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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
285,107 | So I heard that ntrig has released Android drivers for their multitouch interface.
I am sick of Windows 7 on my Dell XT Tablet, and if some one, some where has made the switch to Android, I would love a how-to and get it going. | 2011/05/18 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/285107",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/81757/"
] | [Android-x86](http://www.android-x86.org/) is the primary project for anyone attempting to run the Android OS on an x86-based system.
At a glance, it looks like you can boot and use the OS, but no WiFi or touchscreen support. [Google Groups Search](http://groups.google.com/group/android-x86/search?group=android-x86&q=Dell%20Latitude%20XT&qt_g=Search%20this%20group). Also, I'm not sure the Google Apps (e.g. GMail, **Market**, etc.) are available. It looks like the Market isn't available by default, but it's possible to hack in support, kinda. Maybe.
If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that right now it's probably not in a state where you could use it as your primary OS. Someday it will probably get there, but not right now. You'd probably be better off with a Linux variant if you want to get away from Windows. | I tried it on muine. Graphics are glitchy. You need to run in vesa mode all the time. Wireless card is not compatible, though you can change it for other compatible one or try using a usb wifi dongle. Bluetooth doesn't work either. Touch works, sometimes you need to use the pen first and then your finger. |
25,903,700 | Every one knows - Garbage Collector cleans the memory from unused objects.
My question is, what is the parameters to define whether this object is unused or not? | 2014/09/18 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/25903700",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/4002671/"
] | The number of pointers to the object is zero => the object is unused (unreachable) | The two major forms of garbage collection are Mark & Sweep, or reference counting.
Most modern day languages uses a combination or a variation of several methods. This will cover the general concept of each scheme.
Additionally, escape analysis is used to "reduce" the amount of "garbage".
[**Mark & Sweep**](http://www.brpreiss.com/books/opus5/html/page424.html)
This works by having all object, with a single **boolean "marked" parameter**.
1. It starts with marking all the objects within the memory space as "false".
2. Starts from the top "global" object, and for each of its child, mark it as "true"
3. For each of the subchild, mark them as "true". Repeat this step for each subchild that was originally "false". (Recursion)
4. Finally delete all objects with "false". Repeat the process at 1 subsequently (possibly at a later time)
[**Reference Counting**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_counting)
This works on the concept of counting the amount of with an **integer "parent references" parameter** and deleting the object, when its count reaches zero.
1. When an object/var is created and added to global/other objects. Its reference count is incremented by 1.
2. When an object/var is removed from global/parent object. Its reference count is reduced by 1.
3. If an object reference count is zero after removal. It is "Garbage Collected" as no one "owns it"
[**Escape Analysis**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_collection_(computer_science)#Escape_analysis)
Is an additional method used to "reduce" the amount of garbage, by analysing your executing code. For temporary variables, that will never be "persistent" after a function execution. These objects/variables are then immediately cleared after your function execution. Avoiding the need of adding an object to the garbage collection system (in which will have an overhead). This step is critical in ensuring the performance of many modern day languages.
[**Detailed advantages / disadvantages of Mark & Sweep / Reference Counting can be found on wiki**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_collection_(computer_science)#Basic_algorithm) |
247,560 | A circuit i made using opamps and transistors causes lots of oscillations (parasitic maybe ?), a solution to that which i find very reasonable is to limit the bandwidth of my main driving opamp so any oscillations are attenuated/removed. .[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BJEso.png)
Update : adding a 100uF cap between pin 14 and ground removed about 99% of the oscillations , but instead i got this voltage spike that occurs when i drive the motor with a square wave ( the spike appears with every falling edge) | 2016/07/23 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/247560",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/117497/"
] | As far as I understand the question, your problem is with your phase and gain margins of the Op-Amp.
To solve this problem, you might have two options, first you can add a compensation capacitor at the output of the Op-Amp (between Node14 and ground). The cap would reduce Unity-Gain Bandwidth of your Op-Amp and hence corrects your phase margin.
Second, you can reduce gain of feedback loop (the feedback here is the wire from emitter of Q1 to node 13). In order to reduce feedback loop you can simply use a resistive divider.
These topics are addressed here:
<http://www.mit.edu/afs.new/athena/course/2/2.010/www_f00/psets/hw3_dir/tutor3_dir/tut3_g.html> | You cannot change or "limit" the frequency response of the opamp unit - however, you can limit the bandwidth of the loop gain (which is responsible for oscillatory behaviour). This can be done, for example, with a R-C series combination BETWEEN both opamp inputs (nodes 12 and 13). This is a kind of "input frequency compensation". Without knowing the exact loop gain response, one could start with R=100...500 ohms and C=100nF. |
11,477,382 | I'm an old Smalltalk programmer (back in the early 90ties of the last century), and in that days, all Smalltalk "open source" (the term was not coined yet), all was available at the Manchester Smalltalk archive. This was moved later then to the [UIUC Smalltalk Archive](http://st-www.cs.illinois.edu/archive.html). I tried today to find my old entries there, but the archive is not available any more. Does anyone know how to retrieve the old content? Is there any place where the Smalltalk archive is archived? | 2012/07/13 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/11477382",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/2603665/"
] | <http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/smalltalk/st.cs.uiuc.edu/Smalltalk/> contains a lot of mirrored code from the archive. | <http://forum.world.st/>
<http://forum.world.st/Smalltalk-f1294792.topics.html>
are good links for your posts and research. I have heard of your archives, but don't know what happened to them either. |
3,860 | In an upcoming Girls Who Code session, I was thinking about sharing some stats about computing jobs, and why learning computing gives you an economic advantage, both as a computing professional, and within other fields (CS + X).
When I told others about this plan, they were sketical that the girls would find such stats encouraging.
*Is sharing job stats a best practice for reaching out to high school girls? Why or why not?*
Here are the three stats I wanted to share:
1. Computing has more jobs available than degrees granted. **Computing has much more job availability than other fields, even other STEM fields**. (See graph compiled from [[1](http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/appendix.htm)] and [[2](http://www.bls.gov/emp/)])
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dvbQm.png) [6](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dvbQm.png)
2. **For every software developer in the world, there is another professional who uses programming in their job, but isn't a software developer** [[3](http://changetheequation.org/blog/hidden-half)]. (Some estimate there are actually four more [[4](https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1092357.1092394&coll=DL&dl=GUIDE)])
3. **Workers (not software developers) who program make higher wages than those comparable workers who do not** [[5](http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7739682/)]. | 2017/10/23 | [
"https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/questions/3860",
"https://cseducators.stackexchange.com",
"https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/users/2045/"
] | Expanding my comment and those of others to a full answer seems to make sense now. The short answer is, as Ellen Spertus notes, there is no reason not to, but it isn't enough.
Young people need good, and honest, guidance about what they might expect from their choices. But the future isn't necessarily determined by things we can see at present, so in many ways the best advice to a student is to "be flexible." Their future will be determined both by circumstances and by a *series of choices* that they make; not just one choice.
Right now, tech salaries are high and job opportunities abound, but a secondary school student's career is years, even decades, away. The world is not likely to look the same over that period of time. In particular, advances in AI may make many software development roles obsolete. At one time, a huge fraction of people in the US were involved in farming. Now it is a tiny fraction. The same is true in manufacturing. While we still have farmers, most farming is managed by giant corporations employing unskilled and low-paid workers. The same could happen in computing. While there will likely always be a need for software development, it might, in the future, be entirely managed by a very small cadre of highly skilled folks.
One of the trends in evolution is specialization. Organisms become more and more specialized to their environment as long as it doesn't change. However, when the environment *does* change those specialists are normally wiped out and replaced by others better adapted to the new situation. If you know one thing well - better than anyone - you may be well placed in some environment, but if it changes you are lost. However, if, along with specialization, you also foster generalization, you are better prepared for change.
This is why a *liberal education* which includes some specialization but a lot of generalization is such a good thing. If you can be good at two or more things you are probably better off than if you can only do one thing well. But, even more important is an attitude that your education won't end at some determined age or milestone. If you truly believe that you can and should learn throughout your life, and learn things sufficiently different from what is needed in your profession, you are well placed for most foreseeable futures.
I have an unproven theory, that in the real world, most specialists have a boss (or a boss's boss..) who is a generalist. The one who knows a lot of things and can see the bigger picture is likely better placed to lead than the one who sees the world through a microscope. If you teach, it may well be that the least technical person in your course will end up being the employer of your uber-geeks.
However, those with few resources, have a different problem. While it is great to say *Do What You Love*, you also need to temper it with *Do What You Must*, or even *Do What You Can*. But even if you need to compromise for monetary or familial reasons, the attitude of a lifetime of learning can still benefit the individual. This is, more or less the mantra: *Yes I Can*.
Also, for those in unfortunate circumstances collective action and mentoring by peers and others is especially needed and especially powerful. If "daddy" is a millionaire you can probably do what you want, but if you come from a more modest background (as I did) you need to gather the resources you can - mostly other people.
---
On a personal note, I studied Mathematics, but wound up in CS. I might have wound up as an actuary, but it sounded boring. I was meant to do mathematical research, but never really got the chance after I finished my doctorate. Up until about two years before I finished, the job prospects for mathematicians were fantastic. Like CS today, there were lots of jobs and good salaries. But it all fell apart in about a year. When I finished there were no such jobs - none. Several hundred applications resulted in no offers, though I was well respected at the time and wrote a very nice thesis. But I really wanted to teach, and so took a job that I was, in many ways, overqualified for. But it kept me in the profession, even though I had to change fields. I never programmed a computer until after I had a PhD. But I knew how to learn and how to work hard. | What is indisputable is that the ability to code is a career booster for someone in almost any line of work. |
8,196 | I disassembled my bike's drivetrain to degrease and regrease all the components. I used a chain-breaker for the first time (previous bikes had a master link) to open a chain link and remove the chain. Afterwards, I reassembled the chain but found the link I'd opened is very stiff to the point where, as the link emerges from the chainring, it stays bent until it moves through the derailer and which point it snaps straight again.
I tried making small adjustments to the rivet holding the link together and adding additional lubricant with no success. I even removed that link from the chain completely (assuming I'd bent something slightly), only to have the *next* link I opened/closed become the stiff one.
Is this normal after using a chain-breaker to open a link? Should I expect the stiffness in the link to work itself out, or have I done something wrong? Is there anything else I can try to loosen up the stiff link? | 2012/02/22 | [
"https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/8196",
"https://bicycles.stackexchange.com",
"https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/607/"
] | Only if you didn't relieve the link after putting it back together. It's standard procedure (if you read the instructions that came with the tool) -- you stick the chain tool into the "stiff" link so that the anvil is BETWEEN the sides of the link and only catches the near face, then crank the tool's pin down VERY SLIGHTLY against the chain pin, just enough to create some play. | EDIT: The answer posted by Daniel Hicks and the comment by user973810 are better. Just in case, the following method works.
(Unfortunately, this is normal.)
When the link is closed back, the opposing compression caused by the chain tool and the incoming pin makes the outer plates become hardly pressed against each other, which means they press all other layers (inner plates and roller) too.
Fortunately it is very easy to "fix" it: just grab firmly with your hands, one around each side of the hard link, and bend it SIDEWAYS, with some serious force (but not raw violence), as if you wanted to bend the chain. Do it for both sides ("left" and "right" of the chain). You'll notice the link is now free. If it is just less stiff, do it again. Don't be afraid, it won't damage the chain, only your wrists if you don't grab firmly (because the chain might suddenly flex along it's normal flexing direction, twisting your hands).
Unfortunatly, most times this procedure leaves your hands stained/dirty. You can use gloves or some pieces of old newspaper to avoid it.
Hope it helps. |
7,550,305 | I want to create an app for digital signature, and the standard seems to be [CAdES](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAdES_%28computing%29), could anyone point me to an open source (so it can be customized) implementation with practical examples to follow? | 2011/09/26 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/7550305",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/320594/"
] | BouncyCastle 1.46b17 has an implementation of CAdES which was provided as a series of patches to the main codebase.
If you examine the Issue tracker for Bouncy Castle <http://www.bouncycastle.org/jira/browse/BJA-217> it shows the patches, the patching and that some testing has been performed by the original submitter.
This is relatively recent change, but you can find the latest release version from <http://www.bouncycastle.org/latest_releases.html> and on that page is a link to the betas which are at <http://downloads.bouncycastle.org/betas/>
The current beta is 147b14 so that should contain what you need.
There is probably limited documentation - but with BouncyCastle the best place to start is to look at the test code which will normally show how the implementation should be used. | There is a European Community Initiative in GitHub: <https://github.com/nonorganic/dssnet> |
61,802 | I'm thinking about a few scenarios here. One scenario is a Pablo Escobar scenario, or a [Don Eladio](https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Eladio_Vuente) scenario if you're a BCS fan like myself: A drug kingpin operating outside the United States, allegedly orchestrating drug dealing in the United States.
Another scenario is the [Hassan Nasrallah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Nasrallah) scenario, where a leader of a Lebanese group considered by some to be a terrorist organization, is allegedly responsible for murders in another country, Israel. There are probably many more examples with other countries, so let's not make this political. Let's take the Pablo Escobar example.
Can the US put the foreign drug kingpin on trial? Say that the US has concrete evidence that the drug kingpin is responsible for crimes in the US, *but* they haven't managed to arrest them yet. Would it be legal for them to put them on trial in the US without their appearance?
Would it be in the US's interests? What are some advantages and disadvantages of that?
The reason I was thinking about this: As far as I know, in civil lawsuits it's possible to put an individual on trial even if they have completely disappeared to a different country. This is legal as long as they have been served properly, *even if they never actually received the notice about the lawsuit.* I'm wondering whether the same is possible for the cases above. | 2021/03/06 | [
"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/61802",
"https://law.stackexchange.com",
"https://law.stackexchange.com/users/31849/"
] | The rules of criminal procedure are going to differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In US federal court, for example, a criminal trial in absentia can happen, but only in limited circumstances. See [Fed. R. Crim. P. 43](https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/rule_43). A notable example of a defendant not appearing for a federal criminal case is the recent case, arising from the Mueller probe, against Concord Management and Consulting LLC (a Russian entity). | **It does sound silly to try a foreigner you haven't caught ...**
You ask if it would be **legal** and if it would be in the American **interest**. Colin answered on the legality, so let me cover the second part of the question. Doing so is a way for the legal system to get facts and decisions on record, which may then be used elsewhere in the legal (or political) sphere.
* If North Korea were to put me on trial *in absential* for failing to respect the *Dear Leader*, I'd be honored about the notoriety and slightly worried that they'd send assassins after me.
* If the United States were to put me on trial *in absentia* for trading with an *Axis of Evil* country, I'd be a lot more worried. The US might then sanction people I do business with for doing business with me, which could mean they stop doing business with me.
But going to trial is redundant if the government can simply [designate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_State_list_of_Foreign_Terrorist_Organizations) a terrorist organization, which is possible under an executive order. So there is no need for a trial where the state would have to produce (and possibly disclose) evidence. |
61,802 | I'm thinking about a few scenarios here. One scenario is a Pablo Escobar scenario, or a [Don Eladio](https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Eladio_Vuente) scenario if you're a BCS fan like myself: A drug kingpin operating outside the United States, allegedly orchestrating drug dealing in the United States.
Another scenario is the [Hassan Nasrallah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Nasrallah) scenario, where a leader of a Lebanese group considered by some to be a terrorist organization, is allegedly responsible for murders in another country, Israel. There are probably many more examples with other countries, so let's not make this political. Let's take the Pablo Escobar example.
Can the US put the foreign drug kingpin on trial? Say that the US has concrete evidence that the drug kingpin is responsible for crimes in the US, *but* they haven't managed to arrest them yet. Would it be legal for them to put them on trial in the US without their appearance?
Would it be in the US's interests? What are some advantages and disadvantages of that?
The reason I was thinking about this: As far as I know, in civil lawsuits it's possible to put an individual on trial even if they have completely disappeared to a different country. This is legal as long as they have been served properly, *even if they never actually received the notice about the lawsuit.* I'm wondering whether the same is possible for the cases above. | 2021/03/06 | [
"https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/61802",
"https://law.stackexchange.com",
"https://law.stackexchange.com/users/31849/"
] | The rules of criminal procedure are going to differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In US federal court, for example, a criminal trial in absentia can happen, but only in limited circumstances. See [Fed. R. Crim. P. 43](https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/rule_43). A notable example of a defendant not appearing for a federal criminal case is the recent case, arising from the Mueller probe, against Concord Management and Consulting LLC (a Russian entity). | >
> Can the US put the foreign drug kingpin on trial? Say that the US has
> concrete evidence that the drug kingpin is responsible for crimes in
> the US, but they haven't managed to arrest them yet. Would it be legal
> for them to put them on trial in the US without their appearance?
>
>
>
In that fact pattern, no, it would not be allowed under U.S. law.
Other countries sometimes allow trial in absentia. The U.S. generally does not if you have never been arrested at all. |
304,082 | I recently buyed a new Mainboard (Asrock ALiveXFire) and got some trouble with the network adapter. After switching my Windows 7 x64 in energey saving mode and returning from it, my network adapter couldn't be found.
After some googling I found out, that apparently my network adapter has been put in a deep sleep mode and didn't reactivate. Their solution was to switch the PC off, take out the RAM and the CMOS battery for some time. After that, the adapter should be powered on again, but that didn't happen for me. I waited several hours before turning my PC on again, but that didn't help.
Formatting and reinstalling didn't help either.
The network adapter is not found in the hardware manager and reinstalling the drivers didn't help. I have the newest BIOS installed on the mainboard.
I literally don't know what to try next. I'm thinking of returning my board, but I would like to avoid the hassle. | 2011/06/29 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/304082",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/46850/"
] | I solved this problem like this:
- Disable Intel SpeedStep (if any) in BIOS
After I did that Windows just installed the driver when I booted the next time. | I have seen some bad drivers which cause network and other devices to not wake up from advanced power states, but I have never heard the solution of taking out RAM and battery.
Quite frankly, a restart should always reset the devices and the fact that it hasn't makes me think that it is faulty or damaged.
If I was you, I would also check the BIOS/EFI quickly to see if it has accidentally been disabled or similar. |
388,942 | I was searching and surprisingly unable to find a simple continuous duty electric water valve? Below is my requirement.
We get water from government. They release water only every 6th day., for few hours. So most of the time our manual water valve is closed. Every 6th day, we manually open and keep the water valve opened for few hours (typically 6 to 8 hours), because the timing is not consistent.
I want this process to be automated. If I have electric valve, I could simply connect to internet and schedule this. Only problem is, I see that solenoid valves cannot be activated for hours together. So I need a one (I don't care if its solenoid or anything, just something I could activate electrically), which I can activate and open electrically for few hours when needed.
Most of the aliexpress like platforms have valves, but not clear how long they can be operated. And numerous reviews suggest, even an hour of operation makes the coil/valve over heated, and even damaging the valve thereafter.
So can some one kindly suggest which device I should go after in the market? Do they have a different name than "continuous duty"? Kindly advice.
**Update:**
Kindly suggest something affordable (within $20 or so) if suggesting buying links. Kindly note, I am looking for ready made solution, not as a project. Something like plug and play. I intend to connect it to IOT, but that is separate(we have plug and play switches) so kindly focus only on suitable low cost continuous duty valves. Motorized valves are good fit as one of answers suggested,and am already searching for low cost ones but in vain so far. | 2018/08/02 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/388942",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/192856/"
] | Search Web for "motorized water valve". Unlike solenoid drives, motors need be energized only long enough to reach the desired open or closed state. | Aliexpress has [motorised ball valves](https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=&SearchText=motorised%20ball%20valve). They only use power while moving from one state to the other state.
I got a 3 way 1/2" one to switch the solar hot water down my chimney.
Most of them have no visible indication of which state they are in. (annoying)
A few have a visible indicator, and even fewer have a manual knob as well. |
17,339,912 | Everybody loves to mention how JDBC abstracts away vendor-specific differences between SQLs to present a single SQL flavor that would work against a whole slew of them.
But no book or reference on JDBC ever mentions a (detailed) specification or even a decent, user-space coverage of this SQL supported by (a specific version of) JDBC, say JDBC 4.1!
So, what ends up happening (at least with me) is that, if I'm working with MySQL, I must refer to the MySQL reference manual and then try to guard myself against accidentally using MySQL-specific features. For writing portable SQL (at least at the level supported by the JDBC driver version I'm using), I would rather prefer to refer to a JDBC spec or to an SQL spec directly instead of referring to MySQL, PostgresQL, etc.
Is the SQL standard itself (2008, 2003, etc), on which a particular version of JDBC is based, freely available? Or, do I have to shell out $$ to get a copy? | 2013/06/27 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/17339912",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/125540/"
] | There is no "JDBC SQL", just ISO SQL and the vendor implementations of it. JDBC defines the interface for talking to SQL databases, it's a different layer to the query language its self.
The reference for JDBC its self is the JSR documentation:
* [JDBC 4.0](http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/final/jsr221/)
* [JDBC 4.1](http://www.jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/mrel/jsr221/)
Unfortunately the official SQL standards are expensive and must be purchased from the ISO.
You can find late-stage drafts that're perfectly good for reference when you're not trying to develop a conforming implementation [here](http://www.wiscorp.com/SQLStandards.html) among other places.
The SQL spec isn't the most friendly and readable of things, so in practice it's a good idea to use vendor documentation that's actually intended to be read by human beings. You can compare a couple of vendor docs or fall back on the standard doc when uncertainty arises.
Standard compliance with the spec isn't exactly ideal across DBs; writing code strictly to the spec doesn't necessarily mean it'll actually work. For example, MySQL doesn't impliment window functions or common table expressions, PostgreSQL doesn't implement SQL/PSM (instead offering PL/PgSQL) or the `CALL` statement; most vendors use different ways of specifying auto-increment columns or sequence generators; etc etc etc.
Please don't use the w3schools SQL guides, they're severely outdated, wrong, fail to differentiate between vendor extensions and the standard, and should generally be avoided. I mention them because w3schools tends to come up quite high in search rankings - back in the day they used to actually be useful. | You can download the JDBC 4.1 specification from <http://download.oracle.com/otndocs/jcp/jdbc-4_1-mrel-spec/index.html> but this only covers JDBC itself, not SQL. The specification is more a description of the interface; it does expect databases to support some level of the SQL standards, but don't expect to find more information than a reference to the SQL standard if it comes to the requirements to queries.
You usually need to use the database specific SQL anyway, because even though there is a SQL standard, database vendors don't implement them to the letter. JDBC itself defines some escapes to bridge the gaps, but as far as I know, they are hardly ever used. Drivers also - usually - don't translate standard SQL to database specific SQL if the database doesn't support the standard SQL.
If you want to look at the official SQL standard, you need to buy it from ISO or your country-specific ISO representative. That said, with some searching you can find and download draft versions of the specification for free. I am not sure how helpful that is though, as the SQL standard documents are not intended as a reference manual, but meant to be a formal description and goes really deep in details that are only relevant to an implementer. |
15,303,107 | I have been trying to find a way to convert .py source file to .cpp source (as a time saver from doing it manually). I've never used python before and was hoping for a quick way to convert it, and cleanup any code the converter might not do well.
So far, some of the [options](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7112812/use-cython-as-python-to-c-converter) that I have found while googling seem to be: nuitka, cython, and pypy/rpython.
However, the documentation I have read only seem to produce executables, and not actual source code.
At this point, I have found py2c, but cannot seem to find any documentation on how to use it. Also, judging by the posted roadmap on the wiki, it does not seem to be a finished product, and so I'm doubtful as to its reliability.
If you can provide other sources on how this can be accomplished, or shed some light on something I may have missed on the above-mentioned possibilities, it would be appreciated. Otherwise, I will simply convert it manually. | 2013/03/08 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/15303107",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1588552/"
] | Programming languages cannot be easily converted like this. For example, Python has a large standard library, C++ doesn't have the same library. How do you translate those calls?
More fundamentally, the semantics of the language are very different, even a statement as simple as `x = 1` means something different in Python and C++.
You are going to have to write C++ while reading the Python. | Have a look at [shedskin](http://code.google.com/p/shedskin/), if it won't do the whole job,it still might be helpfull. |
979,974 | I have a dell Optiplex 755 usff and I just installed Ubuntu 16.04 on it and I want to install apps on it but outside of the Ubuntu software center. How can I do this and not run into any errors? Also what apps are recommended for a start to ubuntu? I would like java, flash, VNC, Steam, Utilities, and customization apps? (I'm just asking here how can I install applications on Ubuntu without any pre-installed applications and not run into any errors) | 2017/11/24 | [
"https://askubuntu.com/questions/979974",
"https://askubuntu.com",
"https://askubuntu.com/users/761538/"
] | On Gnome Shell you could also use [No Title Bar](https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1267/no-title-bar/) extension. | This will solve you problem!
<https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hide-title-bar/>
Be sure to install Python script (details in addons page after installation).
also install wmctrl package. |
56,511 | Is it ok to hide main motive of the character throughout the book? In my story, the main character never tells why he's doing what he's doing and the reader are fooled into believing he's doing it for a particular purpose until near the end the main character does a 180 degree and his action reveals what his goal was all along. Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing? | 2021/07/17 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56511",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/49648/"
] | With a Twist:
-------------
There's a whole vein of books and movies that are like this, in the thriller category. The MC is usually portrayed as a kind of mastermind, but sometimes the concealment is enough. While books can do this, I think of *[Lucky Number Slevin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Number_Slevin)*, *[Red Sparrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sparrow)*, and *[What Lies Beneath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Lies_Beneath)* as movies where the end is a twist plot that flips the whole story on its end. You can have a character whose motive is undiscernible, more clever than they seem, or deliberately deceptive. M. Night Shyamalan's whole career is based on the twist ending.
So absolutely, you can have a main character deceiving everyone about their true motives right up till the last page! Particularly fun is the moment of the reveal.
But you can certainly disappoint your readers if the audience sympathizes with the false justification but not the real one. Nothing will offend more than a seemingly moral character you fall in love with actually being a scumbag. That's why characters that go that way are almost always supporting cast.
You should leave hints throughout the story, and these should (at least in retrospect) make the reader go "Aha! I see it!" If you come off making your reader feel stupid, they will not read another or recommend the book.
You will need to do a bit of infodump at the reveal or shortly thereafter to explain the twist. Even Sherlock Holmes sits down at the end and explains to Watson how he got to the point he did, and this is definitely a mystery element. Otherwise, you will anger your readers who don't instantly make all the connections as to what just happened.
So done right, this is a great move. But it needs to be integrated, clever, and gentle on the reader. The character's motives should end up clear and sympathetic. And if successful, the reader should go, "I totally should have seen that coming!"
Other questions on this topic:
* [Can novels have twist endings?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/12486/can-novels-have-twist-endings)
* [Should a reader have enough information to deduce the twist?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/27332/should-a-reader-have-enough-information-to-deduce-the-twist)
* [How can I get in the Habit of Writing with Twists?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/25921/how-can-i-get-in-the-habit-of-writing-with-twists)
* [Will the ending spoilt it if I keep my plot twists till the last chapters?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/37194/will-the-ending-spoilt-it-if-i-keep-my-plot-twists-till-the-last-chapters) | Are we getting his point of view?
Unless the character is seriously disturbed, and we can tell he is seriously disturbed, withholding important knowledge is almost certain to come across as cheating. If he is working toward a certain end, he's bound to think of it.
If he is viewed entirely from the outside, it can be feasible. |
56,511 | Is it ok to hide main motive of the character throughout the book? In my story, the main character never tells why he's doing what he's doing and the reader are fooled into believing he's doing it for a particular purpose until near the end the main character does a 180 degree and his action reveals what his goal was all along. Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing? | 2021/07/17 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56511",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/49648/"
] | With a Twist:
-------------
There's a whole vein of books and movies that are like this, in the thriller category. The MC is usually portrayed as a kind of mastermind, but sometimes the concealment is enough. While books can do this, I think of *[Lucky Number Slevin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Number_Slevin)*, *[Red Sparrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sparrow)*, and *[What Lies Beneath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Lies_Beneath)* as movies where the end is a twist plot that flips the whole story on its end. You can have a character whose motive is undiscernible, more clever than they seem, or deliberately deceptive. M. Night Shyamalan's whole career is based on the twist ending.
So absolutely, you can have a main character deceiving everyone about their true motives right up till the last page! Particularly fun is the moment of the reveal.
But you can certainly disappoint your readers if the audience sympathizes with the false justification but not the real one. Nothing will offend more than a seemingly moral character you fall in love with actually being a scumbag. That's why characters that go that way are almost always supporting cast.
You should leave hints throughout the story, and these should (at least in retrospect) make the reader go "Aha! I see it!" If you come off making your reader feel stupid, they will not read another or recommend the book.
You will need to do a bit of infodump at the reveal or shortly thereafter to explain the twist. Even Sherlock Holmes sits down at the end and explains to Watson how he got to the point he did, and this is definitely a mystery element. Otherwise, you will anger your readers who don't instantly make all the connections as to what just happened.
So done right, this is a great move. But it needs to be integrated, clever, and gentle on the reader. The character's motives should end up clear and sympathetic. And if successful, the reader should go, "I totally should have seen that coming!"
Other questions on this topic:
* [Can novels have twist endings?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/12486/can-novels-have-twist-endings)
* [Should a reader have enough information to deduce the twist?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/27332/should-a-reader-have-enough-information-to-deduce-the-twist)
* [How can I get in the Habit of Writing with Twists?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/25921/how-can-i-get-in-the-habit-of-writing-with-twists)
* [Will the ending spoilt it if I keep my plot twists till the last chapters?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/37194/will-the-ending-spoilt-it-if-i-keep-my-plot-twists-till-the-last-chapters) | I think it depends on the POV of the story.
-------------------------------------------
For instance, if your story is told through an omniscient POV where no interiority of the characters is revealed directly -- meaning that everything we know about the characters comes from their actions, inactions, reactions, absence of reactions, gestures, and dialog -- then the entirety of all of the characters' motivations are based on assumption. In this case, a end of story twist that puts the character's motivations and intents in a new light could be a terrific story that blows everyone's mind.
If the story is told in a 3rd person POV from the viewpoint of the character that is going to be doing the reversal of motives, then the more intimate the POV the more this will feel like a great big middle finger like the author is laughing at the reader screaming *'gotcha! fooled you! it was too easy, you stoooopid person'* and most readers will likely not really enjoy it.
