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Teaching Assistant in France Survival Guide/Arrival

Arriving alone in a foreign country is a jarring experience. Even well-travelled assistants are sometimes driven to tears in their first few days. The best way to keep your spirits up is to stay busy and stay smart: decisions you make now will affect the rest of your year in France.

From the airport
Unless you work in a city and are flying directly into that city, part of your travel will likely be by rail. Remember to get your Carte 12-25 immediately if you're 25 or under. Unless you've bought a Prem's ticket in advance, buying the card now will get you a big discount on your first trip (in fact, the card will likely pay for itself on your first trip if you're going far enough). Just bring a passport picture to a ticket counter at any train station (this is easier than buying one online). The SNCF services remote towns by bus only, but the same tickets and discounts apply.

Make a photocopy of your Carte 12-25. If you lose it, this will help you get a new one.

 * Note: if you're turning 26 before going to France, you might want to consider buying the Carte 12-25 in advance. You are allowed to buy it the day before your 26th birthday and use it for the year, but you cannot buy it after you've turned 26.

The lucky ones
If your school has arranged for your lodging, breathe a sigh of relief. You'll normally have to pay a small monthly sum to stay in the internat, and its funishings may be spare beyond reason, but at least you'll have somewhere to sleep.

The others
If your school has not arranged for your lodging, you will arrive in your town and literally have no place to go. This happens most often in larger cities, with busy school system offices that pay little attention to assistants. Assuming you arrive by train, make your way to one of the hotels near the train station (there are always a few). Looking up a place in a Lonely Planet or similar guide before you leave home and phoning ahead to make a reservation might be a good idea - you'll be tired and weighed down with luggage. You can expect to pay around 30 - 40 € per night for a single room with no toilet. You'll want to find something cheaper immediately. Don't be ashamed to share your troubles with teachers or anyone else at your school or inspection; it's not uncommon for teachers to take in assistants while they find a place to live.

Another accommodation solution is to take a room in a Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs. They're organisations providing accommodation for young people up the age of 30. Accommodation ranges from single bedrooms to studios with their own kitchenettes and bathrooms, it varies from foyer to foyer. They usually have a cafeteria, a common room, internet access and maybe even a minigym and a bar! In larger towns it should be easy to arrange a short stay whilst you're looking for an apartment - again, phone ahead, maybe a couple of weeks before you leave. In smaller towns where you might be the only assistant, or indeed the only foreigner, a FJT might be a good longer-term solution as it's a great way to meet (French!) people by getting involved in the activities they run (like sports, yoga, theatre, cultural nights, trips) or by just hanging out. And the rent's usually very cheap (typically around 100 € per month if you get benefits - see below) and they will help you with all your paperwork, which is rather useful! They will also usually only charge you the reduced rent whilst you wait for your benefits application to come through, which many landlords might not be so willing to do. You can look up FJTs on the Union des Foyers des Jeunes Travailleurs web page:. If no luck there (not all FJTs are members) try googling or asking at the mairie when you arrive in your town.

Apartments
Many assistants have never had to find their own apartments before, much less do it in French. Consider asking someone at your school for help; one of your teachers should be happy to help you make phone calls to set up appointments. Most regions have free classified ad newspapers. Get a feel for the average prices, decide what you can afford, and then start looking at apartments. Be sure to see a few before you make your decision! And attention girls: it is generally not smart to go to view apartments alone. Try to make arrangements to view the apartments in pairs. In all likelihood, you won't have the necessary paperwork to sign a lease (un bail) for at least a week anyway.

A major difference between American and French apartments : there are no large companies who own apartment complexes. Instead, each individual apartment has a different owner, with whom you must negotiate the lease.

