | I wouldn't be too quick to offer negative feedback.
**Do**
* Take some time to learn how they do things and see if they already have identified some of the problems. They may see the potential of your office, but they know they have to fix some of the flaws.
* Understand the budget and learn what they can spend and when they can spend it. Maybe they need to keep costs low the first year to see if this is going to work.
* For each suggestion try to have some sort of productivity benefit and include a priority. Do you want a new desk or a bonus?
**Don't**
* Complain about the manager. There may be plans to replace this person. Your manager may improve if given better support and guidanace.
* Complain about past practices. If asked, be prepared to suggest alternatives and let them know what could be learned from these mistakes. This is not an "I told you so" exercise. You may have good ideas, but lack the ability to be persuasive. Sqeaky wheels often get replaced. | I think you need to be clear with yourself on what reaction you want and why you want to complain. Here's some cases that might be true and some ideas for how to get what you want.
Venting
-------
I honestly think that giving people a place to vent off steam about previous conditions and past issues is good - to a point. People need a place to talk about negative stuff, and for some, it will come out as complaining - particularly the first time you get something off your chest. For those of us who think by talking, a trusted confidant is a must.
Things to think about when venting:
* First perception - Don't let the venting be the first perception a new manager has of you. Let the first perception be the good stuff - your enthiasm for a change, your hopes for doings better in the future, current good work that you are doing. Get yourself a reputation as a can-do person.
* Trust - you really can only vent to someone you trust. Pick your allies. Not every manager is a good venting-recipient - and trust is a hard thing to describe. Certainly if previous history leads you to believe that the manager won't keep your disclosures private, the don't vent. But other points of trust building are very personal.
* Set expectations - coming right out and saying "I need to vent, do you have a sec?" is a fine way to go. Usually 1 on 1s is a safe space for this, or ask to book a meeting. The big thing being that anyone can only take so much whining and complaining in a day, and if the person in question just endured 3 other rounds of stress or pressure, then you may get an undeserved negative response that is far more forceful than you expect. Let the listener have a say in when and where you vent.
* Try to end with a fix - if you can, try to end with a "next time we'll do X better..." idea. I'm not so sure you can ALWAYS have a better answer but try for it anyway. A key to making change is to always keep trying.
* Limit your venting - if you come back to the same pattern or single frustrating incident over and over, it's time to let it go. I don't care how much it bugs you, there's limit to the number of times you can vent about the same thing until you have just agree to ignore it, deal with it, or change jobs.
Trust Building
--------------
Another reason to talk about past mistakes with old bosses is to give yourself a sense of faith that the new bosses will be better. I'd call this baseline setting rather than complaining. Don't state the issues of the past as a complaint or a rant, ask questions about causation and ask open ended questions. Examples:
* What's your thought about overtime? What is "too many" hours? When is it OK to put in that extra effort and how often do you think it is reasonable?
* How do you want to hear status?
* What decisions do you want input on?
* How do you want to communicate? What to you is a "hot issue" that needs urgent escalation?
Those are nice an open ended, but also if you've had specific issues leading to a lack of trust, find a way to ask in a similar situation what would the new bosses do?
This *can* lead to a more frank discussion. For example, I got a question in an interview at one point that was somewhat analagous to "have you ever seen the sky turn purple?" - my response was "I've never seen it, I can't even imagine a case of it - have you had a purple sky issue?" which led to some pretty specific cases of purple skies that were shocking and unpleasant. When probed, feel free to talk about your own past purple sky issues, and why you found that to be a real problem (if it isn't obvious).
Generally, though, let the boss ask the question, if they don't, take their answers at face value. Getting to a point of demanding a promise isn't going to serve you well.
Can we change?
--------------
If some really bad decisions put into effect a bad precedent or process, it's a good time for a change. Some ideas for getting the most bang for the buck:
* limit your focus - if everything is broken, find the 1-5 worst issues and focus in, one or two at a time.
* change is small - find some "if we just did a few things differently..." cases and go for them. Don't try to rebuild the company from the ground up on day 1.
* Ask questions - "We've done X, Doing Y is better/faster/nicer and achieves the same/better outcomes... mind if we do Y?"
* Keep it short - the history of how you came to X really doesn't matter. What X is, why it isn't as good as Y, and what negative impacts it has are the range you need to discuss.
* Choose your language - When it comes to the difference between "identifying a bad choice" and "complaining about former choice-makers", the difference is largely in the choice of nouns. "This choice is bad" vs. "This manager made a bad choice" - probably the same thing, but the first highlights the choice, not the person, and focuses the attention on what can change.
* Offer and easy path - day 1, with little experience, any path to change is best as a "baby step". You don't trust them yet, they don't trust you - taking on faith that the company should make huge risky changes at this point will not be easy, no matter how well you present the option.
The Fan is over here, the flying excrement will be arriving from this vector...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are times when you know for sure that new management is walking into a mess. There's no way to fix it, there is just surviving it. Having grace, being polite, and keeping your morale from tanking is about all you can do.
Yes, it's polite to warn them, but do it once and leave it be. Don't be Eyore (sitting in a corner, believing everything is doomed to failure). And how forceful you are has something to do with how much you like, trust and respect your management.
It's another time for booking a closed door meeting. Phrase it as an update walking through the key events that lead to the mess, and your rationale for what the fallout will be. Have some survival ideas, and some best/worst case estimates. This isn't venting, this is letting management know that some projects will torpedo, whether they like it or not. Stay out of judgements and accusations and "what ifs" - "Management was short sighted" vs. "this was a poor decision in light of long term goals" - "if only we had done X, we would not be failing so miserably" vs. "the decision to Y instead of X lead to Z outcome, worsening our stance". Small rephrasing, but important.
Finish with expressing your willingness to help, even if you are lost on how to make the bad situation better. |
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