What is the difference between thickness and heavy stones?

Question: Thickness in Go describes a strong formation of stones.  A heavy group is one that's over-concentrated.  How do I know when my stones are thick, without going too far and becoming heavy?  It seems like this can happen in just a very few moves.  Are there any good tutorials that illustrate positions where a player turns a thick group into a heavy one?
Comment: This is addressed in most of the answers, but for future readers I want to point out here that "heavy" is quite different from "overconcentrated". See the answers for details.
Answer: You know your stones are thick when they form a safe group that secures some territory and/or build some influence, threatens to attack... or just give you some kind of advantage.
There is no official definition for "heavy stones", but I think the term was used instead of the term bad shape for a group of 5 stones or more.
In any case, if you have a group of stones all connected together that doesn't do much to secure some territory or reduce the opponent's, then you probably have a bad, heavy, over concentrated shape.
-----EDIT-----
To add to my answer, I found some good definitions and examples of heavy vs overconcentrated and heavy which might be useful to you.
Comment: Thanks for the explanation and the links.  The [Heavy Examples](http://senseis.xmp.net/?HeavyExamples) page shows that my notion of *heavy* wasn't complete, since stones can be considered heavy before they're even safe.
Comment: @BilltheLizard: Heavy stones are such because they are NOT safe. If they were, they'd be "thick."
Comment: @ TomAu, well, thick or overconcentrated. But @BilltheLizard, the reason it's called "heavy" is because it weighs you down when you're trying to run away, and of course you'd never run with a group that's already alive.
Answer: The terms thickness and influence are precisely defined and very easy to differentiate once you got the idea.
Influence simply refers to a group facing the center of the board.
If a group create influence and at the same time is already alive or can make eyes very easily is called thick. Note that a living group that is facing the edge of the board is not thick.
Distinguishing between thickness and heaviness or overconcentration is more difficult.
Heaviness refers to a group of many stones yet few eyespace. Typically, it is created by trying to save too many stones, or by playing bad shape.
Overconcentration is a different phenomenon and refers to cramped positions, typically hand in hand with a violation of the wall+1 rule. Overconcentrated positions tend to be extremely thick, far past the peak of efficiency.
Comment: todo: add diagrams
Answer: I'm no expert (10k on a good day) but if you follow the general rule of playing away from thickness you should be off to a good start. If you fail to play far enough away you could easily get over connected which could lead to a heavy group.
Answer: Thickness is indeed about the same as strength and comes with "eye potential" and "connectivity". We only speak of thickness in the context of outward influence, while strong enclosed groups or groups with limited potential for expansion are rather called "solid".
Most of the answers get this part right. But "heavy" is not at all the same as "overconcentrated".
Heavy stones are never thick: they may be large in number, but they lack eye potential, sometimes even making dumpling shapes. They are weak and vulnerable. More importantly, they are not easy to sacrifice, so they place a burden on the player.
Overconcentrated stones on the other hand can be and often are thick: if a player has created 3 or more eyes for his group, such investment was exaggerated, hence the stones are called overconcentrated.
Now if you start to fill all your eyes, turning it into a dumpling shape, a thick, overconcentrated group will become heavy indeed. But this would really be a novice mistake.
Next to that, it is imporant to understand that "being thick, heavy or overconcentrated" can be an aspect of a local group, but also of the entire distribution of stones. "Black is thick" means there are no easy ways to attack him. "White is heavy" means White has lots of burden. "Black is overconcentrated" means he has invested too much in a few areas.
Answer: Thickness and heavy stones are "similar," insofar as they involve a large number of stones. But there the similarity ends, because thick and heavy groups function differently.
Thick stones are those that you want to drive your opponent toward, because they are secure, meaning that your opponent's relatively few stones will suffer in the presence of your many.
Heavy stones are sometimes referred to as "dangos" or "clumps," awkward, insecure groups of stones that are easily chased by your opponent's stones, even if fewer. They are stones you'd rather have your opponent stay away from.
Occasionally, if a group of thick stones have suddenly lost their "eye space" or foundation, they can become heavy. On the other hand, a heavy group with new-found eyes can become thick.


Malt flavor profiles

Question: Does anyone know a good comprehensive resource to compare different base and specialty grains and their resulting flavor profiles?
Answer: I agree with brewchez. But, here's a good listing if you still want it.
http://byo.com/resources/grains
Answer: Everyone's palate is different and the subtleties between the malts will be different person to person.
I recommend planning out several mini batches and mini mashes of just the base malts to really get into it.  I'd also say that making a big batch of simple extra light extra malt and steeping 0.5-0.75 lbs of specialty malts in one gallon batches to get a library of specialty malt flavors going too.
I've been brewing for >12 years and everytime I taste a malt closely, I seem to have a different take on it then what I have just read about it alone.

Malt flavor profiles


Metabolic Equivalancies

Question: From what I've read, the MET for moderate intensity activities is between 3 and 6, walking 3 mph being 3.3 for example.  It seems to me that this number must vary from person to person.  Is there a way for me to calculate my MET for, say, walking 3 mph based on a percentage of max heart rate or, say an estimate of VO2 max?
Answer: You can make an estimate using your VO2 max. If you don't have access to a lab to get it measured, you can estimate it using a couple of different formulae.

VO2 = 15 x (max hr/resting hr)
VO2 = (d12 - 505) / 45, where d12 is distance covered in meters in 12 minutes of running.

Once you have your VO2 max, divide it by 3.5 to get the mets that number represents. That's your max mets achievable, so if you are running at 70% of maximum, you're working at 70% maximum mets.
So, for example last time I took a max HR (After running hill intervals) I was at 193, and my resting HR was around 50 at the time. This gives me 3.86 x 15 = theoretical VO2 max of 57.9, which gives me a mets of 16.5 for that workload.
My last race pace was 7:00 mile pace for 5 miles, which gives me 2759 meters for 12 minutes. 2759 - 500 = 2259 / 45 = puts my theoretical VO2 at 50.2, so you can see that it's not really an easy number to estimate. I'd probably avg the two and go with a VO2 of 54ish. That would give me a theoretical max met workload of 15.4 mets.

Metabolic Equivalancies


How to solve this conditional probability problem?

Question: A bus arrives at a station every day at a random time between 1 PM and 1:30 PM. A person arrives at this station at 1 and waits for the bus. If at 1:15 the bus has not yet arrived, what is the probability that the person will have to wait at least an additional 5 minutes?
Answer: Assuming the probability distribution is uniform, the probability is $2/3$. The bus didn't come until 1:15, therefore there's now an uniform distribution over the remaining quarter hour. Due to the uniform distribution, for each $5$ minute interval the probability is the same. Thus the bus has a probability of $1/3$ to arrive in the first $5$ minutes of the probability, and $2/3$ in the remaining $10$ minutes. Only in the latter case the person will have to wait at least another $5$ minutes.
Answer: P(the person will have to wait at least an additional 5 minutes|bus hasn't arrived at 1:15)
=P(bus arrive at 1:20-1:30|bus hasn't arrived at 1:15)
=P(bus arrive at 1:20-1:30 & bus hasn't arrived at 1:15)/P(bus hasn't arrived at 1:15)
=P(bus arrive at 1:20-1:30)/P(bus hasn't arrived at 1:15)
=(1/3)/(1/2)
=2/3
Answer: "Random" is imprecise, the probability distribution of the arrival times has not been specified. We are presumably expected to assume, unreasonably, that number $T$ of minutes elapsed after $1$ o'clock until the arrival of the bus has uniform distribution over the interval $[0,30]$.
Let $A$ be the event $T\gt 20$ and $B$ be the event $T\gt 15$. We want $\Pr(A|B)$.
By the usual formula, we have
$$\Pr(A|B)=\frac{\Pr(A\cap B)}{\Pr(B)}.$$
We have $\Pr(A\cap B)=\Pr(A)=\frac{10}{30}$. Similarly, $\Pr(B)=\frac{15}{30}$.
Remark: There is a better informal way of arriving at the answer. However, the more general machinery we used above can be of great help in more complicated situations.


What's going to be new for Ubuntu 11.04?

Question: I haven't been able to find information about Ubuntu 11.04. Is it already decided what's going to go into Natty Narwhal?
Answer: Others have pointed out the uds-n sprint page already, so I will concentrate on answering information on how best to determine what might be in 11.04
We have a remote participation page so that users can follow along with the sessions. Every session on the schedule will have a corresponding IRC channel and a live audio stream.
For certain sessions that we think might be interesting to users we publish video proceedings of the sessions for each UDS, along with the plenary presentations. This should give you an idea of the process that Ubuntu developers use to select features for 11.04.
Once the blueprints are selected you can monitor the burndown charts (broken down by person and team) to see how progress of your favorite feature is coming along.
Answer: It is very early in the release cycle so not much has been decided about the next release. You can see the planned features in the 11.04 blueprints page on launchpad.
Most of the details of the changes will be decided in the Ubuntu Developers' Summit (UDS-N). It will start on the 25th of October and finish on the 29th. It is being held at the Caribe Royal in Orlando, Florida, USA.
As usual, videos of the UDS will be posted online and there will be IRC channels allowing you to join in with the discussion.
Answer: While still celebreting the birth of Maverick, maybe its too early to answer this question. Ubuntu Developer Summit will be held on 25-29 October and thet have a busy agenda: https://launchpad.net/sprints/uds-n/+specs We need some time and patience, I think.
Answer: Many shiny new things.
That's about as specific as anybody can be at the moment because even if somebody could say what they'd like to pull in or upgrade, chances are there still needs to be some development work.
But one major thing I will mention: 10.10 was supposed to be the first gnome-shell based release. Gnome v3 didn't make it out on time and they pushed back for March 2011... So there is a good possibility that Gnome 3 might make it into 11.04.
Whether or not gnome-shell becomes the default desktop manager is a completely different question that probably only the design team can answer.
Answer: Some time ago I read that a new sound theme was probably being made. Here: http://mikebuntu.blogspot.com/2010/08/ubuntu-needs-new-sound-theme.html
That's all I know, though...


