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I am designing a campaign and I have a couple of evil power blocs vying for control. I would really like to have one of them directly interacting with the party and I think I really want it to be a devil because I love the idea of the lawful evil tricking them while still being true to its word. So my question would it be possible to disguise a devil as a human\* using canon mechanics? I know I could just house rule that the devil has the spell polymorph or something but I was wondering if there was a way to do it within the rules as written for 5e? Now, this doesn't have to be an undetectable disguise. I am fine with the players discovering he is a devil in disguise if they look hard enough. Also, the type of Devil can change if needed, though I would prefer to have a more prestigious Devil that is calling the shots. I have read the entire section on Devils in the Monster Manual and there isn't anything obvious. I was thinking of an Erinyes with a Hat of Disguise Self but I don't think Disguise Self would be able to conceal the wings, so they would have to pretend to be an Angel which I wouldn't really consider "normal" to be interacting with. As for making a custom monster according to the DMG I would consider that akin to house ruling it. Which is definitely something I can fall back to, but I was trying to think of something more direct from the rules. \*Or anything else that would normally interact with a party around a town.

2017/01/18

Consider Titivilus ================== Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes includes a number of devils that you can draw on for your campaign. One of these is [Titivilus](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/titivilus) who can innately cast [*Alter Self*](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/alter-self) and [*Nondetection*](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/nondetection) at will. *Alter Self* would allow him to easily pass as a human and *Nondetection* would help prevent his true nature from being discovered. Other relevant spells include *Modify Memory*, *Major Image*, and *Mislead*. Titivilus is the second in command to Dispater making him important enough to count as prestigious while still being lowly enough that he would personally manage his schemes on earth.

A hat of disguise could easily allow an erinyes pass off as an aarakocra or winged elf, either of which would stand out in a crowd, but wouldn't be barred entrance to a city.

I am designing a campaign and I have a couple of evil power blocs vying for control. I would really like to have one of them directly interacting with the party and I think I really want it to be a devil because I love the idea of the lawful evil tricking them while still being true to its word. So my question would it be possible to disguise a devil as a human\* using canon mechanics? I know I could just house rule that the devil has the spell polymorph or something but I was wondering if there was a way to do it within the rules as written for 5e? Now, this doesn't have to be an undetectable disguise. I am fine with the players discovering he is a devil in disguise if they look hard enough. Also, the type of Devil can change if needed, though I would prefer to have a more prestigious Devil that is calling the shots. I have read the entire section on Devils in the Monster Manual and there isn't anything obvious. I was thinking of an Erinyes with a Hat of Disguise Self but I don't think Disguise Self would be able to conceal the wings, so they would have to pretend to be an Angel which I wouldn't really consider "normal" to be interacting with. As for making a custom monster according to the DMG I would consider that akin to house ruling it. Which is definitely something I can fall back to, but I was trying to think of something more direct from the rules. \*Or anything else that would normally interact with a party around a town.

2017/01/18

Hide in plain sight. There are two good options for this: **Erinyes** Based on the picture on MM 73, these creatures are mostly humanoid, but have wings. The horns on the helmet may or may not cover any natural horns; it's unclear. Either way, you could throw on a cloak to hide your wings, then claim to be a Tiefling. Depending on the campaign world, there may be any number of them around, trying to redeem their unsavory lineage. **Asmodeus** If you'd like to go straight to the top, you could send in the lord of the lowest of the Nine Hells. He's described as "a handsome, bearded humanoid with small horns protruding from his forehead, piercing red eyes, and flowing robes." He can also assume other forms. He should easily pass as a Tiefling.

When you say 'devil', would *any* devil do? If so, and given your "anything else that would normally interact with a party around a town" then - for a given definition of "interact" an imp works. It's technically a devil and can shapechange at will into a spider, rat or raven, all of which can be encountered in a town without raising suspicion. It retains its statistics in the new form which means it can speak Common and Infernal. You could either have it claim to be an Animal Messenger of a party who wishes to remain anonymous, or have it perch on the shoulder of a zombie (or corpse, or just someone paralytically drunk or intimidated or bribed into going along) disguised to look like a well-wrapped wizard. Nobody is going to assume the voice is coming from the spider.

I am designing a campaign and I have a couple of evil power blocs vying for control. I would really like to have one of them directly interacting with the party and I think I really want it to be a devil because I love the idea of the lawful evil tricking them while still being true to its word. So my question would it be possible to disguise a devil as a human\* using canon mechanics? I know I could just house rule that the devil has the spell polymorph or something but I was wondering if there was a way to do it within the rules as written for 5e? Now, this doesn't have to be an undetectable disguise. I am fine with the players discovering he is a devil in disguise if they look hard enough. Also, the type of Devil can change if needed, though I would prefer to have a more prestigious Devil that is calling the shots. I have read the entire section on Devils in the Monster Manual and there isn't anything obvious. I was thinking of an Erinyes with a Hat of Disguise Self but I don't think Disguise Self would be able to conceal the wings, so they would have to pretend to be an Angel which I wouldn't really consider "normal" to be interacting with. As for making a custom monster according to the DMG I would consider that akin to house ruling it. Which is definitely something I can fall back to, but I was trying to think of something more direct from the rules. \*Or anything else that would normally interact with a party around a town.

2017/01/18

Hide in plain sight. There are two good options for this: **Erinyes** Based on the picture on MM 73, these creatures are mostly humanoid, but have wings. The horns on the helmet may or may not cover any natural horns; it's unclear. Either way, you could throw on a cloak to hide your wings, then claim to be a Tiefling. Depending on the campaign world, there may be any number of them around, trying to redeem their unsavory lineage. **Asmodeus** If you'd like to go straight to the top, you could send in the lord of the lowest of the Nine Hells. He's described as "a handsome, bearded humanoid with small horns protruding from his forehead, piercing red eyes, and flowing robes." He can also assume other forms. He should easily pass as a Tiefling.

Would [Shapechange](http://engl393-dnd5th.wikia.com/wiki/Shapechange) go? It only lasts for an hour, but the caster can transform into any creature with same or lower challenge rating. Limitations are "not a construct or an undead, no class levels or the Spellcasting trait, and you must have seen the sort of creature at least once", so a human form seem to be available.

I am designing a campaign and I have a couple of evil power blocs vying for control. I would really like to have one of them directly interacting with the party and I think I really want it to be a devil because I love the idea of the lawful evil tricking them while still being true to its word. So my question would it be possible to disguise a devil as a human\* using canon mechanics? I know I could just house rule that the devil has the spell polymorph or something but I was wondering if there was a way to do it within the rules as written for 5e? Now, this doesn't have to be an undetectable disguise. I am fine with the players discovering he is a devil in disguise if they look hard enough. Also, the type of Devil can change if needed, though I would prefer to have a more prestigious Devil that is calling the shots. I have read the entire section on Devils in the Monster Manual and there isn't anything obvious. I was thinking of an Erinyes with a Hat of Disguise Self but I don't think Disguise Self would be able to conceal the wings, so they would have to pretend to be an Angel which I wouldn't really consider "normal" to be interacting with. As for making a custom monster according to the DMG I would consider that akin to house ruling it. Which is definitely something I can fall back to, but I was trying to think of something more direct from the rules. \*Or anything else that would normally interact with a party around a town.

2017/01/18

You had requested no homebrew creatures, and I'm not sure this qualifies as homebrew or just refluff, but you could easily take the Deva (MM pp16) and have it be "fallen" (think Lucifer.) Instead of an Angel, it is a Fallen Angel, but still has all of the attributes which allows for Change Shape with everything you're looking for. It's technically homebrew because it's not the name/alignment of an Angel from the MM, but it's also basically the exact same creature, just with an alignment change from having "fallen" and probably a switch from Radiant to Necrotic (but not necessarily.)

Would [Shapechange](http://engl393-dnd5th.wikia.com/wiki/Shapechange) go? It only lasts for an hour, but the caster can transform into any creature with same or lower challenge rating. Limitations are "not a construct or an undead, no class levels or the Spellcasting trait, and you must have seen the sort of creature at least once", so a human form seem to be available.

I am designing a campaign and I have a couple of evil power blocs vying for control. I would really like to have one of them directly interacting with the party and I think I really want it to be a devil because I love the idea of the lawful evil tricking them while still being true to its word. So my question would it be possible to disguise a devil as a human\* using canon mechanics? I know I could just house rule that the devil has the spell polymorph or something but I was wondering if there was a way to do it within the rules as written for 5e? Now, this doesn't have to be an undetectable disguise. I am fine with the players discovering he is a devil in disguise if they look hard enough. Also, the type of Devil can change if needed, though I would prefer to have a more prestigious Devil that is calling the shots. I have read the entire section on Devils in the Monster Manual and there isn't anything obvious. I was thinking of an Erinyes with a Hat of Disguise Self but I don't think Disguise Self would be able to conceal the wings, so they would have to pretend to be an Angel which I wouldn't really consider "normal" to be interacting with. As for making a custom monster according to the DMG I would consider that akin to house ruling it. Which is definitely something I can fall back to, but I was trying to think of something more direct from the rules. \*Or anything else that would normally interact with a party around a town.

2017/01/18

You had requested no homebrew creatures, and I'm not sure this qualifies as homebrew or just refluff, but you could easily take the Deva (MM pp16) and have it be "fallen" (think Lucifer.) Instead of an Angel, it is a Fallen Angel, but still has all of the attributes which allows for Change Shape with everything you're looking for. It's technically homebrew because it's not the name/alignment of an Angel from the MM, but it's also basically the exact same creature, just with an alignment change from having "fallen" and probably a switch from Radiant to Necrotic (but not necessarily.)

When you say 'devil', would *any* devil do? If so, and given your "anything else that would normally interact with a party around a town" then - for a given definition of "interact" an imp works. It's technically a devil and can shapechange at will into a spider, rat or raven, all of which can be encountered in a town without raising suspicion. It retains its statistics in the new form which means it can speak Common and Infernal. You could either have it claim to be an Animal Messenger of a party who wishes to remain anonymous, or have it perch on the shoulder of a zombie (or corpse, or just someone paralytically drunk or intimidated or bribed into going along) disguised to look like a well-wrapped wizard. Nobody is going to assume the voice is coming from the spider.

I am designing a campaign and I have a couple of evil power blocs vying for control. I would really like to have one of them directly interacting with the party and I think I really want it to be a devil because I love the idea of the lawful evil tricking them while still being true to its word. So my question would it be possible to disguise a devil as a human\* using canon mechanics? I know I could just house rule that the devil has the spell polymorph or something but I was wondering if there was a way to do it within the rules as written for 5e? Now, this doesn't have to be an undetectable disguise. I am fine with the players discovering he is a devil in disguise if they look hard enough. Also, the type of Devil can change if needed, though I would prefer to have a more prestigious Devil that is calling the shots. I have read the entire section on Devils in the Monster Manual and there isn't anything obvious. I was thinking of an Erinyes with a Hat of Disguise Self but I don't think Disguise Self would be able to conceal the wings, so they would have to pretend to be an Angel which I wouldn't really consider "normal" to be interacting with. As for making a custom monster according to the DMG I would consider that akin to house ruling it. Which is definitely something I can fall back to, but I was trying to think of something more direct from the rules. \*Or anything else that would normally interact with a party around a town.

2017/01/18

Hide in plain sight. There are two good options for this: **Erinyes** Based on the picture on MM 73, these creatures are mostly humanoid, but have wings. The horns on the helmet may or may not cover any natural horns; it's unclear. Either way, you could throw on a cloak to hide your wings, then claim to be a Tiefling. Depending on the campaign world, there may be any number of them around, trying to redeem their unsavory lineage. **Asmodeus** If you'd like to go straight to the top, you could send in the lord of the lowest of the Nine Hells. He's described as "a handsome, bearded humanoid with small horns protruding from his forehead, piercing red eyes, and flowing robes." He can also assume other forms. He should easily pass as a Tiefling.

Why not try using the disguise of an entirely different person? In the MM, all the stronger devils seem to have telepathy of 120ft. They could use their telepathy in order to communicate through another person that is in service to the devil. I think it would make sense that a higher more prestigious devil would employ servants to do dirty work. This wouldn't be entirely undetectable. The devil would have to remain 120ft close to tell the Servant what to say or maybe even closer to hear the PCs(depending if you consider telepathic communication a 2-way street. I could not find a straight answer on this.) A wise PC might could notice the words of the Servant are not the Servant's own, maybe a hesitation in the Servant's voice which would require investigation, or sense they are being spied on a powerful being.

I took a bunch of screenshots and I want to make them pages in a single PDF. Selecting all four in Preview and exporting to PDF only exports two (?), separately. The "Export to PDF" File menu function adds a strange white border around the screenshots (and orients the page as portrait). So I converted each to PDFs individually and then combined them manually. I tried the solutions [here](https://apple.stackexchange.com/q/11163/21351), but Mavericks' Preview doesn't appear to work that way anymore. What's the best, free, hopefully built-in way to automate this?

2013/11/01

There is an Automator action - **New PDF from images**. It creates a single multi-page document from input images. You can create a workflow or app that would process your images that you drop onto it. If I create an application in Automator with that single action, I can drop my images onto it, and it'll create a PDF with one page per image.

Preview's "Export As PDF..." places the converted image onto the default paper size, e.g. A4 or US Letter. That's why you get the "strange white border" around the image. Using Preview's "Export..." menu item, and selecting PDF as the format will merely convert the image to PDF without placing it on a page. Apple's Automator action "New PDF from Images" works well, but suffers from Automator's limitations in where output files can be saved. A python script that will combine images (supplied as arguments) into a PDF file [can be found here](https://github.com/benwiggy/PDFsuite/blob/master/Automator_Scripts/image2pdf.py). It can be used in an Automator "Run Shell Script" action to create a Quick Action/Service.

I'm looking for all possible sources of clinically tested human SNPs. There is a handful of databases that store SNPs (like dbSNP), but I only need those that have validated presence/absence of phenotypic effects with some additional metadata. Thank you in advance.

2015/06/27

You can search by traits (mostly diseases) for genome wide association, in these databases: * [Gwasdb2](http://jjwanglab.org/gwasdb) * [Human genome variation Database](https://gwas.biosciencedbc.jp/): it also links to a Copy number Variation (CNV) database.

Just to make this post a tiny bit more useful, I must add that there are several additional sources I've found: * UniProt has an open dataset called `humsavar` * ClinVar database * HGMD database * OMIM * A [paper](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25552646) with a manually collected database based on recent publications in Nature Genetics. Different datasets intersect to some extent, but all in all you get over 200k somewhat validated SNPs.

I plan to ask about how to restore some defunct human genes. The GULO pseudo gene is the first one I am going to ask about. Should the question maybe be split into several question? The intended question is as follows. A lot of base pairs in the defunct GULO pseudo gene in humans are missing to make a functional enzyme. Should we take a whole gene from a close relative like a strepsirrhine, or maybe just fill in what is missing based on what? Which cells should be transfected/infected and how? Where should the working gene be put in the genome? Should the defunct gene be kept or replaced? Transcription levels for the GULO pseudo gene are too low to make enough enzymes to increase ascorbate levels above levels achievable by consumption. How can that be increased? I am not asking if this is beneficial or not nor about regulatory or ethical questions. Such questions are also meaningful but should be discussed in other questions.

2020/01/10

**NO: we should stick to the current threshold of 5.** I have noticed wayy too many circumstances in which a question was being voted to be closed by 2-3 users *inappropriately* (i.e., the close votes were unfounded/not supported or the wrong close reason was chosen). Reasons for these inappropriate VTCs range from novice voters, rushed voting, malicious voting, and difference of opinion. By reducing the close-vote requirement, we will undoubtedly close more questions that do not fit the description for being closed. We have two current problems on this SE site: (1) lack of review tasks being performed by current community members, and (2) decline in engaged users (+ an overall drop in visits overall!). I think this current VTC proposal is indirectly trying to account for these issues. * A 3rd issue is that the overall quality of posts has declined sharply in the last 2-3 years. I (among others) still hold posts to a higher standard based on older expectations of this community (i.e., one *for scientists*). Truthfully, the community has shifted much more toward consisting of novices and students here asking simple questions. At some point, our expectations just can't outweigh the masses asking the questions... [I digress...] However, I don't think the close-vote proposal will have the intended effect. The root of our problem is community engagement. By changing the VCT threshold we would not be changing that engagement level. Instead, we would be allowing decisions for the whole community to be made by an [even fewer] select active individuals. In summary: We have a community engagement problem on Bio.SE (perhaps an irreversible one), but I don't think the current proposal will fix that root issue. Instead, such a proposal will just give more closing power to the select individuals (<1% I'm sure of all users) who do vote. I'm afraid that such "power" would come off as a form of elitism as it does on some other SE sites, and may even result in a further decline in community engagement.

**Yes: we should try a reduced threshold of 3 votes** In the last moderator election, one of the questions was about moderator use of the unilateral close vote. I think the general consensus has been that it's best to let the community handle whatever is possible for the community to handle, and yet sometimes the moderators have to step in to prevent an accumulation of questions that linger in the queue without a full 5 votes and either time out or attract poor answers. It seems to me like changing the threshold would help a lot here - I would certainly drastically reduce my own use of the close-vote if the threshold were changed. (see also [New moderators, please be more reserved with your close hammer](https://biology.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/3930/new-moderators-please-be-more-reserved-with-your-close-hammer) and especially AliceD's speculation about discouragement among voters in the community)

I plan to ask about how to restore some defunct human genes. The GULO pseudo gene is the first one I am going to ask about. Should the question maybe be split into several question? The intended question is as follows. A lot of base pairs in the defunct GULO pseudo gene in humans are missing to make a functional enzyme. Should we take a whole gene from a close relative like a strepsirrhine, or maybe just fill in what is missing based on what? Which cells should be transfected/infected and how? Where should the working gene be put in the genome? Should the defunct gene be kept or replaced? Transcription levels for the GULO pseudo gene are too low to make enough enzymes to increase ascorbate levels above levels achievable by consumption. How can that be increased? I am not asking if this is beneficial or not nor about regulatory or ethical questions. Such questions are also meaningful but should be discussed in other questions.

2020/01/10

UPDATED ANSWER -- 2 years later (May 2021): Dropping vote-to-close thresholds has been a topic discussed across many SE sites for years. As of May 2021, there's now a formal effort to test minimizing the threshold to 3 votes across the SE network. The 45-day 3-vote test will occur on 13 sites (Not Biology) throughout May and June 2021. We'll await the results and future updates... Here is the META post about this test: [Testing three-vote close and reopen on 13 network sites](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/364007/309922)

**Yes: we should try a reduced threshold of 3 votes** In the last moderator election, one of the questions was about moderator use of the unilateral close vote. I think the general consensus has been that it's best to let the community handle whatever is possible for the community to handle, and yet sometimes the moderators have to step in to prevent an accumulation of questions that linger in the queue without a full 5 votes and either time out or attract poor answers. It seems to me like changing the threshold would help a lot here - I would certainly drastically reduce my own use of the close-vote if the threshold were changed. (see also [New moderators, please be more reserved with your close hammer](https://biology.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/3930/new-moderators-please-be-more-reserved-with-your-close-hammer) and especially AliceD's speculation about discouragement among voters in the community)

I plan to ask about how to restore some defunct human genes. The GULO pseudo gene is the first one I am going to ask about. Should the question maybe be split into several question? The intended question is as follows. A lot of base pairs in the defunct GULO pseudo gene in humans are missing to make a functional enzyme. Should we take a whole gene from a close relative like a strepsirrhine, or maybe just fill in what is missing based on what? Which cells should be transfected/infected and how? Where should the working gene be put in the genome? Should the defunct gene be kept or replaced? Transcription levels for the GULO pseudo gene are too low to make enough enzymes to increase ascorbate levels above levels achievable by consumption. How can that be increased? I am not asking if this is beneficial or not nor about regulatory or ethical questions. Such questions are also meaningful but should be discussed in other questions.

2020/01/10

**NO: we should stick to the current threshold of 5.** I have noticed wayy too many circumstances in which a question was being voted to be closed by 2-3 users *inappropriately* (i.e., the close votes were unfounded/not supported or the wrong close reason was chosen). Reasons for these inappropriate VTCs range from novice voters, rushed voting, malicious voting, and difference of opinion. By reducing the close-vote requirement, we will undoubtedly close more questions that do not fit the description for being closed. We have two current problems on this SE site: (1) lack of review tasks being performed by current community members, and (2) decline in engaged users (+ an overall drop in visits overall!). I think this current VTC proposal is indirectly trying to account for these issues. * A 3rd issue is that the overall quality of posts has declined sharply in the last 2-3 years. I (among others) still hold posts to a higher standard based on older expectations of this community (i.e., one *for scientists*). Truthfully, the community has shifted much more toward consisting of novices and students here asking simple questions. At some point, our expectations just can't outweigh the masses asking the questions... [I digress...] However, I don't think the close-vote proposal will have the intended effect. The root of our problem is community engagement. By changing the VCT threshold we would not be changing that engagement level. Instead, we would be allowing decisions for the whole community to be made by an [even fewer] select active individuals. In summary: We have a community engagement problem on Bio.SE (perhaps an irreversible one), but I don't think the current proposal will fix that root issue. Instead, such a proposal will just give more closing power to the select individuals (<1% I'm sure of all users) who do vote. I'm afraid that such "power" would come off as a form of elitism as it does on some other SE sites, and may even result in a further decline in community engagement.

This answer is in the nature of a reflection, with a suggestion that we try to accumulate more information on which to make a decision. To provide a one-liner: **We should determine how difficult it is to find 5 votes to close an off-topic question on SE Biology, and drop the requirement to 3 votes if the barrier is too high.** We are scientists. We are used to taking decisions based on evidence, but at the moment I think there is insufficient to do so. I wonder whether there may be, on average, too few people who have enough privilege to vote to close that actually view most questions. But I don’t know. So, * What proportion of questions are viewed by fewer than 100 people? * How many of the viewers of such questions have the 3000 reputation needed to vote to close? * Of the questions that are closed, how many are done without a moderator short-circuiting the closure procedure? * What are the numbers like if you take out the obvious personal medical and spam questions? It strikes me the only people likely to have any of this info are the mods. Looking at the users who have increased their reputation this year (as a surrogate for activity) I would estimate that not more than 20 have enough reputation to vote to close. Given that people have interests in different biological fields — I never look at natural history questions or those on physiology — this seems quite low, and is possibly the reason that, in my opinion, a lot of poor questions do not get winnowed out.

I plan to ask about how to restore some defunct human genes. The GULO pseudo gene is the first one I am going to ask about. Should the question maybe be split into several question? The intended question is as follows. A lot of base pairs in the defunct GULO pseudo gene in humans are missing to make a functional enzyme. Should we take a whole gene from a close relative like a strepsirrhine, or maybe just fill in what is missing based on what? Which cells should be transfected/infected and how? Where should the working gene be put in the genome? Should the defunct gene be kept or replaced? Transcription levels for the GULO pseudo gene are too low to make enough enzymes to increase ascorbate levels above levels achievable by consumption. How can that be increased? I am not asking if this is beneficial or not nor about regulatory or ethical questions. Such questions are also meaningful but should be discussed in other questions.

2020/01/10

UPDATED ANSWER -- 2 years later (May 2021): Dropping vote-to-close thresholds has been a topic discussed across many SE sites for years. As of May 2021, there's now a formal effort to test minimizing the threshold to 3 votes across the SE network. The 45-day 3-vote test will occur on 13 sites (Not Biology) throughout May and June 2021. We'll await the results and future updates... Here is the META post about this test: [Testing three-vote close and reopen on 13 network sites](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/364007/309922)

This answer is in the nature of a reflection, with a suggestion that we try to accumulate more information on which to make a decision. To provide a one-liner: **We should determine how difficult it is to find 5 votes to close an off-topic question on SE Biology, and drop the requirement to 3 votes if the barrier is too high.** We are scientists. We are used to taking decisions based on evidence, but at the moment I think there is insufficient to do so. I wonder whether there may be, on average, too few people who have enough privilege to vote to close that actually view most questions. But I don’t know. So, * What proportion of questions are viewed by fewer than 100 people? * How many of the viewers of such questions have the 3000 reputation needed to vote to close? * Of the questions that are closed, how many are done without a moderator short-circuiting the closure procedure? * What are the numbers like if you take out the obvious personal medical and spam questions? It strikes me the only people likely to have any of this info are the mods. Looking at the users who have increased their reputation this year (as a surrogate for activity) I would estimate that not more than 20 have enough reputation to vote to close. Given that people have interests in different biological fields — I never look at natural history questions or those on physiology — this seems quite low, and is possibly the reason that, in my opinion, a lot of poor questions do not get winnowed out.

My house's 240v circuit for the cooktop is a /2 cable. (black, white and bare copper). The new whirlpool cooktop has a 3 wire connection (black,red and bare copper). Whirlpool's instructions do not cover this wiring example. Their 3 wire to 3 wire example assumes you have a red wire from the house. Is there an easy path to wiring up the cooktop?

2021/03/10

If that is indeed a 240V circuit, the white wire *kinda shoulda* been re-marked with tape to indicate that it is a hot wire. Prior to about 20 years ago, they were allowed to skip the marking "if the usage was obvious". The reason for the change is that their "obvious" is not your "obvious". If you are confident that it is indeed 240V, remark that white wire with black or colored electrical tape. (red is *perfectly fine*). --- Code does not require you to mark different *kinds* of hot by their function... *any* hot can be *any* color not reserved for other things. \* White and gray are reserved for neutral. Green, yellow w/green stripe, and bare are reserved for safety ground. \* with an *extremely* obscure exception relating to 3-phase power, that isn't even worth mentioning.

