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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
340,993 | I have a Flash app made up of AS3 components that I am trying to run in Flex.
In Flash, after the main component is added to the stage, the loader object (loaderInfo.loader) is null which is fine and I handle that.
In Flex, on the applicationComplete event I add the the main component to the stage and the loader object's getter throws an exception - Error #2099: The loading object is not sufficiently loaded to provide this information.
Also, the INIT event, which is dispatched when the properties and methods of a loaded SWF file are accessible, is not firing which is probably part of the problem. But I can't figure out why it is not being dispatched.
Any ideas why the same code has two different results? | 2008/12/04 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/340993",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/43244/"
] | As the first try, you should download and install Emacs 22.3 for your Windows box and then compare the speed.
Speed difference shouldn't be that big after upgrade. | Perhaps it is the big value you assign to fill-column (they suggest less than 80). |
520,832 | I just started studying electrical engineering. So far I'm trying to figure things out by visualizing the electron flow and density in different scenarios. But I'm having a hard time when it comes to this particular case.
For example, in this configuration the capacitor is fully charged, and the voltage difference between ground and the lower pin on the capacitor is essentially 0.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IibM6.png)
When the switch is opened , the voltage difference between ground and the same pin is suddenly 5 volts.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NXrgW.png)
I understand that ground should be seen as a zero level for the circuit, and following that rule this makes sense. I just can't quite grasp how this works on the electron level. I believe the capacitor pin that's connected to ground has a higher density of electrons than ground itself, but because the other side of the capacitor has a lower density of electrons, it ends up "pulling" the electrons on the other side. And that's why the potential difference between ground and the lower pin ends up as 0.
Is this correct? If we removed the plate on the opposite side of the ground pin, would there be a potential difference between ground and the plate that's left? | 2020/09/10 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/520832",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/262672/"
] | >
> So far I'm trying to figure things out by visualizing the electron flow and density in different scenarios.
>
>
>
I believe this is a tempting but often misleading way to learn; electrons themselves do lots of counter-intuitive things, and for most circuit analysis problems you're better off thinking simply in terms of "charge".
It is also important to remember that "ground" is just a label and that every component has only "local knowledge".
So, in the classical charge-and-voltage-fields model: the capacitor gets a charge difference such that the potential difference across its plates is 5V, and the top plate is the more positive. (This will correspond to more electrons on the negative plate).
When the switch is thrown, there is a loop allowing current to flow around from the top plate of the capacitor, through the resistor, and back to the bottom plate of the capacitor. It does so.
Looking from the ground, it is now connected to the top plate of the capacitor. The top plate is 5V more positive than the bottom plate, so we label the bottom plate -5V. This will decrease as it discharges. | If the capacitor is charged to 5V over its terminals and you flip the switch, it will still have 5V over its terminals and it starts discharging. What might confuse you is that the switch sets the absolute voltage of the capacitor positive terminal to either 5V or 0V, which will also change the absolute voltage of capacitor negative terminal from 0V to -5V as the capacitor has 5V over it. Try swapping the resistor and capacitor if it makes more sense to you. |
520,832 | I just started studying electrical engineering. So far I'm trying to figure things out by visualizing the electron flow and density in different scenarios. But I'm having a hard time when it comes to this particular case.
For example, in this configuration the capacitor is fully charged, and the voltage difference between ground and the lower pin on the capacitor is essentially 0.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IibM6.png)
When the switch is opened , the voltage difference between ground and the same pin is suddenly 5 volts.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NXrgW.png)
I understand that ground should be seen as a zero level for the circuit, and following that rule this makes sense. I just can't quite grasp how this works on the electron level. I believe the capacitor pin that's connected to ground has a higher density of electrons than ground itself, but because the other side of the capacitor has a lower density of electrons, it ends up "pulling" the electrons on the other side. And that's why the potential difference between ground and the lower pin ends up as 0.
Is this correct? If we removed the plate on the opposite side of the ground pin, would there be a potential difference between ground and the plate that's left? | 2020/09/10 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/520832",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/262672/"
] | [There are two closely related notions of capacitance: self capacitance and mutual capacitance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitance). The capacitor's mutual capacitance arises because its two plates, separated by a dielectric material, can store electrical charges, each plate store charges of opposite signs. Besides, the capacitor, as any other body, can store an excessive "common" charge of either sign, and this capability defines the capacitor's self-capacitance. In a way, self-capacitance is a mutual capacitance of a compound capacitor having two plates, one is the capacitor body, the other is a common "ground".
In your circuit, the 200uF capacitor has a mutual capacitance of 200uf, and an unspecified self-capacitance. When you flip a switch, the charges redistribute between the capacitor body (including its plates and dielectric) and the ground, while the mutual capacitance provides the voltage drop that starts the current through the resistor. When the charges stored due to self-capacitance redistribute through the circuit, the potential at the node between the capacitor and the resistor changes from zero to minus five volts. The details of this redistribution also depend on configuration of wires and the resistor, but these factors balance each other in such a way that the voltage drop across the resistor equals the value of the capacitor voltage, because the capacitor's mutual capacitance is much greater than its self-capacitance.
[simulate this circuit](/plugins/schematics?image=http%3a%2f%2fi.stack.imgur.com%2fmO6cr.png) – Schematic created using [CircuitLab](https://www.circuitlab.com/) | If the capacitor is charged to 5V over its terminals and you flip the switch, it will still have 5V over its terminals and it starts discharging. What might confuse you is that the switch sets the absolute voltage of the capacitor positive terminal to either 5V or 0V, which will also change the absolute voltage of capacitor negative terminal from 0V to -5V as the capacitor has 5V over it. Try swapping the resistor and capacitor if it makes more sense to you. |
520,832 | I just started studying electrical engineering. So far I'm trying to figure things out by visualizing the electron flow and density in different scenarios. But I'm having a hard time when it comes to this particular case.
For example, in this configuration the capacitor is fully charged, and the voltage difference between ground and the lower pin on the capacitor is essentially 0.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IibM6.png)
When the switch is opened , the voltage difference between ground and the same pin is suddenly 5 volts.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NXrgW.png)
I understand that ground should be seen as a zero level for the circuit, and following that rule this makes sense. I just can't quite grasp how this works on the electron level. I believe the capacitor pin that's connected to ground has a higher density of electrons than ground itself, but because the other side of the capacitor has a lower density of electrons, it ends up "pulling" the electrons on the other side. And that's why the potential difference between ground and the lower pin ends up as 0.
Is this correct? If we removed the plate on the opposite side of the ground pin, would there be a potential difference between ground and the plate that's left? | 2020/09/10 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/520832",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/262672/"
] | >
> So far I'm trying to figure things out by visualizing the electron flow and density in different scenarios.
>
>
>
I believe this is a tempting but often misleading way to learn; electrons themselves do lots of counter-intuitive things, and for most circuit analysis problems you're better off thinking simply in terms of "charge".
It is also important to remember that "ground" is just a label and that every component has only "local knowledge".
So, in the classical charge-and-voltage-fields model: the capacitor gets a charge difference such that the potential difference across its plates is 5V, and the top plate is the more positive. (This will correspond to more electrons on the negative plate).
When the switch is thrown, there is a loop allowing current to flow around from the top plate of the capacitor, through the resistor, and back to the bottom plate of the capacitor. It does so.
Looking from the ground, it is now connected to the top plate of the capacitor. The top plate is 5V more positive than the bottom plate, so we label the bottom plate -5V. This will decrease as it discharges. | [There are two closely related notions of capacitance: self capacitance and mutual capacitance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitance). The capacitor's mutual capacitance arises because its two plates, separated by a dielectric material, can store electrical charges, each plate store charges of opposite signs. Besides, the capacitor, as any other body, can store an excessive "common" charge of either sign, and this capability defines the capacitor's self-capacitance. In a way, self-capacitance is a mutual capacitance of a compound capacitor having two plates, one is the capacitor body, the other is a common "ground".
In your circuit, the 200uF capacitor has a mutual capacitance of 200uf, and an unspecified self-capacitance. When you flip a switch, the charges redistribute between the capacitor body (including its plates and dielectric) and the ground, while the mutual capacitance provides the voltage drop that starts the current through the resistor. When the charges stored due to self-capacitance redistribute through the circuit, the potential at the node between the capacitor and the resistor changes from zero to minus five volts. The details of this redistribution also depend on configuration of wires and the resistor, but these factors balance each other in such a way that the voltage drop across the resistor equals the value of the capacitor voltage, because the capacitor's mutual capacitance is much greater than its self-capacitance.
[simulate this circuit](/plugins/schematics?image=http%3a%2f%2fi.stack.imgur.com%2fmO6cr.png) – Schematic created using [CircuitLab](https://www.circuitlab.com/) |
24,793,663 | It seems counter intuitive that calculating more vertices instead of just reading more from vram would be faster. But if memory bandwidth is the issue that makes tessellation worth it, then why do things like displacement mapping exist? In the tessellation shader, if you read from a texture, you accessing vram more anyway. Are texture look ups less expensive than more original vertices? Why is tessellation fast?
Say you had an vertex amplification of 32 with a very low polygon model. Would this be faster than say a higher polygon model with only a tessellation vertex amplification of 8 or something. Or in other words, do you linearly gain performance with the more you tessellate? | 2014/07/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/24793663",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1525061/"
] | There is no single point that gives tessellation better performance in every possible instance. Different benefits and trade offs apply in every use case. Some things that might contribute to making tessellation faster than alternatives:
* **Memory Bandwidth:** Modern computers are largely limited by memory speeds. Even if you use textures, a single read could be as low as 4 bytes instead of the 32+ bytes typically required to store vertex data.
* **Level of Detail (LOD):** With tessellation shaders you can avoid having areas that too detailed while still insuring that the rest of the scene has sufficient detail.
* **Fewer Verticies:** Means fewer executions of the vertex shader and every stage of the pipeline before that.
* **Less CPU Overhead:** Potentially requires fewer draw calls, especially if you no longer have to do LOD on the CPU.
There are probably other factors that I have missed... | The point of tessellation is that you use more vertexes where it is useful (close to the camera) and fewer vertexes where it is less useful (distant from camera). So you can get the effect of much more detailed geometry without having to use it everywhere in the scene. |
24,793,663 | It seems counter intuitive that calculating more vertices instead of just reading more from vram would be faster. But if memory bandwidth is the issue that makes tessellation worth it, then why do things like displacement mapping exist? In the tessellation shader, if you read from a texture, you accessing vram more anyway. Are texture look ups less expensive than more original vertices? Why is tessellation fast?
Say you had an vertex amplification of 32 with a very low polygon model. Would this be faster than say a higher polygon model with only a tessellation vertex amplification of 8 or something. Or in other words, do you linearly gain performance with the more you tessellate? | 2014/07/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/24793663",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1525061/"
] | There's always a trade off between processor and memory. Tessellation is a way that you can save memory and bandwidth but at the cost of GPU performance.
**Why you should use tessellation:**
Tessellation with displacement maps significantly reduces memory bandwidth for animated or multi-instance objects in the scene. But its not very useful for static single objects.
Lets say you have a sprite that is running across the screen. If the sprite is a high detail (1 million plus vertices) then each time the animation routine moves/deforms the mesh, all 1 million vertices are transformed and reloaded to the GPU each frame.
However if you use a low detail model (50-100k vertices) with tessellation and displacement. Then you store the displacement map on the gpu once. you update the 50k mesh for animation and reload significantly less mesh each frame, then the GPU tessellates up to 4-5 million virts using the displacement map which is already loaded.
The end result is that you get 2-4x the mesh detail with 1/20th the memory bandwidth. Now imagine you have 20-30 of these sprites on screen at a time.
**Why you should not use tessellation:** To add this detail on the fly the gpu has to burn up processing power in order to calculate the 3d position of each tessellated vertex before it starts running all the other shaders.
The major distinction you need to watch out for is that this only helps you when you are instancing and/or animating geometry.
If you have a high detail static mesh that never moves and only have one instance of it on the screen, then it is faster to upload the geometry in full detail. Tessellation would just add complexity and eat up cycles in the pipeline.
**There is a trade-off:**
There is a slight memory bandwidth perk you get by using tessellation for static meshes. Because vertices need 3 coordinates of floating point to be understood by the gpu. But sampling a displacement map uses 1 coordinate of fixed point data to be useful. Because the displacement map is normalized against adjacent vertices. So it calculates the extra data on the fly. But this calculation is performed every frame for each tessellated vertex. This eats up shader time that would not be needed if you used static mesh.
However if you turn the tessellation down or off for LOD purposes it SAVES shader time for objects that don't need detail, compared to a high detail static mesh.
So tessellation is always a good idea for improving detail on dynamic/instanced meshes.
But for static meshes or singleton meshes, its a trade off between LOD capability and pipeline complexity. A high detail mesh in the distance is burning up more compute time then a tessellated mesh with tessellation turned off. But a high detail mesh in the foreground takes up less compute time than a tessellated mesh with tessellation turned up.
One big thing to consider however is that slowly turning up the tessellation as an object gets closer, looks way better than instantly replacing a low detail mesh with a high detail mesh. So when smooth LOD is a big concern then definitely go with tessellation.
...or use tessellation to a certain point, then replace it with a high detail mesh. But that's only a good idea if you are not worried about running out of memory and keep both versions on the gpu at all times. Otherwise you will be burning up bandwidth again swapping them around.
Again, always a trade off between memory usage and processor usage. | The point of tessellation is that you use more vertexes where it is useful (close to the camera) and fewer vertexes where it is less useful (distant from camera). So you can get the effect of much more detailed geometry without having to use it everywhere in the scene. |
24,793,663 | It seems counter intuitive that calculating more vertices instead of just reading more from vram would be faster. But if memory bandwidth is the issue that makes tessellation worth it, then why do things like displacement mapping exist? In the tessellation shader, if you read from a texture, you accessing vram more anyway. Are texture look ups less expensive than more original vertices? Why is tessellation fast?
Say you had an vertex amplification of 32 with a very low polygon model. Would this be faster than say a higher polygon model with only a tessellation vertex amplification of 8 or something. Or in other words, do you linearly gain performance with the more you tessellate? | 2014/07/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/24793663",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1525061/"
] | There is no single point that gives tessellation better performance in every possible instance. Different benefits and trade offs apply in every use case. Some things that might contribute to making tessellation faster than alternatives:
* **Memory Bandwidth:** Modern computers are largely limited by memory speeds. Even if you use textures, a single read could be as low as 4 bytes instead of the 32+ bytes typically required to store vertex data.
* **Level of Detail (LOD):** With tessellation shaders you can avoid having areas that too detailed while still insuring that the rest of the scene has sufficient detail.
* **Fewer Verticies:** Means fewer executions of the vertex shader and every stage of the pipeline before that.
* **Less CPU Overhead:** Potentially requires fewer draw calls, especially if you no longer have to do LOD on the CPU.
There are probably other factors that I have missed... | There's always a trade off between processor and memory. Tessellation is a way that you can save memory and bandwidth but at the cost of GPU performance.
**Why you should use tessellation:**
Tessellation with displacement maps significantly reduces memory bandwidth for animated or multi-instance objects in the scene. But its not very useful for static single objects.
Lets say you have a sprite that is running across the screen. If the sprite is a high detail (1 million plus vertices) then each time the animation routine moves/deforms the mesh, all 1 million vertices are transformed and reloaded to the GPU each frame.
However if you use a low detail model (50-100k vertices) with tessellation and displacement. Then you store the displacement map on the gpu once. you update the 50k mesh for animation and reload significantly less mesh each frame, then the GPU tessellates up to 4-5 million virts using the displacement map which is already loaded.
The end result is that you get 2-4x the mesh detail with 1/20th the memory bandwidth. Now imagine you have 20-30 of these sprites on screen at a time.
**Why you should not use tessellation:** To add this detail on the fly the gpu has to burn up processing power in order to calculate the 3d position of each tessellated vertex before it starts running all the other shaders.
The major distinction you need to watch out for is that this only helps you when you are instancing and/or animating geometry.
If you have a high detail static mesh that never moves and only have one instance of it on the screen, then it is faster to upload the geometry in full detail. Tessellation would just add complexity and eat up cycles in the pipeline.
**There is a trade-off:**
There is a slight memory bandwidth perk you get by using tessellation for static meshes. Because vertices need 3 coordinates of floating point to be understood by the gpu. But sampling a displacement map uses 1 coordinate of fixed point data to be useful. Because the displacement map is normalized against adjacent vertices. So it calculates the extra data on the fly. But this calculation is performed every frame for each tessellated vertex. This eats up shader time that would not be needed if you used static mesh.
However if you turn the tessellation down or off for LOD purposes it SAVES shader time for objects that don't need detail, compared to a high detail static mesh.
So tessellation is always a good idea for improving detail on dynamic/instanced meshes.
But for static meshes or singleton meshes, its a trade off between LOD capability and pipeline complexity. A high detail mesh in the distance is burning up more compute time then a tessellated mesh with tessellation turned off. But a high detail mesh in the foreground takes up less compute time than a tessellated mesh with tessellation turned up.
One big thing to consider however is that slowly turning up the tessellation as an object gets closer, looks way better than instantly replacing a low detail mesh with a high detail mesh. So when smooth LOD is a big concern then definitely go with tessellation.
...or use tessellation to a certain point, then replace it with a high detail mesh. But that's only a good idea if you are not worried about running out of memory and keep both versions on the gpu at all times. Otherwise you will be burning up bandwidth again swapping them around.
Again, always a trade off between memory usage and processor usage. |
24,793,663 | It seems counter intuitive that calculating more vertices instead of just reading more from vram would be faster. But if memory bandwidth is the issue that makes tessellation worth it, then why do things like displacement mapping exist? In the tessellation shader, if you read from a texture, you accessing vram more anyway. Are texture look ups less expensive than more original vertices? Why is tessellation fast?
Say you had an vertex amplification of 32 with a very low polygon model. Would this be faster than say a higher polygon model with only a tessellation vertex amplification of 8 or something. Or in other words, do you linearly gain performance with the more you tessellate? | 2014/07/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/24793663",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1525061/"
] | There is no single point that gives tessellation better performance in every possible instance. Different benefits and trade offs apply in every use case. Some things that might contribute to making tessellation faster than alternatives:
* **Memory Bandwidth:** Modern computers are largely limited by memory speeds. Even if you use textures, a single read could be as low as 4 bytes instead of the 32+ bytes typically required to store vertex data.
* **Level of Detail (LOD):** With tessellation shaders you can avoid having areas that too detailed while still insuring that the rest of the scene has sufficient detail.
* **Fewer Verticies:** Means fewer executions of the vertex shader and every stage of the pipeline before that.
* **Less CPU Overhead:** Potentially requires fewer draw calls, especially if you no longer have to do LOD on the CPU.
There are probably other factors that I have missed... | (In the context of OpenGL)
As others have already stated, the use of tessellation can be thought of as a trade between gpu compute time being increased, and a reduction in bandwidth between the application and OpenGL.
Which makes sense when you think about it right? If you're not sending all of the vertices over, there must be some method available to obtain their positions.
Most modern applications define a model(a collection of vertices etc etc.) somehow, and then send it over to the gpu. One time, thereby negating the majority of use cases in which you would want to prefer Tessellation to increase "performance" (performance being higher framerate/ lower execution time I'm assuming) So long as you have enough available memory left on the GPU do this.
In the case of animation, you do not have to send up the modified vertices of the model replacing the information already in gpu-memory. Most modern applications use a collection of bones, and weights that can even exist on the gpu. You send up a uniform variable like time,and that is all that the application is required to do. The rest is done on the GPU.
Even a statically predefined set of LOD meshes can be uploaded to the GPU before you enter into a main display / rendering loop. The trade off is that you will not be able to control the granularity of detail even nearly as closely as you would be able to with tessellation.
So if we can modify the data on the gpu without sending more data from the application than if we were using tessellation, why or when would we EVER want to use tessellation?
1. As others have already stated, absolute control over LOD is one good reason.
2. Dynamic content generation. It is a whole lot more efficient (faster in frames/execution time) to let the gpu ADD vertices in place than to send over a whole new mesh you generated on the CPU or even new "bits" of the mesh from the application.
3. When you have already filled up every iota of memory on the gpu and you simply can't store anything else in buffers.
A simple conclusion in summation.
How can tessellation increase performance?
When it is impossible to define and upload vertex data from an application to a gpu BEFORE you begin rendering. That is the only time tessellation is the right decision. More often than not, this is untrue. |
24,793,663 | It seems counter intuitive that calculating more vertices instead of just reading more from vram would be faster. But if memory bandwidth is the issue that makes tessellation worth it, then why do things like displacement mapping exist? In the tessellation shader, if you read from a texture, you accessing vram more anyway. Are texture look ups less expensive than more original vertices? Why is tessellation fast?
Say you had an vertex amplification of 32 with a very low polygon model. Would this be faster than say a higher polygon model with only a tessellation vertex amplification of 8 or something. Or in other words, do you linearly gain performance with the more you tessellate? | 2014/07/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/24793663",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1525061/"
] | There's always a trade off between processor and memory. Tessellation is a way that you can save memory and bandwidth but at the cost of GPU performance.
**Why you should use tessellation:**
Tessellation with displacement maps significantly reduces memory bandwidth for animated or multi-instance objects in the scene. But its not very useful for static single objects.
Lets say you have a sprite that is running across the screen. If the sprite is a high detail (1 million plus vertices) then each time the animation routine moves/deforms the mesh, all 1 million vertices are transformed and reloaded to the GPU each frame.
However if you use a low detail model (50-100k vertices) with tessellation and displacement. Then you store the displacement map on the gpu once. you update the 50k mesh for animation and reload significantly less mesh each frame, then the GPU tessellates up to 4-5 million virts using the displacement map which is already loaded.
The end result is that you get 2-4x the mesh detail with 1/20th the memory bandwidth. Now imagine you have 20-30 of these sprites on screen at a time.
**Why you should not use tessellation:** To add this detail on the fly the gpu has to burn up processing power in order to calculate the 3d position of each tessellated vertex before it starts running all the other shaders.
The major distinction you need to watch out for is that this only helps you when you are instancing and/or animating geometry.
If you have a high detail static mesh that never moves and only have one instance of it on the screen, then it is faster to upload the geometry in full detail. Tessellation would just add complexity and eat up cycles in the pipeline.
**There is a trade-off:**
There is a slight memory bandwidth perk you get by using tessellation for static meshes. Because vertices need 3 coordinates of floating point to be understood by the gpu. But sampling a displacement map uses 1 coordinate of fixed point data to be useful. Because the displacement map is normalized against adjacent vertices. So it calculates the extra data on the fly. But this calculation is performed every frame for each tessellated vertex. This eats up shader time that would not be needed if you used static mesh.
However if you turn the tessellation down or off for LOD purposes it SAVES shader time for objects that don't need detail, compared to a high detail static mesh.
So tessellation is always a good idea for improving detail on dynamic/instanced meshes.
But for static meshes or singleton meshes, its a trade off between LOD capability and pipeline complexity. A high detail mesh in the distance is burning up more compute time then a tessellated mesh with tessellation turned off. But a high detail mesh in the foreground takes up less compute time than a tessellated mesh with tessellation turned up.
One big thing to consider however is that slowly turning up the tessellation as an object gets closer, looks way better than instantly replacing a low detail mesh with a high detail mesh. So when smooth LOD is a big concern then definitely go with tessellation.
...or use tessellation to a certain point, then replace it with a high detail mesh. But that's only a good idea if you are not worried about running out of memory and keep both versions on the gpu at all times. Otherwise you will be burning up bandwidth again swapping them around.
Again, always a trade off between memory usage and processor usage. | (In the context of OpenGL)
As others have already stated, the use of tessellation can be thought of as a trade between gpu compute time being increased, and a reduction in bandwidth between the application and OpenGL.
Which makes sense when you think about it right? If you're not sending all of the vertices over, there must be some method available to obtain their positions.
Most modern applications define a model(a collection of vertices etc etc.) somehow, and then send it over to the gpu. One time, thereby negating the majority of use cases in which you would want to prefer Tessellation to increase "performance" (performance being higher framerate/ lower execution time I'm assuming) So long as you have enough available memory left on the GPU do this.
In the case of animation, you do not have to send up the modified vertices of the model replacing the information already in gpu-memory. Most modern applications use a collection of bones, and weights that can even exist on the gpu. You send up a uniform variable like time,and that is all that the application is required to do. The rest is done on the GPU.
Even a statically predefined set of LOD meshes can be uploaded to the GPU before you enter into a main display / rendering loop. The trade off is that you will not be able to control the granularity of detail even nearly as closely as you would be able to with tessellation.
So if we can modify the data on the gpu without sending more data from the application than if we were using tessellation, why or when would we EVER want to use tessellation?
1. As others have already stated, absolute control over LOD is one good reason.
2. Dynamic content generation. It is a whole lot more efficient (faster in frames/execution time) to let the gpu ADD vertices in place than to send over a whole new mesh you generated on the CPU or even new "bits" of the mesh from the application.
3. When you have already filled up every iota of memory on the gpu and you simply can't store anything else in buffers.
A simple conclusion in summation.
How can tessellation increase performance?
When it is impossible to define and upload vertex data from an application to a gpu BEFORE you begin rendering. That is the only time tessellation is the right decision. More often than not, this is untrue. |
315,037 | we have a multi brand shop with 60K+ of products.
Every brand has it's own way of dimensions.
Which results in an attribute list of 500+ entries.
Attribute: POS-size
Here is a screenshot of this:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/WklZK.png)
But this list is to big to use for a filter on front-end.
Thats why we have added an extra attribute for this. To simplify all these sizes.
This attribute is: size-frontend
Here is a screenshot:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/CJO21.png)
After I have made new products (added via a POS system) I have to manually update the simple product with the size-frontend attribute.
Some examples:
Pos-size -> size-frontend
50 -> 50
50/56 -> 50 & 56
56 -> 56
56/62 -> 56 & 62
56-62 -> 56 & 62
This costs a lot of time, and I think think this could be done automatically (through a script or an extension) after making some kind of conversion table.
And it should also be able to give an starting product-id, from where it should start.
Does anyone know how to do this? Or know an extension which can do this?