A typical French apartment lease, following the law of July 6, 1989, lasts for three years with the option to exit from the lease at any time as long as you warn your landlord three months in advance. (It’s also possible for a landlord to write up a lease for less than a year that does not have this option, when the apartment is furnished.) Most landlords hate French paperwork as much as you do, and so their ideal tenant is one who will stay for the full three years. It is in your interest, then, to be vague about your own departure plans. Perhaps you’ll stay for the Summer – who knows?

Furniture and your welfare
When you're looking for an apartment, remember that your rent can be subsidized by the generous French welfare system. Believe it or not, assistants have full rights to public funds (we do pay taxes, after all). The amount of aide au logement to which you are entitled (you can calculate it online) is determined by a few different factors:

 * Your income
 * The size of the city you live in
 * The size of the apartment
 * Your roommates' (if any) income
 * Whether the apartment is furnished.

The best apartment to have is a large, unfurnished one. The amount of aid goes down drastically if you have a small, furnished studio. It may seem silly to buy furniture for such a short stay, but it's possible to do it cheaply and actually save hundreds of euros.

Look around your town and ask your teachers about used furniture stores, sometimes called salles de vente. You'll probably need to either have someone take you there or have things delivered, but just remember that France could be paying for some of it. Another option is "vide grenier" sales, which are similar to community garage sales - keep an eye out for posters in your town.

Calling home
Whether your arrival in France is hard or soft, you'll likely want to talk to your friends and family back home soon, and at length. There are lots of ways to do this, ranging in cost from zero cents a minute to $50 for a short call. Fais gaffe!

The cheapest way is to use voice-over-IP (that is, Internet phone) either from services such as Skype, either from DSL providers such as Free.

The scam
Many public phones have stickers or posters, both official and unofficial looking, advertising cheap international calls with a credit card. Never, in France or any other country, use one of these services! Their rates, which are not usually posted, are simply awful. Calling their free number and giving your credit card number may seem like a good idea when you're desperate, but you won't be happy when you see your credit card bill.

Old reliable
Purchasing a real France Telecom card (with a chip) is a good idea. This will allow you to make calls within France easily and at a reasonable rate, and you can call home at a rate that, while not good, is at least discernable.

Cards are sold for amounts of 7.50 € and 15 €, each with a certain amount of credits that you can watch count down as you make the call. These fast and easy cards are particularly useful when you're only calling home to ask that someone call you back.

To make an international call from France, you first dial 00, then the country code, then the number you are calling. For the U.S., you will dial something like 00-1-xxx-xxx-xxxx

Rappelez-moi S.V.P!
If you're calling the U.S., it's a good bet that the rate for a direct dialed call from home is better than the FT card's rate. (And if it's your parents, they probably have more disposable income than a French assitant!) Fortunately, every public telephone in France can be called from abroad at the number posted above or near the phone.

To call from the U.S., you first dial 011, then France's country code 33, then the number in France leaving off the leading 0. This comes out to 011-33-x.xx.xx.xx.xx

For those frequent stateside callers
You're probably skeptical of the “10 10” numbers advertised by worn-out celebrities during Jerry Springer commercial breaks. You should be! One of these services, however, has been a big help to assistants: it's the cheapest way to talk by phone between the U.S. and France.

10 10 987 : as of this writing a U.S. to France call is 53¢ to connect, 3¢ per minute afterwards. Ask people to call you at a French landline phone with this service and they really won't have cause to complain about the cost of the call. They will complain about the numeric soup of numbers required, though. Get ready… 10-10-987-011-33-x.xx.xx.xx.xx

Since July 2004, 10-10-987 does apply a mobile phone surcharge. It's presently 12¢ a minute for France, significantly eroding the benefit of the service. Now there's no terribly cheap way to talk on a mobile phone in France for more than a few minutes, whether you're talking to your potes or your parents.

Similar services also exist in France - a favorite is Telerabais (http://www.telerabais.com/index2.php). You can call pretty much anywhere in the world for 1.4 cents nights and weekends, and 2.8 cents per minute during peak periods. There are also reduced rates for calls to mobiles. No switching of services is required, the bill will just come as an extra page on your normal phone bill.