Their wiring is based on a 240V/120V circuit with hot/hot/neutral/ground, which is *typically* black/red/white/green-or-bare. Normally white = neutral. However, if you have a pure 240V circuit wired with cable (as opposed to individual wires in conduit), it is perfectly legitimate for it to be hot/hot/ground using black/white/green-or-bare. So you should be just fine. If you want to be 100% sure, use a multitester to check the voltage between the house wires. You should have ~240V black to white and ~120V black to bare and white to bare, and if so then you are all set. However, if you have ~120V black to white, ~120V black to bare and ~0V white to bare then you actually have a 120V circuit, which will not work for your cooktop. **Important:** Be sure to compare the existing breaker with the requirements for the new cooktop. Typical is 30A, but it can be different. If the new cooktop matches the existing breaker then you are all set. If the new cooktop requires a **smaller** circuit then you can simply replace the breaker. However, if the new cooktop requires a **larger** circuit then before replacing the breaker you have to determine whether the wires are large enough to handle the current.

*How do you even read these runes?* [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/7yv5Q.png) *Note: Click image for full size*

2018/03/13

It says > > THINGS LOOK A BIT OFF DONT THEY > > > if we > > replace each wingding character with the character at the same code point in the ordinary ASCII character set. > > > This isn't all; it turns out that > > the white background isn't all quite white, and a bit of colour-remapping produces this: > > [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IoRmt.png) > > > I confess that > > transcribing all of this and either treating it as cryptograms or identifying whatever (presumably artificial) scripts they use seems ... more like work than fun. If I find the energy to decipher any of it, I will report here :-). > > > Many of these > > seem to be letter-for-letter transcriptions of (more or less) English text, with the symbols used here often somewhat resembling the corresponding ones in our familiar Latin alphabet. > > > Block 1: > > Pretty sure this says SAYAKA MIKI / SONY STORAGE FORMAT USING ATRAC. First part is an anime character, who is apparently known to fans of the anime as "Blue"; second perhaps "MiniDisc". > > > Block 2: > > Looks like SHADOW ANGEL / LEAD WEAPON IN CLU. First might be "demon" or something; second perhaps "pipe" if we assume there's an omitted "e". (Thanks to F1Krazy for getting started on this one.) > > > Block 3: (not really looked at yet) Block 4: (not really looked at yet, but) > > I suspect the individual "characters" here may be vertical groups of three symbols rather than single symbols. > > > Block 5: > > Looks like CM POSTAL COMPANY / TYPE OF CORRECTION OR RAY. Second bit is probably GAMMA (thanks @ffao; I had had a strictly inferior idea for that). > > > Block 6: (not really looked at yet) Block 7: (not really looked at yet) Block 8: (not really looked at yet, but) > > one word appears to have three successive "S" characters (if that's what they are) which is ... unusual. Also, one word looks a lot like ALSO. > > > Block 9: > > qiupqiup seems to think this should say ENCHANTED PARADE / WORD AFTER ZERO FLUTE RHYMING / WITH DRINK; if so, presumably it's three things divided differently: enchanted parade, word after zero (tolerance? one? gravity? ...), flute rhyming with drink. > > > Block 10: (not really looked at yet) Block 11: (not really looked at yet) Block 12: (not really looked at yet)

If we use > > a Least Significant Bit detector, > > > we can find: > > [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vUZMB.png) > > > However these runes currently elude me... The fifth block appears to say: > > ... CM Postal Company, Type of correction or ray > > >

*How do you even read these runes?* [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/7yv5Q.png) *Note: Click image for full size*

2018/03/13

As described in [Gareth's answer](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/61853/20521) (go upvote that if you haven't already), the first step is to notice that: > > the white background isn't all quite white, and a bit of colour remapping produces [this image](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IoRmt.png). > > > From there, a bit of cryptogram work led us to what was written in the texts, as well as the scripts they were written in: > > Alphabet: Aquarion Alphabet > > SAYAKA MIKI: Puella Magi Madoka Magica character > > SONY STORAGE FORMAT USING ATRAC: MiniDisc > > > > Alphabet: Human Alphabet in "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?" > > SHADOW ANGEL: main antagonists of Genesis of Aquarion > > LEAD WEAPON IN CLUE: pipe > > > > Alphabet: Konosuba Alphabet > > DOKUROXY: Villain in Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure! > > LAST BUT BLANK LEAST: not > > > > Alphabet: Luna Alphabet (Little Witch Academia) > > ELSIE: The World God Only Knows character > > SPEEDY PARR KID: Dash > > > > Alphabet: Precure Alphabet > > CH POSTAL COMPANY: Company in Violet Evergarden > > TYPE OF CORRECTION OR RAY: gamma > > > > Alphabet: Imanity Alphabet (No Game No Life) > > DR. GEL: antagonist in Space Dandy > > GARACHINE AIRPORT CODE: GHE > > > > Alphabet: Unovian Alphabet (Pokémon) > > ORARIO: City in Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? > > MUSICAL BUILDUP OF LOUDNESS: crescendo > > > > Alphabet: Witch runes (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) > > EXPLOOOSION: Megumin's [signature spell chant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coYieIF8I5M) in Konosuba > > TRACK EIGHT FROM STARRS ALBUM RINGO: "Six O'Clock" > > > > Alphabet: Space Dandy Alphabet > > ENCHANTED PARADE: Little Witch Academia series subtitle > > WORD AFTER ZERO FLUTE RHYMING WITH DRINK: countersink > > > > Alphabet: Zentradi Alphabet (Super Dimension Fortress Macross) > > BEST WISHES: Pokémon series subtitle > > WORD AFTER EUROPEAN OR TRADE: union > > > > Alphabet: Leiden Alphabet (Violet Evergarden) > > OLD DEUS: race in No Game No Life > > THINK WORK SERVE SCHOOL INITS: TSU > > > > Alphabet: Hell Alphabet (The World God Only Knows) > > MY BOYFRIEND IS A PILOT (Super Dimension Fortress Macross song) > > EARLY BYZANTINE GOLD COIN: solidus > > > We can notice that for each block of text, > > The first line refers to one of the anime the scripts come from, and the second line gives a word that represents a symbol. For instance, solidus is another name for slash, and the mathematical symbol for union is ∪. > > > Then @Deusovi brilliantly noticed that > > The symbols described are all part of the [Moon type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_type) writing system, giving the letters, in order: HIMTEEKIVUDS > > > The final step is to > > Reorder the blocks in a cycle, in which the anime reference for one block is where the alphabet for the next block in the cycle comes from. The starting point of the cycle is the Luna Alphabet block, as indicated by the arrow pointing to it in the image. Doing so gives us the letters TSUKIHIME DEV: > > > > [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ALjYR.png) > > > Giving us the final answer... > > Type-Moon. Quite fitting. > > > As a side note, > > The initials to this puzzle's title, Unintelligible Batch of Wingdinglish, are the same as those of Unlimited Blade Works, another TYPE-MOON creation. > > >

It says > > THINGS LOOK A BIT OFF DONT THEY > > > if we > > replace each wingding character with the character at the same code point in the ordinary ASCII character set. > > > This isn't all; it turns out that > > the white background isn't all quite white, and a bit of colour-remapping produces this: > > [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IoRmt.png) > > > I confess that > > transcribing all of this and either treating it as cryptograms or identifying whatever (presumably artificial) scripts they use seems ... more like work than fun. If I find the energy to decipher any of it, I will report here :-). > > > Many of these > > seem to be letter-for-letter transcriptions of (more or less) English text, with the symbols used here often somewhat resembling the corresponding ones in our familiar Latin alphabet. > > > Block 1: > > Pretty sure this says SAYAKA MIKI / SONY STORAGE FORMAT USING ATRAC. First part is an anime character, who is apparently known to fans of the anime as "Blue"; second perhaps "MiniDisc". > > > Block 2: > > Looks like SHADOW ANGEL / LEAD WEAPON IN CLU. First might be "demon" or something; second perhaps "pipe" if we assume there's an omitted "e". (Thanks to F1Krazy for getting started on this one.) > > > Block 3: (not really looked at yet) Block 4: (not really looked at yet, but) > > I suspect the individual "characters" here may be vertical groups of three symbols rather than single symbols. > > > Block 5: > > Looks like CM POSTAL COMPANY / TYPE OF CORRECTION OR RAY. Second bit is probably GAMMA (thanks @ffao; I had had a strictly inferior idea for that). > > > Block 6: (not really looked at yet) Block 7: (not really looked at yet) Block 8: (not really looked at yet, but) > > one word appears to have three successive "S" characters (if that's what they are) which is ... unusual. Also, one word looks a lot like ALSO. > > > Block 9: > > qiupqiup seems to think this should say ENCHANTED PARADE / WORD AFTER ZERO FLUTE RHYMING / WITH DRINK; if so, presumably it's three things divided differently: enchanted parade, word after zero (tolerance? one? gravity? ...), flute rhyming with drink. > > > Block 10: (not really looked at yet) Block 11: (not really looked at yet) Block 12: (not really looked at yet)

*How do you even read these runes?* [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/7yv5Q.png) *Note: Click image for full size*

2018/03/13

It says > > THINGS LOOK A BIT OFF DONT THEY > > > if we > > replace each wingding character with the character at the same code point in the ordinary ASCII character set. > > > This isn't all; it turns out that > > the white background isn't all quite white, and a bit of colour-remapping produces this: > > [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IoRmt.png) > > > I confess that > > transcribing all of this and either treating it as cryptograms or identifying whatever (presumably artificial) scripts they use seems ... more like work than fun. If I find the energy to decipher any of it, I will report here :-). > > > Many of these > > seem to be letter-for-letter transcriptions of (more or less) English text, with the symbols used here often somewhat resembling the corresponding ones in our familiar Latin alphabet. > > > Block 1: > > Pretty sure this says SAYAKA MIKI / SONY STORAGE FORMAT USING ATRAC. First part is an anime character, who is apparently known to fans of the anime as "Blue"; second perhaps "MiniDisc". > > > Block 2: > > Looks like SHADOW ANGEL / LEAD WEAPON IN CLU. First might be "demon" or something; second perhaps "pipe" if we assume there's an omitted "e". (Thanks to F1Krazy for getting started on this one.) > > > Block 3: (not really looked at yet) Block 4: (not really looked at yet, but) > > I suspect the individual "characters" here may be vertical groups of three symbols rather than single symbols. > > > Block 5: > > Looks like CM POSTAL COMPANY / TYPE OF CORRECTION OR RAY. Second bit is probably GAMMA (thanks @ffao; I had had a strictly inferior idea for that). > > > Block 6: (not really looked at yet) Block 7: (not really looked at yet) Block 8: (not really looked at yet, but) > > one word appears to have three successive "S" characters (if that's what they are) which is ... unusual. Also, one word looks a lot like ALSO. > > > Block 9: > > qiupqiup seems to think this should say ENCHANTED PARADE / WORD AFTER ZERO FLUTE RHYMING / WITH DRINK; if so, presumably it's three things divided differently: enchanted parade, word after zero (tolerance? one? gravity? ...), flute rhyming with drink. > > > Block 10: (not really looked at yet) Block 11: (not really looked at yet) Block 12: (not really looked at yet)

Wrap-up: The Making Of *Unintelligible Batch of Wingdinglish* ============================================================= *This is not a solution to the puzzle, but provides notes from its poser. This type of answer has been [approved by the community](https://puzzling.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5420/).* --- Just a number of comments not covered by the other answers, and also some background. > > - This puzzle's presentation is intended to be a mega version of [this puzzle by @Rubio](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/61750/when-was-this-marvelous-thing-first-invented), posted two days earlier. > > > > - Wingdinglish is a reference to [this TVTropes page](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wingdinglish), which as of writing mentions two of the alphabets used. > > > > - [@Fifth\_H0r5eman's answer](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/61854/46455) makes this slightly more obvious than [@Gareth McCaughan's](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/61853/46455), but in addition to the white pixels, some of the black pixels are one bit off. > > > > - Some of these alphabets have been turned into useable fonts by fans. Whilst using such fonts would improve readability, it would look odd if half the puzzle was tablet-drawn, even if the alternative meant wrangling with [Imanity-go](http://no-game-no-life.wikia.com/wiki/Imanity-go). > > > > - Some candidate alphabets had to be cut due to mapping to Japanese kana instead of English letters, or due to difficulty of research. > > > > - Alphabet selection was influenced by how much I verified and trusted the charts used. [Primary sources](http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/mahotsukai_precure/special/) were preferable but usually not available, alas. > > > > - @Deusovi managed to skip this step, but reading the first lines in chain order (ELSIE, MY BOYFRIEND IS A PILOT, ...) spells out EMBOSSED CODE. > > > > - Due to the first letters restriction, assigning good first-line clues proved surprisingly tricky, especially due to not being familiar with some of the series involved. As such some clues ended up referencing a franchise rather than the specific entry within the franchise, e.g. SHADOW ANGEL is more a reference to [Genesis of Aquarion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_of_Aquarion), rather than its sequel [Aquarion EVOL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarion_Evol) which provides the alphabet used. > > > > - At least one clue was scrapped to avoid solvers potentially researching their way into spoilers, even though it would have improved the puzzle. > > > > - At least one clue was tweaked due to different circulated fan charts conflicting on the character used. > > > > - As @ffao points out, the title initals UBW is a reference to Unlimited Blade Works, part of the [Fate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate/stay_night) universe by Type-Moon. > > >

*How do you even read these runes?* [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/7yv5Q.png) *Note: Click image for full size*

2018/03/13

As described in [Gareth's answer](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/61853/20521) (go upvote that if you haven't already), the first step is to notice that: > > the white background isn't all quite white, and a bit of colour remapping produces [this image](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IoRmt.png). > > > From there, a bit of cryptogram work led us to what was written in the texts, as well as the scripts they were written in: > > Alphabet: Aquarion Alphabet > > SAYAKA MIKI: Puella Magi Madoka Magica character > > SONY STORAGE FORMAT USING ATRAC: MiniDisc > > > > Alphabet: Human Alphabet in "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?" > > SHADOW ANGEL: main antagonists of Genesis of Aquarion > > LEAD WEAPON IN CLUE: pipe > > > > Alphabet: Konosuba Alphabet > > DOKUROXY: Villain in Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure! > > LAST BUT BLANK LEAST: not > > > > Alphabet: Luna Alphabet (Little Witch Academia) > > ELSIE: The World God Only Knows character > > SPEEDY PARR KID: Dash > > > > Alphabet: Precure Alphabet > > CH POSTAL COMPANY: Company in Violet Evergarden > > TYPE OF CORRECTION OR RAY: gamma > > > > Alphabet: Imanity Alphabet (No Game No Life) > > DR. GEL: antagonist in Space Dandy > > GARACHINE AIRPORT CODE: GHE > > > > Alphabet: Unovian Alphabet (Pokémon) > > ORARIO: City in Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? > > MUSICAL BUILDUP OF LOUDNESS: crescendo > > > > Alphabet: Witch runes (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) > > EXPLOOOSION: Megumin's [signature spell chant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coYieIF8I5M) in Konosuba > > TRACK EIGHT FROM STARRS ALBUM RINGO: "Six O'Clock" > > > > Alphabet: Space Dandy Alphabet > > ENCHANTED PARADE: Little Witch Academia series subtitle > > WORD AFTER ZERO FLUTE RHYMING WITH DRINK: countersink > > > > Alphabet: Zentradi Alphabet (Super Dimension Fortress Macross) > > BEST WISHES: Pokémon series subtitle > > WORD AFTER EUROPEAN OR TRADE: union > > > > Alphabet: Leiden Alphabet (Violet Evergarden) > > OLD DEUS: race in No Game No Life > > THINK WORK SERVE SCHOOL INITS: TSU > > > > Alphabet: Hell Alphabet (The World God Only Knows) > > MY BOYFRIEND IS A PILOT (Super Dimension Fortress Macross song) > > EARLY BYZANTINE GOLD COIN: solidus > > > We can notice that for each block of text, > > The first line refers to one of the anime the scripts come from, and the second line gives a word that represents a symbol. For instance, solidus is another name for slash, and the mathematical symbol for union is ∪. > > > Then @Deusovi brilliantly noticed that > > The symbols described are all part of the [Moon type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_type) writing system, giving the letters, in order: HIMTEEKIVUDS > > > The final step is to > > Reorder the blocks in a cycle, in which the anime reference for one block is where the alphabet for the next block in the cycle comes from. The starting point of the cycle is the Luna Alphabet block, as indicated by the arrow pointing to it in the image. Doing so gives us the letters TSUKIHIME DEV: > > > > [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ALjYR.png) > > > Giving us the final answer... > > Type-Moon. Quite fitting. > > > As a side note, > > The initials to this puzzle's title, Unintelligible Batch of Wingdinglish, are the same as those of Unlimited Blade Works, another TYPE-MOON creation. > > >

If we use > > a Least Significant Bit detector, > > > we can find: > > [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vUZMB.png) > > > However these runes currently elude me... The fifth block appears to say: > > ... CM Postal Company, Type of correction or ray > > >

*How do you even read these runes?* [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/7yv5Q.png) *Note: Click image for full size*

2018/03/13

If we use > > a Least Significant Bit detector, > > > we can find: > > [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vUZMB.png) > > > However these runes currently elude me... The fifth block appears to say: > > ... CM Postal Company, Type of correction or ray > > >

Wrap-up: The Making Of *Unintelligible Batch of Wingdinglish* ============================================================= *This is not a solution to the puzzle, but provides notes from its poser. This type of answer has been [approved by the community](https://puzzling.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5420/).* --- Just a number of comments not covered by the other answers, and also some background. > > - This puzzle's presentation is intended to be a mega version of [this puzzle by @Rubio](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/61750/when-was-this-marvelous-thing-first-invented), posted two days earlier. > > > > - Wingdinglish is a reference to [this TVTropes page](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wingdinglish), which as of writing mentions two of the alphabets used. > > > > - [@Fifth\_H0r5eman's answer](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/61854/46455) makes this slightly more obvious than [@Gareth McCaughan's](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/61853/46455), but in addition to the white pixels, some of the black pixels are one bit off. > > > > - Some of these alphabets have been turned into useable fonts by fans. Whilst using such fonts would improve readability, it would look odd if half the puzzle was tablet-drawn, even if the alternative meant wrangling with [Imanity-go](http://no-game-no-life.wikia.com/wiki/Imanity-go). > > > > - Some candidate alphabets had to be cut due to mapping to Japanese kana instead of English letters, or due to difficulty of research. > > > > - Alphabet selection was influenced by how much I verified and trusted the charts used. [Primary sources](http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/mahotsukai_precure/special/) were preferable but usually not available, alas. > > > > - @Deusovi managed to skip this step, but reading the first lines in chain order (ELSIE, MY BOYFRIEND IS A PILOT, ...) spells out EMBOSSED CODE. > > > > - Due to the first letters restriction, assigning good first-line clues proved surprisingly tricky, especially due to not being familiar with some of the series involved. As such some clues ended up referencing a franchise rather than the specific entry within the franchise, e.g. SHADOW ANGEL is more a reference to [Genesis of Aquarion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_of_Aquarion), rather than its sequel [Aquarion EVOL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarion_Evol) which provides the alphabet used. > > > > - At least one clue was scrapped to avoid solvers potentially researching their way into spoilers, even though it would have improved the puzzle. > > > > - At least one clue was tweaked due to different circulated fan charts conflicting on the character used. > > > > - As @ffao points out, the title initals UBW is a reference to Unlimited Blade Works, part of the [Fate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate/stay_night) universe by Type-Moon. > > >

*How do you even read these runes?* [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/7yv5Q.png) *Note: Click image for full size*

2018/03/13

As described in [Gareth's answer](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/61853/20521) (go upvote that if you haven't already), the first step is to notice that: > > the white background isn't all quite white, and a bit of colour remapping produces [this image](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IoRmt.png). > > > From there, a bit of cryptogram work led us to what was written in the texts, as well as the scripts they were written in: > > Alphabet: Aquarion Alphabet > > SAYAKA MIKI: Puella Magi Madoka Magica character > > SONY STORAGE FORMAT USING ATRAC: MiniDisc > > > > Alphabet: Human Alphabet in "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?" > > SHADOW ANGEL: main antagonists of Genesis of Aquarion > > LEAD WEAPON IN CLUE: pipe > > > > Alphabet: Konosuba Alphabet > > DOKUROXY: Villain in Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure! > > LAST BUT BLANK LEAST: not > > > > Alphabet: Luna Alphabet (Little Witch Academia) > > ELSIE: The World God Only Knows character > > SPEEDY PARR KID: Dash > > > > Alphabet: Precure Alphabet > > CH POSTAL COMPANY: Company in Violet Evergarden > > TYPE OF CORRECTION OR RAY: gamma > > > > Alphabet: Imanity Alphabet (No Game No Life) > > DR. GEL: antagonist in Space Dandy > > GARACHINE AIRPORT CODE: GHE > > > > Alphabet: Unovian Alphabet (Pokémon) > > ORARIO: City in Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? > > MUSICAL BUILDUP OF LOUDNESS: crescendo > > > > Alphabet: Witch runes (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) > > EXPLOOOSION: Megumin's [signature spell chant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coYieIF8I5M) in Konosuba > > TRACK EIGHT FROM STARRS ALBUM RINGO: "Six O'Clock" > > > > Alphabet: Space Dandy Alphabet > > ENCHANTED PARADE: Little Witch Academia series subtitle > > WORD AFTER ZERO FLUTE RHYMING WITH DRINK: countersink > > > > Alphabet: Zentradi Alphabet (Super Dimension Fortress Macross) > > BEST WISHES: Pokémon series subtitle > > WORD AFTER EUROPEAN OR TRADE: union > > > > Alphabet: Leiden Alphabet (Violet Evergarden) > > OLD DEUS: race in No Game No Life > > THINK WORK SERVE SCHOOL INITS: TSU > > > > Alphabet: Hell Alphabet (The World God Only Knows) > > MY BOYFRIEND IS A PILOT (Super Dimension Fortress Macross song) > > EARLY BYZANTINE GOLD COIN: solidus > > > We can notice that for each block of text, > > The first line refers to one of the anime the scripts come from, and the second line gives a word that represents a symbol. For instance, solidus is another name for slash, and the mathematical symbol for union is ∪. > > > Then @Deusovi brilliantly noticed that > > The symbols described are all part of the [Moon type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_type) writing system, giving the letters, in order: HIMTEEKIVUDS > > > The final step is to > > Reorder the blocks in a cycle, in which the anime reference for one block is where the alphabet for the next block in the cycle comes from. The starting point of the cycle is the Luna Alphabet block, as indicated by the arrow pointing to it in the image. Doing so gives us the letters TSUKIHIME DEV: > > > > [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ALjYR.png) > > > Giving us the final answer... > > Type-Moon. Quite fitting. > > > As a side note, > > The initials to this puzzle's title, Unintelligible Batch of Wingdinglish, are the same as those of Unlimited Blade Works, another TYPE-MOON creation. > > >

Wrap-up: The Making Of *Unintelligible Batch of Wingdinglish* ============================================================= *This is not a solution to the puzzle, but provides notes from its poser. This type of answer has been [approved by the community](https://puzzling.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5420/).* --- Just a number of comments not covered by the other answers, and also some background. > > - This puzzle's presentation is intended to be a mega version of [this puzzle by @Rubio](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/61750/when-was-this-marvelous-thing-first-invented), posted two days earlier. > > > > - Wingdinglish is a reference to [this TVTropes page](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wingdinglish), which as of writing mentions two of the alphabets used. > > > > - [@Fifth\_H0r5eman's answer](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/61854/46455) makes this slightly more obvious than [@Gareth McCaughan's](https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/61853/46455), but in addition to the white pixels, some of the black pixels are one bit off. > > > > - Some of these alphabets have been turned into useable fonts by fans. Whilst using such fonts would improve readability, it would look odd if half the puzzle was tablet-drawn, even if the alternative meant wrangling with [Imanity-go](http://no-game-no-life.wikia.com/wiki/Imanity-go). > > > > - Some candidate alphabets had to be cut due to mapping to Japanese kana instead of English letters, or due to difficulty of research. > > > > - Alphabet selection was influenced by how much I verified and trusted the charts used. [Primary sources](http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/mahotsukai_precure/special/) were preferable but usually not available, alas. > > > > - @Deusovi managed to skip this step, but reading the first lines in chain order (ELSIE, MY BOYFRIEND IS A PILOT, ...) spells out EMBOSSED CODE. > > > > - Due to the first letters restriction, assigning good first-line clues proved surprisingly tricky, especially due to not being familiar with some of the series involved. As such some clues ended up referencing a franchise rather than the specific entry within the franchise, e.g. SHADOW ANGEL is more a reference to [Genesis of Aquarion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_of_Aquarion), rather than its sequel [Aquarion EVOL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarion_Evol) which provides the alphabet used. > > > > - At least one clue was scrapped to avoid solvers potentially researching their way into spoilers, even though it would have improved the puzzle. > > > > - At least one clue was tweaked due to different circulated fan charts conflicting on the character used. > > > > - As @ffao points out, the title initals UBW is a reference to Unlimited Blade Works, part of the [Fate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate/stay_night) universe by Type-Moon. > > >