It should be done in the backend, in a special screen like this:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6O9A3.jpg)
Now i have to filter the products on the pos-size, than update these products in bulk to the desired filterable attribute size(s)
It would be nice if i could run this by selecting the desired products and apply this action. WHich could be placed in the actions menu with the products | 2020/06/14 | [
"https://magento.stackexchange.com/questions/315037",
"https://magento.stackexchange.com",
"https://magento.stackexchange.com/users/2687/"
] | This sounds like its fairly easily solvable with a custom module, I don't think there is anything available off the shelf that will relate one set of attributes to another set.
What you could do is build a module that triggers off a product being saved and then updates the customer facing sizes based on a relationship table (maybe written in a csv to make it updatable or an admin grid ui).
That way when a product is saved those frontend sizes are (re)populated with the correct values. For simplicity you could even hardcode those relationships but it makes updating them require dev time.
It's definitely not a 5 min job but not that bad. Custom module with a plugin to trigger on the product before the save function, match the POS sizes to the related frontend sizes, apply them to the product attribute and then allow the product to save as normal. | I have updated one of my free modules to cater for your use case. The script has 3 parameters and the first 2 parameter are the attributes to sync.
The script fetches all the products for which theirs values for both attributes differ. In your case, although your catalog is big, the query may return at a time 500 products and at the very most 5k I'd imagine.
But if you have concerns with speed, you can run the scripts by chunks:
For instance, running the below 10 times will go through 100k products in no time
php bin/magento mbs:attributes:sync pos\_maat kledingmaat\_zichtbaar 1000
The module is public and is available at:
<https://bitbucket.org/magstaging/productattributeupdate/src/master/>
Sometimes, I forget to make them public but this one was used once so I believe it is already checked and is indeed public.
Please do backup your database before using the module.
I suggest to run the script on 1 or 2 products first and verify it works for you.. then only roll it out on the full catalog.
I could add an improvement whereby going forward aplugin like the answer below could kick in for every products being changed. But given the script is now optmised, it should be quite easily to just rely on a cron that you may want to setup. |
227,483 | I am using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and want to upgrade it to 12.10. Please send me step by step info for this process. Will my personal data be lost? If yes, then how to protect it? | 2012/12/10 | [
"https://askubuntu.com/questions/227483",
"https://askubuntu.com",
"https://askubuntu.com/users/113565/"
] | <http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/upgrade>
This has the step by step instruction for using the graphical Software Update. Very easy to use. | use this command:
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
your home directory will remain the same with current (before update), also your program/software installed. So, you do not worry about loss your data. |
2,591,985 | My java application functionality is to provide reference data (basically loads lots of data from xml files into hashmap) and hence we request for one such data from the hashmap based on a id and we have such multiple has map for different set of business data. The problem is that when i tried executing the java application for the same request multiple times, the response times are different like 31ms, 48ms, 72ms, 120ms, 63ms etc. hence there is a considerable gap between the min and max time taken for the execution to complete. Ideally, i would expect the response times to be like, 63ms, 65ms, 61ms, 70ms, 61ms, but in my case the variation of the response time for the same request is varying hugely. I had used a opensource profile to understand if there is any extra execution of the methods or memory leak, but as per my understanding there was no problem. Please let me know what could be the reasons and how can i address this problem. | 2010/04/07 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/2591985",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/310886/"
] | There could be many causes:
* Is your Java application restarted for each run? If not, it could be that the garbage collector kicks in at an unfortunate time. If so, the JVM startup time could be responsible for the variations.
* Is anything else running on that machine?
* Is the disk cache "warmed up" in some cases, but not in others? That is, have the files been recently accessed so that they are still in memory?
* If this is a networked application, is there any network activity during the measurements?
* If there is a remote machine involved (e.g. a database server or a file server), do the above apply to that machine as well?
Use a profiler to find out which piece of code is responsible for the variations in time. | If you don't run a real-time system, then you can't be sure it will execute within a certain time.
OSes constantly do other things, mostly housekeeping tasks, and providing the system other services. This easily will slow down the rest of your system for 50ms.
There also might be time that you need to wait for IO. Such as harddisks or network communication.
Besides that there is also the fact that your JVM doesn't do any real-time promises. This can mean the garbage collector runs through. The effect of this is very small on a normal application, but can be large if you create and forget lots of objects (as you might do when loading many or large files).
Finally it can be your algorithm (do you run the same data each time?) if you have different data, you can have different execution times. |
19,831,816 | for developing I use IntelliJ. Is here anybody who knows if is there configuration how to wrap the division of the text to new line (press enter) that'+' operator will be placed on **the new line**?
I have also next question.
Is there configuration how to freeze my tabs in code? Because when I used it and after that I used **Reformat Code** action, my tabs have been lost.
Thanks | 2013/11/07 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/19831816",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/2596932/"
] | The StackoverFlow answer link in @Viliam comment is the correct answer, at least in theory... there is a bug that prevents this from working for Strings: [Settings "Operation sign on next line" does not work for automatically breaking strings](http://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-80495). I recommend you vote for it. | For tab/space:
open Settings (Ctrl + Alt + S), go to:
Code Style / Java under Tabs and Indents you have "Use tab character".
For String with + on new line, I searched also this one few weeks ago and didn't find it! |
1,722,490 | I have a new laptop which happily updated to Windows 11 and an older Lenovo stationary whose Xeon E3-1241 processor is not supported by Windows 11 so it has to happily keep running Windows 10 (except that Windows update nags me).
What is the criteria that my CPU fails so I cannot upgrade? | 2022/05/23 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/1722490",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/7401/"
] | The requirements as given by Microsoft are at [Windows 11 specs, features, and computer requirements](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-specifications).
For the CPU requirements they state:
>
> 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a [compatible 64-bit processor](http://aka.ms/CPUlist) or System on a Chip (SoC).
>
>
>
Note that "compatible 64-bit processor" is a link.
It links to [Windows Processor Requirements](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-hardware/design/minimum/windows-processor-requirements) where you can find the supported processors for almost every recent edition of Windows.
From there you can find [Windows 11 Supported Processors.](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-supported-intel-processors) if your processor is not on that list then it is not supported.
Microsoft only support 8th generation or newer, and presumably their Xeon equivalents, on Windows 11. | If you want to know exactly what criteria is missing in your computer,
download [WhyNotWin11](https://www.whynotwin11.com/download/).
This utility analyzes each requirement for Windows 11 :
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/exFU0.png) |
122,977 | Why can't maximum zoom (ie the change in size of an object on screen) consistently be stated on compact cameras? I am aware of the complications with focal length and lens size but I am only interested in how much the camera can magnify. | 2021/03/14 | [
"https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/122977",
"https://photo.stackexchange.com",
"https://photo.stackexchange.com/users/98047/"
] | The most useful specification for comparing how much of the image frame you can fill with a distant subject is a normalised maximum focal length. For historical reasons we consider an image sensor the size of a 35mm film frame to be "normal", so this specification is quoted as the "35mm equivalent" focal length.
For example, a Sony RX100 VII is advertised as having an 8x zoom, with a 24-200mm "35mm equivalent" focal length range.
By comparison, the competing Panasonic Lumix LX100 II is advertised as having a 3x zoom with a 24-75mm "35mm equivalent" focal length range.
These focal length equivalents are (largely) comparable, so the Sony will enlarge a distant subject to fill (200/75) = 2.67x more of the width (or height) of the frame. You can compare the specifications of other cameras in the same way.
Consider a superzoom camera like a Canon Powershot SX70HS. With an advertised 65x zoom and a 21-1365mm "35mm equivalent" focal length range, it will fill (1365/200) = 6.8x as much of the frame with a distant subject as the Sony RX100 VII, and over 18x as much as the Panasonic LX100 II.
However, this extraordinary range does not come without compromises. This telephoto reach is achieved by pairing a lens of modest focal length with a tiny image sensor.
All things being equal a larger image sensor gives better image quality than a smaller one, and the sensor in the Panasonic is around 7.5x as large as the one in the Canon superzoom giving it a dramatic advantage in image quality.
Similarly, it is worth mentioning that in general lenses with larger zoom ratios are optically inferior to those with modest zoom ratios. In professional camera lenses, ratios of around 3x are common because in this range a lens can be designed for very high quality while retaining a reasonable size and weight. "Prosumer" tier lenses may have zoom ratios up to about 11x while retaining a size/weight/quality tradeoff acceptable in that market.
Superzoom cameras, with their attention-grabbing ratios spanning ranges of 30x, 65x, even 125x, generally have very poor optical performance in addition to their small sensors, and ultimately create a highly compromised image. | Likely what you are after is to cause the software of the camera display magnification as you zoom. Further, you would like this value to be equal with the power as related to binocular or telescope. However, you need to know that most authorities deem such a value valueless. This is because our modern cameras are miniatures meaning the image of objects will likely be a reduction (not a magnified view).
That being said, we can categorize the zoom, wide-angle, “normal”, or telephoto. So let me try to explain. The industry considers the “normal” view to happen when the focal length setting is approximately equal to the corner-to-corner (diagonal) measure of the format. Try looing up your camera’s specifications to find out the size of its imaging chip. If its is a compact digital, it will be 16mm height by 24mm length. The diagonal of this rectangle is about 30mm. Thus in this case, a zoom setting of 30mm delivers a “normal” angle-of-view. The angle of view will be about 45°, camera held horizontal (landscape). This is considered “normal” or magnification 1 as compared to binoculars. This is not without caveats. This is because we will view the camera’s miniature image on a computer monitor or a print on paper and these procedures yield an enlargement. In other words, the additional magnification complicates. Nevertheless, a focal length about equal to the diagonal measure is usually considered “normal”. Not to be confused by macro work where magnification 1 is a life size image projected by the lens onto the digital image sensor. To achieve, the object is placed about 2 times the focal length away from the front of the camera.
OK we’ve got “normal” down, now for wide-angle, this will be a setting of about 70% of “normal” or shorter. For the compact digital, this will be 30 X 0.7 = about 20mm or shorter. The realm of telephoto is about 2X normal. For the compact digital (APS-C format) that 60mm or longer.
To put this all together, you need to know what the “normal” focal length for your camera. Gleaning this data might take some research on your part. If your camera came with a Kit zoom lens. It will have a range of likely 18 thru 50mm or the like, you can bet that the center of its span will be OK to consider as “normal”.
Next imprint fact. Each time the focal length doubles, the image size projected by the lens doubles. Conversely if you zoom out 2X focal length, the magnification drops by ½.
Suppose you are using an APS-C with a 240mm lens. What is the equal magnification compared to binoculars? “Normal” of this format is 30mm. Zoom to 240mm and the magnification is 240 ÷ 30 = 8 (about equal to 8X binocular).
Nobody said this stuff is easy! |
3,118 | In many fantasy stories, there are creatures called Dire Wolves. What's a Dire Wolf, how is it different from existing wolves? | 2011/04/27 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/3118",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] | [Wikipedia says](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_Wolf) they're not fictional, although some stories may give them supernatural properties. They're an extinct species that existed from the [Early Pleistocene](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Pleistocene) to [Late Pleistocene](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Pleistocene) stages (roughly between 1.8 million – 10,000 years ago) in North and South America. Dire Wolves were one of many [Pleistocene Megafauna](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene_megafauna), which are basically large animals that existed at that time, which included sabre-toothed cats, mammoths, giant lemurs, and giant sloths. Dire Wolves are larger than [gray wolves](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Wolf) (the largest existing type of wolf), averaging 5 ft in length and 240 lbs, although they tended to have shorter legs proportionally than gray wolves. | Generally, "Dire" animals are larger, more vicious versions of existing animals. They're common in RPGs like D&D and other games or fiction with similar fantasy themes. In D&D (at least in more recent editions), in addition to being larger dire animals also tend to have bony plates and spikes. |
207,503 | During the SSL/TLS handshake we are checking the authentication of the client and the server.
During this process certificate chain also comes into the picture to trust/complete the certificate chain.
The question is, **Why we need to trust the CA ? what are the things justifies that we should trust that CA ?**
Thanks in advance. | 2019/04/16 | [
"https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/207503",
"https://security.stackexchange.com",
"https://security.stackexchange.com/users/204709/"
] | >
> Why we need to trust the CA
>
>
>
We don't need to trust the CA but we could try to explicitly contact the owners of each website we visit to check if the certificate we get is the certificate they actually serve or if there is some man in the middle in between (which would result in a different certificate). Of course, you would need to have some protected way to contact the site owners so that a potential attacker could not just fake the reply of the site owner.
Of course, this does not scale well and that's why there is the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) with trusted CA certificates as roots and certificates for the websites as leaves. For the exact process how this verification can be done by just using some trusted CA instead of trusting each sites certificate explicitly see [SSL Certificate framework 101: How does the browser actually verify the validity of a given server certificate?](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/56389/ssl-certificate-framework-101-how-does-the-browser-actually-verify-the-validity).
>
> what are the things justifies that we should trust that CA ?
>
>
>
These are basically the same things that make you run the operating system created by some company, the browser created by some other company, have your mail managed by yet another company, buy food without the fear that it will be poisonous, drive a care without fearing that it will fall apart while driving ... - you trust that somebody else did a proper job and also will not deliberately betray you. This is essentially the basis on how people live together.
Of course, not all of that trust is justified: The CA might have been compromised or might have been ordered by the government to issue certificates which can be used to hijack specific communications. The browser or operating system might have backdoors. The food might be poisoned. Somebody might have planted a bomb at the car. But that's the risk one is usually willing to take because it is small enough. Of course, depending on where you live it might actually be an unbearable risk so you might need to take additional measures to protect you and your communication. | That is equivalent to saying 'how can we trust police ?'.
Everything works hierarchically. Browsers and devices trust a CA by accepting the Root Certificate into its root store – essentially a database of approved CAs that come pre-installed with the browser or device. Windows operates a root store, as does Apple and a few other big ones. So basically, they are so powerful that they enforced browsers to automatically accept them as the most trusted and therefore if you trust them, you trust their 'IDs' too. Equivalent: Your citizen ID card which is emitted by your government and anyone will recognize it as trusted. This is the highest trust level.
Now if an entity is not that powerful, it has can have a next trust tier option: to sub-ordinate their certificates to one of the big main ones. Equivalent: Your drivers license card that can be emitted by a local (county) authority but that authority complies with government rules. Because of that, it will also end up as recognized by everyone. This is the second trust level. An example of such company is VMWare that currently is not a CA but may become one in the future.
Finally, a self-signed SSL Certificate is an identity certificate that is signed by the same entity whose identity it certifies. The problem here is that it will not be recognized by default by anyone. It's like you being a person print your own drivers permit. Well, this will be not recognized by anyone. Now if in your private area you and your neighbors accept to use your own private drivers permit and move around in your own areas, there is no problem there. All neighbors can accept each other's self-emitted drivers permits. But if you go in any public place with them, the permits will not be accepted. |
743,472 | The National Ignition fusion recently [announced](https://www.llnl.gov/news/national-ignition-facility-achieves-fusion-ignition) the achievement of nuclear fusion "ignition", i.e. more energy released from a sample undergoing nuclear fusion reactions than was directly input into the sample by lasers (*not* the total energy required to power all the lasers, which was still much higher than the produced energy).
My understanding is that one of the [main design decisions](https://inference-review.com/article/the-quest-for-fusion-energy) for a hypothetical practical nuclear fusion reactor is whether to use deuterium or tritium isotopes (or both) as the hydrogen fuel source. Tritium has the advantage that it undergoes nuclear fusion at a lower temperature than deuterium, so it is a "better" fuel source in terms of intrinsic physical properties, but it has the disadvantage of being much, much more expensive and challenging than deuterium to produce in large quantities.
How much deuterium and tritium did the NIF's hohlraum contain in its ignition demonstration? [This](https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.2.20221213a/full/) is the only source I could find that discussed the hohlraum's fuel contents, and it just said that the hohlraum contained a "deuterium–tritium fuel", but didn't give the relative proportions. Was it a roughly even mix of both isotopes?
(I'm also curious what pressure the "peppercorn" of hydrogen fuel was kept at before the lasers were activated, and what phase of matter it was in at that pressure at room temperature. Presumably it was a plasma when the lasers caused ignition.) | 2023/01/02 | [
"https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/743472",
"https://physics.stackexchange.com",
"https://physics.stackexchange.com/users/92058/"
] | You have a loop composed entirely of wire from the positive to negative battery terminal. A "short circuit". A large current will flow. Neither the bulb nor the Earth connection are involved. | The earth connection is meaningless. You are putting a direct short across the battery so the potential will be essentially zero.
Now if you had connections to earth at two locations, as in the diagram below, then there would be a potential difference across the bulb, the amount depending on the relative resistance of the path through earth at the location, resistance of the bulb, and internal battery resistance.
Hope this helps.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Al1z6.jpg) |
7,350,129 | I have a split view form with a subform in it. In the datasheet part of the split view Access displays a plus (+) that allows the user to display the subform for that record.
I want to prevent this behavior. How can I hide the subform from the datasheet section, but not the form section?
Even when all the subform columns are hidden the plus remains, even though it expands to show an empty subform.
Can the datasheet section be handled independent of the form view? | 2011/09/08 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/7350129",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/359964/"
] | Try changing the table (split form's recordsource) properties (see picture below).
This may not be ideal solution since it will affect all forms (with datasheet views) that are based on the underlying table, though.
 | 1. insert new (blank) subform (set visible NO)
2. set it lowest Tab Order among subforms (must be the first)
plus sign disapears |
210,939 | As far as I know a pronoun "I" is usually omitted when personal achievements are being described (writing in "First person implied"). For example it's better to write:
>
> Performed a review of the project's source code.
>
>
>
than:
>
> I performed a review of the project's source code.
>
>
>
But the second statement I want to write is
>
> For each review issue **I proposed** a way to fix it.
>
>
>
and it just seems to me that omitting "I" here looks a little unusual:
>
> For each review issue **proposed** a way to fix it.
>
>
>
Am I right? And If I am, then what is the correct, natural way to write that? | 2019/05/16 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/210939",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/88608/"
] | This is a [zeugma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeugma_and_syllepsis): "I had" refers to the meaning of "perambulator" as a baby carriage (from which te word "pram" is derived"). "I was" refers to its meaning of "someone who walks". | I'm not sure if it's technically a pun or just some wordplay, but you are definitely interpreting it correctly, yes. |
182,899 | Similar to [this question](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/99468/which-star-trek-character-appeared-on-screen-with-the-most-different-ranks) on ranks, and [this question](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/31810/which-actor-has-portrayed-the-most-distinct-roles-in-the-star-trek-universe) on roles, I would like to know which Star Trek character has appeared on screen with the most official positions?
What I am excluding is "acting" positions, such as Chekov filling in as acting science officer in Spock's absence, or acting captain when the captain is off duty. These are official, titled main jobs.
Altered timelines are in play, I don't want Q manipulations, as they are just vagaries of whim at the time. Anything where the official governing body of the force/structure the person is attached to at the time says "You are X" for your main job counts.\*\*
\*\* *Note: This would exclude appointed tasks that are finite in nature, even though they may have a title attached. For example, Riker was assigned as a prosecutor in [Measure of a Man](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Measure_Of_A_Man_(episode)), but that was an adjunct to his actual title/role of First Officer, Enterprise* | 2018/03/05 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/182899",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/12305/"
] | Worf would be the logical guess. He appears in more episodes than anyone else, over two different series, and also has a tendency to briefly take on positions in the Klingon Empire during episodes that focus on it. I can find at least 10 or 11 positions for him that fit your requirement:
* Bridge officer on the 1701-D (season 1 of TNG)
* Security chief on the 1701-D (remainder of TNG)
* Tactical officer on the IKS Hegh'ta ("Redemption II")
* Ops officer on the 1701-D (during "The Most Toys" when everyone thinks Data is dead)
* First officer on the 1701-D (altered timeline in "Parallels")
* Strategic operations officer on Deep Space 9 (most of DS9)
* Commander of the Defiant (intermittently throughout DS9 and in *First Contact*)
* First officer of the IKS Rotarran (Dominion War)
* Klingon High Chancellor (for about 5 seconds during the DS9 finale)
* Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire (as of the end of DS9)
and possibly:
* Klingon governor of Haatoria (future timeline in "All Good Things", if you think that timeline actually "happened" in some sense) | This answer contains spoilers for multiple episodes.
I would think someone more qualified than me could make a good argument for Picard. However, I will give this a start to mention some of the more unique assignments. There's...
1. Captain
* (surprise! Picard's been a captain of a starship!)
* Assigned by Rear Admiral Noral Satie, Starfleet command, Stardate 41148)
2. Arbiter of (Klingon) Succession ([Memory Alpha: TnG: Reunion](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Reunion_(episode)))
* assigned by Klingon Chancellor K'mpec
3. Worf's Cha'DIch ([Memory Alpha: TnG: Sins of the Father](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Sins_of_the_Father_(episode)))
* Picard fills in after Commander Kurn is attacked
* This seems to be a very official position in the Klingon judicial system. (It led to Picard being in room, having a rather private conversation with the Klingon Chancellor.)
4. Undercover operative ([Memory Alpha: Chain of Command](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Chain_of_Command,_Part_I_(episode)))
* Vice Admiral Nechayev who then assigns Jellico as Captain of the Enterprise (so Picard is, quite clearly, no longer in the same position of being active Captain of the Enterprise). Since Picard is no longer Captain of the Enterprise, he is clearly being officially assigned a different position. Picard's role as captain was replaced with this role as undercover operative (assigned by the Federation), until that was effectively replaced by the Cardassians who assigned him a new role...
5. "Human" ([Memory Alpha: Chain of Command, Part 2](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Chain_of_Command,_Part_II_(episode)))
* No, the word "human" is not just Picard's species. This is different than when many characters call Worf by a reference of "Klingon". When Picard is a prisoner, a Cardassian Interrogator/Torturer tells Picard to expect to be referred to "only as human. *You have no other identity.*" This is an assigned by someone with some local authority.
* However, there is one argument that could be made that this isn't clearly an official position. Although prison populations can have some hierarchy that may have offered Picard some changes, there's the compelling case that Picard may have retained his permanently-assigned identity even if his position changed to something else (like an enslavened servant of someone of high official rank).
6. Ambassador to Humanity ([Memory Alpha: The Best of Both Worlds](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Best_of_Both_Worlds_(episode)))
* This is a position assigned to him by the Borg Collective. This official role is basically to let Humanity know the Borg's directives. Locutus of Borg fully complies with the expectations of this position.
7. Dead. ([Memory Alpha: TNG episode named "Gambit"](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Gambit))
* *This is actually my personal favorite part of the whole answer.* However, some people understandably don't consider "dead" to be a position. Well, if "Prisoner of War" is a recognized role/title, then I would suggest that so is "casualty". (So I propose using that term if you find that easier to accept.)
* Although this assignment/declaration was based on incorrect information, the Federation officially considered him to be dead for some time, as local evidence indicated he was killed. Starfleet invalidated his command codes, which demonstrates Picard's officially assigned and recognized status was "dead".
* Even once we the viewing audience found Picard was acting as a mercenary named Galen, this doesn't mean that Starfleet knew this quite so early. Starfleet still thought him to be dead for some time yet.
* Starfleet apparently has not officially updated Picard's status by the end of this two-part episode, which plays a part in the humorous final scene (where Data is seen sending Riker to the brig).
* Granted, Riker's role was "Acting Captain" until they got all this sorted out. So that wouldn't fit the criteria being asked for. But Picard's assigned position is different because that assignment wasn't meant to be a temporary thing. This was not a temporary ruse as part of an undercover mission. The intent was an unfortunate expectation of Picard keeping this status in the (very) long term. (This position definitely comes with a change in expected duties.)
8. Crew member on Mercenary ship ([Memory Alpha: TNG episode named "Gambit"](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Gambit))
* Picard was going by the name of Galen - serving under Baran. This would have been his official position, performing archaeological tests under the oversight of Tallera. The position may have been untitled, but his role and duties were clear.
* He was accepted as a crew member by Baran, who would have granted him this position (while Starfleet simultaneously had marked Picard's position as being deceased)
9. Commander/leader/captain of the smuggler ship the mercenary ship that Baran previously led ([Memory Alpha: TNG episode named "Gambit"](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Gambit))
* After a mutinee that killed Baran, Picard gave orders for where the ship should go next, and they were followed
10. Defending Legal Council ([Memory Alpha: The Measure of a Man](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Measure_Of_A_Man_(episode)))
* Assigned by Captain Louvois, from Judge Advocate General's office on Starbase 173. This assignment came after Picard referred to some legal regulations
* Basically, officers were used as legal council. As a result of this official assignment, Picard essentially acted like a lawyer/attorney defending Data, arguing for Data's sentience. (Riker didn't like his related official assignment of taking the opposing side.)
11. Prosecutor ([Memory Alpha: TNG episode named "Devil's Due"](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Devil%27s_Due_(episode)))
* He went against Ardra, a woman who claimed to be the devil. In there, he challenged Ardra's claim, so arguably he was the prosecution.
* There are other times we see Picard in a courtroom. This one may be particularly noteworthy, compared to other court scenes, because the position he held here was fulfilling a role in the Ventaxian judicial system, rather than being part of Federation Justice.
12. The Picard ([Memory Alpha: Who Watches The Watchers TNG episode)](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Who_Watches_The_Watchers_(episode)))
* Referred to as "The Overseer" earlier in the episode, Picard's name is revealed to a village who then bestow this title onto the supreme deity.
* I had an inclination to not count this, as this title was bestowed by the town's official timekeeper, a position with no clear official authority to determine new supreme deities.
* However, the timekeeper's actions do seem widely accepted in this small society which is willing to operate on consensus. Lacking a more formalized structure, the fact that multiple villagers perform multiple actions (standing watch, hunting an escapee) indicates Picard's official title did have both recognition and support by the locals. This seems to be how the village seemed to operate.
* Further, "The Picard" became a title that was recognized by the local governing structure, and gave Jean-Luc a unique role if The Picard would choose to communicate with his follows (which he eventually does).
13. Best Man ([Memory Alpha: Star Trek (TnG) Nemesis](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek_Nemesis) movie)
* William and Deanna Troi's Wedding
* Presumably assigned by the groom (based on current Earth tradition, which may not have been how this was assigned). If so, this title as assigned to Picard by someone who had a superior official position in the wedding.
* This led to Picard doing the right thing of giving a speech. So, this official position led to him having a title for the role, and he performed a related duty (speaking) on-screen.
* However, consensus seemed to be leaning in the direction of this not counting (presumably because of the short duration). I wasn't so eager to increase the overall count, so I've moved this to the status of not being one of the counted positions.