For a call to the US, you would dial the US access code: 0811 310 310, then 001+area code+phone number, then press #. You are charged from the moment the operator starts talking, so it's in your interest to start dialing right away!

Discount calling cards
If the jumble of numbers required to call France is too much for some people, or if you don't always want to be taking a free ride, you'll need to find a good calling card.

In larger French cities you will be able to find calling cards with reasonable rates. A 15 € card should get you at least a few hundred minutes of talk time. Go to a large Tabac and ask for a discount international card, and check the rates printed on the card before you buy it. In larger cities look for the orange EuroMaxi cards usually sold by shady looking vendors or automated telecarte machines. It will give you about 5 hours to the U.K, Canada, France and the United States.

These cards do trade quality for quantity. Be prepared to redial several times if the call doesn't go through. Sometimes, there is a very annoying echo or a delay in the conversation. And you may need to let the service automatically call you back at your pay phone to get the best rate. It's a hassle, but in the end this is the only practical way to have a long conversation dialed out from a French pay phone in the rain after dark while your stateside pal is sipping an afternoon martini by the pool.

Fixed lines, VoIP and Internet access
If you have your own apartment and an activated telephone line, waste no time signing up for Tele2 or onetel.

Neuf Telecom are also a good bet - they do ADSL deals and cheap international calling. It may also be possible to get your land line set up through them, which is a bonus as they don't demand the one year's minimum engagement à la France Telecom.

The preferred way to access the Internet is through ADSL. Wanadoo offers ADSL service almost everywhere in France outside of some rural areas. However, other companies such as Free offer better deals. Typical rates are 30€ a month for broadband ADSL (a whopping 16 mbit/s for Free in good circumstances), digital TV and unlimited calls to land lines within France and to any phone in the US or Canada. Orange, through FranceTelecom, offers a similar package.

Roaming mobile phones
Don't use a foreign mobile phone service in France if you can avoid it, it's obscenely expensive. See below for information on a French subscription.

Instant messaging
If you've got a computer, a microphone, speakers and an internet connection of reasonable speed, instant messaging is your best option by far. Get a hold of some IM software such as MSN Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger and you're set. True, your parents or friends back home will need to be online at the same time. But it's free, and none of the above alternatives can beat that!

Skype: The Cheapest Rates!
Skype is a program that enables you to make phone calls from your computer, as long as you have an internet connection. You may also need a headset with a microphone, it depends on how your computer is set up. Rates to the US (landlines and mobiles) are 2 euro cents a minute. Rates to other countries are low, too! See http://www.skype.com/products/skypeout/rates/.

First, you will have to create a Skype account. Then, you buy a SkypeOut credit. You pay 10 or 20 euros, you choose. Next, call whomever you want and talk for hours! You are always able to see how much money you still have left on your account and you can just buy more credit as needed.

However, if you don't feel like paying 2 cents a minute to call home, there is an even cheaper way to chat with friends and family back home. If they download Skype and you have Skype, you can talk through Skype together, for FREE! You can also instant message, in case you catch laryngitis, from chatting too long. Visit http://www.skype.com to sign up.

Required documentation
You will need an account with a French bank in order to receive your salary. While a savings account is sufficient for that purpose, a checking account with a bank card is required for cell phone and internet contracts. Several pieces of documentation are typically required to open a bank account in France:

 * passport
 * justificatif de domicile: something that definitively indicates your address in France.

The justificatif de domicile could be a lease, a phone bill, or a letter from a school administrator asserting that you live somewhere. Sometimes banks will accept customers without these; however, many banks are wary of opening accounts for foreigners without a reliable address.

First steps
You will most likely need to make an appointment to open your bank account. Make an appointment with a bank that is convenient to you. When you make your appointment, request a brochure on the accounts available. If the reception at the bank is rude, find another bank. As you will see in the next module, these are people you will have to deal with over and over throughout the year.