The Bearer: Background ---------------------- --- On Alternate Earth, studies and cases have shown that a *small percentage of the population (10%) is responsible for 90% of the bad luck*. **These people are targeted by bad luck**, almost by cosmic forces: they are struck by lightning out of a sunny day, hit by cars whose brakes give out, and slip on banana peels in a no-eating zone. Perhaps the luck is equalized somehow, because these people generally survive or are compensated for the situation. The general populace once labelled these people as 'clumsy airheads', but following some high profile cases, they have since come to be known as **'Bearers'**, generally ranked class-F through class-A, each about 10x rarer and with worse luck than the next. **Most of the time, disasters from Bearers do little harm to others**, and class-F through class-B have relatively tame bad luck, ranging respectively from the frequent stubbing of toes and slipping on bananas, to occasional injury and minor destruction of property. Class-A bearers have a grade of bad luck involving weekly escapes from death, ranging from car crashes, apartment fires, and lightning strikes. However, at a level 100x rarer and deadlier than class A, Class S Bearers are very rare, sitting at 1/100,000,000 people **but are disproportionately represented in history**: The Explosion of Black Tom Island (1875), the gunpowder explosion of Abbeville (1773), multiple unstoppable wildfires, the 1987 Stock Market Crash, and a [failed rocket launch that killed a cow in Cuba](http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/science/herd-shot-around-the-world-the-last-east-coast-polar-launch/article/567614) (1986), to name a few. Eventually, the world came to know about the potential disasters that could be wreaked by a single bearer in recent times, in Robert's Case (Misc section). After being hit by multiple tsunamis, hurricanes, and other natural disasters caused by one Bearer, the governments decided to change their stance on bearers, to prevent similar tragedies. Summary: Bearer Information --------------------------- --- [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/J1vD2.jpg) * A Bearer's bad luck is related to the recently discovered *Tetroid Waves* * **The Bad Luck rating can be measured from Tetroid waves** * E is 10x more bad luck (Tetroids) than F, D is 10x stronger than E, and so on. * The Tetroid rating from F to S can be equated to local earthquakes (diagram above) * All humans emit tetroids, Bearers are simply humans with more Tetroids * It is easy to track Bearers, especially B to S-class, but Tetroid waves can be blocked by some common metals * Blocking Tetroid waves does not prevent disasters, but does impact interference (see below)\* * The strength of Tetroid waves emitted prior correspond to the bad luck event that will ensue * Luck seems to follow laws of conservation; an event of bad luck is equalized by almost equal good luck eventually * A Bearer can emit Tetroids above their class when in distress, and generally the event triggered aims to solve the Bearer's problems * Tetroid wave interference happens when two or more Bearers are nearby * **Paradoxically, destructive interference (cancellation of bad luck) happens when multiple Bearers share similar harmonious emotional states** * Conversely, constructive interference (amplification of bad luck) happens when multiple Bearers are emotionally chaotic Question -------- --- How should the World interact with Bearers, knowing that their numbers are steadily increasing, to best mitigate global and local disasters? The best answer would also be *humane, properly integrate modern society with the Bearers, and prevent unwarranted discrimination where possible*. Also, out of interest, who is responsible for the compensation, in the even of an accident? Will insurance rates for Bearers be disproportionately high, or will a common fund exist to support them? Note: This happens on Alternate Earth, in reality we unfortunately cannot blame stubbed toes on Tetroid waves. Misc: Robert's Case ------------------- --- The following case is for background and humor, does not provide too much for question details: > > Up until a certain historically significant case, Bearers were not well-quantified or tracked. Domestic Class-S Bearers were not well-monitored or mitigated, and many remained unknown. > > > > This all changed after a case dealing with Robert 'Bob' Murphy, a seemingly ordinary, if not bad, conductor, who, unknown at the time, was also an S-class Bearer. After a failed concert, the depressed Bob was further implicated by an issue with pyrotechnics, which resulted in multiple casualties and many injuries. Following which Bob was framed by a Syndicate organization, and, charged with multiple murders, sentenced to the electric chair. > > > > As it turns out, Bob was certainly a bad orchestra conductor, but a good conductor in general; on the hour of his scheduled execution, a critical lightning storm erupted and struck the facility and multiple backup power plants, during which Bob escaped electrocution at the chair for electrocution from the sky. Seizing the chaos, Bob escaped the facility. > > > > All following attempts to capture Bob were primarily successful, but no results at containment or execution worked: prison vehicles carrying Bob would get flat tires or get into uncanny accidents. Eventually the government gave up and decided to just exile Bob into the ocean with some supplies and a fishing boat, hoping he'd maybe drift onto the shores of their rival country. **This was their worst idea yet.** > > > > Bob had the bad luck to end up in several tsunamis and hurricanes across the world, causing immense damage to multiple countries, before the United Nations, after an intense investigation, unanimously agreed to compensate him and exonerate him of the crimes he did not commit. To this day, Robert Murphy lives somewhere on an undisclosed island in the Bermuda Triangle. > > > > Since then, governments around the world have changed their stance and system on the treatment of Bearers, hoping to prevent a similar tragedy. > > >

2020/10/03

***Two Roads:*** There are two directions your society can take with regards to bearers, and it somewhat depends on how the actual "ability" functions. The tetroid wave situation is complex, and I think only you fully understand it. Both of these solutions can be applied, or can be exclusive. It's up to you. 1. **Exile**: If the ability doesn't effect disasters outside the bearers, find a geologically stable place isolated from the bulk of humanity and offer a sliding scale of requirements and incentives to these folks to go there. S-scale people might be required to go there but offered vast sums of money in compensation for their troubles, in the same way a typhoid carrier might be required to isolate from those who are at risk. Those with the mildest cases will have no requirement, but will be offered lucrative jobs and compensations to go there. This will be a shifting solution, as asteroids crash there, aliens show up, and hurricanes materialize out of no where to lash (for example) the Aleutian Islands or Siberia. Concentrating these folks may magnify the effect (additive), or bad luck/good luck might cancel itself out and these folks will balance. If there is a hereditary element to this, there is a risk in concentrating this much potential into one breeding population. 2. **Control**: If there is a net total of good and bad luck in the world, and these people just concentrate it, then use them as a guide for these forces. Hurricanes will track towards them, so shift weather patterns to end droughts or avoid direct impacts on major cities. In a real crisis, an S-class talent can probably avert a nuclear attack because the bomb will fizzle out. Nations can pay into an international fund and buy, sell, and trade bad luck in the form of residence for these folks. Cuba gets hit with hurricanes all the time, so why not get paid to sponsor people, then make your nation hurricane-proof?

What about The Fortunate? ========================= The fortunate would be the opposite end of the spectrum-the people for whom bad luck simply doesn't happen. They are the ones who could build a rocket out of a tin can and successfully circumnavigate the moon down to your simply lucky people who play a good stock market game or enjoy perfect health. They can be paired with the Bearers in areas or missions, so that the catastrophes that are waiting to happen will have generally fortunate results. So your car crash will unite two old lovers, or the hurricane will lead to policy changes desperately needed for decades, or a dropping of scientific papers will lead to the discovery of an unrealized theory. People who specialize in the measurement and classification of bearers would become popular (as mentioned in Enthus3d's comment in the thread) as they could generally mitigate the worst of the bearers. In this way, the bearers would create the chaos to make changes, and the fortunate would be used to change that negative chaos into a positive force for change.

The Bearer: Background ---------------------- --- On Alternate Earth, studies and cases have shown that a *small percentage of the population (10%) is responsible for 90% of the bad luck*. **These people are targeted by bad luck**, almost by cosmic forces: they are struck by lightning out of a sunny day, hit by cars whose brakes give out, and slip on banana peels in a no-eating zone. Perhaps the luck is equalized somehow, because these people generally survive or are compensated for the situation. The general populace once labelled these people as 'clumsy airheads', but following some high profile cases, they have since come to be known as **'Bearers'**, generally ranked class-F through class-A, each about 10x rarer and with worse luck than the next. **Most of the time, disasters from Bearers do little harm to others**, and class-F through class-B have relatively tame bad luck, ranging respectively from the frequent stubbing of toes and slipping on bananas, to occasional injury and minor destruction of property. Class-A bearers have a grade of bad luck involving weekly escapes from death, ranging from car crashes, apartment fires, and lightning strikes. However, at a level 100x rarer and deadlier than class A, Class S Bearers are very rare, sitting at 1/100,000,000 people **but are disproportionately represented in history**: The Explosion of Black Tom Island (1875), the gunpowder explosion of Abbeville (1773), multiple unstoppable wildfires, the 1987 Stock Market Crash, and a [failed rocket launch that killed a cow in Cuba](http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/science/herd-shot-around-the-world-the-last-east-coast-polar-launch/article/567614) (1986), to name a few. Eventually, the world came to know about the potential disasters that could be wreaked by a single bearer in recent times, in Robert's Case (Misc section). After being hit by multiple tsunamis, hurricanes, and other natural disasters caused by one Bearer, the governments decided to change their stance on bearers, to prevent similar tragedies. Summary: Bearer Information --------------------------- --- [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/J1vD2.jpg) * A Bearer's bad luck is related to the recently discovered *Tetroid Waves* * **The Bad Luck rating can be measured from Tetroid waves** * E is 10x more bad luck (Tetroids) than F, D is 10x stronger than E, and so on. * The Tetroid rating from F to S can be equated to local earthquakes (diagram above) * All humans emit tetroids, Bearers are simply humans with more Tetroids * It is easy to track Bearers, especially B to S-class, but Tetroid waves can be blocked by some common metals * Blocking Tetroid waves does not prevent disasters, but does impact interference (see below)\* * The strength of Tetroid waves emitted prior correspond to the bad luck event that will ensue * Luck seems to follow laws of conservation; an event of bad luck is equalized by almost equal good luck eventually * A Bearer can emit Tetroids above their class when in distress, and generally the event triggered aims to solve the Bearer's problems * Tetroid wave interference happens when two or more Bearers are nearby * **Paradoxically, destructive interference (cancellation of bad luck) happens when multiple Bearers share similar harmonious emotional states** * Conversely, constructive interference (amplification of bad luck) happens when multiple Bearers are emotionally chaotic Question -------- --- How should the World interact with Bearers, knowing that their numbers are steadily increasing, to best mitigate global and local disasters? The best answer would also be *humane, properly integrate modern society with the Bearers, and prevent unwarranted discrimination where possible*. Also, out of interest, who is responsible for the compensation, in the even of an accident? Will insurance rates for Bearers be disproportionately high, or will a common fund exist to support them? Note: This happens on Alternate Earth, in reality we unfortunately cannot blame stubbed toes on Tetroid waves. Misc: Robert's Case ------------------- --- The following case is for background and humor, does not provide too much for question details: > > Up until a certain historically significant case, Bearers were not well-quantified or tracked. Domestic Class-S Bearers were not well-monitored or mitigated, and many remained unknown. > > > > This all changed after a case dealing with Robert 'Bob' Murphy, a seemingly ordinary, if not bad, conductor, who, unknown at the time, was also an S-class Bearer. After a failed concert, the depressed Bob was further implicated by an issue with pyrotechnics, which resulted in multiple casualties and many injuries. Following which Bob was framed by a Syndicate organization, and, charged with multiple murders, sentenced to the electric chair. > > > > As it turns out, Bob was certainly a bad orchestra conductor, but a good conductor in general; on the hour of his scheduled execution, a critical lightning storm erupted and struck the facility and multiple backup power plants, during which Bob escaped electrocution at the chair for electrocution from the sky. Seizing the chaos, Bob escaped the facility. > > > > All following attempts to capture Bob were primarily successful, but no results at containment or execution worked: prison vehicles carrying Bob would get flat tires or get into uncanny accidents. Eventually the government gave up and decided to just exile Bob into the ocean with some supplies and a fishing boat, hoping he'd maybe drift onto the shores of their rival country. **This was their worst idea yet.** > > > > Bob had the bad luck to end up in several tsunamis and hurricanes across the world, causing immense damage to multiple countries, before the United Nations, after an intense investigation, unanimously agreed to compensate him and exonerate him of the crimes he did not commit. To this day, Robert Murphy lives somewhere on an undisclosed island in the Bermuda Triangle. > > > > Since then, governments around the world have changed their stance and system on the treatment of Bearers, hoping to prevent a similar tragedy. > > >

2020/10/03

***Two Roads:*** There are two directions your society can take with regards to bearers, and it somewhat depends on how the actual "ability" functions. The tetroid wave situation is complex, and I think only you fully understand it. Both of these solutions can be applied, or can be exclusive. It's up to you. 1. **Exile**: If the ability doesn't effect disasters outside the bearers, find a geologically stable place isolated from the bulk of humanity and offer a sliding scale of requirements and incentives to these folks to go there. S-scale people might be required to go there but offered vast sums of money in compensation for their troubles, in the same way a typhoid carrier might be required to isolate from those who are at risk. Those with the mildest cases will have no requirement, but will be offered lucrative jobs and compensations to go there. This will be a shifting solution, as asteroids crash there, aliens show up, and hurricanes materialize out of no where to lash (for example) the Aleutian Islands or Siberia. Concentrating these folks may magnify the effect (additive), or bad luck/good luck might cancel itself out and these folks will balance. If there is a hereditary element to this, there is a risk in concentrating this much potential into one breeding population. 2. **Control**: If there is a net total of good and bad luck in the world, and these people just concentrate it, then use them as a guide for these forces. Hurricanes will track towards them, so shift weather patterns to end droughts or avoid direct impacts on major cities. In a real crisis, an S-class talent can probably avert a nuclear attack because the bomb will fizzle out. Nations can pay into an international fund and buy, sell, and trade bad luck in the form of residence for these folks. Cuba gets hit with hurricanes all the time, so why not get paid to sponsor people, then make your nation hurricane-proof?

There is a certain amount of bad luck in the world; we need the Bearers, because otherwise we'd be suffering all that bad luck ourselves ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is it true? Doesn't matter! The most humane route for dealing with Bearers is propaganda on their behalf. These aren't the bad guys, these are the martyrs. In exactly the same way that a lightning rod protects your house by attracting any lightning away from the more vulnerable parts, Bearers attract the lightning of misfortune away from us regular folk. At least, if they're used correctly. Can we position them to make sure that tsunamis never hit nuclear plants or populated coastal areas? Can they keep the tornadoes away from schools and residential neighborhoods? Sure, for the protection of regular people, S-Class Bearers cannot be allowed to go wherever they like, whenever they like, but competing institutes for probability research, and other governments and private entities, can try to find ways to make use of these living tetroid generators, be it research or an attempt to focus bad luck. They may find themselves in high demand! (What "luck".) Don't be surprised, for that matter, if some governments even try to recruit such people into military or espionage roles. Especially if tetroid radiation is difficult to detect, and public spaces cannot easily be made secure against incursion. Obviously, if Bearers become living weapons, this is going to undermine the Bearer-Martyr propaganda, and you'll end up with a complex effect where many of the general public are unsure what to think. But you can certainly start out with benevolent organizations casting Bearers as the people "taking one for the team", not just being the source of others' misfortune.

The Bearer: Background ---------------------- --- On Alternate Earth, studies and cases have shown that a *small percentage of the population (10%) is responsible for 90% of the bad luck*. **These people are targeted by bad luck**, almost by cosmic forces: they are struck by lightning out of a sunny day, hit by cars whose brakes give out, and slip on banana peels in a no-eating zone. Perhaps the luck is equalized somehow, because these people generally survive or are compensated for the situation. The general populace once labelled these people as 'clumsy airheads', but following some high profile cases, they have since come to be known as **'Bearers'**, generally ranked class-F through class-A, each about 10x rarer and with worse luck than the next. **Most of the time, disasters from Bearers do little harm to others**, and class-F through class-B have relatively tame bad luck, ranging respectively from the frequent stubbing of toes and slipping on bananas, to occasional injury and minor destruction of property. Class-A bearers have a grade of bad luck involving weekly escapes from death, ranging from car crashes, apartment fires, and lightning strikes. However, at a level 100x rarer and deadlier than class A, Class S Bearers are very rare, sitting at 1/100,000,000 people **but are disproportionately represented in history**: The Explosion of Black Tom Island (1875), the gunpowder explosion of Abbeville (1773), multiple unstoppable wildfires, the 1987 Stock Market Crash, and a [failed rocket launch that killed a cow in Cuba](http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/science/herd-shot-around-the-world-the-last-east-coast-polar-launch/article/567614) (1986), to name a few. Eventually, the world came to know about the potential disasters that could be wreaked by a single bearer in recent times, in Robert's Case (Misc section). After being hit by multiple tsunamis, hurricanes, and other natural disasters caused by one Bearer, the governments decided to change their stance on bearers, to prevent similar tragedies. Summary: Bearer Information --------------------------- --- [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/J1vD2.jpg) * A Bearer's bad luck is related to the recently discovered *Tetroid Waves* * **The Bad Luck rating can be measured from Tetroid waves** * E is 10x more bad luck (Tetroids) than F, D is 10x stronger than E, and so on. * The Tetroid rating from F to S can be equated to local earthquakes (diagram above) * All humans emit tetroids, Bearers are simply humans with more Tetroids * It is easy to track Bearers, especially B to S-class, but Tetroid waves can be blocked by some common metals * Blocking Tetroid waves does not prevent disasters, but does impact interference (see below)\* * The strength of Tetroid waves emitted prior correspond to the bad luck event that will ensue * Luck seems to follow laws of conservation; an event of bad luck is equalized by almost equal good luck eventually * A Bearer can emit Tetroids above their class when in distress, and generally the event triggered aims to solve the Bearer's problems * Tetroid wave interference happens when two or more Bearers are nearby * **Paradoxically, destructive interference (cancellation of bad luck) happens when multiple Bearers share similar harmonious emotional states** * Conversely, constructive interference (amplification of bad luck) happens when multiple Bearers are emotionally chaotic Question -------- --- How should the World interact with Bearers, knowing that their numbers are steadily increasing, to best mitigate global and local disasters? The best answer would also be *humane, properly integrate modern society with the Bearers, and prevent unwarranted discrimination where possible*. Also, out of interest, who is responsible for the compensation, in the even of an accident? Will insurance rates for Bearers be disproportionately high, or will a common fund exist to support them? Note: This happens on Alternate Earth, in reality we unfortunately cannot blame stubbed toes on Tetroid waves. Misc: Robert's Case ------------------- --- The following case is for background and humor, does not provide too much for question details: > > Up until a certain historically significant case, Bearers were not well-quantified or tracked. Domestic Class-S Bearers were not well-monitored or mitigated, and many remained unknown. > > > > This all changed after a case dealing with Robert 'Bob' Murphy, a seemingly ordinary, if not bad, conductor, who, unknown at the time, was also an S-class Bearer. After a failed concert, the depressed Bob was further implicated by an issue with pyrotechnics, which resulted in multiple casualties and many injuries. Following which Bob was framed by a Syndicate organization, and, charged with multiple murders, sentenced to the electric chair. > > > > As it turns out, Bob was certainly a bad orchestra conductor, but a good conductor in general; on the hour of his scheduled execution, a critical lightning storm erupted and struck the facility and multiple backup power plants, during which Bob escaped electrocution at the chair for electrocution from the sky. Seizing the chaos, Bob escaped the facility. > > > > All following attempts to capture Bob were primarily successful, but no results at containment or execution worked: prison vehicles carrying Bob would get flat tires or get into uncanny accidents. Eventually the government gave up and decided to just exile Bob into the ocean with some supplies and a fishing boat, hoping he'd maybe drift onto the shores of their rival country. **This was their worst idea yet.** > > > > Bob had the bad luck to end up in several tsunamis and hurricanes across the world, causing immense damage to multiple countries, before the United Nations, after an intense investigation, unanimously agreed to compensate him and exonerate him of the crimes he did not commit. To this day, Robert Murphy lives somewhere on an undisclosed island in the Bermuda Triangle. > > > > Since then, governments around the world have changed their stance and system on the treatment of Bearers, hoping to prevent a similar tragedy. > > >

2020/10/03

### Vigilantism, Genocide & Eugenics I'm sorry to basically go full Nazi on the first answer here. History shows us what happens when we scapegoat a particular group of people as being responsible for all the suffering in the world. Replace ["The Eternal Jew"](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-propaganda)-style propaganda with "Here is this scientific proof that this group of people are making your life worse". You've basically got a "just add water" holocaust ready-to-go, without the need for a propaganda ministry. They will be: * The subject of vigilante attacks. If your existence was somehow causing hundreds of deaths, most moderate people would want to exile you to stop the damage, but some nut will want to kill you. That nutcase may have access to weapons and a Thetan (sorry - Tetroid) detector. * In some countries they will be exiled away from population centres, "Ghettos" but further away. * Some countries will class them as terrorists as put them to death. * Eventually this will become some form of democide - either hidden (eg CIA assassination sort of things), or more like "Final Solution" level horrors, as the Ghettos are silently "dealt with". * Researchers will try to detect what gene influences this condition. Pregnant mothers will have their babies screened for it and termination "requested".

What about The Fortunate? ========================= The fortunate would be the opposite end of the spectrum-the people for whom bad luck simply doesn't happen. They are the ones who could build a rocket out of a tin can and successfully circumnavigate the moon down to your simply lucky people who play a good stock market game or enjoy perfect health. They can be paired with the Bearers in areas or missions, so that the catastrophes that are waiting to happen will have generally fortunate results. So your car crash will unite two old lovers, or the hurricane will lead to policy changes desperately needed for decades, or a dropping of scientific papers will lead to the discovery of an unrealized theory. People who specialize in the measurement and classification of bearers would become popular (as mentioned in Enthus3d's comment in the thread) as they could generally mitigate the worst of the bearers. In this way, the bearers would create the chaos to make changes, and the fortunate would be used to change that negative chaos into a positive force for change.

The Bearer: Background ---------------------- --- On Alternate Earth, studies and cases have shown that a *small percentage of the population (10%) is responsible for 90% of the bad luck*. **These people are targeted by bad luck**, almost by cosmic forces: they are struck by lightning out of a sunny day, hit by cars whose brakes give out, and slip on banana peels in a no-eating zone. Perhaps the luck is equalized somehow, because these people generally survive or are compensated for the situation. The general populace once labelled these people as 'clumsy airheads', but following some high profile cases, they have since come to be known as **'Bearers'**, generally ranked class-F through class-A, each about 10x rarer and with worse luck than the next. **Most of the time, disasters from Bearers do little harm to others**, and class-F through class-B have relatively tame bad luck, ranging respectively from the frequent stubbing of toes and slipping on bananas, to occasional injury and minor destruction of property. Class-A bearers have a grade of bad luck involving weekly escapes from death, ranging from car crashes, apartment fires, and lightning strikes. However, at a level 100x rarer and deadlier than class A, Class S Bearers are very rare, sitting at 1/100,000,000 people **but are disproportionately represented in history**: The Explosion of Black Tom Island (1875), the gunpowder explosion of Abbeville (1773), multiple unstoppable wildfires, the 1987 Stock Market Crash, and a [failed rocket launch that killed a cow in Cuba](http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/science/herd-shot-around-the-world-the-last-east-coast-polar-launch/article/567614) (1986), to name a few. Eventually, the world came to know about the potential disasters that could be wreaked by a single bearer in recent times, in Robert's Case (Misc section). After being hit by multiple tsunamis, hurricanes, and other natural disasters caused by one Bearer, the governments decided to change their stance on bearers, to prevent similar tragedies. Summary: Bearer Information --------------------------- --- [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/J1vD2.jpg) * A Bearer's bad luck is related to the recently discovered *Tetroid Waves* * **The Bad Luck rating can be measured from Tetroid waves** * E is 10x more bad luck (Tetroids) than F, D is 10x stronger than E, and so on. * The Tetroid rating from F to S can be equated to local earthquakes (diagram above) * All humans emit tetroids, Bearers are simply humans with more Tetroids * It is easy to track Bearers, especially B to S-class, but Tetroid waves can be blocked by some common metals * Blocking Tetroid waves does not prevent disasters, but does impact interference (see below)\* * The strength of Tetroid waves emitted prior correspond to the bad luck event that will ensue * Luck seems to follow laws of conservation; an event of bad luck is equalized by almost equal good luck eventually * A Bearer can emit Tetroids above their class when in distress, and generally the event triggered aims to solve the Bearer's problems * Tetroid wave interference happens when two or more Bearers are nearby * **Paradoxically, destructive interference (cancellation of bad luck) happens when multiple Bearers share similar harmonious emotional states** * Conversely, constructive interference (amplification of bad luck) happens when multiple Bearers are emotionally chaotic Question -------- --- How should the World interact with Bearers, knowing that their numbers are steadily increasing, to best mitigate global and local disasters? The best answer would also be *humane, properly integrate modern society with the Bearers, and prevent unwarranted discrimination where possible*. Also, out of interest, who is responsible for the compensation, in the even of an accident? Will insurance rates for Bearers be disproportionately high, or will a common fund exist to support them? Note: This happens on Alternate Earth, in reality we unfortunately cannot blame stubbed toes on Tetroid waves. Misc: Robert's Case ------------------- --- The following case is for background and humor, does not provide too much for question details: > > Up until a certain historically significant case, Bearers were not well-quantified or tracked. Domestic Class-S Bearers were not well-monitored or mitigated, and many remained unknown. > > > > This all changed after a case dealing with Robert 'Bob' Murphy, a seemingly ordinary, if not bad, conductor, who, unknown at the time, was also an S-class Bearer. After a failed concert, the depressed Bob was further implicated by an issue with pyrotechnics, which resulted in multiple casualties and many injuries. Following which Bob was framed by a Syndicate organization, and, charged with multiple murders, sentenced to the electric chair. > > > > As it turns out, Bob was certainly a bad orchestra conductor, but a good conductor in general; on the hour of his scheduled execution, a critical lightning storm erupted and struck the facility and multiple backup power plants, during which Bob escaped electrocution at the chair for electrocution from the sky. Seizing the chaos, Bob escaped the facility. > > > > All following attempts to capture Bob were primarily successful, but no results at containment or execution worked: prison vehicles carrying Bob would get flat tires or get into uncanny accidents. Eventually the government gave up and decided to just exile Bob into the ocean with some supplies and a fishing boat, hoping he'd maybe drift onto the shores of their rival country. **This was their worst idea yet.** > > > > Bob had the bad luck to end up in several tsunamis and hurricanes across the world, causing immense damage to multiple countries, before the United Nations, after an intense investigation, unanimously agreed to compensate him and exonerate him of the crimes he did not commit. To this day, Robert Murphy lives somewhere on an undisclosed island in the Bermuda Triangle. > > > > Since then, governments around the world have changed their stance and system on the treatment of Bearers, hoping to prevent a similar tragedy. > > >

2020/10/03

### Vigilantism, Genocide & Eugenics I'm sorry to basically go full Nazi on the first answer here. History shows us what happens when we scapegoat a particular group of people as being responsible for all the suffering in the world. Replace ["The Eternal Jew"](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-propaganda)-style propaganda with "Here is this scientific proof that this group of people are making your life worse". You've basically got a "just add water" holocaust ready-to-go, without the need for a propaganda ministry. They will be: * The subject of vigilante attacks. If your existence was somehow causing hundreds of deaths, most moderate people would want to exile you to stop the damage, but some nut will want to kill you. That nutcase may have access to weapons and a Thetan (sorry - Tetroid) detector. * In some countries they will be exiled away from population centres, "Ghettos" but further away. * Some countries will class them as terrorists as put them to death. * Eventually this will become some form of democide - either hidden (eg CIA assassination sort of things), or more like "Final Solution" level horrors, as the Ghettos are silently "dealt with". * Researchers will try to detect what gene influences this condition. Pregnant mothers will have their babies screened for it and termination "requested".