If the story is told from multiple POVs, including the deceitful motive character, then it might work well if those other POVs attribute differing motives to the deceiving character. Like some characters think that character is a scallywag and others think that character is a saint and others have different opinions, could make for a very interesting story. I think it would be important that in the scenes in the deceiving character POV that the focus of those scenes wouldn't be related to how that character is deceptive.
For example, A actually desires to murder B, but acts solicitous toward B claiming to respect and love them like a family member -- like how Edmund Dante acts towards some of his foes in the Count of Monte Cristo. But, the characters C D E ... Z all subscribe different motives to A. If the scenes in the A POV don't involve B then there is a plausible reason why A's motives are hidden from the reader. |
56,511 | Is it ok to hide main motive of the character throughout the book? In my story, the main character never tells why he's doing what he's doing and the reader are fooled into believing he's doing it for a particular purpose until near the end the main character does a 180 degree and his action reveals what his goal was all along. Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing? | 2021/07/17 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56511",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/49648/"
] | With a Twist:
-------------
There's a whole vein of books and movies that are like this, in the thriller category. The MC is usually portrayed as a kind of mastermind, but sometimes the concealment is enough. While books can do this, I think of *[Lucky Number Slevin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Number_Slevin)*, *[Red Sparrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sparrow)*, and *[What Lies Beneath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Lies_Beneath)* as movies where the end is a twist plot that flips the whole story on its end. You can have a character whose motive is undiscernible, more clever than they seem, or deliberately deceptive. M. Night Shyamalan's whole career is based on the twist ending.
So absolutely, you can have a main character deceiving everyone about their true motives right up till the last page! Particularly fun is the moment of the reveal.
But you can certainly disappoint your readers if the audience sympathizes with the false justification but not the real one. Nothing will offend more than a seemingly moral character you fall in love with actually being a scumbag. That's why characters that go that way are almost always supporting cast.
You should leave hints throughout the story, and these should (at least in retrospect) make the reader go "Aha! I see it!" If you come off making your reader feel stupid, they will not read another or recommend the book.
You will need to do a bit of infodump at the reveal or shortly thereafter to explain the twist. Even Sherlock Holmes sits down at the end and explains to Watson how he got to the point he did, and this is definitely a mystery element. Otherwise, you will anger your readers who don't instantly make all the connections as to what just happened.
So done right, this is a great move. But it needs to be integrated, clever, and gentle on the reader. The character's motives should end up clear and sympathetic. And if successful, the reader should go, "I totally should have seen that coming!"
Other questions on this topic:
* [Can novels have twist endings?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/12486/can-novels-have-twist-endings)
* [Should a reader have enough information to deduce the twist?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/27332/should-a-reader-have-enough-information-to-deduce-the-twist)
* [How can I get in the Habit of Writing with Twists?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/25921/how-can-i-get-in-the-habit-of-writing-with-twists)
* [Will the ending spoilt it if I keep my plot twists till the last chapters?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/37194/will-the-ending-spoilt-it-if-i-keep-my-plot-twists-till-the-last-chapters) | There is a world of difference between a **plot twist** and a **gotcha ending**.
**Plot twists happen to *characters***.
---------------------------------------
Plot twists make the story deeper because they reframe something that's been there all along. Characters' plans and beliefs are upended, friends are exposed as enemies, the MacGuffin is a red herring. Plot twists add tremendous conflict by putting characters in fresh jeopardy when actions they have already taken turn out to be wrong. Plot twists re-arrange the gameboard while the game is being played.
A plot twist serves the same narrative function as when a main character confronts their flaw in a 3-Act Structure. The original story elements are still in play, but the protagonist must adapt to a new understanding of the situation and the story changes direction. Genres where external events drive the plot don't require the protagonist to have character agency, therefore their flaws become less important as sources of conflict/antagonism.
In horror, detective mysteries, thrillers, and probably any story where a protagonist must survive an ordeal (man against nature, unjustly accused, war from a soldier's pov) the protagonist's internal state is a reasonable reaction to extreme events that are outside their control. The protagonist will be treated unfairly through no fault of their own. Character flaws will add drama, but an 'innocent' protagonist is more sympathetic.
**A gotcha ending is a trick the author plays on the *reader***.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Gotchas do not change character motives or re-direct the action. They have no meaningful impact on the plot, rather the intended effect is the surprise of an unreliable world/narrator. It's a non-diegetic *style choice* done through the *narrative voice*. All the story elements stay the same, the reader just discovers they were misdirected through clever editing. Maybe some characters witness the reveal but it's too late for them to do anything about it, the end.
If the reveal invalidates the journey, it's a **shaggy dog story**. If it's too random/too obvious, there's no payoff just cringe. Discovering the character had magic armor all along is **deus ex machina** (or worse, Mary Sue). If *brevity is the soul of wit* then short stories/TV episodes are probably better. Certain genres are a natural for gotcha endings: spy games, meta/weird, conspiracy/paranoia, no-win gambits/doomed heists, not to mention comedy.
A grim-dark gotcha ending has a lot in common with the punchline at the end of a joke. The reader must be put in the right frame of mind, prepped through the narrator (the telling) to appreciate it. There are ways to signal a joke without revealing the punchline – your narrator will need to accomplish something similar.
Like a magic trick, a gotcha is not a *prank* pulled on the reader for shock value, it's a performance that should awe and delight. The reader should want to go back and factcheck what they read and be amused by what they thought was important, and discover something new in the clues they overlooked.
---
>
> Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the
> climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the
> hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing?
>
>
>
**Plot twists** are are an advanced type of plot. Some level of 'turn' should be happening to characters in every scene, but a plot twist is built on many of these scene turns where (later) the character discovers they've made the wrong assumptions. The road doesn't suddenly turn 90•, it twists and turns ramping up to danger. So generally a character relies on their compounded wrong assumptions a little longer than the reader does, creating suspense that's released by the twist.
A **Gotcha** is a 1-time effect that happens outside the text in the reader's mind. Unfortunately readers are as unreliable as narrators, so it takes a strong narrative style to pull it off. 2 well-known examples are:
>
> Fight Club
>
>
>
and
>
> The Sixth Sense
>
>
>
Both use an unreliable narrator to hide facts about the protagonist that would be obvious to other characters, and while the endings dramatically re-frame each story, their gotcha reveal doesn't actually alter the plot or the motives and reactions of other characters. |
56,511 | Is it ok to hide main motive of the character throughout the book? In my story, the main character never tells why he's doing what he's doing and the reader are fooled into believing he's doing it for a particular purpose until near the end the main character does a 180 degree and his action reveals what his goal was all along. Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing? | 2021/07/17 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56511",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/49648/"
] | With a Twist:
-------------
There's a whole vein of books and movies that are like this, in the thriller category. The MC is usually portrayed as a kind of mastermind, but sometimes the concealment is enough. While books can do this, I think of *[Lucky Number Slevin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Number_Slevin)*, *[Red Sparrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sparrow)*, and *[What Lies Beneath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Lies_Beneath)* as movies where the end is a twist plot that flips the whole story on its end. You can have a character whose motive is undiscernible, more clever than they seem, or deliberately deceptive. M. Night Shyamalan's whole career is based on the twist ending.
So absolutely, you can have a main character deceiving everyone about their true motives right up till the last page! Particularly fun is the moment of the reveal.
But you can certainly disappoint your readers if the audience sympathizes with the false justification but not the real one. Nothing will offend more than a seemingly moral character you fall in love with actually being a scumbag. That's why characters that go that way are almost always supporting cast.
You should leave hints throughout the story, and these should (at least in retrospect) make the reader go "Aha! I see it!" If you come off making your reader feel stupid, they will not read another or recommend the book.
You will need to do a bit of infodump at the reveal or shortly thereafter to explain the twist. Even Sherlock Holmes sits down at the end and explains to Watson how he got to the point he did, and this is definitely a mystery element. Otherwise, you will anger your readers who don't instantly make all the connections as to what just happened.
So done right, this is a great move. But it needs to be integrated, clever, and gentle on the reader. The character's motives should end up clear and sympathetic. And if successful, the reader should go, "I totally should have seen that coming!"
Other questions on this topic:
* [Can novels have twist endings?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/12486/can-novels-have-twist-endings)
* [Should a reader have enough information to deduce the twist?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/27332/should-a-reader-have-enough-information-to-deduce-the-twist)
* [How can I get in the Habit of Writing with Twists?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/25921/how-can-i-get-in-the-habit-of-writing-with-twists)
* [Will the ending spoilt it if I keep my plot twists till the last chapters?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/37194/will-the-ending-spoilt-it-if-i-keep-my-plot-twists-till-the-last-chapters) | As a counterargument, I've actually seen it said that hiding the actual motivation of the main character throughout the book isn't a smart idea. I heard this said in regards to a comparison between Ed Brisson's *The Ballad of Sang* and *John Wick*. Both stories have very similar plots (a trained assassin going on a rampage because of a minor personal loss), but the former hides the character's motivation until the last couple of pages, whereas John Wick going on a rampage over his dog is front and center.
In The *Ballad of Sang*, on the other hand...
>
> Sang seemingly goes after the big bad because he killed his mentor figure, but at the end it turns out that said mentor figure was violent and abusive to Sang and Sang actually wanted to thank the big bad for killing him, but the big bad also took Sang's action figure, one of the few things he had in life, and Sang wanted it back.
>
>
>
The problem with *The Ballad of Sang* is that throughout the entire story the reader is given no context as to the protagonist's motives. However, this ends up creating a story where the protagonist (Sang) is basically an unknowable enigma, the reader has no reason to care about Sang or his goals, and he is this completely unpredictable ball of violence that goes from one scene to the next without even the slightest bit of context as to why he takes the course he does. He's less a character with motives than a plot device.
Additionally, in order to do this the protagonist must be mute and uncommunicative, because if Sang was allowed to talk for any length of time, it would immediately become obvious what he is really after. This is especially pertinent if the story follows the protagonist's point of view, because it's very hard to keep one's true motive out of their own thoughts and point of view. Not saying its *impossible*, but it would require a masterful amount of doublespeak and a huge amount of deliberately-guided misinterpretation by the reader on part of the author. |
56,511 | Is it ok to hide main motive of the character throughout the book? In my story, the main character never tells why he's doing what he's doing and the reader are fooled into believing he's doing it for a particular purpose until near the end the main character does a 180 degree and his action reveals what his goal was all along. Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing? | 2021/07/17 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56511",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/49648/"
] | Are we getting his point of view?
Unless the character is seriously disturbed, and we can tell he is seriously disturbed, withholding important knowledge is almost certain to come across as cheating. If he is working toward a certain end, he's bound to think of it.
If he is viewed entirely from the outside, it can be feasible. | There is a world of difference between a **plot twist** and a **gotcha ending**.
**Plot twists happen to *characters***.
---------------------------------------
Plot twists make the story deeper because they reframe something that's been there all along. Characters' plans and beliefs are upended, friends are exposed as enemies, the MacGuffin is a red herring. Plot twists add tremendous conflict by putting characters in fresh jeopardy when actions they have already taken turn out to be wrong. Plot twists re-arrange the gameboard while the game is being played.
A plot twist serves the same narrative function as when a main character confronts their flaw in a 3-Act Structure. The original story elements are still in play, but the protagonist must adapt to a new understanding of the situation and the story changes direction. Genres where external events drive the plot don't require the protagonist to have character agency, therefore their flaws become less important as sources of conflict/antagonism.
In horror, detective mysteries, thrillers, and probably any story where a protagonist must survive an ordeal (man against nature, unjustly accused, war from a soldier's pov) the protagonist's internal state is a reasonable reaction to extreme events that are outside their control. The protagonist will be treated unfairly through no fault of their own. Character flaws will add drama, but an 'innocent' protagonist is more sympathetic.
**A gotcha ending is a trick the author plays on the *reader***.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Gotchas do not change character motives or re-direct the action. They have no meaningful impact on the plot, rather the intended effect is the surprise of an unreliable world/narrator. It's a non-diegetic *style choice* done through the *narrative voice*. All the story elements stay the same, the reader just discovers they were misdirected through clever editing. Maybe some characters witness the reveal but it's too late for them to do anything about it, the end.
If the reveal invalidates the journey, it's a **shaggy dog story**. If it's too random/too obvious, there's no payoff just cringe. Discovering the character had magic armor all along is **deus ex machina** (or worse, Mary Sue). If *brevity is the soul of wit* then short stories/TV episodes are probably better. Certain genres are a natural for gotcha endings: spy games, meta/weird, conspiracy/paranoia, no-win gambits/doomed heists, not to mention comedy.
A grim-dark gotcha ending has a lot in common with the punchline at the end of a joke. The reader must be put in the right frame of mind, prepped through the narrator (the telling) to appreciate it. There are ways to signal a joke without revealing the punchline – your narrator will need to accomplish something similar.
Like a magic trick, a gotcha is not a *prank* pulled on the reader for shock value, it's a performance that should awe and delight. The reader should want to go back and factcheck what they read and be amused by what they thought was important, and discover something new in the clues they overlooked.
---
>
> Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the
> climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the
> hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing?
>
>
>
**Plot twists** are are an advanced type of plot. Some level of 'turn' should be happening to characters in every scene, but a plot twist is built on many of these scene turns where (later) the character discovers they've made the wrong assumptions. The road doesn't suddenly turn 90•, it twists and turns ramping up to danger. So generally a character relies on their compounded wrong assumptions a little longer than the reader does, creating suspense that's released by the twist.
A **Gotcha** is a 1-time effect that happens outside the text in the reader's mind. Unfortunately readers are as unreliable as narrators, so it takes a strong narrative style to pull it off. 2 well-known examples are:
>
> Fight Club
>
>
>
and
>
> The Sixth Sense
>
>
>
Both use an unreliable narrator to hide facts about the protagonist that would be obvious to other characters, and while the endings dramatically re-frame each story, their gotcha reveal doesn't actually alter the plot or the motives and reactions of other characters. |
56,511 | Is it ok to hide main motive of the character throughout the book? In my story, the main character never tells why he's doing what he's doing and the reader are fooled into believing he's doing it for a particular purpose until near the end the main character does a 180 degree and his action reveals what his goal was all along. Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing? | 2021/07/17 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56511",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/49648/"
] | Are we getting his point of view?
Unless the character is seriously disturbed, and we can tell he is seriously disturbed, withholding important knowledge is almost certain to come across as cheating. If he is working toward a certain end, he's bound to think of it.
If he is viewed entirely from the outside, it can be feasible. | As a counterargument, I've actually seen it said that hiding the actual motivation of the main character throughout the book isn't a smart idea. I heard this said in regards to a comparison between Ed Brisson's *The Ballad of Sang* and *John Wick*. Both stories have very similar plots (a trained assassin going on a rampage because of a minor personal loss), but the former hides the character's motivation until the last couple of pages, whereas John Wick going on a rampage over his dog is front and center.
In The *Ballad of Sang*, on the other hand...
>
> Sang seemingly goes after the big bad because he killed his mentor figure, but at the end it turns out that said mentor figure was violent and abusive to Sang and Sang actually wanted to thank the big bad for killing him, but the big bad also took Sang's action figure, one of the few things he had in life, and Sang wanted it back.
>
>
>
The problem with *The Ballad of Sang* is that throughout the entire story the reader is given no context as to the protagonist's motives. However, this ends up creating a story where the protagonist (Sang) is basically an unknowable enigma, the reader has no reason to care about Sang or his goals, and he is this completely unpredictable ball of violence that goes from one scene to the next without even the slightest bit of context as to why he takes the course he does. He's less a character with motives than a plot device.
Additionally, in order to do this the protagonist must be mute and uncommunicative, because if Sang was allowed to talk for any length of time, it would immediately become obvious what he is really after. This is especially pertinent if the story follows the protagonist's point of view, because it's very hard to keep one's true motive out of their own thoughts and point of view. Not saying its *impossible*, but it would require a masterful amount of doublespeak and a huge amount of deliberately-guided misinterpretation by the reader on part of the author. |
56,511 | Is it ok to hide main motive of the character throughout the book? In my story, the main character never tells why he's doing what he's doing and the reader are fooled into believing he's doing it for a particular purpose until near the end the main character does a 180 degree and his action reveals what his goal was all along. Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing? | 2021/07/17 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56511",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/49648/"
] | I think it depends on the POV of the story.
-------------------------------------------
For instance, if your story is told through an omniscient POV where no interiority of the characters is revealed directly -- meaning that everything we know about the characters comes from their actions, inactions, reactions, absence of reactions, gestures, and dialog -- then the entirety of all of the characters' motivations are based on assumption. In this case, a end of story twist that puts the character's motivations and intents in a new light could be a terrific story that blows everyone's mind.
If the story is told in a 3rd person POV from the viewpoint of the character that is going to be doing the reversal of motives, then the more intimate the POV the more this will feel like a great big middle finger like the author is laughing at the reader screaming *'gotcha! fooled you! it was too easy, you stoooopid person'* and most readers will likely not really enjoy it.
If the story is told from multiple POVs, including the deceitful motive character, then it might work well if those other POVs attribute differing motives to the deceiving character. Like some characters think that character is a scallywag and others think that character is a saint and others have different opinions, could make for a very interesting story. I think it would be important that in the scenes in the deceiving character POV that the focus of those scenes wouldn't be related to how that character is deceptive.
For example, A actually desires to murder B, but acts solicitous toward B claiming to respect and love them like a family member -- like how Edmund Dante acts towards some of his foes in the Count of Monte Cristo. But, the characters C D E ... Z all subscribe different motives to A. If the scenes in the A POV don't involve B then there is a plausible reason why A's motives are hidden from the reader. | There is a world of difference between a **plot twist** and a **gotcha ending**.
**Plot twists happen to *characters***.
---------------------------------------
Plot twists make the story deeper because they reframe something that's been there all along. Characters' plans and beliefs are upended, friends are exposed as enemies, the MacGuffin is a red herring. Plot twists add tremendous conflict by putting characters in fresh jeopardy when actions they have already taken turn out to be wrong. Plot twists re-arrange the gameboard while the game is being played.
A plot twist serves the same narrative function as when a main character confronts their flaw in a 3-Act Structure. The original story elements are still in play, but the protagonist must adapt to a new understanding of the situation and the story changes direction. Genres where external events drive the plot don't require the protagonist to have character agency, therefore their flaws become less important as sources of conflict/antagonism.
In horror, detective mysteries, thrillers, and probably any story where a protagonist must survive an ordeal (man against nature, unjustly accused, war from a soldier's pov) the protagonist's internal state is a reasonable reaction to extreme events that are outside their control. The protagonist will be treated unfairly through no fault of their own. Character flaws will add drama, but an 'innocent' protagonist is more sympathetic.
**A gotcha ending is a trick the author plays on the *reader***.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Gotchas do not change character motives or re-direct the action. They have no meaningful impact on the plot, rather the intended effect is the surprise of an unreliable world/narrator. It's a non-diegetic *style choice* done through the *narrative voice*. All the story elements stay the same, the reader just discovers they were misdirected through clever editing. Maybe some characters witness the reveal but it's too late for them to do anything about it, the end.
If the reveal invalidates the journey, it's a **shaggy dog story**. If it's too random/too obvious, there's no payoff just cringe. Discovering the character had magic armor all along is **deus ex machina** (or worse, Mary Sue). If *brevity is the soul of wit* then short stories/TV episodes are probably better. Certain genres are a natural for gotcha endings: spy games, meta/weird, conspiracy/paranoia, no-win gambits/doomed heists, not to mention comedy.
A grim-dark gotcha ending has a lot in common with the punchline at the end of a joke. The reader must be put in the right frame of mind, prepped through the narrator (the telling) to appreciate it. There are ways to signal a joke without revealing the punchline – your narrator will need to accomplish something similar.
Like a magic trick, a gotcha is not a *prank* pulled on the reader for shock value, it's a performance that should awe and delight. The reader should want to go back and factcheck what they read and be amused by what they thought was important, and discover something new in the clues they overlooked.
---
>
> Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the
> climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the
> hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing?
>
>
>
**Plot twists** are are an advanced type of plot. Some level of 'turn' should be happening to characters in every scene, but a plot twist is built on many of these scene turns where (later) the character discovers they've made the wrong assumptions. The road doesn't suddenly turn 90•, it twists and turns ramping up to danger. So generally a character relies on their compounded wrong assumptions a little longer than the reader does, creating suspense that's released by the twist.
A **Gotcha** is a 1-time effect that happens outside the text in the reader's mind. Unfortunately readers are as unreliable as narrators, so it takes a strong narrative style to pull it off. 2 well-known examples are:
>
> Fight Club
>
>
>
and
>
> The Sixth Sense
>
>
>
Both use an unreliable narrator to hide facts about the protagonist that would be obvious to other characters, and while the endings dramatically re-frame each story, their gotcha reveal doesn't actually alter the plot or the motives and reactions of other characters. |
56,511 | Is it ok to hide main motive of the character throughout the book? In my story, the main character never tells why he's doing what he's doing and the reader are fooled into believing he's doing it for a particular purpose until near the end the main character does a 180 degree and his action reveals what his goal was all along. Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing? | 2021/07/17 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56511",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/49648/"
] | I think it depends on the POV of the story.
-------------------------------------------
For instance, if your story is told through an omniscient POV where no interiority of the characters is revealed directly -- meaning that everything we know about the characters comes from their actions, inactions, reactions, absence of reactions, gestures, and dialog -- then the entirety of all of the characters' motivations are based on assumption. In this case, a end of story twist that puts the character's motivations and intents in a new light could be a terrific story that blows everyone's mind.
If the story is told in a 3rd person POV from the viewpoint of the character that is going to be doing the reversal of motives, then the more intimate the POV the more this will feel like a great big middle finger like the author is laughing at the reader screaming *'gotcha! fooled you! it was too easy, you stoooopid person'* and most readers will likely not really enjoy it.
If the story is told from multiple POVs, including the deceitful motive character, then it might work well if those other POVs attribute differing motives to the deceiving character. Like some characters think that character is a scallywag and others think that character is a saint and others have different opinions, could make for a very interesting story. I think it would be important that in the scenes in the deceiving character POV that the focus of those scenes wouldn't be related to how that character is deceptive.
For example, A actually desires to murder B, but acts solicitous toward B claiming to respect and love them like a family member -- like how Edmund Dante acts towards some of his foes in the Count of Monte Cristo. But, the characters C D E ... Z all subscribe different motives to A. If the scenes in the A POV don't involve B then there is a plausible reason why A's motives are hidden from the reader. | As a counterargument, I've actually seen it said that hiding the actual motivation of the main character throughout the book isn't a smart idea. I heard this said in regards to a comparison between Ed Brisson's *The Ballad of Sang* and *John Wick*. Both stories have very similar plots (a trained assassin going on a rampage because of a minor personal loss), but the former hides the character's motivation until the last couple of pages, whereas John Wick going on a rampage over his dog is front and center.
In The *Ballad of Sang*, on the other hand...
>
> Sang seemingly goes after the big bad because he killed his mentor figure, but at the end it turns out that said mentor figure was violent and abusive to Sang and Sang actually wanted to thank the big bad for killing him, but the big bad also took Sang's action figure, one of the few things he had in life, and Sang wanted it back.
>
>
>
The problem with *The Ballad of Sang* is that throughout the entire story the reader is given no context as to the protagonist's motives. However, this ends up creating a story where the protagonist (Sang) is basically an unknowable enigma, the reader has no reason to care about Sang or his goals, and he is this completely unpredictable ball of violence that goes from one scene to the next without even the slightest bit of context as to why he takes the course he does. He's less a character with motives than a plot device.
Additionally, in order to do this the protagonist must be mute and uncommunicative, because if Sang was allowed to talk for any length of time, it would immediately become obvious what he is really after. This is especially pertinent if the story follows the protagonist's point of view, because it's very hard to keep one's true motive out of their own thoughts and point of view. Not saying its *impossible*, but it would require a masterful amount of doublespeak and a huge amount of deliberately-guided misinterpretation by the reader on part of the author. |
56,511 | Is it ok to hide main motive of the character throughout the book? In my story, the main character never tells why he's doing what he's doing and the reader are fooled into believing he's doing it for a particular purpose until near the end the main character does a 180 degree and his action reveals what his goal was all along. Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing? | 2021/07/17 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56511",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/49648/"
] | There is a world of difference between a **plot twist** and a **gotcha ending**.
**Plot twists happen to *characters***.
---------------------------------------
Plot twists make the story deeper because they reframe something that's been there all along. Characters' plans and beliefs are upended, friends are exposed as enemies, the MacGuffin is a red herring. Plot twists add tremendous conflict by putting characters in fresh jeopardy when actions they have already taken turn out to be wrong. Plot twists re-arrange the gameboard while the game is being played.
A plot twist serves the same narrative function as when a main character confronts their flaw in a 3-Act Structure. The original story elements are still in play, but the protagonist must adapt to a new understanding of the situation and the story changes direction. Genres where external events drive the plot don't require the protagonist to have character agency, therefore their flaws become less important as sources of conflict/antagonism.
In horror, detective mysteries, thrillers, and probably any story where a protagonist must survive an ordeal (man against nature, unjustly accused, war from a soldier's pov) the protagonist's internal state is a reasonable reaction to extreme events that are outside their control. The protagonist will be treated unfairly through no fault of their own. Character flaws will add drama, but an 'innocent' protagonist is more sympathetic.
**A gotcha ending is a trick the author plays on the *reader***.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Gotchas do not change character motives or re-direct the action. They have no meaningful impact on the plot, rather the intended effect is the surprise of an unreliable world/narrator. It's a non-diegetic *style choice* done through the *narrative voice*. All the story elements stay the same, the reader just discovers they were misdirected through clever editing. Maybe some characters witness the reveal but it's too late for them to do anything about it, the end.
If the reveal invalidates the journey, it's a **shaggy dog story**. If it's too random/too obvious, there's no payoff just cringe. Discovering the character had magic armor all along is **deus ex machina** (or worse, Mary Sue). If *brevity is the soul of wit* then short stories/TV episodes are probably better. Certain genres are a natural for gotcha endings: spy games, meta/weird, conspiracy/paranoia, no-win gambits/doomed heists, not to mention comedy.
A grim-dark gotcha ending has a lot in common with the punchline at the end of a joke. The reader must be put in the right frame of mind, prepped through the narrator (the telling) to appreciate it. There are ways to signal a joke without revealing the punchline – your narrator will need to accomplish something similar.
Like a magic trick, a gotcha is not a *prank* pulled on the reader for shock value, it's a performance that should awe and delight. The reader should want to go back and factcheck what they read and be amused by what they thought was important, and discover something new in the clues they overlooked.
---
>
> Does this weaken the plot of a book or not? When the conflict, the
> climax and the rising action goes against the resolution and the
> hidden motive in the story, is this a bad thing?
>
>
>
**Plot twists** are are an advanced type of plot. Some level of 'turn' should be happening to characters in every scene, but a plot twist is built on many of these scene turns where (later) the character discovers they've made the wrong assumptions. The road doesn't suddenly turn 90•, it twists and turns ramping up to danger. So generally a character relies on their compounded wrong assumptions a little longer than the reader does, creating suspense that's released by the twist.
A **Gotcha** is a 1-time effect that happens outside the text in the reader's mind. Unfortunately readers are as unreliable as narrators, so it takes a strong narrative style to pull it off. 2 well-known examples are:
>
> Fight Club
>
>
>
and
>
> The Sixth Sense
>
>
>
Both use an unreliable narrator to hide facts about the protagonist that would be obvious to other characters, and while the endings dramatically re-frame each story, their gotcha reveal doesn't actually alter the plot or the motives and reactions of other characters. | As a counterargument, I've actually seen it said that hiding the actual motivation of the main character throughout the book isn't a smart idea. I heard this said in regards to a comparison between Ed Brisson's *The Ballad of Sang* and *John Wick*. Both stories have very similar plots (a trained assassin going on a rampage because of a minor personal loss), but the former hides the character's motivation until the last couple of pages, whereas John Wick going on a rampage over his dog is front and center.
In The *Ballad of Sang*, on the other hand...
>
> Sang seemingly goes after the big bad because he killed his mentor figure, but at the end it turns out that said mentor figure was violent and abusive to Sang and Sang actually wanted to thank the big bad for killing him, but the big bad also took Sang's action figure, one of the few things he had in life, and Sang wanted it back.
>
>
>
The problem with *The Ballad of Sang* is that throughout the entire story the reader is given no context as to the protagonist's motives. However, this ends up creating a story where the protagonist (Sang) is basically an unknowable enigma, the reader has no reason to care about Sang or his goals, and he is this completely unpredictable ball of violence that goes from one scene to the next without even the slightest bit of context as to why he takes the course he does. He's less a character with motives than a plot device.
Additionally, in order to do this the protagonist must be mute and uncommunicative, because if Sang was allowed to talk for any length of time, it would immediately become obvious what he is really after. This is especially pertinent if the story follows the protagonist's point of view, because it's very hard to keep one's true motive out of their own thoughts and point of view. Not saying its *impossible*, but it would require a masterful amount of doublespeak and a huge amount of deliberately-guided misinterpretation by the reader on part of the author. |
21,376 | What options are available to hike around Iceland? Other questions address camping but are there marked trails on some or all of the way? Is walking on the ring road allowed at all and is it realistic? Are some sections of the road more interesting or popular?
PS: This question is based on a comment on [What are the wild camping regulations in Iceland?](https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/4091/what-are-the-wild-camping-regulations-in-iceland) The original poster did not follow up but it seems interesting so I am reposting it as a proper question. | 2013/10/22 | [
"https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/21376",
"https://travel.stackexchange.com",
"https://travel.stackexchange.com/users/6669/"
] | There are numerous hiking trails in Iceland, ranging from easy half-days to strenuous multi-day affairs.
The website of the [Icelandic Touring Association](http://www.fi.is/en/hiking-trails/) lists several options, but the list is nowhere near exhaustive. The most notable route is [Laugarvegurinn](http://www.fi.is/en/hiking-trails/laugavegurinn/).
I'd certainly recommend a proper nature hike over walking the ring road. It can't be much fun to walk alongside all that traffic.
If you do go hiking in Iceland (and especially if you are not a part of a tour led by an experienced guide) make sure that you are well prepared, that someone knows your itinerary and check in regularly, and keep up with weather reports. Hiking in Iceland can be dangerous if proper precautions are not followed. | Walking on or next to the ring road (Road 1) is not advised as there is traffic, sometimes very limited view of the road and most certainly traffic will not expect hikers on the road!