I propose also accepting:
14. Officer, having just graduated from being a cadet ([Memory Alpha: Tapestry](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Tapestry_(episode)).)
* Picard refers to being an officer, having recently graduated from cadet status, waiting for first assignment. (Starfleet would have assigned Picard in this status.)
* Despite being seen in a reality created by Q, this was a historical re-creation and Picard was actually stabbed in the chest, so this wasn't just Q's fiction/manipulation, so I think that solidly counts. Unlike other Q manipulations, when Picard first sees this (near the start of the episode), Picard didn't question its authenticity at all.
I've thought of several other roles, that I determined can't be countable:
* Ambassador (future, [Memory Alpha: All Good Things](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/All_Good_Things..._(episode))) (if Worf's Klingon governor of Haatoria and High Council Member from the future counts, so should this. However, my take is that many people consider the future to be a Q manipulation, so based on the original post/question, I'm thinking this should not be counted.)
* Commanding Officer ([Memory Alpha: All Good Things...](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/All_Good_Things..._(episode)) has a Q-corrupted version of this seen on-screen)
+ Just prior to gaining control of the Enterprise, we see Tasha Yar near Picard.
+ Furthermore, "commanding officer" may be a description, rather than a clear position/rank. Picard's rank may have still just been "Captain" the whole time, so I've determined this does not count as a separate title.
* Champion of April 2323 Starfleet Academy Marathon (mentioned ([Memory Alpha: The Best of Both Worlds](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Best_of_Both_Worlds_(episode)) Part 2), but we don't see Picard in that role on-screen)
* keynote speaker of 2367 Federation Archaeology Council (I'm not offhand sure if this was on-screen at all, so at least for now I'm not counting it)
* Child ([Memory Alpha: Rascals](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Rascals)) - not really officially assigned position
* Captain of the Stargazer ([Memory Alpha: "The Battle"](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Battle))
+ Although this is seen on-screen, it seems that the actual on-screen footage of this position involved a Ferrengi mind-control device. As such, this fits in the "acting captain" category of being rather temporary by nature in that episode. Although Picard clearly had this official position, I'm not offhand aware of this showing on-screen in another episode, so far now I'm deeming it non-counted.)
* [Memory Alpha: The Inner Light](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Inner_Light) - Anything related to this episode, where Picard lives many years in an alternate life on a planet. Although from Picard's experience, he likely had multiple positions, and they were on-screen, it was a fantasy that conceptually was quite similar to a Q storyline, which the original post/question indicates isn't counted. In our real-time, Picard was unconscious only briefly, so no real official position was granted.
I would think that Picard, noted as an accomplished diplomat, has likely had several other honorific or functional titles in ambassadorial/diplomatic/negotiating roles, but these are just ones come up with so far. (In truth, I'm rather pleased with the variety of official positions sources/authorities from whom some of these official positions were granted.)
---
Edit-related Notes: This answer is not fully applicable to the current phrasing of the question. Most of this answer was initially written for an earlier version of the question. Later the question was modified in a way that specifically excludes some of parts of this answer, including the two that I felt most happy about. Rather than gut my favorite parts (which showed some creativity during answering) to leave a less amusing hollow shell version of the answer, I'm choosing to largely leave this in tact, even though some people (including the question asker) seem unlikely to agree with interpretations on whether certain posts should count.
Since I believe many people read this site for entertainment, I'm planning to leave this fun answer to continue serving its desired purpose. |
182,899 | Similar to [this question](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/99468/which-star-trek-character-appeared-on-screen-with-the-most-different-ranks) on ranks, and [this question](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/31810/which-actor-has-portrayed-the-most-distinct-roles-in-the-star-trek-universe) on roles, I would like to know which Star Trek character has appeared on screen with the most official positions?
What I am excluding is "acting" positions, such as Chekov filling in as acting science officer in Spock's absence, or acting captain when the captain is off duty. These are official, titled main jobs.
Altered timelines are in play, I don't want Q manipulations, as they are just vagaries of whim at the time. Anything where the official governing body of the force/structure the person is attached to at the time says "You are X" for your main job counts.\*\*
\*\* *Note: This would exclude appointed tasks that are finite in nature, even though they may have a title attached. For example, Riker was assigned as a prosecutor in [Measure of a Man](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Measure_Of_A_Man_(episode)), but that was an adjunct to his actual title/role of First Officer, Enterprise* | 2018/03/05 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/182899",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/12305/"
] | Worf would be the logical guess. He appears in more episodes than anyone else, over two different series, and also has a tendency to briefly take on positions in the Klingon Empire during episodes that focus on it. I can find at least 10 or 11 positions for him that fit your requirement:
* Bridge officer on the 1701-D (season 1 of TNG)
* Security chief on the 1701-D (remainder of TNG)
* Tactical officer on the IKS Hegh'ta ("Redemption II")
* Ops officer on the 1701-D (during "The Most Toys" when everyone thinks Data is dead)
* First officer on the 1701-D (altered timeline in "Parallels")
* Strategic operations officer on Deep Space 9 (most of DS9)
* Commander of the Defiant (intermittently throughout DS9 and in *First Contact*)
* First officer of the IKS Rotarran (Dominion War)
* Klingon High Chancellor (for about 5 seconds during the DS9 finale)
* Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire (as of the end of DS9)
and possibly:
* Klingon governor of Haatoria (future timeline in "All Good Things", if you think that timeline actually "happened" in some sense) | The [Dax symbiont](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dax_(Star_Trek)) seems worth mentioning, though it's in a grey area. It is at once several distinct characters yet also one continuous character. In [one episode](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Dax_(episode)) there was a trial concerned with whether or not a current host is legally the same as prior ones, and so subject to punishments for the crimes of previous hosts. While arguments for both sides were given at length, no actual verdict was rendered as the trial ended when witness testimony negated the alleged crimes. Also many of the roles we see the symbiont and its hosts take on are only given in flashbacks or during the [Zhian'tara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhian%27tara) [episode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facets_(Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_Nine)). Still, the OP doesn't specifically exclude backstories detailed on-screen, so...
* **Lela Dax**: Trill legislator.
* **Tobin Dax**: Engineer and mathematician. We're not told if he holds some specific "position", though one assumes he at least had a formal title suitable for an engineer or mathematician. Also appears in the novel *Star Trek Enterprise : Rise of the Federation - A Choice of Futures* as the leader of a team from the Cochrane Institute.
* **Emony Dax**: Olympic gymnast.
* **Audrid Dax**: Head of the Trill Symbiosis Commission.
* **Torias Dax**: Starfleet shuttle test pilot.
* **Joran Dax**: Musician. And psychopathic murderer. This one plays a more substantive role, as this personality was initially hidden and suppressed.
* **Curzon Dax**: Diplomat who helped negotiate the Khitomer accords, and mentor to Sisko.
* **Jadzia Dax**: Chief Science Officer of Deep Space Nine.
* **Curzon Odo**: The Curzon personality possesses Odo in the Zhian'tara, resulting in a somewhat unique blend of their personas. He's never formally stripped of Odo's position as Chief of Security, but never formally accepted as it either. The Dax symbiont retains the memories of this experience, which are available to subsequent or current hosts (Jadzia).
* **Ezri Dax**: Station Counselor for Deep Space Nine.
And a dishonorable mention: The symbiont was briefly removed from Jadzia and implanted in a rebel trill who was upset he never got a symbiont. Other than being a former Symbiosis candidate, he was never known to possess any particular positions or titles or even notable roles in society (other than being a candidate, which is significant in their society at least). |
182,899 | Similar to [this question](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/99468/which-star-trek-character-appeared-on-screen-with-the-most-different-ranks) on ranks, and [this question](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/31810/which-actor-has-portrayed-the-most-distinct-roles-in-the-star-trek-universe) on roles, I would like to know which Star Trek character has appeared on screen with the most official positions?
What I am excluding is "acting" positions, such as Chekov filling in as acting science officer in Spock's absence, or acting captain when the captain is off duty. These are official, titled main jobs.
Altered timelines are in play, I don't want Q manipulations, as they are just vagaries of whim at the time. Anything where the official governing body of the force/structure the person is attached to at the time says "You are X" for your main job counts.\*\*
\*\* *Note: This would exclude appointed tasks that are finite in nature, even though they may have a title attached. For example, Riker was assigned as a prosecutor in [Measure of a Man](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Measure_Of_A_Man_(episode)), but that was an adjunct to his actual title/role of First Officer, Enterprise* | 2018/03/05 | [
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/182899",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com",
"https://scifi.stackexchange.com/users/12305/"
] | This answer contains spoilers for multiple episodes.
I would think someone more qualified than me could make a good argument for Picard. However, I will give this a start to mention some of the more unique assignments. There's...
1. Captain
* (surprise! Picard's been a captain of a starship!)
* Assigned by Rear Admiral Noral Satie, Starfleet command, Stardate 41148)
2. Arbiter of (Klingon) Succession ([Memory Alpha: TnG: Reunion](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Reunion_(episode)))
* assigned by Klingon Chancellor K'mpec
3. Worf's Cha'DIch ([Memory Alpha: TnG: Sins of the Father](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Sins_of_the_Father_(episode)))
* Picard fills in after Commander Kurn is attacked
* This seems to be a very official position in the Klingon judicial system. (It led to Picard being in room, having a rather private conversation with the Klingon Chancellor.)
4. Undercover operative ([Memory Alpha: Chain of Command](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Chain_of_Command,_Part_I_(episode)))
* Vice Admiral Nechayev who then assigns Jellico as Captain of the Enterprise (so Picard is, quite clearly, no longer in the same position of being active Captain of the Enterprise). Since Picard is no longer Captain of the Enterprise, he is clearly being officially assigned a different position. Picard's role as captain was replaced with this role as undercover operative (assigned by the Federation), until that was effectively replaced by the Cardassians who assigned him a new role...
5. "Human" ([Memory Alpha: Chain of Command, Part 2](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Chain_of_Command,_Part_II_(episode)))
* No, the word "human" is not just Picard's species. This is different than when many characters call Worf by a reference of "Klingon". When Picard is a prisoner, a Cardassian Interrogator/Torturer tells Picard to expect to be referred to "only as human. *You have no other identity.*" This is an assigned by someone with some local authority.
* However, there is one argument that could be made that this isn't clearly an official position. Although prison populations can have some hierarchy that may have offered Picard some changes, there's the compelling case that Picard may have retained his permanently-assigned identity even if his position changed to something else (like an enslavened servant of someone of high official rank).
6. Ambassador to Humanity ([Memory Alpha: The Best of Both Worlds](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Best_of_Both_Worlds_(episode)))
* This is a position assigned to him by the Borg Collective. This official role is basically to let Humanity know the Borg's directives. Locutus of Borg fully complies with the expectations of this position.
7. Dead. ([Memory Alpha: TNG episode named "Gambit"](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Gambit))
* *This is actually my personal favorite part of the whole answer.* However, some people understandably don't consider "dead" to be a position. Well, if "Prisoner of War" is a recognized role/title, then I would suggest that so is "casualty". (So I propose using that term if you find that easier to accept.)
* Although this assignment/declaration was based on incorrect information, the Federation officially considered him to be dead for some time, as local evidence indicated he was killed. Starfleet invalidated his command codes, which demonstrates Picard's officially assigned and recognized status was "dead".
* Even once we the viewing audience found Picard was acting as a mercenary named Galen, this doesn't mean that Starfleet knew this quite so early. Starfleet still thought him to be dead for some time yet.
* Starfleet apparently has not officially updated Picard's status by the end of this two-part episode, which plays a part in the humorous final scene (where Data is seen sending Riker to the brig).
* Granted, Riker's role was "Acting Captain" until they got all this sorted out. So that wouldn't fit the criteria being asked for. But Picard's assigned position is different because that assignment wasn't meant to be a temporary thing. This was not a temporary ruse as part of an undercover mission. The intent was an unfortunate expectation of Picard keeping this status in the (very) long term. (This position definitely comes with a change in expected duties.)
8. Crew member on Mercenary ship ([Memory Alpha: TNG episode named "Gambit"](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Gambit))
* Picard was going by the name of Galen - serving under Baran. This would have been his official position, performing archaeological tests under the oversight of Tallera. The position may have been untitled, but his role and duties were clear.
* He was accepted as a crew member by Baran, who would have granted him this position (while Starfleet simultaneously had marked Picard's position as being deceased)
9. Commander/leader/captain of the smuggler ship the mercenary ship that Baran previously led ([Memory Alpha: TNG episode named "Gambit"](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Gambit))
* After a mutinee that killed Baran, Picard gave orders for where the ship should go next, and they were followed
10. Defending Legal Council ([Memory Alpha: The Measure of a Man](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Measure_Of_A_Man_(episode)))
* Assigned by Captain Louvois, from Judge Advocate General's office on Starbase 173. This assignment came after Picard referred to some legal regulations
* Basically, officers were used as legal council. As a result of this official assignment, Picard essentially acted like a lawyer/attorney defending Data, arguing for Data's sentience. (Riker didn't like his related official assignment of taking the opposing side.)
11. Prosecutor ([Memory Alpha: TNG episode named "Devil's Due"](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Devil%27s_Due_(episode)))
* He went against Ardra, a woman who claimed to be the devil. In there, he challenged Ardra's claim, so arguably he was the prosecution.
* There are other times we see Picard in a courtroom. This one may be particularly noteworthy, compared to other court scenes, because the position he held here was fulfilling a role in the Ventaxian judicial system, rather than being part of Federation Justice.
12. The Picard ([Memory Alpha: Who Watches The Watchers TNG episode)](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Who_Watches_The_Watchers_(episode)))
* Referred to as "The Overseer" earlier in the episode, Picard's name is revealed to a village who then bestow this title onto the supreme deity.
* I had an inclination to not count this, as this title was bestowed by the town's official timekeeper, a position with no clear official authority to determine new supreme deities.
* However, the timekeeper's actions do seem widely accepted in this small society which is willing to operate on consensus. Lacking a more formalized structure, the fact that multiple villagers perform multiple actions (standing watch, hunting an escapee) indicates Picard's official title did have both recognition and support by the locals. This seems to be how the village seemed to operate.
* Further, "The Picard" became a title that was recognized by the local governing structure, and gave Jean-Luc a unique role if The Picard would choose to communicate with his follows (which he eventually does).
13. Best Man ([Memory Alpha: Star Trek (TnG) Nemesis](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek_Nemesis) movie)
* William and Deanna Troi's Wedding
* Presumably assigned by the groom (based on current Earth tradition, which may not have been how this was assigned). If so, this title as assigned to Picard by someone who had a superior official position in the wedding.
* This led to Picard doing the right thing of giving a speech. So, this official position led to him having a title for the role, and he performed a related duty (speaking) on-screen.
* However, consensus seemed to be leaning in the direction of this not counting (presumably because of the short duration). I wasn't so eager to increase the overall count, so I've moved this to the status of not being one of the counted positions.
I propose also accepting:
14. Officer, having just graduated from being a cadet ([Memory Alpha: Tapestry](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Tapestry_(episode)).)
* Picard refers to being an officer, having recently graduated from cadet status, waiting for first assignment. (Starfleet would have assigned Picard in this status.)
* Despite being seen in a reality created by Q, this was a historical re-creation and Picard was actually stabbed in the chest, so this wasn't just Q's fiction/manipulation, so I think that solidly counts. Unlike other Q manipulations, when Picard first sees this (near the start of the episode), Picard didn't question its authenticity at all.
I've thought of several other roles, that I determined can't be countable:
* Ambassador (future, [Memory Alpha: All Good Things](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/All_Good_Things..._(episode))) (if Worf's Klingon governor of Haatoria and High Council Member from the future counts, so should this. However, my take is that many people consider the future to be a Q manipulation, so based on the original post/question, I'm thinking this should not be counted.)
* Commanding Officer ([Memory Alpha: All Good Things...](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/All_Good_Things..._(episode)) has a Q-corrupted version of this seen on-screen)
+ Just prior to gaining control of the Enterprise, we see Tasha Yar near Picard.
+ Furthermore, "commanding officer" may be a description, rather than a clear position/rank. Picard's rank may have still just been "Captain" the whole time, so I've determined this does not count as a separate title.
* Champion of April 2323 Starfleet Academy Marathon (mentioned ([Memory Alpha: The Best of Both Worlds](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Best_of_Both_Worlds_(episode)) Part 2), but we don't see Picard in that role on-screen)
* keynote speaker of 2367 Federation Archaeology Council (I'm not offhand sure if this was on-screen at all, so at least for now I'm not counting it)
* Child ([Memory Alpha: Rascals](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Rascals)) - not really officially assigned position
* Captain of the Stargazer ([Memory Alpha: "The Battle"](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Battle))
+ Although this is seen on-screen, it seems that the actual on-screen footage of this position involved a Ferrengi mind-control device. As such, this fits in the "acting captain" category of being rather temporary by nature in that episode. Although Picard clearly had this official position, I'm not offhand aware of this showing on-screen in another episode, so far now I'm deeming it non-counted.)
* [Memory Alpha: The Inner Light](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Inner_Light) - Anything related to this episode, where Picard lives many years in an alternate life on a planet. Although from Picard's experience, he likely had multiple positions, and they were on-screen, it was a fantasy that conceptually was quite similar to a Q storyline, which the original post/question indicates isn't counted. In our real-time, Picard was unconscious only briefly, so no real official position was granted.
I would think that Picard, noted as an accomplished diplomat, has likely had several other honorific or functional titles in ambassadorial/diplomatic/negotiating roles, but these are just ones come up with so far. (In truth, I'm rather pleased with the variety of official positions sources/authorities from whom some of these official positions were granted.)
---
Edit-related Notes: This answer is not fully applicable to the current phrasing of the question. Most of this answer was initially written for an earlier version of the question. Later the question was modified in a way that specifically excludes some of parts of this answer, including the two that I felt most happy about. Rather than gut my favorite parts (which showed some creativity during answering) to leave a less amusing hollow shell version of the answer, I'm choosing to largely leave this in tact, even though some people (including the question asker) seem unlikely to agree with interpretations on whether certain posts should count.
Since I believe many people read this site for entertainment, I'm planning to leave this fun answer to continue serving its desired purpose. | The [Dax symbiont](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dax_(Star_Trek)) seems worth mentioning, though it's in a grey area. It is at once several distinct characters yet also one continuous character. In [one episode](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Dax_(episode)) there was a trial concerned with whether or not a current host is legally the same as prior ones, and so subject to punishments for the crimes of previous hosts. While arguments for both sides were given at length, no actual verdict was rendered as the trial ended when witness testimony negated the alleged crimes. Also many of the roles we see the symbiont and its hosts take on are only given in flashbacks or during the [Zhian'tara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhian%27tara) [episode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facets_(Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_Nine)). Still, the OP doesn't specifically exclude backstories detailed on-screen, so...
* **Lela Dax**: Trill legislator.
* **Tobin Dax**: Engineer and mathematician. We're not told if he holds some specific "position", though one assumes he at least had a formal title suitable for an engineer or mathematician. Also appears in the novel *Star Trek Enterprise : Rise of the Federation - A Choice of Futures* as the leader of a team from the Cochrane Institute.
* **Emony Dax**: Olympic gymnast.
* **Audrid Dax**: Head of the Trill Symbiosis Commission.
* **Torias Dax**: Starfleet shuttle test pilot.
* **Joran Dax**: Musician. And psychopathic murderer. This one plays a more substantive role, as this personality was initially hidden and suppressed.
* **Curzon Dax**: Diplomat who helped negotiate the Khitomer accords, and mentor to Sisko.
* **Jadzia Dax**: Chief Science Officer of Deep Space Nine.
* **Curzon Odo**: The Curzon personality possesses Odo in the Zhian'tara, resulting in a somewhat unique blend of their personas. He's never formally stripped of Odo's position as Chief of Security, but never formally accepted as it either. The Dax symbiont retains the memories of this experience, which are available to subsequent or current hosts (Jadzia).
* **Ezri Dax**: Station Counselor for Deep Space Nine.
And a dishonorable mention: The symbiont was briefly removed from Jadzia and implanted in a rebel trill who was upset he never got a symbiont. Other than being a former Symbiosis candidate, he was never known to possess any particular positions or titles or even notable roles in society (other than being a candidate, which is significant in their society at least). |
117,243 | I seem to be repeatedly stuck in a situation where release dates are set not based on anything technical, but because someone in Sales has committed to a customer by then. Based on discussions with friends in development at other companies, the same thing seems to happen.
"Here is the committed feature set and here is the committed release date", and it's difficult to argue because at this point there is money riding on it, and that trumps everything.
**In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future? The problem I have is that the only way I see one way of doing so, and that's by doing the best I can, but release the software 'as is', so to speak.
I don't want to release bug-ridden software since it's my name attached, but doing 80 hour weeks for months at a time just vindicates the arbitrarily set release date.
edit: for the record, I'm not doing 80 hour weeks now, just that comes to mind as what would be required to cover the expected feature set by the release date. | 2011/11/01 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/117243",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/32502/"
] | This generally occurs because of a perverse incentive - the salespeople are being paid on commission, while the production staff is paid on salary. The salespeople have several levers to work with: features, cost, and delivery date. They have a strong disincentive to lower the cost, because this generally lowers their commission, so they tend to ratchet UP features and delivery date (in terms of being earlier). They will push those as high as they can in order to close the deal.
Try and see it from their point of view, just for a moment. They've got a family to feed, too - and if the difference between closing a sale I've been working on for months is just trimming off a few weeks of the schedule, then it's an incredible temptation, especially if I don't really understand what that means.
The temptation is to say "twas always thus, and always thus will be." But one place I worked did at least have a solution PROPOSED, if not implemented...one manager finally threw up his hands and said, "if the programmers' overtime is being used to close a sale, then they should receive a portion of the commission." It wasn't implemented, but it would have aligned everybody's incentives more closely...the programmers would have been thrilled to hear about a new feature that had to come out in no time, because they'd be anticipating the commission, and the salespeople would be LESS apt to create those circumstances, because they would be less likely to work to their advantage. | Quit
====
There are lots of sensible suggestions in the answers already, which hopefully can help work out this dysfunctional relationship. But in the end, **you** decide how much you want to work.
It's easy to get pressured by coworkers into overworking. But you're **sacrificing your personal life** when you do that.
Here's what you can do:
* Say to your boss, "I've had to work a lot more overtime than I want to here. From now on, I'm not going to work more than X hours per month."
* As others have suggested, estimate how many hours things will take up front. Remind them that "at my limit of X hours per month, I probably won't finish this by the deadline." Put this in an email for later reference.
* Refer to that email when the deadline goes whooshing past. "See? As projected, we could not hit this deadline in reasonable work hours."
* If they continue to pressure you to work overtime and all communication efforts fail, quit.
Personal experience
-------------------
I quit my last job because I was always working overtime and always being asked to work more. **I told them clearly in my exit interview** that I liked a lot of things about the job, but didn't see any end to the overtime in sight.
I also clearly expressed that desire in my interview for my new job, and was given enthusiastic response. They have held true to their word: I'm rarely asked to work overtime here.
My former employer has a high developer turnover rate, and is finding it harder to recruit these days because they have a reputation for overworking. Maybe the extra cost of recruiting and training will teach them a lesson. But if not, it's not my problem. |
117,243 | I seem to be repeatedly stuck in a situation where release dates are set not based on anything technical, but because someone in Sales has committed to a customer by then. Based on discussions with friends in development at other companies, the same thing seems to happen.
"Here is the committed feature set and here is the committed release date", and it's difficult to argue because at this point there is money riding on it, and that trumps everything.
**In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future? The problem I have is that the only way I see one way of doing so, and that's by doing the best I can, but release the software 'as is', so to speak.
I don't want to release bug-ridden software since it's my name attached, but doing 80 hour weeks for months at a time just vindicates the arbitrarily set release date.
edit: for the record, I'm not doing 80 hour weeks now, just that comes to mind as what would be required to cover the expected feature set by the release date. | 2011/11/01 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/117243",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/32502/"
] | I've worked both sides of the house. Remember without sales people there would be no downstream jobs or projects.
**How to battle sales over-commitment**: Estimate, then take at least a 130% multiple (always plan a minimum 30% contingency). Provide and document said estimate. Realize that your effort estimates will be reduced in the sales process. That's OK, just have management **carve out** of the license/sales/commission agreement any reduction of those hours. If you're a public company this gets tricky with [VSOE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_Specific_Objective_Evidence), but until you hit the sales folks with contract accountability *up-front* during their sales process, it will become *your* accountability later. | There are lots of strategies you can use, but you'll usually need approval or buy-in from management.
1. Pay developers overtime at an increased rate. Working extra hours isn't so bad when you're making a lot of extra money doing it. And if it starts to affect the company's bottom line management will apply pressure to sales to do a better job estimating.
2. Pay salespeople based on profit instead of gross sales. Every hour of work that they don't include in their estimate adversely affects their commission.
3. Limit the number of hours developers can work to 40 (or whatever the standard work week is in your part of the world).
4. Make the sales folks work every hour that the developers work. If they want you working extra hours to get their project done, they've got to be there too. Find something useful for them to do, like writing documentation or producing calligraphed, hand-illuminated copies of *Design Patterns* and *The C++ Standard Template Library*.
5. Have developers estimate each job instead of letting salespeople do it. At least this way you get some ability to make the schedule more reasonable. This isn't a great solution, though... developers are often terrible at estimating work required. Even if the estimate is reasonable, unforeseen events can prevent you from hitting your target. Also, we all tend not to work at the beginning of a long project with the same urgency that we do as the deadline approaches. These are the factors that motivate the short development cycles that the Agile proponents espouse.
6. Take the "agile" approach and refuse to commit. Going agile will require a lot more customer involvement, but it can also give the customer more flexibility because *they* don't necessarily have to commit up front to the final form of the project either. Sales might not be happy about that at first, but they might change their tune when they realize that it can provide a lot of opportunities to sell more work.
I think the least attractive solution is anything that makes the sales team look bad in the eyes of potential customers. The sales team is the face of the company. Making them look bad hurts the entire company, and it might not solve the problem -- they might feel like they need to make an even better deal for the customer in order to regain their confidence. |
117,243 | I seem to be repeatedly stuck in a situation where release dates are set not based on anything technical, but because someone in Sales has committed to a customer by then. Based on discussions with friends in development at other companies, the same thing seems to happen.
"Here is the committed feature set and here is the committed release date", and it's difficult to argue because at this point there is money riding on it, and that trumps everything.