My battery is not charged. The only way to operate is to plug the computer in

Question: My battery says 0% charge, there is no x over my battery icon. The MacBook runs fine on corded power but dies as soon as I unplug.  What could be the problem?
Answer: Is your MacBook a plastic one made before 2008? Did you buy a new charger for it at some point after 2008? If so, the issue could be an outdated System Management Controller (SMC).
For some reason, the SMC's in the pre-'08 MacBooks will not allow charging via a Magsafe cable made after 2008. It will run off of it, but it will not charge.
Fortunately, Apple has a patch. Download the SMC firmware updated located here, and your MacBook should start charging from the newer charger.
Comment: +1, good info, wasn't aware that some older machines had this issue.
Answer: This can be one of two things.

Battery

Your battery could be dead. Check this by going to the system profiler and click on power, this will give you information on the health of your battery, and how many charge cycles it has done. Take a look at the 'Full Charge Capacity' if this is below 1,000 then there is a problem, if teh battery doesn't charge at all the value is likely to be at 0. If this is the case you can buy a new battery at http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/power

Logic Board

If the battery is in good shape then the next diagnosis to look at is your logic board (motherboard) if the connection has in someway been damaged, this can happen from a drop, overheating, burning out a connection, water, the list goes on. But effictly the battery isn't recieving power. Try using the MacBook without the battery in . if it is a logic board issue this can be expensive around £450 or $600


1 or -1 as an eigenvalue of graph

Question: I have a regular and arc transitive graph which I think that either 1 or -1 is an eigenvalues of adjacency matrix of this graph. How can I prove it? Is there any classification of graphs which have 1 or -1 as an eigenvalue? Is there any paper related to this problem?
Comment: The simplest way to show that some number is an eigenvalue is to produce the eigenvector. The second-simplest, if you have the adjacency matrix, is to stuff it into something like sage and compute the factored characteristic polynomial. If you graph is given as a Cayley graph (for example) and is too large for the above strategies, you may be out of luck because then your problem is NP-hard
Comment: To continue Chris's comment, if you compute the eigenvector of $\pm 1$ in some small examples, you might see a pattern that you can generalize.  Note that an eigenvector permuted according to a group element is also an eigenvector, so probably there will be an eigenvector with not many different entry values.  Perhaps one which is constant on the blocks of a block system of the group.
Comment: Many thanks for your answers. Yes, it is cayley graph, and it is too large.
Comment: Tell us more about the graph and group. Are there elements of low order? What is their action on the group like?
Comment: What is "too large"? There are some pretty good packages out there.
Comment: I recall there was a paper by Babai where he related eigenvalues of Cayley graphs with characters of underlying groups:  Babai, László Spectra of Cayley graphs. J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 27 (1979), no. 2, 180–189.
Answer: The paper Babai, László. Spectra of Cayley graphs. J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 27 (1979), no. 2, 180–189 gives a "formula" for the eigenvalues $\lambda_k$ of the Cayley graphs:
a Vandermonde system of equations, as below, with right-hand sides $r_t$ dependent on values of the irreducible characters of the group on the generators of the Cayley graph.
$\lambda_1+...+\lambda_k=r_1$
$\lambda_1^2+...+\lambda_k^2=r_2$
...
$\lambda_1^t+...+\lambda_k^t=r_t$
...
Answer: first (trivial) answer: the spectrum of a bipartite graph is symmetric wrt to 0; hence, +1 is an eigenvalue iff -1 is an eigenvalue.
second (trivial) answer: an individual edge has eigenvalue +1 (and hence also -1).
further (much less trivial) answers: take a look at this article by chan and godsil, where several conditions answering your questions are presented, e.g. at page 76. in a slightly different version you can find on the internet (google is your friend), the same authors show that -1 is an eigenvalue if the graph has a perfect 1-code. also, in this monograph you can find some relevant information, e.g. the observation that +1 is an eigenvalue of so-called collinearity graphs.
Answer: If you only know that the graph is regular then the common degree is an eigenvalue with the all $1$'s vector as an eigenvector. Eigenvectors for any other eigenvalue have entries which add to $0$, but if regularity is all that you have, then it might be that I assure you (truthfully) that $1$ (or some other number) is an eigenvalue and even that it has a particularly simple eigenvector and yet it would be very hard for you to prove it.
If the graph has a particularly simple structure with high symmetry then it might be easy to find eigenvectors. Think of an eigenvector for $\lambda$ as a decoration of each vertex $u$ with a weight $w(u)$ so that the neighbors of $u$ have weights which add to $\lambda w(u).$  Call $u$ a $k$-vertex if $w(u)=k$
Negative Example Let me try to make a graph regular of degree $3$ with $1$ as a hidden eigenvalue. Here is a simple attempt with a slightly more complicated one at the end:   Start with two groups of $m$ vertices labelled $1$ and $m$ labeled $-1$. Connect each one to two with the same label and one with the other (so cover each set with cycles of various sizes and have a random matching across.)  I think that you might have a hard time finding my eigenvector (or any other for eigenvalue $1$), even If I gave you all the information above. You would just have to find the right split into two $m$ vertex halves but there are many possibilities. If I am wrong, then some similar flavor construction might be very hard. I give a more complicated one at the end.
Positive examples In the other direction let us think of some nice graphs which might have $1$ as an eigenvalue. What about a cycle? Maybe we could have entries $0,1,-1$ with each $0$-vertex connected to $[-1,1]$ and each $x$-vertex connected to $[0,x]$ for $x=\pm 1$. That is easy to acheive if there are $3m$ vertices. How about a cube? Maybe weights $1,-1$ with each $x$-vertex connected to $[x,x,-x].$ Also easy. Similar things can be attempted for other $3$-regular graphs with an even number of vertices. This is basically my negative example except that a graph automorphism might make a good split obvious.
Another attempt at a hidden eigenvector: I'll start with no edges but $2a+2b+2c$ decorated vertices: $a$ each $\pm 1$, $b$ each $\pm 3$, $c$ each $\pm 9.$ A $3$-vertex  five possible neighbor configurations: $[1,1,1],[1,-1,3],[3,3,-3],[3,9,-9],[-3,-3,9]$. A $9$-vertex has four: $[1,-1,9],[3,-3,9],[9,9,-9],[3,3,3]$ and a $1$-vertex also has four: $[1,1,-1],[1,3,-3],[1,9,-9],[-1,-1,3].$ So throw in a healthy number of each with no apparent pattern. This can be done randomly then adjusted (if you fail, start over.) Or we could specify feasible counts for the $18$ or $36$ possible four vertex stars and work from there.

1 or -1 as an eigenvalue of graph


Acceptable marror species

Question: The Mishnah in Pesachim 39a lists five types of vegetables that can be used for marror. Where did the Sages derive this list from? Is it some kind of Halachah L'Moshe MiSinai, or Chazal figured out that these species best fit the description of מרורים stated in the Torah, or some other reasoning?
Answer: I can't quite answer your question, but this could get you started:
A. Depending on how you translate the items listed in the Mishna and Gemara there, they may all be members of the composite/lettuce/daisy family. (The one that stands out like a sore thumb is horseradish, which Rabbi Hershel Welcher admitted does not fit according to modern-day analysis of the Gemara; he uses mostly romaine, with a touch of horseradish for nostalgia's sake. The Talmudic "tamcha" came to mean "horseradish" in Hebrew by the 1500s, but it's far less than clear that's what the Talmud was referring to.) So there was likely a tradition "anything in this family with these properties." It may really have been one tradition, not five separate ones.
B. See this mp3 from Rabbi Aharon Kahn. The Gemara talks about how to identify the Four Species (lulav etc.); once it's narrowed it down to one or two, it disqualifies one of them as it has sharp barbs that would injure your hand when holding it; if there are two equally reasonable interpretations, we assume, based on the principle of "the Torah's ways are pleasant", that it's the less-painful one. Now one could look at that whole Gemara and ask to what degree Chazal are simply validating their tradition of the identity of the Four Species, or if this is the derivation. I don't know the subject well; but it may be related to the question of how halachic "derashot" work, on which some Gaonim held it's entirely tradition, and Rambam held it's entirely derivation. Some ask that a barbed plant was not disqualified from the marror list; Chasam Sofer answers brilliantly that you have a choice of bitter herbs. If the Torah is obligating you to take a kapot temarim, it stands the reason the Torah isn't demanding you tear your skin (unless we're told otherwise). But if the Torah says "eat any of these plants; most of them are not scratchy", and you want to choose to make yourself miserable and do the scratchy one? That's your prerogative!

Acceptable marror species


At what temperature should monkfish be prepared?

Question: At what internal temperature should you aim for monkfish to be properly cooked? According to this recipe, it should be at 145F (63ºC). Does anybody know a temperature chart for fish in general?
FYI I just found this and this reference.
Answer: To be perfectly honest with you, in all my years of cooking in kitchens I never took the temp of the fish.  It was always by feel and look.  Yes, I know that the gov't has guidelines that say 145F for fish but really when it comes down to it, if you have an 8oz cut of salmon/cod/monk in the pan, sticking an instant read into the middle won't do you much good.  (Caveat: If it was a salmon Wellington I would shoot for 130F as it's a fully enclosed package that you can't feel for doneness)
The thickness of the cut will make a huge difference in when you should pull it out as you get post-oven cooking during resting in which the heat continues to heat the core of the flesh up to a final cooked temperature.  That's why most chefs will take the roast out at a rare measured temp when they are shooting for a med rare serving state.
If your question is what state should monk fish be served, IE  med rare (like salmon) or rare ( like tuna) then I would say med-rare is your best bet.  Over cooking is a bad thing for monk fish and it goes from a lovely moist state to dry nastiness really quick.  A nice way to cook it that helps to give you a little move wiggle room when cooking it is to wrap it in Parma ham (prosciutto).  The little extra wrapping tastes great but also gives you a little bit of buffer as you get close to that magical temperature of doneness.
Hope it helps.
Comment: One important point with regard to the poaching temperature: You don't want the temperature of the poaching liquid to be over the desired temperature of the fish.