You will also be bored to death on most sections as it has very long sections where you see little landscape change. |
21,376 | What options are available to hike around Iceland? Other questions address camping but are there marked trails on some or all of the way? Is walking on the ring road allowed at all and is it realistic? Are some sections of the road more interesting or popular?
PS: This question is based on a comment on [What are the wild camping regulations in Iceland?](https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/4091/what-are-the-wild-camping-regulations-in-iceland) The original poster did not follow up but it seems interesting so I am reposting it as a proper question. | 2013/10/22 | [
"https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/21376",
"https://travel.stackexchange.com",
"https://travel.stackexchange.com/users/6669/"
] | There are numerous hiking trails in Iceland, ranging from easy half-days to strenuous multi-day affairs.
The website of the [Icelandic Touring Association](http://www.fi.is/en/hiking-trails/) lists several options, but the list is nowhere near exhaustive. The most notable route is [Laugarvegurinn](http://www.fi.is/en/hiking-trails/laugavegurinn/).
I'd certainly recommend a proper nature hike over walking the ring road. It can't be much fun to walk alongside all that traffic.
If you do go hiking in Iceland (and especially if you are not a part of a tour led by an experienced guide) make sure that you are well prepared, that someone knows your itinerary and check in regularly, and keep up with weather reports. Hiking in Iceland can be dangerous if proper precautions are not followed. | The ring road can be boring and also dangerous to hike. There are strong winds in the south including a lot of ashes or sand that sometimes even polishes cars and crashing windows. When we drove the ring road in the south the last time (August 2013), the wind was really really heavy and I was glad to have a car.
I would recommend to hike in the highlands. Choose a route according to your experience, equipment and time of the year. You will see much more of the amazing nature.
I'd like to emphasize again that the weather in the highlands (and all over the island) can change very quick and you should be aware of this when planning your route. There is an authority where you can register your route to get help if you get lost: [Safetravel](http://www.safetravel.is/travel-plan/)
There are also emergency shelters all over the island. Make sure you know where the next shelter is before starting the day.
I would recommend to take a mobile phone and get a prepaid card from [Simmin](https://www.siminn.is/english/) and you will have at least GSM all over the island.
Camping is generally allowed in Iceland but you should ask the owner of the land/property where you want to stay. There are also a lot of camping places where you have a shared washing room and kitchen. I think they are quite cheap.
Personally I found [Askja](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Askja) especially interesting. It's a bit like hiking on the moon (without marked trails). There are some shelters were you can spend the night or sleep in your tent. If you go there by car make sure you know how to cross a river.
Useful links:
[Weather Forecast](http://en.vedur.is/)
[Northern Lights Radar](http://www.northernlightsiceland.com/northern-lights-forecast/) |
368,060 | Inserting a breakpoint and checking the result of data exchanged between 2 uC's tend to interfere with the timings and other factors.
Is there a way wherein i can sniff all the data exchanged between 2 uC's and store them to a log file that can be later interpreted maybe using python.
Even if it means using a #define to Enable and disable logging in code is fine.
I just dont want to use breakpoints and verify the results. | 2018/04/12 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/368060",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/98056/"
] | * Use two serial port adaptor RX channels (ftdi usb adaptors), one for each direction. [Realterm has a Monitor mode](https://realterm.sourceforge.io/#Monitor_RX_and_TX_data:_Protocol) where it will take the RX from two different ports and interleave it on screen in different colors. You will want a [recent version](https://realterm.i2cchip.com). If you have an old school 2/4port serial adaptor (not usb) it will work better in terms of not messing up the timing between the two channels. If it is all fairly slow, no problems. Realterm can also put timestamps into the data if useful.
* Use an oscilloscope or logic analyser. [Some](http://www.cleverscope.com) can decode the data for you
* use a single serial port and OR the two directions together. Only works if they don't talk at the same time, and you can make some sense of what is going back and forth.
* Make a special adaptor from a micro with two uarts. Send each byte of the incoming data out as two bytes, using a bit to identify which rx it came from. [you can have 1 bit for channel, 1 for B7 of data,6 for a timestamp, or monitor a couple of pins]. Using ftdi usb adaptor, you can output at 3MB, which would allow 150kBd on the rx channels (in total). This method would also make it possible to handle 9 bit protocols too. Arduino Mega would be perfect for this as it has 4 uarts and usb already on board | I have 4 proposals that I think are the easiest solutions. 2 have been already proposed by Henry, but I complete them a bit.
**Logic Analyzer**
There are some of them that connect directly to your PC via USB, so you see the measured signal directly in your PC. A software in the PC decode some protocols such as UART, I2C, SPI... so it present to you the data sent in a more human readable way, not only the electric signal. I haven't tried many of them, but I bough a very cheap (around 10€) clone of Saleae Logic Analizer that lets you to use original software from Saleae, which is great and free.
**FTDI adaptor attached to an uC**
Ftdi have adaptors UART to USB, I2C to USB, SPI to USB...choose the one you need. The computer recognizes it as a virtual serial port, so it is very easy to read and write, even from your SO console, no need of writing complicated code for PC (either Win, Linux, Mac...)
FTDI website is not very intuitive to browse their catalogue. Better you google what you need (for example "FTDI USB to SPI").
One possible usage is attaching it to one of the uC's if it have an unused communication peripheral (and pins). For example, if communication between uC's is I2C, and one of them have a free UART port, buy a UART to USB adaptor. Then in the program of that uC, you send all data sent and received via i2c to the uart, so your PC also receive it. This is more or less the same that Henry proposed.
**FTDI adaptor attached to the same communication bus than uC's**
Other possible usage is attaching the adaptor directly to the paths that connect both uC's. This way, you don't need to have free pins, nor adding any code to uC program.
In this case, you must be careful of not disturbing the communication with the adaptor, not sending any data from the PC.
If communication between uC's is done with a bus topology communication, such as I2C or SPI, you can use just one adaptor to read messages from both uC's. If communication between uC's is done via UART, you will need 2 adaptors.
**Create log in memory and pause execution a bit later**
If the amount of data you want to analyze is not too big, because not many data is exchanged or because you only need to analize a small amount of time, you can create big buffers in the memory of the uC's and store there the received data. Don't use breakpoints to pause execution always any data is received, just let the program run for the time you want (5 seconds, for example). Then, pause execution with the debugger and inspect the content of the buffer.
Depending on the IDE you are using, sometimes you can export the data for easier inspection to excel, for example (I used to do this with Microchip MPLAB X)
You can do this depending on how much free memory do you have in the uC's and in the amount of data you need to record. |
1,328 | I'm not sure if this is a suitable question but I found a game that had all it is sprites and stuff saved in INA and AN format and I got curious to know which program is it.
Or is it some sort of compressing or alike and how it is usually done?
Anyone know?
Here is the content of one of the files:
<http://pastebin.com/EzUsFvdG>
Here is a hex dump of the above file: <http://pastebin.com/CTErFBcS>
The above one is the AN file and the bellow one INA.
Hex dump of a INA file which seems to be some sort of map or data file (I believe because of the layers info, etc?) <http://pastebin.com/2fWn8izR> | 2010/07/23 | [
"https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/1328",
"https://gamedev.stackexchange.com",
"https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/users/567/"
] | As mentioned above, the evidence points towards this being a custom file format specific to that game. Probably not going to be able to open them yourself. However, if it uses OpenGL or DirectX and loads them as textures you might be able to use a GPU memory viewer to dump them to standard format. | It's not necessarily a common program's output at all. It could just be an arbitrary extension chosen by the developer for files that hold data about sprites. You can try opening the file in notepad to see its contents or as suggested above check the first four bytes to see if it is a normal file format saved under a different extensions. |
1,328 | I'm not sure if this is a suitable question but I found a game that had all it is sprites and stuff saved in INA and AN format and I got curious to know which program is it.
Or is it some sort of compressing or alike and how it is usually done?
Anyone know?
Here is the content of one of the files:
<http://pastebin.com/EzUsFvdG>
Here is a hex dump of the above file: <http://pastebin.com/CTErFBcS>
The above one is the AN file and the bellow one INA.
Hex dump of a INA file which seems to be some sort of map or data file (I believe because of the layers info, etc?) <http://pastebin.com/2fWn8izR> | 2010/07/23 | [
"https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/1328",
"https://gamedev.stackexchange.com",
"https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/users/567/"
] | It's not necessarily a common program's output at all. It could just be an arbitrary extension chosen by the developer for files that hold data about sprites. You can try opening the file in notepad to see its contents or as suggested above check the first four bytes to see if it is a normal file format saved under a different extensions. | A first thing to do would be to display it in various widths to see if any width shows a somewhat recognizable pattern (and humans are extremely good at detecting patterns, even if they're not there). If you're that lucky you'll have a good starting point as you know the likely width and can see if you see that encoded somewhere. From there you can also find height and so on.
Only if there's a discenrable pattern to begin with through. It might be run length encoded or what have you and it'll become pretty tricky pretty fast. |
1,328 | I'm not sure if this is a suitable question but I found a game that had all it is sprites and stuff saved in INA and AN format and I got curious to know which program is it.
Or is it some sort of compressing or alike and how it is usually done?
Anyone know?
Here is the content of one of the files:
<http://pastebin.com/EzUsFvdG>
Here is a hex dump of the above file: <http://pastebin.com/CTErFBcS>
The above one is the AN file and the bellow one INA.
Hex dump of a INA file which seems to be some sort of map or data file (I believe because of the layers info, etc?) <http://pastebin.com/2fWn8izR> | 2010/07/23 | [
"https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/1328",
"https://gamedev.stackexchange.com",
"https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/users/567/"
] | As mentioned above, the evidence points towards this being a custom file format specific to that game. Probably not going to be able to open them yourself. However, if it uses OpenGL or DirectX and loads them as textures you might be able to use a GPU memory viewer to dump them to standard format. | A first thing to do would be to display it in various widths to see if any width shows a somewhat recognizable pattern (and humans are extremely good at detecting patterns, even if they're not there). If you're that lucky you'll have a good starting point as you know the likely width and can see if you see that encoded somewhere. From there you can also find height and so on.
Only if there's a discenrable pattern to begin with through. It might be run length encoded or what have you and it'll become pretty tricky pretty fast. |
13,663 | Is there a table somewhere that shows how to convert between all the various rating systems?
US Chess seems to indicate that ratings would be converted from others to play in their tournaments. | 2016/02/06 | [
"https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/13663",
"https://chess.stackexchange.com",
"https://chess.stackexchange.com/users/9477/"
] | I assume that you're interested in conversions involving USCF ratings. [Here](http://glicko.net/ratings/rating.system.pdf) you can see the algorithm used.
As an example the conversion between FIDE and USCF is USCF = 180 + 0.94\*FIDE if the FIDE rating is under 2000 and USCF = 20 + 1.02\*FIDE if the FIDE rating is over 2000 elo points. | This tool converts between USCF and FIDE ratings:
<http://beginchess.com/2017/03/04/chess-rating-conversion-tool/> |
13,663 | Is there a table somewhere that shows how to convert between all the various rating systems?
US Chess seems to indicate that ratings would be converted from others to play in their tournaments. | 2016/02/06 | [
"https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/13663",
"https://chess.stackexchange.com",
"https://chess.stackexchange.com/users/9477/"
] | The official conversion rate for ECF to FIDE is FIDE=7.5\*ECF+700, see
<http://www.englishchess.org.uk/fide-elo-conversion/>
Again comments about this being approximate are appropriate.
I don't know of a more general table. | This tool converts between USCF and FIDE ratings:
<http://beginchess.com/2017/03/04/chess-rating-conversion-tool/> |
636 | Was it ever illegal for 2 people of different religions (e.g. Catholic & Anglican) to marry in the UK? I'm refering only to "civil marriage". I'm sure, even now, that the Catholic church may not view a marriage of an Anglican and a Catholic as "valid", but for the purposes of civl law, they could be legally married. Was there ever a time, in the UK, when it was not a legal marriage if the 2 people were of different Christian faiths?
If so, when did that change? When was that sort of marriage made legal? | 2011/10/28 | [
"https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/636",
"https://history.stackexchange.com",
"https://history.stackexchange.com/users/13/"
] | Yes, indeed! During the Penal Law period of the 18th Century, there were laws in Northern Ireland designed to "protect Protestants against the pollution of Popery" [(Akenson, 111)](http://books.google.com/books?id=r7iNB3IRH5QC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=Penal%20law%20period%20mixed%20marriages&source=bl&ots=ttTLt_7SaR&sig=gOXkm3k39ZIJ5ea6SRYOcLfg6ig&hl=en&ei=EEe9TtL8Koq-2AX5xZz-BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false)
You might find this [history of marriage in the west](http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/history_of_marriage_in_western.html) interesting. Marriage started as a pact between families, and was a purely secular matter following the Roman patriarchal tradition, which usually did not consider the wishes of the bride. The rise of the Christian church in the medieval Europe brought with it the idea that marriage should be between willing partners. In the 16th Century, Martin Luther pushed marriage out of the church again. The Restoration brought it back into the church... because of this ping-ponging and existing religious diversity, I think it would have been unusual to have interfaith laws elsewhere in the UK. | Well, there is the [Act of Settlement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Settlement_1701), which takes anyone who is Catholic, or married to one, out of the line of succession. It doesn't prohibit it outright though. |
636 | Was it ever illegal for 2 people of different religions (e.g. Catholic & Anglican) to marry in the UK? I'm refering only to "civil marriage". I'm sure, even now, that the Catholic church may not view a marriage of an Anglican and a Catholic as "valid", but for the purposes of civl law, they could be legally married. Was there ever a time, in the UK, when it was not a legal marriage if the 2 people were of different Christian faiths?
If so, when did that change? When was that sort of marriage made legal? | 2011/10/28 | [
"https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/636",
"https://history.stackexchange.com",
"https://history.stackexchange.com/users/13/"
] | Yes, indeed! During the Penal Law period of the 18th Century, there were laws in Northern Ireland designed to "protect Protestants against the pollution of Popery" [(Akenson, 111)](http://books.google.com/books?id=r7iNB3IRH5QC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=Penal%20law%20period%20mixed%20marriages&source=bl&ots=ttTLt_7SaR&sig=gOXkm3k39ZIJ5ea6SRYOcLfg6ig&hl=en&ei=EEe9TtL8Koq-2AX5xZz-BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false)
You might find this [history of marriage in the west](http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/history_of_marriage_in_western.html) interesting. Marriage started as a pact between families, and was a purely secular matter following the Roman patriarchal tradition, which usually did not consider the wishes of the bride. The rise of the Christian church in the medieval Europe brought with it the idea that marriage should be between willing partners. In the 16th Century, Martin Luther pushed marriage out of the church again. The Restoration brought it back into the church... because of this ping-ponging and existing religious diversity, I think it would have been unusual to have interfaith laws elsewhere in the UK. | From 1290 to roughly 1655 it was probably illegal to marry someone who was Jewish. But that's only because it was illegal to be Jewish. That is a special case answer to the question, mostly because I was looking for an example that didn't involve Roman Catholics. |
636 | Was it ever illegal for 2 people of different religions (e.g. Catholic & Anglican) to marry in the UK? I'm refering only to "civil marriage". I'm sure, even now, that the Catholic church may not view a marriage of an Anglican and a Catholic as "valid", but for the purposes of civl law, they could be legally married. Was there ever a time, in the UK, when it was not a legal marriage if the 2 people were of different Christian faiths?
If so, when did that change? When was that sort of marriage made legal? | 2011/10/28 | [
"https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/636",
"https://history.stackexchange.com",
"https://history.stackexchange.com/users/13/"
] | From 1290 to roughly 1655 it was probably illegal to marry someone who was Jewish. But that's only because it was illegal to be Jewish. That is a special case answer to the question, mostly because I was looking for an example that didn't involve Roman Catholics. | Well, there is the [Act of Settlement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Settlement_1701), which takes anyone who is Catholic, or married to one, out of the line of succession. It doesn't prohibit it outright though. |
159,521 | A subquestion of [How does animated water work?](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/159514/how-does-animated-water-work/159517#159517)
When a player conjures a creature formed of animated water, for example a small horse, I find it works best to model that animated water as a CR0 creature with the Elemental type.
How can I get appropriate stats for such a creature quickly? That is, when a player forms a 5' cube of water into a horse, I know from experience that it should be Medium or Small in size, and when they turn that cube into a duck, a rooster, and an eagle instead I know that they should be Tiny, Tiny, and Small respectively.
I still need to give each creature an amount of hp, speed, and potentially traits and actions. Is there a way to do this quickly while ensuring my players can predict what the stats of a creature they make will be yet also the effect isn't going to make creatures of a power level greater than CR0 should justify?
What can I do to speed up this process without unbalancing it? | 2019/11/14 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/159521",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/14848/"
] | This cantrip only lets you direct water in an animation. It is not creating a animated construct—***shape water* is not *animate object* for water**.
You can make a horse, but it’s just water you are holding in the crude shape of a horse, like in a bad horse-shaped Jello mold. It’s not a creature and has no stats, can’t be given orders, and can’t support anything that would not otherwise float on the surface of water.
You can make it do horsey motions, but this is like making a shadow puppet move by waggling your fingers, but using magic to waggle simple shapes of water instead. It can’t go anywhere, since it has no text allowing movement. A second casting can add some overall displacement, but only up to 5’ away from the original location.
*Shape water* isn’t a complex spell. It gets complex if assumptions from other spells are imported, but spells only do what they say, and *shape water* doesn’t anywhere say it creates a self-driven construct that has stats and obeys simple orders. Only reading “animate” in a specific way that the rest of the text does not support leads in that direction, and the rest of the text fails to provide the necessary support. | Your houserule seems to be that Shape Water can create creatures. This is already incredibly overpowered, but let's go with it.
The spell already specifies a 5ft per cast speed limit, so why not stick with that?
>
> **Animated water**
>
>
> No type
>
>
> AC 0
>
>
> Hitpoints 1
>
>
> Speed 5ft
>
>
> STR, DEX, CON, WIS, INT, CHA = 0
>
>
> no skills, no perception, no senses, no language, CR0, 0xp, no traits, no actions.
>
>
> Automatically fails any save it attempts to make and is hit automatically when attacked.
>
>
>
I feel even that is incredibly overpowered, but you know your table and players. |
159,521 | A subquestion of [How does animated water work?](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/159514/how-does-animated-water-work/159517#159517)
When a player conjures a creature formed of animated water, for example a small horse, I find it works best to model that animated water as a CR0 creature with the Elemental type.
How can I get appropriate stats for such a creature quickly? That is, when a player forms a 5' cube of water into a horse, I know from experience that it should be Medium or Small in size, and when they turn that cube into a duck, a rooster, and an eagle instead I know that they should be Tiny, Tiny, and Small respectively.
I still need to give each creature an amount of hp, speed, and potentially traits and actions. Is there a way to do this quickly while ensuring my players can predict what the stats of a creature they make will be yet also the effect isn't going to make creatures of a power level greater than CR0 should justify?
What can I do to speed up this process without unbalancing it? | 2019/11/14 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/159521",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/14848/"
] | This cantrip only lets you direct water in an animation. It is not creating a animated construct—***shape water* is not *animate object* for water**.
You can make a horse, but it’s just water you are holding in the crude shape of a horse, like in a bad horse-shaped Jello mold. It’s not a creature and has no stats, can’t be given orders, and can’t support anything that would not otherwise float on the surface of water.
You can make it do horsey motions, but this is like making a shadow puppet move by waggling your fingers, but using magic to waggle simple shapes of water instead. It can’t go anywhere, since it has no text allowing movement. A second casting can add some overall displacement, but only up to 5’ away from the original location.
*Shape water* isn’t a complex spell. It gets complex if assumptions from other spells are imported, but spells only do what they say, and *shape water* doesn’t anywhere say it creates a self-driven construct that has stats and obeys simple orders. Only reading “animate” in a specific way that the rest of the text does not support leads in that direction, and the rest of the text fails to provide the necessary support. | Shape Water creates shapes, not creatures
-----------------------------------------
Let me challenge the frame of your question: you state you find it works best to run the animated shapes as creatures. But then, your entire question is about how it is not practical at all to run the animated shapes as creatures and how this creates problems for you and how that can be helped.
**Don't try to work out how you can treat shapes as creatures. Do not treat them as creatures.**
#### The shape is not a creature
The spell [does not create a creature](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/47254/what-is-the-definition-of-creature-and-is-it-used-consistently/198112#198112). It creates a shaped, moving volume of water. A few of the properties of that shape, such as that it can be moved and be shaped like a creature, are shared with a creature, but most are not: it has no hp, has no AC, has no speed, has no actions, it has no race or type, it has no ability scores. All of these lacking means you need to come up with them if you want to treat it as a creature.
#### Treating it as a creature creates more problems than it solves
Not only can your players easily create shapes in forms that have nothing to do with other creatures, like a cube, sphere, cylinder or whatever, in which case your approach to come up with equivalent creature statistics based on comparable creatures will fail. Also, even if they chose the shape of an existing creature, for most of the creatures you outline the game does not provide game statistics as they are harmless. This would force you to come up with them on your own as homebrew in a wide variety. It is just a lot of needless work and not practical for keeping the flow of the game going.
#### Treating it as a shape is easy
The problems all stem from trying to treat them as a creature. It is much simpler to accept that a shape of water does not interact with game elements that require a creature or game statistics: spells that target creatures will not affect it, damage will not harm it, conditions do not apply to it, it can perform no ability checks, it cannot attack. |
159,521 | A subquestion of [How does animated water work?](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/159514/how-does-animated-water-work/159517#159517)
When a player conjures a creature formed of animated water, for example a small horse, I find it works best to model that animated water as a CR0 creature with the Elemental type.
How can I get appropriate stats for such a creature quickly? That is, when a player forms a 5' cube of water into a horse, I know from experience that it should be Medium or Small in size, and when they turn that cube into a duck, a rooster, and an eagle instead I know that they should be Tiny, Tiny, and Small respectively.
I still need to give each creature an amount of hp, speed, and potentially traits and actions. Is there a way to do this quickly while ensuring my players can predict what the stats of a creature they make will be yet also the effect isn't going to make creatures of a power level greater than CR0 should justify?
What can I do to speed up this process without unbalancing it? | 2019/11/14 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/159521",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/14848/"
] | Shape Water creates shapes, not creatures
-----------------------------------------
Let me challenge the frame of your question: you state you find it works best to run the animated shapes as creatures. But then, your entire question is about how it is not practical at all to run the animated shapes as creatures and how this creates problems for you and how that can be helped.
**Don't try to work out how you can treat shapes as creatures. Do not treat them as creatures.**
#### The shape is not a creature
The spell [does not create a creature](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/47254/what-is-the-definition-of-creature-and-is-it-used-consistently/198112#198112). It creates a shaped, moving volume of water. A few of the properties of that shape, such as that it can be moved and be shaped like a creature, are shared with a creature, but most are not: it has no hp, has no AC, has no speed, has no actions, it has no race or type, it has no ability scores. All of these lacking means you need to come up with them if you want to treat it as a creature.
#### Treating it as a creature creates more problems than it solves
Not only can your players easily create shapes in forms that have nothing to do with other creatures, like a cube, sphere, cylinder or whatever, in which case your approach to come up with equivalent creature statistics based on comparable creatures will fail. Also, even if they chose the shape of an existing creature, for most of the creatures you outline the game does not provide game statistics as they are harmless. This would force you to come up with them on your own as homebrew in a wide variety. It is just a lot of needless work and not practical for keeping the flow of the game going.
#### Treating it as a shape is easy
The problems all stem from trying to treat them as a creature. It is much simpler to accept that a shape of water does not interact with game elements that require a creature or game statistics: spells that target creatures will not affect it, damage will not harm it, conditions do not apply to it, it can perform no ability checks, it cannot attack. | Your houserule seems to be that Shape Water can create creatures. This is already incredibly overpowered, but let's go with it.
The spell already specifies a 5ft per cast speed limit, so why not stick with that?
>
> **Animated water**
>
>
> No type
>
>
> AC 0
>
>
> Hitpoints 1
>
>
> Speed 5ft
>
>
> STR, DEX, CON, WIS, INT, CHA = 0
>
>
> no skills, no perception, no senses, no language, CR0, 0xp, no traits, no actions.
>
>
> Automatically fails any save it attempts to make and is hit automatically when attacked.
>
>
>
I feel even that is incredibly overpowered, but you know your table and players. |
696,889 | We are using Microsoft Azure Backup to backup our server. Our backup is passing on 4 out of 5 drives, but consistently failing on the one. All that the Microsoft Azure GUI agent tells me though is that it failed. Where can I find the logs to further diagnose this issue? Thanks in advance. | 2015/06/05 | [
"https://serverfault.com/questions/696889",
"https://serverfault.com",
"https://serverfault.com/users/282901/"
] | Take a look at the cloudbackup\operational event log on the client. Additional logs are in C:\program files\Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent\Temp. In that directory take a look at CBEngineCurr.errlog, which should contain the step by step details on issues. | Another way you view the Microsoft Azure Backup Agent logs is accessing.
Server Manager > Diagnostics > Event Viewer > Application and services log > CloudBackup > Operational.
You will have a record of logs for the service |
378,280 | I've got a fresh Kubuntu 13.10 64 bit with wine 1.4.1 on it. Fonts seemed to install without a problem (how can I check that? I've installed culmus manually and msfft core with wine). Importing my Albums (not web albums) from my WinXP machine went smoothly except for the fact that album names that have Hebrew letters will show up as empty rectangles (on the left menu bar). If I choose one and right click to *"edit album description"* I can see the Hebrew name just fine.
I've tried the suggestion from *mosestruong* from [here](http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=685676 "here") but that only made the letters disappear totally. | 2013/11/17 | [
"https://askubuntu.com/questions/378280",
"https://askubuntu.com",
"https://askubuntu.com/users/18186/"
] | I found the solution. Just copied all of my winXP font library (*c:\windows\fonts\*\*) to \*~/.wine/drive\_c/windows/Fonts/\* (note the capital F. Not sure if it's a must). a voila! Hebrew Album Names! | You simple need to install missing fonts in winetricks
[Wine fonts problem](https://askubuntu.com/questions/102538/wine-fonts-problem)
1.Run Winetricks.
2.Select your wineprefix or default wineprefix if it has used.
3.Select task Install a font |
3,006,002 | I tried a couple of jQuery based window plug-ins but unfortunately was not satisfied with any of them. Here's what I tried:
* <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html>
* <http://fstoke.me/jquery/window/>
* <http://www.soyos.net/aerowindow-jquery.html>
I need following features without any compromises:
* Maximize, minimize (to a reasonable location such as bottom-left corner of the visible page, not in the middle of the screen), drag, resize, etc.
* Highly and easily configurable
* Actively developed (this can be relaxed a little bit)
* Comes with good documentation (and examples)
* works cross-browser (I had problems in IE when I tried to use fstoke.me's implementation).
The three plug-ins I have tried failed in one or more respects. I'm not looking for very fancy, animated effects, just very basic but yet adequate functionality.
Any suggestions? | 2010/06/09 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3006002",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/236007/"
] | I developed the first you mentioned <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html> and after a year receiving suggestions to improve it and to add functionality I have refactored the code to provide more flexibility to developers.
Let me know if you know if there is something that I can improve. | What's the problem you meet when you try to use fstoke.me's implementation in IE? :) |
3,006,002 | I tried a couple of jQuery based window plug-ins but unfortunately was not satisfied with any of them. Here's what I tried:
* <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html>
* <http://fstoke.me/jquery/window/>
* <http://www.soyos.net/aerowindow-jquery.html>
I need following features without any compromises:
* Maximize, minimize (to a reasonable location such as bottom-left corner of the visible page, not in the middle of the screen), drag, resize, etc.
* Highly and easily configurable
* Actively developed (this can be relaxed a little bit)
* Comes with good documentation (and examples)
* works cross-browser (I had problems in IE when I tried to use fstoke.me's implementation).
The three plug-ins I have tried failed in one or more respects. I'm not looking for very fancy, animated effects, just very basic but yet adequate functionality.
Any suggestions? | 2010/06/09 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3006002",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/236007/"
] | I developed the first you mentioned <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html> and after a year receiving suggestions to improve it and to add functionality I have refactored the code to provide more flexibility to developers.
Let me know if you know if there is something that I can improve. | The only problem I have with Jquery Windows Engine is that when I press escape it closes all the windows at once instead of closing the select/most recent window open. Do you think its possible to have control over what the ESC button does as I cannot find anything tangible in the JS file |
3,006,002 | I tried a couple of jQuery based window plug-ins but unfortunately was not satisfied with any of them. Here's what I tried:
* <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html>
* <http://fstoke.me/jquery/window/>
* <http://www.soyos.net/aerowindow-jquery.html>
I need following features without any compromises:
* Maximize, minimize (to a reasonable location such as bottom-left corner of the visible page, not in the middle of the screen), drag, resize, etc.
* Highly and easily configurable
* Actively developed (this can be relaxed a little bit)
* Comes with good documentation (and examples)
* works cross-browser (I had problems in IE when I tried to use fstoke.me's implementation).
The three plug-ins I have tried failed in one or more respects. I'm not looking for very fancy, animated effects, just very basic but yet adequate functionality.
Any suggestions? | 2010/06/09 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3006002",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/236007/"
] | I know it's kind of late to reply, but still. I am developing a plugin based on Hernán's jQuery Windows Engine. You can check it out [here](https://bitbucket.org/mingos/jquery-windows-engine). | I developed the first you mentioned <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html> and after a year receiving suggestions to improve it and to add functionality I have refactored the code to provide more flexibility to developers.
Let me know if you know if there is something that I can improve. |
3,006,002 | I tried a couple of jQuery based window plug-ins but unfortunately was not satisfied with any of them. Here's what I tried:
* <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html>
* <http://fstoke.me/jquery/window/>
* <http://www.soyos.net/aerowindow-jquery.html>
I need following features without any compromises:
* Maximize, minimize (to a reasonable location such as bottom-left corner of the visible page, not in the middle of the screen), drag, resize, etc.
* Highly and easily configurable
* Actively developed (this can be relaxed a little bit)
* Comes with good documentation (and examples)
* works cross-browser (I had problems in IE when I tried to use fstoke.me's implementation).