There is a certain amount of bad luck in the world; we need the Bearers, because otherwise we'd be suffering all that bad luck ourselves ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is it true? Doesn't matter! The most humane route for dealing with Bearers is propaganda on their behalf. These aren't the bad guys, these are the martyrs. In exactly the same way that a lightning rod protects your house by attracting any lightning away from the more vulnerable parts, Bearers attract the lightning of misfortune away from us regular folk. At least, if they're used correctly. Can we position them to make sure that tsunamis never hit nuclear plants or populated coastal areas? Can they keep the tornadoes away from schools and residential neighborhoods? Sure, for the protection of regular people, S-Class Bearers cannot be allowed to go wherever they like, whenever they like, but competing institutes for probability research, and other governments and private entities, can try to find ways to make use of these living tetroid generators, be it research or an attempt to focus bad luck. They may find themselves in high demand! (What "luck".) Don't be surprised, for that matter, if some governments even try to recruit such people into military or espionage roles. Especially if tetroid radiation is difficult to detect, and public spaces cannot easily be made secure against incursion. Obviously, if Bearers become living weapons, this is going to undermine the Bearer-Martyr propaganda, and you'll end up with a complex effect where many of the general public are unsure what to think. But you can certainly start out with benevolent organizations casting Bearers as the people "taking one for the team", not just being the source of others' misfortune.

As the title suggests, a friend and I are writing a manga-plot and there is this character that is having the speech disorder - he stutters. --- Writing the question directly to avoid confusion. Afterwards providing some attempts to clarify both what the question is about & details. Finally I will add *Background*, and then some *Context* and *References*. --- #### Question How should I write a character - that suffers from a speech disorder (stuttering)? I'll add some examples below, as the question might seem broad. --- ### Examples Some previous attempts of mine have been: * To write about how I myself as a stutterer feel (that is, I write on my phone). + However, other (stutterers) might disagree(everyone is different) other stutterers maybe, don't use any help at all (and talks either way) * Because we all are different I try to be "inclusive" or, how to put it. I try to make it more "general" Instead of only writing how I myself feel about stuttering. --- ### Background I have this speech disorder myself, I stutter so much so I write on notepads/my phone and show it to the person instead of talking in real life. **What does this have to do with the question?** It is, that I am unsure how to write the person (*not the stuttering-itself*). --- ### Context and References **I have tried to search for specifically writing about the speech (disorder) and not the usual, brief stuttering one might get when scared or surprised.** Like 'wow!' > > "Ww-w-wow!" > > > or 'really'? > > "r-really?" > > > What I actually mean is more like, actually **having difficulties**(actively struggling) to say the word "wow" or, "really". --- #### A more concrete example My real name is William. So I often have (major) difficulties saying my own name because of the 'W'. So I end up just saying > > my name is W-www-w (...) > > > And then - after a few attempts - literally writing on my phone "William" and showing. **But I didn't find any question** that is directly about what I am asking. Note: some might think stuttering appears when there is a stressful situation, like "introduce yourself in front of a class" but, my stutter is, regardless if I am stressed or not. **that is, I stutter as much as alone as if I would be in front of a class**. #### Comments One thing I considered doing is, having the character just write on phone, (in some anime/mangas they write in notebooks so it's - kind of the same but different) We can also of course use sign language; (both of which has been in manga before) As a attempt to re-phrase what the question really is asking it is: * How should I go with writing how the character feels, but so it doesn't feel as a cliche, because I guess writing about myself is not that good (I think?) this is my first question so sorry if trivial parts is missing. --- ### Internal References Some references that were (in)directly helpful were: Indirectly helpful: * [Is there such thing as too much concept at a character and how do you know so?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/63204/is-there-such-thing-as-too-much-concept-at-a-character-and-how-do-you-know-so/63242#63242) * [How does one write a character smarter than oneself?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/6670/how-does-one-write-a-character-smarter-than-oneself) Directly helpful: * [Should you always write a strong antagonist?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/q/64202/47418) * [How to make sure that you don't end up writing a Self-Insert?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/q/26748/47418) ### External References * <https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/stuttering> * <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttering>

2023/01/15

So if I'm interpreting this correctly, you want to write a character who stutters based off yourself, but want to know how to avoid them coming off as cliché or offending other people who stutter/stutterers due to being nonrepresentative, right? And have attempted to search for resources only to find a sum total of nothing useful? (can attest to this, the advice out there is terrible.) I stutter myself and also often wrestle with how to bring this into fiction, so you're not alone! If you don't mind, I'm going to divide this answer into two parts: **Avoiding cliché** You would think that, especially because the clichés about stuttering are not exactly true to life, this would be easy to do. However. A trap it's easy to fall into here is accidentally writing in a way that lets people project the clichés into your story, even though they're not actually there. This is because there are a few narratives about stuttering that are *incredibly* common in fiction (although, IMO, not realistic and actually fairly offensive), to the point where people will actively expect to see them if a stuttering character shows up. The three main ones I know are: * stuttering as a symptom of cowardice * stuttering as a symptom of shyness, anxiety, low self esteem, or similar * the stutter magically vanishing, typically as a reward for character development As someone who stutters myself and knows that RL doesn't work this way, I am not primed to look for these the way fluent people not familiar with stuttering outside fiction are. I have multiple times been surprised to find a stuttering character interpreted in a way that fits into these tropes when I didn't think it was there in the text. (Examples: Khalid from the video game Baldur's Gate 1 being treated as cowardly, Simon from Terry Pratchett's book Equal Rites losing his stutter and that being interpreted as a reward for his character development through the book by fluent readers) I've been taken aback to find that the cultural narrative here is *just that strong* that people will just... bring their own clichés. This means that it's probably not enough to just not write these tropes, especially because you as a stutterer cannot judge very well whether a fluent reader will read them into your work anyway. I would suggest going to the effort of actively subverting or undermining them, or in SOME place spelling out clearly that the trope will not be happening. Things like - the stuttering character is brave to the point of recklessness, maybe saying that since they have to run a gauntlet just to order coffee every day everything else seems manageable. Or lampshading in a scene in which someone says something a la thinking the stutter will go away if they get over their Issues (TM), or suggesting that why don't they try singing instead of speaking? And the stuttering character rolling their eyes and telling them they've obviously been reading too much bad fiction, if it was that easy they wouldn't stutter. For the record, needing to do this sucks. I don't think I'll ever be able to write a character who stutters who is also generally nervous because I know it'll be interpreted as causative - this sucks. The fact that if you manage to avoid these clichés you've probably already produced a refreshing unusually well-portrayed stuttering character is good for you in the moment, but overall also sucks. But with the state of stuttering portrayals it's the advice I have to give. **Avoiding offending other people who stutter** This is a reasonable worry, because as you may know the stuttering community has a lot of veeery different experiences and attitudes towards stuttering. I've worried about this myself a lot because I know my own attitude is an outlier. That said. The fact that you stutter yourself means that if you base your character's attitudes on yourself they will definitely be representative of **one** person who stutters - you. And they will almost certainly *not* be representative of some other people who stutter, just because it's such a diverse condition. So where to go from there? My main advice would be to make sure that you depict everything the character is going through and what they think and feel as *that character's experience of stuttering* and not The Way Stuttering Is, Always, For Everyone. An easy way to do this, if you can swing it, is to bring in another character who stutters at some point (potentially for a bit part) who has a very different experience and outlook on life. If that's not possible, maybe give your character some history of interacting with other stutterers with a different experience. Even something as simple as a memory of interacting with someone in a shop once who also stuttered and was significantly [more/less] accepting of it can help avert this. If you're not sure what other experiences and takes there *are*, I suggest checking out the stuttering community - some of the podcasts on [Stuttertalk](https://stuttertalk.com/) may be a place to start.

I'm not sure it can work, but maybe you can sometimes express your character thoughts using some graphical convention like specific speech bubble and sometimes use ordinary speech bubble where he stutter. It may even be possible to use both at once to show what the character wants to tell and how he fails to do it. Just my two cents. I believe I would be quite empathic with a character written that way.

Following a previous discussion about **I would like** vs **I would have liked**, I have a similar question. What is the difference between > > I wanted to come to your party but I couldn't > > > I would have liked to come to your party but I couldn't. > > >

2019/05/28

This sounds like one of those rules that someone made up because they could think of examples where breaking it caused problems, but didn't try to think through if breaking it would ALWAYS cause problems. Well, off the top let me point out that the rule as worded, "never use two possessives in a row", is clearly wrong. People do that all the time and it makes perfect sense. "My dog's bone", "Fred's car's engine", etc. In examples like that, the first possessive modifies the first noun, and then that phrase is used as a possessive to modify the second noun. I mean, in "my dog's bone", I am saying that the dog belongs to me, and that the bone belongs to this dog which belongs to me. Both possessives are not modifying the same word. It is not "my bone" and also some "dog's bone". But I assume that whoever made up this rule meant that you cannot have two possessives modifying the same noun. You can't say "Fred's Bob's car". That example clearly doesn't make sense. Is it Fred's car, or is it Bob's car? If it belongs to both, you need to join them with an "and", like "Fred's and Bob's car". If you're not sure of the ownership, you need to join them with an "or", like, "The red Chevy is either Fred's or Bob's car". But possessives are used for many things other than ownership. If I am at work and I refer to "my desk", I probably don't mean that I own the desk, but rather that this is the desk where the company has assigned me to sit while I work. If I say, "my state", I don't mean that I personally own the entire state and everything in it. I simply mean that I live there. Etc. So if I say "our meeting", I don't mean that I own the meeting. I don't know what that would even mean. I mean the meeting between you and me, or possibly the meeting that you and I organized. If I say "last week's meeting", I mean the meeting that happened last week. There is no reason why a meeting could not be both "our meeting" and "last week's meeting", so "our last week's meeting" is a perfectly sensible thing to say. And indeed people say things like that all the time. Yes, USUALLY two possessives in a row that both apply to the same noun is wrong. But it's not valid to say that because something is USUALLY wrong that therefore you should NEVER do it.

"Our today's meeting" means literally "(the) meeting of our today". This is why it's wrong. I believe we all agree that nobody would say "meeting of our today".

Following a previous discussion about **I would like** vs **I would have liked**, I have a similar question. What is the difference between > > I wanted to come to your party but I couldn't > > > I would have liked to come to your party but I couldn't. > > >

2019/05/28

I've answered essentially the same question over at english.stackexchange.com: [Why is “our today's meeting” wrong?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/251561/why-is-our-todays-meeting-wrong) Usually, a noun phrase in English must have exactly one determiner: you can say "I drove this car" or "I drove my car", but not "I drove car" or "I drove this my car". Certain nouns (such as plural nouns and proper nouns) don't need determiners: "I love bees", "I love milk", "I love Paris", "I love biology". But it's never acceptable for a noun phrase to have more than one determiner (with possible extremely rare exceptions). "Our last week's meeting" is unacceptable because the noun phrase "meeting" has two determiners, "our" and "last week's". It would also be unacceptable to say "the today's meeting" or "our the meeting". Here are some phrases which may *seem* to have multiple determiners, but don't actually: * your father's home - this noun phrase has only one determiner, namely, "your father's". Meanwhile, the phrase "your father" is also a noun phrase which only has one determiner, namely, "your". * the brass men's wristwatches - the determiner of this noun phrase is "the", and "brass" and "men's" are adjectives. * an old people's home - the determiner of this noun phrase is "an". The phrase "old people's home" is an idiom which acts as a simple noun, even though it looks like it contains a determiner.

It's either: > > Last week's meeting > > > or: > > Our meeting last week > > > but I agree with your teacher that: > > Our last week's meeting > > > sounds awkward and should probably be avoided.

Following a previous discussion about **I would like** vs **I would have liked**, I have a similar question. What is the difference between > > I wanted to come to your party but I couldn't > > > I would have liked to come to your party but I couldn't. > > >

2019/05/28

There isn't a rule that you can't use two possessives, but they don't indicate possession of the noun at the end, but instead each one modifies the next phrase. > > Our last week's meeting > > > Is naturally read as > > (Our last week)'s meeting > > > So, unless you are talking about meeting someone with in the week before you both die, it is unlikely to mean what you intend. Multiple possessives tend to combine left to right, so > > your mother's old uncle's shepherds pie > > > Is the pie of a type associated with shepherds belonging to the old uncle of your mother. > > (((your mother)'s old uncle)'s (shepherds pie) > > > It doesn't mean that there is an old pie which belongs to you, your mother, an uncle and a number of shepherds all at the same time! The example of course proves the rule - 'shepherds pie' is an idiomatic noun phrase so doesn't combine.

You can use two possessives in a row, that is not an issue. For example, if I have a cat, and my cat has a toy, I can say "my cat's toy." If there is a manufacturer for that toy, it would be somewhat acceptable, although convoluted, to say "my cat's toy's manufacturer," which would be three possessives in a row. If that manufacturer had subsidiaries, it would be much harder to follow, but you could probably still say "my cat's toy's manufacturer's subsidiaries." Though, with four possessives in a row, we'd probably rearrange the sentence structure to break them up some. In English, we would commonly say "last week's meeting," or perhaps "our meeting last week." We don't put an "our" modifier before a chronological modifier, such as "our last week's meeting," or "our today's meeting." The expectation is that "our" probably modifies the word that directly follows it, in other words, it sounds like "our" modifies "last week." But "last week," doesn't belong to us, so this sounds very weird. Unless you actually need the "our" modifier to clarify whose meeting *and* you need the "last week" modifier to clarify the time of the meeting, it makes sense to drop the modifier that is less helpful at conveying meeting.

Following a previous discussion about **I would like** vs **I would have liked**, I have a similar question. What is the difference between > > I wanted to come to your party but I couldn't > > > I would have liked to come to your party but I couldn't. > > >

2019/05/28

There is no such rule: "our last week's meeting" is perfectly grammatical. There could be a last week's meeting that is not our: "the other team's last week's meeting raised the issue that we covering in our this week's meeting". The phrase "in our last week's episode" is often heard in broadcasting, from native speakers of English. The issue is that possessives don't always indicate possession. "last week's meeting" isn't a meeting that is possessed by last week; it just happened last week. That the meeting happened last week doesn't prevent it from also being our meeting. Possession is exclusive. We can't have "Bob's John's pencil". The pen is either Bob's or John's. If there is a joint ownership arrangement with regard to the pencil, then this is expressed as "Bob and John's pencil". However, there can be a "Bob's carpenter's pencil". The second 's-word isn't a possessive; it's not saying that Bob owns a pencil which also belongs to some carpenter; the word "carpenter" here is a class, and the 's syntax indicates the pencil object's association with that class. That association is compatible with Bob owning the pencil, so both qualifiers can be applied. Note that order is important; we would not say "carpenter's Bob's pen". The class relationship is applied to the pen first, then the specific ownership by Bob. There aren't pens which are primarily owned by Bob, and, secondarily, are carpenter's pens. For similar reasons, we don't have "last week's our episode". We are not saying that the last week owns the meeting and so do we. If that were the case, it would be expressed as "ours and last week's meeting" (just like "Bob and John's pencil"), which is grammatical, but nonsense. It seems that the time constraint "last week's" has to be applied first, and then the specific possessive. What if we have multiple such 's qualifiers? How about "my last year's driver's license". This cannot be "my driver's last year's license" or any other permutation: the order has to be "owner -> time/space -> class -> object".

"Our today's meeting" means literally "(the) meeting of our today". This is why it's wrong. I believe we all agree that nobody would say "meeting of our today".

Following a previous discussion about **I would like** vs **I would have liked**, I have a similar question. What is the difference between > > I wanted to come to your party but I couldn't > > > I would have liked to come to your party but I couldn't. > > >

2019/05/28

I've answered essentially the same question over at english.stackexchange.com: [Why is “our today's meeting” wrong?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/251561/why-is-our-todays-meeting-wrong) Usually, a noun phrase in English must have exactly one determiner: you can say "I drove this car" or "I drove my car", but not "I drove car" or "I drove this my car". Certain nouns (such as plural nouns and proper nouns) don't need determiners: "I love bees", "I love milk", "I love Paris", "I love biology". But it's never acceptable for a noun phrase to have more than one determiner (with possible extremely rare exceptions). "Our last week's meeting" is unacceptable because the noun phrase "meeting" has two determiners, "our" and "last week's". It would also be unacceptable to say "the today's meeting" or "our the meeting". Here are some phrases which may *seem* to have multiple determiners, but don't actually: * your father's home - this noun phrase has only one determiner, namely, "your father's". Meanwhile, the phrase "your father" is also a noun phrase which only has one determiner, namely, "your". * the brass men's wristwatches - the determiner of this noun phrase is "the", and "brass" and "men's" are adjectives. * an old people's home - the determiner of this noun phrase is "an". The phrase "old people's home" is an idiom which acts as a simple noun, even though it looks like it contains a determiner.

There isn't a rule that you can't use two possessives, but they don't indicate possession of the noun at the end, but instead each one modifies the next phrase. > > Our last week's meeting > > > Is naturally read as > > (Our last week)'s meeting > > > So, unless you are talking about meeting someone with in the week before you both die, it is unlikely to mean what you intend. Multiple possessives tend to combine left to right, so > > your mother's old uncle's shepherds pie > > > Is the pie of a type associated with shepherds belonging to the old uncle of your mother. > > (((your mother)'s old uncle)'s (shepherds pie) > > > It doesn't mean that there is an old pie which belongs to you, your mother, an uncle and a number of shepherds all at the same time! The example of course proves the rule - 'shepherds pie' is an idiomatic noun phrase so doesn't combine.

Following a previous discussion about **I would like** vs **I would have liked**, I have a similar question. What is the difference between > > I wanted to come to your party but I couldn't > > > I would have liked to come to your party but I couldn't. > > >

2019/05/28

I've answered essentially the same question over at english.stackexchange.com: [Why is “our today's meeting” wrong?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/251561/why-is-our-todays-meeting-wrong) Usually, a noun phrase in English must have exactly one determiner: you can say "I drove this car" or "I drove my car", but not "I drove car" or "I drove this my car". Certain nouns (such as plural nouns and proper nouns) don't need determiners: "I love bees", "I love milk", "I love Paris", "I love biology". But it's never acceptable for a noun phrase to have more than one determiner (with possible extremely rare exceptions). "Our last week's meeting" is unacceptable because the noun phrase "meeting" has two determiners, "our" and "last week's". It would also be unacceptable to say "the today's meeting" or "our the meeting". Here are some phrases which may *seem* to have multiple determiners, but don't actually: * your father's home - this noun phrase has only one determiner, namely, "your father's". Meanwhile, the phrase "your father" is also a noun phrase which only has one determiner, namely, "your". * the brass men's wristwatches - the determiner of this noun phrase is "the", and "brass" and "men's" are adjectives. * an old people's home - the determiner of this noun phrase is "an". The phrase "old people's home" is an idiom which acts as a simple noun, even though it looks like it contains a determiner.

> > Our last week's meeting > > > is a little akward, but I for one do **not** think that it is incorrect. The answer by Tanner Swett says "it's never acceptable for a noun phrase to have more than one determiner." However, [the Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_determiners#Combinations_of_determiners) lists eight different "common" cases where multiple determiners are acceptable. Specifically: > > * A definite determiner can be followed by certain quantifiers (*the many problems, these three things, my very few faults*). > * The words all and both can be followed by a definite determiner (*all the green apples, both the boys*), which can also be followed by a quantifier as above (*all the many outstanding issues*). > * The word all can be followed by a cardinal number (*all three things*). > * The word some can be followed by a cardinal number (*some eight packets*, meaning "approximately eight"). > * Words and phrases expressing fractions and multiples, such as *half, double, twice, three times*, etc. can be followed by a definite determiner: *half a minute, double the risk, twice my age, three times my salary, three-quarters the diameter*, etc. > * The words such and exclamative-what can be followed by an indefinite article (as mentioned in the section above). > * The word many can be used with the indefinite article and a singular noun (*many a night, many an awkward moment*). > * The words each and every can be followed by a cardinal number or other expression of definite quantity (*each two seats, every five grams of flour*). > > > ... > > As with other parts of speech, it is often possible to connect determiners of the same type with the conjunctions and and or: *his and her children, two or three beans*. > > > The same answer says that "I drove this my car" is wrong. The form "this" followed by a possessive is now rare, but was once more common, especially in formal writing. In particular sentences such as: > > It is a mistake to regard aspects of **this our present society** as unchangeable rules. > > > were sufficiently common to be a style marker in the writings of the late Robert A Heinlein. Since the question title asks about using "two possessives in a row", this can certainly be proper. > > * This was John's father's watch. > * This was King Mark's wife's cousin's castle. > > > are both quite correct.

Following a previous discussion about **I would like** vs **I would have liked**, I have a similar question. What is the difference between > > I wanted to come to your party but I couldn't > > > I would have liked to come to your party but I couldn't. > > >

2019/05/28

I've answered essentially the same question over at english.stackexchange.com: [Why is “our today's meeting” wrong?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/251561/why-is-our-todays-meeting-wrong) Usually, a noun phrase in English must have exactly one determiner: you can say "I drove this car" or "I drove my car", but not "I drove car" or "I drove this my car". Certain nouns (such as plural nouns and proper nouns) don't need determiners: "I love bees", "I love milk", "I love Paris", "I love biology". But it's never acceptable for a noun phrase to have more than one determiner (with possible extremely rare exceptions). "Our last week's meeting" is unacceptable because the noun phrase "meeting" has two determiners, "our" and "last week's". It would also be unacceptable to say "the today's meeting" or "our the meeting". Here are some phrases which may *seem* to have multiple determiners, but don't actually: * your father's home - this noun phrase has only one determiner, namely, "your father's". Meanwhile, the phrase "your father" is also a noun phrase which only has one determiner, namely, "your". * the brass men's wristwatches - the determiner of this noun phrase is "the", and "brass" and "men's" are adjectives. * an old people's home - the determiner of this noun phrase is "an". The phrase "old people's home" is an idiom which acts as a simple noun, even though it looks like it contains a determiner.

This sounds like one of those rules that someone made up because they could think of examples where breaking it caused problems, but didn't try to think through if breaking it would ALWAYS cause problems. Well, off the top let me point out that the rule as worded, "never use two possessives in a row", is clearly wrong. People do that all the time and it makes perfect sense. "My dog's bone", "Fred's car's engine", etc. In examples like that, the first possessive modifies the first noun, and then that phrase is used as a possessive to modify the second noun. I mean, in "my dog's bone", I am saying that the dog belongs to me, and that the bone belongs to this dog which belongs to me. Both possessives are not modifying the same word. It is not "my bone" and also some "dog's bone". But I assume that whoever made up this rule meant that you cannot have two possessives modifying the same noun. You can't say "Fred's Bob's car". That example clearly doesn't make sense. Is it Fred's car, or is it Bob's car? If it belongs to both, you need to join them with an "and", like "Fred's and Bob's car". If you're not sure of the ownership, you need to join them with an "or", like, "The red Chevy is either Fred's or Bob's car". But possessives are used for many things other than ownership. If I am at work and I refer to "my desk", I probably don't mean that I own the desk, but rather that this is the desk where the company has assigned me to sit while I work. If I say, "my state", I don't mean that I personally own the entire state and everything in it. I simply mean that I live there. Etc. So if I say "our meeting", I don't mean that I own the meeting. I don't know what that would even mean. I mean the meeting between you and me, or possibly the meeting that you and I organized. If I say "last week's meeting", I mean the meeting that happened last week. There is no reason why a meeting could not be both "our meeting" and "last week's meeting", so "our last week's meeting" is a perfectly sensible thing to say. And indeed people say things like that all the time. Yes, USUALLY two possessives in a row that both apply to the same noun is wrong. But it's not valid to say that because something is USUALLY wrong that therefore you should NEVER do it.

Following a previous discussion about **I would like** vs **I would have liked**, I have a similar question. What is the difference between > > I wanted to come to your party but I couldn't > > > I would have liked to come to your party but I couldn't. > > >

2019/05/28

> > Our last week's meeting > > > is a little akward, but I for one do **not** think that it is incorrect. The answer by Tanner Swett says "it's never acceptable for a noun phrase to have more than one determiner." However, [the Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_determiners#Combinations_of_determiners) lists eight different "common" cases where multiple determiners are acceptable. Specifically: > > * A definite determiner can be followed by certain quantifiers (*the many problems, these three things, my very few faults*). > * The words all and both can be followed by a definite determiner (*all the green apples, both the boys*), which can also be followed by a quantifier as above (*all the many outstanding issues*). > * The word all can be followed by a cardinal number (*all three things*). > * The word some can be followed by a cardinal number (*some eight packets*, meaning "approximately eight"). > * Words and phrases expressing fractions and multiples, such as *half, double, twice, three times*, etc. can be followed by a definite determiner: *half a minute, double the risk, twice my age, three times my salary, three-quarters the diameter*, etc. > * The words such and exclamative-what can be followed by an indefinite article (as mentioned in the section above). > * The word many can be used with the indefinite article and a singular noun (*many a night, many an awkward moment*). > * The words each and every can be followed by a cardinal number or other expression of definite quantity (*each two seats, every five grams of flour*). > > > ... > > As with other parts of speech, it is often possible to connect determiners of the same type with the conjunctions and and or: *his and her children, two or three beans*. > > > The same answer says that "I drove this my car" is wrong. The form "this" followed by a possessive is now rare, but was once more common, especially in formal writing. In particular sentences such as: > > It is a mistake to regard aspects of **this our present society** as unchangeable rules. > > > were sufficiently common to be a style marker in the writings of the late Robert A Heinlein. Since the question title asks about using "two possessives in a row", this can certainly be proper. > > * This was John's father's watch. > * This was King Mark's wife's cousin's castle. > > > are both quite correct.