Creating shapefiles using Java and Accumulo

Question: I have tracking data with latitude and longitude stored in an Accumulo database table.  We want to move toward using Geoserver for some layer display features on the client side.  Right now I'm looking through the Python script project that will generate shape files.  I'm wondering if anyone has other suggestions on ways I can get down to the basic functions needed to take Lat/Long trails and convert them to shapefiles for geoserver to pick up.
Answer: We've taken the approach of implementing WMS and WFS plugins for Geoserver that allow it to be backed by Accumulo.  That way, you can persist your data in one location and access it via OGC standards like WMS/WFS.  As far as converting points to linestrings, depending on the schema of your Accumulo tables, you can use either server side iterators to collect the data into linestrings at query time or you can use aggregators that collect the points into linestrings at ingest time.  This approach leverages the distributed processing capabilities of Accumulo.


What is curried tapenade?

Question: I have just watched the A-Team film and B.A. seems to have an obsession with something called Curried Tapenade? My experience of Tapenade is that it's a Olive based dish and making a curried version sounds horrible. Does anyone who what Curried Tapenade actually is?
Comment: Does anyone know where I can get a real light-saber? I saw these in a movie once. My plastic one makes cool noises but cannot actually cut someone's hand off. Halp! :-D
Comment: Are they talking about the bastardized English definition of curry or the Indian origin of the word?
Answer: It is a joke. Coconut curry tapenade with toast points is ridiculous to begin with, and it is intended to be funny that a big burly man craves something that is supposed to sound dainty? or elegant?
I'm sure you can quite possibly make a dish and call it this. However, I can't imagine olives, coconut milk, and curry tasting very good.
Comment: A CHALLENGE HAS BEEN ISSUED. I will report back with results. (I agree that viscerally it sounds kinda gross... but if you look at the olives as more of a vehicle for salt and acid, suddenly it begins to make sense.)
Comment: @daniel So much win! :'D Do post your results in this thread.
Answer: Ingredients (per a person) ;
20 drained, anchovy stuffed green olives
5-10 drained capers
5mm tubed ground garlic
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tsp curry powder
4 Tbsp coconut milk powder
fish sauce to taste
4 twigs of fresh parsley
3 leaves of red chicory
2 slices of bread (& butter) [or chips]
Directions ;
1. Place the olives, capers, garlic and olive oil into a blender or food processor; pulse to mince.
2. Add the curry powder and coconut milk powder. Blend until smooth.
3. Season to taste with fish sauce.
4. Mix chopped fresh parsley.
5. Scrape the paste onto a dish. Stand chicory at the center.
6. Toast the bread. Spread butter and cut into the triangles.
Answer: The origin of the word curry basically meant a sauce meant for service of rice. The bastardized english variant generally means smothering meat and rice in a sauce made from curry powder.
A tapenade is a seasoned paste of olives, capers, and anchovies.
So it could be simply tapenade that has been adjusted in texture and intensity to be used over rice, or it could mean that it is tapenade with curry powder added. Or it could just be a fancy name of a dish that the screenwriter thought would impress the movie audience.
Comment: Yeah, I think hobodave has it right, just a dumb joke.
Answer: Murdock was also known for mixing ingredients, such as the Anti-freeze marinade with gun powder seasoning for steaks, so chances are it's something odd that he came up with and BA happens to love. BA also likes his steaks "burnt, like it was damned" so maybe their tastes are strange but similar.

What is curried tapenade?


What is the relationship between Monster CR and player level

Question: I haven't run a dnd game in a few years and a couple of my PC's want to apply some monster templates to their starting characters.  Is player level directly proportional to Monster CR?
IE: If we want to start the players at lvl 10, and the monster template is CR 5, would the players start at level 5?
Answer: No.
A CR (Challenge Rating) is calculated assuming all of the creature's powers are crowded into a single encounter. Player characters get to spread those powers out over the course of an entire campaign... Allowing them to utilize the powers to greater effect.
The number you're looking for is the monster's Level Adjustment. The character's total level ends up as: Level Adjustment + Monster Hit Dice + Levels in a character class.
More information can be found in the SRD: Monsters As Races
Answer: No. According to both the DMG(3.5e) and the MM the CR corresponds to a party of equal level. That is to say, a CR-5 creature/encounter should be a moderate challenge for a party of four 5th-level characters. Assuming the characters are fresh going into the battle and come out the other side a bit battered. XP awards are adjusted by the difference between the party's level and the CR of the creature/encounter. (See table 2-6 of the DMG(3.5e). By this table your 10th-level party would receive 500 xp for a CR-5 encounter where the 5th-level party would receive 1,500 XP.)
Things to remember:
 - Essentially the CR has a direct relationship to the level of the party as a whole, not any individual character.
 - The CR is based on a four-member party. The CR needs to be adjusted for parties of varied size.
 - The CR assumes that the party is in top shape and not yet worn down by previous battles.
Comment: The Cr to party relationship can easily be seen in the table on this site. http://www.d20srd.org/extras/d20encountercalculator/


Are there any implications to having a large number of document versions?

Question: One of my users has a 5MB documents with 64 versions. This seems a little excessive and I can easily trim it to x number but I wanted to know for my own benefit, are there any real implications for a having a large number of versions for a document?
Answer: Storage space. It's a good practice to use site quotas to manage growth. When you have versioning and don't have limits, each version adds additional storage as Sharepoint is making a copy of the original. In one document library, I had seen a file with 197 versions with no finite limit set. this one small file accounted for nearly 500 MB against the site quota.
Answer: Size. That one 5MB file is taking up 320MB + (metadata x 64). It can potentially consume a lot of space if that happens several times. If your databases get too large, then it gets more difficult to manage from the back end (backups take longer, restores take longer, have to consider moving DBs to new disk drives as space runs out).
Answer: Upto maximum of 400,000 Major versions supported for a single file as per Microsoft documentation
However, size is what matters most! At the moment, the default maximum file size is 50 MB but it can be increased up to 2 GB. However a large volume of very large files can affect farm performance (see the chart below). But, for the scenarios where files (unstructured) data is 1 MB or larger and fast read access is desired then you may plan to use the Remote Blog storage.
Answer: In SharePoint 2010 and earlier, each version increases the storage used on the database by the amount of the file size whether the file is changed or not.
It's worth pointing out that Microsoft identifies this as a shortcoming in SharePoint versions previous to the recently released SharePoint 2013. In SharePoint 2013, new technology being dubbed Shredded Storage is touted as overcoming this document version file size explosion. Only differences should be stored with new document versions in the new product when Shredded Storage is enabled (the default on-premises.)


How to configure Google Now's notification time?

Question: Currently Google Now notifies me 10 minutes before I need to leave the house for an appointment (taking traffic into consideration). How do I change the notification time to some other value?
Answer: The default reminder time is actually based on your calendar. If you open your calendar, open Settings, and select General settings, "Default reminder time" is near the bottom (I'm working from Cyanogenmod 10, but AOSP/Nexus devices should be similar).  This controls the general notification time. The Now functionality is separate, and (from what I understand) is based entirely on travel time. If your appointment has a destination that Google recognizes, it will calculate travel time and pop up a card far enough ahead to allow you to meet that travel time and arrive on time. I'm not positive if it factors in your reminder time into this or not, but it's possible that it is. If that's the case, it will notify you 10 minutes + travel time currently, and if you modify the calendar notification time, it should modify the Now notification time. Again, this is speculation based on how I understand Now to function, but I believe it's fairly accurate based on my experience.
Answer: The default reminder time is pulled from the Calendar's settings, if you tap the event to open it in the calendar editing screen after it's been recognized by Google.  However, if you just tap "Create Event" after it's been recognized without reviewing it (as mentioned above), it will default to 15 minutes.  This is on a Razr Maxx HD, Verizon, ICS.


proving there exists an integer $ k$ such that $ak^2+bk+c\equiv 0 \pmod{2^n}$ by induction

Question: $n$ is a given positive integer.
how to prove  by using mathematical induction that there exists an integer $ k$ such that $ak^2+bk+c\equiv 0 \pmod{2^n}$, where $b$ is odd and at least one of $a, c$ is even
Answer: First check directly that the result holds for $n=1$.
We do the induction step.  Let  $x$ be an integer such that
$$ax^2+bx+c\equiv 0\pmod{2^{n-1}}.$$
We would like to show that there is an integer $y$ such that $ay^2+by+c\equiv 0\pmod{2^n}$.
If $2^n$ already divides $ax^2+bx+c$, we are finished.  So we need only worry about the case where $ax^2+bx+c\equiv 2^{n-1}\pmod{2^n}$.
Try for a $y$ of the shape $x+t$. So we want
$$a(x+t)^2+b(x+t)+c\equiv 0\pmod{2^n}.$$
But $ax^2+bx+c\equiv 2^{n-1}\pmod{p}$. So we want the difference
$$[a(x+t)^2+b(x+t)+c]-[ax^2+bx+c]$$
to be congruent to $2^{n-1}$ modulo $2^n$. That is, we want to choose $t$ so that
$$a(2xt+t^2)+bt\equiv 2^{n-1}\pmod{2^n}.$$
Note that $t=2^{n-1}$ works, since $b$ is odd and $2t$ and $t^2$ are each divisible by $2^n$.
Answer: Preliminary. We have $x\mid \big(f(x+h)-f(h)\big)$ in polynomial rings (set $x=0$ to see), so
$$\begin{array}{c l} f(x+h)& =f(x)+h\frac{f(x+h)-f(x)}{h} \\
& =f(x)+hg(x,h) \\
& =f(x)+hg(x,0)+h^2\frac{g(x,h)-g(x,0)}{h}.\end{array}$$
Hence if $h^2\equiv0\bmod \ell$, we get $f(x+h)\equiv f(x)+hf\,'(x)\bmod \ell$.
Thus $f(k+2^n)\equiv f(k)+b2^n\bmod 2^{n+1}$. Using $ab\mid ac\iff b\mid c$ with $a=2^n$, we obtain
$$\begin{cases} 2^{n+1}\mid f(k) & \iff &  2\mid \frac{f(k)}{2^n} \\[5pt] 2^{n+1}\mid f(k)+b2^n & \iff & 2\mid \frac{f(k)}{2^n}+b. \end{cases}$$
Remember $b$ is odd, so one of $\displaystyle\frac{f(k)}{2^n}$ or $\displaystyle\frac{f(k)}{2^n}+b$ is even.