The three plug-ins I have tried failed in one or more respects. I'm not looking for very fancy, animated effects, just very basic but yet adequate functionality.
Any suggestions? | 2010/06/09 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3006002",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/236007/"
] | @MRR:
I'm pretty familiar with the problem you are having.
The escape key feature is not part of that jquery plugin, it is in another file and just closes all the opened windows spawned by the jquery window engine plugin.
In my opinion, you should check the zindex of each window and start closing the one with the highest zindex first, then on the next escape the next one etc etc.. until you have no windows left :) | What's the problem you meet when you try to use fstoke.me's implementation in IE? :) |
3,006,002 | I tried a couple of jQuery based window plug-ins but unfortunately was not satisfied with any of them. Here's what I tried:
* <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html>
* <http://fstoke.me/jquery/window/>
* <http://www.soyos.net/aerowindow-jquery.html>
I need following features without any compromises:
* Maximize, minimize (to a reasonable location such as bottom-left corner of the visible page, not in the middle of the screen), drag, resize, etc.
* Highly and easily configurable
* Actively developed (this can be relaxed a little bit)
* Comes with good documentation (and examples)
* works cross-browser (I had problems in IE when I tried to use fstoke.me's implementation).
The three plug-ins I have tried failed in one or more respects. I'm not looking for very fancy, animated effects, just very basic but yet adequate functionality.
Any suggestions? | 2010/06/09 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3006002",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/236007/"
] | I know it's kind of late to reply, but still. I am developing a plugin based on Hernán's jQuery Windows Engine. You can check it out [here](https://bitbucket.org/mingos/jquery-windows-engine). | What's the problem you meet when you try to use fstoke.me's implementation in IE? :) |
3,006,002 | I tried a couple of jQuery based window plug-ins but unfortunately was not satisfied with any of them. Here's what I tried:
* <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html>
* <http://fstoke.me/jquery/window/>
* <http://www.soyos.net/aerowindow-jquery.html>
I need following features without any compromises:
* Maximize, minimize (to a reasonable location such as bottom-left corner of the visible page, not in the middle of the screen), drag, resize, etc.
* Highly and easily configurable
* Actively developed (this can be relaxed a little bit)
* Comes with good documentation (and examples)
* works cross-browser (I had problems in IE when I tried to use fstoke.me's implementation).
The three plug-ins I have tried failed in one or more respects. I'm not looking for very fancy, animated effects, just very basic but yet adequate functionality.
Any suggestions? | 2010/06/09 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3006002",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/236007/"
] | @MRR:
I'm pretty familiar with the problem you are having.
The escape key feature is not part of that jquery plugin, it is in another file and just closes all the opened windows spawned by the jquery window engine plugin.
In my opinion, you should check the zindex of each window and start closing the one with the highest zindex first, then on the next escape the next one etc etc.. until you have no windows left :) | The only problem I have with Jquery Windows Engine is that when I press escape it closes all the windows at once instead of closing the select/most recent window open. Do you think its possible to have control over what the ESC button does as I cannot find anything tangible in the JS file |
3,006,002 | I tried a couple of jQuery based window plug-ins but unfortunately was not satisfied with any of them. Here's what I tried:
* <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html>
* <http://fstoke.me/jquery/window/>
* <http://www.soyos.net/aerowindow-jquery.html>
I need following features without any compromises:
* Maximize, minimize (to a reasonable location such as bottom-left corner of the visible page, not in the middle of the screen), drag, resize, etc.
* Highly and easily configurable
* Actively developed (this can be relaxed a little bit)
* Comes with good documentation (and examples)
* works cross-browser (I had problems in IE when I tried to use fstoke.me's implementation).
The three plug-ins I have tried failed in one or more respects. I'm not looking for very fancy, animated effects, just very basic but yet adequate functionality.
Any suggestions? | 2010/06/09 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3006002",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/236007/"
] | I know it's kind of late to reply, but still. I am developing a plugin based on Hernán's jQuery Windows Engine. You can check it out [here](https://bitbucket.org/mingos/jquery-windows-engine). | The only problem I have with Jquery Windows Engine is that when I press escape it closes all the windows at once instead of closing the select/most recent window open. Do you think its possible to have control over what the ESC button does as I cannot find anything tangible in the JS file |
3,006,002 | I tried a couple of jQuery based window plug-ins but unfortunately was not satisfied with any of them. Here's what I tried:
* <http://hernan.amiune.com/labs/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin/jQuery-Windows-Engine-Plugin.html>
* <http://fstoke.me/jquery/window/>
* <http://www.soyos.net/aerowindow-jquery.html>
I need following features without any compromises:
* Maximize, minimize (to a reasonable location such as bottom-left corner of the visible page, not in the middle of the screen), drag, resize, etc.
* Highly and easily configurable
* Actively developed (this can be relaxed a little bit)
* Comes with good documentation (and examples)
* works cross-browser (I had problems in IE when I tried to use fstoke.me's implementation).
The three plug-ins I have tried failed in one or more respects. I'm not looking for very fancy, animated effects, just very basic but yet adequate functionality.
Any suggestions? | 2010/06/09 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3006002",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/236007/"
] | I know it's kind of late to reply, but still. I am developing a plugin based on Hernán's jQuery Windows Engine. You can check it out [here](https://bitbucket.org/mingos/jquery-windows-engine). | @MRR:
I'm pretty familiar with the problem you are having.
The escape key feature is not part of that jquery plugin, it is in another file and just closes all the opened windows spawned by the jquery window engine plugin.
In my opinion, you should check the zindex of each window and start closing the one with the highest zindex first, then on the next escape the next one etc etc.. until you have no windows left :) |
53,355 | Better yet, how can I make My Computer always open in Explorer as well?
I usually make a shortcut to my programming directories on my quick launch bar, but I'd love for them to open in Explorer. | 2008/09/10 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/53355",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1965/"
] | explorer -d c:\path | Have you considered the win+e hotkey? It isn't quite what you want, but might be close enough. |
193,855 | In three years time, I will have (hopefully) finished a biochemistry degree at the ETH Zürich. I'm thinking about moving to the USA/Canada after that to study Vet Med. In most places I've read, there are so many requirements that I'd be surprised if any international students actually get accepted into those programmes. The most common requirements are: having taken enough English courses (mainly literature); having completed a 4-year Bachelor's degree and having completed one year of undergrad studies in the USA (this last one is especially bothersome when applying for an MD).
Are there any common paths for international students that I've missed (the requirements seem impossible)?
On a side note, what's funding like for non-residents (grants ...)? | 2023/02/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/193855",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/168376/"
] | Veterinary medicine degrees in the US, like human medical degrees (and graduate degrees in law or terminal masters programs), are considered professional degrees to prepare you to earn a relatively high professional salary. Most US veterinary medicine students pay their way with loans that they plan to pay back while working in the US as a vet. Programs at state colleges and universities may be subsidized for residents of that state, but not international or out-of-state students.
Knowing some people who have gone down this path, a DVM is a tough career path. The education costs aren't much less than an MD, the pay is substantially less, and the hours can be pretty intense, with lots of time spent on call on weekends, overnight, and holidays. I would not recommend it unless you are passionate about caring for animals, and certainly would not recommend a US DVM education if you do not plan to work in the US unless there is another place with comparable salaries. That said, while the financial aspects of the job tend to be a target of complaint, the actual job itself seems to be very rewarding.
There are a handful of grant/scholarship opportunities for DVM students, but it's not something you should plan to rely on. Your specific admissions qualifications are better directed to individual programs. I expect that European 3-year programs will substitute for US 4-year bachelor's programs; specifying "4 year" is meant to make clear that a 2-year US associates degree is not appropriate, they just aren't outlining all the different possibilities for international students, the programs likely have too few international applicants at all to bother with a country-by-country breakdown. | Veterinary school in the United States is intended to prepare students to be licensed as veterinarians in the United States. As an "international student" without a visa to work in the United States, you have no use for a license that is not valid elsewhere. There are plenty of domestic students. That is why veterinary school is not set up to admit international students.
Some countries give residency to international students who earn certain degrees. The United States does not.
Canada has a completely different education system. |
84,796 | House Bolton is known for flaying their enemies. Their sigil is even a flayed man. Robb Stark executed Lord Karstark for injustice knowing he would lose his alliance with House Karstark. So how could Robb Stark have been an ally of Roose Bolton? And more generally how could the houses have a history together given Ned's honor and Bolton's cruelty?
Was it just one of those unholy alliances that always goes bad? Or was there some explanation about why Robb would tolerate such a House in his midst? | 2015/03/26 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/84796",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/4398/"
] | **Historically, they lived in the same kingdom ([The North](http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/North)), and therefore were under the rule of the [Stark Kings](http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/King_in_the_North) of old.**
House Bolton is more like [**Slytherin**](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/7403/21267), in that they're not inherently *evil* but more cunning and [**ambitious**](http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Roose_Bolton) and will do *whatever it takes*. This is the problem as sometimes "whatever it takes" ends up involving deceit and other horrible means of getting ahead; such as betraying your Liege Lord by stabbing them through their heart - both literally and figuratively.
Remember, Bolton didn't show his "true colours" until [very late in the game](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/36857/21267); and until then had been a [steadfast battle commander](http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Battle_of_the_Green_Fork). So it would have been quite difficult to pick out his upcoming defection.
**Allies** is too strong a term to attribute to their relationship. House Stark was the liege lord of House Bolton, and as such, the Boltons had no *choice* but to go to war with them when called. The problem with 'deception' is that it is *deceiving* - you don't see it coming.
There is evidence in the books as well that even Robb himself didn't feel happy about Roose Bolton or his involvement in the enterprise:
>
> [Catelyn] “No. You want cold cunning, I should think, not courage.”
>
> [Robb] “Roose Bolton,” Robb said at once. “That man scares me.”
>
> [Catelyn] “Then let us pray he will scare Tywin Lannister as well.”
> *-A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One - A Game of Thrones, Chapter 55 (Catelyn VIII).*
>
>
>
---
**Further Reading**
* [What was the relation between Eddard Stark and Roose Bolton?](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/69191/21267)
* [Did Jaime realise what Bolton's motivation was?](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/71057/21267)
* [Why is the Bolton banner a flayed man?](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/63191/21267) | Ok, the Boltons are kinda weird. But you see the reason why nobody really seems to despise them is because noone is really different. The Lannisters with their shiny gold are not more or less cruel, then the Boltons, they just hide it behind shiny golden plates, just as the Baratheons and many other houses, also the starks were not always so honourable, only the latest generations. Furthermore even for North Standarts the Starks were unnaturally honourable, the Northeners are actually more harsh and hard people who have their sacreds like even the Boltons would never slay their kin or break the guest right, however loyality to the Stark is not something the Boltons would brag with as they are ancient rivals. I see the Banner and the words (a flayed man holds no secrets) of the Boltons more metaphorical, like the Boltons ARE the flayed men, and they are openly doing what everyone else does because they don't care, they make no secrets of their cruelty. |
84,796 | House Bolton is known for flaying their enemies. Their sigil is even a flayed man. Robb Stark executed Lord Karstark for injustice knowing he would lose his alliance with House Karstark. So how could Robb Stark have been an ally of Roose Bolton? And more generally how could the houses have a history together given Ned's honor and Bolton's cruelty?
Was it just one of those unholy alliances that always goes bad? Or was there some explanation about why Robb would tolerate such a House in his midst? | 2015/03/26 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/84796",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/4398/"
] | Here's some background about the relations between the Starks and the Boltons from ***[The World of Ice & Fire: the Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones](http://www.randomhouse.com/book/108360/the-world-of-ice-fire-by-george-rr-martin-elio-garcia-and-linda-antonsson)*** by **George R.R. Martin**, **Elio Garcia**, and **Linda Antonsson**.
>
> Yet **the bitterest foes of Winterfell were undoubtedly the Red Kings of
> the Dreadfort, those grim lords of House Bolton** whose domains of old
> stretched from the Last River to the White Knife, and as far south as
> the Sheepshead Hills.
>
>
> **The enmity between the Starks and Boltons went back to the Long Night
> itself, it is claimed**. The wars between these two ancient families
> were legion, and not all ended in victory for House Stark. King Royce
> Bolton, Second of His Name, is said to have taken and burned
> Winterfell itself; his namesake and descendant Royce IV (remembered by
> history as Royce Redarm, for his habit of plunging his arm into the
> bellies of captive foes to pull out their entrails with his bare hand)
> did the same three centuries later. **Other Red Kings were reputed to
> wear cloaks made from the skins of Stark princes they had captured and
> flayed.**
>
>
> **Yet in the end, even the Dreadfort fell before the might of
> Winterfell, and the last Red King, known to history as Rogar the
> Huntsman, swore fealty to the King of Winter and sent his sons to
> Winterfell as hostages**, even as the first Andals were crossing the
> narrow sea in their longships.
>
>
> After the defeat of the Boltons, the last of their Northern rivals,
> the greatest threats to the dominion of House Stark came by sea.
>
>
> [...]
>
>
> Crossing the narrow sea in their hundreds and thousands, the longships
> of the Andals made landings in the North just as they did to the
> south, but wherever they came ashore, the Starks and their bannermen
> fell upon them and drove them back into the sea. **King Theon Stark,
> known to history as the Hungry Wolf, turned back the greatest of these
> threats, making common cause with the Boltons to smash the Andal
> warlord Argos Sevenstar at the Battle of the Weeping Water**.
>
>
> | Ok, the Boltons are kinda weird. But you see the reason why nobody really seems to despise them is because noone is really different. The Lannisters with their shiny gold are not more or less cruel, then the Boltons, they just hide it behind shiny golden plates, just as the Baratheons and many other houses, also the starks were not always so honourable, only the latest generations. Furthermore even for North Standarts the Starks were unnaturally honourable, the Northeners are actually more harsh and hard people who have their sacreds like even the Boltons would never slay their kin or break the guest right, however loyality to the Stark is not something the Boltons would brag with as they are ancient rivals. I see the Banner and the words (a flayed man holds no secrets) of the Boltons more metaphorical, like the Boltons ARE the flayed men, and they are openly doing what everyone else does because they don't care, they make no secrets of their cruelty. |
42,537,483 | I'm currently using VGG-S pretrained convolutional neural network provided by Lasagne library, from the following [link](https://github.com/Lasagne/Recipes/blob/master/examples/ImageNet%20Pretrained%20Network%20(VGG_S).ipynb).
I downloaded the validation dataset of ILSVRC2012 in order to do a classification task, but I saw that the ground truth values found in the file ILSVRC2012\_devkit\_t12\_v2/data/ILSVRC2012\_validation\_ground\_truth.txt didn't match at all the output values of the VGG-S network (softmax values).
For example: the last image ILSVRC2012\_val\_00050000.JPEG which is clearly a Llama, vgg-s outputs label n°355 (llama), while the ground truth label found in the file is n° 186 (Norwich terrier).
The index-to-label is the same as this [one](https://gist.github.com/maraoz/388eddec39d60c6d52d4).
Can anyone please tell me where I'm wrong ?
Thanks for the help. | 2017/03/01 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/42537483",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/7603748/"
] | The ground truth system you are using is developed by caffe group, where is different from Imagenet standard groundtruth indexing system.
<https://github.com/BVLC/caffe/tree/master/data/ilsvrc12>
Replace your groungtruth with val.txt. | Never mind, I found out that VGG convolutional networks used a different class order according to this [note](https://gist.github.com/ksimonyan/fd8800eeb36e276cd6f9#note)
The validation ground truth labels that were used can be downloaded from
[here](http://dl.caffe.berkeleyvision.org/caffe_ilsvrc12.tar.gz) |
96,775 | For context of the setting, numerous fairly large cities serve as the seats of regional feudal governments in a stable, prosperous kingdom. There are a lot of commerce in the cities, and merchants from near and far visit them for business. Diverse goods, both mundane and magical, can be found at shops throughout the kingdom.
Institutions like book publishers, or wealthy persons ordering construction to be done may sign a contract to someone for future work, but the concept of many end customers paying a comparatively small sum for a future deliverable is yet unfamiliar in this world.
A townsperson might be comfortable with paying ahead for a delivery of wool, which will (unless disaster befalls the shepherd) predictably be shorn and delivered. However, suppose a novel design for a padlock is invented (and protected by royal patent). It requires special tools and a workshop to be built in the city, before the locks can be produced and finally received by the end buyers. How could a townsperson be convinced to pay for the lock ahead of time, on the understanding that the facilities are yet to be built?
**How is the concept of crowdfunding developed, and how does it gain acceptance and legitimacy?** | 2017/11/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/96775",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/44387/"
] | Crowdfunding really exists as a term due to the internet being used for fundraising. If crowdfunding existed in this medieval world, how is the money different from charity, fundraiser sales, donations, investors, or presales? (All of these would best refer to different types of crowdfunded projects).
All your character needs to do is ask for money for a project, keep the money for himself, and escape from liability over the project. He can escape by lying (saying the money turned out to be insufficient), paying part of that money for a third party to do the work then blame failure on him, or run. | Are you asking about crowdfunding in particular, or how capital was accumulated and then invested in new production capacity?
The idea of lending money at interest goes back to the Roman empire and beyond.
Bonds have always been popular. [History of Bonds](https://www.ermunro.com/bonds/history/)
>
> Just how long have surety bonds been around? Thousands and thousands
> of years, say historians. One stone tablet written in cuneiform
> characters was discovered in 1889 during an archaeological dig at
> Nippur, in Mesopotamia, now present-day Iraq. The bond dates back to
> 2400 B.C. and the reign of the Babylonian King Dungi who ruled for 58
> years.
>
>
>
However, I suspect that it would be the court (royalty or similar) that would fund the project. Usually, the King (or as @Olga has mentioned, guilds) pretty much owned and controlled intellectual property rights, up until the 1600's or so. See [The Rise, Persistence and Decline of Merchant Guilds.
Re-thinking the Comparative Study of Commercial Institutions in Pre-modern
Europe](http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Workshops-Seminars/Economic-History/grafe-090413.pdf) for the dominance of guilds in intellectual property rights, and [History and Sources of Intellectual Property Law](https://lawshelf.com/courseware/entry/history-and-sources-of-intellectual-property-law) and [The Evolution of Intellectual Property](https://www.txpatentattorney.com/blog/the-history-of-intellectual-property/). It is one thing to invent a better mousetrap, it is quite another to have it accepted by the powers-that-be.
There would be a natural hesitation for private investors to put money into a venture if the King or guilds could just appropriate the intellectual property and start producing it themselves, or they could just declare it illegal and shut down production.
The King, for instance, might object to the ability of his subjects to lock things up and out of his grasp. Therefore, he might make it illegal for commoners to own or use locks. |
96,775 | For context of the setting, numerous fairly large cities serve as the seats of regional feudal governments in a stable, prosperous kingdom. There are a lot of commerce in the cities, and merchants from near and far visit them for business. Diverse goods, both mundane and magical, can be found at shops throughout the kingdom.
Institutions like book publishers, or wealthy persons ordering construction to be done may sign a contract to someone for future work, but the concept of many end customers paying a comparatively small sum for a future deliverable is yet unfamiliar in this world.
A townsperson might be comfortable with paying ahead for a delivery of wool, which will (unless disaster befalls the shepherd) predictably be shorn and delivered. However, suppose a novel design for a padlock is invented (and protected by royal patent). It requires special tools and a workshop to be built in the city, before the locks can be produced and finally received by the end buyers. How could a townsperson be convinced to pay for the lock ahead of time, on the understanding that the facilities are yet to be built?
**How is the concept of crowdfunding developed, and how does it gain acceptance and legitimacy?** | 2017/11/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/96775",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/44387/"
] | Crowdfunding really exists as a term due to the internet being used for fundraising. If crowdfunding existed in this medieval world, how is the money different from charity, fundraiser sales, donations, investors, or presales? (All of these would best refer to different types of crowdfunded projects).
All your character needs to do is ask for money for a project, keep the money for himself, and escape from liability over the project. He can escape by lying (saying the money turned out to be insufficient), paying part of that money for a third party to do the work then blame failure on him, or run. | This building was erected by the funds of the people of city Westminster.
You just don't have enough space to put that sentence on a padlock. And to be frank, that would be the stupidest idea. If you want to order a custom padlock it's because you want something secure. Like a Guild with its own set of lock and keys. So the people who are members want the least needed amount of keys. So you want the smallest amount of people to know about the order.
Making it public is like wearing white headphones when iPod was a thing. It screamed "**rob me**".
Everything else is/was crowdfunded. Crowdfunding is at the core of Catholicism. You have a large amount of money, you share it with less fortunate people and make their lives better.
One of the German requirements for transforming a village into a town (giving it the town laws) was that there were enough wealth people that after taxation would be able to support hospital on their own.
Another example is the Council Hall of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence when Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were commissioned by the public to paint the wall.
Crowdfunding is just fancy silicon valley word. Like "house hacking" for landlording. |
96,775 | For context of the setting, numerous fairly large cities serve as the seats of regional feudal governments in a stable, prosperous kingdom. There are a lot of commerce in the cities, and merchants from near and far visit them for business. Diverse goods, both mundane and magical, can be found at shops throughout the kingdom.
Institutions like book publishers, or wealthy persons ordering construction to be done may sign a contract to someone for future work, but the concept of many end customers paying a comparatively small sum for a future deliverable is yet unfamiliar in this world.
A townsperson might be comfortable with paying ahead for a delivery of wool, which will (unless disaster befalls the shepherd) predictably be shorn and delivered. However, suppose a novel design for a padlock is invented (and protected by royal patent). It requires special tools and a workshop to be built in the city, before the locks can be produced and finally received by the end buyers. How could a townsperson be convinced to pay for the lock ahead of time, on the understanding that the facilities are yet to be built?
**How is the concept of crowdfunding developed, and how does it gain acceptance and legitimacy?** | 2017/11/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/96775",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/44387/"
] | You mean like the catholic church did during this time period
**Answer:** invents a persuasive religion that offers salvation through repentant monetary donations.
[Medieval relic trade](http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_medieval_relic_trade) | This building was erected by the funds of the people of city Westminster.
You just don't have enough space to put that sentence on a padlock. And to be frank, that would be the stupidest idea. If you want to order a custom padlock it's because you want something secure. Like a Guild with its own set of lock and keys. So the people who are members want the least needed amount of keys. So you want the smallest amount of people to know about the order.
Making it public is like wearing white headphones when iPod was a thing. It screamed "**rob me**".
Everything else is/was crowdfunded. Crowdfunding is at the core of Catholicism. You have a large amount of money, you share it with less fortunate people and make their lives better.
One of the German requirements for transforming a village into a town (giving it the town laws) was that there were enough wealth people that after taxation would be able to support hospital on their own.
Another example is the Council Hall of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence when Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were commissioned by the public to paint the wall.
Crowdfunding is just fancy silicon valley word. Like "house hacking" for landlording. |
96,775 | For context of the setting, numerous fairly large cities serve as the seats of regional feudal governments in a stable, prosperous kingdom. There are a lot of commerce in the cities, and merchants from near and far visit them for business. Diverse goods, both mundane and magical, can be found at shops throughout the kingdom.
Institutions like book publishers, or wealthy persons ordering construction to be done may sign a contract to someone for future work, but the concept of many end customers paying a comparatively small sum for a future deliverable is yet unfamiliar in this world.
A townsperson might be comfortable with paying ahead for a delivery of wool, which will (unless disaster befalls the shepherd) predictably be shorn and delivered. However, suppose a novel design for a padlock is invented (and protected by royal patent). It requires special tools and a workshop to be built in the city, before the locks can be produced and finally received by the end buyers. How could a townsperson be convinced to pay for the lock ahead of time, on the understanding that the facilities are yet to be built?
**How is the concept of crowdfunding developed, and how does it gain acceptance and legitimacy?** | 2017/11/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/96775",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/44387/"
] | The cathedrals built in the High Middle Ages are probably the closest to crowdfunding. Usually, those were centuries-long projects funded by a combination of church funds and donations. [The logistics of financing were truly fascinating](http://www.athenapub.com/14scholler.htm).
Another interesting example is [hospitals (bimaristans)](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Bimaristan) during the Islamic Golden Age. Initially, they were built by the rulers but at later times charitable organisations and personal donations supported building and maintenance of the hospitals. Bimaristans were public hospitals open to all people regardless of their ability to pay, gender, race, and social standing. This was a religious requirement. They also doubled as medical schools and research facilities.
Apart from religion, professional guilds can be a driving force behind crowdfunding and public projects. [Medieval guilds](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Guild#/Medieval_guild) were powerful and influential organisations with hierarchical organisation somewhat similar to the church. They could have means and finances to start and more importantly complete a public project. Big guilds also had enough manpower to initiate donation collections.
You can read more about functions and organisation of craft guilds in [this article](http://www.unsa.edu.ar/histocat/haeconomica07/lecturas/epstein1998.pdf). And here is [an interesting paper on medieval English guilds](http://socsci-dev.ss.uci.edu/~garyr/papers/Richardson_2004_Explorations-in-Economic-History.pdf) that deals mainly with legal aspects.
Guilds can start with smaller guild projects and finance them from guild fees (paid by its members). After several successful projects, they can take on bigger ones. The townsfolk will be asked to donate money. The guild would also approach the town council and nobility/higher class for additional money grants.
Among other things, guilds were maintaining manufacturing standards and providing apprenticeship opportunities (with guaranteed employment upon successful completion). If people trust the guild to do the right thing they may be persuaded to chip in. | **Desperation is how most things get started in the middle ages...**
The well has gone dry and the town folk are having to walk all the way down to the river and back every day to get water. Craftsmen schedules which were already full to overflowing are now falling behind because of this extra chore which has become a part of everyone's life. And in the absence of regular bathing, the town is developing a bit of a funky smell.
A town meeting is gathered...
Reginald, the carpenter and Thom, the blacksmith, have an idea; a machine with an iron bit and several removable timber shafts which can be spun by a gear-works drawn by a mule. They believe that with it, they can make the well deeper and maybe find more water.
...but they don't have the needed iron or wood or mule.
Big John, the farmer has three old plow blades, which although dull and a little rusty, would be perfect fodder for Thom's forge.
Maid Mary, inherited that grove of trees down the hill which could provide more than enough wood.
Billy and Bryan from the Township Guard, offer to cut and clean the lumber.
And Friar Francis can loan his mule to the task.
Everyone else who will benefit from the revitalized well, will fetch water for the craftsmen and donate food, so they can focus on the new machine.
A month later, the well have been repaired and life returns to normal.
A year later, a neighboring town's well runs dry and its leadership ask Reginald and Thom for help.
"We'd be happy to be of assistance fine sir, but you must understand that the discounted sponsorship opportunity is over. You will have to pay the retail price for our services. If only you had come to use earlier, we used to fix wells for just some spare parts and a few free meals."
**...after that, the towns folk of the original village might be more open to future crowd sourcing ventures, like your lock. Success breeds a hunger for future success. ...and that leads to a willingness to take a chance.** |
96,775 | For context of the setting, numerous fairly large cities serve as the seats of regional feudal governments in a stable, prosperous kingdom. There are a lot of commerce in the cities, and merchants from near and far visit them for business. Diverse goods, both mundane and magical, can be found at shops throughout the kingdom.
Institutions like book publishers, or wealthy persons ordering construction to be done may sign a contract to someone for future work, but the concept of many end customers paying a comparatively small sum for a future deliverable is yet unfamiliar in this world.
A townsperson might be comfortable with paying ahead for a delivery of wool, which will (unless disaster befalls the shepherd) predictably be shorn and delivered. However, suppose a novel design for a padlock is invented (and protected by royal patent). It requires special tools and a workshop to be built in the city, before the locks can be produced and finally received by the end buyers. How could a townsperson be convinced to pay for the lock ahead of time, on the understanding that the facilities are yet to be built?
**How is the concept of crowdfunding developed, and how does it gain acceptance and legitimacy?** | 2017/11/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/96775",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/44387/"
] | The cathedrals built in the High Middle Ages are probably the closest to crowdfunding. Usually, those were centuries-long projects funded by a combination of church funds and donations. [The logistics of financing were truly fascinating](http://www.athenapub.com/14scholler.htm).
Another interesting example is [hospitals (bimaristans)](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Bimaristan) during the Islamic Golden Age. Initially, they were built by the rulers but at later times charitable organisations and personal donations supported building and maintenance of the hospitals. Bimaristans were public hospitals open to all people regardless of their ability to pay, gender, race, and social standing. This was a religious requirement. They also doubled as medical schools and research facilities.
Apart from religion, professional guilds can be a driving force behind crowdfunding and public projects. [Medieval guilds](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Guild#/Medieval_guild) were powerful and influential organisations with hierarchical organisation somewhat similar to the church. They could have means and finances to start and more importantly complete a public project. Big guilds also had enough manpower to initiate donation collections.
You can read more about functions and organisation of craft guilds in [this article](http://www.unsa.edu.ar/histocat/haeconomica07/lecturas/epstein1998.pdf). And here is [an interesting paper on medieval English guilds](http://socsci-dev.ss.uci.edu/~garyr/papers/Richardson_2004_Explorations-in-Economic-History.pdf) that deals mainly with legal aspects.
Guilds can start with smaller guild projects and finance them from guild fees (paid by its members). After several successful projects, they can take on bigger ones. The townsfolk will be asked to donate money. The guild would also approach the town council and nobility/higher class for additional money grants.
Among other things, guilds were maintaining manufacturing standards and providing apprenticeship opportunities (with guaranteed employment upon successful completion). If people trust the guild to do the right thing they may be persuaded to chip in. | Crowdfunding really exists as a term due to the internet being used for fundraising. If crowdfunding existed in this medieval world, how is the money different from charity, fundraiser sales, donations, investors, or presales? (All of these would best refer to different types of crowdfunded projects).
All your character needs to do is ask for money for a project, keep the money for himself, and escape from liability over the project. He can escape by lying (saying the money turned out to be insufficient), paying part of that money for a third party to do the work then blame failure on him, or run. |
96,775 | For context of the setting, numerous fairly large cities serve as the seats of regional feudal governments in a stable, prosperous kingdom. There are a lot of commerce in the cities, and merchants from near and far visit them for business. Diverse goods, both mundane and magical, can be found at shops throughout the kingdom.
Institutions like book publishers, or wealthy persons ordering construction to be done may sign a contract to someone for future work, but the concept of many end customers paying a comparatively small sum for a future deliverable is yet unfamiliar in this world.