You can use two possessives in a row, that is not an issue. For example, if I have a cat, and my cat has a toy, I can say "my cat's toy." If there is a manufacturer for that toy, it would be somewhat acceptable, although convoluted, to say "my cat's toy's manufacturer," which would be three possessives in a row. If that manufacturer had subsidiaries, it would be much harder to follow, but you could probably still say "my cat's toy's manufacturer's subsidiaries." Though, with four possessives in a row, we'd probably rearrange the sentence structure to break them up some. In English, we would commonly say "last week's meeting," or perhaps "our meeting last week." We don't put an "our" modifier before a chronological modifier, such as "our last week's meeting," or "our today's meeting." The expectation is that "our" probably modifies the word that directly follows it, in other words, it sounds like "our" modifies "last week." But "last week," doesn't belong to us, so this sounds very weird. Unless you actually need the "our" modifier to clarify whose meeting *and* you need the "last week" modifier to clarify the time of the meeting, it makes sense to drop the modifier that is less helpful at conveying meeting.

Following a previous discussion about **I would like** vs **I would have liked**, I have a similar question. What is the difference between > > I wanted to come to your party but I couldn't > > > I would have liked to come to your party but I couldn't. > > >

2019/05/28

I've answered essentially the same question over at english.stackexchange.com: [Why is “our today's meeting” wrong?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/251561/why-is-our-todays-meeting-wrong) Usually, a noun phrase in English must have exactly one determiner: you can say "I drove this car" or "I drove my car", but not "I drove car" or "I drove this my car". Certain nouns (such as plural nouns and proper nouns) don't need determiners: "I love bees", "I love milk", "I love Paris", "I love biology". But it's never acceptable for a noun phrase to have more than one determiner (with possible extremely rare exceptions). "Our last week's meeting" is unacceptable because the noun phrase "meeting" has two determiners, "our" and "last week's". It would also be unacceptable to say "the today's meeting" or "our the meeting". Here are some phrases which may *seem* to have multiple determiners, but don't actually: * your father's home - this noun phrase has only one determiner, namely, "your father's". Meanwhile, the phrase "your father" is also a noun phrase which only has one determiner, namely, "your". * the brass men's wristwatches - the determiner of this noun phrase is "the", and "brass" and "men's" are adjectives. * an old people's home - the determiner of this noun phrase is "an". The phrase "old people's home" is an idiom which acts as a simple noun, even though it looks like it contains a determiner.

You can use two possessives in a row, that is not an issue. For example, if I have a cat, and my cat has a toy, I can say "my cat's toy." If there is a manufacturer for that toy, it would be somewhat acceptable, although convoluted, to say "my cat's toy's manufacturer," which would be three possessives in a row. If that manufacturer had subsidiaries, it would be much harder to follow, but you could probably still say "my cat's toy's manufacturer's subsidiaries." Though, with four possessives in a row, we'd probably rearrange the sentence structure to break them up some. In English, we would commonly say "last week's meeting," or perhaps "our meeting last week." We don't put an "our" modifier before a chronological modifier, such as "our last week's meeting," or "our today's meeting." The expectation is that "our" probably modifies the word that directly follows it, in other words, it sounds like "our" modifies "last week." But "last week," doesn't belong to us, so this sounds very weird. Unless you actually need the "our" modifier to clarify whose meeting *and* you need the "last week" modifier to clarify the time of the meeting, it makes sense to drop the modifier that is less helpful at conveying meeting.

Following a previous discussion about **I would like** vs **I would have liked**, I have a similar question. What is the difference between > > I wanted to come to your party but I couldn't > > > I would have liked to come to your party but I couldn't. > > >

2019/05/28

It's either: > > Last week's meeting > > > or: > > Our meeting last week > > > but I agree with your teacher that: > > Our last week's meeting > > > sounds awkward and should probably be avoided.

"Our today's meeting" means literally "(the) meeting of our today". This is why it's wrong. I believe we all agree that nobody would say "meeting of our today".

I'm sure there will be variation depending on what the contaminated item or surface is made of - linens, I could imagine, would remain dangerous for longer than a door-knob. But if the items are not decontaminated in some way, how long can the virus survive outside a host?

2014/10/17

This really depends on the environment, one study (listed below as reference 1) found that the Ebola virus can survive under ideal conditions on flat surfaces in the dark for up to six days - see the figure from the same publication.  However, the virus is quite sensitive to UV radiation (see reference 2 for all the details) and most viral particles are likely to get inactivated within relatively short time. It might still be possible to get positive tests for Ebola from really sensitive PCR-based tests, but these are most likely not infectious anymore. The CDC lists common bleach (or any other routinely used disinfected) as a good way to get rid of Ebola viruses. References: 1. [Persistence in darkness of virulent alphaviruses, Ebola virus, and Lassa virus deposited on solid surfaces](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00705-010-0791-0/fulltext.html) 2. [Sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation of Lassa, vaccinia, and Ebola viruses dried on surfaces](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00705-010-0847-1/fulltext.html)

I found this safety sheet in the topic. > > SECTION IV – STABILITY AND VIABILITY > > > DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY: Unknown. S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase > inhibitors have been found to have complete mortality protection in > mice infected with a lethal dose of Ebola virus (30). > > > DRUG RESISTANCE: There are no known antiviral treatments available for > human infections. > > > SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISINFECTANTS: Ebola virus is susceptible to sodium > hypochlorite, lipid solvents, phenolic disinfectants, peracetic acid, > methyl alcohol, ether, sodium deoxycholate, 2% glutaraldehyde, 0.25% > Triton X-100, β-propiolactone, 3% acetic acid (pH 2.5), formaldehyde > and paraformaldehyde, and detergents such as SDS (20, 21, 31-34). > > > PHYSICAL INACTIVATION: Ebola are moderately thermolabile and can be > inactivated by heating for 30 minutes to 60 minutes at 60ºC, boiling > for 5 minutes, gamma irradiation (1.2 x106 rads to 1.27 x106 rads), > and/or UV radiation (3, 6, 20, 32, 33). > > > SURVIVAL OUTSIDE HOST: The virus can survive in liquid or dried > material for a number of days (23). Infectivity is found to be stable > at room temperature or at 4°C for several days, and indefinitely > stable at -70°C (6, 20). Infectivity can be preserved by > lyophilisation. > > > * 2010 - [Free Safety Data Sheet Index - Ebola virus](http://www.msdsonline.com/resources/msds-resources/free-safety-data-sheet-index/ebola-virus.aspx) However there are no references on the site, so I checked the data provided. According to scientific articles it is trusty, however these articles are related to not the current West African strain, so it can be slightly different. * 1982 - [Inactivation of Lassa, Marburg, and Ebola viruses by gamma irradiation.](http://jcm.asm.org/content/16/4/704.short) > > Clinical specimens from patients infected with Lassa, Ebola, or > Marburg virus may present a serious biohazard to laboratory workers. > We have examined the effects of heat, alteration of pH, and gamma > radiation on these viruses in human blood and on the electrolytes, > enzymes, and coagulation factors measured in laboratory tests that are > important in the care of an infected patient. Heating serum at 60 > degrees C for 1 h reduced high titers of these viruses to > noninfectious levels without altering the serum levels of glucose, > blood urea nitrogen, and electrolytes. Dilution of blood in 3% acetic > acid, diluent for a leukocyte count, inactivated all of these viruses. > All of the methods tested for viral inactivation markedly altered > certain serum proteins, making these methods unsuitable for samples > that are to be tested for certain enzyme levels and coagulation > factors. > > > * 1984 - [Physicochemical inactivation of Lassa, Ebola, and Marburg viruses and effect on clinical laboratory analyses.](http://jcm.asm.org/content/20/3/486.short) > > Ebola, Lassa, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, and Sindbis viruses were > dried onto solid surfaces, incubated for various time periods under > controlled conditions of temperature and relative humidity, and > quantitatively eluted from surfaces, and viral titers in the recovered > samples were determined. The viral inactivation kinetics that were > obtained indicated that viral resistance to natural inactivation in > the dark follows (in decreasing order of stability) alphavirus > Lassa > virus > Ebola virus. The findings reported in this study on the > natural decay in the dark should assist in understanding the > biophysical properties of enveloped RNA viruses outside the host and > in estimating the persistence of viruses in the environment during > epidemics or after an accidental or intentional release. > > > * 2010 - [Persistence in darkness of virulent alphaviruses, Ebola virus, and Lassa virus deposited on solid surfaces](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00705-010-0791-0/fulltext.html) > > Our study has shown that Lake Victoria marburgvirus (MARV) and Zaire > ebolavirus (ZEBOV) can survive for long periods in different liquid > media and can also be recovered from plastic and glass surfaces at low > temperatures for over 3 weeks. The decay rates of ZEBOV and Reston > ebolavirus (REBOV) plus MARV within a dynamic aerosol were calculated. > ZEBOV and MARV had similar decay rates, whilst REBOV showed > significantly better survival within an aerosol. > > > * 2010 - [The survival of filoviruses in liquids, on solid substrates and in a dynamic aerosol](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2010.04778.x/abstract)

What version of Eclipse do I need for Google Web Toolkit? I see about 7 versions, but none make any references to GWT. Google doesn't mention it to. I did install the PHP version.

2011/03/30

Since GWT means Java programming I would recommend the Java (default) Version of Eclipse or Java EE Version because they contain the Java Development Tools which will help you very when coding in Java

I suppose you should install JavaEE version.. Because GWT produce a war file, and it should be deployed to a web application server.

What version of Eclipse do I need for Google Web Toolkit? I see about 7 versions, but none make any references to GWT. Google doesn't mention it to. I did install the PHP version.

2011/03/30

Definitely the Java EE version. The regular java version doesn't seem to work with the google plugin.

Since GWT means Java programming I would recommend the Java (default) Version of Eclipse or Java EE Version because they contain the Java Development Tools which will help you very when coding in Java

What version of Eclipse do I need for Google Web Toolkit? I see about 7 versions, but none make any references to GWT. Google doesn't mention it to. I did install the PHP version.

2011/03/30

Well I download the Eclipse for Java EE: <http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/eclipse-ide-java-ee-developers/heliossr2> But one which is great is Spring STS (based on eclipse). You can choose to install GWT at the beginning. <http://www.springsource.com/downloads/sts>

I suppose you should install JavaEE version.. Because GWT produce a war file, and it should be deployed to a web application server.

What version of Eclipse do I need for Google Web Toolkit? I see about 7 versions, but none make any references to GWT. Google doesn't mention it to. I did install the PHP version.

2011/03/30

Definitely the Java EE version. The regular java version doesn't seem to work with the google plugin.

I suppose you should install JavaEE version.. Because GWT produce a war file, and it should be deployed to a web application server.

What version of Eclipse do I need for Google Web Toolkit? I see about 7 versions, but none make any references to GWT. Google doesn't mention it to. I did install the PHP version.

2011/03/30

Definitely the Java EE version. The regular java version doesn't seem to work with the google plugin.

Well I download the Eclipse for Java EE: <http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/eclipse-ide-java-ee-developers/heliossr2> But one which is great is Spring STS (based on eclipse). You can choose to install GWT at the beginning. <http://www.springsource.com/downloads/sts>

I'm running a LAMP box with PHP running as fcgid. APC is installed and working well. However, each PHP process gets its own cache. This is a problem, because it would make far more sense to have 10 PHP processes with 300MB shared APC cache than 10 PHP processes, each with a redundant 30MB unshared APC cache. There was a prior thread on this topic 8 months ago ([How to share APC cache between several PHP processes when running under FastCGI?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/598444/how-to-share-apc-cache-between-several-php-processes-when-running-under-fastcgi)) and I am wondering if there have been any developments in this realm since then.

2009/11/20

As far as I know it's still not possible to use shared memory cache with any PHP cacher amongst multiple processes... anyway, unless you're under extremely heavy load you should be fine with separate caches, I suppose, since they'll be filled pretty quickly. And hey, RAM is cheap nowadays!

It turns out that this is still not possible if you are truly using different processes: <http://pecl.php.net/bugs/bug.php?id=11988> (updated 11/13/2009 by the author of the relevant portion of APC).

I'm running a LAMP box with PHP running as fcgid. APC is installed and working well. However, each PHP process gets its own cache. This is a problem, because it would make far more sense to have 10 PHP processes with 300MB shared APC cache than 10 PHP processes, each with a redundant 30MB unshared APC cache. There was a prior thread on this topic 8 months ago ([How to share APC cache between several PHP processes when running under FastCGI?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/598444/how-to-share-apc-cache-between-several-php-processes-when-running-under-fastcgi)) and I am wondering if there have been any developments in this realm since then.

2009/11/20

As far as I know it's still not possible to use shared memory cache with any PHP cacher amongst multiple processes... anyway, unless you're under extremely heavy load you should be fine with separate caches, I suppose, since they'll be filled pretty quickly. And hey, RAM is cheap nowadays!

I was reading about it just minutes ago in the bug tracking of PHP <https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=57825> it's fixed but you must use spawnfcgi or php-fpm <http://php-fpm.org/> Quoted from Ramus > > It works fine if you use spawnfcgi or php-fpm. Any process manager > that launches a parent process and spawns child processes from that > will work fine. > > >

I'm running a LAMP box with PHP running as fcgid. APC is installed and working well. However, each PHP process gets its own cache. This is a problem, because it would make far more sense to have 10 PHP processes with 300MB shared APC cache than 10 PHP processes, each with a redundant 30MB unshared APC cache. There was a prior thread on this topic 8 months ago ([How to share APC cache between several PHP processes when running under FastCGI?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/598444/how-to-share-apc-cache-between-several-php-processes-when-running-under-fastcgi)) and I am wondering if there have been any developments in this realm since then.

2009/11/20

I was reading about it just minutes ago in the bug tracking of PHP <https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=57825> it's fixed but you must use spawnfcgi or php-fpm <http://php-fpm.org/> Quoted from Ramus > > It works fine if you use spawnfcgi or php-fpm. Any process manager > that launches a parent process and spawns child processes from that > will work fine. > > >

It turns out that this is still not possible if you are truly using different processes: <http://pecl.php.net/bugs/bug.php?id=11988> (updated 11/13/2009 by the author of the relevant portion of APC).

I am thinking of setting up a bitnami mongodb replicaset in K8s, as explained [here](https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/master/bitnami/mongodb#architecture). However, as a note they mention this while upgrading: > > Note: An update takes your MongoDB replicaset offline if the Arbiter is enabled and the number of MongoDB replicas is two. Helm applies updates to the statefulsets for the MongoDB instance and the Arbiter at the same time so you loose two out of three quorum votes. > > > I am not sure what does it actually mean "taking the replicaset offline": 1. Is it that the whole mongo service goes offline/down and therefore there is downtime on the service when performing helm upgrades? 2. Is it that, while performing the upgrade, the replicaset will have only one mongodb server working, while both, the other mongo db server and arbiter, are offline and being upgraded?. In this case, it will not imply downtime, just that momentarily, there is just one server available (instead of two), so similar to a standalone setup.

2020/12/10

Bitnami developer here > > Is it that, while performing the upgrade, the replicaset will have > only one mongodb server working, while both, the other mongo db server > and arbiter, are offline and being upgraded? > > > That will depend on how many replicas you have. If you install the chart with 2 replicas + 1 arbiter, yes it means that. However, if you install the chart with 4 replicas + 1 arbiter, you'll have only 1 replica and the arbiter being restarted simultaneously, having the other 3 replicas up. > > In this case, it will not imply downtime, just that momentarily, there > is just one server available (instead of two), so similar to a > standalone setup. > > > As it's mentioned in the previous response, it does imply a small downtime indeed if the minimum quorum of alive replicas it's not meet.

I don't know what Helm is or what it does or why it takes down two nodes at a time, but: > > I this case, it will not imply downtime, just that momentarily, there is just one server available (instead of two), so similar to a standalone setup. > > > A standalone accepts writes whenever it's up. A replica set node accepts writes only if it is the primary node, and to have a primary node a majority of nodes must be up. Therefore if only one out of three nodes of a replica set is up, there cannot be a primary, and no node will accept writes. With one out of three nodes available, if this node is data-bearing, you can still issue reads using secondary-allowing read preferences (primary preferred or secondary or secondary preferred), but primary reads won't work and writes won't work.

This is part of a series of questions. *Context*: a friend of mine is writing a novel about a rogue planet around the mass of Mars passing by the solar system before continuing its journey in interstellar space (it must not be captured by the Sun). Given sufficient heads-ups, Earth sends a research mission to land on it, study it for as long as possible, and return. We would like Earthians to have as much time as possible on the rogue planet. **How slow and close could a Mars-like planet pass near the Solar System to be plausible and not cause catastrophic Earth orbit perturbation?** I am guessing that there is no theoretical lower speed limit, as it can barely have the escape velocity of its birth system, then be slowed down by more stars behind it that in front of it. (right?) Or maybe a theoretical limit is the solar system escape velocity, which is around 700km/s, as even an almost stale object relative to the solar system will fall at that speed?

2022/05/12

"Passing through the solar system" I guess means in this case "passing through the inner solar system". If it only passes the Kuiper belt or the Oort cloud, there would be no serious perturbations (no "showering the inner solar system" or the like"). When passing through the inner solar system there will be no perturbation either, unless it passes close to a planet, which is not likely. The trajectory of the object will in most cases be highly inclined to the plane of the solar system which diminishes the probability of a close encounter. The escape velocity depends on the distance from the Sun. The value of 700 km/s refers to escape velocity from the surface of the Sun. At Earth's orbit it is something around 42 km/s. An interstellar object will typically enter the solar system with a delta-v of 20-30 km/s, but the value can be much larger - 200 km/s and more - or smaller. As it approaches the Sun it will accelerate due to the Sun's gravity and pass by in a hyperbolic trajectory. How fast it is at any point is the (vectorial) sum of its initial velocity and its acceleration by the Sun. Its maximum velocity will therefore depend on how close it gets to the Sun - the closer it gets the faster it will become. Unless its initial delta-v was close to zero it will almost always have escape velocity. The capture of interstellar objects by the Sun is possible but certainly very rare. **How close could a Mars-like planet pass near the Solar System to be plausible and not cause catastrophic Earth orbit perturbation?** As close as you like.

Considering that the solar system is a multi-body system, we are sure it is a chaotic system in the long run. For the solar system, its [Lyapunov time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyapunov_time) is 5 million years. This means that the effect of any perturbation on the system cannot really be reliably predicted past 5 million years. Plus what are you going to do with the Oort cloud bodies disturbed by the passage of the planet and that will likely end up showering the inner solar system? For sure any body which can shoot through the solar system will need to have at least the sun escape velocity. The additional problem is that landing on something moving that fast is going to be tricky: first you need to reach that velocity to be able to land, and then slow down to get back on Earth. Considering that the Apollo mission had to struggle being in the range of 11 km/s, you can see the challenge you are up to.

This is part of a series of questions. *Context*: a friend of mine is writing a novel about a rogue planet around the mass of Mars passing by the solar system before continuing its journey in interstellar space (it must not be captured by the Sun). Given sufficient heads-ups, Earth sends a research mission to land on it, study it for as long as possible, and return. We would like Earthians to have as much time as possible on the rogue planet. **How slow and close could a Mars-like planet pass near the Solar System to be plausible and not cause catastrophic Earth orbit perturbation?** I am guessing that there is no theoretical lower speed limit, as it can barely have the escape velocity of its birth system, then be slowed down by more stars behind it that in front of it. (right?) Or maybe a theoretical limit is the solar system escape velocity, which is around 700km/s, as even an almost stale object relative to the solar system will fall at that speed?

2022/05/12

**Numbers** I concur with Avun Jahei's answer, but feel that it's worth quantifying the minimum non-catastrophic close approach distance. This object has a mass comparable to Mars - 6.9 x 1023 kg Earth's moon has a mass of 7.35 x 1022 kg and orbits at an average distance of 3.8 x 108 m. For the purposes of calculating effects, let's assume that the rogue planet is exactly 10 times more massive than Earth's moon. If the rogue planet passed by travelling on a trajectory perpendicular to the ecliptic and just outside lunar orbital distance then it would not be catastrophic for Earth's *orbit* - one never-repeated pass would be insufficient to have much effect - but it would be disastrous for Earth *civilisation* - massive tidal waves and energetic disruption to weather patterns, possible perturbation of the moon's orbit and so on. Quite apart from being freakishly unlikely that an approach would be that close - as Douglas Adams famously said, "Space is big" - this is probably not what you are looking for. Fortunately, gravity works on an inverse square relationship. If we say that the rogue passed by with closest approach being 10 x lunar orbit away then it's tidal effects experienced on Earth will only be one-tenth that of the moon. The object is 10 times more massive, but the gravitational attraction is 100 times weaker at that distance (about 12-13 light-seconds). These effects would be somewhat noticeable, for example unusually high/low tides, but not catastrophic. Increase the distance of closest approach by another order of magnitude and make closest approach about two light minutes away - still freakishly close for an interstellar object - and the effects from a single close encounter will be 0.1% as strong as lunar tidal effects. Scientists will be able to measure the effect and amateur telescopes will get a good look at it, but there will be no perceptible difference for people or other lifeforms on Earth.

Considering that the solar system is a multi-body system, we are sure it is a chaotic system in the long run. For the solar system, its [Lyapunov time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyapunov_time) is 5 million years. This means that the effect of any perturbation on the system cannot really be reliably predicted past 5 million years. Plus what are you going to do with the Oort cloud bodies disturbed by the passage of the planet and that will likely end up showering the inner solar system? For sure any body which can shoot through the solar system will need to have at least the sun escape velocity. The additional problem is that landing on something moving that fast is going to be tricky: first you need to reach that velocity to be able to land, and then slow down to get back on Earth. Considering that the Apollo mission had to struggle being in the range of 11 km/s, you can see the challenge you are up to.

I can't find this information online or in the documentation, does anyone know what versions of Android and iOS the AIR 3.0 captive runtime is compatible with? I'm assuming there is some restriction there, but short of actually compiling a program and trying it on iPhone for example, which I don't have, how can I tell which OS versions are supported? I know that you can compile an Adobe AIR 2.7(?) application to target say Android 2.2, but what about the captive runtime with AIR 3.0? Also I don't see anywhere to find out the iOS version restriction with AIR, as you have to pay $100 to Apple to even get the SDK which would allow me to make an iOS project in the first place.

2011/11/16

System requirements using captive runtime are the same as without - in other words, quoting from the [reqs page](http://www.adobe.com/products/air/tech-specs.html): * Android™ 2.2, 2.3, 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2 * iPod touch (3rd generation) 32 GB and 64 GB model, iPod touch 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2 * iOS 4 and above Incidentally, note that captive runtime is not a new option for iOS - it's how AIR has always worked there, since iOS doesn't allow using a separate runtime. So really, captive runtime is a matter of doing on Android (or elsewhere) what's been done on iOS all along.

I would suppose captive runtime apps work on all the devices which originally support AIR. Captive runtime just packages the AIR packages (which would otherwise be separately installed) into your application so that a separate download is not required. As for iOS, I believe the compiler creates native iOS code (because Apple will disallow all apps which run on 3rd party frameworks), so the app should work on all versions of iOS supported by your sdk.

I am in the process of building myself a fancy schmancy Raspberry Pi "laptop", and am trying to power it with a single cord/power supply. My strategy is to put together a small project box with 120VAC inputs, and the innards from a couple wall warts to provide 5VDC and 12VDC power. Before I start wiring crap together, I wanted to run my idea past some more experienced electri-gurus to make sure I'm not missing anything safety-wise. It seems like its the perfect solution in my mind, but want to make sure I'm not missing anything that I'd be expected to know if I wasn't self-taught. My parts: * I have an old laptop power supply that I've gutted. It's basically the cord and an empty plastic shell (2" x 3" x 5"-ish) with the male end for the plug, and the wires that were clipped from the PCB from the male cord receptacle. * I've gutted 12VDC/2A and 5VDC/10A wall warts; I'm left with PCBs that have wires leading to the board, and barrel connectors coming off the board. If I connect the three hots, the three neutrals and the three grounds from the PCB and power supply inputs, this will leave me with 120VAC feeding the box and getting shared by 2 PCBs that, upon testing SHOULD be putting out 12VDC, 2A and 5VDC, 10A. Am I thinking about that right? In my mind, it's like I've got two wall warts in a power strip, minus the power strip. Here's my power needs: * The Raspberry Pi: 5V, 700-1000mA * A powered USB hub: 5V, 1A (based on the 5V, 1000mA PS that came with it) * A powered USB WiFi interface: 5V, .5A ('cause it's USB...amperage is a TOTAL guess based on no information whatsoever). * A portable USB keyboard: 5V, .5A ('cause it's USB...amperage is a TOTAL guess based on no information whatsoever). * A 4" LCD monitor, 12V, 0.53W (which, by my math is way under 2A). The 12VDC barrel fits the 12V monitor, so that's set. The 5VDC output needs to have the barrel connector replaced, and as long as I'n stripping wires, I'll be adding 3 USB ports to the power supply for device charging, and plan to split the 5VDC output between the individual USBs and the cable that will supply power to the hub--the hub will supply power to all the Raspberry Pi devices, 3A. With 10A supplied, those 3 extra charging ports won't be an issue unless my phone decides to draw 7A+ for charging. Am I good with that concept as well? Please let me know if I'm missing any fundamental safety concepts for putting this thing together, and if appropriate, an appropriate link for where I can research & read about these concepts.

2014/01/20

I think this is not a good idea. You should use a 120V power cord attached to a fused power entry module <http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en/connectors-interconnects/power-entry-connectors-inlets-outlets-modules/1442743>, in turn connected to the right 5V/12V AC to DC converter rated for the currents you're interested in. Alternatively, just use a 12V wall wart with a high enough current rating and appropriate DC to DC converters or voltage regulators (linear or switching), with the whole deal fused.

Using hacked together power supplies can be dangerous if you aren't sure what you are doing. Luckily there are tons of off the shelf power supplies thay already do exactly what you want - 5v and 12v in one supply. You will find them for many external hard drives with a 3 (5v, 12v and gnd) or sometimes 4 pin (seperate grounds) cable. I would simply take the connector off an old external hard drive enclosure and use its power adapter as is - its already been tested by the appropriate regulatoey agencies to not be likely to burn your house down.