La Poste (or, more properly, la Banque Postale) is the post service's financial arm. It has a wide network of agencies (that is, any post office) and tends to be very relaxed about people with little revenue and justificatifs. Its only inconvenience is that the post offices may have long lines, which may be a hindrance if you really have to show up in person (you'll use your card for most transactions anyway).

Fees
Banks in France bear little resemblance to those in the United States. Bank cards are not free; they generally cost 30 € up front or are billed monthly. On the other hand, withdrawals from other banks are generally free (or you may get 3 or 4 free withdrawals each month, which should be sufficient). Checks are free. However, even having access to the bank's web site is often a paid service. Glean what information you can from brochures and be sure to ask questions about each service (including account closure!) before you open your account.

The Compte Bagoo offered by La Poste, available for those between 18 and 25 years old, is a good option. The fees incurred for this account are minimal; generally around four dollars every three months. There are several different types of visas and check type cards to choose from, along with the additional bonus of free checks, which come in handy when you need to pay for the cafeteria at school. The best part about this account is that your liability is limited similarly to what you would expect from an American account for both your checks and bank card. This can be reassuring if you plan on spending any amount of time in Barcelona. They even send you monthly magazines as a Bagoo account member.

If you do plan on traveling, check your bank's fees and commissions for purchases or cash withdrawals outside the euro zone as they can be high (sometimes a percentage+a fixed fee). BNP Paribas is partners with Bank of America, meaning debit cards from either bank can be used at either bank's ATM's for free for an unlimited number of withdrawals. Other banks in this network (a debit card from any bank in the network can be used at any other bank in the network for free) include Deutsche Bank, Scotia Bank, and Barclay's for non-American assistants.

Bank cards
France has an advanced carte bancaire system, in place since around 1985, that allows you to pay for purchases just about anywhere in France using your bank card and code. In many ways this system is superior to anything available in the United States, as it checks the PIN code using a small microchip on the card for almost any purchase done in person. This allows fast, easy transactions all over the country... and deters thieves, since stolen cards are hardly usable inside the country for lack of the PIN.

But unlike ATM and credit cards in the U.S., where your liability is normally limited to $50 or less, a stolen bank card in France could leave you owing the bank thousands of euros if it is determined that you were at fault. Even if you're not, recovering the money may take time and a lot of quarrelling with the bank.

Though it may seem unlikely that someone could steal your card and know your PIN, you shouldn't underestimate creative thieves. (One assistant was pick-pocketed by criminals who had spied her code from a balcony at McDonald's. They took far more than her account balance, and after an extended fight with the bank she was granted only part of the money back.) Hunch over that code entry machine, use one hand as a blind, and don't expect sympathy from the bank for what they consider carelessness.

Be especially careful of internationally capable bank cards. Because standard cartes bancaires only function in France, French banks have linked into Visa and MasterCard networks to allow their customers to make bank card purchases abroad. Unfortunately, the same consequences apply for purchases made through these relatively insecure networks. If you are traveling outside France and your wallet is stolen, a criminal can charge money to your account without needing to know the code until you manage to call the bank's number in France to cancel the card, and then you'll have to complain about the loss and ask to be refunded. If you do have a French bank card with a Visa logo, cough up the extra euros for bank card insurance or leave it at home when you travel.

A better solution is to get a bank card without the Visa or MasterCard logo and use ATMs (or American credit cards) when you travel abroad. Or, if your bank offers it, look for a card with Visa Electron. These cards can be used to make purchases outside of France (particularly in the U.K.), but will always require the PIN. If your bank manager is unable to understand what you want, feel free to leave without opening the account. There are many confused bank employees in France who are unaware that purchases can be made abroad without the PIN, or that purchases can be made in France without a Visa; you do not want one of these people to be your bank manager.