A townsperson might be comfortable with paying ahead for a delivery of wool, which will (unless disaster befalls the shepherd) predictably be shorn and delivered. However, suppose a novel design for a padlock is invented (and protected by royal patent). It requires special tools and a workshop to be built in the city, before the locks can be produced and finally received by the end buyers. How could a townsperson be convinced to pay for the lock ahead of time, on the understanding that the facilities are yet to be built?
**How is the concept of crowdfunding developed, and how does it gain acceptance and legitimacy?** | 2017/11/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/96775",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/44387/"
] | The cathedrals built in the High Middle Ages are probably the closest to crowdfunding. Usually, those were centuries-long projects funded by a combination of church funds and donations. [The logistics of financing were truly fascinating](http://www.athenapub.com/14scholler.htm).
Another interesting example is [hospitals (bimaristans)](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Bimaristan) during the Islamic Golden Age. Initially, they were built by the rulers but at later times charitable organisations and personal donations supported building and maintenance of the hospitals. Bimaristans were public hospitals open to all people regardless of their ability to pay, gender, race, and social standing. This was a religious requirement. They also doubled as medical schools and research facilities.
Apart from religion, professional guilds can be a driving force behind crowdfunding and public projects. [Medieval guilds](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Guild#/Medieval_guild) were powerful and influential organisations with hierarchical organisation somewhat similar to the church. They could have means and finances to start and more importantly complete a public project. Big guilds also had enough manpower to initiate donation collections.
You can read more about functions and organisation of craft guilds in [this article](http://www.unsa.edu.ar/histocat/haeconomica07/lecturas/epstein1998.pdf). And here is [an interesting paper on medieval English guilds](http://socsci-dev.ss.uci.edu/~garyr/papers/Richardson_2004_Explorations-in-Economic-History.pdf) that deals mainly with legal aspects.
Guilds can start with smaller guild projects and finance them from guild fees (paid by its members). After several successful projects, they can take on bigger ones. The townsfolk will be asked to donate money. The guild would also approach the town council and nobility/higher class for additional money grants.
Among other things, guilds were maintaining manufacturing standards and providing apprenticeship opportunities (with guaranteed employment upon successful completion). If people trust the guild to do the right thing they may be persuaded to chip in. | Only slightly out of period, consider the [tontine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tontine), invented in or by 1689. Many people pay into a pot, the last survivor gets it. (The system can be abused, which is why it fell out of favor as people grew more financially sophisticated.) This system was used to finance businesses and wars, among other uses.
A less sophisticated version is the purchase pool -- 20 people commit to paying a tailor 1/20 of the price of a suit of clothing for 20 months. Every month, by lottery, one of the subscribers gets their suit. (Again, can be abused -- it needs a cohesive enough social structure that people don't walk away after getting their suit. I first heard of this practice in very well-connected Jewish communities in early 20th century New York.)
In practice, though, your inventor would need a wealthy patron of the arts/sciences to fund their research. |
96,775 | For context of the setting, numerous fairly large cities serve as the seats of regional feudal governments in a stable, prosperous kingdom. There are a lot of commerce in the cities, and merchants from near and far visit them for business. Diverse goods, both mundane and magical, can be found at shops throughout the kingdom.
Institutions like book publishers, or wealthy persons ordering construction to be done may sign a contract to someone for future work, but the concept of many end customers paying a comparatively small sum for a future deliverable is yet unfamiliar in this world.
A townsperson might be comfortable with paying ahead for a delivery of wool, which will (unless disaster befalls the shepherd) predictably be shorn and delivered. However, suppose a novel design for a padlock is invented (and protected by royal patent). It requires special tools and a workshop to be built in the city, before the locks can be produced and finally received by the end buyers. How could a townsperson be convinced to pay for the lock ahead of time, on the understanding that the facilities are yet to be built?
**How is the concept of crowdfunding developed, and how does it gain acceptance and legitimacy?** | 2017/11/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/96775",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/44387/"
] | The cathedrals built in the High Middle Ages are probably the closest to crowdfunding. Usually, those were centuries-long projects funded by a combination of church funds and donations. [The logistics of financing were truly fascinating](http://www.athenapub.com/14scholler.htm).
Another interesting example is [hospitals (bimaristans)](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Bimaristan) during the Islamic Golden Age. Initially, they were built by the rulers but at later times charitable organisations and personal donations supported building and maintenance of the hospitals. Bimaristans were public hospitals open to all people regardless of their ability to pay, gender, race, and social standing. This was a religious requirement. They also doubled as medical schools and research facilities.
Apart from religion, professional guilds can be a driving force behind crowdfunding and public projects. [Medieval guilds](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Guild#/Medieval_guild) were powerful and influential organisations with hierarchical organisation somewhat similar to the church. They could have means and finances to start and more importantly complete a public project. Big guilds also had enough manpower to initiate donation collections.
You can read more about functions and organisation of craft guilds in [this article](http://www.unsa.edu.ar/histocat/haeconomica07/lecturas/epstein1998.pdf). And here is [an interesting paper on medieval English guilds](http://socsci-dev.ss.uci.edu/~garyr/papers/Richardson_2004_Explorations-in-Economic-History.pdf) that deals mainly with legal aspects.
Guilds can start with smaller guild projects and finance them from guild fees (paid by its members). After several successful projects, they can take on bigger ones. The townsfolk will be asked to donate money. The guild would also approach the town council and nobility/higher class for additional money grants.
Among other things, guilds were maintaining manufacturing standards and providing apprenticeship opportunities (with guaranteed employment upon successful completion). If people trust the guild to do the right thing they may be persuaded to chip in. | You mean like the catholic church did during this time period
**Answer:** invents a persuasive religion that offers salvation through repentant monetary donations.
[Medieval relic trade](http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_medieval_relic_trade) |
96,775 | For context of the setting, numerous fairly large cities serve as the seats of regional feudal governments in a stable, prosperous kingdom. There are a lot of commerce in the cities, and merchants from near and far visit them for business. Diverse goods, both mundane and magical, can be found at shops throughout the kingdom.
Institutions like book publishers, or wealthy persons ordering construction to be done may sign a contract to someone for future work, but the concept of many end customers paying a comparatively small sum for a future deliverable is yet unfamiliar in this world.
A townsperson might be comfortable with paying ahead for a delivery of wool, which will (unless disaster befalls the shepherd) predictably be shorn and delivered. However, suppose a novel design for a padlock is invented (and protected by royal patent). It requires special tools and a workshop to be built in the city, before the locks can be produced and finally received by the end buyers. How could a townsperson be convinced to pay for the lock ahead of time, on the understanding that the facilities are yet to be built?
**How is the concept of crowdfunding developed, and how does it gain acceptance and legitimacy?** | 2017/11/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/96775",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/44387/"
] | The cathedrals built in the High Middle Ages are probably the closest to crowdfunding. Usually, those were centuries-long projects funded by a combination of church funds and donations. [The logistics of financing were truly fascinating](http://www.athenapub.com/14scholler.htm).
Another interesting example is [hospitals (bimaristans)](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Bimaristan) during the Islamic Golden Age. Initially, they were built by the rulers but at later times charitable organisations and personal donations supported building and maintenance of the hospitals. Bimaristans were public hospitals open to all people regardless of their ability to pay, gender, race, and social standing. This was a religious requirement. They also doubled as medical schools and research facilities.
Apart from religion, professional guilds can be a driving force behind crowdfunding and public projects. [Medieval guilds](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Guild#/Medieval_guild) were powerful and influential organisations with hierarchical organisation somewhat similar to the church. They could have means and finances to start and more importantly complete a public project. Big guilds also had enough manpower to initiate donation collections.
You can read more about functions and organisation of craft guilds in [this article](http://www.unsa.edu.ar/histocat/haeconomica07/lecturas/epstein1998.pdf). And here is [an interesting paper on medieval English guilds](http://socsci-dev.ss.uci.edu/~garyr/papers/Richardson_2004_Explorations-in-Economic-History.pdf) that deals mainly with legal aspects.
Guilds can start with smaller guild projects and finance them from guild fees (paid by its members). After several successful projects, they can take on bigger ones. The townsfolk will be asked to donate money. The guild would also approach the town council and nobility/higher class for additional money grants.
Among other things, guilds were maintaining manufacturing standards and providing apprenticeship opportunities (with guaranteed employment upon successful completion). If people trust the guild to do the right thing they may be persuaded to chip in. | Are you asking about crowdfunding in particular, or how capital was accumulated and then invested in new production capacity?
The idea of lending money at interest goes back to the Roman empire and beyond.
Bonds have always been popular. [History of Bonds](https://www.ermunro.com/bonds/history/)
>
> Just how long have surety bonds been around? Thousands and thousands
> of years, say historians. One stone tablet written in cuneiform
> characters was discovered in 1889 during an archaeological dig at
> Nippur, in Mesopotamia, now present-day Iraq. The bond dates back to
> 2400 B.C. and the reign of the Babylonian King Dungi who ruled for 58
> years.
>
>
>
However, I suspect that it would be the court (royalty or similar) that would fund the project. Usually, the King (or as @Olga has mentioned, guilds) pretty much owned and controlled intellectual property rights, up until the 1600's or so. See [The Rise, Persistence and Decline of Merchant Guilds.
Re-thinking the Comparative Study of Commercial Institutions in Pre-modern
Europe](http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Workshops-Seminars/Economic-History/grafe-090413.pdf) for the dominance of guilds in intellectual property rights, and [History and Sources of Intellectual Property Law](https://lawshelf.com/courseware/entry/history-and-sources-of-intellectual-property-law) and [The Evolution of Intellectual Property](https://www.txpatentattorney.com/blog/the-history-of-intellectual-property/). It is one thing to invent a better mousetrap, it is quite another to have it accepted by the powers-that-be.
There would be a natural hesitation for private investors to put money into a venture if the King or guilds could just appropriate the intellectual property and start producing it themselves, or they could just declare it illegal and shut down production.
The King, for instance, might object to the ability of his subjects to lock things up and out of his grasp. Therefore, he might make it illegal for commoners to own or use locks. |
96,775 | For context of the setting, numerous fairly large cities serve as the seats of regional feudal governments in a stable, prosperous kingdom. There are a lot of commerce in the cities, and merchants from near and far visit them for business. Diverse goods, both mundane and magical, can be found at shops throughout the kingdom.
Institutions like book publishers, or wealthy persons ordering construction to be done may sign a contract to someone for future work, but the concept of many end customers paying a comparatively small sum for a future deliverable is yet unfamiliar in this world.
A townsperson might be comfortable with paying ahead for a delivery of wool, which will (unless disaster befalls the shepherd) predictably be shorn and delivered. However, suppose a novel design for a padlock is invented (and protected by royal patent). It requires special tools and a workshop to be built in the city, before the locks can be produced and finally received by the end buyers. How could a townsperson be convinced to pay for the lock ahead of time, on the understanding that the facilities are yet to be built?
**How is the concept of crowdfunding developed, and how does it gain acceptance and legitimacy?** | 2017/11/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/96775",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/44387/"
] | You mean like the catholic church did during this time period
**Answer:** invents a persuasive religion that offers salvation through repentant monetary donations.
[Medieval relic trade](http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_medieval_relic_trade) | Only slightly out of period, consider the [tontine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tontine), invented in or by 1689. Many people pay into a pot, the last survivor gets it. (The system can be abused, which is why it fell out of favor as people grew more financially sophisticated.) This system was used to finance businesses and wars, among other uses.
A less sophisticated version is the purchase pool -- 20 people commit to paying a tailor 1/20 of the price of a suit of clothing for 20 months. Every month, by lottery, one of the subscribers gets their suit. (Again, can be abused -- it needs a cohesive enough social structure that people don't walk away after getting their suit. I first heard of this practice in very well-connected Jewish communities in early 20th century New York.)
In practice, though, your inventor would need a wealthy patron of the arts/sciences to fund their research. |
96,775 | For context of the setting, numerous fairly large cities serve as the seats of regional feudal governments in a stable, prosperous kingdom. There are a lot of commerce in the cities, and merchants from near and far visit them for business. Diverse goods, both mundane and magical, can be found at shops throughout the kingdom.
Institutions like book publishers, or wealthy persons ordering construction to be done may sign a contract to someone for future work, but the concept of many end customers paying a comparatively small sum for a future deliverable is yet unfamiliar in this world.
A townsperson might be comfortable with paying ahead for a delivery of wool, which will (unless disaster befalls the shepherd) predictably be shorn and delivered. However, suppose a novel design for a padlock is invented (and protected by royal patent). It requires special tools and a workshop to be built in the city, before the locks can be produced and finally received by the end buyers. How could a townsperson be convinced to pay for the lock ahead of time, on the understanding that the facilities are yet to be built?
**How is the concept of crowdfunding developed, and how does it gain acceptance and legitimacy?** | 2017/11/02 | [
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/96775",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com",
"https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/users/44387/"
] | **Desperation is how most things get started in the middle ages...**
The well has gone dry and the town folk are having to walk all the way down to the river and back every day to get water. Craftsmen schedules which were already full to overflowing are now falling behind because of this extra chore which has become a part of everyone's life. And in the absence of regular bathing, the town is developing a bit of a funky smell.
A town meeting is gathered...
Reginald, the carpenter and Thom, the blacksmith, have an idea; a machine with an iron bit and several removable timber shafts which can be spun by a gear-works drawn by a mule. They believe that with it, they can make the well deeper and maybe find more water.
...but they don't have the needed iron or wood or mule.
Big John, the farmer has three old plow blades, which although dull and a little rusty, would be perfect fodder for Thom's forge.
Maid Mary, inherited that grove of trees down the hill which could provide more than enough wood.
Billy and Bryan from the Township Guard, offer to cut and clean the lumber.
And Friar Francis can loan his mule to the task.
Everyone else who will benefit from the revitalized well, will fetch water for the craftsmen and donate food, so they can focus on the new machine.
A month later, the well have been repaired and life returns to normal.
A year later, a neighboring town's well runs dry and its leadership ask Reginald and Thom for help.
"We'd be happy to be of assistance fine sir, but you must understand that the discounted sponsorship opportunity is over. You will have to pay the retail price for our services. If only you had come to use earlier, we used to fix wells for just some spare parts and a few free meals."
**...after that, the towns folk of the original village might be more open to future crowd sourcing ventures, like your lock. Success breeds a hunger for future success. ...and that leads to a willingness to take a chance.** | Are you asking about crowdfunding in particular, or how capital was accumulated and then invested in new production capacity?
The idea of lending money at interest goes back to the Roman empire and beyond.
Bonds have always been popular. [History of Bonds](https://www.ermunro.com/bonds/history/)
>
> Just how long have surety bonds been around? Thousands and thousands
> of years, say historians. One stone tablet written in cuneiform
> characters was discovered in 1889 during an archaeological dig at
> Nippur, in Mesopotamia, now present-day Iraq. The bond dates back to
> 2400 B.C. and the reign of the Babylonian King Dungi who ruled for 58
> years.
>
>
>
However, I suspect that it would be the court (royalty or similar) that would fund the project. Usually, the King (or as @Olga has mentioned, guilds) pretty much owned and controlled intellectual property rights, up until the 1600's or so. See [The Rise, Persistence and Decline of Merchant Guilds.
Re-thinking the Comparative Study of Commercial Institutions in Pre-modern
Europe](http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Workshops-Seminars/Economic-History/grafe-090413.pdf) for the dominance of guilds in intellectual property rights, and [History and Sources of Intellectual Property Law](https://lawshelf.com/courseware/entry/history-and-sources-of-intellectual-property-law) and [The Evolution of Intellectual Property](https://www.txpatentattorney.com/blog/the-history-of-intellectual-property/). It is one thing to invent a better mousetrap, it is quite another to have it accepted by the powers-that-be.
There would be a natural hesitation for private investors to put money into a venture if the King or guilds could just appropriate the intellectual property and start producing it themselves, or they could just declare it illegal and shut down production.
The King, for instance, might object to the ability of his subjects to lock things up and out of his grasp. Therefore, he might make it illegal for commoners to own or use locks. |
617,838 | This is not **strictly** a technical question, however I feel this will be useful for many technical people as well.
I'm looking for a version management / backup solution which need not be **only** for source code. This could be for non-text files e.g. images.
The requirement is this -
1. Every time I save the file from within the application, it should create a version.
2. I should be able to add comments for say, major revisions.
3. At any time, there should be only one version current.
4. I should be able to view previous versions without doing a 'restore'
5. I should be able to move back and forth between versions.
6. A calendar feature showing the various versions of a file would be helpful, if I could get to it for a specific file from the Explorer context menu
I don't really need to compare different versions or anything like that.
Windows solutions only. I've looked at [NTI Shadow](http://www.ntius.com/shadow.asp) and it comes a bit close to what I'm looking for.
Are there any paid / free / open source solutions for the above requirements? | 2009/03/06 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/617838",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/33581/"
] | Pretty much any version control system i know of supports binary uploads. [Subversion](http://subversion.tigris.org/) (in short SVN) is free and pretty popular. If you also download [TortoiseSVN](http://tortoisesvn.net/downloads) you can handle everything from within Explorer.
The only requirement i cannot help you with is 1. automatic saving from within your application. But you can of course do this by copying over your old version of the file in the file system and committing your changes via TortoiseSVN.
PS for some reason i cannot connect to the SVN site right now. It might be down at the moment. It is still a great product, though :) | I strongly suggest using subversion. I have used 4 different version control systems and have found subversion powerful and easy to use.
For windows this is the easiest server to install is [Visual SVN](http://www.visualsvn.com/server/)
And [Smart SVN](https://www.smartsvn.com/) is the best subversion client I've used. |
617,838 | This is not **strictly** a technical question, however I feel this will be useful for many technical people as well.
I'm looking for a version management / backup solution which need not be **only** for source code. This could be for non-text files e.g. images.
The requirement is this -
1. Every time I save the file from within the application, it should create a version.
2. I should be able to add comments for say, major revisions.
3. At any time, there should be only one version current.
4. I should be able to view previous versions without doing a 'restore'
5. I should be able to move back and forth between versions.
6. A calendar feature showing the various versions of a file would be helpful, if I could get to it for a specific file from the Explorer context menu
I don't really need to compare different versions or anything like that.
Windows solutions only. I've looked at [NTI Shadow](http://www.ntius.com/shadow.asp) and it comes a bit close to what I'm looking for.
Are there any paid / free / open source solutions for the above requirements? | 2009/03/06 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/617838",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/33581/"
] | Pretty much any version control system i know of supports binary uploads. [Subversion](http://subversion.tigris.org/) (in short SVN) is free and pretty popular. If you also download [TortoiseSVN](http://tortoisesvn.net/downloads) you can handle everything from within Explorer.
The only requirement i cannot help you with is 1. automatic saving from within your application. But you can of course do this by copying over your old version of the file in the file system and committing your changes via TortoiseSVN.
PS for some reason i cannot connect to the SVN site right now. It might be down at the moment. It is still a great product, though :) | [not an actual answer, just a note about DVCS backup capabilities]
I would not advise for a DVCS (Distributed Version control System) like Git or alike for backup strategy.
As stated in [**DVCS Myths**](http://derekslager.com/blog/posts/2008/06/dvcs-myths.ashx)
>
> So, why make backups of a source control server with so many backups?
>
>
> * It is improbable that many servers will suffer catastrophic hardware failures simultaneously, but it is not impossible.
> * A more likely scenario might be a particularly nasty computer virus that sinks its teeth into an entire network of vulnerable machines.
>
>
> In any case, the probability of any or all of your backups becoming suddenly unavailable is really not the point.
>
> **The bottom line is that using independent clones as canonical backups (as opposed to temporary stopgaps) is a suboptimal strategy.**
>
>
> * ***Security***, for example, should be considered.
>
> If you are using authorization rules to control access to specific portions of your repository, canonicalizing an arbitrary clone of the repository effectively renders those rules useless.
>
> While this would rarely be a matter of practical concern in a controlled corporate environment, it is nonetheless possible.
>
>
>
* (my imput:) ***Full data backup*** is not really possible with a DVCS, since it would implies *all* repositories push their changes to a "central" repository, which is not the main use case scenario in a DVCS (whereas with a classical VCS, anything committed is stored in one place)
>
> **The key win of DVCS for backups, then, is that you don't really need to invest in a "hot" backup**.
>
> When the server inevitably goes down, DVCS will buy you time. Lots of time. You'll essentially be running at full productivity (or very nearly so) while you rebuild your server from backup.
>
> When changesets created during the server downtime are pushed back to the restored server, the freshly restored authorization rules will be reapplied and you'll be back on track.
>
>
>
So, for us:
* hot "backup" is actually achieved with [**SRDF**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRDF) (Symmetrix Remote Data Facility), but that is commercial and is linked to our infrastructure which support [LUNs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_Unit_Number) duplication to achieve data replication.
* incremental daily backup is achieved for a limited set of repositories (including some "central" Git repos), but in our case, with a custom tool. |
617,838 | This is not **strictly** a technical question, however I feel this will be useful for many technical people as well.
I'm looking for a version management / backup solution which need not be **only** for source code. This could be for non-text files e.g. images.
The requirement is this -
1. Every time I save the file from within the application, it should create a version.
2. I should be able to add comments for say, major revisions.
3. At any time, there should be only one version current.
4. I should be able to view previous versions without doing a 'restore'
5. I should be able to move back and forth between versions.
6. A calendar feature showing the various versions of a file would be helpful, if I could get to it for a specific file from the Explorer context menu
I don't really need to compare different versions or anything like that.
Windows solutions only. I've looked at [NTI Shadow](http://www.ntius.com/shadow.asp) and it comes a bit close to what I'm looking for.
Are there any paid / free / open source solutions for the above requirements? | 2009/03/06 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/617838",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/33581/"
] | Pretty much any version control system i know of supports binary uploads. [Subversion](http://subversion.tigris.org/) (in short SVN) is free and pretty popular. If you also download [TortoiseSVN](http://tortoisesvn.net/downloads) you can handle everything from within Explorer.
The only requirement i cannot help you with is 1. automatic saving from within your application. But you can of course do this by copying over your old version of the file in the file system and committing your changes via TortoiseSVN.
PS for some reason i cannot connect to the SVN site right now. It might be down at the moment. It is still a great product, though :) | I think you're looking for the benefits of a versioning file system that takes immutable snapshots of files upon each write. You could build this into a DVCS if something set up watches on files contained in the versioned directory (committing each time a file is changed) but that would get ugly, quick.
This topic was also explored in [this question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/406155/in-place-editing-version-control-whats-your-solution/406167#406167). I think your ideal solution would be a DVCS repository that resides on a versioning/cow file system of some type. This lets you manage revisions of each file independently of commits that you make in the DVCS.
Unless, of course, toxic revisions would not be an issue for you. |
617,838 | This is not **strictly** a technical question, however I feel this will be useful for many technical people as well.
I'm looking for a version management / backup solution which need not be **only** for source code. This could be for non-text files e.g. images.
The requirement is this -
1. Every time I save the file from within the application, it should create a version.
2. I should be able to add comments for say, major revisions.
3. At any time, there should be only one version current.
4. I should be able to view previous versions without doing a 'restore'
5. I should be able to move back and forth between versions.
6. A calendar feature showing the various versions of a file would be helpful, if I could get to it for a specific file from the Explorer context menu
I don't really need to compare different versions or anything like that.
Windows solutions only. I've looked at [NTI Shadow](http://www.ntius.com/shadow.asp) and it comes a bit close to what I'm looking for.
Are there any paid / free / open source solutions for the above requirements? | 2009/03/06 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/617838",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/33581/"
] | Pretty much any version control system i know of supports binary uploads. [Subversion](http://subversion.tigris.org/) (in short SVN) is free and pretty popular. If you also download [TortoiseSVN](http://tortoisesvn.net/downloads) you can handle everything from within Explorer.
The only requirement i cannot help you with is 1. automatic saving from within your application. But you can of course do this by copying over your old version of the file in the file system and committing your changes via TortoiseSVN.
PS for some reason i cannot connect to the SVN site right now. It might be down at the moment. It is still a great product, though :) | In order for this to be transparent to applications (i.e., would not need to have application implement a different API for saving/loading files to access these backup features), you'd want to do this in the Operating System, at its file system layer.
[ZFS filesystem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS) could be wrapped to provide the user interface capabilities you describe, but it is doubtful this filesystem would ever reach Windows (directly, at least).
A simpler way to think of this is to look at network storage systems which can provide you the features you need.
[NetApp Snapshot](http://www.netapp.com/us/products/platform-os/snapshot.html) offers capabilities that could be tapped to do this at the network storage level. It implements CIFS, so is definitely available on windows. Open your wallet.
If you think this is an extremely important feature, you may consider other OSes than Windows; filesystems and filesystem support in OSes other than Windows are more diverse. |
124,864 | I'm writing a classroom research paper and this is the sentence I'm struggling with:
>
> "...From this point of view, *although just a drop in the bucket*, the present research helps form a solid conviction on the best way to approach SLA vocabulary instruction."
>
>
>
I think *a drop in the bucket* is not appropriate in this context. Is there a formal way to say this? Preferably keep the idiomatic aspect in mind.
Thank you. | 2017/04/07 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/124864",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/30106/"
] | >
> [a drop in the bucket](http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a+drop+in+the+bucket)
>
> An insufficient or inconsequential amount in comparison with what is required.
> (The Free Dictionary)
>
>
>
There are a few words to choose from: *minute*, *minuscule*, and their various synonyms. But I think the definition above gives a good possibility:
>
> [insufficient](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/insufficient)
>
> not enough in amount, strength, or quality; less than is needed:
>
> *There was insufficient evidence, so we had to find him not guilty.*
>
> (Cambridge Dictionary)
>
>
>
This implies that the current research is not enough to prove that it's the best approach, but that the research does suggest it.
Another possibility is *incomplete*:
>
> [incomplete](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/incomplete)
>
> lacking some parts, or not finished:
>
> *The polls have closed but the results of the election are still incomplete.*
>
> (Cambridge Dictionary)
>
>
>
This implies that the research is somehow not finished, but that there is enough to suggest that this method is best. | In British English the expression [a drop in the ocean](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/a-drop-in-the-ocean) is more widely used... and IMHO sounds more formal.
This [NGram](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=drop%20in%20the%20ocean%2Cdrop%20in%20the%20bucket&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=18&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cdrop%20in%20the%20ocean%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cdrop%20in%20the%20bucket%3B%2Cc0) shows the relative frequencies in British English. |
124,864 | I'm writing a classroom research paper and this is the sentence I'm struggling with:
>
> "...From this point of view, *although just a drop in the bucket*, the present research helps form a solid conviction on the best way to approach SLA vocabulary instruction."
>
>
>
I think *a drop in the bucket* is not appropriate in this context. Is there a formal way to say this? Preferably keep the idiomatic aspect in mind.
Thank you. | 2017/04/07 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/124864",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/30106/"
] | >
> [a drop in the bucket](http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a+drop+in+the+bucket)
>
> An insufficient or inconsequential amount in comparison with what is required.
> (The Free Dictionary)
>
>
>
There are a few words to choose from: *minute*, *minuscule*, and their various synonyms. But I think the definition above gives a good possibility:
>
> [insufficient](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/insufficient)
>
> not enough in amount, strength, or quality; less than is needed:
>
> *There was insufficient evidence, so we had to find him not guilty.*
>
> (Cambridge Dictionary)
>
>
>
This implies that the current research is not enough to prove that it's the best approach, but that the research does suggest it.
Another possibility is *incomplete*:
>
> [incomplete](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/incomplete)
>
> lacking some parts, or not finished:
>
> *The polls have closed but the results of the election are still incomplete.*
>
> (Cambridge Dictionary)
>
>
>
This implies that the research is somehow not finished, but that there is enough to suggest that this method is best. | You could say
... although it is only a start, ...
... although it is only a step in the right direction, ...
... although it is only a beginning, ... |
124,864 | I'm writing a classroom research paper and this is the sentence I'm struggling with:
>
> "...From this point of view, *although just a drop in the bucket*, the present research helps form a solid conviction on the best way to approach SLA vocabulary instruction."
>
>
>
I think *a drop in the bucket* is not appropriate in this context. Is there a formal way to say this? Preferably keep the idiomatic aspect in mind.
Thank you. | 2017/04/07 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/124864",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/30106/"
] | In British English the expression [a drop in the ocean](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/a-drop-in-the-ocean) is more widely used... and IMHO sounds more formal.
This [NGram](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=drop%20in%20the%20ocean%2Cdrop%20in%20the%20bucket&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=18&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cdrop%20in%20the%20ocean%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cdrop%20in%20the%20bucket%3B%2Cc0) shows the relative frequencies in British English. | You could say
... although it is only a start, ...
... although it is only a step in the right direction, ...
... although it is only a beginning, ... |
239,935 | I've recently discovered that Chapter 12 of *Deathly Hallows* tells us that Grimmauld Place has been hidden to muggle eyes for a long time:
>
> The Muggles who lived in Grimmauld Place had long since accepted the amusing mistake in the numbering that had caused number eleven to sit beside number thirteen.
>
>
>
This suggests that the building has been hidden for longer than The Order has used it for. This means that it must have been hidden prior to Dumbledore's Fidelius Charm on it.
However, chapters 3 and 4 of *Order of the Phoenix* seem to very strongly imply that the house became visible to Harry only when he had learned the secret that was the target of the Fidelius Charm:
>
> Harry looked down at the piece of paper. The narrow handwriting was vaguely
> familiar. It said:
>
> *The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve,
> Grimmauld Place, London.*
>
> [...]
> Harry looked around at the houses again. They were standing outside number eleven; he looked to the left and saw number ten; to the right, however, was number thirteen.
>
> "*But where’s — ?*"
>
> "*Think about what you’ve just memorized,*" said Lupin quietly.
>
> Harry thought, and no sooner had he reached the part about number twelve, Grimmauld Place, than a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen
>
>
>
So what is actually responsible for hiding the house? *Deathly Hallows* seems to say that it can't be Fidelius, but *Order of the Phoenix* strongly implies that it must be.
The natural guess is that there are two layers of protection - whatever existed previously and then the Fidelius Charm - but, if that is the case, then why does Harry knowing the secret - something that doesn't actually mention the existence of the house - defeat all of these protections? Are we to believe that the only other relevant protections on the house are strictly anti-muggle? If so, then how can we explain The Order being concerned about Bellatrix being able to find the house in *Half-Blood Prince*, where the Fidelius Charm (which, by assumption, is the only relevant charm protecting the house) [should have protected it fully](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/238829/112139)? | 2020/12/02 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/239935",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/112139/"
] | **Grimmauld, 12 was used for ages by Black family as a residence**.