I am in the process of building myself a fancy schmancy Raspberry Pi "laptop", and am trying to power it with a single cord/power supply. My strategy is to put together a small project box with 120VAC inputs, and the innards from a couple wall warts to provide 5VDC and 12VDC power. Before I start wiring crap together, I wanted to run my idea past some more experienced electri-gurus to make sure I'm not missing anything safety-wise. It seems like its the perfect solution in my mind, but want to make sure I'm not missing anything that I'd be expected to know if I wasn't self-taught. My parts: * I have an old laptop power supply that I've gutted. It's basically the cord and an empty plastic shell (2" x 3" x 5"-ish) with the male end for the plug, and the wires that were clipped from the PCB from the male cord receptacle. * I've gutted 12VDC/2A and 5VDC/10A wall warts; I'm left with PCBs that have wires leading to the board, and barrel connectors coming off the board. If I connect the three hots, the three neutrals and the three grounds from the PCB and power supply inputs, this will leave me with 120VAC feeding the box and getting shared by 2 PCBs that, upon testing SHOULD be putting out 12VDC, 2A and 5VDC, 10A. Am I thinking about that right? In my mind, it's like I've got two wall warts in a power strip, minus the power strip. Here's my power needs: * The Raspberry Pi: 5V, 700-1000mA * A powered USB hub: 5V, 1A (based on the 5V, 1000mA PS that came with it) * A powered USB WiFi interface: 5V, .5A ('cause it's USB...amperage is a TOTAL guess based on no information whatsoever). * A portable USB keyboard: 5V, .5A ('cause it's USB...amperage is a TOTAL guess based on no information whatsoever). * A 4" LCD monitor, 12V, 0.53W (which, by my math is way under 2A). The 12VDC barrel fits the 12V monitor, so that's set. The 5VDC output needs to have the barrel connector replaced, and as long as I'n stripping wires, I'll be adding 3 USB ports to the power supply for device charging, and plan to split the 5VDC output between the individual USBs and the cable that will supply power to the hub--the hub will supply power to all the Raspberry Pi devices, 3A. With 10A supplied, those 3 extra charging ports won't be an issue unless my phone decides to draw 7A+ for charging. Am I good with that concept as well? Please let me know if I'm missing any fundamental safety concepts for putting this thing together, and if appropriate, an appropriate link for where I can research & read about these concepts.

2014/01/20

Areas of concern: 1. The mains connections between the wall-wart PCBs and the mains wires going to the cord. Ideally these need to be tied together in a mechanically secure manner - soldered and taped would be fine, as would bringing them to a terminal block with ring terminals. 2. The mechanical security of the wall-wart PCBs. They cannot flop around inside the case - there must be minimum creepage and clearance between primary and secondary which cannot be guaranteed if they can bounce about freely inside the box. Any secondary circuit is not allow to approach any primary circuit else there's a shock hazard. 3. The environmental security of the new case. Wall-warts are fairly impenetrable. By cracking them open and stuffing them into another shell that *was* well-sealed, they're not so impenetrable now. What happens if you inadvertently spill water on the case? 4. Lack of safety approval. Any safety approvals on those little wall-warts are null and void as soon as you crack them open and start attaching wires to them. Should the unlikely happen and your improvised brick goes up in flames, good luck collecting any insurance money.

Using hacked together power supplies can be dangerous if you aren't sure what you are doing. Luckily there are tons of off the shelf power supplies thay already do exactly what you want - 5v and 12v in one supply. You will find them for many external hard drives with a 3 (5v, 12v and gnd) or sometimes 4 pin (seperate grounds) cable. I would simply take the connector off an old external hard drive enclosure and use its power adapter as is - its already been tested by the appropriate regulatoey agencies to not be likely to burn your house down.

I am currently doing a 3-month paid internship program - it started 3 weeks ago and will be conclusive in 3 months. This company does not promise to provide me with a position afterwards. Now I've received a full-time job offer from another company. * If it ethical to jump ship? * What might some possible consequences be?

2015/11/24

Is it a ***nice*** thing to do? **No.** Is it a ***good*** thing to do? **Depends who you're asking.** Make no mistake, you are screwing your boss over by quitting. However, as you yourself have said, the company you're with right now is offering no guarantees whatsoever. That job offer, on the other hand, is **a certainty**. Here's some advice to consider when you're in one of these tricky situations: > > **Always keep your own interests in mind.** > > > Your current employer sure as heck will do the same, and so will every other company you will ever work for - sometimes in your detriment. Don't feel that you should have loyalty to entities which will offer you none in return (aka 99% of all companies out there) My personal opinion is this: > > If you have been offered a full time position and you need it, then **go for it**. > > > The only thing I can't be certain is whether you should give 2 week's notice or not. I think it would make little difference as you've barely been there long enough to get anything done. Sticking around for another 2 weeks is probably simply going to be awkward for everyone involved.

Think of it this way, you're leaving a temp/contract position for a full-time position. That situation is pretty much what many people in temp positions look for, unless they only want to do temp/contract work. If they brought you on knowing that you would eventually leave, they weren't prepared to make an offer to keep you on longer, and you don't particularly want to stay, then it doesn't seem like an issue. If it's not an internship that you actually want to finish, and you're getting paid more at the full-time job, then it seems like you should simply quit the way most FT people do. Give the old place notice and tell the new place when you want to start.

I'm just starting, and yes, i haven't written any tests yet (I'm not a fundamentalist, I don't like compile errors just because there is no test), but I'm wondering where to get started on doing a project that parses fixed length flat file records according to an XML mapping, into a class that represents the superset of all file layouts, before writing (with transformation) the class details to a DB table. There are so many external factors, and I don't want to mock them all, so where or how would be a good way to start test driving this project?

2009/09/20

It's all about decomposing the problem into parts. Some examples: * File/stream reader * Input mapper * Input mapper loader * File layout * File layout collection * Data access layer Try to give each class a single responsibility, determine its dependencies, and inject those in. That, with the help of mocks/stubs, will permit you to test each class in isolation.

Well, you want to do testing but you don't want to mock. I believe that it leaves you to write [integration tests](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integration_testing) or [acceptance tests](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance_test). It means that you have to do a lot of setup in your tests that probably will make your test brittle and hard to maintain. I would really recommend to mock your external dependencies. It will make your application loosely couple and I believed it's going to be easier maintain in the future. Plus your tests are going to be much more manageable. There are lot of [Mock Frameworks](http://weblogs.asp.net/rosherove/archive/2007/04/26/choosing-a-mock-object-framework.aspx) out there that can help you. I have to admit that if you never done that before there's some learning curve. But we are in software development business and there's always something new to learn. In case you decided to invest some time to learn testing with mock, you can start with [this article](http://vkreynin.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/tutorial-to-tdd-using-rhino-mocks-and-systemwrapper/). Good luck.

thanks for looking at my question. Basically what I'm trying to do is find all images that look like the first and the third image here: <http://imgur.com/a/IhHEC> and remove all the ones that don't look like that (2,4). I've tried several libraries to no avail. Another acceptable way to do this is to check if the images contain "Code:", as that string is in each one that I have to sort out. Thank you, Steve EDIT: Although the 1st and 3rd images seem like they are the same size, they are not.

2012/10/20

If those are the actual images you're going to use, it looks like histogram similarity will do the job. The first and third are very contrasty, the second and fourth, especially the fourth, have a wide range of different intensities. You could easily make a histogram of the shades of grey in the image and then apply thresholds to the shape of the histogram to classify them. EDIT: To actually do this: you can iterate through every pixel and create an array of pixel value => number of times found. As it's greyscale you can take either the R, G or B channel. Then divide each number by the number of pixels in the image to normalise, so it will work for any size. Each entry in the histogram will then be a fraction of the number of pixels used. You can then measure the number of values above a certain threshold. If there are lots of greys, you'll get a large number of small values. If there aren't, you'll get a small number of large values.

Due to my background in working more with text from images than image objects, I would do this in post-OCR process, by searching the text content for 'keywords' or checking for 'regular expression' representing your desired data. This means that the entire job needs to be separated into two stages: image-to-text OCR (free or cheap, software or cloud), and actual separation process (simple programming).

I've just upgraded from Outlook 2013. When I opened my To-Do List view, all flagged emails were displayed in a narrow list on the left hand side. The currently selected email were opened in a reading pane on the right hand side. Now, after the upgrade to Outlook 2016, the previously narrow list view takes up the whole screen unnecessarily. I don't get to see any of my emails. [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EVbc8.png) How can I regain my reading pane on this page?

2016/06/15

Couple suggestions: 1) Ensure the Reading Pane is enabled for the Tasks/To-Do view. Check *View* tab -> *Reading Pane* -> Ensure it's set to something other than "*Off*". 2) Try *View* tab -> *Reset View* while looking a the Tasks/To-Do list.

on windows 10 go to: "View" "To-Do Bar" select "tasks" you will now be able to see your flagged emails on the right of your screen.

I've just upgraded from Outlook 2013. When I opened my To-Do List view, all flagged emails were displayed in a narrow list on the left hand side. The currently selected email were opened in a reading pane on the right hand side. Now, after the upgrade to Outlook 2016, the previously narrow list view takes up the whole screen unnecessarily. I don't get to see any of my emails. [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EVbc8.png) How can I regain my reading pane on this page?

2016/06/15

Couple suggestions: 1) Ensure the Reading Pane is enabled for the Tasks/To-Do view. Check *View* tab -> *Reading Pane* -> Ensure it's set to something other than "*Off*". 2) Try *View* tab -> *Reset View* while looking a the Tasks/To-Do list.

If you are using Outlook Office 365, you can just click the Filter button up and to the right of your email list. Then choose Flagged. It shows all your Flagged emails. Other options to Filter are: Unread, To me, Flagged, Mentions, Attachments and Sort.

I've just upgraded from Outlook 2013. When I opened my To-Do List view, all flagged emails were displayed in a narrow list on the left hand side. The currently selected email were opened in a reading pane on the right hand side. Now, after the upgrade to Outlook 2016, the previously narrow list view takes up the whole screen unnecessarily. I don't get to see any of my emails. [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EVbc8.png) How can I regain my reading pane on this page?

2016/06/15

Couple suggestions: 1) Ensure the Reading Pane is enabled for the Tasks/To-Do view. Check *View* tab -> *Reading Pane* -> Ensure it's set to something other than "*Off*". 2) Try *View* tab -> *Reset View* while looking a the Tasks/To-Do list.

Click View- Click Arrange BY. go down to view settings. click sort by. change the first to flag status, and the second sort to by received decending. Flagged emails will now be at the top

I've just upgraded from Outlook 2013. When I opened my To-Do List view, all flagged emails were displayed in a narrow list on the left hand side. The currently selected email were opened in a reading pane on the right hand side. Now, after the upgrade to Outlook 2016, the previously narrow list view takes up the whole screen unnecessarily. I don't get to see any of my emails. [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EVbc8.png) How can I regain my reading pane on this page?

2016/06/15

on windows 10 go to: "View" "To-Do Bar" select "tasks" you will now be able to see your flagged emails on the right of your screen.

If you are using Outlook Office 365, you can just click the Filter button up and to the right of your email list. Then choose Flagged. It shows all your Flagged emails. Other options to Filter are: Unread, To me, Flagged, Mentions, Attachments and Sort.

I've just upgraded from Outlook 2013. When I opened my To-Do List view, all flagged emails were displayed in a narrow list on the left hand side. The currently selected email were opened in a reading pane on the right hand side. Now, after the upgrade to Outlook 2016, the previously narrow list view takes up the whole screen unnecessarily. I don't get to see any of my emails. [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EVbc8.png) How can I regain my reading pane on this page?

2016/06/15

on windows 10 go to: "View" "To-Do Bar" select "tasks" you will now be able to see your flagged emails on the right of your screen.

Click View- Click Arrange BY. go down to view settings. click sort by. change the first to flag status, and the second sort to by received decending. Flagged emails will now be at the top

I've just upgraded from Outlook 2013. When I opened my To-Do List view, all flagged emails were displayed in a narrow list on the left hand side. The currently selected email were opened in a reading pane on the right hand side. Now, after the upgrade to Outlook 2016, the previously narrow list view takes up the whole screen unnecessarily. I don't get to see any of my emails. [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EVbc8.png) How can I regain my reading pane on this page?

2016/06/15

If you are using Outlook Office 365, you can just click the Filter button up and to the right of your email list. Then choose Flagged. It shows all your Flagged emails. Other options to Filter are: Unread, To me, Flagged, Mentions, Attachments and Sort.

Click View- Click Arrange BY. go down to view settings. click sort by. change the first to flag status, and the second sort to by received decending. Flagged emails will now be at the top

1. I couldn't afford that **big a** car. 2. It was so **warm a** day that I could hardly work. The sentences stated above have been taken from *Practical English Usage* by Michael Swan. If I write- 3. I couldn't afford that big car. 4. It was so warm day that I could hardly work. These make sense. But placement of article *a* makes these sentences awkward to me. Please say why and when articles are placed after adjectives. And what are the differences among 1, 2 and 3, 4.

2015/11/20

**Short answer** ---------------- If an adjective is being modified by a deictic degree adverb such as *so, too, as, this* or *that* then the adjective and adverb must go before, not after, the indefinite article. They can also appear as a postmodifier after the noun: * a day so warm **Full answer** --------------- There are several grammatical points about this construction. Firstly, note that the adjective *precedes* the article here. The adjective is modifying a whole noun phrase, not a nominal (a nominal is just the smaller phrase within a noun phrase that occurs after the determiners or articles). So we see: * so warm a day and not: * a so warm day Secondly you will have noticed that this adjective is itself modified by an adverb. Now this adverb must (a) be an adverb of degree and (b) must be a deictic word, in other words it is understood by reference to the immediate environment of the speaker, or through some other element of the discourse itself. Simply using a normal degree adverb will not work here: * \*He was very good a footballer as ... * \*He was extremely good a footballer that ... The adverbs that can be used like this are *so, too*, *as*, *this*, *that* as well as *how*. Some grammarians have also included *more, less* and *enough* in this list, but the grammar of these adverbs is in fact significantly different. Notice that *this* and *that* are adverbs here, not determiners. The adverbs *so*, *too*, *as*, *how*, *this*, *that* and *how* are degree adverbs that cannot themselves give us any idea of actual *degree* or *extent* involved. We could think of them as a kind of 'pro - degree adverb'. These adverbs require some kind of benchmark for us to appreciate the actual degree involved. If this information is not provided by the context this normally entails there being a Complement phrase which indicates the actual extent or degree involved. We can consider such sentences in this way: * It was (X)big a problem [that we gave up the whole project] Here (X) represents the degree involved. On its own (X) does not tell us the actual degree of the bigness of the problem. It is the clause in brackets which explains the actual extent of the size of the problem. The adverb involved will dictate what kind of phrase or clause can function as the Complement. The adverb *so* can take preposition phrases headed by the preposition *as* or finite clauses typically using the subordinator *that*. In the sentence above the only possible adverb we could use instead of (X) is the adverb *so*. The adverb *as* typically takes phrases headed by *as*. It cannot take clauses headed by *that*. The adverb *too* takes *to*-infinitival clauses, headed by *for* if they include a Subject: * He was **so** big an idiot [that he wasn't allowed to speak in public without his advisors]. * It was **so** forceful a blow [as to fell his opponent]. * He is **as** great an actor [as has ever graced this stage]. * He is **as** good a footballer [as the next]' * He was **too** valuable an asset [to let go]. * It was **too** dangerous a project [for us to take it on]. The preposition *as* (as opposed to the degree adverb) introduces equality with what follows it. More precisely it indicates some kind of benchmark which is met *or* exceeded. Notice that the deictic degree adverbs *this*, *that* and *how* usually don't require a following phrase to provide the benchmark. It is normally clear from the discourse itself. However *that* sometimes takes finite clauses with *that* to provide a benchmark when it isn't available from the discourse: * It was that big [that I couldn't fit it through the door]. Lastly, when *how* is interrogative as opposed to exclamative then it is not deictic - in the sense that the degree expressed is left unresolved and in direct questions may be expected to be supplied by the respondent: * I wondered how long a journey it actually was. * How long a rope do we need? Notice that we cannot generally put adjectives before articles, the following are badly formed: * \*big a footballer * \*clever an idea This only occurs when the adjective is being modified by a deictic degree adverb. Why? I don't know. I've been looking into this for quite a long time but haven't been able to find out. **The Original Poster's Examples**: Sentences (1) and (2) are grammatical. Sentence (3) is also grammatical, but this is because the adjective *big* is not being modified by any adverb. The word *that* here is a Determiner. Sentence (4) is completely ungrammatical. Because *day* is singular we must use a Determiner here. If we used an indefinite article then because *warm* is being modified by a deictic degree adverb, the adverb adjective combination should precede the article - as in sentence (2). --- **Note**: Thanks to Edwin and fdb for helpful observations, which have been edited into the answer.

Regarding example (1), I think the emphasis of "that big a car" considerably differs from "that big car." "That big a car" could be rephrased as a "a car as big as that," which shows that you are comparing the car in question to some standard of a car that you have in your mind. "That big car" on the other hand seems to solely indicate that you're just pointing to a car that's right there, in person, in a magazine, whatever. Regarding (2) I'm not sure whether there's an issue -- or at least your example (4) is ungrammatical in English. You would need some sort of article before "day," so as it stands number (2) is the only acceptable of the two ways to express that thought (there could be others of course, but I haven't thought of them).

We have around 3 people working on a project in TFS. Our company set our TFS project to single checkout. But Sometimes, we have 1 person checking out certain files, solution files, etc. Is it bad practice to have multiple checkout enabled and let the merging or diff tool handle the problem if we both accidentally overwrote someone else code? I've read this somewhere that its all about good communication and allowing the diff tool to handle these problems but our employers suggest using single checkout. 2 questions. Should we enable multiple checkout? If so, how do we enable multiple checkout?

2011/01/05

It is true that having multiple checkout disabled is simpler to work with, and it safeguards you against having to do manual merges and perhaps overwrite work. However, it can also hinder productivity and development, especially on medium to large teams. If John can't get his feature done before Susan checks her version of a file in; some time is going to be wasted. In my experience, multiple checkout with TFS works really well, and you should not be afraid to use it. The built-in merge tool sucks, but you can get a nice one such as [DiffMerge](http://www.sourcegear.com/diffmerge/) for free. If you make sure to communicate what each other is working on, and each of you make sure to Get Latest after each feature (or every morning), to avoid the possibility of working on stale versions, you should be fine.

I worked on a team of 3+ developers for a long time and shared checkout is fantastic. Your team will need the discipline to *communicate with each other* if they run into merge conflicts that aren't straightforward, but I have experienced nothing but upside in enabling shared checkout. Make sure that you use a merge tool that supports three-way merge (such as [DiffMerge](http://www.sourcegear.com/diffmerge/)), as these tools make it much easier to determine the intent of each developer's changes.

I was wondering if there are any ledgers to make such entries. I trade regularly and I would like to make a good record of it.

2018/11/03

Have a look at the Asset functionality of common accounting packages. It allows you to record prices and quantities of 'things' at purchase and sale. For shares, each stock code can be considered a separate 'thing' with buy and sell prices and quantities held in 'inventory'. Each accounting package has its own processes and it takes awhile to become familiar with them. Here are some steps to get you started with gnucash, which is "[personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL](https://www.gnucash.org/)". (Disclaimer: I've starting using the software fairly recently, but I'm not otherwise knowingly affiliated with gnucash.) 1. Download and install [gnucash](https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v3/C/gnucash-guide/invest-setup1.html). 2. Open gnucash and Select menu item File -> New File. If a dialog pops up asking you to save changes to the (default) file, select "Continue Without Saving". This brings up the New Account Hierarchy Setup dialog. 3. Fill in whatever you like until you reach "Choose accounts to create". Here, select "Investment Accounts" for some defaults to start you off. Carry on with the rest of the dialog. 4. You'll be asked to save the file. Pick a filename you like, such as "Shares 2018". Pick a location (directory or folder), but be aware that gnucash will save lots of temporary and backup files in the same location. The filename you pick will be the main file, and once you quit gnucash, the rest can usually be safely deleted. However, you might want to keep them as backups. Make sure you click "Save" often (see the menu ribbon below the "File" menu) to ensure that your main gnucash file is up to date. 5. After saving, you'll see the chart of accounts. Here's a [link](https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v3/C/gnucash-guide/chapter_invest.html) to the gnucash manual for the chapter called "Investments". Follow [the instructions](https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v3/C/gnucash-guide/invest-setup1.html) to set up your investment portfolio, then use the manual for further instructions about buying and selling shares, recording dividends, and so on. Have fun!

It's fairly easy to set up a spreadsheet that records trades and reconciles the gains and losses. It becomes more time consuming if you trade frequently and scale in and out of positions. And it gets onerous if your trading involves numerous wash sales. AFAIK, US brokers provide Forms 1099-B and 8949 that break down of all of this. The few that I've dealt with provide a disclaimer to the effect of: > > This is important tax information and is being furnished to the Internal Revenue Service. This statement has been prepared in accordance with our records, is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute tax advice which may be relied upon to avoid penalties under any federal, state, local or other tax statutes or regulations, and does not resolve any tax issues in your favor. Please review it carefully for errors. It may or may not represent the amount of gain or loss reportable by you for Federal and state income tax purposes. We recommend that you consult your tax adviser as to the correct reporting of these items on your income tax return. > > > So the gist of it is that your broker prepares these forms, reports the results to the IRS yet disavows accuracy. I can attest that if you're a frequent flier, broker reporting often contain errors. Some of the more well known software offering differing levels of expertise are Gainskeeper, Quicken, and Tradelog.

I was wondering if there are any ledgers to make such entries. I trade regularly and I would like to make a good record of it.

2018/11/03

Have a look at the Asset functionality of common accounting packages. It allows you to record prices and quantities of 'things' at purchase and sale. For shares, each stock code can be considered a separate 'thing' with buy and sell prices and quantities held in 'inventory'. Each accounting package has its own processes and it takes awhile to become familiar with them. Here are some steps to get you started with gnucash, which is "[personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL](https://www.gnucash.org/)". (Disclaimer: I've starting using the software fairly recently, but I'm not otherwise knowingly affiliated with gnucash.) 1. Download and install [gnucash](https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v3/C/gnucash-guide/invest-setup1.html). 2. Open gnucash and Select menu item File -> New File. If a dialog pops up asking you to save changes to the (default) file, select "Continue Without Saving". This brings up the New Account Hierarchy Setup dialog. 3. Fill in whatever you like until you reach "Choose accounts to create". Here, select "Investment Accounts" for some defaults to start you off. Carry on with the rest of the dialog. 4. You'll be asked to save the file. Pick a filename you like, such as "Shares 2018". Pick a location (directory or folder), but be aware that gnucash will save lots of temporary and backup files in the same location. The filename you pick will be the main file, and once you quit gnucash, the rest can usually be safely deleted. However, you might want to keep them as backups. Make sure you click "Save" often (see the menu ribbon below the "File" menu) to ensure that your main gnucash file is up to date. 5. After saving, you'll see the chart of accounts. Here's a [link](https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v3/C/gnucash-guide/chapter_invest.html) to the gnucash manual for the chapter called "Investments". Follow [the instructions](https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v3/C/gnucash-guide/invest-setup1.html) to set up your investment portfolio, then use the manual for further instructions about buying and selling shares, recording dividends, and so on. Have fun!

Since softwares are being recommended I can post my comment as an answer: The shareware software, KBH Investor Accounting, accounts both long and short positions and computes an overall mark-to-market accounting. The realized buy/sell transactions can be printed out in the form of an IRS 4797 but assumes that no long term positions are included to make that form. Most investors do not use a 4797 but might want the print-out. For most investors, the overall mark-to-market accounting is not a tax accounting but a portfolio performance accounting. Note that editing of an accounting is done by installing the back-up files. But the original files, with a time stamp, are also kept in the folder.

We are traveling from Tbilisi to Ataturk airport and then with a transit to Antalya; both legs were sold under a single ticket by Turkish Airlines. * Do they automatically put luggage for transit? * How far is the second terminal, and where we should go for passport control?

2018/09/23

For International to Domestic connections on Turkish Airlines, your bags will be automatically transferred to the domestic flight IF (and only if!) the domestic destination you are travelling to has customs facilities at the airport. In the case of Antalya, they DO have such facilities, so your bags will be automatically transferred to your domestic flight. Shortly before landing into Istanbul an announcement will be made on the flight, and they will direct you to the back of the in-flight SkyLife magazine to confirm which locations do and do not have customs facilities, so you can use this to confirm what I've said above. Upon landing in Istanbul you will need to proceed through Passport Control (just follow the signs), through baggage claim and customs (WITHOUT collecting your bags), and then make an immediate LEFT turn and follow the signs to the domestic terminal which is a 5-10 minute walk away.

* I just always ask about luggage at the check-in when I drop it off to be extra sure. I expect that it would be transferred automatically in your case. * There is no way that you will miss the passport control (just follow the signs), and Ataturk is a single large building so different places in it can't be very far.

The question is basically it but here's the background of the story if curious: My eyes woulld ache since I spend 12+ hours a day looking at a computer screen, so I decided to give night light a try and turned it to 70% strength. The colors were uglier than normal but I used it for about a year (always on) and now when I turn it off it looks like I'm looking at the sun when I look at my computer screen. Anyway, my concern is, is leaving night light on long periods of time bad for my computer? And a follow-up question if someoone knows: is always using night light bad for the eyes?

2021/01/15

> > is leaving night light on long periods of time bad for my computer? > > > What night light setting does is just to decrease light of display, and maybe not equally all colours, but blue is reduced a bit more then the others. So the answer for your question is **NO**, using night light will not cause any negative effect for your display (it could even be a little beneficial for it, but I don't think that would be measurable). > > is always using night light bad for the eyes? > > > Having less eye strain with night light settings is definitely a good sign, that's the feedback from your eyes that it prefers those settings.

Well, it depends on the strength of the Night Light. If it's Normal then It's Beneficial for your Health but if you set it to Extreme Kinda Ultra Instinct then you need to check whether you are color blind for red because it's bad for your display as it uses the red color at its max then all time. So Just Consider the Level of Night Light and Everything is OKAY. Except for your Color accuracy If you gonna use Photoshop or Some other $h!t.