**In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future? The problem I have is that the only way I see one way of doing so, and that's by doing the best I can, but release the software 'as is', so to speak.
I don't want to release bug-ridden software since it's my name attached, but doing 80 hour weeks for months at a time just vindicates the arbitrarily set release date.
edit: for the record, I'm not doing 80 hour weeks now, just that comes to mind as what would be required to cover the expected feature set by the release date. | 2011/11/01 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/117243",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/32502/"
] | This is something you need to take to your manager (there is development managers, right?) and explain the problem. It's a change that needs to happen on an organizational level - sales needs to get buy in from development before making commitments, and before that will happen, they need to get that direction from their bosses.
There's nothing you can do to actually make the change happen, but you should definitely be bringing it up to your manager.
In addition to trying to change the culture (good luck), any time they come to you with a deadline you can't meet, push back - with numbers. Break down the project and show them your time estimate. If it's a six week project, tell them. If it's been promised to the client in four weeks, you can't do it, and you need to disseminate that information as quickly as possible. Hopefully, your salespeople will be able to go back to the client and set better expectations, or work with you to come up with a smaller acceptable feature set to deliver within the promised timeline, with the additional features to be added later.
**Edit to add:** Do not let them talk your estimate down. Be confident that it's correct, and stick to it. They *will* try to bargain with you, but don't let them. | There is absolutely no way to combat this entirely. The very nature of sales is over-committing. As a sales rep you are there to make the prospective customer's problems magically disappear. Good sales reps will only slightly exaggerate, bad ones will cause themselves big embarrassment.
Anything you do will only cause aggravation or tension between the product people and the sales people (at least). You can try very hard to prevent really bad gaffs on the part of your sales reps, but at the end of the day the devs and sales reps get paid out of the same bank account. Your company will succeed or fail as a unit so starting a civil war with sales isn't going to help.
If you have one or more sales reps that are habitually embarrassing themselves, then the sales management will take care of the problem. As a dev, you aren't going to have the clout to do anything about it so you should focus on delivering the best product you can with the time and resources that they give you. |
117,243 | I seem to be repeatedly stuck in a situation where release dates are set not based on anything technical, but because someone in Sales has committed to a customer by then. Based on discussions with friends in development at other companies, the same thing seems to happen.
"Here is the committed feature set and here is the committed release date", and it's difficult to argue because at this point there is money riding on it, and that trumps everything.
**In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future? The problem I have is that the only way I see one way of doing so, and that's by doing the best I can, but release the software 'as is', so to speak.
I don't want to release bug-ridden software since it's my name attached, but doing 80 hour weeks for months at a time just vindicates the arbitrarily set release date.
edit: for the record, I'm not doing 80 hour weeks now, just that comes to mind as what would be required to cover the expected feature set by the release date. | 2011/11/01 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/117243",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/32502/"
] | This is almost a universal thing in smaller companies as they have a greater need to close a deal. Until I was brought into sales meetings at my company I was bitter about this but I can at least understand how and why it happens a little more.
Clients want it fast and many will play hard to get. This encourages sales to bend on time commitments just to get something signed. A signed contract is gold because you can acquire capital or credit using one. Sometimes it is better to have a tight deadline than nothing to work on at all.
Other times if it is a hot market and there are a lot of competitors then the company has an impending need to get a product out the door FASTER than everybody else. A bigger company or one with more capital can always hire more resources, a smaller one can't.
Where it is scummy is when the deadlines are truly artificial and it is pushed by sales and management to secure large bonuses for themselves.
Don't make a habit of working more than 45 hours a week, it is bad for your health and that comes first. | No
I tried to make this a two letter answer and the stack wouldn't let me ... but the answer is
No
Which, isn't completely true if you own / run the company, of course. If you're in *that* position you can drag the sales team in by the ears and "have the talk". If, however and as I suspect, you are just a "lowly" technical person your only recourse is to complain "UP" the chain of command. That being said, my experience has been that in companies where this happens, management is aware of situation and doesn't care. |
117,243 | I seem to be repeatedly stuck in a situation where release dates are set not based on anything technical, but because someone in Sales has committed to a customer by then. Based on discussions with friends in development at other companies, the same thing seems to happen.
"Here is the committed feature set and here is the committed release date", and it's difficult to argue because at this point there is money riding on it, and that trumps everything.
**In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future? The problem I have is that the only way I see one way of doing so, and that's by doing the best I can, but release the software 'as is', so to speak.
I don't want to release bug-ridden software since it's my name attached, but doing 80 hour weeks for months at a time just vindicates the arbitrarily set release date.
edit: for the record, I'm not doing 80 hour weeks now, just that comes to mind as what would be required to cover the expected feature set by the release date. | 2011/11/01 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/117243",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/32502/"
] | >
> **In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future?
>
>
>
Of course, there is: Let them ***fail*** badly with this approach. ***Nothing teaches as well as failing.***
Make an ***estimation*** yourself before you start and ***show it*** to them. Then do your best, write good code, stop ***compensating*** for their stupidity with your free time, and when they complain afterwards, ***remind them*** of the time estimation you had shown them, based on engineering principles.
And you better start doing this with the *current* project.
If they keep blaming you for the problem, you'd better start hunting for a new job, since nothing will convince them that they are the problem.
As an afterthought, I think this question actually warrants a link to the famous EA story as featured in one of Joel's books: ***[EA: The Human Story](http://ea-spouse.livejournal.com/274.html)***. | I've worked both sides of the house. Remember without sales people there would be no downstream jobs or projects.
**How to battle sales over-commitment**: Estimate, then take at least a 130% multiple (always plan a minimum 30% contingency). Provide and document said estimate. Realize that your effort estimates will be reduced in the sales process. That's OK, just have management **carve out** of the license/sales/commission agreement any reduction of those hours. If you're a public company this gets tricky with [VSOE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_Specific_Objective_Evidence), but until you hit the sales folks with contract accountability *up-front* during their sales process, it will become *your* accountability later. |
117,243 | I seem to be repeatedly stuck in a situation where release dates are set not based on anything technical, but because someone in Sales has committed to a customer by then. Based on discussions with friends in development at other companies, the same thing seems to happen.
"Here is the committed feature set and here is the committed release date", and it's difficult to argue because at this point there is money riding on it, and that trumps everything.
**In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future? The problem I have is that the only way I see one way of doing so, and that's by doing the best I can, but release the software 'as is', so to speak.
I don't want to release bug-ridden software since it's my name attached, but doing 80 hour weeks for months at a time just vindicates the arbitrarily set release date.
edit: for the record, I'm not doing 80 hour weeks now, just that comes to mind as what would be required to cover the expected feature set by the release date. | 2011/11/01 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/117243",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/32502/"
] | >
> **In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future?
>
>
>
Of course, there is: Let them ***fail*** badly with this approach. ***Nothing teaches as well as failing.***
Make an ***estimation*** yourself before you start and ***show it*** to them. Then do your best, write good code, stop ***compensating*** for their stupidity with your free time, and when they complain afterwards, ***remind them*** of the time estimation you had shown them, based on engineering principles.
And you better start doing this with the *current* project.
If they keep blaming you for the problem, you'd better start hunting for a new job, since nothing will convince them that they are the problem.
As an afterthought, I think this question actually warrants a link to the famous EA story as featured in one of Joel's books: ***[EA: The Human Story](http://ea-spouse.livejournal.com/274.html)***. | This generally occurs because of a perverse incentive - the salespeople are being paid on commission, while the production staff is paid on salary. The salespeople have several levers to work with: features, cost, and delivery date. They have a strong disincentive to lower the cost, because this generally lowers their commission, so they tend to ratchet UP features and delivery date (in terms of being earlier). They will push those as high as they can in order to close the deal.
Try and see it from their point of view, just for a moment. They've got a family to feed, too - and if the difference between closing a sale I've been working on for months is just trimming off a few weeks of the schedule, then it's an incredible temptation, especially if I don't really understand what that means.
The temptation is to say "twas always thus, and always thus will be." But one place I worked did at least have a solution PROPOSED, if not implemented...one manager finally threw up his hands and said, "if the programmers' overtime is being used to close a sale, then they should receive a portion of the commission." It wasn't implemented, but it would have aligned everybody's incentives more closely...the programmers would have been thrilled to hear about a new feature that had to come out in no time, because they'd be anticipating the commission, and the salespeople would be LESS apt to create those circumstances, because they would be less likely to work to their advantage. |
117,243 | I seem to be repeatedly stuck in a situation where release dates are set not based on anything technical, but because someone in Sales has committed to a customer by then. Based on discussions with friends in development at other companies, the same thing seems to happen.
"Here is the committed feature set and here is the committed release date", and it's difficult to argue because at this point there is money riding on it, and that trumps everything.
**In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future? The problem I have is that the only way I see one way of doing so, and that's by doing the best I can, but release the software 'as is', so to speak.
I don't want to release bug-ridden software since it's my name attached, but doing 80 hour weeks for months at a time just vindicates the arbitrarily set release date.
edit: for the record, I'm not doing 80 hour weeks now, just that comes to mind as what would be required to cover the expected feature set by the release date. | 2011/11/01 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/117243",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/32502/"
] | I've worked both sides of the house. Remember without sales people there would be no downstream jobs or projects.
**How to battle sales over-commitment**: Estimate, then take at least a 130% multiple (always plan a minimum 30% contingency). Provide and document said estimate. Realize that your effort estimates will be reduced in the sales process. That's OK, just have management **carve out** of the license/sales/commission agreement any reduction of those hours. If you're a public company this gets tricky with [VSOE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_Specific_Objective_Evidence), but until you hit the sales folks with contract accountability *up-front* during their sales process, it will become *your* accountability later. | Spec the job after they give it to you and let them know how long it will take. Then when they crow about it tell them.
"I'm sorry you made that commitment but given the resources at my disposal It will take X hours to complete"
Do this every time...it worked for me.
Basically tell them they can have it Fast, Cheap and Good, pick two. |
117,243 | I seem to be repeatedly stuck in a situation where release dates are set not based on anything technical, but because someone in Sales has committed to a customer by then. Based on discussions with friends in development at other companies, the same thing seems to happen.
"Here is the committed feature set and here is the committed release date", and it's difficult to argue because at this point there is money riding on it, and that trumps everything.
**In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future? The problem I have is that the only way I see one way of doing so, and that's by doing the best I can, but release the software 'as is', so to speak.
I don't want to release bug-ridden software since it's my name attached, but doing 80 hour weeks for months at a time just vindicates the arbitrarily set release date.
edit: for the record, I'm not doing 80 hour weeks now, just that comes to mind as what would be required to cover the expected feature set by the release date. | 2011/11/01 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/117243",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/32502/"
] | Quit
====
There are lots of sensible suggestions in the answers already, which hopefully can help work out this dysfunctional relationship. But in the end, **you** decide how much you want to work.
It's easy to get pressured by coworkers into overworking. But you're **sacrificing your personal life** when you do that.
Here's what you can do:
* Say to your boss, "I've had to work a lot more overtime than I want to here. From now on, I'm not going to work more than X hours per month."
* As others have suggested, estimate how many hours things will take up front. Remind them that "at my limit of X hours per month, I probably won't finish this by the deadline." Put this in an email for later reference.
* Refer to that email when the deadline goes whooshing past. "See? As projected, we could not hit this deadline in reasonable work hours."
* If they continue to pressure you to work overtime and all communication efforts fail, quit.
Personal experience
-------------------
I quit my last job because I was always working overtime and always being asked to work more. **I told them clearly in my exit interview** that I liked a lot of things about the job, but didn't see any end to the overtime in sight.
I also clearly expressed that desire in my interview for my new job, and was given enthusiastic response. They have held true to their word: I'm rarely asked to work overtime here.
My former employer has a high developer turnover rate, and is finding it harder to recruit these days because they have a reputation for overworking. Maybe the extra cost of recruiting and training will teach them a lesson. But if not, it's not my problem. | Some very good answers here already. I will just add that you should not be driven to meet his deadlines to your own detriment. Also, I would definitely have a word with the sales person and remind him that if he over-promises and the company cannot deliver on his promises then he (and the company) will not be trusted in the future, losing him future commissions (and possibly his job), so it is in his best interest to be realistic (i.e. consult with programming staff) so that he gains trust in the company. In the short term he may gain by being unrealistic, but in the long term he will lose out by damaging his reputation with customers, his employer and future employers via bad references.
As sales people understand money more than anything else, talk to him in those terms. |
117,243 | I seem to be repeatedly stuck in a situation where release dates are set not based on anything technical, but because someone in Sales has committed to a customer by then. Based on discussions with friends in development at other companies, the same thing seems to happen.
"Here is the committed feature set and here is the committed release date", and it's difficult to argue because at this point there is money riding on it, and that trumps everything.
**In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future? The problem I have is that the only way I see one way of doing so, and that's by doing the best I can, but release the software 'as is', so to speak.
I don't want to release bug-ridden software since it's my name attached, but doing 80 hour weeks for months at a time just vindicates the arbitrarily set release date.
edit: for the record, I'm not doing 80 hour weeks now, just that comes to mind as what would be required to cover the expected feature set by the release date. | 2011/11/01 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/117243",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/32502/"
] | One suggestion that hasn't come up yet: **retrospectives**.
Don't say "no, I'm not doing overtime," that always encourages other developers to swoop in and make you look bad.
But do say very clearly to your management that every time you have to do more than 40 hours a week to get a job done, everyone involved in the project should sit down in a room *after the product is delivered*, figure out what went wrong and what we can do to stop it happening again. Or, better still, *every* project should have a retrospective to discuss what went well *and* what went wrong.
If you're right and it's salesmen overcommitting then this will become very clear very quickly. But don't preempt the conclusion and don't be adversarial ahead of the fact. Talk about it in terms of things your team can do to deliver on time without overtime.
You never know, you may even find improvements to your own processes which can make the salesperson's estimate more feasible. | Disagreements like this are normally caused by a lack of communication. Either they don't understand the pressure they are putting on you or you don't understand what they are really asking for. Either way, to solve the issue, you need to understand the situation from the other point of view.
Have you ever tried selling software? It may not seem like the best answer to many developers, but until you've tried, it will be hard to see the business from the sales side. If you're a great developer, write something you really want to write and sell it. You may see that they have some valid points or you may see that they don't! |
117,243 | I seem to be repeatedly stuck in a situation where release dates are set not based on anything technical, but because someone in Sales has committed to a customer by then. Based on discussions with friends in development at other companies, the same thing seems to happen.
"Here is the committed feature set and here is the committed release date", and it's difficult to argue because at this point there is money riding on it, and that trumps everything.
**In general, is there a way to push back on this?** If not for this release, what about in future? The problem I have is that the only way I see one way of doing so, and that's by doing the best I can, but release the software 'as is', so to speak.
I don't want to release bug-ridden software since it's my name attached, but doing 80 hour weeks for months at a time just vindicates the arbitrarily set release date.
edit: for the record, I'm not doing 80 hour weeks now, just that comes to mind as what would be required to cover the expected feature set by the release date. | 2011/11/01 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/117243",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/32502/"
] | This generally occurs because of a perverse incentive - the salespeople are being paid on commission, while the production staff is paid on salary. The salespeople have several levers to work with: features, cost, and delivery date. They have a strong disincentive to lower the cost, because this generally lowers their commission, so they tend to ratchet UP features and delivery date (in terms of being earlier). They will push those as high as they can in order to close the deal.
Try and see it from their point of view, just for a moment. They've got a family to feed, too - and if the difference between closing a sale I've been working on for months is just trimming off a few weeks of the schedule, then it's an incredible temptation, especially if I don't really understand what that means.
The temptation is to say "twas always thus, and always thus will be." But one place I worked did at least have a solution PROPOSED, if not implemented...one manager finally threw up his hands and said, "if the programmers' overtime is being used to close a sale, then they should receive a portion of the commission." It wasn't implemented, but it would have aligned everybody's incentives more closely...the programmers would have been thrilled to hear about a new feature that had to come out in no time, because they'd be anticipating the commission, and the salespeople would be LESS apt to create those circumstances, because they would be less likely to work to their advantage. | It's hard to answer without knowing your company structure.
Some general tools to help are:
* Have agree upon (but those in charge, not sales) quality controls
* Have a product roadmap (internal and external)
By having agreed upon **quality controls**, you have a business-driven reason for not being able to release buggy software. You might need to convince your bosses why this is important (hopefully not), but there is plenty of literature out there to aid in this.
By having a **product roadmap**, Sales know what they can and cannot promise to customers. If they want to change the roadmap, they have to raise it with the Product Manager/Project Manager/ Development Manager or whoever else is in change of it.
If they promise something to a customer that hasn't already being agreed to, tough luck. Hopefully your roadmap is based upon **market data** on customer needs. "What exactly do you propose we drop from these 8 other high priority features that we have evidence our customer base needs?"
Last of all, as already expected, don't work 80 hour weeks. You aren't even helping the company by doing that because you are just aiding them in digging a deeper hole. |
36,402 | I'm an old GM, new to DFRPG. How would you create an empath or mind reader minor talent?
I was thinking:
* *Empath*: You can use your empathy skill to roll an assessment check and reveal a character's emotion. This can be done as soon as you can see the character and is rolled against the subject's Discipline. If you gain one or more shifts on your roll, you discover one of the target’s aspects. (-1)
* *Telepath*: You can use your Presence skill to reveal a character's surface thoughts. This can be done by concentrating on the target and is rolled against the subject's Discipline. No shifts or failure means the target knows something is wrong and it may confuse or deceit you. (-1)
Do these seem to be OK? | 2014/04/17 | [
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/36402",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com",
"https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/11897/"
] | Hopefully, Paranet will give some more guidelines on creating powers in a more concrete manner, but this is how I framed psychic phenomena in my game.
One of the characters is a shadow of the Archive- a failed experiment in creating the same sort of entity. At the beginning, he had some minor psychic abilities- different than the ones that you speak of, but the exercise applies, I think, i.e.
We looked at the Psychic abilities (YS172-173). In general, those abilities either (a) affected a skill to enable it to be used psychically, or (b) affected a typically non-offensive skill to add an offensive capability that is resisted by something else that might not be typically used.
To go along those lines, I then picked the focus skill for the power that communicated what we were trying to do with the stunt. You have done so for both of them above. How you do it, really depends on your story, so if you and the players (not just the PC) agree upon it, it works for your story. Then, if it was offensive, I chose a skill that opposed it. In general, I used Discipline for defense. That seems to be what you chose also.
The only thing I see that you might want to look into is the use of passive vs. active defense. In both descriptions, you say that the active skill rolls against the defensive skill passively, as a target number. In the case of active powers, it appears that the default skills in DFRPG are rolled against the defensive skills actively, i.e. the defender rolls also.
The choice of active or passive defense is a very important one, especially if this skill is to be used against players. Passive defense doesn't give the chance to invoke aspects and such in the version of Fate used in DFRPG.
As far as the cost of your powers, I'd look at incite emotion for more of an indicator- the base cost is -1 for touch. Add another -1 for range. I'd follow the same rule of thumb.
As far as the actual effects of your powers, I'd also think about the reveal portion of Empathy in terms of characters that don't have aspects that relate to emotional state, as empathy is in general related to emotions. But other than that, I think that they're workable. | *In a word:* **No.** (for the Telepathy one at least, empathy is a lot more forgiving)
From the viewpoint of the base canon (Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novels), **I'd say that staying away from things that "Reveal Surface Thoughts" would be best.**
Neuromancy to reveal thoughts gets into the dark gray area of **The Third Law: Never Invade the Thoughts of Another** pretty rapidly. From the books, Harry and Molly test each other mentally to build up defenses to invasive mind magic, but they can only *"legally"* do that because they have each other's express permission.
**p. 238 Your Story, paragraph two of the The Third Law section:**
>
> ***"...To read someone else’s thoughts, you have to cross one of the most fundamental borders in all of creation: the line that divides one
> person from another. When you break into someone else’s mind to listen
> to his thoughts, you’re disrupting the natural order of things..."***
>
>
>
I'd say that the way you have the Telepathy written up to work would qualify the character for being a Violator of the Laws of Magic ***(Law Breaker Power)*** almost immediately, and as such would get the Warden's attention and ultimately end with a gruesome beheading.
Instead, I'd focus on an ability that makes use of assessment actions or specific applications of The Sight instead of a "Telepathy Ability". Perhaps an ability like "Sensitive Mirrors of the Soul" that would allow a person to trigger a Soul Gaze more easily, which in practice reveals aspects of the characters in play. |
10,601 | There is a computer on my network running *Windows 7 Professional* with a bunch of shared folders and printers available on the default *WORKGROUP* domain. There is no password for any of these shares and they can be happily accessed from Windows on any other computer on the network. (And all the Windows computers can access Ubuntu's Samba shares).
If I use the Network place in Nautilus, the computer itself is visible under smb://workgroup/. However, when I try to mount that, Nautilus asks me for a password! With no other option, I entered the username and password for the one user on the machine. It tried to do something for a second then asked again (ad infinitum).
Trying to add a printer with CUPS is equally broken. Its various interfaces have given me “Unable to connect to CIFS host” and “NT\_STATUS\_INVALID\_PARAMETER,” but I'm not sure if it's the same problem. If we can figure out the file shares first, maybe that will explain itself.
Samba itself should be almost pristine. I have not touched any configuration files; just added some shares through the Folder Sharing options in Nautilus (nautilus-share).
Any idea what's going on here? :) | 2010/10/31 | [
"https://askubuntu.com/questions/10601",
"https://askubuntu.com",
"https://askubuntu.com/users/2992/"
] | Last time I checked (some months ago), I explicitly had to add a permission for "Guest" to the Windows 7 share (Advanced Sharing > Permissions) to allow password-free connections. "Everyone" alone didn't work for whatever reason. Maybe this has changed in the meantime, but it's worth a try. | The problem here is most likely the fact that samba is not perfect and sometimes has problems with newer versions of windows.
Samba actually has to play a kind of catch up game with windows, so sometimes thinks break between windows versions. If you need to configure samba (it might not fix the problem NB) try GADMIN-Samba in the software center.
You could also try tweaking the sharing options on windows 7, but in my experience vista and seven tend not to work too well with Samba. |
210,891 | Is there a firefox addon for quick comment, because I don't want to input name ,email.. etc for every page Which I want post a comment. | 2010/11/15 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/210891",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/14547/"
] | You need a form filler addon like [Sxipper](http://www.sxipper.com/) / [AutoFill Forms](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4775/) / [FormFiller](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1882/) | [LastPass](https://lastpass.com/) is a program you can use across Chrome/FF/IE and while it's mainly for Passwords, it also gives you the ability to create profiles to fast fill forms automatically.
I've been using it for a couple of years now and I've found it to be one of the best extensions out there. |
1,258,089 | I have an Adaptec 81605ZQ RAID Controller currently connected to:
* 2 x 8 TB HGST HDD in RAID-1
* 2 x 1 TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD in RAID-0 (separate array)
* 1 x 128 GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD as "MaxCache" (read cache for RAID-1 HDD array)
On Windows 10, with the latest Adaptec firmware and drivers, I get these *long* hangs (30-50 seconds, on average) when *writes* are pegged on the HDD array. It's a lot worse during simultaneous read/write scenarios, where some process is doing significant reads while writes are going on. At some point, often, there's literally no disk I/O for more than 30 seconds.
I'd like to drop the RAID controller (to troubleshoot, and because it's probably not necessary at all with a 6700K) and just use software RAID. Does Windows support mounting the Adaptec on-disk RAID format in software (without the RAID controller)? Or would it be better to shrink the RAID array to one HDD (no redundancy) and do a block-level copy of the array into the plain (non-RAID) disk? I want to avoid buying any more disks for this if possible.
Also, what would do I do about the RAID-0 array? I'd need another 2 TB of space somewhere if I can't do an in-place mount of the Adaptec disk format in Windows.
I either want to (1) mount the RAID arrays directly without the RAID controller (connected to the SATA chipset of the motherboard), or (2) copy the data "in-place" (without buying more hardware) and reinitialize the array as some other, software RAID format. | 2017/10/11 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/1258089",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/144607/"
] | Here are the steps I take to move from one array to another using existing disks (generic).
1. Degrade the array by manually failing/removing a disk from the old array.
2. Start a new degraded array on newly available disk.
3. Copy files from the old degraded array to the new degraded array.
4. After verifying the file transfer, blitz the old array and add the newly available device to the new, currently degraded, array.
5. When the rebuild completes, you have just migrated arrays. | Migrating to software RAID won't help you.
I'm afraid, the described behaviour is "feature" of archive disks based on SMR. The disk has some part of its capacity in normal format (in your case probably those 600 GB). This area serves as cache for writing. But the problem is, that data in SMR disks must be written at once in quite big area. Usualy the size of such area is 256 MB. And even if you change single byte, complete 256 MB area must be rewritten again.
So if you fill the cache buffer completely, the disk must first write the data into SMR form, which takes much longer time...
So SMR disks are really more usable for archiving with reading from time to time, than for write load operations... |
53,330 | How can I move just one email within a conversation (a response from one person within a conversation for example) into a label/folder without moving the entire conversation? | 2013/12/18 | [
"https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/53330",
"https://webapps.stackexchange.com",
"https://webapps.stackexchange.com/users/55310/"
] | You can't, really. When you're looking at the conversation it shows all the labels on all the messages.
The only way to *really* do that is to turn off conversation mode, but that's like using TNT to kill a fly.
One hack-y thing you could do is forward the message to yourself (and be sure to change the subject line). Then label that forwarded message as you like.
See also:
* [How do I split conversations in Gmail?](https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/4175/how-do-i-split-conversations-in-gmail)
* [Can I archive only certain messages within a conversation?](https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/12064/can-i-archive-only-certain-messages-within-a-conversation) | So far I have not found a way to do this, very annoying especially when I get emails with the same subject that I don't want to be threaded.
The only way I have found out how to do this is use an IMAP client (e.g. Mail app on iPhone) and then you can move any emails you like, threaded or not. |
1,385,499 | I need the XSD of junitReport.xml recognized by Hudson.
Does anyone know where can it be found?