The charm hiding the house from Muggles was not Fidelius, but some other (unspecified) Muggle repelling charm commonly used by Wizarding folk to hide their dwellings.
Although it is not explicitly explained in the books, the current Magical law (The Secrecy Act) required any Magical family to use all necessary precautions to prevent Muggles from seeing them doing magic. The best way to do it in a big city would be to make the house totally inaccessible to Muggles. Same way as *The Ministry of Magic*, *Hogwarts*, *Gringotts* and other major Magical buildings in London. As it is explained with Hogwarts, the charms (unspecified) make the place invisible and *unplottable*, i.e. it is magically hidden from any maps or navigation equipment muggles use.
So, Muggles do not see the house at all, they see houses 11 and 13 adjacent to each other, with no gap.
A similar enchantment is described in Deathly Secrets, where Muggles see some war memorial instead of a monument to James and Lily Potter.
After the house became The Order HQ, however, Fidelius Charm made the house invisible to Wizards/Witches as well, unless they were given access by the Secret Keeper.
The Order's concern about Bellatrix was due to the fact that she might challenge Sirius's (and later, Harry's) inheritance of the house, and enter it as a rightful owner. There is some hole in this protection scheme connected with wizarding inheritance laws conflicting with magical loyalty, and it is due to the fact that the house had many layers of enchantments placed upon by generations of Blacks, and has its own sense of loyalty. You may compare it to Kreacher, who is extremely loyal to the family, but has to obey Harry as his rightful master.
Harry fits all the requirements to gain access to the house. In the events of Order of the Phoenix, he is recognized by the Fidelius Charm, and other protection recognizes him as a guest of the house owner - Sirius Black, who is a rightful heir to the House Of Black. Later, with Sirius's demise, the ownership transfers to Harry by Sirius's will. So again, he fits all the requirements as the rightful owner and the Order member. | No, the Fidelius Charm only comes on top of it
==============================================
This is what Sirius has to say about Grimmauld Place:
>
> "It's ideal for Headquarters, of course," Sirius said. "My father put every security measure known to wizardkind on it when he lived here. **It's unplottable, so Muggles could never come and call - as if they'd ever wanted to - and now Dumbledore's added his protection, you'd be hard put to find a safer house anywhere.** Dumbledore is Secret Keeper for the Order, you know - nobody can find Headquarters unless he tells them personally where it is - that note Moody showed you last night, that was from Dumbledore..."
>
>
>
(*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter Six: The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black*)
"Unplottable" means that Muggles can't see it - the way they can't see Hogwarts or any of the other Wizarding Schools - and the Fidelius Charm makes sure wizards can't see it either unless being told by the Secret Keeper. |
5,229,547 | I am now trying to improve my programming skills and specially I would like to now how you debug those situations where the app lags a bit. I tried to move most of the critical parts to threads but still I get some ANR. I guess my app is leaking memory somewhere.
So, how to debug this? | 2011/03/08 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/5229547",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/217527/"
] | I think you should spend some time reading this <http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/StrictMode.html>
From **Strict Mode** reference page:
>
> StrictMode is most commonly used to
> catch accidental disk or network
> access on the application's main
> thread, where UI operations are
> received and animations take place.
> Keeping disk and network operations
> off the main thread makes for much
> smoother, more responsive
> applications. By keeping your
> application's main thread responsive,
> you also prevent ANR dialogs from
> being shown to users.
>
>
> | Take a look at [Traceview](http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/debugging/debugging-tracing.html "TraceView")
It's now even included in the eclipse android dev tools plugin. |
94,681 | I am selling some fairly expensive furniture on CraigsList. A few hours after posting, I received an offer. They said to send them my PayPal email and the address so that movers could come pick it up when payment is received. This was discussed via text message, so they already have my phone number.
I am sketched out a bit by this. They did not ask to come see the furniture in person. When I offered, they said they were too busy with work. They did not ask questions about the furniture. They just said they would take it at full price.
Is it safe to give my PayPal email address and my Home Address to this person? Or is that enough information to steal from me? | 2015/07/23 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/94681",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/62071/"
] | The whole affair sounds strange or at least unusual, indeed.
>
> Is it safe to give my PayPal email address and my Home Address to this
> person?
>
>
>
As mentioned on [Kaspersky Security Bulletin 2013](http://media.kaspersky.com/pdf/KSB_2013_EN.pdf). Overall Statistics for 2013
*DDoS attacks and mass spying on personal information* are one of the main activities of attackers.
In this article ([Data Breach QuickView, An Executive’s Guide to 2013 Data Breach Trends](https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/reports/2013-DataBreachQuickView.pdf)), you can also see percentage of interest in personal data of nefarious people:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wZgYv.jpg)
In your case, you are *likely* to be a victim of a [social engineering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_%28security%29) procedure.
Bu what could be done by your data ? You could be either impersonated, or seeing your email address under regular spams reception -or even being contacted by the same people using a malicious email that could solicitation you for example to visit a link that will perform a [drive-by download attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive-by_download) to install malware on your computer or control it) or, in the case these people know you, try to guess or crack your password since these efforts would be rewarded.
What I mentioned is in terms of security threats (or the pessimistic point of view), otherwise it could be just some immature people who do not take their job too seriously -which thing is rare but exists anyway. | PayPal caters to the buyer in most instances where there is a dispute. You're much better off accepting cash as you know that it cannot be retracted via a dispute. As @begueradj said, it sounds like a social engineering procedure. The fact that they make no attempt to check out the furniture is a large red flag. |
103,251 | The metro map of my city recently added numbers indicating which line and what station is this in the metro map.
Some argue that this adds visual complexity to the already crowded metro map.
However others say that this helps those foreigners to find the station more efficiently.
So which solution is better?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hs36V.jpg)
*The new map*
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wu2Je.gif)
*The old map without numbers* | 2017/01/04 | [
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/103251",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/users/77026/"
] | The numbers add more information to the map but **that information can be extremely valuable (and indispensable) to some users**, for example, **those who don't know how to read the characters**.
I find it very clear and not cluttered at all. The first number is the line and the second the station. It is also a useful way to locate places in the map and understand to which line belongs each station. | TL;DR
-----
It does, but it's necessary.
Explanation
-----------
For a user who hasn't been to this city or doesn't speak the language, it's difficult to decipher the bottom map. Yes, the user could compare what color line they are on to the map, then figure out where they need to go and by how many stops, but that makes the user think a lot about what line and stop number they are on or need to be on. The idea behind the book [Don't Make Me Think](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Make_Me_Think) that software should "let users accomplish their intended tasks as easily and directly as possible" is applicable in the real world too.
Adding the line and stop numbers allows users to more quickly compare where they are to where they need to be. It tells them the color, line number, and stop number in one grouping instead of making the user figure out the line and stop number on their own based on the color and stop name. |
103,251 | The metro map of my city recently added numbers indicating which line and what station is this in the metro map.
Some argue that this adds visual complexity to the already crowded metro map.
However others say that this helps those foreigners to find the station more efficiently.
So which solution is better?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hs36V.jpg)
*The new map*
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wu2Je.gif)
*The old map without numbers* | 2017/01/04 | [
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/103251",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/users/77026/"
] | The numbers add more information to the map but **that information can be extremely valuable (and indispensable) to some users**, for example, **those who don't know how to read the characters**.
I find it very clear and not cluttered at all. The first number is the line and the second the station. It is also a useful way to locate places in the map and understand to which line belongs each station. | The numbers are not the problem, but this particular treatment of numbers. This question is perhaps better suited for [Graphic Design SE](https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/ "Graphic Design").
Here is an example from the Tokyo Metro.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/azlZ8.png)
Notice how they addressed some basic issues:
* Use a combination of letters and numbers to avoid confusion, lessen cognitive load
* Use vertical space instead of packing 4 elements next to each other
* Clearly separate different lines, but still box them together into a single station
* Vary font size and weight
* Use saturated colors to clearly separate different lines |
103,251 | The metro map of my city recently added numbers indicating which line and what station is this in the metro map.
Some argue that this adds visual complexity to the already crowded metro map.
However others say that this helps those foreigners to find the station more efficiently.
So which solution is better?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hs36V.jpg)
*The new map*
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wu2Je.gif)
*The old map without numbers* | 2017/01/04 | [
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/103251",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/users/77026/"
] | Assuming:
* 1 line = 1 color
* No 2 lines have the same color
The first number in the pill is redundant and confusing. The Orange Box on top clearly labels that Orange = Line 3. To make it even more clear, you can add a legend on the side listing colors and respective lines.
Having a pill with 2 numbers and giving them the same treatment suggests they have the same meaning. So the user might spend a good chunk of time questioning what (3|16) means. Are they both lines? etc... When in fact 3 is the Line # and 16 is the Station #. They do not communicate the same message therefore should not be treated the same.
The station numbers are useful. So the tourist can search for... Station 15 in the Orange Line (Line 3). Instead of Station 五山 in the Orange Line.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/M87qI.jpg) | TL;DR
-----
It does, but it's necessary.
Explanation
-----------
For a user who hasn't been to this city or doesn't speak the language, it's difficult to decipher the bottom map. Yes, the user could compare what color line they are on to the map, then figure out where they need to go and by how many stops, but that makes the user think a lot about what line and stop number they are on or need to be on. The idea behind the book [Don't Make Me Think](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Make_Me_Think) that software should "let users accomplish their intended tasks as easily and directly as possible" is applicable in the real world too.
Adding the line and stop numbers allows users to more quickly compare where they are to where they need to be. It tells them the color, line number, and stop number in one grouping instead of making the user figure out the line and stop number on their own based on the color and stop name. |
103,251 | The metro map of my city recently added numbers indicating which line and what station is this in the metro map.
Some argue that this adds visual complexity to the already crowded metro map.
However others say that this helps those foreigners to find the station more efficiently.
So which solution is better?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hs36V.jpg)
*The new map*
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wu2Je.gif)
*The old map without numbers* | 2017/01/04 | [
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/103251",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/users/77026/"
] | The numbered stations make it easier to find a particular station -- perhaps by having an index in different languages. Numbering the stations appears useful, but the two-stage code used is confusing and cluttered, as other answers have indicated.
Since all the station numbers on each line already use leading zeros, a better
solution would simply be to append the station number to the line number:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/j4dG8.png)
**This produces a map with less complexity but the same information.** All the stations on a line are still grouped together. A station numbered **318** is on line three, which is orange.
[The obvious limitation which arises when a line is extended to have more than 100 stations might be met by using letters: 398, 399, 3A0, 3A1... But even the most extensive metro system in the world (London) doesn't have lines that long.] | TL;DR
-----
It does, but it's necessary.
Explanation
-----------
For a user who hasn't been to this city or doesn't speak the language, it's difficult to decipher the bottom map. Yes, the user could compare what color line they are on to the map, then figure out where they need to go and by how many stops, but that makes the user think a lot about what line and stop number they are on or need to be on. The idea behind the book [Don't Make Me Think](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Make_Me_Think) that software should "let users accomplish their intended tasks as easily and directly as possible" is applicable in the real world too.
Adding the line and stop numbers allows users to more quickly compare where they are to where they need to be. It tells them the color, line number, and stop number in one grouping instead of making the user figure out the line and stop number on their own based on the color and stop name. |
103,251 | The metro map of my city recently added numbers indicating which line and what station is this in the metro map.
Some argue that this adds visual complexity to the already crowded metro map.
However others say that this helps those foreigners to find the station more efficiently.
So which solution is better?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hs36V.jpg)
*The new map*
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wu2Je.gif)
*The old map without numbers* | 2017/01/04 | [
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/103251",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/users/77026/"
] | Assuming:
* 1 line = 1 color
* No 2 lines have the same color
The first number in the pill is redundant and confusing. The Orange Box on top clearly labels that Orange = Line 3. To make it even more clear, you can add a legend on the side listing colors and respective lines.
Having a pill with 2 numbers and giving them the same treatment suggests they have the same meaning. So the user might spend a good chunk of time questioning what (3|16) means. Are they both lines? etc... When in fact 3 is the Line # and 16 is the Station #. They do not communicate the same message therefore should not be treated the same.
The station numbers are useful. So the tourist can search for... Station 15 in the Orange Line (Line 3). Instead of Station 五山 in the Orange Line.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/M87qI.jpg) | The numbers are not the problem, but this particular treatment of numbers. This question is perhaps better suited for [Graphic Design SE](https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/ "Graphic Design").
Here is an example from the Tokyo Metro.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/azlZ8.png)
Notice how they addressed some basic issues:
* Use a combination of letters and numbers to avoid confusion, lessen cognitive load
* Use vertical space instead of packing 4 elements next to each other
* Clearly separate different lines, but still box them together into a single station
* Vary font size and weight
* Use saturated colors to clearly separate different lines |
103,251 | The metro map of my city recently added numbers indicating which line and what station is this in the metro map.
Some argue that this adds visual complexity to the already crowded metro map.
However others say that this helps those foreigners to find the station more efficiently.
So which solution is better?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hs36V.jpg)
*The new map*
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wu2Je.gif)
*The old map without numbers* | 2017/01/04 | [
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/103251",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/users/77026/"
] | The numbered stations make it easier to find a particular station -- perhaps by having an index in different languages. Numbering the stations appears useful, but the two-stage code used is confusing and cluttered, as other answers have indicated.
Since all the station numbers on each line already use leading zeros, a better
solution would simply be to append the station number to the line number:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/j4dG8.png)
**This produces a map with less complexity but the same information.** All the stations on a line are still grouped together. A station numbered **318** is on line three, which is orange.
[The obvious limitation which arises when a line is extended to have more than 100 stations might be met by using letters: 398, 399, 3A0, 3A1... But even the most extensive metro system in the world (London) doesn't have lines that long.] | The numbers are not the problem, but this particular treatment of numbers. This question is perhaps better suited for [Graphic Design SE](https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/ "Graphic Design").
Here is an example from the Tokyo Metro.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/azlZ8.png)
Notice how they addressed some basic issues:
* Use a combination of letters and numbers to avoid confusion, lessen cognitive load
* Use vertical space instead of packing 4 elements next to each other
* Clearly separate different lines, but still box them together into a single station
* Vary font size and weight
* Use saturated colors to clearly separate different lines |
16,030 | I would like to say
>
> Having done some googling and searching, we understand it is a British firm- more precisely “It is the largest airline of the United Kingdom, measured by number of passengers carried, operating domestic and international scheduled services on over 600 routes in 32 countries”
>
>
>
Which is better to say "with some searching", "by some searching", "having done some not deep searches"? I like it to me academic and formal? | 2014/01/18 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/16030",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/3630/"
] | You can also say the following instead of "Having done some googling and searching"
1.research on the internet
2. market research of the firm on the internet
3. Investigation and analysis via the internet | Yes, you may go with the version Jim stated. A little recommendation though...
>
> *After some searching on the Internet we learned/understood...* or *We searched on the Internet and learned/understood...*
>
>
>
I accept that *[Googling](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/google)* has become a verb now but since you want it for an academic purpose, prefer *searching on the Internet* and this will allow you to search on other resources such as Bing and Yahoo! as well! |
189,491 | After Vista came out, security professionals argued that UAC wasn't actually a security barrier, and Microsoft eventually admitted it isn't. But the case they were talking about was a local administrator, who just has to click ALLOW on UAC prompts.
But what about non-administrator users, who must enter a password at UAC prompts? In that case, is UAC actually a security barrier?
A related question here hints that the answer is yes, but doesn't say so explicitly:
[Assuming UAC is enabled, does a non-administrator account offer any security improvements?](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/119931/assuming-uac-is-enabled-does-a-non-administrator-account-offer-any-security-imp) | 2018/07/13 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/189491",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/182051/"
] | This is not really an answer, but speaking in absolutes with security can be dangerous... so... *it depends*.
I think when you say "Microsoft said UAC is not a security barrier," this is probably what you mean:
From [Security Watch: The long-term effects of User Account Control (2007)](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2007.09.securitywatch.aspx):
>
> **What UAC Is Not**
>
>
> UAC was not deliberately designed to be the most annoying feature in the history of Windows. Rather, this set of technologies was designed to set us on a path where users do not need to expose their systems to potentially malicious code as frequently as they have during the past few years.
>
>
> In its current form, UAC will not stop really good attackers, or ones who have the help of really good attackers. If the bad guys can't think of any other way to defeat UAC, they will almost certainly resort to asking the user to do it for them. Given the choice of dancing pigs and security, we know from experience that the dancing pigs win every time. Users have learned to dismiss dialogs, and so they will until we manage to teach them otherwise. This results from many contributing factors, including the fact that there are too many warning dialogs, that the messages in them are useless, and that many of the manuals for whatever devices users buy include a note to "please click yes to the security warning dialog to dismiss it."
>
>
> UAC does not provide foolproof security. In fact, it makes the good old local privilege elevation attack interesting again. This is a class of attack that has largely been discounted because, on Windows, nearly everyone was an admin anyway so elevating to some other admin was quite pointless. That said, UAC definitely changes the nature of such attacks and transforms the rules of the game to be much more like what prevailed on UNIX for more than 20 years.
>
>
> UAC will not stop bad guys from stealing your personal data. A user's personal data is accessible to that user regardless of the user's privilege. As such, an application, including a malicious one, can access the data. UAC does not, and cannot, change that. It does not eliminate the need to be vigilant, distrustful, and paranoid—attributes we should all instill in our end users at every opportunity.
>
>
> UAC was not designed to protect an application running with elevated privileges from all attacks by an application that runs with normal privileges in the same login session. While UAC does provide some weak process isolation, it was not a design goal for UAC to sandbox applications from each other.
>
>
>
So what is UAC for? From the same article, we get an answer...
>
> Some of the brightest thinkers in the world on Windows security today, such as Joanna Rutkowska, did understand UAC's purpose. As she put it in a blog post on February 4, 2007, UAC "is a new security mechanism introduced in Vista, whose primary goal is to force users to work using restricted accounts, instead working as administrators" (theinvisiblethings.blogspot.com/2007/02/running-vista-every-day.html). She has it mostly right, except I would use the term "enable" rather than "force."
>
>
>
This suggests the purpose of UAC was more about enabling users to give up administrative privileges most of the time, without crippling the user experience. UAC is a set of security features that was implemented for the long-game. It forces application developers to work within the boundaries of a standard user where possible, so that users won't need to elevate privileges when they should have been able to work without administrative permission levels.
For your average user, if they don't have administrative privileges on the machine, it will likely be enough of a barrier to keep them from running an installer that requires administrative privileges. But it is by no means a fix-all solution for security.
**Bonus Material:** Here's a good discussion of UAC from an IT Perspective on [RunAs Radio (Episode 376)](http://runasradio.com/Shows/Show/376). Richard Campbell carries a recurring theme through RunAs Radio over the years, that if IT has configured things correctly, and the user is doing what they're supposed to be doing, they should never be blocked by a security barrier. It's a lofty goal, but it really is the ideal balance.
I'm going to step out of this question for a moment and take into account the context of another question you've asked: [Can I configure Windows Defender to reject competing AV programs?](https://security.stackexchange.com/q/189485/113999)
At your scale of about 30 machines... you might want something like Group Policy as a tool to work with to start locking down machines a little more. But since you're not on a domain-controlled network, you may have to settle for Group Policy's little brother: [Local Policy](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/how-to-configure-security-policy-settings).
Here's a specific group policy object that might be helpful: [User Account Control: Behaviour of the elevation prompt for standard users](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/user-account-control-behavior-of-the-elevation-prompt-for-standard-users). This setting configures UAC to automatically deny privilege escalation requests. Unfortunately, locking down machines like this will result in more help desk requests if the users don't have the software they need... or the software they use requires administrative privileges. | I think this question needs to be addressed specifically and thoroughly:
>
> But what about non-administrator users, who must enter a password at UAC prompts? In that case, is UAC actually a security barrier?
>
>
>
**Making users enter their password in the UAC prompt actually makes the system overall *less* secure!**
Why?
* It does not provide any additional security. The way that UAC is implemented, it's not possible for malicious software running with user privileges to click the OK button programmatically in a non-password scenario. Only in a scenario where there is an attacker with physical access to the unlocked system he could theoretically be prevented from doing things that require admin privileges. However...
* Malicious software running with user privileges (which an attacker with physical access to the unlocked system could easily install) can spoof the UAC password screen and thereby learn the user's password. This cannot happen in the no-password scenario. |
189,491 | After Vista came out, security professionals argued that UAC wasn't actually a security barrier, and Microsoft eventually admitted it isn't. But the case they were talking about was a local administrator, who just has to click ALLOW on UAC prompts.
But what about non-administrator users, who must enter a password at UAC prompts? In that case, is UAC actually a security barrier?
A related question here hints that the answer is yes, but doesn't say so explicitly:
[Assuming UAC is enabled, does a non-administrator account offer any security improvements?](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/119931/assuming-uac-is-enabled-does-a-non-administrator-account-offer-any-security-imp) | 2018/07/13 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/189491",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/182051/"
] | This is not really an answer, but speaking in absolutes with security can be dangerous... so... *it depends*.
I think when you say "Microsoft said UAC is not a security barrier," this is probably what you mean:
From [Security Watch: The long-term effects of User Account Control (2007)](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2007.09.securitywatch.aspx):
>
> **What UAC Is Not**
>
>
> UAC was not deliberately designed to be the most annoying feature in the history of Windows. Rather, this set of technologies was designed to set us on a path where users do not need to expose their systems to potentially malicious code as frequently as they have during the past few years.
>
>
> In its current form, UAC will not stop really good attackers, or ones who have the help of really good attackers. If the bad guys can't think of any other way to defeat UAC, they will almost certainly resort to asking the user to do it for them. Given the choice of dancing pigs and security, we know from experience that the dancing pigs win every time. Users have learned to dismiss dialogs, and so they will until we manage to teach them otherwise. This results from many contributing factors, including the fact that there are too many warning dialogs, that the messages in them are useless, and that many of the manuals for whatever devices users buy include a note to "please click yes to the security warning dialog to dismiss it."
>
>
> UAC does not provide foolproof security. In fact, it makes the good old local privilege elevation attack interesting again. This is a class of attack that has largely been discounted because, on Windows, nearly everyone was an admin anyway so elevating to some other admin was quite pointless. That said, UAC definitely changes the nature of such attacks and transforms the rules of the game to be much more like what prevailed on UNIX for more than 20 years.
>
>
> UAC will not stop bad guys from stealing your personal data. A user's personal data is accessible to that user regardless of the user's privilege. As such, an application, including a malicious one, can access the data. UAC does not, and cannot, change that. It does not eliminate the need to be vigilant, distrustful, and paranoid—attributes we should all instill in our end users at every opportunity.
>
>
> UAC was not designed to protect an application running with elevated privileges from all attacks by an application that runs with normal privileges in the same login session. While UAC does provide some weak process isolation, it was not a design goal for UAC to sandbox applications from each other.
>
>
>
So what is UAC for? From the same article, we get an answer...
>
> Some of the brightest thinkers in the world on Windows security today, such as Joanna Rutkowska, did understand UAC's purpose. As she put it in a blog post on February 4, 2007, UAC "is a new security mechanism introduced in Vista, whose primary goal is to force users to work using restricted accounts, instead working as administrators" (theinvisiblethings.blogspot.com/2007/02/running-vista-every-day.html). She has it mostly right, except I would use the term "enable" rather than "force."
>
>
>
This suggests the purpose of UAC was more about enabling users to give up administrative privileges most of the time, without crippling the user experience. UAC is a set of security features that was implemented for the long-game. It forces application developers to work within the boundaries of a standard user where possible, so that users won't need to elevate privileges when they should have been able to work without administrative permission levels.
For your average user, if they don't have administrative privileges on the machine, it will likely be enough of a barrier to keep them from running an installer that requires administrative privileges. But it is by no means a fix-all solution for security.
**Bonus Material:** Here's a good discussion of UAC from an IT Perspective on [RunAs Radio (Episode 376)](http://runasradio.com/Shows/Show/376). Richard Campbell carries a recurring theme through RunAs Radio over the years, that if IT has configured things correctly, and the user is doing what they're supposed to be doing, they should never be blocked by a security barrier. It's a lofty goal, but it really is the ideal balance.
I'm going to step out of this question for a moment and take into account the context of another question you've asked: [Can I configure Windows Defender to reject competing AV programs?](https://security.stackexchange.com/q/189485/113999)
At your scale of about 30 machines... you might want something like Group Policy as a tool to work with to start locking down machines a little more. But since you're not on a domain-controlled network, you may have to settle for Group Policy's little brother: [Local Policy](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/how-to-configure-security-policy-settings).
Here's a specific group policy object that might be helpful: [User Account Control: Behaviour of the elevation prompt for standard users](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/user-account-control-behavior-of-the-elevation-prompt-for-standard-users). This setting configures UAC to automatically deny privilege escalation requests. Unfortunately, locking down machines like this will result in more help desk requests if the users don't have the software they need... or the software they use requires administrative privileges. | The current [update: appears to be fixed in newer Windows 10 builds, but should be double checked as the API involved is not equivalent to punching buttons on the screen] UAC bypass is Scheduled Tasks -> Create Task -> [X] Run at highest privilege + [X] do not store users password -> Run task
If Microsoft were to go through the great length required to close it, the previous UAC bypass waits in the wings: Remote desktop to self; present real login screen -> Wait for user to enter password -> use automation to click Yes on UAC elevation prompt. This time, the Mandatory Authorization Control checks that prevent lower-privilege applications from manipulating higher-privilege applications don't work because RDP server is at a high enough level.
The no-RDP-loopback check is in the client not the server. I have managed to connect to localhost with a modified client.
UAC is no security boundary in a professional environment.
In addition, once domain joined, if the current user can elevate to admin on two machines that are currently powered on, then UAC has yet another bypass. According to the documentation, this works even if not domain joined but I can't get it working for local accounts so the documetation might be wrong. OpenSecurityManager() from machine 1 on machine 2. Machine 2 has no idea that the session from machine 1 hasn't elevated and network logins are always elevated. Create new service that does "sc \machine1 create ... binPath="; start it; wait for start to fail; delete service; Create new service that does "sc \machine1 start ..."; and your binary now has Local System. |
189,491 | After Vista came out, security professionals argued that UAC wasn't actually a security barrier, and Microsoft eventually admitted it isn't. But the case they were talking about was a local administrator, who just has to click ALLOW on UAC prompts.
But what about non-administrator users, who must enter a password at UAC prompts? In that case, is UAC actually a security barrier?
A related question here hints that the answer is yes, but doesn't say so explicitly:
[Assuming UAC is enabled, does a non-administrator account offer any security improvements?](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/119931/assuming-uac-is-enabled-does-a-non-administrator-account-offer-any-security-imp) | 2018/07/13 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/189491",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/182051/"
] | This is not really an answer, but speaking in absolutes with security can be dangerous... so... *it depends*.
I think when you say "Microsoft said UAC is not a security barrier," this is probably what you mean:
From [Security Watch: The long-term effects of User Account Control (2007)](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2007.09.securitywatch.aspx):
>
> **What UAC Is Not**
>
>
> UAC was not deliberately designed to be the most annoying feature in the history of Windows. Rather, this set of technologies was designed to set us on a path where users do not need to expose their systems to potentially malicious code as frequently as they have during the past few years.
>
>
> In its current form, UAC will not stop really good attackers, or ones who have the help of really good attackers. If the bad guys can't think of any other way to defeat UAC, they will almost certainly resort to asking the user to do it for them. Given the choice of dancing pigs and security, we know from experience that the dancing pigs win every time. Users have learned to dismiss dialogs, and so they will until we manage to teach them otherwise. This results from many contributing factors, including the fact that there are too many warning dialogs, that the messages in them are useless, and that many of the manuals for whatever devices users buy include a note to "please click yes to the security warning dialog to dismiss it."
>
>
> UAC does not provide foolproof security. In fact, it makes the good old local privilege elevation attack interesting again. This is a class of attack that has largely been discounted because, on Windows, nearly everyone was an admin anyway so elevating to some other admin was quite pointless. That said, UAC definitely changes the nature of such attacks and transforms the rules of the game to be much more like what prevailed on UNIX for more than 20 years.
>
>
> UAC will not stop bad guys from stealing your personal data. A user's personal data is accessible to that user regardless of the user's privilege. As such, an application, including a malicious one, can access the data. UAC does not, and cannot, change that. It does not eliminate the need to be vigilant, distrustful, and paranoid—attributes we should all instill in our end users at every opportunity.
>
>
> UAC was not designed to protect an application running with elevated privileges from all attacks by an application that runs with normal privileges in the same login session. While UAC does provide some weak process isolation, it was not a design goal for UAC to sandbox applications from each other.
>
>
>
So what is UAC for? From the same article, we get an answer...
>
> Some of the brightest thinkers in the world on Windows security today, such as Joanna Rutkowska, did understand UAC's purpose. As she put it in a blog post on February 4, 2007, UAC "is a new security mechanism introduced in Vista, whose primary goal is to force users to work using restricted accounts, instead working as administrators" (theinvisiblethings.blogspot.com/2007/02/running-vista-every-day.html). She has it mostly right, except I would use the term "enable" rather than "force."
>
>
>
This suggests the purpose of UAC was more about enabling users to give up administrative privileges most of the time, without crippling the user experience. UAC is a set of security features that was implemented for the long-game. It forces application developers to work within the boundaries of a standard user where possible, so that users won't need to elevate privileges when they should have been able to work without administrative permission levels.
For your average user, if they don't have administrative privileges on the machine, it will likely be enough of a barrier to keep them from running an installer that requires administrative privileges. But it is by no means a fix-all solution for security.
**Bonus Material:** Here's a good discussion of UAC from an IT Perspective on [RunAs Radio (Episode 376)](http://runasradio.com/Shows/Show/376). Richard Campbell carries a recurring theme through RunAs Radio over the years, that if IT has configured things correctly, and the user is doing what they're supposed to be doing, they should never be blocked by a security barrier. It's a lofty goal, but it really is the ideal balance.