I'd like to make a tool bar with icons that get's bigger when you mouse over them. I don't mind reinventing the wheel, but if anyone can suggest a good: 1. Image Format (not sure bitmaps'll work here and not sure how to do Vectors) 2. Existing Control (pay or free, so long as I can use it in a close source app) 3. Container class (is TPanel sufficient?)

2009/04/21

I've not used it yet personally, but maybe check out TMS TAdvSmoothDock rather than reinventing wheel..? <http://www.tmssoftware.com/site/advsmoothdock.asp>

There is some sample code doing exactly this on the delphi.about.com website. The link below shows the code as well as an example image of the dock while running. <http://delphi.about.com/od/fullcodeprojects/a/mac-doc-launch.htm> I don't know if the code is D2009 compatible or not, but even if it isn't the code shouldn't be that hard to bring forward. I would think anyways. HTH, Ryan.

As part of strengthening session authentication security for a site that I am building, I am trying to compile a list of the best ways to register a user's computer as a second tier of validation - that is in addition to the standard username/password login, of course. Typical ways of registering a user's computer are by setting a cookie and or IP address validation. As prevalent as mobile computing is, IP mapping is less and less a reliable identifier. Security settings and internet security & system optimization software can make it difficult to keep a cookie in place for very long. Are there any other methods that can be used for establishing a more reliable computer registration that doesn't require the user to add exceptions to the various cookie deleting software?

2012/01/30

Simply calling read doesn't guarantee that you will receive all the 63 bytes or that you receive the 63 bytes you were hoping for.. I would suggest that you somehow determine how much data you need to receive(send the data length first) and then put the recv function in a loop until you have all the data.. The send function(from the client) should be checked also.

How about trying to close the socket at the end of dostuff()? The server may be getting too many open connections.

As part of strengthening session authentication security for a site that I am building, I am trying to compile a list of the best ways to register a user's computer as a second tier of validation - that is in addition to the standard username/password login, of course. Typical ways of registering a user's computer are by setting a cookie and or IP address validation. As prevalent as mobile computing is, IP mapping is less and less a reliable identifier. Security settings and internet security & system optimization software can make it difficult to keep a cookie in place for very long. Are there any other methods that can be used for establishing a more reliable computer registration that doesn't require the user to add exceptions to the various cookie deleting software?

2012/01/30

Simply calling read doesn't guarantee that you will receive all the 63 bytes or that you receive the 63 bytes you were hoping for.. I would suggest that you somehow determine how much data you need to receive(send the data length first) and then put the recv function in a loop until you have all the data.. The send function(from the client) should be checked also.

Solution: The error was that the XOpenDisplay was inside an infinite loop without being closed. I simply moved the XOpenDisplay command before the infinite loop in dostuff(). It was in fact not a socket error.

What are some key bindings that aren't included?

2009/11/03

You can find the complete list of limitations in MonoTouch at [Xamarin](http://docs.xamarin.com/ios/about/limitations). A short list of .NET features not available in MonoTouch: * The Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) * Generic Virtual Methods * P/Invokes in Generic Types * Value types as Dictionary Keys * System.Reflection.Emit * System.Runtime.Remoting

Here is a link of the assemblies that it ships with: <http://docs.xamarin.com/ios/about/assemblies> Here is a summary of the .Net framework assemblies: > > **mscorlib.dll** > > *Silverlight, plus several .NET 4.0 types* > > > **System.dll** > > *Silverlight, plus types from the following namespaces:* > > System.Collections.Specialized > > System.ComponentModel > > System.ComponentModel.Design > > System.Diagnostics > > System.IO.Compression > > System.Net > > System.Net.Cache > > System.Net.Mail > > System.Net.Mime > > System.Net.NetworkInformation > > System.Net.Security > > System.Net.Sockets > > System.Security.Authentication > > System.Security.Cryptography > > System.Timers > > > **System.Core.dll > > System.Data.dll > > System.Data.Services.Client.dll > > System.Json.dll > > System.Numerics.dll > > System.Runtime.Serialization.dll > > System.ServiceModel.dll > > System.ServiceModel.Web.dll > > System.Transactions.dll > > System.Web.Services > > System.Xml.dll > > System.Xml.Linq.dll** > > >

What are some key bindings that aren't included?

2009/11/03

You can find the complete list of limitations in MonoTouch at [Xamarin](http://docs.xamarin.com/ios/about/limitations). A short list of .NET features not available in MonoTouch: * The Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) * Generic Virtual Methods * P/Invokes in Generic Types * Value types as Dictionary Keys * System.Reflection.Emit * System.Runtime.Remoting

One thing to also mention is you cannot reference .NET assemblies that haven't been built/compiled using the .NET MonoTouch configuration. So if you have a favourite .NET 2.0 library you will need to re-import the source into a new MonoTouch project, compile it, and then reference it. There may be an easier way of doing this by editing the `.csproj` file but I haven't found it.

What are some key bindings that aren't included?

2009/11/03

Here is a link of the assemblies that it ships with: <http://docs.xamarin.com/ios/about/assemblies> Here is a summary of the .Net framework assemblies: > > **mscorlib.dll** > > *Silverlight, plus several .NET 4.0 types* > > > **System.dll** > > *Silverlight, plus types from the following namespaces:* > > System.Collections.Specialized > > System.ComponentModel > > System.ComponentModel.Design > > System.Diagnostics > > System.IO.Compression > > System.Net > > System.Net.Cache > > System.Net.Mail > > System.Net.Mime > > System.Net.NetworkInformation > > System.Net.Security > > System.Net.Sockets > > System.Security.Authentication > > System.Security.Cryptography > > System.Timers > > > **System.Core.dll > > System.Data.dll > > System.Data.Services.Client.dll > > System.Json.dll > > System.Numerics.dll > > System.Runtime.Serialization.dll > > System.ServiceModel.dll > > System.ServiceModel.Web.dll > > System.Transactions.dll > > System.Web.Services > > System.Xml.dll > > System.Xml.Linq.dll** > > >

One thing to also mention is you cannot reference .NET assemblies that haven't been built/compiled using the .NET MonoTouch configuration. So if you have a favourite .NET 2.0 library you will need to re-import the source into a new MonoTouch project, compile it, and then reference it. There may be an easier way of doing this by editing the `.csproj` file but I haven't found it.

Is it safe if my server will create a SSH key pair for my client? Scenario: I(server admin) will create a ssh key pair and put public key into authorized\_keys and give the private key to client so he can access my sftp server.

2019/03/22

Your customer should be **generating their own keys** and **securing them with a passphrase**, then giving you their **public key** to store on the server you manage and that they need to access. **Their private key should never be given to anyone and it should be encrypted** (i.e. secured with a passphrase).

To allow access vith ssh/scp/sftp you can use public/private key pair. (\*) I you generate and install such pair you will controll who will access a specific part of your server (in your case sftp directory). If you have two or more customer/partner, be sure to generate one key per partner. This way customer1 will access customer1's part. If set correctly (\*\*), private customer1's key will not access customer2's files, nor any other part of the server. * (\*) assuming as noted by Shadur, that transfert is *safe* from prying eyes. * (\*\*) using chroot if possible (this depend on your directory structure). --- As noted in my (deleted) comment, this is also a matter of trust from customer's part, but that should be OK, customer already trust you with his file.

I have acquired a lot of nice blue and green equipments ~lvl 20. I have no use for these since my class can't equip them. Should I just npc these or salvage them? What is the most profitable way?

2012/08/28

The most profitable way to get rid of rare equipment is often the Black Lion Trading Post. For common equipment, the trade price is not even high enough to account for the cost to post the item. In those cases, it is more profitable to just sell them to a merchant. I would just sell them to a merchant unless you really need the materials that they are composed of, the essences of luck, or are working on the monthly salvages achievement. Salvaging armor pieces usually nets less value than simply selling them.

Most common equipment is better off salvaged than sold. Even if you're not going to do crafting, you can usually sell the components you salvage in the TP for more than what you can sell the original item for. For 'green' items and above, better to sell them to the merchant or TP. You can check the prices in the TP wherever you are (no need to be at the trader for that), so you can see what's better for you.

I have acquired a lot of nice blue and green equipments ~lvl 20. I have no use for these since my class can't equip them. Should I just npc these or salvage them? What is the most profitable way?

2012/08/28

The most profitable way to get rid of rare equipment is often the Black Lion Trading Post. For common equipment, the trade price is not even high enough to account for the cost to post the item. In those cases, it is more profitable to just sell them to a merchant. I would just sell them to a merchant unless you really need the materials that they are composed of, the essences of luck, or are working on the monthly salvages achievement. Salvaging armor pieces usually nets less value than simply selling them.

It really depends also on what you are aiming at, for example Legendary weapons require different behavior, but basically that's what I do: 76+ rare/exotic weapons: save for throwing in Mystic Forge for legendary precursor 68+ rare/exotic weapons/armors: salvage with Black Lion Kit for Globes of Ectoplasm (to craft new 80 exotics and legendary) Then everything selling for good at Trading Post is sold here (I usually sell what is already required by someone) The white items salvaged (sometimes blue too, if you need the salvage achievement), the rest sold at the merchant Even if you are not aiming at legendary, salvaging and forging can get you some nice items and components which you can sell at an higher price, compared to the original item Hope it helps!

I have been working for this couple of investors for around 18 months. The set up is, these two people will buy small online businesses and I will run these businesses from a single office. Currently I have 5 businesses to manage on my own. Around a year ago, my boss decided to come up with a forfeit scheme, every time I made a mistake he wanted me to do a forfeit. These were small mistakes, such as sending somebody the wrong invoice, or missing an item off of an order. These have only happened once. Initially the forfeits were along the line of doing some press-ups or sit-ups, etc, I wasn't bothered about this. However, my boss has been pressuring me to do worse forfeits, it gets to the point he just sits there and waits for me to agree, if I say I don't want to do a forfeit he'll say "you don't have to" so I say ok, then he says "but how are you going to make up for making a mistake", and eventually gets round to me doing a forfeit. More recently he has started to say he wants me to feel humiliated for making mistakes, and tries to get me to do humiliating forfeits. When he first started I felt ok with it, almost as if it was a good idea. The mistakes were/are not big enough for any serious action, but they are still mistakes so a small forfeit as punishment was incentive for me to double check and take more consideration with the work. But now, its got to the point where I feel uncomfortable, pressured into situations I really don't want to be in and its almost like my boss is making me do forfeits for his personal interest rather than to help the business. It's distracting when I am at work, it deters my concentration, I almost feel like I'm being bullied. Is it OK what my boss is doing? --- The following has been added since posting this question -------------------------------------------------------- To clarify I live in the UK. I'm the only permanent employee here, I work here alone for about 2-3 days a week the other days one of the investors may come in for a few hours. There have been 2 or 3 temporary employees and a few contractors who I would only speak to via email/telephone calls. It is only 1 of the 2 investors who is putting me in this situation. At one point the investor said just remember what happens at work stays at work, almost as if he didn't want me to tell the other investor or my friends. For those of you who say the examples aren't small mistakes, I work as a sole employee for 5 businesses - I do almost everything to manage these businesses including processing sales/orders which is in the 1000s some months, dealing with all customers/clients briefing contractors/meeting up with suppliers, producing website content and promotional material, reporting on sales/marketing, purchasing, forecasting, etc, the only areas I do not really have an input in is the legal and corporate finance. So in over 18 months, if the most serious error I made was amended by me apologizing to a customer and saying there will be a 1 day delay with half of their order, costing the company less than £7 in extra shipping fees, I do not think I have done anything majorly wrong. The investor has also made me do forfeits when I didn't respond to emails with in a set time frame, when stock levels had been in accurate, and on one occasion the company who installed our e-commerce site had to add an update - after, one link was broken which I didn't notice so I was made to do a forfeit for each day the link was broken on the site which my boss decided was 7 days.

2013/08/07

> > Is it OK what my boss is doing? > > > It's not appropriate for a boss to humiliate a worker - in private or in public. And if it's at the point where you feel concerned about being at work, then it's clearly NOT OK. Tell your boss "No" next time, and mean it. Don't let your boss guilt you into doing something that clearly bothers you. If it continues, quit.

Ask your boss to show you where in your agreement, you must be perfect? Are you being paid a perfect salary? Does your employment agreement perfectly fit with local labor laws? When he asks how you are going to pay him back for mistakes, tell him you're not. Now, what does he plan on doing about it? Continuing to bother you with these repayments is a waste of time and by taking even more of your time to do stupid things only increases the amount of your debt. He can replace you which would be doing you a favor. He can have a pound of flesh, but not one drop of blood.

I have been working for this couple of investors for around 18 months. The set up is, these two people will buy small online businesses and I will run these businesses from a single office. Currently I have 5 businesses to manage on my own. Around a year ago, my boss decided to come up with a forfeit scheme, every time I made a mistake he wanted me to do a forfeit. These were small mistakes, such as sending somebody the wrong invoice, or missing an item off of an order. These have only happened once. Initially the forfeits were along the line of doing some press-ups or sit-ups, etc, I wasn't bothered about this. However, my boss has been pressuring me to do worse forfeits, it gets to the point he just sits there and waits for me to agree, if I say I don't want to do a forfeit he'll say "you don't have to" so I say ok, then he says "but how are you going to make up for making a mistake", and eventually gets round to me doing a forfeit. More recently he has started to say he wants me to feel humiliated for making mistakes, and tries to get me to do humiliating forfeits. When he first started I felt ok with it, almost as if it was a good idea. The mistakes were/are not big enough for any serious action, but they are still mistakes so a small forfeit as punishment was incentive for me to double check and take more consideration with the work. But now, its got to the point where I feel uncomfortable, pressured into situations I really don't want to be in and its almost like my boss is making me do forfeits for his personal interest rather than to help the business. It's distracting when I am at work, it deters my concentration, I almost feel like I'm being bullied. Is it OK what my boss is doing? --- The following has been added since posting this question -------------------------------------------------------- To clarify I live in the UK. I'm the only permanent employee here, I work here alone for about 2-3 days a week the other days one of the investors may come in for a few hours. There have been 2 or 3 temporary employees and a few contractors who I would only speak to via email/telephone calls. It is only 1 of the 2 investors who is putting me in this situation. At one point the investor said just remember what happens at work stays at work, almost as if he didn't want me to tell the other investor or my friends. For those of you who say the examples aren't small mistakes, I work as a sole employee for 5 businesses - I do almost everything to manage these businesses including processing sales/orders which is in the 1000s some months, dealing with all customers/clients briefing contractors/meeting up with suppliers, producing website content and promotional material, reporting on sales/marketing, purchasing, forecasting, etc, the only areas I do not really have an input in is the legal and corporate finance. So in over 18 months, if the most serious error I made was amended by me apologizing to a customer and saying there will be a 1 day delay with half of their order, costing the company less than £7 in extra shipping fees, I do not think I have done anything majorly wrong. The investor has also made me do forfeits when I didn't respond to emails with in a set time frame, when stock levels had been in accurate, and on one occasion the company who installed our e-commerce site had to add an update - after, one link was broken which I didn't notice so I was made to do a forfeit for each day the link was broken on the site which my boss decided was 7 days.

2013/08/07

Ask your boss to show you where in your agreement, you must be perfect? Are you being paid a perfect salary? Does your employment agreement perfectly fit with local labor laws? When he asks how you are going to pay him back for mistakes, tell him you're not. Now, what does he plan on doing about it? Continuing to bother you with these repayments is a waste of time and by taking even more of your time to do stupid things only increases the amount of your debt. He can replace you which would be doing you a favor. He can have a pound of flesh, but not one drop of blood.

It seems to be a very toxic situation and i think there are concerns on your well-being here. There are some key questions that you need to think about - 1. Firstly you should but a stop to complying with his humiliating requests and make him aware of the toll it is taking on your ability to work there and your morale. 2. Does your boss have a boss or do you have a HR department ? You need to lodge a complaint there, so that this person could be held accountable 3. Having said that, reading “Around a year ago, after I had made a few mistakes, my boss decided to come up with a forfeit scheme” and “Initially the forfeits were along the line of doing some press-ups or sit-ups, etc, I wasn't bothered about this. However, my boss has been pressuring me to do worse forfeits, it gets to the point he just sits there and waits for me to agree” it seems like there is a cultural issue at your work where a. this type of "scheme" has acceptance, b. employees are forced to comply. Please think hard on whether you want to continue here and whether it is a problem only with that person or a general dysfunction of your workplace.

I have been working for this couple of investors for around 18 months. The set up is, these two people will buy small online businesses and I will run these businesses from a single office. Currently I have 5 businesses to manage on my own. Around a year ago, my boss decided to come up with a forfeit scheme, every time I made a mistake he wanted me to do a forfeit. These were small mistakes, such as sending somebody the wrong invoice, or missing an item off of an order. These have only happened once. Initially the forfeits were along the line of doing some press-ups or sit-ups, etc, I wasn't bothered about this. However, my boss has been pressuring me to do worse forfeits, it gets to the point he just sits there and waits for me to agree, if I say I don't want to do a forfeit he'll say "you don't have to" so I say ok, then he says "but how are you going to make up for making a mistake", and eventually gets round to me doing a forfeit. More recently he has started to say he wants me to feel humiliated for making mistakes, and tries to get me to do humiliating forfeits. When he first started I felt ok with it, almost as if it was a good idea. The mistakes were/are not big enough for any serious action, but they are still mistakes so a small forfeit as punishment was incentive for me to double check and take more consideration with the work. But now, its got to the point where I feel uncomfortable, pressured into situations I really don't want to be in and its almost like my boss is making me do forfeits for his personal interest rather than to help the business. It's distracting when I am at work, it deters my concentration, I almost feel like I'm being bullied. Is it OK what my boss is doing? --- The following has been added since posting this question -------------------------------------------------------- To clarify I live in the UK. I'm the only permanent employee here, I work here alone for about 2-3 days a week the other days one of the investors may come in for a few hours. There have been 2 or 3 temporary employees and a few contractors who I would only speak to via email/telephone calls. It is only 1 of the 2 investors who is putting me in this situation. At one point the investor said just remember what happens at work stays at work, almost as if he didn't want me to tell the other investor or my friends. For those of you who say the examples aren't small mistakes, I work as a sole employee for 5 businesses - I do almost everything to manage these businesses including processing sales/orders which is in the 1000s some months, dealing with all customers/clients briefing contractors/meeting up with suppliers, producing website content and promotional material, reporting on sales/marketing, purchasing, forecasting, etc, the only areas I do not really have an input in is the legal and corporate finance. So in over 18 months, if the most serious error I made was amended by me apologizing to a customer and saying there will be a 1 day delay with half of their order, costing the company less than £7 in extra shipping fees, I do not think I have done anything majorly wrong. The investor has also made me do forfeits when I didn't respond to emails with in a set time frame, when stock levels had been in accurate, and on one occasion the company who installed our e-commerce site had to add an update - after, one link was broken which I didn't notice so I was made to do a forfeit for each day the link was broken on the site which my boss decided was 7 days.

2013/08/07

> > Is it OK what my boss is doing? > > > It's not appropriate for a boss to humiliate a worker - in private or in public. And if it's at the point where you feel concerned about being at work, then it's clearly NOT OK. Tell your boss "No" next time, and mean it. Don't let your boss guilt you into doing something that clearly bothers you. If it continues, quit.

It seems to be a very toxic situation and i think there are concerns on your well-being here. There are some key questions that you need to think about - 1. Firstly you should but a stop to complying with his humiliating requests and make him aware of the toll it is taking on your ability to work there and your morale. 2. Does your boss have a boss or do you have a HR department ? You need to lodge a complaint there, so that this person could be held accountable 3. Having said that, reading “Around a year ago, after I had made a few mistakes, my boss decided to come up with a forfeit scheme” and “Initially the forfeits were along the line of doing some press-ups or sit-ups, etc, I wasn't bothered about this. However, my boss has been pressuring me to do worse forfeits, it gets to the point he just sits there and waits for me to agree” it seems like there is a cultural issue at your work where a. this type of "scheme" has acceptance, b. employees are forced to comply. Please think hard on whether you want to continue here and whether it is a problem only with that person or a general dysfunction of your workplace.

The answer to this is likely "It is not possible.", and from what I know about filesystems and storage, I would say the same thing. But, I thought I would try the great wisdom of SuperUser: I'm looking for a NAS device that will serve the same content over USB and via SMB. I have a device (let's call it the reader) which will read files from an external USB drive. I would like to attach a drive, but also make that drive writable across the network. The reader does not have a network port. I get that the reader considers the USB directly attached storage, so it partitions and formats it, while anything that served up the drive's content over the network (via SMB or something) is serving up file content and not a lower level storage device like the USB interface, and you'll end up with two different things having the filesystem mounted, which going to cause trouble.

2009/09/15

Basically, if I read you correctly, you want a Network Attached Storage device that allows you to access the data stored on it via USB and via an SMB network share simultaneously. To muse a bit more with you, I think it is possible. It may not actually exist out in the world (yet), but it is possible to build something that behaves this way I think. There is [this device on newegg](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817180005) that seems to do what you are talking about, but judging by reviews it may not do what you want. If you tried looking around, you might be able to find a way to repurpose a full-blown PC to both provide access to data on an internal hard-drive via both a USB connection and via SMB sharing. However, you might have to be creative with the USB side of things, as I doubt you could have the HDD available as mass storage coming from the PC, due to host/guest issues in USB. You could maybe have the HDD available over USB by using USB as a direct PC-to-PC connection system (kinda like PC-to-PC over parallel port, back in the day).

I've accepted sheepsimulator's answer. But I thought I would post my own just to get this out there. I've thought about this some more, and here's the only way I can imagine this working: Have a disk enclosure that has both a USB port and an Ethernet port. There's a bit of firmware in the enclosure the runs a webserver for configuration. The device has two modes, USB mode and NAS mode. You can switch between them with the web-based configuration (so the network port is always active, but SMB file sharing is not always active). To enter NAS mode, the device does a USB disconnect on it's USB port, the mounts the filesystem on the drive itself internally and starts the process to do SMB sharing. When switching to USB mode, the device shuts down the SMB process, unmounts the filesystem, then does a USB reconnect. Without actually trying this, it seems like this would work and not cause problems. Pretty much anything expecting to talk to a USB Mass Storage device will handle the hotplug/unplug gracefully, and most SMB clients are ok with the server going away. A slightly different (crazier?) version of this would be more automatic. Let's say USB mode is the default. When it's not doing anything else, it defaults to USB mode. The SMB sharing process is running, but because the USB side owns the drive there isn't a filesystem actually in place (yet). When an SMB request comes in that requires actual content, do the switch from USB to NAS like a described above. Maybe it stays in NAS mode for as long as there is some activity requiring SMB to access actual files within a configurable timeout. This would probably generate a ton of connect/disconnects for the USB side and I can imagine various PCs on the network accidentally indexing, pinging or otherwise unintentionally causing the NAS side to wakeup often. Huh, I want this to exist for cheap, but I can't imagine it would be cheap to produce. There's a bit of coding there.

The answer to this is likely "It is not possible.", and from what I know about filesystems and storage, I would say the same thing. But, I thought I would try the great wisdom of SuperUser: I'm looking for a NAS device that will serve the same content over USB and via SMB. I have a device (let's call it the reader) which will read files from an external USB drive. I would like to attach a drive, but also make that drive writable across the network. The reader does not have a network port. I get that the reader considers the USB directly attached storage, so it partitions and formats it, while anything that served up the drive's content over the network (via SMB or something) is serving up file content and not a lower level storage device like the USB interface, and you'll end up with two different things having the filesystem mounted, which going to cause trouble.

2009/09/15

Basically, if I read you correctly, you want a Network Attached Storage device that allows you to access the data stored on it via USB and via an SMB network share simultaneously. To muse a bit more with you, I think it is possible. It may not actually exist out in the world (yet), but it is possible to build something that behaves this way I think. There is [this device on newegg](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817180005) that seems to do what you are talking about, but judging by reviews it may not do what you want. If you tried looking around, you might be able to find a way to repurpose a full-blown PC to both provide access to data on an internal hard-drive via both a USB connection and via SMB sharing. However, you might have to be creative with the USB side of things, as I doubt you could have the HDD available as mass storage coming from the PC, due to host/guest issues in USB. You could maybe have the HDD available over USB by using USB as a direct PC-to-PC connection system (kinda like PC-to-PC over parallel port, back in the day).

I dont know if you ever solved this, but have a look at this, I just ordered one, had a similar requirement to you, I want to carry a pc around with me and thats it, and need to be able to easily share the data on it like a drive , such as AV progs or Hirens disc etc with other pc's <http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-Go-Link-PC-PC-Transfer-Network-Cable-Card-Reader-/120645125445?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item1c17028545>

The answer to this is likely "It is not possible.", and from what I know about filesystems and storage, I would say the same thing. But, I thought I would try the great wisdom of SuperUser: I'm looking for a NAS device that will serve the same content over USB and via SMB. I have a device (let's call it the reader) which will read files from an external USB drive. I would like to attach a drive, but also make that drive writable across the network. The reader does not have a network port. I get that the reader considers the USB directly attached storage, so it partitions and formats it, while anything that served up the drive's content over the network (via SMB or something) is serving up file content and not a lower level storage device like the USB interface, and you'll end up with two different things having the filesystem mounted, which going to cause trouble.

2009/09/15

Basically, if I read you correctly, you want a Network Attached Storage device that allows you to access the data stored on it via USB and via an SMB network share simultaneously. To muse a bit more with you, I think it is possible. It may not actually exist out in the world (yet), but it is possible to build something that behaves this way I think. There is [this device on newegg](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817180005) that seems to do what you are talking about, but judging by reviews it may not do what you want. If you tried looking around, you might be able to find a way to repurpose a full-blown PC to both provide access to data on an internal hard-drive via both a USB connection and via SMB sharing. However, you might have to be creative with the USB side of things, as I doubt you could have the HDD available as mass storage coming from the PC, due to host/guest issues in USB. You could maybe have the HDD available over USB by using USB as a direct PC-to-PC connection system (kinda like PC-to-PC over parallel port, back in the day).