Thanks. | 2009/09/06 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/1385499",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/80002/"
] | At [this link](http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/ant-dev/200902.mbox/<dffc72020902241548l4316d645w2e98caf5f0aac770@mail.gmail.com>), someone has already tried to analyse the JUnit code to check for any references for it's XML schema. But an XSD is no requirement to create XML and apparently, it doesn't use one. | I've create a [junit.xsd](http://windyroad.org/2011/02/07/apache-ant-junit-xml-schema/) for [Ant's `junit` task](http://ant.apache.org/manual/Tasks/junit.html). It was created by examining the relevant Java code in Ant 1.8.2 |
166,065 | I have a list where for most users they will have read access to the list. The list has URL links to pages outside of SharePoint on our Company intranet. These pages on the intranet are available to everyone. My assumption is if a user has read only to a list that contains hyperlinks then they should be able to click on the hyperlink ? Am I correct ? | 2016/01/04 | [
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/166065",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/users/40859/"
] | If a user has Read access to the List (and subsequent List items, if the items do not have inheritance broken), yes they would be able to click on the links to the sites within the List. It would be up to the target system to enforce any sort of authentication/authorization. | Yes, with 'Read' or 'View', your User can click on the Hyperlink. The page won't render it to be disabled based on the user's read/view permissions. |
166,065 | I have a list where for most users they will have read access to the list. The list has URL links to pages outside of SharePoint on our Company intranet. These pages on the intranet are available to everyone. My assumption is if a user has read only to a list that contains hyperlinks then they should be able to click on the hyperlink ? Am I correct ? | 2016/01/04 | [
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/166065",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/users/40859/"
] | If a user has Read access to the List (and subsequent List items, if the items do not have inheritance broken), yes they would be able to click on the links to the sites within the List. It would be up to the target system to enforce any sort of authentication/authorization. | users can see the URLs in the list, but if the URLs formatting is just text and not a hyperlink they will not be able to click on it.
Regards |
166,065 | I have a list where for most users they will have read access to the list. The list has URL links to pages outside of SharePoint on our Company intranet. These pages on the intranet are available to everyone. My assumption is if a user has read only to a list that contains hyperlinks then they should be able to click on the hyperlink ? Am I correct ? | 2016/01/04 | [
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/166065",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com",
"https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/users/40859/"
] | If a user has Read access to the List (and subsequent List items, if the items do not have inheritance broken), yes they would be able to click on the links to the sites within the List. It would be up to the target system to enforce any sort of authentication/authorization. | To be more precise, in this case it is nothing to do with permission level.
If item from the list is visible to user then he can click it. |
257 | From what I see [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning), it seems kerning is just rearranging the space between letters. However, the comments [here](http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1924/graphic-design/1929#1929) lead me to believe there's more to the story. Is kerning really that simple? Is the only purpose of it to look nicer or is there some practical reasoning for it? | 2011/01/06 | [
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/257",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/users/140/"
] | I think the [Wikipedia kerning article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning) essentially covers it, but the bulk of the article is about adding kerning information to a font during its design, or applications automatically using this built-in information to improve composition of a font's characters -- rather than the a fine-tuning a designer might do on a particularly problematic pair of characters in a headline.
As an example, say the revolutionary new product, the
*i*Vone
-------
was launched; that combination of italic/oblique and roman characters would probably not have been foreseen by the font designer, and so would require special treatment to avoid the dot of the i from colliding with the V.
Letter-letter, or letter-punctuation combinations that are only used in some languages are other situations that might require custom kerning by a designer.
Also to note, fonts contain widely varying amounts of kerning information - this is one of the key differentiators between amateur and professionally produced fonts, or even between different versions of the same font. | Yes, that is essentially it. [From Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning):
>
> In typography, kerning (less commonly mortising) is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. In a well kerned font, the two-dimensional blank spaces between each pair of characters all have similar area. The related term kern denotes a part of a type letter that overhangs the edge of the type block.
>
>
>
the point of making it looking nicer is the only point, but it can be *very* important for a clean-looking typeface. The Wikipedia page shows how massive the difference can be:
 |
257 | From what I see [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning), it seems kerning is just rearranging the space between letters. However, the comments [here](http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1924/graphic-design/1929#1929) lead me to believe there's more to the story. Is kerning really that simple? Is the only purpose of it to look nicer or is there some practical reasoning for it? | 2011/01/06 | [
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/257",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/users/140/"
] | Yes, that is essentially it. [From Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning):
>
> In typography, kerning (less commonly mortising) is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. In a well kerned font, the two-dimensional blank spaces between each pair of characters all have similar area. The related term kern denotes a part of a type letter that overhangs the edge of the type block.
>
>
>
the point of making it looking nicer is the only point, but it can be *very* important for a clean-looking typeface. The Wikipedia page shows how massive the difference can be:
 | The main reason to pay close attention to kerning is for readability. Visual appeal is also very important. Another reason is that a properly kerned word will typically take up less horizontal space than an unkerned word, therefore allowing larger type sizes (this is useful for book cover design and poster design).
For more information, check out this previous article by me: [What the Heck is Kerning? The Fundamentals of Good Typography](http://www.hensher.ca/what-the-heck-is-kerning "What the Heck is Kerning?") |
257 | From what I see [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning), it seems kerning is just rearranging the space between letters. However, the comments [here](http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1924/graphic-design/1929#1929) lead me to believe there's more to the story. Is kerning really that simple? Is the only purpose of it to look nicer or is there some practical reasoning for it? | 2011/01/06 | [
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/257",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/users/140/"
] | I think the [Wikipedia kerning article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning) essentially covers it, but the bulk of the article is about adding kerning information to a font during its design, or applications automatically using this built-in information to improve composition of a font's characters -- rather than the a fine-tuning a designer might do on a particularly problematic pair of characters in a headline.
As an example, say the revolutionary new product, the
*i*Vone
-------
was launched; that combination of italic/oblique and roman characters would probably not have been foreseen by the font designer, and so would require special treatment to avoid the dot of the i from colliding with the V.
Letter-letter, or letter-punctuation combinations that are only used in some languages are other situations that might require custom kerning by a designer.
Also to note, fonts contain widely varying amounts of kerning information - this is one of the key differentiators between amateur and professionally produced fonts, or even between different versions of the same font. | (via [Ironic Sans](http://www.ironicsans.com/)):
 |
257 | From what I see [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning), it seems kerning is just rearranging the space between letters. However, the comments [here](http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1924/graphic-design/1929#1929) lead me to believe there's more to the story. Is kerning really that simple? Is the only purpose of it to look nicer or is there some practical reasoning for it? | 2011/01/06 | [
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/257",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/users/140/"
] | I think the [Wikipedia kerning article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning) essentially covers it, but the bulk of the article is about adding kerning information to a font during its design, or applications automatically using this built-in information to improve composition of a font's characters -- rather than the a fine-tuning a designer might do on a particularly problematic pair of characters in a headline.
As an example, say the revolutionary new product, the
*i*Vone
-------
was launched; that combination of italic/oblique and roman characters would probably not have been foreseen by the font designer, and so would require special treatment to avoid the dot of the i from colliding with the V.
Letter-letter, or letter-punctuation combinations that are only used in some languages are other situations that might require custom kerning by a designer.
Also to note, fonts contain widely varying amounts of kerning information - this is one of the key differentiators between amateur and professionally produced fonts, or even between different versions of the same font. | The main reason to pay close attention to kerning is for readability. Visual appeal is also very important. Another reason is that a properly kerned word will typically take up less horizontal space than an unkerned word, therefore allowing larger type sizes (this is useful for book cover design and poster design).
For more information, check out this previous article by me: [What the Heck is Kerning? The Fundamentals of Good Typography](http://www.hensher.ca/what-the-heck-is-kerning "What the Heck is Kerning?") |
257 | From what I see [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning), it seems kerning is just rearranging the space between letters. However, the comments [here](http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1924/graphic-design/1929#1929) lead me to believe there's more to the story. Is kerning really that simple? Is the only purpose of it to look nicer or is there some practical reasoning for it? | 2011/01/06 | [
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/257",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/users/140/"
] | (via [Ironic Sans](http://www.ironicsans.com/)):
 | The main reason to pay close attention to kerning is for readability. Visual appeal is also very important. Another reason is that a properly kerned word will typically take up less horizontal space than an unkerned word, therefore allowing larger type sizes (this is useful for book cover design and poster design).
For more information, check out this previous article by me: [What the Heck is Kerning? The Fundamentals of Good Typography](http://www.hensher.ca/what-the-heck-is-kerning "What the Heck is Kerning?") |
11,570 | I am lucky (or potentially unlucky) enough that a grant applications that I am working on does not have any formatting specifications and instead just has a limit of 5000 words. There are some suggested sections, that will be be variable in terms of length (some will have 200 words and others over 1000), and it is likely that everyone will need to add additional sections. I am used to grant applications using poorly created MS Word forms with predefined sections that allow no formatting and are a single column with narrow margins/long line widths and single spacing.
I am looking for a style guide (or recommendations) about how to format the grant and the pros/cons of different formatting styles. I am both interested in the physical layout on the page, use of figures and tables, as well as advice on sectioning and the order of sections. I use LaTeX if that matters, but am happy for MS word advice also.
For example, do I go single column or double column and wide or narrow margins? The suggested sections do not include an obvious place for aim. Is it worth starting with an an overview that defines the problem and the outlines the proposed research or is 5000 words short enough that you do not need it? | 2013/08/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11570",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/"
] | I envy you the fact that it is only a word count that counts. I am in a system where everything has to fit a certain number of pages with 12pt Times-Roman and 2.5 cm margins.
With the word limit as your main limitation you have the possibility to illustrate your application more freely. If suitable, I strongly suggest you try to come up with conceptual graphics to strengthen the text and make difficult concepts easier to grasp. This can be a huge advantage. Since your are not limited to pages you can afford complex and larger illustrations than otherwise possible.
As for typesetting, you use LaTeX (as do I) which produces excellent text. Trust the LaTeX settings for text width, line-spacing etc. to get a readable text. Too long or too short lines makes the text difficult to read. See the [geometry](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/geometry) package for details if you are not already using it. EDIT: I do not think two-column format is good for proposals. It is a way to put as much text into a small area and also involves using smalller type sizes, typically around 9 in order to get enough characters into a line to make it readable. Since the number of pages is not a limit, I would aim for something which is as easily read as possible, typically 11-12 pt single columns. the margin widths can be determined so as to get reasonable line lengths. I do not think wide or narrow margins make a difference but wider margins make the page more attractive than narrow (basically a typographical design issue).
EDIT: With one-column format you can add figures at full width and with the no-page-limit do not have to worry about the size of the graphics (in the sense of having to make it as small as possible so to not use up space. I think a straight-forward simple formatting is best. There is no need to be overly creative. What conveys the message without resistance is the best.
One of the more useful concepts in grant writing I have come across is given in the book [Writing Successful Science Proposals](http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300119398) by Andrew J. Friedland and Carol L. Folt which outlines a two-paragraph summary, akin to an abstract whith which you introduce your proposal. The point of this is to quickly and concisely convey the key points of the proposal to the reader. This involves starting from the big picture metion key gaps in knowledge, how to tackle them (methods), preliminary results (if existent) and expected results. I obviously cannot copy the book content here but the point is to make the reader of the proposal completely clear over what to expect in the proposal and so all details given is just putting substance to the known structure. I believe this is what you aim for in what you call an overview section.
EDIT: After having started your text with a brief introduction, you simply follow up by the usual type of structure:
* *background* (to focus on the gap of knowledge to be targeted)
* *objectives*
* *project outline*
* *time table (milestones; can be a [gantt plot](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/graphics/pgf/contrib/pgfgantt))*
* if applicable: *research group/resources*
* *references*
For references I would go for footnote type references since the harvard-style citations uses up many characters. It is also possible to abbreviate the reference list by omitting the paper title, similar to what is done in *Nature* and *Science*. | By submitting a grant proposal you're asking the funding agency to give you some resources (funding) to investigate some problem. Very early in the proposal you should make the case, clearly and succinctly, why you --- and not someone else --- should be given those resources:
* *The problem*:
+ what is the issue you propose to investigate?
+ why is it worth investigating?
* *The current state of knowledge*:
+ what are the shortcomings or gaps in the current state of the art?
+ why are those gaps or shortcomings important and worth addressing?
* *The proposed research*:
+ how do you propose to approach these gaps or shortcomings?
+ what specific research questions will you address in the course of your investigations?
+ what will be the impact if your investigation is successful?
* *Likelihood of success*:
+ what makes you qualified to do this research?
+ what preliminary evidence do you have that suggests that your proposed approach is likely to succeed?
I would suggest addressing these points in an "Executive Summary" or "Background" section, of at most one or 1 1/2 pages, at the very beginning of the proposal. This will give the reviewer a high-level view of what you're planning to do and help set the context for the more detailed discussion in the rest of the proposal. |
3,465 | In *The Dark Knight Rises*, Bane publicly reveals the cover-up of Dent's death and disclosed all the crimes were made by Harvey Dent. Further, he reveals the role of Commissioner Gordon to cover-up Dent's crime by his letter, at that moment ***why didn't he reveal Bruce Wayne is Batman?*** Instead of that, he helped Bruce by not disclosing the Batman's secret.
Are there any rules in ***League of Shadows*** as not to disclose each other? | 2012/07/24 | [
"https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/3465",
"https://movies.stackexchange.com",
"https://movies.stackexchange.com/users/556/"
] | In the movie Bane was trying to cause chaos in the city by pitting the rich against the poor. You see those judgements passed for the rich people who lived their life so luxuriously given by Crane. Revealing the fact that Bruce Wayne (who is one of the richest people in the gotham) to be Batman might create the idea that not all rich people are bad and might make Bruce being pictured as a hero in the eyes of Poor who would probably start questioning Bane's ideals and could very well jeopardize Bane's plan. | I think this is probably because in the bid that he can convince the people to go against the law that imposed the 'Dent Act' and realize they have "worshipped a false idol" Two-Face, he re-enforces his plea with the letter that Gordon wrote expressing how the true hero was the Batman:
Here is the speech:
>
> I present to you as the shining example of justice. You have been supplied with a false idol to stop you from tearing down this corrupt city. Let me tell you the truth about Harvey Dent from the words of Gotham's police commissioner James Gordon. The Batman didn't murder Harvey Dent, he saved my boy then took the blame for Harvey's appalling crime so that I could, to my shame, build a lie around this fallen idol. I praised the mad man who tried to murder my own child but I can no longer live with my lie. It is time to trust the people of Gotham with the truth and it is time for me to resign. And do you accept this man's resignation? Do you accept the resignation of all these liars?! Of all the corrupt?!
>
>
>
Bane cared only to rally Gotham against the system that the lie helped create, I don’t think the letter really showed the extend of Batman's involvement in the conspiracy, he simply saved the family, vanished and the police vilified him. Batman in a sense needed to appear a victim for Bane which is fine for him if it helps to promote his false hope, in fact the Batman returning is part of this hope while knowing Batman/Wayne are broken and forgotten in a pit to watch Gotham be ripped apart - that seemed to me all he cared about. |
79,418 | I have been thinking about upgrading my audio equipment to a rack system.
It is going to be nothing crazy, just a
* Audio Interface
* Guitar Interface (multi-FX processor)
* Power Conditioner
Here are ones I've been looking at:
**Audio Interface**
[Focusrite Clarett 18i20](https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Scarlet18i20G2--focusrite-scarlett-18i20?mrkgcl=28&mrkgadid=3301332354&rkg_id=0&product_id=Scarlet18i20G2&campaigntype=shopping&campaign=aaShopping%20-%20SKU%20-%20Studio%20%26%20Recording&adgroup=Audio%20Interfaces%20-%20Focusrite%20-%20scarlet18i20g2&placement=google&adpos=1o4&creative=280136033881&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CjwKCAiAs8XiBRAGEiwAFyQ-eifdmIYGcz-y6yabMlsFcKoRSrET3M4MzGT829303mMTBoAe-ThspRoCyGAQAvD_BwE)
**Guitar Interface**
[Line 6 Helix Rack Mount](https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HelixRack--line-6-helix-rack-guitar-multi-effects-rack-processor)
**Power Conditioner**
[Furman PL-PLUS DMC](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B001JJ8WQK)
I guess I just have a question about how to connect these pieces and what the chain of the signal would be. How would I hook up the Helix to my audio interface so that I could have everything hooked up to my monitors at once? | 2019/01/31 | [
"https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/79418",
"https://music.stackexchange.com",
"https://music.stackexchange.com/users/57237/"
] | All the powered devices in your rack will be powered by the Power Conditioner - it's basically a rack mounted power-strip.
The Guitar Interface takes a guitar input and modifies it with guitar effects. It then supplies the output to any of it's output ports - quarter inch, USBMidi, etc.
The Audio Interface takes a guitar, mic or Midi Keyboard input and presents it at a USBMidi output.
There are two things missing from your setup; A Computer, to process any USBMidi information being supplied by either interface (this is optional), and an amplifier (unless you have powered monitors).
If you only play guitar, there is some duplication here. I'd bin the Audio Interface, and just use the Guitar interface. If you play keys as well, or sing, then that's where the Audio Interface comes into its own; it will supply that information to a computer for further processing.
If you do want to use both devices, then (personally) I wouldn't chain them; I'd get a rack mounted mixer, and feed four channels (stereo from the guitar rack, and stereo from your computer) into your mixer, and run outputs to an amplifier (or just run left/right from the mixer into powered monitors). | The power conditioner supplies power to all your audio gear. It isn't in the audio signal chain though.
The Helix, apart from it's other functions, seems to BE an 8-in 8-out audio interface. So you maybe don't need another one. |
4,294,147 | I'm building an iPhone app that, among other things, allows the user to take and store photographs associated with locations. I am currently using the ALAssetLibrary to allow the photographs to be stored in Photos and be accessible outside the app (on a computer for instance via the built-in mechanisms). There is not a lot of technical content out there for working with the ALAssetLibrary but from what there is I have managed to cobble together a working version of this. I have had to resort to storing a dictionary of photo URLS in my app and manually detecting if the photo still exists when displaying lists of them because there does not seem to be a way to add custom metadata to an ALAsset.
What I would really like to do is add two custom metadata fields to each asset to provide it with a title and a custom id value that I can use to filter on when enumerating the asset library.
As a secondary task, I'd like the user to be able to update the title metadata.
Can it be done? At this point, I really don't think it can because the API really doesn't seem to provide the necessary methods to get/set custom metadata. I'm hoping against all odds that there is some other aspect to the AssetLibrary framework that I have not yet discovered.
At a minimum, if someone can authoritatively say "NO" then at least others might find this breadcrumb on their own trail of hope and change tack more quickly!
And, having 0 reputation I can't tag it with AssetLibrary :( wow, this day is just going downhill. FML | 2010/11/27 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/4294147",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/522563/"
] | I've been looking over the documentation and I dont think it is possible to tack on additional fields to the ALAsset object, well you can create your own object or extend theirs but that wont help you when your pulling back assets because you'll need to init yours and populate it then.
Look I know this falls short of a really good answer but I had to try. | The ALAsset class documentation describes a property - customMetadata. This is documented to be an NSDictionary of whatever custom tags you want. Currently, however, it is not implemented in the class (I've raised a bug on Apple's developer site to bring the issue up). |
30,045 | I have noticed "Edit Widgets" under the Quantum GIS and would like to know in detail the use case and usage of this widget.
For any opened vector file, under the Properties -> Fields Tab, for every attribute feature there is a Edit Widget shown. Can someone explain in detail, the the use of these widgets?
If the answer is in form of Tutorial, I'm sure it will help a lot of users like me. | 2012/07/22 | [
"https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/30045",
"https://gis.stackexchange.com",
"https://gis.stackexchange.com/users/6481/"
] | Users can choose from one of the following editing widgets:
* Line edit – a simple edit box
* Classification – displays a combo box with the values used for “unique value” classification (symbology tab)
* Range – allows numeric values within a given range, the widget can be either slider or spin box
* Unique values
+ editable – displays a line edit widget with auto-completion suggesting values already used in the attribute table
+ not editable – displays a combo box with already used values
* File name – adds a file chooser dialog
* Value map – shows a combo box with predefined description/value items
* Enumeration – a combo box with values that can be used within the columns type
* Immutable – read-only
* Hidden – makes the attribute invisible for the user
* Checkbox – a checkbox with customizable representation for both checked and unchecked state
* Text edit – an edit box that allow multiple input lines
* Calendar – a calendar widget to input dates
[Source: [http://underdark.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/customized-attribute-editing-in-qgis-1-5/]](http://underdark.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/customized-attribute-editing-in-qgis-1-5/) | The edit widgets are used to control which UI control is used when the edit form (feature form) is shown to the user. These can be used to better control the input from the use, or aid in data collection, e.g Selecting `Checkbox` will show a tick box to the user for the field in the form.
These two posts cover a simple use case:
[How to create a drop down list?](https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/29858/how-to-create-a-drop-down-list)
[How to have a drop down list for feature editing (attributes) in Quantum GIS?](https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/11960/how-to-have-a-drop-down-list-for-feature-editing-attributes-in-quantum-gis) |
11,004 | Recently two friends of mine have come back to Australia after having done 2 semesters of 3rd and 4th year subjects (about half mathematics) at different branches of the University of California.
They said that the tests would only ask questions directly from or similar to material covered in lectures and example sheets. If questions deviated from the lectures or example sheets very much students would complain to the lecturer. Thus, if one studied the example sheets enough they got an A relatively easily. They returned with A or A+ in all of their maths subjects, but they average about 75-80 for their maths subjects here.
In Australia, about 70% of the exam is usually like that. The rest are questions that we learned enough theory to feasibly do, but we hadn't seen that type of question before so it requires some level of cleverness to get it within the time limits of the exam.
My questions are
>
> Can anyone corroborate that the maths tests at american universities are actually like this?
>
>
> If so, is this well known and accounted for by the people who look at grad school applications from international students?
>
>
> How do they fairly evaluate the performance of international applications? How are Australian applicants generally viewed by them?
>
>
>
Edit: Chris's answer below seems to answer the first question by "not quite", which is what I expected I suppose. The other questions still stand. | 2013/07/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11004",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7665/"
] | Repeating a bit other remarks: in the U.S., exams in upper-division courses are usually designed by the individual instructor, and vary widely.
There *is* a tradition in top-tier places in the U.S. to "challenge" students on exams, and students seem to expect this, while, yes, in some local cultures students expect/demand exams that contain no surprises.
For that matter, it is not clear to me that "testing cleverness" is necessarily an important goal for timed exams. I am well aware that there is a huge tradition in which quickness and cleverness are construed as fundamental skills/talents. Certainly these are important for math contests, and occasionally useful in the practice of mathematics, but I don't think our classes *teach* these things, in any case. Thus, testing for quickness and cleverness is testing for something outside the course content. Thus, in many regards it is an irrelevant challenge to the students.
That is, substantial mathematics often has *genuine* complications and difficulties that exist despite examples and forthrightness, and it is sometimes (often?) counterproductive to create "challenging (surprise) problems" from material that should be straightforward.
But, yes, people on admissions committees are well aware of such traditions and their variations, don't worry.
For me, the letters of recommendation from math faculty are far more important than grades on the transcript, in any case. Similarly, the statement of purpose of the applicant tells much more than the transcript. And, one more time, the skill set relevant to surprise questions on timed exams becomes ever less relevant throughout grad school. | >
> The rest are questions that we learned enough theory to feasibly do, but we hadn't seen that type of question before so it requires some level of cleverness to get it within the time limits of the exam.
>
>
>
The math and science classes I have taken at top tier universities in the U.S. have had these types of problems as a significant part of exams. As a caveat, those were also classes designed for math and science students. I have tutored students in non-math fields who have taken math and science classes that were less rigorous in that regard (e.g., "Calculus for Business majors").
Suffice it to say that as undergraduates progress deeper into their respective field, they will generally experience more challenging material on the exams. |
11,004 | Recently two friends of mine have come back to Australia after having done 2 semesters of 3rd and 4th year subjects (about half mathematics) at different branches of the University of California.
They said that the tests would only ask questions directly from or similar to material covered in lectures and example sheets. If questions deviated from the lectures or example sheets very much students would complain to the lecturer. Thus, if one studied the example sheets enough they got an A relatively easily. They returned with A or A+ in all of their maths subjects, but they average about 75-80 for their maths subjects here.
In Australia, about 70% of the exam is usually like that. The rest are questions that we learned enough theory to feasibly do, but we hadn't seen that type of question before so it requires some level of cleverness to get it within the time limits of the exam.
My questions are
>
> Can anyone corroborate that the maths tests at american universities are actually like this?
>
>
> If so, is this well known and accounted for by the people who look at grad school applications from international students?
>
>
> How do they fairly evaluate the performance of international applications? How are Australian applicants generally viewed by them?
>
>
>
Edit: Chris's answer below seems to answer the first question by "not quite", which is what I expected I suppose. The other questions still stand. | 2013/07/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11004",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7665/"
] | >
> Can anyone corroborate that the maths tests at american universities are actually like this?
>
>
>
Some are, some aren't. Grading standards are heavily influenced by national and departmental culture, but ultimately they're entirely up to the instructor, **just as they are in Australia.**
But I expect that most upper-division exams in *strong* departments require enough mastery of the material (as opposed to memorization of examples) to answer a completely novel question that requires the same techniques. The key word here is *mastery*, not *cleverness*.
(I go further than Paul Garrett. Cleverness is not only inappropriate to test on exams; it's actually a *dangerous* habit to cultivate. My most frequent advice to students in my classes is "You're trying to be clever. Stop it. Just solve the problem, one step at a time.")
>
> If so, is this well known and accounted for by the people who look at grad school applications from international students?
>
>
>
Yes, admissions committees are well aware of significant differences between universities, both within the US and internationally.
>
> How do they fairly evaluate the performance of international applications?
>
>
>
Generally, by comparing them with other international applicants, preferably from the same country, if not the same university. In other words, exactly the same way we judge American applicants.
In my department, if we get an otherwise strong application from a university we've never heard of, we try to judge by the recommendation letters. But sometimes we just have to gamble, so we admit one or two of the very best students from an unknown university just to *find out* how good it is. If they do well, we admit more from that university later; if they do badly, we don't.
>
> How are Australian applicants generally viewed by them?
>
>
>
Well, that depends on the individual applicant, doesn't it? | >
> The rest are questions that we learned enough theory to feasibly do, but we hadn't seen that type of question before so it requires some level of cleverness to get it within the time limits of the exam.
>
>
>
The math and science classes I have taken at top tier universities in the U.S. have had these types of problems as a significant part of exams. As a caveat, those were also classes designed for math and science students. I have tutored students in non-math fields who have taken math and science classes that were less rigorous in that regard (e.g., "Calculus for Business majors").