How can I counter enemies with Riot Shields in Mass Effect 3

Question: What are the best ways to deal with enemies using full body shields in Mass Effect 3?
I've resorted to grenades, but are there any good powers to get these guys off balance?
Comment: Maybe it's just coming from MW3 where riot shields are prevalent, but I just aim for the feet :)
Comment: There's a lovely slit at exactly eye height. Bring a heavy pistol and rack up those Mail Slot kills.
Answer: Pull - Grabs the shield out of an enemy's hands, leaving them exposed.
Stasis Bubble - Stasis Bubble (level 6 stasis upgrade) will cause an enemy to drop their shield. Sometimes they seem to block the initial hit, but as soon as they move at all, they get caught in the bubble trap and the shield falls.
Armor Piercing Ammo / Piercing Mods / Widow, Black Widow, and Javelin Sniper Rifles - Ammo, mods, and weapons that provide an armor-piercing capability allow you to fire THROUGH a riot shield (and other light cover). The M-98 Widow, Black Widow, and Javelin sniper rifles have armor-piercing rounds by default (no ammo or mods necessary). In multiplayer, armor-piercing rounds can be purchased at the store and equipped on the "Equipment" screen.
Well-Aimed Headshots - The Cerberus Guardian's riot shield has a view slit right at head level, and you can shoot through the slit and score headshots if you've got good aim and an accurate weapon. The "Mail Slot" achievement/trophy is awarded for killing 10 guardians in this fashion.
Singularity - If you aim above or to the side of an enemy holding a shield, sometimes you can get a singularity to "curve" and hit the enemy from the side or behind, avoiding their shield. The enemy will drop their shield if they are caught in the singularity. It's a little tricky, and doesn't work in all situations, but with some practice it can be effective.
Forceful Attacks - Many special powers will cause an enemy with a shield to stumble and lower the shield temporarily, giving you a window of opportunity to shoot them while their shield isn't blocking them. Includes, but is not limited to: Throw, Shockwave, Charge, Nova, Concussive Shot, etc...
Flank / Combat Drone - If you and a teammate can flank a enemy with a shield, one of you should have a clear shot - The shield only faces one direction. In the absence of a teammate, a Combat Drone can be deployed behind or to the side of the enemy to attract their attention.
Answer: I've found two good ways to handle the Riot Shield enemies.
The first is the "Pull" power. For lack of a better term, Pull on Cerberus Guardians (or any other enemy with Combat Shields) is "Super Effective". It will strip the shield away from them, making them just as vulnerable as any other average enemy.
The second method is easiest to pull off with a sniper rifle.
The riot shield only has a single weakpoint from the front -- there's an unarmored view slot at the top of the shield, at head-level.
Simply thread the needle with your bullets, and they'll fall just as quickly to headshots as any other enemy.
Comment: It looks like combat drones are also very good, they turn around and expose their backs.
Comment: Note that there's an achievement for using the second method 25 times.
Comment: I've personally found pull works great.  Not only does it strip them of their riot shield, but it also dazes them, allowing for an easy second attack.  Haven't tried combat drone yet.
Answer:
As said above, the  'Pull' power yanks the shield away if you have it.
A little coordination goes a loong way. Their shields can only face one direction at a time; have a teammate distract them while you flank around them.
If you choose your targets carefully, you can Vanguard Charge into the guy behind the one holding the shield, then turn around fast to maul the Guardian before he can turn to face you.
The Shockwave power (Human adepts get it among others) knocks them off balance for a few seconds. Follow it up with heavy pistol shots, or have your teammates ready with a sniper rifle to take advantage.
A little careful aim can let you drop a singularity behind them, where they'll be picked up and tossed around as usual.
I could go on, but the bottom line is that the only attack method that isn't highly effective is a guns-blazing frontal attack. Anything else works just fine.
Answer: If you're having trouble in the early Mars mission with the Cerberus troops, you're supposed to be using  Liara T'Soni's Singularity skill (that's the blue alien girl). Singularity picks up the soldiers and forces them to drop their shields. Open the Skill menu in combat, aim toward the troops with shields (you can do this while the menu is open + time is paused) and select Liara's Singularity skill. Boom, no more shields.
That's why she has it, so no matter what your character is, you can disable the shield-carrying enemies on Mars. Otherwise you can use the various skills mentioned in other answers, but your character might not have them.
Comment: @JuanManuel your dupe is more specifically why I believe most people are wondering this, so I thought it should be specifically addressed. I'm a Vanguard and I don't *have* any of the skills people mentioned here yet :)
Answer: Community wiki:

Pull is the most effective solution
Flanking them with another player (or combat drone) leaves them wide open
Hitting them in the back with a power (singularity, grenades) will do full damage
Sniper rifle shot through the eye slit
A single high powered attack (Shockwave, Nova, Charge, point blank shotgun, Krogan headbutt) can stumble them and leave them open to attack, but only if they aren't doing a melee animation.
Answer: The Throw ability (of Asari Adepts, among others) will stagger a Cerberus Guardian, allowing you to get some shots in.
Answer: You can earn the "mail slot" achievement for scoring headshots on those troopers through the looking slot.
When I'm less ambitious I just stick with singularity.
Answer: If you're playing a class without biotic powers , the best solution is normally to have a squad mate with biotic powers accompany you, E.G Javik, Liara.
For Javik, have him use pull, it'll grab the shield off and if you spec it as a double pull, the guardian will also get pulled off his feet. The pulling-off his feet part doesn't always happen though;double-pull projectiles seem to be a spaced too close together unless you angle it right.
As for liara, simply let the guardian waltz to the front a little, then drop a singularity behind him/ to the side. Again if liara is specced correctly, singularity is easily spammable and can even be comboed with her stasis for an easy kill.
If the map allows for it, direct your squard mates to hold the line, then you yourself go ahead  and flank the enemy- Don't overextend yourself though, cover doesn't always protect you from all angles of assault.
If however, you don't favor biotic squadmates, simply equip your team with armour piercing mods /ammo power and your heat sinks will rip right through the shield into the guardian. Or use a sniper that has natural armour piercing rounds like the javelin, black widow and widow.


Client side scripts through proxies

Question: If you're trying to hide your IP address using VPN/proxies can a website using client side scripting record your real ip? If yes is there any alternative to blocking all scripts as that breaks majority of the websites out there?
Answer: As Wilson Wong says, all browser requests should be routed via the proxy depending on how the browser is configured / whether there is any transparent proxying implemented on the default route.
It is possible to determine the IP address by other means
Answer: If you are using proxy or VPN visit the webpage, I believe any ajax call will use the same proxy/VPN connection, so the server still seeing your proxy's IP unless your request will dynamically switch between proxy & your real IP depends on the domain.
Answer: Ideally speaking as long as the client sided script has not been designed for malicious use (of tracking the true IP) it should be forced to use the proxy as well. What I mean is that as long as the script itself is not a form of exploit/hack designed to bypass this.
In the case of VPNs, all traffic is routed through the VPN. None of it can go from outside it. Same for proxies, depending on whether the proxy is a system wide one or a browser only one.
However, if you're sure your configurations are correct then you need not worry about your IP getting revealed. On a related note, companies like Google have managed to obtain other information that could potentially identify you and your exact location even with people using VPNs. If you're wanting to hide your IP, then yes this does that, but it may not suffice for hiding your identity. :)

Client side scripts through proxies


SQL Server 2008: Encrypting and compressing backups: Suggestions?

Question: Greetings!
Anyone using Red gate (www.red-gate.com) or another third party tool to do this?
We use SQL 2008 Web Edition.
Thanks!
Comment: Please tag as "sqlserver", not "sql" and "server". I don't want to have to filter out "sql".
Answer: SQL Backup from Redgate works pretty well.  Its a bit on the expensive side though... I believe its $700 or $800 for the Pro version... which is what you'll need in order to do AES 256bit backups.
That being said, if the price isn't a problem for you... go ahead and download the free trial and test it out for yourself.
Comment: We went with redgate sql backup. Cut our backup time from 90 minutes to 12. Rocks!
Answer: For us it was between RedGate's SQL Backup and Quest's LiteSpeed for compression and encryption.  We ended up going with LiteSpeed because others in our organization are already using it.  I have been VERY happy with LiteSpeed from Quest.  My sales rep has also been extremely helpful and flexible.  We use other RedGate products as well and I did benchmark SQL Backup against LiteSpeed.  While my benchmarking showed that each were very comparable in our environment, I do prefer the interface in LiteSpeed.  Seemed a bit cleaner and easier to get around.
Answer: SQL 2008 has the native abilty to compress backups and when the database uses tranparent data encryption, the backup is also encrypted.  I wouldn't recommend using anything else at this point in time.  I have used red gate in the past (sql 2005).  It worked as advertised.  since you're on web edition I'd compare the price of the upgrade to the price of redgate and see which is more cost effective.
Comment: Encryption is only in SQL Enterprise... I am on web edition, as noted...