Mobile phones
The mobile phone system in Europe, like everything else, is different. For once, people do not pay for incoming calls, but the price for calling mobile phones from land lines is higher than the price to call other land lines.

Will you need one?
You will most certainly want a mobile phone as soon as possible. Everyone else will have one, and you'll feel left out if you don't. If you are one of the lucky assistants provided with lodging upon your arrival, you would have to be extraordinarily lucky to have a landline as well, as very few internants have working ones. If you move into a private apartment, you could likely have your landline up and running in a few days and theoretically do without a mobile phone — you'll want one anyway, of course.

The easy solution
The fastest, easiest, and safest way to have a mobile phone is to bring a Europe-capable GSM phone with you to France. In that case, you only need to purchase a power adapter for the phone and a SIM card (une puce). These cost around 30 €. Although remember to get it unlocked from the network before you leave, especially if you're coming from the UK! You won't need to enter into a contract, and you won't need to wait for all the documents required to enter into the contract. Do this if you can!

Another way is to get a pay-as-you-go phone (as we call them in the UK - "sans abonnement" in France). This means you make a one off payment which gets you the phone, the SIM card and a bit of credit - instead of having a contract you buy top-up cards from a tabac, then activate them by ringing a number. Currently on the Orange website [www.orange.fr], the cheapest deal is 79 €. Note that pay-as-you-go plans are quite costly compared to regular contracts, where you pay a fixed amount each month and get a number of minutes of credit each month. If you intend to talk regularly over your mobile phone, you may want to get one of these, but it is more of a hassle to set up.

Sending short messages (SMS) is also considerably cheaper than talking.

Other mobile phone providers are: Bouygues Telecom (if you can pronounce it!) and SFR. SFR and Orange have the best coverage - important if you're in a small town! You just need some ID to get a 'sans abonnement', (give your address as the school where you're teaching, explain you're an assistant if necessary) which means you can get the phone as soon as you arrive.

You might be able to get a handset secondhand from a previous assistant and therefore cut your start-up costs. Have a look on the Assistants in France webpage to see who's advertising.

Contracts
If you don't have a compatible phone already, you can either buy one at full price or you can enter into a mobile phone contract (abonnement) and receive a discount. Several things are required, some of which you will not have for at least a few weeks:
 * passport
 * justificatif de domicile
 * R.I.B. (Relevé d'Identité Bancaire) — this will come with your bank account
 * bank card

The mobile phone carrier SFR has contracts ranging from six months to two years. The longer the contract, the better the deal on the phone and monthly credit allowance. As the salespeople will assure you, it is possible to terminate the contract if you are a foreigner when you depart permanently from France. However, keep in mind that having to cancel a phone contract will add to the paperwork and general stress of your departure. Signing a contract that you can fulfill is a better choice.

“08” Numbers, phone cards
Don't call numbers beginning with 08 from your mobile phone. Not only will you pay the high rate of that 08 number, you will also have to pay for the airtime out-of-pocket, not from your forfait. (Free numbers, 0800, can't usually be called from mobiles.) For this reason, most international calling cards will be useless with your phone. But if you look hard enough, you may find a card with a Paris (01) or other access number. So long as you have the forfait minutes to spare, you can use these cards to call home relatively cheaply (compared to dialing directly, even with SFR Monde, et al.).

Carte de Séjour
Obtaining a carte de séjour is one of the many administrative responsibilities of a language assistant that is a ressortisant hors-UE or non-EU citizen. This process tends to vary by académie, départment, préfecture, and établissement scolaire, in addition to usually varying between different fonctionnaires within a préfecture.