Suffice it to say that as undergraduates progress deeper into their respective field, they will generally experience more challenging material on the exams. |
327,897 | I had created a .vsd file in Visio Premium 2010, saved it, emailed a copy to my colleague. Couple of days later, I reopen it, only to find that for some reason, it no longer treats the the document as a UML template-based document.
As a result of this, I cannot do *any* edits on the file. Any ideas as to why the UML info gets discarded?
Is there any workaround so that I can edit the file? How can I make Visio think into believing the file is based on the UML template?
Note:
* Copy + paste from the existing file to a new one is not practical because there are 18+ tabs and Visio seems to discard all names and other meta-data information on pasting.
* I've created a new diagram using the "Create New From Existing.." dialog, doesn't help, it's still the same issue. | 2011/08/25 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/327897",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/4377/"
] | First step : Go to Photoshop –> Preferences –> File Handling settings, and set both Maximize Compatibility and Image Previews to checked.
If that does not help, the article [FIX: Quick look on OSX not working (black box)](http://www.hamleshmotah.com/index.php/2010/01/14/fix-quick-look-on-osx-not-working-black-box/) suggests two solutions:
1. Select Utilities > Disk Utility, and then "Repair Disk Permissions". You will have to boot from the install media if you are repairing the same drive that your system boots from.
2. Reinstall the Mac OS X Update. | This worked for me. In Photoshop - Preferences - File Handling - DISABLE COMPRESSION OF PSD AND PSB FILES. I guess Finder doesn't like decompressing saved files to make a preview. It's funny though, I already do save with all preview images. But they barely work and usually fade out right after they appear. |
7,306,540 | We are developing an application integrator which sends requests to various webservices simultaneously, aggregate data return by each webservice and format it to display on UI. Each webservice may have proprietary xml format. Also we don't wont to compromise user experience.
We identified ESB(Servicemix/Mule) and Async Http Client for this requirement.
Can anyone suggest which would be better option? Async Http Client seems good fit as it is lightweight over servicemix.
Thanks,
Amit Patel | 2011/09/05 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/7306540",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/398863/"
] | you can also just use [Apache Came](http://camel.apache.org)l for this...
It supports a wide range of [components](http://camel.apache.org/components.html) and [messaging patterns](http://camel.apache.org/enterprise-integration-patterns.html), is lightweight and has a flexible deployment model (standalone, spring, maven, webapp, OSGi, etc). | You have answered your own. Yes ESB is good option. You can use [**Mule**](http://www.mulesoft.org/).
Second option is Asynchronous messaging but it will be complicated, because You have to orchestrate the services properly. |
7,306,540 | We are developing an application integrator which sends requests to various webservices simultaneously, aggregate data return by each webservice and format it to display on UI. Each webservice may have proprietary xml format. Also we don't wont to compromise user experience.
We identified ESB(Servicemix/Mule) and Async Http Client for this requirement.
Can anyone suggest which would be better option? Async Http Client seems good fit as it is lightweight over servicemix.
Thanks,
Amit Patel | 2011/09/05 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/7306540",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/398863/"
] | you can also just use [Apache Came](http://camel.apache.org)l for this...
It supports a wide range of [components](http://camel.apache.org/components.html) and [messaging patterns](http://camel.apache.org/enterprise-integration-patterns.html), is lightweight and has a flexible deployment model (standalone, spring, maven, webapp, OSGi, etc). | As per your requirement, I would suggest you to go with WSO2 ESB. Its and 100% free and open source ESB (Apache License 2) and unlike other ESBs, with wso2 you don't have the commercial and community versions. So, what you [download for free](http://wso2.org/downloads/esb) from WSO2, comprises of all the features that are available in 'commercial versions' of other ESB vendors. Also, WSO2 offers not just an ESB but a complete SOA Platform for your SOA needs.
For the requirement you mentioned above, there is a [simple sample](http://wso2.org/library/articles/2011/01/wso2-esb-by-example-service-chaining) that you can try out. |
7,306,540 | We are developing an application integrator which sends requests to various webservices simultaneously, aggregate data return by each webservice and format it to display on UI. Each webservice may have proprietary xml format. Also we don't wont to compromise user experience.
We identified ESB(Servicemix/Mule) and Async Http Client for this requirement.
Can anyone suggest which would be better option? Async Http Client seems good fit as it is lightweight over servicemix.
Thanks,
Amit Patel | 2011/09/05 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/7306540",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/398863/"
] | you can also just use [Apache Came](http://camel.apache.org)l for this...
It supports a wide range of [components](http://camel.apache.org/components.html) and [messaging patterns](http://camel.apache.org/enterprise-integration-patterns.html), is lightweight and has a flexible deployment model (standalone, spring, maven, webapp, OSGi, etc). | eh, we did a productivity test on coding pure java vs. ESB (mule and spring integration). We had 3 developers do the same thing in all 3 versions (mule, SI, and just pure java with no ESB). They finsihed 6 times faster when not using an ESB and we gave alot of things in the problem that would leverage the ESB, but in the end it did not help....all the xml coding and confusion of the api usages led to really unproductive development teams. Not only that, it is hard to find ESB developers on the market as well.
NOTE: We even took an advanced spring integration guy that had been doing it and he also was faster in pure java to complete the code. He loved spring integration and after taking my test, he changed his mind.
ie. be warned of the huge productivity loss that using the wrong framework can cause. 6 times is a huge penalty. I mean 1 month vs. 6 months is a big difference.
A 6 times productivity loss is worth taking one week out and doing your own developer productivity test. Some argued with me that they didn't know the framework yet which is why we got an advanced spring integration guy to take the test.
Also, make sure your test takes at least an hour or so....just develop some fake but realistic requirements from the application that you are going to write anyways so you make progress on your application while running the study. I would be interested to see more results posted as well. |
9,735,418 | Has anyone tried to test databases with roboelectric? I have to pass the context to create the database but I don't know how to inject it!
Thanks! | 2012/03/16 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/9735418",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/506712/"
] | It wont work easily since the db is on device... and robolectric runs on the jvm mocking all device related stuff out. I would recommend to use Robotium for that instead.
If you still want to somehow do this with Robolectric you will have to get a sqlite db running and connecting to it on the jvm from the robolectric tests. | <https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/robolectric/gSeC9r5zqr0>
Good one for testing the content provider with robolectric, but we have to call the content provider queries directly as content resolver wont be there. |
68,624,248 | I'm looking for a possibility to generate a live reporting in tableau from Jira source data. I can't use the Tableau connector in Jira, cause of company restrictions. Currently i read out data from the Jira API and don't to were to store them correctly and access them nicely in Tableau.
I expect that i have to use a external database and hope some of you guys already have some experience for this usecase. What is the cheapest variant for e.g. MySQL, Postgres, Amazon RDS? | 2021/08/02 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/68624248",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/16452810/"
] | You need to css grid system
See the example:
<https://www.w3schools.com/bootstrap/bootstrap_grid_system.asp> | Tables don't work that way. Have you tried [grids](https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/complete-guide-grid/) |
112,214 | I'm puzzled by how the results that "The Digital Picture" have received while testing the new Tamron 100-400 telephoto zoom lens contrast the positive reviews by the actual users all over the Internet.
Samples from "The Digital Picture" indicate that the lens is incredibly soft in the corners and on the sides at 100mm and 400mm (the latter being the range that you would buy a 100-400mm telephoto lens for) and basically can not be used for any serious work. The real users on the Internet, on the other hand, praise the lens, and certain reviews even include sample pictures that indicate decent sharpness.
Now we know that Tamron may have autofocus issues right out of the box, and may require tweaking via the tap-in console, which I believe the lab testers, who review gear "in mass", won't bother doing. Some real world reviews indicate that buyers return as many as three Tamron lenses before receiving a decent one.
Do you think the above scenario is what we're seeing in the linked test? What is your real-world experience with the Tamron 100-400mm telephoto lens on a Canon mount?
[100mm f/4.5](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1178&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=972&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0)
[135mm f/5.0](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1178&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=1&API=1&LensComp=972&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=1&APIComp=1)
[200mm f/5.6](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1178&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=2&API=1&LensComp=972&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=2&APIComp=2)
[400mm f/6.3](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1178&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=1&API=1&LensComp=972&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=1&APIComp=1) | 2019/09/23 | [
"https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/112214",
"https://photo.stackexchange.com",
"https://photo.stackexchange.com/users/85328/"
] | >
> Now we know that Tamron may have autofocus issues right out of the box, and may require tweaking via the tap-in console...
>
>
>
The-Digital-Picture does their lens tests using careful manual focus, so AF performance does not affect the image quality samples at TDP. How much coffee Bryan has had before testing a lens might!
>
> The real users on the Internet, on the other hand, praise the lens, and certain reviews even include sample pictures that indicate decent sharpness.
>
>
>
Lenses can look pretty "decent" in actual photos and still look pretty bad in magnified crops of different areas of a test chart. Flat test charts are used to test lenses precisely because they show every minor flaw a lens has.
Lenses that demonstrate field curvature will look blurry in the corner of test charts not because the lens is actually that "soft" at the corner but rather because when the lens is optimally focused at the center of the test chart the lens is focused slightly in front of (or behind) the edge of the test chart.
>
> Some real world reviews indicate that buyers return as many as three Tamron lenses before receiving a decent one.
>
>
>
Tamron has always had a reputation (rightly or not) that there is a wide variation from one copy of a lens to another in terms of manufacturing tolerances that affect lens performance. Many of their older and cheaper lenses do not include any internal adjustments to correct for slightly less than optimal alignment of the various lens elements. Whatever the result is of combining all of the slight variations of each part due to manufacturing tolerances, that's pretty much what you get with such a lens. Their newer, higher priced lenses do have adjustment points but they're not always dialed in well from the factory. Canon tends to put at least 1-2 adjustment points in most of their lower cost lenses, and even more in their more expensive lenses.
**It may be that TDP tested a less than stellar sample of the Tamron lens.** In comments he made elsewhere regarding a review he did years ago for the [Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II VC](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-17-50mm-f-2.8-XR-Di-II-VC-Lens-Review.aspx) Bryan stated that he thought he had a bad copy of the lens and he hoped to examine another copy and complete the review. He apparently never did, since the review has never been completed. He has made such accommodations on more than one occasion for other lenses when a second copy performed much better than the first. In contrast to the results with the Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II VC, TDP's review of the [Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-17-50mm-f-2.8-XR-Di-II-Lens-Review.aspx) (earlier non-stabilized version) showed the copy Bryan reviewed was a very good lens. Most other reviewers and testers said the non-VC and VC Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 APS-C lens were very similar in optical quality. DxO showed the VC version was slightly *sharper* than the non-VC version in their tests. I've been very happy with a copy of the SP 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II (non-VC) I bought in 2009.
As Roger Cicala at lensrentals.com [said back in 2008](https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2008/12/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths/), "Now don’t get me wrong, there are bad copies of lenses out there, as best we can tell ranging from 3% to 7% of lenses. And we know, despite our checkout procedures, that 1 of 400 lenses or so will be damaged in shipping and arrive not functioning." That number does not include lenses that customers use and return at the end of their rental period that then fail the lens performance tests lensrentals does for every lens between every rental.
[By 2011](http://www.ronmartblog.com/2011/06/guest-blog-how-to-test-camera-lens-by.html) Roger has reduced that percentage of "bad" lenses from the factory. "Whether it's quality control at the factory or getting knocked around in shipping our experience is about 2% of new lenses need to be exchanged."
Just because a specific copy of a lens is "soft" due to misalignment does not always mean it left the factory that way. | They may have had a bad copy of the lens.
Consider, for example, the Canon EF 35mm f/2 non-IS non-USM lens.
TheDigitalPicture says [this](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=122&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=2&LensComp=0&CameraComp=0&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0).
Whereas, DxOMark says [this](https://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Canon/Canon-EF-35mm-F2---Measurements) (see field map at f/2.8).
According to TDP, the 35mm lens is crap in the corners even at f/2.8. According to DxOMark, it's quite a good lens assuming you stop down to f/2.8.
Obligatory links:
* <https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2008/12/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths/>
* <https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/03/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-facts/> |
112,214 | I'm puzzled by how the results that "The Digital Picture" have received while testing the new Tamron 100-400 telephoto zoom lens contrast the positive reviews by the actual users all over the Internet.
Samples from "The Digital Picture" indicate that the lens is incredibly soft in the corners and on the sides at 100mm and 400mm (the latter being the range that you would buy a 100-400mm telephoto lens for) and basically can not be used for any serious work. The real users on the Internet, on the other hand, praise the lens, and certain reviews even include sample pictures that indicate decent sharpness.
Now we know that Tamron may have autofocus issues right out of the box, and may require tweaking via the tap-in console, which I believe the lab testers, who review gear "in mass", won't bother doing. Some real world reviews indicate that buyers return as many as three Tamron lenses before receiving a decent one.
Do you think the above scenario is what we're seeing in the linked test? What is your real-world experience with the Tamron 100-400mm telephoto lens on a Canon mount?
[100mm f/4.5](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1178&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=972&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0)
[135mm f/5.0](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1178&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=1&API=1&LensComp=972&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=1&APIComp=1)
[200mm f/5.6](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1178&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=2&API=1&LensComp=972&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=2&APIComp=2)
[400mm f/6.3](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1178&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=1&API=1&LensComp=972&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=1&APIComp=1) | 2019/09/23 | [
"https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/112214",
"https://photo.stackexchange.com",
"https://photo.stackexchange.com/users/85328/"
] | >
> Now we know that Tamron may have autofocus issues right out of the box, and may require tweaking via the tap-in console...
>
>
>
The-Digital-Picture does their lens tests using careful manual focus, so AF performance does not affect the image quality samples at TDP. How much coffee Bryan has had before testing a lens might!
>
> The real users on the Internet, on the other hand, praise the lens, and certain reviews even include sample pictures that indicate decent sharpness.
>
>
>
Lenses can look pretty "decent" in actual photos and still look pretty bad in magnified crops of different areas of a test chart. Flat test charts are used to test lenses precisely because they show every minor flaw a lens has.
Lenses that demonstrate field curvature will look blurry in the corner of test charts not because the lens is actually that "soft" at the corner but rather because when the lens is optimally focused at the center of the test chart the lens is focused slightly in front of (or behind) the edge of the test chart.
>
> Some real world reviews indicate that buyers return as many as three Tamron lenses before receiving a decent one.
>
>
>
Tamron has always had a reputation (rightly or not) that there is a wide variation from one copy of a lens to another in terms of manufacturing tolerances that affect lens performance. Many of their older and cheaper lenses do not include any internal adjustments to correct for slightly less than optimal alignment of the various lens elements. Whatever the result is of combining all of the slight variations of each part due to manufacturing tolerances, that's pretty much what you get with such a lens. Their newer, higher priced lenses do have adjustment points but they're not always dialed in well from the factory. Canon tends to put at least 1-2 adjustment points in most of their lower cost lenses, and even more in their more expensive lenses.
**It may be that TDP tested a less than stellar sample of the Tamron lens.** In comments he made elsewhere regarding a review he did years ago for the [Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II VC](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-17-50mm-f-2.8-XR-Di-II-VC-Lens-Review.aspx) Bryan stated that he thought he had a bad copy of the lens and he hoped to examine another copy and complete the review. He apparently never did, since the review has never been completed. He has made such accommodations on more than one occasion for other lenses when a second copy performed much better than the first. In contrast to the results with the Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II VC, TDP's review of the [Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-17-50mm-f-2.8-XR-Di-II-Lens-Review.aspx) (earlier non-stabilized version) showed the copy Bryan reviewed was a very good lens. Most other reviewers and testers said the non-VC and VC Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 APS-C lens were very similar in optical quality. DxO showed the VC version was slightly *sharper* than the non-VC version in their tests. I've been very happy with a copy of the SP 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II (non-VC) I bought in 2009.
As Roger Cicala at lensrentals.com [said back in 2008](https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2008/12/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths/), "Now don’t get me wrong, there are bad copies of lenses out there, as best we can tell ranging from 3% to 7% of lenses. And we know, despite our checkout procedures, that 1 of 400 lenses or so will be damaged in shipping and arrive not functioning." That number does not include lenses that customers use and return at the end of their rental period that then fail the lens performance tests lensrentals does for every lens between every rental.
[By 2011](http://www.ronmartblog.com/2011/06/guest-blog-how-to-test-camera-lens-by.html) Roger has reduced that percentage of "bad" lenses from the factory. "Whether it's quality control at the factory or getting knocked around in shipping our experience is about 2% of new lenses need to be exchanged."
Just because a specific copy of a lens is "soft" due to misalignment does not always mean it left the factory that way. | **The camera used to test a lens affects image quality.** The *exact* same lens can be moved from one body to another with very different results.
The Digital Picture prefers to use Canon bodies, but Tamron makes lenses for multiple camera mounts. Reviews from multiple sources, using different bodies and copies of the lens, are likely to report different results. While you specify you're interested in the EF version, it's unlikely that *every* review you've read is specific to the EF version.
Different Canon bodies also deliver different results with the same lens. If you compare the Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD on the [7D mark II -vs- 1Ds mark III](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1178&Camera=963&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=1178&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0), center and mid-frame look better on one, while the edge looks better on the other.
See also:
* Peta Pixel: [Is the Sensor or the Lens to Blame for Poor Image Quality?](https://petapixel.com/2018/08/15/is-the-sensor-or-the-lens-to-blame-for-poor-image-quality/) |
15,710 | I read that multiplication is convolution in frequency domain. I also understand that convolution is just polynomial multiplication. Can somebody explain what are the advantages of doing convolution in frequency domain? Also, i would like to know how to multiply two signals in time domain and what is the significance of it. | 2014/04/17 | [
"https://dsp.stackexchange.com/questions/15710",
"https://dsp.stackexchange.com",
"https://dsp.stackexchange.com/users/8435/"
] | It is significant that you can do *time domain convolution* via *frequency domain multiplication*. This can be done in less time due to existence of *highly* optimized [Fast Fourier Transformation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Fourier_transform) algorithms.
Time domain convolution has great significance in DSP at least because this way we can apply a [FIR-filter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_impulse_response) to a signal. | The convolution operation can be imagined as swiping a credit card ,each instance of both the signals are multiplied with each other.
In which case a bar code scanner is more like multiplication ,only two instances of each signals are multiplied . |
142,871 | [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/aEWT7.jpg)
I'm looking to replicate this spiral pretty much exactly, but with perfect curves etc. using Illustrator. I've tried a few different methods including twist and also just the spiral tool but can't seem to get this exact shape. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks! | 2020/11/08 | [
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/142871",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/users/157865/"
] | I would redraw over the top of the image manually using the Curvature Tool. You can use extra anchors to try to achieve a more accurate curve as the spiral gets tighter in the middle. It could also be done with the Pen Tool if you are familiar with it.
For example
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/I1tRO.png)
For more detailed info here's [Adobe's help page](https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/drawing-pen-curvature-or-pencil.html) for the Pen, Curvature, and Pencil tools. | I wasn't aware that AI had a spiral tool, and if it's similar to the same tool in Inkscape, this [tutorial video (3:38)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKrNp5_08wo) for creating the design you seek may be helpful.
Effectively, one creates a duplicate of the first spiral, shrinks it (or expands it) as desired, then joins the spiral origins together and creates a joined line at the outer edge as well. In the video, the outer edge is a straight line, but your objective might require using a segment of a circle to complete the design.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NVupD.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6KCEX.png) |
142,871 | [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/aEWT7.jpg)
I'm looking to replicate this spiral pretty much exactly, but with perfect curves etc. using Illustrator. I've tried a few different methods including twist and also just the spiral tool but can't seem to get this exact shape. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks! | 2020/11/08 | [
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/142871",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/users/157865/"
] | I would redraw over the top of the image manually using the Curvature Tool. You can use extra anchors to try to achieve a more accurate curve as the spiral gets tighter in the middle. It could also be done with the Pen Tool if you are familiar with it.
For example
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/I1tRO.png)
For more detailed info here's [Adobe's help page](https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/drawing-pen-curvature-or-pencil.html) for the Pen, Curvature, and Pencil tools. | You have already got another answer that says "draw it" and that's the way to quite close replica. Illustrator's spiral isn't an exact replica but with careful settings and gradually widening custom stroke (=art brush) you can make something which can be near enough.
An example: Draw a spiral with the spiral tool:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hFYsb.jpg)
Make an art brush. I drew a rectangle and moved its top right corner so that the right end height is about 25% of the original. Apply the brush to the spiral:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8aQwD.jpg)
The brush width is scaled smaller. It's width wasn't designed with measurements.
Draw a circle. Make a copy of it pasted on the same place.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/kkrYF.jpg)
That circle can be used in several ways
1. It can be a clipping mask for the spiral and the copy can be an outline and differently colored background
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DUsNX.jpg)
2. It can be used to make an intersection after expanding the appearance of the spiral. The copy can be differently colored background.
In the next image there's no intersection, but the areas are filled with different colors with the Shape Builder and the extra piece is deleted (=hold Alt with the Shape Builder)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/CQCh5.png)
I guess your image is a photo of an existing physical spherical piece. To get the 3D look you must add shading and some gloss. It's far from trivial if you expect some plausibility. I skip it.
In a 3D program you can make a model of that piece by subtracting a several turns twisted extruded plane from a spherical surface. Or at least using that plane to define the coloring areas. Illustrator's 3D cannot do it. I have tried it in an older case:
[How to make wrap ribbon](https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/95528/how-to-make-wrap-ribbon) |
142,871 | [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/aEWT7.jpg)
I'm looking to replicate this spiral pretty much exactly, but with perfect curves etc. using Illustrator. I've tried a few different methods including twist and also just the spiral tool but can't seem to get this exact shape. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks! | 2020/11/08 | [
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/142871",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com",
"https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/users/157865/"
] | I wasn't aware that AI had a spiral tool, and if it's similar to the same tool in Inkscape, this [tutorial video (3:38)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKrNp5_08wo) for creating the design you seek may be helpful.
Effectively, one creates a duplicate of the first spiral, shrinks it (or expands it) as desired, then joins the spiral origins together and creates a joined line at the outer edge as well. In the video, the outer edge is a straight line, but your objective might require using a segment of a circle to complete the design.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NVupD.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6KCEX.png) | You have already got another answer that says "draw it" and that's the way to quite close replica. Illustrator's spiral isn't an exact replica but with careful settings and gradually widening custom stroke (=art brush) you can make something which can be near enough.
An example: Draw a spiral with the spiral tool:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hFYsb.jpg)
Make an art brush. I drew a rectangle and moved its top right corner so that the right end height is about 25% of the original. Apply the brush to the spiral:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8aQwD.jpg)
The brush width is scaled smaller. It's width wasn't designed with measurements.
Draw a circle. Make a copy of it pasted on the same place.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/kkrYF.jpg)
That circle can be used in several ways
1. It can be a clipping mask for the spiral and the copy can be an outline and differently colored background
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DUsNX.jpg)
2. It can be used to make an intersection after expanding the appearance of the spiral. The copy can be differently colored background.
In the next image there's no intersection, but the areas are filled with different colors with the Shape Builder and the extra piece is deleted (=hold Alt with the Shape Builder)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/CQCh5.png)
I guess your image is a photo of an existing physical spherical piece. To get the 3D look you must add shading and some gloss. It's far from trivial if you expect some plausibility. I skip it.
In a 3D program you can make a model of that piece by subtracting a several turns twisted extruded plane from a spherical surface. Or at least using that plane to define the coloring areas. Illustrator's 3D cannot do it. I have tried it in an older case:
[How to make wrap ribbon](https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/95528/how-to-make-wrap-ribbon) |
44,258 | I've just started learning Buddhism, and currently investigating 6 realms of rebirth. What confuses me is that it seems different sources give inconsistent ordering of the realms.
For example, in the book [Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B00BHXVWSS) the 6 realms of rebirth is ordered (from highest to lowest) as follows:
1. Gods
2. Humans
3. Titans
4. Ghosts
5. Animals
6. Hell
However, in wikipedia article of [Saṃsāra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra_(Buddhism)#Realms_of_rebirth) it presents the following order:
1. Gods
2. Human
3. Demi-god
4. Animal
5. Hungry ghost
6. Hell
I also checked wikipedia for [六道](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%AD%E9%81%93#%E4%B8%89%E5%96%84%E9%81%93) and some other Chinese online articles (since I can read Chinese). It seems they prefer to order demi-god realm above human realm.
So in summary, there seems to be inconsistency of relative ordering of two pairs of realms among various sources, namely the relative ordering between human realm and demi-god realm, and between animal realm and ghost realm.
I'm wondering which is right? Is there a definitive ordering? Maybe different branches of Buddhism define them differently? | 2021/03/07 | [
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/44258",
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com",
"https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/users/19750/"
] | The Pali scriptures say:
>
> Mendicants, there are five destinations. What five? Hell, the animal
> realm, the ghost realm, humanity and the gods. Nirayo, tiracchānayoni,
> pettivisayo, manussā, devā—
>
>
> [AN 9.68](https://suttacentral.net/an9.68/en/sujato)
>
>
> And what is the diversity in kamma? There is kamma to be experienced
> in hell, kamma to be experienced in the realm of common animals, kamma
> to be experienced in the realm of the hungry shades, kamma to be
> experienced in the human world, kamma to be experienced in the world
> of the devas. This is called the diversity in kamma.
>
>
> [AN 6.63](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an06/an06.063.than.html)
>
>
>
Other examples of the above ordering are [here](https://suttacentral.net/search?query=ghost%20animal%20).
Therefore, the ordering of the five realms in descending order is:
1. Gods
2. Humans
3. Ghosts
4. Animals
5. Hell
However, it appears one sutta, from thousands, namely, [Iti 93](https://suttacentral.net/iti93/en/ireland), includes a separate asura realm and places asura below hungry ghosts.
>
> Being unaware of these three fires, humankind ([pajā](https://suttacentral.net/define/paj%C4%81) = people) delights in personal
> existence.
>
>
> Unfree from the bonds of Māra They swell the ranks of hell, existence
> in the animal realm, asura-demons and the sphere of ghosts.
>
>
> Iti 93
>
>
>
Therefore, based on Iti 93, the descending order is:
1. Deva gods
2. Humans
3. Hungry ghosts
4. Asura gods
5. Animals
6. Hell | I suspect that both the ones you quoted are correct -- the thing is that, you're assuming that "titan" and "demi-god" are the same, but I don't think they are -- according to this reference to [The Thirty-one Planes of Existence](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/loka.html), a "demi-god" is presumable a *Deva* (above human) whereas a "titan" is presumably an *Asura* (below human).