I believe the same is true for compression....
Comment: DOH! that's right- see my edit for the update
Answer: We use Redgate SQL Backup 5 Pro at work, it is an excellent product.  We dont use encryption, although I will be recommending it shortly; we use the compression features and they work a treat.
We have a 70GB DB and was can compress this to about 11GB, and it is super fast.  It has feature where you can calculate the amount of compression you will get for a database.  With version 5 (version 6 has just been released but havent had a chance to play with it) you can easily see what schedules are set for backups, as well as other scheduled jobs in SQL Server, and also what jobs have failed.
I highly recommend it if you dont mind the price.
An alternative that I have read about is Quest Litespeed, havent looked into this but other people rate it and redgate as the best backup products for SQL Server.
Answer: I can't speak to the Red Gate Backup solution directly, but I've used their data compare product and found it rock solid.  I'll put my vote behind anything they sell.
Answer: If you don't mind having intermediate files & your biggest concern is PRICE you can use some opensource command line utilities like gzip or bzip2  & then use xp_cmdshell to compress your .BAK file after sql server has dumped it out.
In the same way, you can also use gnugpg to encrypt the backup after it's compressed.
I've used this before on price sensitive customers with success!
Red Gate - SQL Backup is also highly recommended and does an excellent job & has a much friendlier price point.
Quest - Lightspeed is a great tool & does wonders on large databases in terms of compression/speed performance.  You pay for it though, but from experience pricing can be flexible, so  make sure you try to negotiate!


What does בהם refer to in some texts of אַתָּה חונַנְתָּנוּ?

Question: In Maariv after Shabbos we insert אַתָּה חונַנְתָּנוּ into the Amidah. In some siddurim the word בהם is introduced making it read
אַתָּה חונַנְתָּנוּ לְמַדַּע תּורָתֶךָ. וַתְּלַמְּדֵנוּ לַעֲשות בהם חֻקֵּי רְצונֶךָ
What is בהם referring to? It seems like in some version there must have been the word like שבתות which has got left out.
Answer: Bach (Orach Chaim 294) says that it refers back to מדע תורתך: through our knowledge of Hashem's Torah (besides general knowledge, אתה חונן לאדם דעת, which is equally true of Jews and non-Jews), we are enabled to perform the mitzvos of Hashem's will.
On the other hand, Seder Avodas Yisrael (R. Seligman Baer) states that it is simply a copyist's or printer's error. (In some versions of ותודיענו - the replacement for אתה חוננתנו used when Yom Tov falls on Motzaei Shabbos - the same phrase is used, and there בהם fits better with its antecedent, את משפטי צדקך. So it is possible that the copyists incorrectly applied it in both places.)
Comment: Isn't mada toratecha singular? It should then be 'bo'.
Comment: @DoubleAA, he might mean that it refers back, actually, to both kinds of knowledge (דעת\בינה in general, as well as מדע תורתך).
Answer: R' Hirsch says it refers back to da'as and bina of the first line of the beracha - ata chonen l'adam da'as etc.

What does בהם refer to in some texts of אַתָּה חונַנְתָּנוּ?


Why add a tee next to the pump?

Question: I've seen it recommended in several places to add a tee in the pipe next to the pump used for transferring hot wort. What is the point of this / what benefits do you get? Does the tee go on the input or output side of the pump? This is the pump I'm using, and my current setup has tubing from the ball valve on the kettle directly to the input of the pump, then a ball valve on the output side of the pump, then tubing to the chiller.
Answer: Do you really mean just a tee? I guess not, since there's not much benefit, and you'll just get lots of spilled wort!
I'm guessing you mean a tee, plus an attached valve - affectionately known as a "burper valve", which can help rid trapped air from the pump. When the liquid first flows through the pump, it displaces the air, which can become trapped in the pump and prevents the pump from priming correctly. The tee plus valve provides a place for the air to collect, and can be released by opening the valve.
The tee plus valve goes on the output side, preferably oriented upwards, like this example:

(It doesn't matter if the air feed is horizontal off the tee since by that time, it's already well past the pump and won't interfere with the pump's operation.)
As well as releasing trapped air, the additional outlet is handy for taking gravity samples, during the mash, sparge and final runoff to the fermentor.
Comment: I like the little angled shelf above the pump.
Comment: This is not my setup, so I was also wondering what that was for!
Answer: Not much to add to mdma's very nice answer.  The first time you get cavitation in your pump and lose prime, you will most definitely appreciate having the 'burper' valve to re-prime.  Just open it up, let some liquid flow, then continue pumping away.
I thought I'd add a few pictures of my own tees for reference.
I used an acetal plastic gate valve on this one.

And this is a more fancy stainless setup, complete with tri-clamps so I can use the teed valve to prime, sample, reciruclate, and pump directly to my fermenter.
Also, it's much shinier.
Comment: Crazy network of T's there.
Answer: FWIW, I don't use a T on the outlet side to prime.
My system isn't hard plumbed where I need it.  The outlet hose I have on the pump serves as the air escape.  The reason to use a venting T is when the outlet end of from the pump is connected to plumbing (or hoses) that goes into fluid.  The fluid tends to create just enough back pressure that the pump doesn't prime.
I have a circular copper tube that sits in the wort above the mash, but it is submerged.  When I turn on the pump and open the outlet valve from the tun the wort doesn't flow out that well and its because the end of the line is submerged.  When I lift it out of the wort it primes up fine.
If I was too put a more permanent recirc setup in I'd need a T because I couldn't simply lift the hose out of the tun to clear the "back pressure".

Why add a tee next to the pump?


Is it possible to still grow taller after growth plates have been closed?

Question: In addition, when do we know we stop growing taller? Or we keep growing taller?
To the first question:
Recently, I went to a doctor to have a check up, he said that my growth plates are closed and cannot grow taller anymore. True or false? Is it possible to have a second growth spurt. I am about 16.
Answer: No, because growth only occurs at the epiphyseal plate or growth plate. In the picture here, the epiphyseal plates are the two horizontal lines in the tibia and fibula, and bone growth occurs in the upward direction, or toward the middle (shaft) of the bone. Once the epiphyseal plates close, the bones can no longer elongate.
It's possible to have a second "growth spurt," but it's only because the epiphyseal plates haven't closed. David Robinson, the basketball player, was 6'7" as a senior in high school, but ended up being 7'1". The "growth spurt" is caused by the sex hormones, which is why a significant amount of growth occurs during puberty.


find the rotation of one image with respect to other in MATLAB

Question: I have two images. One is the reference image and the other is the rotated version of the reference image. I would like to find what is the angle by which the second image is rotated with respect to the first one.
  i want this to work automatic.
Answer: Enumerate over all possible angles (under some reasonable discretization), rotate one of the images, and calculate the $L_2$ distance (sum of squared differences); the angle at which the distance is minimal is the one you seek.
An even better idea is to calculate the two-dimensional Fourier transform, and now do the same with shifts instead of rotations (rotation in the time domain corresponds to shift in the frequency domain). Maybe you can reduce the amount of shifts tested by looking at some prominent peeks of the spectrum and trying to match them.
I have no idea how to implement these suggestions in Matlab, but I'm sure you can find out.
Both solutions assume that the image is "continuous" with reasonable "modulus of continuity". If the image is random that the methods wouldn't work.
Comment: can you please explain what do you mean by enumerate all possible angles?
Comment: go over all possible angles, up to some discretization, i.e. $2\pi n/N$ for $n=0,\ldots,N-1$ and $N$ is "big enough".
Answer: You can look at optical flow, OpenCV has a function that provides this functionality.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/OpenCV/message/67973
Optical flow returns points that are similar between two successive frames, which can be used to calculate a rotation. This function will work best on twoframes that are not too different from eachother. I am not sure how big a rotation we are talking about here, if it is too high, optflow might not be the best option.
As mentioned in the link above, using SIFT might a better option. SIFT calculates features that can be used to match objects, corners from different angles, even with occulusions (so you only see part of the object, but SIFT numbers can still match), in that case, if there are enough SIFT matches between two features, these can be used to calculate a rotation.


Is SVG a viable technology choice for web-based game?

Question: I have started to read up about the web technology available for doing web-based game with only Javascript, but I have no where got feedback about SVG with HTML5. Is is a viable choice ? Does it performs well compared to other technique like Canvas, DOM & CSS Transformation, etc.
Comment: http://torque.oncloud8.com/archives/000473.html and http://avi.alkalay.net/2007/08/svg-games.html
Answer: SVG is supported in HTML5; whether the browser your player is using supports it is a different story.
Depending on your needs you should check out RaphaelJS. Raphael provides SVG-like support for IE by switching to VML when rendering for IE. Raphael provides a lot of functionality including animations and Cufon font support. It's definitely worth a look.
Since SVG is a part of the DOM it is pretty simple to attach DOM events like "click" and "hover" to the created SVG elements. This might make SVG more suitable for HUD-type displays rather than animating sprites, etc.
You probably have a lot of testing ahead of you to determine the relative performance characteristics of SVG versus canvas, however.
Straight DOM manipulation will probably be the worst of the bunch. As you change things in the DOM the browser's layout engine will recalculate the layout of the page to accomodate your changes which will probably kill your game's performance. If you have to go this route, prefer CSS (especially CSS3-specific features like transformations and keyframing).
Comment: Use [Snap.svg](http://snapsvg.io/), it's the successor of RaphaelJs from the same author, but without the messy support for ridiculously old browsers and Internet explorers VML. Cleaner, better, more modern and faster.
Answer: Take a look at this website to see SVG compatibility. Right now it's dodgy at best and I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than test demos for showcases.
Don't expect people to use the latest and greatest browser.
I think using SVG would be a huge mistake and will shy your users away when they see things broken.
Answer: You would be much better off using Canvas. Neither of them are supported in IE, and canvas is known to be a viable web-based game technology; plus it has decent rendering speed, especially in Chrome (and apparently also in IE9, according to the early demos; I haven't tried it recently). If you need to target older versions of IE and/or mobile platforms, stick to plain old DOM, which doesn't have very good performance but it's still acceptable for simple games (e.g. Pacman).
Answer: Short answer yes.
Long answer,
I still work in an environment totally dependent on IE6 and have used this wonderful library for charts. (which uses VML for IE6-IE8) I definitely love canvas and prefer it for writing games with js. So if you want to make a game in svg I say do it, other games have been created using it (see Raphael examples). Regardless you will still be using JS to do it, so if you want to transition to canvas, it wont be as painful.