The basic objective is to submit the necessary paperwork to get your carte de séjour as soon as you can. Your visa is valid for roughly 2 to 3 months, therefore you need to apply for your carte de séjour before your visa expires. You should receive specific instructions from your académie at your first stage, regarding your obligations. The general series of steps is as follows:

Visite médicale
At your first stage or soon thereafter, you should receive an appointment for a medical visit (basically a checkup to confirm you're in good health while working in France). This visit is conducted by the Agence Nationale de l'Accueil des Etrangers et de Migrations or ANAEM, and it is best to avoid missing this appointment as it will seriously delay getting a carte de séjour. It consists of two parts, a lung x-ray and a visit with a doctor at the ANAEM office in your area. You are excused from work to attend this appointment. If you are reading this before leaving France, remember to bring your vaccination records as they are requested at the visit, though generally, assistants without them have been to pass the visit without a problem. At the end of the visit with the doctor, you will be given a certificate that says your health is in good condition. This document, the certificat de controle medicale will be one of several to be submitted with your carte de séjour request.

This is a sample certificat from a recent assistant.

Rendez-vous à la préfecture: deposer le dossier
At some point, depending on the prescribed procedures for your départment, académie, or school, you will receive a convocation to come to your designated préfecture, sous-préfecture, mairie, or commissariat to drop off your carte de séjour request paperwork. You may also be told you can come by during certain hours during the days they're open, at your leisure. At your appointment, you will leave copies of several documents (your académie or even better, your préfecture, should be able to tell you which exactly you will need if you have questions):

 * your arrêté de nomination
 * your certificat de controle medicale
 * your attestation de domicile from your landlord (whether an individual or your school's principal)
 * copies of your passport information page, your visa, and your entry stamp into France
 * the attestation that you are indeed working as a language assistant in France
 * an official copy of your birth certificate (extrait d'acte de naissance), translated into French
 * three passport-size photos
 * the request form that is provided at the préfecture

The meaning of official or certified has yet to be determined, but call your préfecture to confirm what they will be requiring.

Assuming you have brought all the required documents, you will leave with a récépissé de demande de carte de séjour. This document, with your photo stamped on it, acts as your carte de séjour until the real card actually arrives. It has the following data on it:

Préfecture, dossier number, date of entry into France, first and last names, place and date of birth, parents' names, nationality, family situation, address in France, expiration date of the récépissé, signature of the fonctionnaire, your signature

This is a récépissé from a recent assistant.

Last, it includes a box that says that the récépissé is not valid unless accompanied by the document identifying the requestor with document number (this seems to always be your passport and passport number). DO confirm that your passport number is correct BEFORE leaving. It also states your carte de séjour will be valid for one year.

Obtenir votre carte de séjour
You should receive a notice several weeks later that your residency card is ready to be picked up, and the notice will give directions and hours of business for when and where to get it. This card is what allows you to stay past the normal three months granted for tourists.


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Teaching Assistant in France Survival Guide/Returning home

Finishing a year abroad is not as easy as you would like it to be. Instead of planning goodbye parties, you may be busy trying to close your various French accounts, making shipping arrangements, terminating leases, and attending to other mundane business.

French assistants are often unprepared for the baggage they accumulate in one academic year, both administrative and physical. Don't be caught off guard! The earlier you start making departure arrangements, the more time you'll have to say good-bye properly when you do leave.

Apartment lease
If you signed a three year lease, you need to advise the landlord of your intent to depart three months in advance. This is generally done by lettre recommandée, so that you can later request proof of delivery if necessary.

Mobile phones, Internet
When you opened your mobile phone or ADSL (Internet) account, you may have been told that it would be easy to get out of a contract if you present a plane ticket. It isn’t easy, nor will a plane ticket be of any help. With SFR, for example, you will need to supply a justificatif de domicile. This particular administrative bug-a-boo probably doesn’t exist for your home country – tant pis, they don’t care! Their only concern is filing the right paperwork.

Ask your parents to mail you a signed and dated letter (English is fine) attesting that you will be returning to live at their address on a particular date. Take this letter to your mobile phone company at least a month before your departure to ask for your résiliation. They will likely refuse to do this in the store and give you a phone number to call. When you call and explain your situation, they will give you an address or a fax number where you can submit your claim. Do all of these things early and correctly, and they just might close the account.