I'm going to step out of this question for a moment and take into account the context of another question you've asked: [Can I configure Windows Defender to reject competing AV programs?](https://security.stackexchange.com/q/189485/113999)
At your scale of about 30 machines... you might want something like Group Policy as a tool to work with to start locking down machines a little more. But since you're not on a domain-controlled network, you may have to settle for Group Policy's little brother: [Local Policy](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/how-to-configure-security-policy-settings).
Here's a specific group policy object that might be helpful: [User Account Control: Behaviour of the elevation prompt for standard users](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/user-account-control-behavior-of-the-elevation-prompt-for-standard-users). This setting configures UAC to automatically deny privilege escalation requests. Unfortunately, locking down machines like this will result in more help desk requests if the users don't have the software they need... or the software they use requires administrative privileges. | The phrase "security barrier" can be ambiguous. I think it may be more useful to consider the concept of a *security guarantee*, sometimes called a *security boundary*. [More here.](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc751383.aspx)
Basically, a security guarantee is a statement about the intended behaviour of the software.
Any way to violate a security guarantee (within the appropriate scope) represents a security vulnerability, i.e., a bug or a design flaw. In the case of a security vulnerability in Windows, Microsoft's general policy is to at least attempt to correct the problem. In most cases, this means a security patch, usually via the monthly cumulative updates.
**NB: this is not a legal or contractual obligation.**
So what about UAC? Well, it depends on both the scenario and the system configuration. Let's go through some of the more obvious and/or interesting cases. [Note to OP: I think you're mostly interested in the last case, so feel free to skip straight to the bottom.]
**Default Settings, Admin User**
In this case, when you attempt to perform certain tasks that require administrator access, you get the Yes/No dialog.
There *is* [I believe] a security guarantee that no application (which does not already have administrator privilege) can press the Yes on your behalf, and that the information provided by the dialog about which application is being launched is accurate. [Proviso: I'm not entirely sure what the story is concerning potentially malicious accessibility applications. Can anyone expand on this?]
But in this case that's all irrelevant, because there *isn't* any security guarantee that an application cannot obtain administrator privilege without bringing up the dialog, and in fact there are a great many well-known techniques for doing so. [More here.](https://attack.mitre.org/wiki/Technique/T1088)
**Always Notify, Admin User**
If you have turned on the "Always Notify" UAC setting, then [I believe] there *is* a security guarantee that no application can directly gain administrator access, via UAC, without the dialog appearing. [More here.](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20160816-00/?p=94105)
... but still no guarantee that the application will use the admin privileges in the way in which you are expecting. You get to see which application is being launched, but it is your responsibility to check that it is the one you were expecting. Also, you don't see the command line by default, only if you ask for more details; if an application that you trust has dangerous command-line options, a malicious application might take advantage of that, hoping you won't notice them.
... and if any third-party applications are running with admin privilege, *they* might have vulnerabilities allowing a malicious application to take control. Windows does take some steps to mitigate this risk, e.g., you can't just use a plain old shatter attack, but it can't eliminate all possible methods one application might use to attack another.
... besides, in a typical enterprise environment you can take advantage of the fact that UAC doesn't operate over the network, as [described in Joshua's answer](https://security.stackexchange.com/a/189523/47469). This sort of attack is I suspect even easier and more practical than it sounds.
*In practice,* these issues significantly limit the effectiveness of this security guarantee, even in the absence of any security vulnerabilities in Windows itself.
(Such security vulnerabilities have existed; for example, Joshua points out that at one point the Task Scheduler allowed an admin user to create elevated tasks without first requiring elevation. Once discovered, it is likely that they will eventually be patched, but they are also likely to be considered low priority.)
[The current user registry hive provides a huge attack surface for a malicious application to attack elevated applications, particularly if you can make changes before the elevated application is launched. Does anyone know whether there are any standard techniques around this? The most obvious approach would be to put a malicious DLL onto the user's PATH, I suspect many applications would be vulnerable to this simple attack.]
**Non-Admin User With An Admin Password**
This is the case where the logged-on user account is not an administrator, but the user knows an administrator password. All the previous caveats apply.
... plus, a malicious application might mimic the dialog to capture your password, as already discussed in [Michael's answer](https://security.stackexchange.com/a/189508/47469). There are some mitigations in place to make it difficult for a program to use an administrator password to gain admin privilege, but my understanding is that this is *not* a security guarantee. [Can anyone confirm whether there is a known way to elevate once you've got an admin password? Perhaps via the Task Scheduler, for instance? In many cases this is moot, I guess, since once you've got the password you can use it to RDP in or access the C$ share or whatever from another machine.]
The only really safe approach here is to never provide the administrator password when prompted; instead, switch user and log in with your admin account whenever necessary. Of course this is enough of a pain that only the most punctilious systems administrators will stick to it consistently.
... obviously, if you're doing that, you also need to follow good hygiene in other respects, e.g., you don't download an installer in your non-admin account and then run it from your admin account. But then, you shouldn't really be running a web browser from your admin account either, so catch-22.
**Non-Admin User Without Admin Password**
We're on firmer ground here. **There is an unambiguous security guarantee that a non-admin user will not be able to run an application with admin privilege without providing an administrator password.** This isn't new to UAC, but UAC doesn't remove the guarantee either.
Vulnerabilities violating this guarantee are usually called local elevation of privilege vulnerabilities. In most cases they are considered lower priority than vulnerabilities that allow remote attacks, but Microsoft will usually patch them reasonably promptly.
[OK, that depends on your definition of "reasonable". :-)] |
189,491 | After Vista came out, security professionals argued that UAC wasn't actually a security barrier, and Microsoft eventually admitted it isn't. But the case they were talking about was a local administrator, who just has to click ALLOW on UAC prompts.
But what about non-administrator users, who must enter a password at UAC prompts? In that case, is UAC actually a security barrier?
A related question here hints that the answer is yes, but doesn't say so explicitly:
[Assuming UAC is enabled, does a non-administrator account offer any security improvements?](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/119931/assuming-uac-is-enabled-does-a-non-administrator-account-offer-any-security-imp) | 2018/07/13 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/189491",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/182051/"
] | The phrase "security barrier" can be ambiguous. I think it may be more useful to consider the concept of a *security guarantee*, sometimes called a *security boundary*. [More here.](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc751383.aspx)
Basically, a security guarantee is a statement about the intended behaviour of the software.
Any way to violate a security guarantee (within the appropriate scope) represents a security vulnerability, i.e., a bug or a design flaw. In the case of a security vulnerability in Windows, Microsoft's general policy is to at least attempt to correct the problem. In most cases, this means a security patch, usually via the monthly cumulative updates.
**NB: this is not a legal or contractual obligation.**
So what about UAC? Well, it depends on both the scenario and the system configuration. Let's go through some of the more obvious and/or interesting cases. [Note to OP: I think you're mostly interested in the last case, so feel free to skip straight to the bottom.]
**Default Settings, Admin User**
In this case, when you attempt to perform certain tasks that require administrator access, you get the Yes/No dialog.
There *is* [I believe] a security guarantee that no application (which does not already have administrator privilege) can press the Yes on your behalf, and that the information provided by the dialog about which application is being launched is accurate. [Proviso: I'm not entirely sure what the story is concerning potentially malicious accessibility applications. Can anyone expand on this?]
But in this case that's all irrelevant, because there *isn't* any security guarantee that an application cannot obtain administrator privilege without bringing up the dialog, and in fact there are a great many well-known techniques for doing so. [More here.](https://attack.mitre.org/wiki/Technique/T1088)
**Always Notify, Admin User**
If you have turned on the "Always Notify" UAC setting, then [I believe] there *is* a security guarantee that no application can directly gain administrator access, via UAC, without the dialog appearing. [More here.](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20160816-00/?p=94105)
... but still no guarantee that the application will use the admin privileges in the way in which you are expecting. You get to see which application is being launched, but it is your responsibility to check that it is the one you were expecting. Also, you don't see the command line by default, only if you ask for more details; if an application that you trust has dangerous command-line options, a malicious application might take advantage of that, hoping you won't notice them.
... and if any third-party applications are running with admin privilege, *they* might have vulnerabilities allowing a malicious application to take control. Windows does take some steps to mitigate this risk, e.g., you can't just use a plain old shatter attack, but it can't eliminate all possible methods one application might use to attack another.
... besides, in a typical enterprise environment you can take advantage of the fact that UAC doesn't operate over the network, as [described in Joshua's answer](https://security.stackexchange.com/a/189523/47469). This sort of attack is I suspect even easier and more practical than it sounds.
*In practice,* these issues significantly limit the effectiveness of this security guarantee, even in the absence of any security vulnerabilities in Windows itself.
(Such security vulnerabilities have existed; for example, Joshua points out that at one point the Task Scheduler allowed an admin user to create elevated tasks without first requiring elevation. Once discovered, it is likely that they will eventually be patched, but they are also likely to be considered low priority.)
[The current user registry hive provides a huge attack surface for a malicious application to attack elevated applications, particularly if you can make changes before the elevated application is launched. Does anyone know whether there are any standard techniques around this? The most obvious approach would be to put a malicious DLL onto the user's PATH, I suspect many applications would be vulnerable to this simple attack.]
**Non-Admin User With An Admin Password**
This is the case where the logged-on user account is not an administrator, but the user knows an administrator password. All the previous caveats apply.
... plus, a malicious application might mimic the dialog to capture your password, as already discussed in [Michael's answer](https://security.stackexchange.com/a/189508/47469). There are some mitigations in place to make it difficult for a program to use an administrator password to gain admin privilege, but my understanding is that this is *not* a security guarantee. [Can anyone confirm whether there is a known way to elevate once you've got an admin password? Perhaps via the Task Scheduler, for instance? In many cases this is moot, I guess, since once you've got the password you can use it to RDP in or access the C$ share or whatever from another machine.]
The only really safe approach here is to never provide the administrator password when prompted; instead, switch user and log in with your admin account whenever necessary. Of course this is enough of a pain that only the most punctilious systems administrators will stick to it consistently.
... obviously, if you're doing that, you also need to follow good hygiene in other respects, e.g., you don't download an installer in your non-admin account and then run it from your admin account. But then, you shouldn't really be running a web browser from your admin account either, so catch-22.
**Non-Admin User Without Admin Password**
We're on firmer ground here. **There is an unambiguous security guarantee that a non-admin user will not be able to run an application with admin privilege without providing an administrator password.** This isn't new to UAC, but UAC doesn't remove the guarantee either.
Vulnerabilities violating this guarantee are usually called local elevation of privilege vulnerabilities. In most cases they are considered lower priority than vulnerabilities that allow remote attacks, but Microsoft will usually patch them reasonably promptly.
[OK, that depends on your definition of "reasonable". :-)] | I think this question needs to be addressed specifically and thoroughly:
>
> But what about non-administrator users, who must enter a password at UAC prompts? In that case, is UAC actually a security barrier?
>
>
>
**Making users enter their password in the UAC prompt actually makes the system overall *less* secure!**
Why?
* It does not provide any additional security. The way that UAC is implemented, it's not possible for malicious software running with user privileges to click the OK button programmatically in a non-password scenario. Only in a scenario where there is an attacker with physical access to the unlocked system he could theoretically be prevented from doing things that require admin privileges. However...
* Malicious software running with user privileges (which an attacker with physical access to the unlocked system could easily install) can spoof the UAC password screen and thereby learn the user's password. This cannot happen in the no-password scenario. |
189,491 | After Vista came out, security professionals argued that UAC wasn't actually a security barrier, and Microsoft eventually admitted it isn't. But the case they were talking about was a local administrator, who just has to click ALLOW on UAC prompts.
But what about non-administrator users, who must enter a password at UAC prompts? In that case, is UAC actually a security barrier?
A related question here hints that the answer is yes, but doesn't say so explicitly:
[Assuming UAC is enabled, does a non-administrator account offer any security improvements?](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/119931/assuming-uac-is-enabled-does-a-non-administrator-account-offer-any-security-imp) | 2018/07/13 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/189491",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/182051/"
] | The phrase "security barrier" can be ambiguous. I think it may be more useful to consider the concept of a *security guarantee*, sometimes called a *security boundary*. [More here.](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc751383.aspx)
Basically, a security guarantee is a statement about the intended behaviour of the software.
Any way to violate a security guarantee (within the appropriate scope) represents a security vulnerability, i.e., a bug or a design flaw. In the case of a security vulnerability in Windows, Microsoft's general policy is to at least attempt to correct the problem. In most cases, this means a security patch, usually via the monthly cumulative updates.
**NB: this is not a legal or contractual obligation.**
So what about UAC? Well, it depends on both the scenario and the system configuration. Let's go through some of the more obvious and/or interesting cases. [Note to OP: I think you're mostly interested in the last case, so feel free to skip straight to the bottom.]
**Default Settings, Admin User**
In this case, when you attempt to perform certain tasks that require administrator access, you get the Yes/No dialog.
There *is* [I believe] a security guarantee that no application (which does not already have administrator privilege) can press the Yes on your behalf, and that the information provided by the dialog about which application is being launched is accurate. [Proviso: I'm not entirely sure what the story is concerning potentially malicious accessibility applications. Can anyone expand on this?]
But in this case that's all irrelevant, because there *isn't* any security guarantee that an application cannot obtain administrator privilege without bringing up the dialog, and in fact there are a great many well-known techniques for doing so. [More here.](https://attack.mitre.org/wiki/Technique/T1088)
**Always Notify, Admin User**
If you have turned on the "Always Notify" UAC setting, then [I believe] there *is* a security guarantee that no application can directly gain administrator access, via UAC, without the dialog appearing. [More here.](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20160816-00/?p=94105)
... but still no guarantee that the application will use the admin privileges in the way in which you are expecting. You get to see which application is being launched, but it is your responsibility to check that it is the one you were expecting. Also, you don't see the command line by default, only if you ask for more details; if an application that you trust has dangerous command-line options, a malicious application might take advantage of that, hoping you won't notice them.
... and if any third-party applications are running with admin privilege, *they* might have vulnerabilities allowing a malicious application to take control. Windows does take some steps to mitigate this risk, e.g., you can't just use a plain old shatter attack, but it can't eliminate all possible methods one application might use to attack another.
... besides, in a typical enterprise environment you can take advantage of the fact that UAC doesn't operate over the network, as [described in Joshua's answer](https://security.stackexchange.com/a/189523/47469). This sort of attack is I suspect even easier and more practical than it sounds.
*In practice,* these issues significantly limit the effectiveness of this security guarantee, even in the absence of any security vulnerabilities in Windows itself.
(Such security vulnerabilities have existed; for example, Joshua points out that at one point the Task Scheduler allowed an admin user to create elevated tasks without first requiring elevation. Once discovered, it is likely that they will eventually be patched, but they are also likely to be considered low priority.)
[The current user registry hive provides a huge attack surface for a malicious application to attack elevated applications, particularly if you can make changes before the elevated application is launched. Does anyone know whether there are any standard techniques around this? The most obvious approach would be to put a malicious DLL onto the user's PATH, I suspect many applications would be vulnerable to this simple attack.]
**Non-Admin User With An Admin Password**
This is the case where the logged-on user account is not an administrator, but the user knows an administrator password. All the previous caveats apply.
... plus, a malicious application might mimic the dialog to capture your password, as already discussed in [Michael's answer](https://security.stackexchange.com/a/189508/47469). There are some mitigations in place to make it difficult for a program to use an administrator password to gain admin privilege, but my understanding is that this is *not* a security guarantee. [Can anyone confirm whether there is a known way to elevate once you've got an admin password? Perhaps via the Task Scheduler, for instance? In many cases this is moot, I guess, since once you've got the password you can use it to RDP in or access the C$ share or whatever from another machine.]
The only really safe approach here is to never provide the administrator password when prompted; instead, switch user and log in with your admin account whenever necessary. Of course this is enough of a pain that only the most punctilious systems administrators will stick to it consistently.
... obviously, if you're doing that, you also need to follow good hygiene in other respects, e.g., you don't download an installer in your non-admin account and then run it from your admin account. But then, you shouldn't really be running a web browser from your admin account either, so catch-22.
**Non-Admin User Without Admin Password**
We're on firmer ground here. **There is an unambiguous security guarantee that a non-admin user will not be able to run an application with admin privilege without providing an administrator password.** This isn't new to UAC, but UAC doesn't remove the guarantee either.
Vulnerabilities violating this guarantee are usually called local elevation of privilege vulnerabilities. In most cases they are considered lower priority than vulnerabilities that allow remote attacks, but Microsoft will usually patch them reasonably promptly.
[OK, that depends on your definition of "reasonable". :-)] | The current [update: appears to be fixed in newer Windows 10 builds, but should be double checked as the API involved is not equivalent to punching buttons on the screen] UAC bypass is Scheduled Tasks -> Create Task -> [X] Run at highest privilege + [X] do not store users password -> Run task
If Microsoft were to go through the great length required to close it, the previous UAC bypass waits in the wings: Remote desktop to self; present real login screen -> Wait for user to enter password -> use automation to click Yes on UAC elevation prompt. This time, the Mandatory Authorization Control checks that prevent lower-privilege applications from manipulating higher-privilege applications don't work because RDP server is at a high enough level.
The no-RDP-loopback check is in the client not the server. I have managed to connect to localhost with a modified client.
UAC is no security boundary in a professional environment.
In addition, once domain joined, if the current user can elevate to admin on two machines that are currently powered on, then UAC has yet another bypass. According to the documentation, this works even if not domain joined but I can't get it working for local accounts so the documetation might be wrong. OpenSecurityManager() from machine 1 on machine 2. Machine 2 has no idea that the session from machine 1 hasn't elevated and network logins are always elevated. Create new service that does "sc \machine1 create ... binPath="; start it; wait for start to fail; delete service; Create new service that does "sc \machine1 start ..."; and your binary now has Local System. |
10,563 | So, everyone and their formidable Grandmother believes that DADA position at Hogwarts is cursed so that anyone taking it only lasts a year at most.
Some people who know more than others, might believe that this is because it was cursed by Voldemort after Dumbledore denied him that position (see HBP).
Did Voldemort **actually** curse the job of Defense Against Dark Arts professor after being denied the position?
As in, is there a canonical/JKR proof/confirmation that it was, indeed, the actual cause from him, as opposed to a plausible conspiracy theory held by everyone in Potterverse with zero proof? | 2012/02/07 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/10563",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/976/"
] | **Yes, the job was definitely cursed.**
There have been several interviews with J.K. Rowling where she states that Voldemort has jinxed the job as a point-of-fact. I don’t recall it being explicitly stated in the books (Voldemort never admits to such a curse), except for Dumbledore’s guess in *Half-Blood Prince*.
An interview shortly after the publication of *Deathly Hallows* confirms that it was broken with Voldemort’s death, which only makes sense if there was a jinx to break:
>
> **Do Ron or Hermione or Harry ever return to Hogwarts in any capacity?**
>
>
> Well, I can well imagine Harry returning to give the odd talk on– on Defense Against the Dark Arts. And – I – and, of course, **the jinx is broken now because Voldemort's gone**. Now they can keep a good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher from here on in. So that aspect of the – of the wizarding education is now provided for.
>
>
> — [*J.K. Rowling One-On-One: Part One with NBC* (July 2007)](http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2007/0726-today-vieira1.html)
>
>
>
Another interview explicitly states that the job was cursed, and also provides part of the inspiration for the curse:
>
> And Defence Against the Dark Arts was also fun because every year you had a new teacher. For the older members of the audience they will remember the Spinal Tap drummer … and … some of you do, clearly. (laughs) Well, when I planned the books I thought that every year we'll have a different Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, **because the job was cursed, as you know.**
>
>
> — [*J.K. Rowling answers questions at the White House Easter Egg roll* (April 2010)](http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2010/0405-whitehouse-eggroll.html)
>
>
>
For those, like me, who didn’t get the reference: [Spinal Tap](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_Tap_(band)) is a fictional heavy metal band with a long list of drummers who all died in mysterious circumstances (spontaneous combustion, choked on vomit, eaten by a pet, and so on). A full list of bizarre deaths is on [their Wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_Tap_(band)#Drums.2C_percussion). | This is from a quote from Dumbledore, so it is from a character in the Potterverse, with no *proof*, but with evidence enough to convince Dumbledore, from canon...
>
> "Oh, he definitely wanted the Defence Against the Dark Arts job. The
> Aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have not been able to keep a Defence Against the Dark
> Arts professor for more than a year since I refused the post to Lord
> Voldemort."
>
>
>
***Albus Dumbledore - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince***
Also, closer to what you were looking for..
>
> J.K. Rowling has also revealed that after Amycus Carrow was the Dark
> Arts teacher, a permanent teacher took the post, because the
> curse over the job was lifted.
>
>
>
<http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Defence_Against_the_Dark_Arts>
<http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/19935372#.TzCI7FyxURo> |
10,563 | So, everyone and their formidable Grandmother believes that DADA position at Hogwarts is cursed so that anyone taking it only lasts a year at most.
Some people who know more than others, might believe that this is because it was cursed by Voldemort after Dumbledore denied him that position (see HBP).
Did Voldemort **actually** curse the job of Defense Against Dark Arts professor after being denied the position?
As in, is there a canonical/JKR proof/confirmation that it was, indeed, the actual cause from him, as opposed to a plausible conspiracy theory held by everyone in Potterverse with zero proof? | 2012/02/07 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/10563",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/976/"
] | This is from a quote from Dumbledore, so it is from a character in the Potterverse, with no *proof*, but with evidence enough to convince Dumbledore, from canon...
>
> "Oh, he definitely wanted the Defence Against the Dark Arts job. The
> Aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have not been able to keep a Defence Against the Dark
> Arts professor for more than a year since I refused the post to Lord
> Voldemort."
>
>
>
***Albus Dumbledore - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince***
Also, closer to what you were looking for..
>
> J.K. Rowling has also revealed that after Amycus Carrow was the Dark
> Arts teacher, a permanent teacher took the post, because the
> curse over the job was lifted.
>
>
>
<http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Defence_Against_the_Dark_Arts>
<http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/19935372#.TzCI7FyxURo> | The job was probably not cursed.
--------------------------------
There is no true evidence that Voldemort ever performed such a curse. No one saw him do it. No one heard him do it. No one heard him talk about it. The only piece of evidence ever proffered was the fact that no one held the job for more than a year after Voldemort was denied it. This is mentioned by Harry in Chapter Eight of *Half-Blood Prince*:
>
> "That job's jinxed. No ones lasted more than a year... Quirrell actually died doing it... Personally, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for another death..."
>
>
>
And by Dumbledore in Chapter Twenty of *Half-Blood Prince*:
>
> "Oh, he definitely wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job," said Dumbledore. "The aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have never been able to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for longer than a year since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort."
>
>
>
Unfortunately, though, neither Dumbledore nor Harry were statisticians. They apparently forgot the fundamental rule of *[Post hoc ergo propter hoc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_hoc_ergo_propter_hoc)* — the fact that following Voldemort's failure to get the job no one ever lasted a year does not demonstrate that *because* of Voldemort's failure no one ever lasted a year. It simply shows a correlation, and a correlation could be causative but it could also not be causative. Of course, with every additional year that goes by and another professor leaves the correlation is strengthened; however, even then it wouldn't demonstrate that the cause was Voldemort not getting the job. There might have been another event at around the same time that was the cause.
Additionally, the correlation would only be significant if it couldn't be explained perfectly normally without the existence of the jinx. Now we don't know most of the teachers during the relevant time period, but at least for the ones we see it is not surprising that they didn't last. Working backwards, Carrow was illegitimately appointed and ended up on the losing side of a war, things which would tend to make your term short. Snape was also only expected to teach for one year; at that point he would either be a criminal on the run or Voldemort's right hand man (depending on who would be in power at the time). Umbridge was only appointed in the first place because no other candidates could be found. She had no teaching qualifications and it was obvious from the beginning that as soon as Dumbledore would have the ability to get rid of her he would. Moody/Crouch was only hired for one year to begin with. Lupin was a werewolf. It was kind of obvious that once his secret would get out he would likely be forced to resign. Lockhart was an incompetent teacher. If you believe JK Rowling, Dumbledore hired him specifically to expose him. He clearly was planning on only having Lockhart teach for a limited period of time. If you don't believe Rowling, it is still eminently reasonable that an incompetent teacher wouldn't last more than a year.
Then we get to Quirrell. If your goal for the year is to steal the most heavily guarded object from right under the headmaster's nose, plus let a troll loose in the school and try to kill one of the students, it is quite likely you won't last that long. If anything the question should be how he did last the entire year. (Answer: *[Dumbledore]'s a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes.*) More importantly, though, Quirrell is actually evidence that the job was *not* cursed.
When we are first introduced to Quirrell in *Philosopher's Stone* it seems pretty clear that he has already been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts prior to Harry's first year:
>
> "Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."
>
>
> "P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."
>
>
> "What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"
>
>
> "D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.
>
>
>
*What sort of magic do you teach* implies that you already teach it. And Quirrell does not mention that he is actually starting to teach a new subject that he has never taught before. Also, Hagrid does not appear surprised at all that Quirrell teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts (though it is possible that he would have been informed of the position change in advance).
Shortly thereafter:
>
> Hagrid grinned at Harry.
>
>
> "Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."
>
>
> "Is he always that nervous?"
>
>
> "Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience.... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject now, where's me umbrella?"
>
>
>
Hagrid's information seems to be referring to something that happened a while ago, not something that just happened. Specifically, he says that Quirrell "has never been the same since". If this just happened what is the "since"? Then he says that Quirrell is "scared of the students". How would Hagrid know this if Quirrell hadn't yet taught since returning? Finally, Hagrid says that Quirrell is "scared of his own subject now". Again, how would Hagrid know this if Quirrell was only about to start a new subject?
Furthermore, the start-of-term feast provides further evidence that Quirrell had already been teaching Defense against the Dark Arts the year before. Unlike every other year when
Dumbledore announced new teachers, he made no announcement for Quirrell. This would be especially odd if Quirrell had not been teaching at all the year before, but even if he had been teaching the year before Dumbledore still probably would have announced the position change. After all, in *Half-Blood Prince* he announced Snape as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher even though Snape was already a teacher:
>
> "Professor Snape, meanwhile," said Dumbledore, raising voice so that it carried over all the muttering, "will be taking the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
>
>
>
(Though perhaps one could argue that he only announced Snape because he had already announced that Slughorn would be teaching Potions.)
Furthermore, at the feast Harry asks Percy about Quirrell:
>
> "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.
>
>
> "Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to — everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."
>
>
>
The fact that Percy calls it "Quirrell's job" rather than "Defense Against the Dark Arts" and the fact that he even knows that it's Quirrell's job indicates that Quirrell had already been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts previously.
[We know that JK Rowling has claimed that Quirrell was previously teaching Muggle Studies](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/3278/100430), but as per the above that is quite a stretch. Thus, if Quirrell has lasted for more than a year there must not be a curse on the job.
Further evidence that there is no curse comes from a passage in Chapter Nine of *Order of the Phoenix*:
>
> ”What d’you mean?” Harry asked, jumping down beside them.
>
>
> “Well, we overheard Mum and Dad talking on the Extendable Ears
> a few weeks back,” Fred told Harry, “and from what they were saying, Dumbledore was having real trouble finding anyone to do the job this year.”
>
>
> ”Not surprising, is it, when you look at what’s happened to the last four?” said George.
>
>
> ”One sacked, one dead, one’s memory removed, and one locked in a trunk for nine months,” said Harry, counting them off on his fingers. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”
>
>
>
This seems to clearly imply that prior to Quirrel there were no strange circumstances surrounding the job. If there truly was a curse, we would expect George to say “look at the last thirty” rather than “look at the last four”.
There is also a comment from Hagrid in Chapter Seven of *Chamber of Secrets* that calls the popular narrative of the curse into question:
>
> "He was the *on'y* man for the job," said Hagrid, offering them a plate of treacle fudge, while Ron coughed squelchily into his basin. "An' I mean the *on'y* one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now.
>
>
>
This implies that it was only recently that people had even thought that there was a jinx at all, and it also implies that there have been people who lasted more than one year, though they did not last "long".
Moreover, even when Dumbledore notes that they haven't been able to keep a teacher for more than a year since then, he makes no mention of a curse. Even if we assume that the correlative factor is Voldemort not getting the job, there is no indication that the direct cause was a curse. There could be any number of other explanations. Maybe someone was Imperiusing teachers to leave after one year. Maybe someone was deliberately trying to kill off teachers or incapacitate them in some way. This could have been related to Voldemort being denied the job, even if it wasn't via a curse. For all we know, someone might have wanted people to *think* that there was a curse even though there wasn't.
True, some of these theories seem unlikely, but the point is that in the absence of a controlled study there is no way to truly determine what the cause was. Additionally, it is possible that the "curse" is self-fulfilling. After the first few years of teachers not lasting (which could have been a coincidence) other candidates might have gotten scared off because they *thought* that there was a curse. With all the good teachers hesitant to take the job, by default new teachers will likely be the type that wouldn't last in the first place. And some of them might further have chosen to leave after a year thinking that it would exempt them from a worse fate if they tried to stay.
Perhaps most importantly, what in the world does it even mean for a job to be cursed? We don't really ever find an equivalent type of magic. If you could simply put a curse on a non-tangible entity, which can affect (and even cause death to) individuals not in your presence, the entire nature of the Wizarding world would be different. Instead of battles, wars, and duels, anyone could simply curse the job that their opponent holds. Surely, Voldemort would have cursed the position of headmaster and someone (probably not Dumbledore because he would be too noble to do it) would curse the position of Chief Death Eater, among many other possibilities.
In short, there does not seem to be any real evidence that there was a curse, nor does there seem to be any real evidence that such a curse is even a possibility. |
10,563 | So, everyone and their formidable Grandmother believes that DADA position at Hogwarts is cursed so that anyone taking it only lasts a year at most.
Some people who know more than others, might believe that this is because it was cursed by Voldemort after Dumbledore denied him that position (see HBP).
Did Voldemort **actually** curse the job of Defense Against Dark Arts professor after being denied the position?
As in, is there a canonical/JKR proof/confirmation that it was, indeed, the actual cause from him, as opposed to a plausible conspiracy theory held by everyone in Potterverse with zero proof? | 2012/02/07 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/10563",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/976/"
] | **Yes, the job was definitely cursed.**
There have been several interviews with J.K. Rowling where she states that Voldemort has jinxed the job as a point-of-fact. I don’t recall it being explicitly stated in the books (Voldemort never admits to such a curse), except for Dumbledore’s guess in *Half-Blood Prince*.