Will I miss any features of Lightroom 3 if I already have Adobe Photoshop Extended CS 5.5?

Question: I am planning to upgrade my CS4 to CS5.5 (Design Premium) - I heard Lightroom 3 has new cool features such as new and improved noise-reduction in photos. Do you get pretty much all the features of Adobe Lightroom 3 in Photoshop CS5.5? I just want to know if it is necessary to buy Lightroom 3 at any point for any reason. Thanks,
Answer: Lightroom and Photoshop aren't really (supposed to be) competing products -- they're complementary products that overlap.  Lightroom is all about managing your workflow, which just happens to include image processing in most cases.  Photoshop, on the other hand, is image processing to the max, but it doesn't really do much to help your workflow.  There's very little you can do in Lightroom that you can't do in Photoshop, therefore, but if you're working on a lot of photos, you'll probably find that Lightroom saves you quite a bit of time.
The most common workflow for both of these products together uses Lightroom to import photos, then tag and cull them for further processing (or vice versa).  A fair bit of general image processing can be done right in Lightroom, but for images that you really want to spend some time on, you can shoot those photos over to Photoshop for heavy-duty processing and (optionally) pull the results back into Lightroom.
For areas where these products overlap (RAW processing, etc.), they're generally either equivalent or in some cases actually use the same binary bits, so if you don't think you need the workflow portions of Lightroom, you shouldn't miss out on any of its image processing features.  For what it's worth, people who value the workflow stuff in Lightroom but don't need to tap all the power of Photoshop can often get by with Lightroom plus Photoshop Elements -- that's a great combo, too.
Answer: Being a recent convert to Lightroom, I can say the big benefit is the organization and workflow capability versus PS+Bridge. That combination does work, granted - I used it for quite some time. But Lightroom is a whole other animal. Tagging, rating, and meta edits seem much smoother in Lightroom.
In common is the Camera Raw capability - you're not missing out on that either way. Photoshop is an all-round image editor, but not focused on photo workflow. The way I work is to use Lightroom for post-processing tasks such as tagging and such, and only switch to Photoshop if there's serious image editing or compositing to do e.g. panoramas.
Answer: In terms of RAW conversion, both Photoshop and Lightroom use Adobe Camera Raw. You won't be missing functionality, although it is exposed via a different UI in Lightroom than in Photoshop's Camera RAW dialog.
Many people who shoot a lot use Lightroom for almost all post-processing, diving into Photoshop only when some significant image restructuring needs to be undertaken at the pixel level.
But the direct answer to your question is no. And the additional answer is that Adobe Bridge (included with PS) should handle a good number of tasks one might use Lightroom for (editing, metatagging, etc.). You just won't be able to do a global search of your entire image library using metadata.


What are good ways to counter jungle an AP Shaco?

Question: I like to jungle and am never able to counter jungle AP Shacos due to their boxes. Anybody have some good suggestions? I normally jungle Fiddlesticks.
Comment: could always harass him, i find fiddlesticks to usually have an advantage over most champions in the beginning.
Answer: Invade.  If you stop Shaco early by ruining his boxes, killing him at level 1, or taking his buffs he will not be able to gank as succesfully.  He will also not be able to counter jungle you and he will be behind the whole game unless he gets a couple kills from people playing overly aggressive without wards.  A level two/three shaco gank without red unless that lane has hard cc has a lot lower chance of success then a shaco with a red buff.
Answer: Many shacos gank at lvl 2 after red.  If you see him gank top or bot at lvl 2 with red buff, you know that you'll be okay to steal his blue buff.  Basically whenever you see him gank a lane and you're on the opposite side of the map, you know that you're ok to steal his jungle.
Answer: Generally a good shaco will steal one of your buffs usually red, because of his initial high clear speed on blue. To counter this you can do a few things, Start red or start his red, Or go right for his red after your blue. Its critical that you place at least one ward in your red side jungle. Either you or your support.
If you see shaco on your side at all immediately head for his side and farm his jungle. Shaco has the strongest counter jungle and duel potential at early levels. Your goal is to not fall too far behind. Shaco is pretty worthless late game. Thats your goal you are not going to win the early jungle.
Asking your team for help is likely to end in them leaving lane, chasing for a bit and shaco escaping.
You want to be where he isn't. Ward as much as you can, 1 ward on each side to be safe. Ping when he enters and you can at least chase him out if not get a kill on him.


On a certain generalization of the Laplace transform

Question: Let $\alpha$ be a positive constant, $\mu$ be a Borel nonnegative measure in $\mathbb{R}^n_+$. We can define a transform
$$
   \tilde{L}\[\mu\](p) = \int\limits_{\mathbb{R}^n_+} e^{-(p_1 x_1 + \ldots + p_n x_n)^{\alpha}} \mu(dx).
$$
This is a simple generalization of the Laplace transform for which $\alpha = 1$. Is there something in literature on this transform? I'm interested in questions of inversion, characterisation e.t.c.
Answer: In one dimension, if $\mu$ has a density $f$ with respect to the Lebesgue measure,
$$
(\tilde L f)(p)=\int_0^{+\infty} e^{-p^\alpha y}f(y^{\frac{1}{\alpha}})\frac{1}{\alpha}
y^{\frac{1}{\alpha}-1} dy=(Lg_\alpha)(p^\alpha),
$$
that is the ordinary Laplace transform of $g_\alpha$,
$g_\alpha(y)=f(y^{\frac{1}{\alpha}})\frac{1}{\alpha}
y^{\frac{1}{\alpha}-1} $ evaluated at $p^\alpha$.
The extension to a class of Borel measure is certainly
possible.
The multidimensional case is not so clear.
Answer: Here is some hope. (For simplicity, when referring to the unit sphere, I really mean only the part of the unit sphere contained in the first quadrant $\mathbb{R}^n_+$.)
If $\mu$ is the Dirac  delta  concentrated at a point $\vec{x}$ then  $L[\mu](\vec{p})= e^{-(\vec{p}\cdot\vec{x})^\alpha}$, which shows that $\mu$ is determined by this  transform. More generally suppose $\mu$ is a linear combination of $\delta$-s
$$\mu=\sum_{k=1}^N c_k \delta(\vec{x}-\vec{x}_k). $$
In this case  we have
$$L[\mu](\vec{p})=\sum_{k=1}^N c_k e^{-(\vec{p}\cdot\vec{x}_k)^\alpha}=:f(\vec{p}). $$
Consider the set $P$ of $\vec{p}$-s of length $1$ so that the numbers $\vec{p}\cdot\vec{x}_i$  are pairwise    disjoint.  $P$ is open and dense in the  unit sphere because it's the complement    in the unit sphere is the union of  the great spheres $\vec{p}\cdot \vec{x}_i=\vec{p}\cdot\vec{x}_j $, $i\neq j$.
The set  $P$ is made up of several connected components, chambers, $P_1,\dotsc, P_\nu$.    For  any chamber $P_s$, there exists $i(s)=1,\dotsc, N$ such that
$$\vec{p}\cdot \vec{x}_{i(s)} < \vec{p}\cdot \vec{x}_j,\;\;\forall j\neq i(s),\;\;\forall \vec{p}\in P_s. $$
Then as $t\to \infty$ we have
$$\frac{\log f(t\vec{p})}{t^\alpha} \sim -(\vec{p}\cdot\vec{x}_{i(s)})^\alpha. $$
This  determines $\vec{p}\cdot\vec{x}_{i(s)}$ for any $p\in P_s$.   This determines the point $\vec{x}_{i(s)}$.
The constant $c_{i(s)}$ is then determined from the equality
$$c_{i(s)}= \lim_{t\to\infty} e^{t^\alpha(\vec{p}\cdot\vec{x}_{i(s)})^\alpha} f(t\vec{p}),\;\; \vec{p}\in P_s.$$
The function
$$ g(\vec{p})= f(\vec{p})-c_s e^{-(\vec{p}\cdot \vec{x}_{i(s)})^\alpha} $$
is the generalized Laplace transform   of a  linear combination of $\delta$-s concentrated at $(N-1)$ points.
Thus, the generalized Laplace transform  is  injective when restricted to the vector space spanned  by $\delta$-s. $\newcommand{\bR}{\mathbb{R}}$ $\newcommand{\vp}{\vec{p}}$ $\newcommand{\vx}{\vec{x}}$  $\newcommand{\vy}{\vec{y}}$
Remark 1 Let me denote by $Q_x$ the  quadrant $\mathbb{R}^n_+$ in the $x$-space and by $Q_p$ the same quadrant but viewed in the $p$-space. Consider  the kernel  $K_\alpha:Q_p\times Q_x\to\bR$
$$ K_\alpha(\vec{p},\vec{x}) = e^{-(\vp\cdot {\vx})^\alpha}. $$
and its dual $K_\alpha^*:Q_y\times Q_p\to\bR$
$$ K_\alpha^*(\vec{y},\vp) = e^{-(\vec{y}\cdot\vp)^\alpha}. $$
The kernel $K_\alpha$ defines the generalized Laplace transform  $L_\alpha$ when applied to  functions on $Q_x$ that decay sufficiently fast.   The convolution of the  $K_\alpha^*$ with $K_\alpha$ is the kernel
$$ N_\alpha(\vy,\vx)=K_\alpha^* \ast K_\alpha(\vy,\vx)=\int_{Q_p} e^{-(\vy\cdot\vp)^\alpha-(\vp\cdot\vx)^\alpha} d\vp. $$
Note that
$$ N_\alpha(\vx,\vy)=N_\alpha(\vy,\vx)>0, \;\; \forall \vx,\vy\in Q$$
and if $f, g:Q\to\bR$ decay  sufficiently  fast at $\infty$ we have
$$\int_Q\int_Q N_\alpha(\vx,\vy) f(\vx)g(\vy) d\vx d\vy = (L_\alpha[f],L_\alpha[g])_{L^2(Q_p)}. $$
The integral operator $T_\alpha$  defined by $N_\alpha$ is symmetric and nonnegative, i.e.,
$$ (T_\alpha f,f)\geq 0,\;\; \forall f\in L^2(Q). $$
To check the injectivity of $L_\alpha$ one needs to show that
$$ (T_\alpha f,f)=0,\;\; f\in L^2(Q) \Rightarrow f=0. $$
Comment There seems to be problems with MathJax   because I get    distorted display and I cannot find my TeX errors. I'll post as is and Edit later.