It is not possiblwe. USB disk file-systems are managed by a host computer which is aware of blocks, allocations, which files are open, where they are, etc. It is just a block device. A NAS on the other hand maintains internal awareness of all of these factors and they won’t match the awareness of the computer that has attached the disk via a USB port. SANS do this sort of thing, but in different volumes or partitions. iSCSI is the SAN equivalent of USB.

The answer to this is likely "It is not possible.", and from what I know about filesystems and storage, I would say the same thing. But, I thought I would try the great wisdom of SuperUser: I'm looking for a NAS device that will serve the same content over USB and via SMB. I have a device (let's call it the reader) which will read files from an external USB drive. I would like to attach a drive, but also make that drive writable across the network. The reader does not have a network port. I get that the reader considers the USB directly attached storage, so it partitions and formats it, while anything that served up the drive's content over the network (via SMB or something) is serving up file content and not a lower level storage device like the USB interface, and you'll end up with two different things having the filesystem mounted, which going to cause trouble.

2009/09/15

I dont know if you ever solved this, but have a look at this, I just ordered one, had a similar requirement to you, I want to carry a pc around with me and thats it, and need to be able to easily share the data on it like a drive , such as AV progs or Hirens disc etc with other pc's <http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-Go-Link-PC-PC-Transfer-Network-Cable-Card-Reader-/120645125445?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item1c17028545>

I've accepted sheepsimulator's answer. But I thought I would post my own just to get this out there. I've thought about this some more, and here's the only way I can imagine this working: Have a disk enclosure that has both a USB port and an Ethernet port. There's a bit of firmware in the enclosure the runs a webserver for configuration. The device has two modes, USB mode and NAS mode. You can switch between them with the web-based configuration (so the network port is always active, but SMB file sharing is not always active). To enter NAS mode, the device does a USB disconnect on it's USB port, the mounts the filesystem on the drive itself internally and starts the process to do SMB sharing. When switching to USB mode, the device shuts down the SMB process, unmounts the filesystem, then does a USB reconnect. Without actually trying this, it seems like this would work and not cause problems. Pretty much anything expecting to talk to a USB Mass Storage device will handle the hotplug/unplug gracefully, and most SMB clients are ok with the server going away. A slightly different (crazier?) version of this would be more automatic. Let's say USB mode is the default. When it's not doing anything else, it defaults to USB mode. The SMB sharing process is running, but because the USB side owns the drive there isn't a filesystem actually in place (yet). When an SMB request comes in that requires actual content, do the switch from USB to NAS like a described above. Maybe it stays in NAS mode for as long as there is some activity requiring SMB to access actual files within a configurable timeout. This would probably generate a ton of connect/disconnects for the USB side and I can imagine various PCs on the network accidentally indexing, pinging or otherwise unintentionally causing the NAS side to wakeup often. Huh, I want this to exist for cheap, but I can't imagine it would be cheap to produce. There's a bit of coding there.

The answer to this is likely "It is not possible.", and from what I know about filesystems and storage, I would say the same thing. But, I thought I would try the great wisdom of SuperUser: I'm looking for a NAS device that will serve the same content over USB and via SMB. I have a device (let's call it the reader) which will read files from an external USB drive. I would like to attach a drive, but also make that drive writable across the network. The reader does not have a network port. I get that the reader considers the USB directly attached storage, so it partitions and formats it, while anything that served up the drive's content over the network (via SMB or something) is serving up file content and not a lower level storage device like the USB interface, and you'll end up with two different things having the filesystem mounted, which going to cause trouble.

2009/09/15

I dont know if you ever solved this, but have a look at this, I just ordered one, had a similar requirement to you, I want to carry a pc around with me and thats it, and need to be able to easily share the data on it like a drive , such as AV progs or Hirens disc etc with other pc's <http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-Go-Link-PC-PC-Transfer-Network-Cable-Card-Reader-/120645125445?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item1c17028545>

It is not possiblwe. USB disk file-systems are managed by a host computer which is aware of blocks, allocations, which files are open, where they are, etc. It is just a block device. A NAS on the other hand maintains internal awareness of all of these factors and they won’t match the awareness of the computer that has attached the disk via a USB port. SANS do this sort of thing, but in different volumes or partitions. iSCSI is the SAN equivalent of USB.

I'm working on a small website for a local church. The site needs to allow administrators to edit content and post new events/updates. The only "secure" information managed by the site will be the admins' login info and a church directory with phone numbers and addresses. How at risk would I be if I were to go without SSL and just have the users login using straight HTTP? Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but it's a small church and they need to save money wherever possible.

2009/05/18

Well, if you don't use SSL, you will always be at a higher risk for someone trying to sniff your passwords. You probably just need to evaluate the risk factor of your site. Also remember that even having SSL does not guarentee that your data is safe. It is really all in how you code it to make sure you provide the extra protection to your site. I would suggest using a one way password encryption algorythm and validate that way. Also, you can get SSL certificates really cheap, I have used Geotrust before and got a certification for 250.00. I am sure there are those out there that are cheaper.

Plain HTTP is vulnerable to sniffing. If you don't want to buy SSL certificates, you can use self-signed certificates and ask your clients to trust that certificate to circumvent the warning shown by the browser (as your authenticated users are just a few known admins, this approach makes perfect sense).

I'm working on a small website for a local church. The site needs to allow administrators to edit content and post new events/updates. The only "secure" information managed by the site will be the admins' login info and a church directory with phone numbers and addresses. How at risk would I be if I were to go without SSL and just have the users login using straight HTTP? Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but it's a small church and they need to save money wherever possible.

2009/05/18

In the scenario you describe regular users would be exposed to session hijacking and all their information would also be transferred "in the clear". Unless you use a trusted CA the administrators might be exposed to a Man-in-the-middle attack. Instead of a self-signed cert you might want to consider using a certificate from [CAcert](http://www.cacert.org/) and installing their root certs in the admin's browser.

Plain HTTP is vulnerable to sniffing. If you don't want to buy SSL certificates, you can use self-signed certificates and ask your clients to trust that certificate to circumvent the warning shown by the browser (as your authenticated users are just a few known admins, this approach makes perfect sense).

I'm working on a small website for a local church. The site needs to allow administrators to edit content and post new events/updates. The only "secure" information managed by the site will be the admins' login info and a church directory with phone numbers and addresses. How at risk would I be if I were to go without SSL and just have the users login using straight HTTP? Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but it's a small church and they need to save money wherever possible.

2009/05/18

Well, if you don't use SSL, you will always be at a higher risk for someone trying to sniff your passwords. You probably just need to evaluate the risk factor of your site. Also remember that even having SSL does not guarentee that your data is safe. It is really all in how you code it to make sure you provide the extra protection to your site. I would suggest using a one way password encryption algorythm and validate that way. Also, you can get SSL certificates really cheap, I have used Geotrust before and got a certification for 250.00. I am sure there are those out there that are cheaper.

In the scenario you describe regular users would be exposed to session hijacking and all their information would also be transferred "in the clear". Unless you use a trusted CA the administrators might be exposed to a Man-in-the-middle attack. Instead of a self-signed cert you might want to consider using a certificate from [CAcert](http://www.cacert.org/) and installing their root certs in the admin's browser.

I'm working on a small website for a local church. The site needs to allow administrators to edit content and post new events/updates. The only "secure" information managed by the site will be the admins' login info and a church directory with phone numbers and addresses. How at risk would I be if I were to go without SSL and just have the users login using straight HTTP? Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but it's a small church and they need to save money wherever possible.

2009/05/18

Since only your admins will be using the secure session, just use a self-signed certificate. It's not the best user experience, but it's better to keep that information secure.

In the scenario you describe regular users would be exposed to session hijacking and all their information would also be transferred "in the clear". Unless you use a trusted CA the administrators might be exposed to a Man-in-the-middle attack. Instead of a self-signed cert you might want to consider using a certificate from [CAcert](http://www.cacert.org/) and installing their root certs in the admin's browser.

I'm working on a small website for a local church. The site needs to allow administrators to edit content and post new events/updates. The only "secure" information managed by the site will be the admins' login info and a church directory with phone numbers and addresses. How at risk would I be if I were to go without SSL and just have the users login using straight HTTP? Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but it's a small church and they need to save money wherever possible.

2009/05/18

Since only your admins will be using the secure session, just use a self-signed certificate. It's not the best user experience, but it's better to keep that information secure.

Use HTTPS with a free certificate. [StartCom](http://cert.startcom.org/) is free, and included in by Firefox browsers; since only your administrators will be logging in, they can easily import the CA if they want to use IE. Don't skimp on security. Anecdotally, I have seen websites that sound similar to yours defaced just for kicks. It's something worth taking pains to avoid.

I'm working on a small website for a local church. The site needs to allow administrators to edit content and post new events/updates. The only "secure" information managed by the site will be the admins' login info and a church directory with phone numbers and addresses. How at risk would I be if I were to go without SSL and just have the users login using straight HTTP? Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but it's a small church and they need to save money wherever possible.

2009/05/18

Since only your admins will be using the secure session, just use a self-signed certificate. It's not the best user experience, but it's better to keep that information secure.

Plain HTTP is vulnerable to sniffing. If you don't want to buy SSL certificates, you can use self-signed certificates and ask your clients to trust that certificate to circumvent the warning shown by the browser (as your authenticated users are just a few known admins, this approach makes perfect sense).

I'm working on a small website for a local church. The site needs to allow administrators to edit content and post new events/updates. The only "secure" information managed by the site will be the admins' login info and a church directory with phone numbers and addresses. How at risk would I be if I were to go without SSL and just have the users login using straight HTTP? Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but it's a small church and they need to save money wherever possible.

2009/05/18

Use HTTPS with a free certificate. [StartCom](http://cert.startcom.org/) is free, and included in by Firefox browsers; since only your administrators will be logging in, they can easily import the CA if they want to use IE. Don't skimp on security. Anecdotally, I have seen websites that sound similar to yours defaced just for kicks. It's something worth taking pains to avoid.

Realistically, it's much more likely that one of the computers used to access the website will be compromised by a keylogger than the HTTP connection will be sniffed.

I'm working on a small website for a local church. The site needs to allow administrators to edit content and post new events/updates. The only "secure" information managed by the site will be the admins' login info and a church directory with phone numbers and addresses. How at risk would I be if I were to go without SSL and just have the users login using straight HTTP? Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but it's a small church and they need to save money wherever possible.

2009/05/18

Well, if you don't use SSL, you will always be at a higher risk for someone trying to sniff your passwords. You probably just need to evaluate the risk factor of your site. Also remember that even having SSL does not guarentee that your data is safe. It is really all in how you code it to make sure you provide the extra protection to your site. I would suggest using a one way password encryption algorythm and validate that way. Also, you can get SSL certificates really cheap, I have used Geotrust before and got a certification for 250.00. I am sure there are those out there that are cheaper.

Use HTTPS with a free certificate. [StartCom](http://cert.startcom.org/) is free, and included in by Firefox browsers; since only your administrators will be logging in, they can easily import the CA if they want to use IE. Don't skimp on security. Anecdotally, I have seen websites that sound similar to yours defaced just for kicks. It's something worth taking pains to avoid.

I'm working on a small website for a local church. The site needs to allow administrators to edit content and post new events/updates. The only "secure" information managed by the site will be the admins' login info and a church directory with phone numbers and addresses. How at risk would I be if I were to go without SSL and just have the users login using straight HTTP? Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but it's a small church and they need to save money wherever possible.

2009/05/18

Since only your admins will be using the secure session, just use a self-signed certificate. It's not the best user experience, but it's better to keep that information secure.

Realistically, it's much more likely that one of the computers used to access the website will be compromised by a keylogger than the HTTP connection will be sniffed.

I'm working on a small website for a local church. The site needs to allow administrators to edit content and post new events/updates. The only "secure" information managed by the site will be the admins' login info and a church directory with phone numbers and addresses. How at risk would I be if I were to go without SSL and just have the users login using straight HTTP? Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but it's a small church and they need to save money wherever possible.

2009/05/18

Use HTTPS with a free certificate. [StartCom](http://cert.startcom.org/) is free, and included in by Firefox browsers; since only your administrators will be logging in, they can easily import the CA if they want to use IE. Don't skimp on security. Anecdotally, I have seen websites that sound similar to yours defaced just for kicks. It's something worth taking pains to avoid.

Plain HTTP is vulnerable to sniffing. If you don't want to buy SSL certificates, you can use self-signed certificates and ask your clients to trust that certificate to circumvent the warning shown by the browser (as your authenticated users are just a few known admins, this approach makes perfect sense).

I am looking at establish a circuit allowing to detect when one or two wire are cut such as a tamper system. When the wire are cut it should signal this a GPIO. I suppose I need to use a transistor connected to GPIO but I have a bit some difficulty to see how.

2016/04/06

 [simulate this circuit](/plugins/schematics?image=http%3a%2f%2fi.stack.imgur.com%2fA8UqT.png) – Schematic created using [CircuitLab](https://www.circuitlab.com/) *Figure 1. GPIO normally pulled low by tamper loop. Cutting loop causes GPIO to be pulled high by R1.* C1 will help eliminate any noise on a long tamper loop.

An alternative to detecting change in voltage on the GPIO pin would be to use a dedicated [current loop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_loop) controller. There exists many [4–20mA](https://electronics.stackexchange.com/tags/4-20ma/info) control circuits that will have a indicator pin for when there is no current flowing which you can monitor.

I am looking at establish a circuit allowing to detect when one or two wire are cut such as a tamper system. When the wire are cut it should signal this a GPIO. I suppose I need to use a transistor connected to GPIO but I have a bit some difficulty to see how.

2016/04/06

 [simulate this circuit](/plugins/schematics?image=http%3a%2f%2fi.stack.imgur.com%2fA8UqT.png) – Schematic created using [CircuitLab](https://www.circuitlab.com/) *Figure 1. GPIO normally pulled low by tamper loop. Cutting loop causes GPIO to be pulled high by R1.* C1 will help eliminate any noise on a long tamper loop.

Pull up the GPIO externally to HIGH. Configure a cheap uC to trigger an interrupt when the pin value changes from HIGH->LOW.When you enter the ISR,you'l know that your circuit was tampered/cut. If you want to go a little further,you could use an [Event Monitor](http://www.nxp.com/documents/data_sheet/PCF2127.pdf) to capture such an event for you and log the time when it occurred. Note: The value of the wire must remain at a known value and not change/toggle. That is always HIGH. Or if you need to detect a LOW->HIGH,you can configure appropriately.

I am looking at establish a circuit allowing to detect when one or two wire are cut such as a tamper system. When the wire are cut it should signal this a GPIO. I suppose I need to use a transistor connected to GPIO but I have a bit some difficulty to see how.

2016/04/06

 [simulate this circuit](/plugins/schematics?image=http%3a%2f%2fi.stack.imgur.com%2fA8UqT.png) – Schematic created using [CircuitLab](https://www.circuitlab.com/) *Figure 1. GPIO normally pulled low by tamper loop. Cutting loop causes GPIO to be pulled high by R1.* C1 will help eliminate any noise on a long tamper loop.

It depends on what level of tampering you want to be able to detect. The minimum approach is described by transistor. Note that a clever tamperer can simply ground the top line, then cut the loop and perform mischief. A more robust system uses two pins. The processor drives one with different values, then checks the other to verify the new output value is detected. For extra credit, you make the values pseudo-random, like what comes from something like a CRC calculation. However, all this only describes the logic, not the real implementation. I would not just want to connect processor pins directly to external wires, especially when tampering is a possibility. At least any processor input should be protected. CMOS inputs are high impedance, and there is no reason to require high speed, so 100 kΩ or so between any external connection and a processor input is a good idea. Depending on the level of abuse you want to be able to live thru, you may want your own clamping or rely on the built-in clamping circuitry of the processor. The processor may not be specified to operate correctly with current thru its clamping circuitry, but it should survive. For good tamper resistance, I'd say that external lines should be able to tolerate being connected to whatever line power is where the device will be used. That means 120 VAC here in North America, for example.

I am looking at establish a circuit allowing to detect when one or two wire are cut such as a tamper system. When the wire are cut it should signal this a GPIO. I suppose I need to use a transistor connected to GPIO but I have a bit some difficulty to see how.

2016/04/06

An alternative to detecting change in voltage on the GPIO pin would be to use a dedicated [current loop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_loop) controller. There exists many [4–20mA](https://electronics.stackexchange.com/tags/4-20ma/info) control circuits that will have a indicator pin for when there is no current flowing which you can monitor.

It depends on what level of tampering you want to be able to detect. The minimum approach is described by transistor. Note that a clever tamperer can simply ground the top line, then cut the loop and perform mischief. A more robust system uses two pins. The processor drives one with different values, then checks the other to verify the new output value is detected. For extra credit, you make the values pseudo-random, like what comes from something like a CRC calculation. However, all this only describes the logic, not the real implementation. I would not just want to connect processor pins directly to external wires, especially when tampering is a possibility. At least any processor input should be protected. CMOS inputs are high impedance, and there is no reason to require high speed, so 100 kΩ or so between any external connection and a processor input is a good idea. Depending on the level of abuse you want to be able to live thru, you may want your own clamping or rely on the built-in clamping circuitry of the processor. The processor may not be specified to operate correctly with current thru its clamping circuitry, but it should survive. For good tamper resistance, I'd say that external lines should be able to tolerate being connected to whatever line power is where the device will be used. That means 120 VAC here in North America, for example.

I am looking at establish a circuit allowing to detect when one or two wire are cut such as a tamper system. When the wire are cut it should signal this a GPIO. I suppose I need to use a transistor connected to GPIO but I have a bit some difficulty to see how.

2016/04/06

Pull up the GPIO externally to HIGH. Configure a cheap uC to trigger an interrupt when the pin value changes from HIGH->LOW.When you enter the ISR,you'l know that your circuit was tampered/cut. If you want to go a little further,you could use an [Event Monitor](http://www.nxp.com/documents/data_sheet/PCF2127.pdf) to capture such an event for you and log the time when it occurred. Note: The value of the wire must remain at a known value and not change/toggle. That is always HIGH. Or if you need to detect a LOW->HIGH,you can configure appropriately.

It depends on what level of tampering you want to be able to detect. The minimum approach is described by transistor. Note that a clever tamperer can simply ground the top line, then cut the loop and perform mischief. A more robust system uses two pins. The processor drives one with different values, then checks the other to verify the new output value is detected. For extra credit, you make the values pseudo-random, like what comes from something like a CRC calculation. However, all this only describes the logic, not the real implementation. I would not just want to connect processor pins directly to external wires, especially when tampering is a possibility. At least any processor input should be protected. CMOS inputs are high impedance, and there is no reason to require high speed, so 100 kΩ or so between any external connection and a processor input is a good idea. Depending on the level of abuse you want to be able to live thru, you may want your own clamping or rely on the built-in clamping circuitry of the processor. The processor may not be specified to operate correctly with current thru its clamping circuitry, but it should survive. For good tamper resistance, I'd say that external lines should be able to tolerate being connected to whatever line power is where the device will be used. That means 120 VAC here in North America, for example.

So I have generic fantasy Human Empire, relatively Good folks, but mostly Orderly. Racially mostly homogeneous, some elves and dwarves are present, but 99% humans. And there is the Monster Empire, which is ruled by dragons, but has all kinds of naturally Evil monsters (and by Evil I mean DnD like alignments, so tangible Evil), from goblinoids to ogres and whatnot. Pre-Threat the two sides were in equilibrium: the monsters were never united enough to pose a significant threat to the otherwise also quite powerful Human Empire (lots of magic users and a strong army + various paramilitaristic organizations), and the Monster Empire is located in a hard to pass terrain, so a formal army's movements are extremely hindered. The monsters range from threat to only unskilled or old/wounded/ill/children to the mentioned dragons, which pose a significant threat to whole groups, though not unbeatable by any means. Border skirmishes were regular before the alliance. They both got undeniable proof that there is some Generic Threat that threatens the very existence of the world, and the lead dragon bands together with the Human King to stand togetherish against the threat. The world is a band of land from west to east, bound by mountains and waters. Monster Empire is to the west, Human Empire is in the middle, and the Threat comes from the east. The thing is, the threat is yet to materialize. What are some key points I would have to keep in mind when thinking about this? I would imagine the dragon would keep a sizable force in Human Empire, because of logistics, if the threat arrives (and they have no clear idea of how long it will take from the first actual sign to the invasion), they have to be there. So right now, there is a whole family of dragons (Evil, macho, aggressive), a good number of giant sized creatures (ogres, trolls, actual giants) and a sizable array of smaller goblionoids, orcs, kobolds and other cannon fodder. Is there any kind of historical reference for this? That might be a good basis for it, sans the Evil monsters part.

2018/10/02

The US and Britain worked with the USSR in WW2. ----------------------------------------------- It's not exactly like your scenario, though, since the US+Britain and USSR made Germany fight a three-front war whereas your scenario is a one-front war. More importantly, there were people in US+Britain who were deluded into thinking that the USSR was a Workers Paradise.

Continued from my comment... There's a TV show running just now, "Britannia", that tells a story (a story expanded and exaggerated for the sake of romance/theatrics) of the second attempt of the Roman empire to invade Britain. As the story is told (minor spoiler), **after the Romans establish a foothold, while considered to be demonic outsiders by one dominant tribe, they're still possible allies in an upcoming war against the other dominant tribe**. Both tribes are willing to "sleep with the devil" against the more hated devil they know. This kind of thing happened and was encouraged by the Roman Empire as it made its conquests, many times.

So, I'm playing this video game and I came across this sentence that uses "stem from" in an alien way to me. "Their zeal is admirable, but their ideas impractical for a society that must maintain secrecy and organization **to stem** its own genocide **from** coming about." I know that "stem from" means Originate from:(TFD source below) stem from (something) To come, result, or develop from something else. My fear of the water stems from the time my brother nearly drowned me when we were playing in our cousin's pool as kids. But this usage is different. It is as if it means "to prevent". There is one definition on TFD that sort of fits but it would have to be an abbreviated version of it. (TFD def) **stem the tide or stem the flow** COMMON If you stem the tide or stem the flow of something bad which is happening to a large degree, you start to control and stop it. *The authorities seem powerless to stem the rising tide of violence. The cut in interest rates has done nothing to stem the flow of job losses.* is it possible it is that meaning?

2021/11/10

Both are correct. But how? These sentences both use "unreal" grammar. The reason they're both correct will make more sense if we change them back to real sentences with the same meaning: > > (1) We **have been** able to come here because it isn't raining. > > > (2) We **were** able to come here because it wasn't raining. > > > Sentence (1) refers to the **present** situation of now being at the top of the mountain, and the **present** fact that it's not raining. Sentence (2) refers to the **past** situation of arriving at the top of the mountain with the **past** reason why. So it's two perspectives on the same thing: either (1) *now being* at the top of the mountain, or (2) *having arrived earlier*. I've highlighted the two main verbs. You'll notice they don't have the same tense, even though the original two sentences have the exact same structure\*. This is because when we shift present perfect or simple past into "unreal" grammar, *the result is the same*: *"could have" + past participle*. \*I've also replaced "couldn't" with "be able to" for grammar reasons which are unrelated to this question.

One does not say, "If it was..", but "If it were..." This is the subjunctive mood, used in stating a condition *known* to be false. [Tevye is grammatically correct](https://genius.com/Topol-if-i-were-a-rich-man-lyrics) asking, "If I were a rich man."

So, I'm playing this video game and I came across this sentence that uses "stem from" in an alien way to me. "Their zeal is admirable, but their ideas impractical for a society that must maintain secrecy and organization **to stem** its own genocide **from** coming about." I know that "stem from" means Originate from:(TFD source below) stem from (something) To come, result, or develop from something else. My fear of the water stems from the time my brother nearly drowned me when we were playing in our cousin's pool as kids. But this usage is different. It is as if it means "to prevent". There is one definition on TFD that sort of fits but it would have to be an abbreviated version of it. (TFD def) **stem the tide or stem the flow** COMMON If you stem the tide or stem the flow of something bad which is happening to a large degree, you start to control and stop it. *The authorities seem powerless to stem the rising tide of violence. The cut in interest rates has done nothing to stem the flow of job losses.* is it possible it is that meaning?

2021/11/10

Both are correct, it depends on the time. You say the second one, for instance, when you tell this memory to a friend a year later because it's the third conditional. It's explained on British Council Learn English website as; ''The third conditional is used to imagine a different past. We imagine a change in a past situation and the different result of that change.''

One does not say, "If it was..", but "If it were..." This is the subjunctive mood, used in stating a condition *known* to be false. [Tevye is grammatically correct](https://genius.com/Topol-if-i-were-a-rich-man-lyrics) asking, "If I were a rich man."

So, I'm playing this video game and I came across this sentence that uses "stem from" in an alien way to me. "Their zeal is admirable, but their ideas impractical for a society that must maintain secrecy and organization **to stem** its own genocide **from** coming about." I know that "stem from" means Originate from:(TFD source below) stem from (something) To come, result, or develop from something else. My fear of the water stems from the time my brother nearly drowned me when we were playing in our cousin's pool as kids. But this usage is different. It is as if it means "to prevent". There is one definition on TFD that sort of fits but it would have to be an abbreviated version of it. (TFD def) **stem the tide or stem the flow** COMMON If you stem the tide or stem the flow of something bad which is happening to a large degree, you start to control and stop it. *The authorities seem powerless to stem the rising tide of violence. The cut in interest rates has done nothing to stem the flow of job losses.* is it possible it is that meaning?

2021/11/10

The simple past ("was") is used to discuss possibilities. The past perfect ("had been") is used to discuss counterfactuals. That is, if you're uncertain about whether something happened, and want to discuss the consequences of it being the case, the simple past is appropriate. For instance, "If it was raining, they will be late". If you know something didn't happen, but want to discuss a hypothetical world in which it did happen, the past perfect is correct.

One does not say, "If it was..", but "If it were..." This is the subjunctive mood, used in stating a condition *known* to be false. [Tevye is grammatically correct](https://genius.com/Topol-if-i-were-a-rich-man-lyrics) asking, "If I were a rich man."