As for the ordering of Animal versus Ghost, this reference agrees with Dhammadhatu's answer (based on Pali scriptures). The Wikipedia article you cited explains its reasoning (i.e. that the contrary ordering has an origin in the Tibetan tradition):
>
> According to McClelland, this realm is the mildest of the three evil realms. According to Yangsi Rinpoche, in contrast, the suffering of the beings born in the realm of the hungry ghosts is far more intense than those born in the animal realm.
>
>
>
Even then I'm not sure what criteria people use to order them -- for example "hungry ghost" might be closer to (more similar to and more akin to, more closely related to) human than the animal realm is, therefore higher in that sense -- even if the suffering of that state is greater, therefore lower in that sense. |
72,693 | I have come across a lot of infinite scrolls browsning the web but I have yet to find one that does not break when returning back to the list from for example looking at a newsarticle. What is the appropriate way to deal with the "back" button going back to the list?
In most cases I get to the top of the list and I have to scroll down all over again(loading more and more for each article I watch further down in the list). It can even be so frustrating that I just don't want to browse older articles on mobile devices! (On a desktop I mitigate this issue by opening the article in a new tab)?
Does anyone have an example where this problem have been solved in a ux friendly way? Maybe only load the last chunk the user was actually on? Loading the complete list all the way down to the user's previous position seems rather inefficient. | 2015/01/28 | [
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/72693",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com",
"https://ux.stackexchange.com/users/43483/"
] | I think the forum software discourse has a good solution for this.
They are updating the url while you are scrolling down. If you goto to another page from the list and return using the back button, you are at the same position you have left the page.
Try it yourself:
<http://try.discourse.org/>
This blog article has more details of the reasoning behind this and about the implementation:
<http://eviltrout.com/2013/02/16/infinite-scrolling-that-works.html> | You pretty much answer your own question:
* Update the URL to reflect whatever content is being shown
Here's an example: <http://blog.rnf.me/ux-of-urls/#/>.
As you press space bar to move through slides, the URL updates: <http://blog.rnf.me/ux-of-urls/#/19>.
The URL update is also a little delayed so that you don't pollute your Back history too badly. However, for me, I'd like a slightly longer delay. |
62,246 | >
> **Possible Duplicate:**
>
> [What does “Thundering typhoons” mean?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/60801/what-does-thundering-typhoons-mean)
>
>
>
What does "you blue blistering barnacles" or "Billions of blue blistering barnacles" mean? | 2012/03/25 | [
"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/62246",
"https://english.stackexchange.com",
"https://english.stackexchange.com/users/14211/"
] | *Blistering barnacles* is a "euphemistic oath" used by [Captain Haddock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Haddock), a fictional character in [The Adventures of Tintin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin), who sometimes extends the alliteration to *"Billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles!"*, for example.
It doesn't really "mean" anything, being just a made-up exclamation coined by the author ([Herge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herg%C3%A9)) so as not to offend anyone. But it'll have become much better known (effectively, a [catchphrase](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/catch+phrase)) since [Spielberg's animated film version](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin_%28film%29) was released last year. | More specifically, barnacles are a kind of crustacean that lives on the bottom of ships and boats, and are usually considered vermin that get in the way of steering the boat. Captain Haddock, being a seaman, uses this as an expletive. |
254,689 | My hydronic natural gas boiler came with a Armstrong S25 circulator. I will replace the Armstrong S25 circulator with a TACO 0010-F3 IFC (the closest equivalent). The Armstrong does not have a flow check, but TACO does. Should I use the flow check in the TACO circ, or not? My system has a backflow preventer on the intake line (before it enters the boiler). Another question: Does the IFC affect water flow? Thank you for replying!
Armstrong S25 (1725 RPM; 1/12 HP; no flow check). // TACO 0010-F3 IFC (3250 RPM; 1/8 HP; Integral Flow Check) | 2022/08/14 | [
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/254689",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/users/79154/"
] | A backflow preventer and a flow check do different things.
The backflow preventer prevents boiler system water from being sent into your domestic water supply, while allowing your domestic water supply to fill the boiler system. It has nothing to do with system circulation.
The flow check prevents circulating system water from flowing the wrong way when the pump is shut off - that can prevent certain types of unintended thermo-siphon heat delivery when heat is not called for, and can also prevent zones in multi-zone systems from backfeeding each other.
It probably affects water flow to some extent, but unless TACO provides data with it removed, presumably the pump data for an **integral** flow check pump is for the pump with the integral (built-in) valve in place. Point it the right direction and don't worry about it, best guess. | I see no reason for you to remove the check valve if is installed it will not hurt anything. The check valve needs a small amount of pressure to open; that will generally have a minimal effect on the pump until it is near end of life and can no longer generate the required pressure. You are actually replacing your existing with a bigger pump that has a higher GPM (flow rate) and a higher head (pressure), both will normally not hurt but can help. In essence it will deliver more BTU if the boiler can supply it. |
81,209 | Is there a way to call an external script or program from Flash CS3 every time it builds a SWF file? I'd like to add subversion information using subwcrev - the SVN keywords don't work because they only update when the version class file is updated. | 2008/09/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/81209",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/15371/"
] | I'm not sure what are JSFL capabilities these days, but I'd say inside Flash IDE is your only bet. JSFL is a language to extend the Flash IDE, but I'm not sure you can do this.
On a related note, adding SVN information to your SWFs is not trivial. You'd probably need SVN hooks to put the information *before* actually compiling the SWF itself.
I doubt you can do this compiling with Flash IDE but I'd be more than happy to hear otherwise. | lessen i do this
may it's us full for you're too
var fileURL = fl.browseForFileURL("open", "Select file");
fl.openDocument(fileURL);
var documentDom = fl.getDocumentDOM();
documentDom.exportSWF("movie.swf",true);
documentDom.close(false); |
30,636 | In our road we have a crab apple tree that has fruits but there have never been any small new trees rooting from the crab apples. Once, years ago, there were 3 crab apple trees within 100 yards but 2 of these were destroyed by some ignorant house owners. However in my 83 years of living within 50 yards of these three trees I have never seen any young new seedling trees. Some of the apples must have fallen onto the surrounding soil that is never disturbed. Will an apple tree grow if I deliberately plant some of the fruit from this one remaining tree? | 2017/01/29 | [
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/30636",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/users/16603/"
] | Not if you just plant a whole fruit, no, very unlikely. There is a way to do it, but you need to extract the seeds from the fruit in autumn by cutting it open, lifting the seeds out carefully, then removing any remaining pulp by flushing with water. After drying, they need cold stratification for up to 120 days - a description of how to do all this is shown here <http://homeguides.sfgate.com/propagating-crabapple-seeds-27860.html>, but you should bear in mind that Malus varieties do not come true from seed. The named varieties you buy are vegetatively propagated to ensure they are the right variety - from seed, you don't know what you'll get, other than it'll be a crabapple of some sort. | Yes. You can learn a lot from this extensively reworked and thought-out answer to a similar question about roses: [How do I grow roses from seed?](https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/5548/how-do-i-grow-roses-from-seed)
Fruits of all kinds are attractive to wildlife, and are presumably picked up and eaten or stored in underground dens where the seeds never see the light of day again, or immediately eaten and deposited later in a remote bank. Seeds may well have built-in dormancy which ensures that they do not germinate for years to spread out the risk. But sometimes you can wait too long.
Just burying the fruit or seeds probably won't give you the hoped-for result. It's a matter of making it a special project and putting in lots of TLC to make sure the trees survive. |
30,636 | In our road we have a crab apple tree that has fruits but there have never been any small new trees rooting from the crab apples. Once, years ago, there were 3 crab apple trees within 100 yards but 2 of these were destroyed by some ignorant house owners. However in my 83 years of living within 50 yards of these three trees I have never seen any young new seedling trees. Some of the apples must have fallen onto the surrounding soil that is never disturbed. Will an apple tree grow if I deliberately plant some of the fruit from this one remaining tree? | 2017/01/29 | [
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/30636",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/users/16603/"
] | I don't really know for crab apples, but I can tell you my experience with germinating regular apples (not necessarily on purpose).
Anyway, I've found that if the ground is bare (has no grass, weeds, or anything on it), and if I squash the fallen apples on the ground, the next year I tend to get a lot of apple tree seedlings growing. If there's a lawn or anything like that, I wouldn't count on it (we had a lawn for years with few if any trees ever germinating in it, but now that we don't have a lawn there anymore, they germinate like weeds, especially Northern Catalpa, Lombardy Poplar, and Siberian Elm, but also apple and maybe other stuff). Trees like to germinate in bare soil, in my experience (not just apple trees). I don't know that I ever had seedlings from apples that I didn't squish (but it's possible; we usually picked most of the non-squished ones up).
Anyway, I didn't plant the apples at all. I just squished them flat on compact, almost clay-type soil.
We do get cold winters (which may or may not be necessary for germination).
I wouldn't be surprised if grass needs to be absent for a number of years. It seems like the trees didn't start germinating in large numbers until we went a few years with no lawn.
If you're wondering why I would squish apples (and I'm not recommending people squish them), it's so they would decompose faster, and so the nutrients would go back into the soil. We've had a lot of apples drop before they were ripe, probably for various reasons (drought, no mulch, old tree, perhaps a lack of thinning, severe, chronic spider mite infestation, maybe disease, and maybe other stuff).
I don't believe I've ever had seedlings grow from planting entire apples. I only recall burying apples once (but not to try to germinate them); none sprouted. Nevertheless, I probably buried them too deeply for germination, and in soil that dries out very easily (not much grows in there, other than catnip in the spring).
Your crab apples probably don't have the genetics to breed true-to-type from seed, and they'll likely also be cross-pollinated, if they're like regular apples (if other apple or crab apple trees are near). But, you can certainly grow trees from seed, if they're like regular apples (I know they can pollinate regular apples). | Yes. You can learn a lot from this extensively reworked and thought-out answer to a similar question about roses: [How do I grow roses from seed?](https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/5548/how-do-i-grow-roses-from-seed)
Fruits of all kinds are attractive to wildlife, and are presumably picked up and eaten or stored in underground dens where the seeds never see the light of day again, or immediately eaten and deposited later in a remote bank. Seeds may well have built-in dormancy which ensures that they do not germinate for years to spread out the risk. But sometimes you can wait too long.
Just burying the fruit or seeds probably won't give you the hoped-for result. It's a matter of making it a special project and putting in lots of TLC to make sure the trees survive. |
30,636 | In our road we have a crab apple tree that has fruits but there have never been any small new trees rooting from the crab apples. Once, years ago, there were 3 crab apple trees within 100 yards but 2 of these were destroyed by some ignorant house owners. However in my 83 years of living within 50 yards of these three trees I have never seen any young new seedling trees. Some of the apples must have fallen onto the surrounding soil that is never disturbed. Will an apple tree grow if I deliberately plant some of the fruit from this one remaining tree? | 2017/01/29 | [
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/30636",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/users/16603/"
] | Yes. You can learn a lot from this extensively reworked and thought-out answer to a similar question about roses: [How do I grow roses from seed?](https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/5548/how-do-i-grow-roses-from-seed)
Fruits of all kinds are attractive to wildlife, and are presumably picked up and eaten or stored in underground dens where the seeds never see the light of day again, or immediately eaten and deposited later in a remote bank. Seeds may well have built-in dormancy which ensures that they do not germinate for years to spread out the risk. But sometimes you can wait too long.
Just burying the fruit or seeds probably won't give you the hoped-for result. It's a matter of making it a special project and putting in lots of TLC to make sure the trees survive. | If you think about the reason why fruit exist, it is to employ animals to disperse the seeds far away from the parent tree. So if this works (which we can assume it does based on the principles of evolution) one might expect that not many of the seeds will remain near the parent for the requisite amount of time (the cold of winter, the warm of spring) to induce germination. Those seeds that are dropped relatively nearby will face a lot of competition: shading from other plants, predation, gardening activities of humans, etc.
The previous comment about apples not coming true to seed is valid, except what this usually means is that cultivars of apple result in something more like crab apples, which is not a problem in your case. If you plant a bunch of seeds and keep them the cold over the winter, you should get some saplings in the following year. |
30,636 | In our road we have a crab apple tree that has fruits but there have never been any small new trees rooting from the crab apples. Once, years ago, there were 3 crab apple trees within 100 yards but 2 of these were destroyed by some ignorant house owners. However in my 83 years of living within 50 yards of these three trees I have never seen any young new seedling trees. Some of the apples must have fallen onto the surrounding soil that is never disturbed. Will an apple tree grow if I deliberately plant some of the fruit from this one remaining tree? | 2017/01/29 | [
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/30636",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/users/16603/"
] | Yes. You can learn a lot from this extensively reworked and thought-out answer to a similar question about roses: [How do I grow roses from seed?](https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/5548/how-do-i-grow-roses-from-seed)
Fruits of all kinds are attractive to wildlife, and are presumably picked up and eaten or stored in underground dens where the seeds never see the light of day again, or immediately eaten and deposited later in a remote bank. Seeds may well have built-in dormancy which ensures that they do not germinate for years to spread out the risk. But sometimes you can wait too long.
Just burying the fruit or seeds probably won't give you the hoped-for result. It's a matter of making it a special project and putting in lots of TLC to make sure the trees survive. | The short answer is yes. There's a lot of nuance to this though. If you select a fruit from the nearby tree that's ripe enough to have viable seeds (black or brown not white) AND they are harvested correctly from within the apple AND they go through the proper stratification process AND they get the right conditions to sprout then you're well on your way to *maybe* an apple tree.
I say *maybe* because the fruit you harvest the seeds from will not be the fruit your tree would grow up to be. Since nearly all apples require cross-pollination you'll end up with a hybrid fruit from the parent tree as well as the pollen from the pollinating tree. Could be something really awesome and you just created a new cultivar. Likely, however, it will be some sort of crabapple-type tree. Especially since you mentioned that you have crabapples in your area. |
30,636 | In our road we have a crab apple tree that has fruits but there have never been any small new trees rooting from the crab apples. Once, years ago, there were 3 crab apple trees within 100 yards but 2 of these were destroyed by some ignorant house owners. However in my 83 years of living within 50 yards of these three trees I have never seen any young new seedling trees. Some of the apples must have fallen onto the surrounding soil that is never disturbed. Will an apple tree grow if I deliberately plant some of the fruit from this one remaining tree? | 2017/01/29 | [
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/30636",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/users/16603/"
] | Not if you just plant a whole fruit, no, very unlikely. There is a way to do it, but you need to extract the seeds from the fruit in autumn by cutting it open, lifting the seeds out carefully, then removing any remaining pulp by flushing with water. After drying, they need cold stratification for up to 120 days - a description of how to do all this is shown here <http://homeguides.sfgate.com/propagating-crabapple-seeds-27860.html>, but you should bear in mind that Malus varieties do not come true from seed. The named varieties you buy are vegetatively propagated to ensure they are the right variety - from seed, you don't know what you'll get, other than it'll be a crabapple of some sort. | If you think about the reason why fruit exist, it is to employ animals to disperse the seeds far away from the parent tree. So if this works (which we can assume it does based on the principles of evolution) one might expect that not many of the seeds will remain near the parent for the requisite amount of time (the cold of winter, the warm of spring) to induce germination. Those seeds that are dropped relatively nearby will face a lot of competition: shading from other plants, predation, gardening activities of humans, etc.
The previous comment about apples not coming true to seed is valid, except what this usually means is that cultivars of apple result in something more like crab apples, which is not a problem in your case. If you plant a bunch of seeds and keep them the cold over the winter, you should get some saplings in the following year. |
30,636 | In our road we have a crab apple tree that has fruits but there have never been any small new trees rooting from the crab apples. Once, years ago, there were 3 crab apple trees within 100 yards but 2 of these were destroyed by some ignorant house owners. However in my 83 years of living within 50 yards of these three trees I have never seen any young new seedling trees. Some of the apples must have fallen onto the surrounding soil that is never disturbed. Will an apple tree grow if I deliberately plant some of the fruit from this one remaining tree? | 2017/01/29 | [
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/30636",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/users/16603/"
] | Not if you just plant a whole fruit, no, very unlikely. There is a way to do it, but you need to extract the seeds from the fruit in autumn by cutting it open, lifting the seeds out carefully, then removing any remaining pulp by flushing with water. After drying, they need cold stratification for up to 120 days - a description of how to do all this is shown here <http://homeguides.sfgate.com/propagating-crabapple-seeds-27860.html>, but you should bear in mind that Malus varieties do not come true from seed. The named varieties you buy are vegetatively propagated to ensure they are the right variety - from seed, you don't know what you'll get, other than it'll be a crabapple of some sort. | The short answer is yes. There's a lot of nuance to this though. If you select a fruit from the nearby tree that's ripe enough to have viable seeds (black or brown not white) AND they are harvested correctly from within the apple AND they go through the proper stratification process AND they get the right conditions to sprout then you're well on your way to *maybe* an apple tree.
I say *maybe* because the fruit you harvest the seeds from will not be the fruit your tree would grow up to be. Since nearly all apples require cross-pollination you'll end up with a hybrid fruit from the parent tree as well as the pollen from the pollinating tree. Could be something really awesome and you just created a new cultivar. Likely, however, it will be some sort of crabapple-type tree. Especially since you mentioned that you have crabapples in your area. |
30,636 | In our road we have a crab apple tree that has fruits but there have never been any small new trees rooting from the crab apples. Once, years ago, there were 3 crab apple trees within 100 yards but 2 of these were destroyed by some ignorant house owners. However in my 83 years of living within 50 yards of these three trees I have never seen any young new seedling trees. Some of the apples must have fallen onto the surrounding soil that is never disturbed. Will an apple tree grow if I deliberately plant some of the fruit from this one remaining tree? | 2017/01/29 | [
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/30636",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/users/16603/"
] | I don't really know for crab apples, but I can tell you my experience with germinating regular apples (not necessarily on purpose).
Anyway, I've found that if the ground is bare (has no grass, weeds, or anything on it), and if I squash the fallen apples on the ground, the next year I tend to get a lot of apple tree seedlings growing. If there's a lawn or anything like that, I wouldn't count on it (we had a lawn for years with few if any trees ever germinating in it, but now that we don't have a lawn there anymore, they germinate like weeds, especially Northern Catalpa, Lombardy Poplar, and Siberian Elm, but also apple and maybe other stuff). Trees like to germinate in bare soil, in my experience (not just apple trees). I don't know that I ever had seedlings from apples that I didn't squish (but it's possible; we usually picked most of the non-squished ones up).
Anyway, I didn't plant the apples at all. I just squished them flat on compact, almost clay-type soil.
We do get cold winters (which may or may not be necessary for germination).
I wouldn't be surprised if grass needs to be absent for a number of years. It seems like the trees didn't start germinating in large numbers until we went a few years with no lawn.
If you're wondering why I would squish apples (and I'm not recommending people squish them), it's so they would decompose faster, and so the nutrients would go back into the soil. We've had a lot of apples drop before they were ripe, probably for various reasons (drought, no mulch, old tree, perhaps a lack of thinning, severe, chronic spider mite infestation, maybe disease, and maybe other stuff).
I don't believe I've ever had seedlings grow from planting entire apples. I only recall burying apples once (but not to try to germinate them); none sprouted. Nevertheless, I probably buried them too deeply for germination, and in soil that dries out very easily (not much grows in there, other than catnip in the spring).
Your crab apples probably don't have the genetics to breed true-to-type from seed, and they'll likely also be cross-pollinated, if they're like regular apples (if other apple or crab apple trees are near). But, you can certainly grow trees from seed, if they're like regular apples (I know they can pollinate regular apples). | If you think about the reason why fruit exist, it is to employ animals to disperse the seeds far away from the parent tree. So if this works (which we can assume it does based on the principles of evolution) one might expect that not many of the seeds will remain near the parent for the requisite amount of time (the cold of winter, the warm of spring) to induce germination. Those seeds that are dropped relatively nearby will face a lot of competition: shading from other plants, predation, gardening activities of humans, etc.
The previous comment about apples not coming true to seed is valid, except what this usually means is that cultivars of apple result in something more like crab apples, which is not a problem in your case. If you plant a bunch of seeds and keep them the cold over the winter, you should get some saplings in the following year. |
30,636 | In our road we have a crab apple tree that has fruits but there have never been any small new trees rooting from the crab apples. Once, years ago, there were 3 crab apple trees within 100 yards but 2 of these were destroyed by some ignorant house owners. However in my 83 years of living within 50 yards of these three trees I have never seen any young new seedling trees. Some of the apples must have fallen onto the surrounding soil that is never disturbed. Will an apple tree grow if I deliberately plant some of the fruit from this one remaining tree? | 2017/01/29 | [
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/30636",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com",
"https://gardening.stackexchange.com/users/16603/"
] | I don't really know for crab apples, but I can tell you my experience with germinating regular apples (not necessarily on purpose).
Anyway, I've found that if the ground is bare (has no grass, weeds, or anything on it), and if I squash the fallen apples on the ground, the next year I tend to get a lot of apple tree seedlings growing. If there's a lawn or anything like that, I wouldn't count on it (we had a lawn for years with few if any trees ever germinating in it, but now that we don't have a lawn there anymore, they germinate like weeds, especially Northern Catalpa, Lombardy Poplar, and Siberian Elm, but also apple and maybe other stuff). Trees like to germinate in bare soil, in my experience (not just apple trees). I don't know that I ever had seedlings from apples that I didn't squish (but it's possible; we usually picked most of the non-squished ones up).
Anyway, I didn't plant the apples at all. I just squished them flat on compact, almost clay-type soil.
We do get cold winters (which may or may not be necessary for germination).
I wouldn't be surprised if grass needs to be absent for a number of years. It seems like the trees didn't start germinating in large numbers until we went a few years with no lawn.
If you're wondering why I would squish apples (and I'm not recommending people squish them), it's so they would decompose faster, and so the nutrients would go back into the soil. We've had a lot of apples drop before they were ripe, probably for various reasons (drought, no mulch, old tree, perhaps a lack of thinning, severe, chronic spider mite infestation, maybe disease, and maybe other stuff).
I don't believe I've ever had seedlings grow from planting entire apples. I only recall burying apples once (but not to try to germinate them); none sprouted. Nevertheless, I probably buried them too deeply for germination, and in soil that dries out very easily (not much grows in there, other than catnip in the spring).
Your crab apples probably don't have the genetics to breed true-to-type from seed, and they'll likely also be cross-pollinated, if they're like regular apples (if other apple or crab apple trees are near). But, you can certainly grow trees from seed, if they're like regular apples (I know they can pollinate regular apples). | The short answer is yes. There's a lot of nuance to this though. If you select a fruit from the nearby tree that's ripe enough to have viable seeds (black or brown not white) AND they are harvested correctly from within the apple AND they go through the proper stratification process AND they get the right conditions to sprout then you're well on your way to *maybe* an apple tree.
I say *maybe* because the fruit you harvest the seeds from will not be the fruit your tree would grow up to be. Since nearly all apples require cross-pollination you'll end up with a hybrid fruit from the parent tree as well as the pollen from the pollinating tree. Could be something really awesome and you just created a new cultivar. Likely, however, it will be some sort of crabapple-type tree. Especially since you mentioned that you have crabapples in your area. |
3,062,242 | Every time I build my C# Solution, I get a handful of warnings about interfaces that I've never seen or written. I tried Googling for some of them, but get no hits. Could these possibly be buried in an assembly I'm referencing? If so, is there any way to make these warnings go away?
>
> Interface 'IAlertable' is marked as [dual], but does not derive from IDispatch. It will be converted as an IUnknown-derived interface.
>
>
> Interface 'ICustomizationPermissionsReports' is marked as [dual], but does not derive from IDispatch. It will be converted as an IUnknown-derived interface.
>
>
> Interface 'IAlertable2' is marked as [dual], but does not derive from IDispatch. It will be converted as an IUnknown-derived interface.
>
>
> | 2010/06/17 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/3062242",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/38743/"
] | They must come form a COM assembly you are referencing. You could try to find out which one. It looks like the wrapper code was written/generated incorrectly.
And Visual Studio does have a "suppress warnings: " text box but I am at a loss as to what to type there.
Project Properties, Build | These are interfaces to HP Quality Center OTA-API "Interop.TDAPIOLELib", an ActiveX COM Type Library.
Check your references. |
74,339 | I'd like to achieve something similar to this (the mesh shown in the picture. I don't need it to be rendered as wireframe. Just need the mesh):
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/A1ZoZ.jpg)
What I have in mind is that I have a plane, and I subdiv and deform it with a circle using something like the hook modifier. I tried it and apparently the hook modifier doesn't work as I imagined.
In addition, I'd like to not only let the plane deform by a circle, but also by a custom curve. | 2017/02/24 | [
"https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/74339",
"https://blender.stackexchange.com",
"https://blender.stackexchange.com/users/2009/"
] | Are you making the letter hollow to reduce print material? I think some slicers have a setting for that though. If that is the case it may not be critical to be over picky about the internal dimensions of the hollowed volume. If this is your actual objective, consider placing a cube in the midst of your 'solid' text, and editing (stretching) out the vertices to create an internal cavity. Use loop cuts (ctrl-r) on the cube in edit mode to add more vertexes as you see fit. And just move them around from a TOP ortho view until it creates a substantial vacancy where material would otherwise print.
This is a quick fix and I use it all the time for test prints on my photon. Don't forget to make a drain hole if you print with resin.
However if this is a classroom assignment, then you will probably want to create an exact absence of the letter's internal shape. You might consider duplicating the letter on top of itself - and then scaling it around a bit until you can subtract (boolean modifier) a smaller version from the original (right inside of it). Doing that may be difficult depending on the shape of the letter however ~ since the scale factor will be relative.
If you don't care if the letter has surface features - then you could simply take the outline of the letter and attempt an inset of it (shortcut i) in edit mode. Extrude both (the original outline and the inset) and then perform the same boolean I mentioned above. Subtract the extruded-inset version form the original larger version. You should get a near perfect, although flat on it's surfaces, hollow letter. Bet you're going to do a little sub modeling though.
Good luck with your project. | I have seen some tutorials for cleaning up the mesh on converted text by using the Remesh modifier to create an even grid mesh. Might be worth a try at one of the earlier stages after converting the font. Be sure to uncheck "Remove disconnected parts" and play with the octree depth to see if you can get something workable.