Is it possible to create a text or image tooltip in an answer?

Question: In an answer, I have a long list, and for each item there is an associated image. If every image is displayed after each item, it takes a lot of space. I would like the image to show up only when you click or mouseover on every list item. Is that possible ?
Comment: That does not sound like a good idea
Comment: @random yeah, people could make all sorts of irrelevant tooltips when you hover over their...wait a minute
Answer: This is not possible to do with the StackOverflow Markdown editor. See the Editing Help page for a list of the most basic formatting that is available to you on StackExchange.
Additionally, for more details about what you can do in the markdown editor, see the Daring Fireball Markdown Page.
Since you have lots of images, you could try resizing them as smaller images and placing them next to your list items. With that said, don't let your question get too distracted with images, make sure your question has enough substance to be both constructive and not too localized/specific to a problem that no other person on the Internet will have. Good luck!
Answer: For a workaround, you may use my Thumbnail Uploader script with options "small" and "link to full size".
Thumbnail Uploader
(installation instructions there)
This works like the normal image uploader, but it inserts a small version of the image and links it to full size. This way, you can use large images without worrying about the text reflowing,
Note that Imgur's resizer sometimes crops images that have a large aspect ratio. In this case, use the custom option and specify the height in pixels (leaving the width box empty locks aspect ratio). The custom option is also pretty useful if you want to  have even smaller thumbnails.


What database use for huge servers?

Question: Suppose I had a HUGE website (which I don't, but let's suppose), the common MySQL on a single server wouldn't work, because the MySQL server wouldn't be able to handle thousands of requests per second fast enough. How can you have several database servers that link to the same data but work independently of each other? What are the softwares available?
Answer: Wikipedia probably counts as having a "huge website", even if it's still tiny compared to, say, Google.  You can find a description of their server architecture here.
Basically, their SQL backend consists of a bunch of clusters, each one consisting of a single MySQL master server whose data is replicated to a bunch of read-only slave servers.  Also, images and revision text, which make up the bulk of the data and are essentially immutable once written, are stored separately.
Each of the various Wikimedia sites runs on a specific cluster.  English Wikipedia, the largest of them by far, has a separate cluster all for itself, while most of the other sites store their data on shared clusters.
In addition to within-cluster replication, the databases are also replicated to servers running in remote data centers, although I believe that this is currently mainly used for live offsite backups and for the Wikimedia Toolserver (a separate set of servers for community-developed tools) which is hosted in Amsterdam, on the other side of the Atlantic from the main DB clusters in the U.S.
Here's a diagram of the Wikimedia server layout from 2010:

For more up-to-date information, see this presentation from last month.
A notable feature of the server layout is that the database servers run behind a veritable army of load-balanced web servers, which themselves are hidden behind a whole bunch of caching proxies.  Thus, most requests from random visitors browsing Wikipedia never even hit the webservers, much less the database.
Answer: The use of "cloud computing" is growing for these tasks now. Large web applications -- such as Facebook, for example -- are distributed, meaning that it's not on any one single server at a time.
One approach to this has been messaging (CQRS) -- where, when the user initiates some action, a message is sent to a queue, as a type of command that the system responds to as soon as it is able. This way, if a certain facet of the system is down, the user can still see "Okay, your post has been created" (for example), even though it's still in the queue.
Designs of distributed systems vary (a Google search on this, or Wikipedia, would be most insightful here), but I know of some where a master copy of a database is kept, processing messages from the queue pretty much constantly, while read-only replications of it (or even just pieces of it) are being made across different systems so that the one single database isn't being hit thousands and thousands of times. In other words, one DB is being written to, but many are being read. When it's not mission-critical for it to be the exact, up-to-the-second data, then this is a good solution.
For more info:
http://abdullin.com/cqrs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command-query_separation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_computing
Answer: Whichever package you use, I think the concept is the same. An example would be:
1 Update server - This is where the writes get sent.
1 General Read server - This is where the site gets its page info, etc.
1 Search server - User searches and the like.
1 reporting server - If you allow of heavy duty reporting in your app, you might want to think about this one.
A similar setup has been used at several places I know, servicing thousands of concurrent users, with several million line databases.  Seems to work pretty good.
Comment: whoops!  just realized it's kind of like what Matt said: 1 write server, and several read servers.  You could even geographically disperse the read servers,  say east-coast/west-coast?
Answer: I use Windows Azure, create stateless website, you can increase instance anytime you want
Save data in Azure Table Storage

What database use for huge servers?


How do I install Ubuntu when I already have MeeGo pre-installed on a Samsung n100 netbook?

Question: I have MeeGo pre-installed on my netbook Samsung n100 and hate it. Can anyone give me step by step guide to change over to Ubuntu as I am a complete newbie to this stuff!
thanks for any help!
Comment: Have you sorted this yet?
Answer: Sorry to hear you are having troubles with Meego. Is there anything that you can fix on Meego to make it better? Meego is getting less and less support which is another problem but I enjoyed it when I got it working the way I wanted.However I moved on.
If not and you do really want to reinstall it with Meego then it could not be easier.
First of all you need to download Ubuntu from here:
Ubuntu
Then follow the instructions to put it on a pen drive and give it a whirl first booting it from a USB pen drive. If you like it and it works then save any data you need from Meego  (passwords, docs music photos etc) on the pen drive in a new folder and then reboot it and select install and follow the prompts only remembering to select use entire drive or replace current Linux installation.
This will replace your Meego with Ubuntu. Then you can load all your data back on. When installed you may have to sort your settings for a while but I am sure it will work like clockwork.
Let us know how you get on. Enjoy!...and even better let us know what it runs like
Andy
Answer: I know this is an old entry but in case anyone else is trying..... Ubuntu on the Samsung N100 is no go.
It installs OK and mostly works but there is no driver for the display and the default display drivers incorrectly detect the screen resolution leaving about the bottom third of the screen not accessable.
I posted this on the Ubuntu forum about a month ago but no replies.
I'm really disappointed.
Meego worked but support for it is being dropped in favor of Tizen which is still vaporware.  It also seems to have limited hardware support, specifically I can't make a SmartBro USB modem work with it.
Maybe next year.


Thin font output

Question: I have an illustrator text in Myriad Pro light 8 pt that I need to output to a png or gif. The quality degrades tremendously.
What is the best practice to get a good quality screen output on thin and small fonts?
Comment: thin type at 8pt just doesn't give you a whole lot of pixels to work with
Answer: At that size, for png or gif, I'd strongly suggest a different font. Such as what is known as a "pixel font". These are designed to not use anti-aliasing and appear legible at very small sizes.
One great place to get pixel fonts is FontsForFlash.com
Comment: I agree. Lots of thin typefaces simply can't be used at small sizes for screen design (or print design in some cases).
Answer: If for any reason Scott's answer isn't an option*, one option of last resort for Illustrator font rendering nightmares is to take the two ways Illustrator has of rendering fonts, and find the best blend between them.
On Illustrator CS5 and above, save one 24bit png with Save for web with "Type optimized" selected (under the tabs on the right), one with "Art optimized" selected, then place the raster images with the "Type optimized" on top perfectly aligned over the "art optimized" image and adjust the opacity of the top image until you find the best balance between the two. "Type optimized" makes type stronger (and sometimes, unpleastantly blocky), "Art optimized" lighter (and sometimes, unpleasantly faint or fuzzy), and sometimes the best balance is somewhere between. You'll see as you adjust the opacity slider that the only thing changing is the aliasing of the edges.
On Illustrator CS4 or before, the "Type optimized" option doesn't exist, but the default preview rendering is very similar and often better for text than "Save for web". You can take and crop a screenshot to use instead of the "Type optimized" image, and use a "Save for web" 24bit png for the "Art optimized" layer, and then look for a balance point that works as above.
This can be a useful method for damage limitation in awkward cases - but whereever possible, it's almost always better to try to find and use a font that is designed for whatever awkward case you have (like those Scott suggests), or, to question and address the reasons why the awkward case exists in the first place (is there really no alternative to 8pt?). Don't be surprised if even the best balance of strong against light edges still doesn't look good enough.

*If anyone is saying that for branding or consistency reasons it needs to be Myriad, reason with them! Show them how at that size, Myriad barely looks like Myriad

Thin font output


Is it normal for a 12-year-old to have Vibrato?

Question: I'm only 12 and I have my vibrato. I have only been singing for 5 years! Is this normal?
Answer: It's relatively rare, to be sure - you are listening carefully enough to have noticed, which is a great thing! So keep listening - notice how opera singers sing all the time with vibrato, but classical boy sopranos your age usually sing without it, while some classical adult singers (only those performing ancient and baroque music), sing without vibrato but use it as expressive decoration, and other kinds of singers (pop, rock, flamenco, folk, etc.) will change back and forth as well.
My suggestion is to try to think of your vibrato coming in as "this is something else I can do with my voice - but singing in tune is way more important - I can hear intonation more clearly when I sing without it, but the sound is warmer when I use it!".  Otherwise you will become so use to using it that you won't be able to sing without it, which would be a shame - keep listening for all the great singing that uses vibrato expressively.