Generally speaking, terminating ADSL or phone subscriptions can be difficult for the French too, because companies do not strive too much to make it easy. If sending paper mail to a company who you suspect may give you trouble, always use certified mail (lettre recommandée) and cancel the automatic withdrawal authorization that they have on your account, if they have one. The lettre recommandée will be proof that you took action with respect to the company.

Furniture
If you were lodged in your school or furnished apartment, you have one less thing to worry about. But if you did need to purchase furniture, you certainly aren’t going to try to bring it home with you. Ask your landlord if they are interested in buying your furniture. If not, ask them to offer it for purchase to the next people renting the apartment. If that doesn't work, just start asking everyone you know if they need furniture. You can also place ads in the local petites annonces, in boulangeries, grocery stores, etc and at the university (if there is one in your town). At worst, perhaps someone from your school will hold on to it for next year’s assistants - things like pots and pans, plates, etc would be really useful and wouldn't necessarily take up much space in someone's garage for the summer.

Excess baggage
During your stay, you've probably collected more clothes, souvenirs, and gifts than you can fit in your bags. Even if you are able to pack everything (and transport it by yourself!), the party may be over when you check in at the airport. Depending on the airline, your baggage weight allowance could be much lower than what you would like to bring home. Beyond this allowance you are charged a fee per kilogram of luggage; sometimes it is reasonable, usually it isn't. You will need to determine what the rules are for your airline and find some means to weigh your luggage.

There are several alternatives to bringing everything with you on the plane home. In larger cites you might find some international shipping options at interesting prices. If you can get to an airport, look into AirFrance Cargo. If you're in a small town, your only option might be the Post Office, which becomes prohibitively expensive if you need to send more than two kilograms. Ask about the book and brochure rate (le tarif livres brochures), which is cheap if you are sending only books out of the country – apparently they do check the contents!

As a last resort, carry everything with you and plead. Application of the luggage weight limits and fees is – strangely – at the discretion of ticketing agents. Sometimes they will look the other way for nice, desperate teaching assistants (who, naturally, have nothing but good things to say about the douceur de vie in France) returning home with a year’s worth of souvenirs. Just be prepared to throw some heavy pieces of France in the garbage, if need be.

Excess €s
After a year of borderline poverty, you’ll find yourself with more money in euros than you know what to do with just before you leave. Your last month’s salary should appear in your account at whatever its normal time is; if you had an apartment, you will have the deposit back, and if you sell furniture or other things you can’t take home, that’s even more money for you. Unless you plan on returning to France the following September, you’ll need to close your bank account and do something with all of that cash. Whichever option you choose, make an appointment with your account manager for the account closing (at least a week in advance as usual).

Wire transfer
The easiest option, and the one likely to be proposed by your account manager, is to have the money wired to your home bank account after your departure. This allows you to keep the account open for any last minute virements, such as an electricity or phone bill. But after a year with a French bank account, you should see the catch in this immediately: the closing, wire transfer, and currency conversion fees are unreasonably high. If you let the bank handle everything, they will take more than 100 € for themselves after you’ve left the country.

Further, your account funds will still be available to your similarly untrustworthy mobile phone company that may not have processed your contract termination paperwork in a timely manner, unless you have closed their authorization.

Leaving the account open
American ATM cards used abroad often give good exchange rates with minimal fuss. Why not leave your French account open, take its card with you, and withdraw your money from home? This way, you could be sure that the final debits for your account have cleared (paying your last electricity bill takes about a month). The problem with this approach is that using your French carte bancaire outside the eurozone is not very practical. Your withdrawals are usually limited to a maximum of 250 € per week, and the bank will take around 3% for the currency conversion. Figuring out how exactly much would require a thorough reading of your finely printed fee schedule, and possibly a conversation with the Microsoft Excel paper clip. Good luck! When you want to close the account, you will need to mail a letter to your bank requesting such, with your bank card (cut into bits) enclosed. On balance, you may not feel so bad about stiffing the electric company for your last month’s bill.