An interview shortly after the publication of *Deathly Hallows* confirms that it was broken with Voldemort’s death, which only makes sense if there was a jinx to break:
>
> **Do Ron or Hermione or Harry ever return to Hogwarts in any capacity?**
>
>
> Well, I can well imagine Harry returning to give the odd talk on– on Defense Against the Dark Arts. And – I – and, of course, **the jinx is broken now because Voldemort's gone**. Now they can keep a good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher from here on in. So that aspect of the – of the wizarding education is now provided for.
>
>
> — [*J.K. Rowling One-On-One: Part One with NBC* (July 2007)](http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2007/0726-today-vieira1.html)
>
>
>
Another interview explicitly states that the job was cursed, and also provides part of the inspiration for the curse:
>
> And Defence Against the Dark Arts was also fun because every year you had a new teacher. For the older members of the audience they will remember the Spinal Tap drummer … and … some of you do, clearly. (laughs) Well, when I planned the books I thought that every year we'll have a different Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, **because the job was cursed, as you know.**
>
>
> — [*J.K. Rowling answers questions at the White House Easter Egg roll* (April 2010)](http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2010/0405-whitehouse-eggroll.html)
>
>
>
For those, like me, who didn’t get the reference: [Spinal Tap](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_Tap_(band)) is a fictional heavy metal band with a long list of drummers who all died in mysterious circumstances (spontaneous combustion, choked on vomit, eaten by a pet, and so on). A full list of bizarre deaths is on [their Wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_Tap_(band)#Drums.2C_percussion). | The job was probably not cursed.
--------------------------------
There is no true evidence that Voldemort ever performed such a curse. No one saw him do it. No one heard him do it. No one heard him talk about it. The only piece of evidence ever proffered was the fact that no one held the job for more than a year after Voldemort was denied it. This is mentioned by Harry in Chapter Eight of *Half-Blood Prince*:
>
> "That job's jinxed. No ones lasted more than a year... Quirrell actually died doing it... Personally, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for another death..."
>
>
>
And by Dumbledore in Chapter Twenty of *Half-Blood Prince*:
>
> "Oh, he definitely wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job," said Dumbledore. "The aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have never been able to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for longer than a year since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort."
>
>
>
Unfortunately, though, neither Dumbledore nor Harry were statisticians. They apparently forgot the fundamental rule of *[Post hoc ergo propter hoc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_hoc_ergo_propter_hoc)* — the fact that following Voldemort's failure to get the job no one ever lasted a year does not demonstrate that *because* of Voldemort's failure no one ever lasted a year. It simply shows a correlation, and a correlation could be causative but it could also not be causative. Of course, with every additional year that goes by and another professor leaves the correlation is strengthened; however, even then it wouldn't demonstrate that the cause was Voldemort not getting the job. There might have been another event at around the same time that was the cause.
Additionally, the correlation would only be significant if it couldn't be explained perfectly normally without the existence of the jinx. Now we don't know most of the teachers during the relevant time period, but at least for the ones we see it is not surprising that they didn't last. Working backwards, Carrow was illegitimately appointed and ended up on the losing side of a war, things which would tend to make your term short. Snape was also only expected to teach for one year; at that point he would either be a criminal on the run or Voldemort's right hand man (depending on who would be in power at the time). Umbridge was only appointed in the first place because no other candidates could be found. She had no teaching qualifications and it was obvious from the beginning that as soon as Dumbledore would have the ability to get rid of her he would. Moody/Crouch was only hired for one year to begin with. Lupin was a werewolf. It was kind of obvious that once his secret would get out he would likely be forced to resign. Lockhart was an incompetent teacher. If you believe JK Rowling, Dumbledore hired him specifically to expose him. He clearly was planning on only having Lockhart teach for a limited period of time. If you don't believe Rowling, it is still eminently reasonable that an incompetent teacher wouldn't last more than a year.
Then we get to Quirrell. If your goal for the year is to steal the most heavily guarded object from right under the headmaster's nose, plus let a troll loose in the school and try to kill one of the students, it is quite likely you won't last that long. If anything the question should be how he did last the entire year. (Answer: *[Dumbledore]'s a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes.*) More importantly, though, Quirrell is actually evidence that the job was *not* cursed.
When we are first introduced to Quirrell in *Philosopher's Stone* it seems pretty clear that he has already been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts prior to Harry's first year:
>
> "Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."
>
>
> "P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."
>
>
> "What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"
>
>
> "D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.
>
>
>
*What sort of magic do you teach* implies that you already teach it. And Quirrell does not mention that he is actually starting to teach a new subject that he has never taught before. Also, Hagrid does not appear surprised at all that Quirrell teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts (though it is possible that he would have been informed of the position change in advance).
Shortly thereafter:
>
> Hagrid grinned at Harry.
>
>
> "Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."
>
>
> "Is he always that nervous?"
>
>
> "Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience.... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject now, where's me umbrella?"
>
>
>
Hagrid's information seems to be referring to something that happened a while ago, not something that just happened. Specifically, he says that Quirrell "has never been the same since". If this just happened what is the "since"? Then he says that Quirrell is "scared of the students". How would Hagrid know this if Quirrell hadn't yet taught since returning? Finally, Hagrid says that Quirrell is "scared of his own subject now". Again, how would Hagrid know this if Quirrell was only about to start a new subject?
Furthermore, the start-of-term feast provides further evidence that Quirrell had already been teaching Defense against the Dark Arts the year before. Unlike every other year when
Dumbledore announced new teachers, he made no announcement for Quirrell. This would be especially odd if Quirrell had not been teaching at all the year before, but even if he had been teaching the year before Dumbledore still probably would have announced the position change. After all, in *Half-Blood Prince* he announced Snape as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher even though Snape was already a teacher:
>
> "Professor Snape, meanwhile," said Dumbledore, raising voice so that it carried over all the muttering, "will be taking the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
>
>
>
(Though perhaps one could argue that he only announced Snape because he had already announced that Slughorn would be teaching Potions.)
Furthermore, at the feast Harry asks Percy about Quirrell:
>
> "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.
>
>
> "Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to — everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."
>
>
>
The fact that Percy calls it "Quirrell's job" rather than "Defense Against the Dark Arts" and the fact that he even knows that it's Quirrell's job indicates that Quirrell had already been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts previously.
[We know that JK Rowling has claimed that Quirrell was previously teaching Muggle Studies](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/3278/100430), but as per the above that is quite a stretch. Thus, if Quirrell has lasted for more than a year there must not be a curse on the job.
Further evidence that there is no curse comes from a passage in Chapter Nine of *Order of the Phoenix*:
>
> ”What d’you mean?” Harry asked, jumping down beside them.
>
>
> “Well, we overheard Mum and Dad talking on the Extendable Ears
> a few weeks back,” Fred told Harry, “and from what they were saying, Dumbledore was having real trouble finding anyone to do the job this year.”
>
>
> ”Not surprising, is it, when you look at what’s happened to the last four?” said George.
>
>
> ”One sacked, one dead, one’s memory removed, and one locked in a trunk for nine months,” said Harry, counting them off on his fingers. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”
>
>
>
This seems to clearly imply that prior to Quirrel there were no strange circumstances surrounding the job. If there truly was a curse, we would expect George to say “look at the last thirty” rather than “look at the last four”.
There is also a comment from Hagrid in Chapter Seven of *Chamber of Secrets* that calls the popular narrative of the curse into question:
>
> "He was the *on'y* man for the job," said Hagrid, offering them a plate of treacle fudge, while Ron coughed squelchily into his basin. "An' I mean the *on'y* one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now.
>
>
>
This implies that it was only recently that people had even thought that there was a jinx at all, and it also implies that there have been people who lasted more than one year, though they did not last "long".
Moreover, even when Dumbledore notes that they haven't been able to keep a teacher for more than a year since then, he makes no mention of a curse. Even if we assume that the correlative factor is Voldemort not getting the job, there is no indication that the direct cause was a curse. There could be any number of other explanations. Maybe someone was Imperiusing teachers to leave after one year. Maybe someone was deliberately trying to kill off teachers or incapacitate them in some way. This could have been related to Voldemort being denied the job, even if it wasn't via a curse. For all we know, someone might have wanted people to *think* that there was a curse even though there wasn't.
True, some of these theories seem unlikely, but the point is that in the absence of a controlled study there is no way to truly determine what the cause was. Additionally, it is possible that the "curse" is self-fulfilling. After the first few years of teachers not lasting (which could have been a coincidence) other candidates might have gotten scared off because they *thought* that there was a curse. With all the good teachers hesitant to take the job, by default new teachers will likely be the type that wouldn't last in the first place. And some of them might further have chosen to leave after a year thinking that it would exempt them from a worse fate if they tried to stay.
Perhaps most importantly, what in the world does it even mean for a job to be cursed? We don't really ever find an equivalent type of magic. If you could simply put a curse on a non-tangible entity, which can affect (and even cause death to) individuals not in your presence, the entire nature of the Wizarding world would be different. Instead of battles, wars, and duels, anyone could simply curse the job that their opponent holds. Surely, Voldemort would have cursed the position of headmaster and someone (probably not Dumbledore because he would be too noble to do it) would curse the position of Chief Death Eater, among many other possibilities.
In short, there does not seem to be any real evidence that there was a curse, nor does there seem to be any real evidence that such a curse is even a possibility. |
235,946 | I am trying to do a PCA to reduce the no. of variables in my data before performing a cluster analysis. Suppose I extract 3 principal components P1, P2 and P3. Now when I am to do the clustering, on which variables should I run my analysis? I am not very clear as to should I use all the initial variables (then how will PCA help) or should I use the extracted 3 components? A detailed answer with example will be very helpful | 2016/09/20 | [
"https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/235946",
"https://stats.stackexchange.com",
"https://stats.stackexchange.com/users/78053/"
] | By doing PCA you are retaining all the important information.
If your data exhibits clustering, this will be generally **revealed** after your PCA analysis: by retaining only the components with the highest variance, the clusters will be likely more visibile (as they are **most spread out**).
What you should do is to look at the scatterplot in the plan defined by your three principal components: the data should clearly be grouped in separated clusters.
After you know the number of clusters, you can apply K-means algorithm to perform a classification of your dataset.
Useful links:
1. <http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~asa/pdfs/pcachap.pdf>
2. <http://ranger.uta.edu/~chqding/papers/KmeansPCA1.pdf> | Thank you everyone. I wanted to know whether we use the PCs in clustering analysis and if yes, then how we use them. I figured out the answer that we don't use the PCs directly but make a transformation of the original variables based on the PCs. |
16,777 | I noticed the existence of this file\_usage table in D7's database and I was wondering if it's possible to link in a new node the same file I uploaded using a file field in a previously created node. This seems logical to me, yet I can't seem to find a way to do it. | 2011/12/05 | [
"https://drupal.stackexchange.com/questions/16777",
"https://drupal.stackexchange.com",
"https://drupal.stackexchange.com/users/4010/"
] | The [FileField Sources](http://drupal.org/project/filefield_sources) module expands the file field widget and allows the user to select new or existing files through additional means, including re-use files by an auto-complete textfield, attach server-side files uploaded via FTP, transfer files from a remote server (cURL required) and select existing files through the [IMCE file browser](http://drupal.org/project/imce).
The [Media](http://drupal.org/project/media) module (2.x) provides and additional file field widget which use its media browser to upload or select a (media) file. | I know this an old thread, but <https://drupal.org/project/media> does what you want. (or at least the goal of media is to do what you want.)
If you can use media 2.x (as I write this there are several show stoppers with wysiwyg editors and 2.x) I would go that route. |
40,260,402 | I have the following cases that should match with a regular expression, I've tried several combinations and have read a lot of answers but still no clue on how to solve it.
the rule is, find any combination of . inside a quoted string, atm I have the following regexp
\"\w\*((..)|(.))\w\*\"
that covers most of the cases:
mmmas"A.F"asdaAA
196.34.45.."asd."@
".add"
sss"a.aa"sss
".."
"a.."
"a..a"
"..A"
but still having problems with this one:
"WERA.HJJ..J"
I've been testing the regpexp in the <http://regexr.com/> site
I will really appreciate any help on this | 2016/10/26 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/40260402",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/7074606/"
] | You can't decode password from its hash. You can only [encode new password and match it with hash](https://docs.spring.io/spring-security/site/docs/current/apidocs/org/springframework/security/crypto/password/PasswordEncoder.html).
You can modify Alfresco Share to store raw password in custom user aspect, but this is very bad practice. Admin shouldn't know user password. | The final answer has been posted in Auto-generation of email with username and random password on creation of new user-- by @Imagine |
6,429 | In Vertigo's series *[iZOMBIE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IZOMBIE)* by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred, the existence of classic monsters in that universe is explained through the concept of the oversoul and the undersoul. From Wikipedia:
>
> The "monsters" in iZOMBIE are explained via the concepts of over- and
> undersoul. The oversoul (as in Ralph Waldo Emerson's The Oversoul) is
> "seated in the brain, contains the thoughts, memories, and and
> personality", while the undersoul (as in Michael McClure's poem
> Dark Brown) is "seated in the heart, contains the appetites, emotions
> and fears". Ghosts are thus bodiless oversouls; poltergeists,
> bodiless undersouls; vampires bodies without undersouls (thirsting for
> emotions); and zombies, bodies without oversouls. Revenants, like
> Gwen, are unique in that they possess both oversouls and undersouls.
> Souls can also "infect" the living, which accounts for the possessed
> and werewolves and the like.
>
>
>
My question is, **has this concept ever been applied to monsters before, or is this appropriation a unique characteristic of *iZOMBIE*?** | 2011/10/25 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/6429",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/2383/"
] | The basic idea of the body having multiple souls, and a "monster" being the result of one of them remaining in the body after death, was one I borrowed from the Chinese legends of the Jiang Shi (the "Undead," sometimes known in the West as "hopping vampires), but expanding that idea to account for all manner of western monster types was original to iZombie. | I cannot say for a fact that this has never been used before, but I'm fairly well versed in these matters and have never heard of it.
Google searches for those terms are...difficult, given the Emmerson piece and the band..but given that the band doesn't seem to be crazy popular, I'd have to say Google doesn't know much about the subject.
At the very least, the terminology is unique to iZOMBIE. The concept also seems to be unique, though it's certain to be inspired by something (although I cannot say what inspired it, or to what degree). |
6,429 | In Vertigo's series *[iZOMBIE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IZOMBIE)* by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred, the existence of classic monsters in that universe is explained through the concept of the oversoul and the undersoul. From Wikipedia:
>
> The "monsters" in iZOMBIE are explained via the concepts of over- and
> undersoul. The oversoul (as in Ralph Waldo Emerson's The Oversoul) is
> "seated in the brain, contains the thoughts, memories, and and
> personality", while the undersoul (as in Michael McClure's poem
> Dark Brown) is "seated in the heart, contains the appetites, emotions
> and fears". Ghosts are thus bodiless oversouls; poltergeists,
> bodiless undersouls; vampires bodies without undersouls (thirsting for
> emotions); and zombies, bodies without oversouls. Revenants, like
> Gwen, are unique in that they possess both oversouls and undersouls.
> Souls can also "infect" the living, which accounts for the possessed
> and werewolves and the like.
>
>
>
My question is, **has this concept ever been applied to monsters before, or is this appropriation a unique characteristic of *iZOMBIE*?** | 2011/10/25 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/6429",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/2383/"
] | I cannot say for a fact that this has never been used before, but I'm fairly well versed in these matters and have never heard of it.
Google searches for those terms are...difficult, given the Emmerson piece and the band..but given that the band doesn't seem to be crazy popular, I'd have to say Google doesn't know much about the subject.
At the very least, the terminology is unique to iZOMBIE. The concept also seems to be unique, though it's certain to be inspired by something (although I cannot say what inspired it, or to what degree). | Best example on 'undersoul' critters? "Forbidden Planet", a scence fiction movie audacious in that WE fly the flying saucers, a whole civilization's suggested by its artifacts, and its use of straight-up Freudian psychology. |
6,429 | In Vertigo's series *[iZOMBIE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IZOMBIE)* by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred, the existence of classic monsters in that universe is explained through the concept of the oversoul and the undersoul. From Wikipedia:
>
> The "monsters" in iZOMBIE are explained via the concepts of over- and
> undersoul. The oversoul (as in Ralph Waldo Emerson's The Oversoul) is
> "seated in the brain, contains the thoughts, memories, and and
> personality", while the undersoul (as in Michael McClure's poem
> Dark Brown) is "seated in the heart, contains the appetites, emotions
> and fears". Ghosts are thus bodiless oversouls; poltergeists,
> bodiless undersouls; vampires bodies without undersouls (thirsting for
> emotions); and zombies, bodies without oversouls. Revenants, like
> Gwen, are unique in that they possess both oversouls and undersouls.
> Souls can also "infect" the living, which accounts for the possessed
> and werewolves and the like.
>
>
>
My question is, **has this concept ever been applied to monsters before, or is this appropriation a unique characteristic of *iZOMBIE*?** | 2011/10/25 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/6429",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/2383/"
] | The basic idea of the body having multiple souls, and a "monster" being the result of one of them remaining in the body after death, was one I borrowed from the Chinese legends of the Jiang Shi (the "Undead," sometimes known in the West as "hopping vampires), but expanding that idea to account for all manner of western monster types was original to iZombie. | A similar principle is used by James Rollins (writing as James Clemens) in his [Godslayer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rollins#Godslayer) series but applied to "gods" rather than monsters. That said, the gods could sometimes be
considered to be monsters in the books.
In this example the "gods" are beings who are made up of *three* parts:
* The part the peoples of Myrillia normally interact with
* The "aethryn" part which is "good"/"light"
* The "naethryn" part which is "evil"/"dark" |
6,429 | In Vertigo's series *[iZOMBIE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IZOMBIE)* by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred, the existence of classic monsters in that universe is explained through the concept of the oversoul and the undersoul. From Wikipedia:
>
> The "monsters" in iZOMBIE are explained via the concepts of over- and
> undersoul. The oversoul (as in Ralph Waldo Emerson's The Oversoul) is
> "seated in the brain, contains the thoughts, memories, and and
> personality", while the undersoul (as in Michael McClure's poem
> Dark Brown) is "seated in the heart, contains the appetites, emotions
> and fears". Ghosts are thus bodiless oversouls; poltergeists,
> bodiless undersouls; vampires bodies without undersouls (thirsting for
> emotions); and zombies, bodies without oversouls. Revenants, like
> Gwen, are unique in that they possess both oversouls and undersouls.
> Souls can also "infect" the living, which accounts for the possessed
> and werewolves and the like.
>
>
>
My question is, **has this concept ever been applied to monsters before, or is this appropriation a unique characteristic of *iZOMBIE*?** | 2011/10/25 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/6429",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/2383/"
] | The basic idea of the body having multiple souls, and a "monster" being the result of one of them remaining in the body after death, was one I borrowed from the Chinese legends of the Jiang Shi (the "Undead," sometimes known in the West as "hopping vampires), but expanding that idea to account for all manner of western monster types was original to iZombie. | Best example on 'undersoul' critters? "Forbidden Planet", a scence fiction movie audacious in that WE fly the flying saucers, a whole civilization's suggested by its artifacts, and its use of straight-up Freudian psychology. |
6,429 | In Vertigo's series *[iZOMBIE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IZOMBIE)* by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred, the existence of classic monsters in that universe is explained through the concept of the oversoul and the undersoul. From Wikipedia:
>
> The "monsters" in iZOMBIE are explained via the concepts of over- and
> undersoul. The oversoul (as in Ralph Waldo Emerson's The Oversoul) is
> "seated in the brain, contains the thoughts, memories, and and
> personality", while the undersoul (as in Michael McClure's poem
> Dark Brown) is "seated in the heart, contains the appetites, emotions
> and fears". Ghosts are thus bodiless oversouls; poltergeists,
> bodiless undersouls; vampires bodies without undersouls (thirsting for
> emotions); and zombies, bodies without oversouls. Revenants, like
> Gwen, are unique in that they possess both oversouls and undersouls.
> Souls can also "infect" the living, which accounts for the possessed
> and werewolves and the like.
>
>
>
My question is, **has this concept ever been applied to monsters before, or is this appropriation a unique characteristic of *iZOMBIE*?** | 2011/10/25 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/6429",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/2383/"
] | A similar principle is used by James Rollins (writing as James Clemens) in his [Godslayer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rollins#Godslayer) series but applied to "gods" rather than monsters. That said, the gods could sometimes be
considered to be monsters in the books.
In this example the "gods" are beings who are made up of *three* parts:
* The part the peoples of Myrillia normally interact with
* The "aethryn" part which is "good"/"light"
* The "naethryn" part which is "evil"/"dark" | Best example on 'undersoul' critters? "Forbidden Planet", a scence fiction movie audacious in that WE fly the flying saucers, a whole civilization's suggested by its artifacts, and its use of straight-up Freudian psychology. |
17,611 | Starting this morning, when I turn on my Motorola Milestones screen, it starts to constantly press random positions on the screen (starting applications, etc.) which makes it nearly impossible to use the phone. Most of the clicks are along the right side of the screen.
It started while I was reading an email.
Looks to me, like it is an hardware issue. But since I installed Cyanogen Mod 7 a month ago, maybe it could be related so some sort of touch sensitivity setting I don't know of yet?
Anyone experienced the same issues? Any idea how to solve it?
EDIT:
Seams like a Software issue.
* First I wiped the cache, dalvic cache and reset to factory defaults. But the issue stayed.
* Then I restored the last backup I had using Nandroid and now I have
the exact opposite:
>
> The most right part of the screen is not touchable anymore.
>
>
>
At least that is better, than touching all the time. Still a little annoying.
Any idea how I can fix this? | 2011/12/30 | [
"https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/17611",
"https://android.stackexchange.com",
"https://android.stackexchange.com/users/11119/"
] | There is a lengthy discussion about this on:
<http://androidforums.com/droid-support-troubleshooting/87515-my-droids-touch-screen-going-crazy.html>
The main point seems to relate to either oil and dirt covering the screen and/or heating up issues from dirt within internal components.
There are some suggested solutions such as carefully cleaning the screen and the speaker opening. It also seems to be strongly affected by moisture. | I had this problem recently with my milestone 2. Unfortunately I had to send it to service. Now it works, but whole touch panel was replaced with a new one.
Just to clarify my problems: right column of touch panel (above search button, btw it didn't work as well) didn't work for more than one month. In more extreme weather conditions (temperature below 0 celcius) touch screen was pressed at random positions just like you have described. |
17,611 | Starting this morning, when I turn on my Motorola Milestones screen, it starts to constantly press random positions on the screen (starting applications, etc.) which makes it nearly impossible to use the phone. Most of the clicks are along the right side of the screen.
It started while I was reading an email.
Looks to me, like it is an hardware issue. But since I installed Cyanogen Mod 7 a month ago, maybe it could be related so some sort of touch sensitivity setting I don't know of yet?
Anyone experienced the same issues? Any idea how to solve it?
EDIT:
Seams like a Software issue.
* First I wiped the cache, dalvic cache and reset to factory defaults. But the issue stayed.
* Then I restored the last backup I had using Nandroid and now I have
the exact opposite:
>
> The most right part of the screen is not touchable anymore.
>
>
>
At least that is better, than touching all the time. Still a little annoying.
Any idea how I can fix this? | 2011/12/30 | [
"https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/17611",
"https://android.stackexchange.com",
"https://android.stackexchange.com/users/11119/"
] | There is a lengthy discussion about this on:
<http://androidforums.com/droid-support-troubleshooting/87515-my-droids-touch-screen-going-crazy.html>
The main point seems to relate to either oil and dirt covering the screen and/or heating up issues from dirt within internal components.
There are some suggested solutions such as carefully cleaning the screen and the speaker opening. It also seems to be strongly affected by moisture. | This seems similar to an issue I had this summer: I ended up having to get a new phone.
[Semi-Dead Zone on Touch Screen On Droid 1](https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/11308/semi-dead-zone-on-touch-screen-on-droid-1)
Basically there was a horizontal bar worth of space on the screen that seemed to have random touches firing, and also in the same zone, it often wasn't registering my real touches. It was definitely a game of chance, and it was progressively getting worse. It got so bad I couldn't accept phone calls.
There was a comment on mine that suggested it was an electrical connection problem that could cause inconsistent contact -- which explains the spazzing out on my phone. This could very well be your problem, too.
I don't think it's a software issue. If you flashed a new image on there or restored a backup of before you started having issues and you're still having issues, that almost rules out software issue.
Though it's interesting that now you're having the opposite happen. But that's also similar to my problem, the fact that sometimes it'd go crazy with click misfires, and other times it'd be completely dead.
If it is indeed the same problem I had, unfortunately it's not really a user-servicable solution.. you're gonna have to either get a new phone or a warranty/insurance claim.
Good luck to you! Maybe all the issues people are having with their touch screens will convince the manufacturers to start using quality wiring. (Not really, but one can wish, right?) |
17,611 | Starting this morning, when I turn on my Motorola Milestones screen, it starts to constantly press random positions on the screen (starting applications, etc.) which makes it nearly impossible to use the phone. Most of the clicks are along the right side of the screen.
It started while I was reading an email.
Looks to me, like it is an hardware issue. But since I installed Cyanogen Mod 7 a month ago, maybe it could be related so some sort of touch sensitivity setting I don't know of yet?
Anyone experienced the same issues? Any idea how to solve it?
EDIT:
Seams like a Software issue.
* First I wiped the cache, dalvic cache and reset to factory defaults. But the issue stayed.
* Then I restored the last backup I had using Nandroid and now I have
the exact opposite:
>
> The most right part of the screen is not touchable anymore.
>
>
>
At least that is better, than touching all the time. Still a little annoying.
Any idea how I can fix this? | 2011/12/30 | [
"https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/17611",
"https://android.stackexchange.com",
"https://android.stackexchange.com/users/11119/"
] | There is a lengthy discussion about this on:
<http://androidforums.com/droid-support-troubleshooting/87515-my-droids-touch-screen-going-crazy.html>
The main point seems to relate to either oil and dirt covering the screen and/or heating up issues from dirt within internal components.
There are some suggested solutions such as carefully cleaning the screen and the speaker opening. It also seems to be strongly affected by moisture. | This really doesn't sound like a software problem i'm afraid. Almost certainly hardware.
Your only choice really is to send it to the service center, as mentioned.
Sorry i couldn't be of more help.
P.S
Before sending it to the service center, put the stock rom back onto it! |
17,611 | Starting this morning, when I turn on my Motorola Milestones screen, it starts to constantly press random positions on the screen (starting applications, etc.) which makes it nearly impossible to use the phone. Most of the clicks are along the right side of the screen.
It started while I was reading an email.
Looks to me, like it is an hardware issue. But since I installed Cyanogen Mod 7 a month ago, maybe it could be related so some sort of touch sensitivity setting I don't know of yet?
Anyone experienced the same issues? Any idea how to solve it?
EDIT:
Seams like a Software issue.
* First I wiped the cache, dalvic cache and reset to factory defaults. But the issue stayed.
* Then I restored the last backup I had using Nandroid and now I have
the exact opposite:
>
> The most right part of the screen is not touchable anymore.
>
>
>
At least that is better, than touching all the time. Still a little annoying.
Any idea how I can fix this? | 2011/12/30 | [
"https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/17611",
"https://android.stackexchange.com",
"https://android.stackexchange.com/users/11119/"
] | I had this problem recently with my milestone 2. Unfortunately I had to send it to service. Now it works, but whole touch panel was replaced with a new one.
Just to clarify my problems: right column of touch panel (above search button, btw it didn't work as well) didn't work for more than one month. In more extreme weather conditions (temperature below 0 celcius) touch screen was pressed at random positions just like you have described. | This seems similar to an issue I had this summer: I ended up having to get a new phone.
[Semi-Dead Zone on Touch Screen On Droid 1](https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/11308/semi-dead-zone-on-touch-screen-on-droid-1)
Basically there was a horizontal bar worth of space on the screen that seemed to have random touches firing, and also in the same zone, it often wasn't registering my real touches. It was definitely a game of chance, and it was progressively getting worse. It got so bad I couldn't accept phone calls.
There was a comment on mine that suggested it was an electrical connection problem that could cause inconsistent contact -- which explains the spazzing out on my phone. This could very well be your problem, too.
I don't think it's a software issue. If you flashed a new image on there or restored a backup of before you started having issues and you're still having issues, that almost rules out software issue.
Though it's interesting that now you're having the opposite happen. But that's also similar to my problem, the fact that sometimes it'd go crazy with click misfires, and other times it'd be completely dead.
If it is indeed the same problem I had, unfortunately it's not really a user-servicable solution.. you're gonna have to either get a new phone or a warranty/insurance claim.
Good luck to you! Maybe all the issues people are having with their touch screens will convince the manufacturers to start using quality wiring. (Not really, but one can wish, right?) |
17,611 | Starting this morning, when I turn on my Motorola Milestones screen, it starts to constantly press random positions on the screen (starting applications, etc.) which makes it nearly impossible to use the phone. Most of the clicks are along the right side of the screen.
It started while I was reading an email.
Looks to me, like it is an hardware issue. But since I installed Cyanogen Mod 7 a month ago, maybe it could be related so some sort of touch sensitivity setting I don't know of yet?
Anyone experienced the same issues? Any idea how to solve it?
EDIT:
Seams like a Software issue.
* First I wiped the cache, dalvic cache and reset to factory defaults. But the issue stayed.
* Then I restored the last backup I had using Nandroid and now I have
the exact opposite:
>
> The most right part of the screen is not touchable anymore.
>
>
>
At least that is better, than touching all the time. Still a little annoying.
Any idea how I can fix this? | 2011/12/30 | [
"https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/17611",
"https://android.stackexchange.com",
"https://android.stackexchange.com/users/11119/"
] | I had this problem recently with my milestone 2. Unfortunately I had to send it to service. Now it works, but whole touch panel was replaced with a new one.
Just to clarify my problems: right column of touch panel (above search button, btw it didn't work as well) didn't work for more than one month. In more extreme weather conditions (temperature below 0 celcius) touch screen was pressed at random positions just like you have described. | This really doesn't sound like a software problem i'm afraid. Almost certainly hardware.
Your only choice really is to send it to the service center, as mentioned.
Sorry i couldn't be of more help.
P.S
Before sending it to the service center, put the stock rom back onto it! |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.