Here is a vid showing its use on a single character. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEt07reVhJ0>
Added:
I just ran across this video <https://youtu.be/QxDOhxjdFOs>
The first part of it shows a way to make text with very clean geometry.
Hopefully one if these ideas will help with your project. |
6,551 | I'm looking to brush up on SAT math. (That's basic algebra, probability and trigonometry.)
I'm interested in books and websites. | 2010/10/11 | [
"https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/6551",
"https://math.stackexchange.com",
"https://math.stackexchange.com/users/2414/"
] | I highly reccomend the Princeton Review series of prep books, they have worked wonders for me. The College Board website also has a lot of useful tools, such as a complete free test that you can take online, and sample questions.
<http://sat.collegeboard.com/practice> | Check out the new kid on the block: <https://lemmaprep.com>. All substantive content matter questions are answered directly by the Lemma staff. |
6,551 | I'm looking to brush up on SAT math. (That's basic algebra, probability and trigonometry.)
I'm interested in books and websites. | 2010/10/11 | [
"https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/6551",
"https://math.stackexchange.com",
"https://math.stackexchange.com/users/2414/"
] | I'm not familiar with SAT, as I'm not from USA, but you might find this useful: <http://www.khanacademy.org/>
My guess is that this guy explains all of the subjects you might need. It might lack exercises though, but it might be worth checking it out if you need to review a subject. | Check out the new kid on the block: <https://lemmaprep.com>. All substantive content matter questions are answered directly by the Lemma staff. |
179,688 | I am trying to use my camera to record some videos. I have it set up on the tripod and then go and set up whatever I'm shooting and after 2 minutes, the camera always exits and goes back to the launcher screen. So I have to restart the camera again, and then re-do whatever settings I had (like zoom in again). Is there a way to have the camera app just stay open without automatically closing? Thanks.
Edit: I'm using a Samsung Galaxy 7 with the latest OS. And I'm referring to the built-in camera app. (If there's a better alternative, I'd be glad to hear it. I've seen reviews of several but nothing that seemed compelling enough to try.) | 2017/07/18 | [
"https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/179688",
"https://android.stackexchange.com",
"https://android.stackexchange.com/users/229033/"
] | As an alternative to [this answer](https://android.stackexchange.com/a/179689/96277) from beeshyams, if you cannot afford to replace your preferred camera app than try [screen pinning](https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/6118421) that app.
>
> You can pin an app's screen to keep it in view until you unpin it.
>
>
> For example, you can pin an app and hand your phone to a friend. With the screen pinned, your friend can use only that app. To use your other apps again, you can unpin the screen.
>
>
>
Alternatively, you can use a [kiosk-mode](https://play.google.com/store/search?q=kiosk&c=apps) app from Play Store to temporarily restrict usage of the device to your camera app. | Thanks to Izzy's list of [camera apps](https://android.izzysoft.de/applists/category/named/foto_camera)
[Open Camera](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera) is an excellent *ad - free (FOSS), open source* camera app which has a timer that can be set from **upto 5 minute delay** for both camera and video. And it has voice command activation too !
Other features quoting Izzy
>
> * Developer is Almalence, known from a set of high quality camera apps (a specialist in this area) which are also available in "free trials" and paid versions on the Playstore.
> * The "full program" would be [A Better Camera](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.almalence.opencam_plus), which combines his Night Camera, HDR Camera and more ( you can read in reviews and tutorials on Izzy's description )
>
>
>
This app is available at huge discount now !
Tested it and this should solve your problem. Of course, you can try other apps on that list as well |
1,362,984 | The title says it all and I've never came across such an issue on Windows ever.
Am running Windows 8.1 Pro. I've downloaded a few Cartoon episodes recently and they are located in the **Downloads** folder.
Whenever am trying to **Move** it to my External Hard Disk, it throws me the below error.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FwVr1.png)
I tried renaming the folder. I tried to move the folder to the Desktop, but same issue. Clicking on Try Again does nothing but pops this back up.
Moving this folder from Downloads to Desktop works. | 2018/10/01 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/1362984",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/178913/"
] | Figured it out. The issue was the External Hard Disk USB. Not sure if was not functioning well or loose but re-attaching it to the Hard Disk fixed the issue. Also, it's worth noting that I had started the Hard disk after a few months.
**How did I figure out the above?**
After it failed to Copy, I accessed the files on the External Hard Disk. The External drive was showing up in My Computer, and I was able to browse through all the folders but guess what? Most of the folders were not having the files they should be holding. Either they were empty or I couldn't open the files if they were in the list.
So I re-attached the USB cable and it works as expected. | In my case, it's because of I copy the files from Linux operating system which filename allows character colon `:` but this is not a valid character in Windows filename.
I have to go back to Linux system to rename that files, then copy/paste again to windows, problem solved.
I just don't understand why Windows give misleading error message. |
13,620 | I found the phrase in this sentence,
>
> There are way over 10,000 numbered examples in The Cambridge Grammar, and thousands more **given in passing in the text**.
>
>
>
I couldn't parse this last part at first. Not sure if it is *"to give in"* (which sounds quite wrong), or *"in passing"* (meaning casually, sounds wrong; not part of the main subject, also sounds wrong), or *"passing in"*, or it was *"given a pass"*, or something else. I only know that if I omitted that *in passing* part, it will make more sense.
I looked up *"pass in"* in a few dictionaries, nothing came up.
After some twenty searches or so, I finally found this definition:
>
> **in passing**: by the way; incidentally: *he mentioned your visit in passing*
>
>
>
which is helpful, since I can understand **given *incidentally* in the text**.
But I am still a bit unsure...
Do I understand that sentence correctly? | 2013/11/25 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/13620",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/3281/"
] | >
> There are way over 10,000 numbered examples in The Cambridge Grammar, and thousands more given in passing in the text.
>
>
>
There are over 10,000 numbered examples in the Cambridge Grammar. These examples are given explicitly. They are defined, they are intended as the primary examples.
In addition to those 10,000, there are thousands more provided throughout the book (the text). These other examples however are not explicitly given. They are given "in passing" (in this case, meaning 'casually', 'incidentally').
For example, say I was trying to explain the number five (5) to you. I am explicitly explaining that five is a number used to count objects. In order to explain it to you, I will also have to explain the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 (because without it, you wouldn't understand 5). I'm not trying to explicitly explain those other numbers though, I am explaining them in passing in order to explain 5.
In the case of the Cambridge Grammar, a given idiom or construction of words might be defined in passing in order to explain a more important and specific point. | It is, in my opinion, a little confusing to phrase it that way. But I would read it as:
>
> (given) (in passing) (in the text)
>
>
>
Broken down:
* given : there are many examples **specified or stated** within the text
* in passing : there are many examples **briefly and casually** mentioned in the text
* In the text : self-explanatory, but basically the examples can be found **inside the text**.
Written another way: There are thousands of examples which are mentioned casually inside the text. |
13,620 | I found the phrase in this sentence,
>
> There are way over 10,000 numbered examples in The Cambridge Grammar, and thousands more **given in passing in the text**.
>
>
>
I couldn't parse this last part at first. Not sure if it is *"to give in"* (which sounds quite wrong), or *"in passing"* (meaning casually, sounds wrong; not part of the main subject, also sounds wrong), or *"passing in"*, or it was *"given a pass"*, or something else. I only know that if I omitted that *in passing* part, it will make more sense.
I looked up *"pass in"* in a few dictionaries, nothing came up.
After some twenty searches or so, I finally found this definition:
>
> **in passing**: by the way; incidentally: *he mentioned your visit in passing*
>
>
>
which is helpful, since I can understand **given *incidentally* in the text**.
But I am still a bit unsure...
Do I understand that sentence correctly? | 2013/11/25 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/13620",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/3281/"
] | It is, in my opinion, a little confusing to phrase it that way. But I would read it as:
>
> (given) (in passing) (in the text)
>
>
>
Broken down:
* given : there are many examples **specified or stated** within the text
* in passing : there are many examples **briefly and casually** mentioned in the text
* In the text : self-explanatory, but basically the examples can be found **inside the text**.
Written another way: There are thousands of examples which are mentioned casually inside the text. | I'd say that a better interpretation of "in passing" would be "[said or mentioned as an aside](http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/in+passing)".
So the sentence should read:
>
> There are way over 10,000 numbered examples in The Cambridge Grammar, and thousands more **given *as an aside* in the text**.
>
>
>
Hope this helps. |
13,620 | I found the phrase in this sentence,
>
> There are way over 10,000 numbered examples in The Cambridge Grammar, and thousands more **given in passing in the text**.
>
>
>
I couldn't parse this last part at first. Not sure if it is *"to give in"* (which sounds quite wrong), or *"in passing"* (meaning casually, sounds wrong; not part of the main subject, also sounds wrong), or *"passing in"*, or it was *"given a pass"*, or something else. I only know that if I omitted that *in passing* part, it will make more sense.
I looked up *"pass in"* in a few dictionaries, nothing came up.
After some twenty searches or so, I finally found this definition:
>
> **in passing**: by the way; incidentally: *he mentioned your visit in passing*
>
>
>
which is helpful, since I can understand **given *incidentally* in the text**.
But I am still a bit unsure...
Do I understand that sentence correctly? | 2013/11/25 | [
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/13620",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com",
"https://ell.stackexchange.com/users/3281/"
] | >
> There are way over 10,000 numbered examples in The Cambridge Grammar, and thousands more given in passing in the text.
>
>
>
There are over 10,000 numbered examples in the Cambridge Grammar. These examples are given explicitly. They are defined, they are intended as the primary examples.
In addition to those 10,000, there are thousands more provided throughout the book (the text). These other examples however are not explicitly given. They are given "in passing" (in this case, meaning 'casually', 'incidentally').
For example, say I was trying to explain the number five (5) to you. I am explicitly explaining that five is a number used to count objects. In order to explain it to you, I will also have to explain the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 (because without it, you wouldn't understand 5). I'm not trying to explicitly explain those other numbers though, I am explaining them in passing in order to explain 5.
In the case of the Cambridge Grammar, a given idiom or construction of words might be defined in passing in order to explain a more important and specific point. | I'd say that a better interpretation of "in passing" would be "[said or mentioned as an aside](http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/in+passing)".
So the sentence should read:
>
> There are way over 10,000 numbered examples in The Cambridge Grammar, and thousands more **given *as an aside* in the text**.
>
>
>
Hope this helps. |
20,966,927 | I have noticed a strange problem in Access 2010: when a user creates a new object (table, form, query, ...), this object does not show up in the navigation pane. It only does so after manually refreshing the navigation pane (F5) or after closing and reopening the access file. Furthermore, when previewing a report, the Sums and Averages do not show up until the user clicks on the field(s). Printing the report is ok.
This behaviour is machine dependant, the same file behaves correctly on other PCs. I was looking at the video cards installed on different PCs, but they all have Intel(R) HD Graphics.
Any ideas anyone?
Cheers | 2014/01/07 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/20966927",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1932987/"
] | The problem was indeed solved by repairing Office 2010 | I was having the same issues with imported tables not showing up in the tables list and new queries also not showing up in the queries list. Re-installing Access fixed my issues. |
9,366 | I don't have perfect pitch and badly trained and imprecise relative pitch. I only started two years ago to learn musical notation as a hobby and writing little stuff for myself and friends ([For example](https://www.youtube.com/user/franklinvp?feature=mhee)). I said this just to give a context that I am not a musician and that I certainly ignore many basic things about notation, terminology, and the capabilities of the different musical instruments.
.....................
The question.
I imagine there are ways to get a recorded natural occurring sound and somehow make the sound into a MIDI file, for example, and then open the MIDI, let's say in Sibelius and that should give an approximation for how its transcription into the score should look like.
Some composers manage to write down parts for an instrument that makes it resemble a particular natural occurring sound (horse whinnying, bird songs, rain, ...). My aim is to have a technical procedure to help myself in the process of doing that. Something that gives me a first approximation of notes that I can afterwards, by hand, tweak to make it more like the natural sound I wanted, or make it more playable, and then be able to elaborate them into a larger composition.
Does anyone know ways in which this can be done? Suggestions? | 2013/01/15 | [
"https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/9366",
"https://music.stackexchange.com",
"https://music.stackexchange.com/users/5554/"
] | I think that you probably mean ["whinnying" of a horse.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCkSJhCD6SA)
With brass instruments, it's typically done with a valved instrument, such as a trumpet or a tuba (or valve trombone if you have one.) The sound is typically produced by pressing the valves halfway down and either shaking the instrument (in the case of a trumpet) or by making a very wide vibrato. Using a tuba is less effective as it tends to sound more like a whale.
On trombone, especially without a valve, the effect may be harder to reproduce. A possible solution may be to have them use a straight mute.
Alternatively, the effect could be created by a percussionist making the sound through a megaphone - they love stuff like that.
Or as another idea, you could have a recording of a horse whinnying and then cue the recording in the score.
As far as notation goes, the easiest thing would probably be to just put a note in the score that says "whinny like horse" with perhaps an "x" for a note head; as long as the duration of the sound is clear. In addition to that, you may want to put a note at the front of the score explaining how to produce the sound as well as putting that same note at the bottom of the part for the instrument you write it for.
As for other naturally occurring sounds, you'll want to become more familiar with percussion instruments. For example, a "sea drum" simulates the sound of rolling waves, a "wind machine" generates the sound of wind, an aluminum sheet can mimic thunder, a clipboard can mimic a whip, temple blocks can mimic horse hooves, etc etc.
For bird sounds, you can check out the "Spring" movement of Vivaldi's *Four Seasons* where he mimics the songs of birds in spring. Also check out work by Olivier Messiaen, who was infatuated with birds and transcribed many of their calls, and even wrote works using his transcriptions.
Hope that helps. | You may find that, unfortunately, the best technology can do at this point is going to be somewhat below your expectations. Transcription is something even humans struggle with, and the more complicated a piece of music (audio) is, the trickier it is to transcribe--either for human OR computer, but the limit of a computer program is going to be far below that of a capable human. The more polyphonic, the trickier it is to transcribe.
[AudioScore](http://www.neuratron.com/audioscore.htm) is probably the most widely-known tool that does what you are talking about, since a lite version is bundled with Sibelius, but those tools are almost never perfect, and output typically requires a lot of tweaking from the user.
If you're looking at birdsong in particular, though, that's essentially monophonic (single-line) music with no easily quantifiable rhythm. So, I wouldn't put too much faith in the software's ability to notate the rhythm, but it may be fairly successful with the pitches--and even if it's not totally accurate, good transcription software will be able to show you a spectrogram that visually places pitch occurrences over time on an axis (see the first screenshot on the AudioScore link above). |
82,532 | I have enough rep to access moderation tools on Stack Overflow. One of the great things about it is that I can view the digest of the most notable and interesting questions for a certain time. I check this list everyday! But I can't view it for other Stack Exchange sites, and it is very disappointing. Shouldn't this feature be available for all? Shouldn't great information be shared with everyone? | 2011/03/11 | [
"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/82532",
"https://meta.stackexchange.com",
"https://meta.stackexchange.com/users/144263/"
] | >
> I check this list everyday! But I can't view it for other StackExchange sites, and it is very disappointing.
>
>
>
What you are referring to is at
<https://stackexchange.com/>
e.g. the top questions across the whole network at any given time. | Though they do sometimes make for good browsing they are there for the purpose of quality monitoring.
On the other hand, all users do have the [StackExchange™ MultiCollider SuperDropdown™](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19478/the-many-memes-of-meta/66838#66838), so that's something. |
694,950 | I'ved developed a c# application that captures screens using bitblt and sends keyboard and mouse events using calls to keybd\_event and mouse\_event.
According to Microsoft I needed to modify the app.manifest with:
requestedExecutionLevel level="highestAvailable" uiAccess="true"
Sign the application and place it in a trusted location (program files).
I have done all of these to get the application to run under elevated priviledges under Vista but when UAC dialogs appear it does not capture those screens and the keyboard and mouse events do not reach the UAC dialog.
I am guess that UAC runs in a different desktop?? if so, how would i capture that? and how can i detect when the desktop switches to a UAC dialog in c#? or have i just missed a step? | 2009/03/29 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/694950",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/-1/"
] | UAC runs on the secure desktop, only trusted processes running on the system account are allowed to run in that context.
This is to prevent exactly what you are trying to achieve - processes spoofing or capturing user input. | You cannot. The UAC desktop is secure because it doesn't allow anyone to access it.
To detect the desktop switch event, I would try to use [SENS](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa383841(VS.85).aspx) or [WTSRegisterSessionNotification](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa383841(VS.85).aspx). But it doesn't look very promising. |
185,363 | In the field of web development, is it good practice to do a [POST/Redirect/GET](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post/Redirect/Get) when fields in a form submission are invalid, as well?
Typically, no sensitive transaction would have taken place, in this event. However, can an argument be made that, nonetheless, it is still good practice to utilize the POST/Redirect/GET pattern? | 2013/01/31 | [
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/185363",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com",
"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/users/21386/"
] | From a REST perspective the web conversation should go like this
>
> GET /example
>
>
> 200 OK - contains empty form HTML
>
>
>
The user fills in the form
>
> POST /example
>
>
> formfield1=ok
>
>
> formfield2=bad
>
>
> 400 BAD REQUEST - contains populated form HTML with errors
>
>
>
The user identifies the problem with the form submission and fixes it
>
> POST /example
>
>
> formfield1=ok
>
>
> formfield2=fixed
>
>
> 201 CREATED - contains HTML with success message and onward links (also Location header for REST clients) or 200 OK and 204 NO CONTENT are acceptable
>
>
>
There is no need to introduce a redirect, and it would break the semantics of the conversation to do so. | I would say generally not, on the grounds that when a form is POSTed with invalid fields, what you normally want to serve in response is the same form with the same field population, plus some error messages. This would be onerous to perform via POST/Redirect/GET - how would you ensure that the page returned by the GET already had the user's entries in the form fields? |
11,954,618 | Im trying to use installshield to mak an installer for my applicatoin but when I add my icon to it then when i try and build it i get the error message InstallShield: cannot extract icon with index 0
Any ideas? | 2012/08/14 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/11954618",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1244772/"
] | Sure. InstallShield is trying to extract the embedded resource (icon) for Add/Remove Programs and/or a shortcut. Recompile your EXE to include an icon and the message will go away. | I faced something similar.
You need to check that the exe from which the icon will be extracted is present on the path specified in Shortcut/Folder of Install Shield |
11,954,618 | Im trying to use installshield to mak an installer for my applicatoin but when I add my icon to it then when i try and build it i get the error message InstallShield: cannot extract icon with index 0
Any ideas? | 2012/08/14 | [
"https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/11954618",
"https://Stackoverflow.com",
"https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1244772/"
] | Sure. InstallShield is trying to extract the embedded resource (icon) for Add/Remove Programs and/or a shortcut. Recompile your EXE to include an icon and the message will go away. | The reason I get this message is usually because I have not selected the icon file on the Shortcuts/Folders dialogue:
 |
87,354 | I've been looking at various RF power detectors for a project I'm working on, but I don't quite understand what the manufacturers mean by "dB range".
For example, the [LT5534](http://cds.linear.com/docs/en/datasheet/5534fc.pdf) Log RF Power Detector has a frequency range of 50 MHz - 3 GHz; the minimum it can detect is -63dB and the maximum is 2 dB. What does that mean? | 2013/11/03 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/87354",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/31218/"
] | The minimum and maximum levels are determined by the linearity and noise floor of the amplifier. Anything under -63 dBm in this case isn't reliably detectable because the amplifier generates noise on its output that looks like -63 dBm on its input. Anything over -2 dBm gets clipped or distorted, so it can't be measured reliably. Say, if you put a -80 dBm signal in, the output will look like you put in a -63 dBm signal. Or if you put in a +2 dBm signal, the output might say you are putting in a -1 dBm signal.
The frequency range is the range of RF frequencies that it can detect. Generally there are filters and what not to limit the range of detectable frequencies. It also depends on the design of the power detector itself. Anything under 50 MHz or over 3 GHz will either not be detected at all, or they will be detected at a lower sensitivity than signals within the range. For example, if you put a 4 GHz signal in at -10 dBm, the chip might read it at -20 dBm. | It is actually -63dBm and 2dB , depending on the frequency. It means the range of RF signal to which there is a linearly related output voltage. This detector is equivalent to an anti logarithmic function. |
87,354 | I've been looking at various RF power detectors for a project I'm working on, but I don't quite understand what the manufacturers mean by "dB range".
For example, the [LT5534](http://cds.linear.com/docs/en/datasheet/5534fc.pdf) Log RF Power Detector has a frequency range of 50 MHz - 3 GHz; the minimum it can detect is -63dB and the maximum is 2 dB. What does that mean? | 2013/11/03 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/87354",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/31218/"
] | -63 dBm is roughly equivalent to 1 nano Watts
while
-2 dBm is equivalent to 0.6 milliwatts
All it says is that the device has 61dB (-63dbm minus -2dBm) dynamic range (power range where it will provide linear and correct measurements) and it overloads once you feed it above -2dBm or 0.6 milliwatts.
here is the transfer curve
Your Vout will register 0.2V if you feed it -60dBm signal bet (50MHz to 3GHz)
while Vout will register near 2.4V(maybe 2.39xxxxxV) if you feed it -2dBm signal bet (50MHz to 3GHz) | It is actually -63dBm and 2dB , depending on the frequency. It means the range of RF signal to which there is a linearly related output voltage. This detector is equivalent to an anti logarithmic function. |
87,354 | I've been looking at various RF power detectors for a project I'm working on, but I don't quite understand what the manufacturers mean by "dB range".
For example, the [LT5534](http://cds.linear.com/docs/en/datasheet/5534fc.pdf) Log RF Power Detector has a frequency range of 50 MHz - 3 GHz; the minimum it can detect is -63dB and the maximum is 2 dB. What does that mean? | 2013/11/03 | [
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/87354",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com",
"https://electronics.stackexchange.com/users/31218/"
] | The minimum and maximum levels are determined by the linearity and noise floor of the amplifier. Anything under -63 dBm in this case isn't reliably detectable because the amplifier generates noise on its output that looks like -63 dBm on its input. Anything over -2 dBm gets clipped or distorted, so it can't be measured reliably. Say, if you put a -80 dBm signal in, the output will look like you put in a -63 dBm signal. Or if you put in a +2 dBm signal, the output might say you are putting in a -1 dBm signal.
The frequency range is the range of RF frequencies that it can detect. Generally there are filters and what not to limit the range of detectable frequencies. It also depends on the design of the power detector itself. Anything under 50 MHz or over 3 GHz will either not be detected at all, or they will be detected at a lower sensitivity than signals within the range. For example, if you put a 4 GHz signal in at -10 dBm, the chip might read it at -20 dBm. | -63 dBm is roughly equivalent to 1 nano Watts
while
-2 dBm is equivalent to 0.6 milliwatts
All it says is that the device has 61dB (-63dbm minus -2dBm) dynamic range (power range where it will provide linear and correct measurements) and it overloads once you feed it above -2dBm or 0.6 milliwatts.
here is the transfer curve
Your Vout will register 0.2V if you feed it -60dBm signal bet (50MHz to 3GHz)
while Vout will register near 2.4V(maybe 2.39xxxxxV) if you feed it -2dBm signal bet (50MHz to 3GHz) |
236,064 | I've found [the obvious question](https://superuser.com/questions/14795/windows-swap-page-file-enable-or-disable) and also [it's bigger brother over at ServerFault](https://serverfault.com/questions/23621/any-benefit-or-detriment-from-removing-a-pagefile-on-an-8gb-ram-machine).
But my question is quiet different: If Page Faults are the moments in which the OS needs to load something from the SWAP file, why do I get Page Faults even if I've completely deactivated it?
Or did I misunderstand what a Page Fault is? | 2011/01/21 | [
"https://superuser.com/questions/236064",
"https://superuser.com",
"https://superuser.com/users/12567/"
] | A little old, but check out [this](https://web.archive.org/web/20140423135407/http://blogs.msdn.com/b/greggm/archive/2004/01/21/61237.aspx) MSDN article.
It describles the two types of page faults.
**Hard faults** are what you are thinking of - these are where data is not in RAM and has to pulled in from the swap file. They cripple performance (being 10 000's of times slower than RAM access for mechanical hard drives).
**Soft faults**, however, are triggered by pages that the program requests to be zero (demand zero pages), when a page is written to for the first time (if it was a copy on write page) or if the page is already in memory somewhere else (usually when shared between multiple processes). These are not so bad for performance.
So, you can expect to keep getting *soft* page faults, even without a page file. | The point you are missing is that a page fault does not necessarily involve a swap file. You can also memory-map arbitrary files; that is, tell the OS to back a memory region with (a portion of) a given file. That means that when the program accesses a memory page in that region which has not yet been loaded, it is read from the corresponding position in the file; and when a memory page is written (assuming the region is writable), the data is eventually written back to the original file, and not to the swap.
In modern operating systems, this technique is used to load executable code (of executables and libraries), so you should expect read faults to occur even with no swap file. |
221,651 | I plan to add some lighting in positions on the ceiling that doesn't have nearby wire available.
The there is no free space between the ceiling/roof in which to run a wire (there's the wood, then solid foam block insulation, then weather barrier, then the shingles). So, I would need to run wire (12/2 or 12/3) to that location somehow. I'm aware of Wiremold, but that wouldn't look very good with the style and material of the ceiling itself.
Is it possible, instead, to run the wire through a 0.5" channel routed out of a 1x1" piece of wood and affix that wood to the ceiling? I read through California electrical code (I'm in San Bernardino County, California), but didn't see anything specific around this (unless I missed it, or interpreted it incorrectly).
Thanks in advance. | 2021/04/07 | [
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/221651",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com",
"https://diy.stackexchange.com/users/128788/"
] | Yes it's possible but it wouldn't be code compliant if it's 120v. Wires must be 1-1/2 inches from the surface so that you won't hit them by mistake with a screw or nail. If you had some sort of metal conduit you could do it. Low voltage wiring is fine. | Can't say 100% certain with respect to code, but I did something very similar, with agreement of my electrician. He fished NM cable from bathroom lighting up to attic and through a hole to peak of ceiling between kitchen and dining room, around 8 feet along ceiling, then into ceiling to get to middle of dining room for new chandelier. I covered the 8' section with a piece of molding from Home Depot and it looks like it was always there. |
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