Query/find features in ArcPad, hide the rest in map?

Question: Trying to help out another department that does quarterly assessments of field data. Their symbology is all set by the status of the assessment (the only way I could figure out how to hide something was to hide symbology) so that doesn't help much. Their checkouts contain all data for the year but they want to be able to filter/limit what is visible in the map based off the quarter (and potentially other data columns). Been trudging through documentation but can't really find anything. Is this possible?
Answer: I think you want to apply definition queries to accomplish what you're after.  Do a read-up at the link I pasted.  It's a very simple technique that's handy for this type of thing.  I hope this helps.
Answer: If you apply a Definition query in ArcMap (as @Dano suggests above) it's exported to ArcPad as a Filter meaning all records are present but only those which pass the filter criteria are displayed.
As far as I can see Filters in ArcPad act in pretty much the same way as Definition Queries in ArcMap, except that Filters also have the <code>@##MAPSCALE##</code> variable. Good luck!


How to find the user who deleted a subsite in MOSS 2007?

Question: In my current work location we have a MOSS 2007 intranet environment with more than 10 site collections, but in one of the site collections few sub-sites were deleted on the same day. We have analysed the IIS logs to find out who deleted the site but there were no deleteweb.aspx or webdeleted.aspx entries for those sites.
In addition to that Audit logging was not enabled in the SP application when sub sites were deleted and few users on one of the sub-sites used SP designer where the entries for author.dll could be seen in the IIS logs, but none of the users claimed the site deletion.
We are trying every possible way to figure out how sub sites were deleted, but no luck. Since the sub sites are on production server with business critical data in it, we cant afford the same thing happening again.
So could you suggest me any possible way to find how the sites were deleted?
Comment: Did you analyze the logs in the 12-hive?
Comment: Yes I did analyze the ULS logs. Site deletion entries are not recorded in those logs.
Answer: Try a log viewer like
http://splogviewer.codeplex.com/ or http://features.codeplex.com/
If not found there the IIS-logs is your best bet.


How do I use RemotePC to access a Mac from an iPad?

Question: I want to use RemotePC, but it needs an internet connection. I don't understand why; I only want to remotely control my Mac from an iPad, so a local network should be enough… right?
Answer: Macs come with VNC automatically, no additional install. If you can trust everyone on your local network and your VNC ports are closed on your router/firewall, then I would just turn it on. There is a check box under advanced remote management or remote desktop options that says something about allowing VNC users to log in. There's an optional password field. I use iTeleport then to VNC into my mac. There are other cheaper VNC programs too, but iTeleport is pretty excellent.
Answer: I use www.logmein.com. I am not sure how well it works nativly, but with the $30 ignition app, it works great.  The one thing that might not be best for you is that it is web based - you have to do it over the internet - a local network with no internet access would not work.
Answer: ActyMac DutyWatch Remote is a good app for remote control, and provides access from an iPad.
Answer: RemotePC is designed to connect over the internet - i.e. when you are not on the same network. If you want to connect over e.g. a ad hoc network, look for a VNC client such as Screens or iTeleport (my favorites). They are both great.
http://edovia.com/screens
http://www.iteleportmobile.com/
Both apps connect to a Screen Sharing enabled Mac. iTeleport can also connect via the internet, i.e. even if you are not on the same WiFi, using an extra application which you run on your Mac.
As for remote control - I would recommend either TouchPad or HippoRemote. They also work using VNC, but instead of showing you the screen, they give you a virtual trackpad/keyboard on you iDevice.
http://edovia.com/touchpad
http://hipporemote.com/


Allowing subscriptions on Facebook and pending friend requests

Question: What happens to former friend requests when a person allows subscriptions to their Facebook profile? Do those people automatically become subscribers (provided that their requests are still pending)? Or is it only for the following requests?
Answer: It was my experience when I enabled subscriptions on my account that friend requests and subscriptions are completely separate once they're enabled. They were designed to be separate, with subscriptions being a way to filter what shows from a profile; a friend can subscribe and use that subscription to filter what gets into his feeds from your profile, and a non-friend (including pending requests) can use it to start showing all your public posts only in their feeds. However, one does not affect the other. You can message pending requests to ask them or instruct them to subscribe as described in this post, but there is no way to force them nor will it occur automatically. As far as I know, this remains the behavior on Facebook today.
Sources: Facebook help, Google search, personal experience
Answer: Subscribers can get your public posts in their news feed. However, friend requests are a two-way interaction with more accessibility.
The friend requests that were sent before enabling subscription would not be automatically added as subscribers.
Subscriptions are only for the requests after enabling the feature.
Answer: As of current Facebook's policy(and trying out myself):
"provided that their requests are still pending"
A Friend request is never automatically made into a subscription request or made as a subscriber. Regardless of the period the friend requests stays pending, they remains to be "pending friend requests". But meanwhile they them-self can subscribe to you.
"automatically become subscribers ?"
If you already allow subscribers, people who send friend requests that you ignore, delete or hide will become subscribers. People you unfriend will also become your subscribers.
https://www.facebook.com/help/216792731707396/
Edit: Playing around with Facebook Help Center, I'm making my answer still more clear and readable.


What are good mechanics experiments for 10 year olds?

Question: I'm trying to explain elementary mechanics - without the benefits of calculus or even algebra - and struggling. I'd like to find reasonable ways to demonstrate Newton's laws, minimally, and possibly continuing though basic projectile motion, although that may be too much to hope for.
Comment: Community Wiki.
Comment: How about Gedankenexperiments? :)
Comment: Have them play air hockey to demonstrate the law of inertia ;-)
Comment: (Einstein spent much of his childhood doing such "thought experiments", and look where it led him!)
Comment: @Noldorin: depends on the kid(s). I am a bit saddened to find kids nowadays who are unable to imagine. :(
Comment: @J. M.: I know what you mean! So many are not encouraged to use their mind as a source of interest and entertainment..
Comment: You might be interested in Terence Tao's [biography](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Tao), he learnt stuff at young age.
Answer: When you're driving, make them notice that if you're going at a constant speed, no matter how fast, they don't "feel" it. Yet, when accelerating from 0-40 they'll be pushed in their seats.
Answer: I remember enjoying the Webelos Scientist Activity Badge (part of the Boy Scouts program applicable to 10-year-olds).  (Here's a list of ideas.)  Don't need to get too fancy, and a lot of these make nice little projects, i.e. 'build a hot-air balloon' is a great problem-solving exercise (think about what shapes you can cut out from tissue-paper and glue together to make a sphere; hold over a toaster to fill it with hot air).
Water rockets, model airplanes/gliders (even paper), potato cannon are also fun activities.
"How do airplanes fly" is a good question to think about, and refuting popular but incorrect ideas is a great critical thinking exercise.
At this age, it's probably more important to make science fun than to be totally pedantic.
There are lots of good conceptual points to ponder that could provide great topics for discussion:
How do tides work?  Why are there high tides simultaneously on opposite sides of the earth? (Hint: the earth doesn't "shield" gravity!)
How do rockets stay in orbit?
Why does a mirror reverse left and right but not up and down?
What does it take to balance a see-saw?
Make a Mobius strip.
Answer: I am always fond of the experiment of "shooting" a rubber ball and dropping the same ball, and seeing that both of them will hit the ground at the same time, showing that the vertical and horizontal components of velocity are independent.
Answer: Galileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment because it is sufficiently counter intuitive.
Answer: Just some quick ideas.. the question is fairly intriguing: i'm gonna think about it again.
First law of Newton: i think that those dry ice containers that mimics the motion without friction can be found quite cheaply and can be very useful:

If set in motion it will keep going
If connected to a dynamometer from one side and an eletric mini4WD in the other side can demonstrate (with no math at all.. just common sense) that an object stay still not only if no forces are acting upon it but also if the sum of the force actin on an object is zero

Second Law: using the same electic mini 4WD as before, measure witha  dynamometer the force of the of the motor (u already did that in the previous experiment ;) ) and then vary the mass of the car. It will be quite evident (always thank to the common sense) that the heaviest car will accelerate less than the other..
Third law: take two object of similar but not equal mass and compress a spring between them: when you will release (yeah at the same time would be better:P ) them both of them will move in opposite direction.. that can be quite trickier to explain but the experimental evidence shuold be quite visible!
Answer: Measuring the acceleration of gravity with a pendulum seems to be a good candidate. You don't have to explain the maths. It's the first physics experiment I did, but I was older. On the other hand, it could work with a good teacher.
Comment: Just graph the period of a pendulum with amplitude of the displacement, length if the string, differing weights at the end.   Then try to figure a little. Then tell the story of the young Galileo in the cathedral.
Answer: Tell a story.   Start say with the Aristotelian notion of why an arrow flies, you recall, wind circulating from the tip to the tail or something.   Then try to come up with experiments as to why that might be false, e.g. slow movements, movements in space, etc.
Look at crystals.  Grow some.   Weird, isn't it?   How could that be?    Atomic theory.
Answer: I whole heartedly suggest Lego. It's just amazing how many things about physics can be learnt from playing with the Lego Technic and Mindstorms series. When you're a child the most amazing thing in the world is making things and just watch them work. It's like magic, you know. So, you sit there furiously trying things, playing games in your mind and you start noticing things. You notice, while making a robotic arm, the farther away something heavy is from a joint the harder it is for the machine to lift stuff. Why?
What's happening over there? Then you realize that how heavy something is depends on how far it is from you on a rod. Weird. So, then you play some more and figure out how to use this to your advantage. After a while, you start learning tings, noticing things and start using them in your creations. It's just something natural and before you know it. You're in love.
I still love physics to this day thanks to that one Lego set. It really is magic.
Answer: Pythagorus's discovery on the length of strings, tension weights, sounds made.   Not too dynamic, however.