Complete withdrawal
Depending on your situation, your best option could be to keep your money in euros. This will allow you to close your French account on the spot and handle the currency conversion at your leisure. If you’re feeling bold, you could take all of the money 200 € notes; otherwise, put most of the money in a bank check. If you think you’ll be in Europe again any time soon, or if you’re traveling immediately afterward, spending this money should be easy. Even if you don’t plan to spend it for a year or two, consider that typical currency conversion fees will far exceed any interest you would earn on the money if it were in a bank.

If you must exchange the money, shop around for a good conversion rate. The currency conversion site XE can tell you exactly what your money in euros is worth in your home currency at a given time, but don’t expect to get this rate from anyone. Instead, use it as a guideline to see exactly how much of your money a currency broker wants to take. Without getting bogged down in a discussion of conversion rates and fees (commissions), keep it simple. If you have 800 €, XE may quote a value of $990.90. With this number in mind, ask your bank, exchange bureau, or post office “How much in dollars will you give me for 800 €?” The answer will never be as high as the figure from XE (no one works for free!), but if you ask around you can at least be sure you aren’t being ripped off.

Good-bye!
We hope this guide has been helpful to you throughout your time in France, and that you are free enough of administrative entanglements to spend your final weeks traveling and seeing friends. One last word of warning: prepare yourself for the slight culture shock you may experience when you get home. Some parts of your French life you are sure to miss terribly!

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text: Template:Learning the vi Editor/TOC

title: Template:Learning the vi Editor/TOC


text:
Veterinary Medicine

Contents

 * 1) /Introduction/
 * 2) /History of Veterinary Medicine/

Self-help

 * 1) /Home-Diagnosis Guide/
 * 2) /First Aid/
 * 3) /Nutrition/

Anatomy of the domestic animals
A very broad topic, for which 2 years of intense study doesn't seem to be enough. Even seasoned practitioners have to consult their books from time to time. As new discoveries are made, various parts are rewritten.

 * 1) /Comparative Anatomy/
 * 2) /Equine Anatomy/
 * 3) /Canine Anatomy/
 * 4) /Feline Anatomy/
 * 5) /Small Ruminant Anatomy/ - sheep and goats
 * 6) /Bovine Anatomy/
 * 7) /Rodent Anatomy/
 * 8) /Avine Anatomy/
 * 9) /Reptile Anatomy/
 * 10) /Piscal Anatomy/

Pet psychology

 * 1) /Deshying/
 * 2) /Domestication/
 * 3) /Danger Potential/

獣医学

title: Veterinary Medicine


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User:Nathan Hamblen~enwikibooks/monobook.css

body { font: 9pt "Gill Sans", "Gill Sans MT" }

 * 1) content { font-family: Baskerville, "Calisto MT" }

a { text-decoration: none}

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Cookbook:Cuisine of Belgium

| European cuisines

Belgian cuisine is very similar to French Cuisine, but there are some specific regional dishes.
 * Asperges à la Flamande (asparagus with eggs and butter sauce)
 * Stoofvlees (meat stew)
 * Gentse waterzooi (chicken meal soup)
 * Water Rabbit (Muskus Rat, actually very tasty, stems from creative cooking in the trenches of WW1)
 * Rabbit with Abbey Beer (Real rabbit, stewed with strong brown abbey beer)
 * Stoemp (a potato, carrot and onion dish)
 * Chicons au Gratin (Gegratineerd Witloof) (chicory (endives) with ham and cheese sauce)
 * Carbonnades à la Flamande (cubed beef in a beer sauce, similar to Boeuf Bourguignon)
 * Lapin à la Gueuze/Konijn in Geuze (Rabbit in Gueuze beer)
 * Liège waffles

Belgian fries
A strange event happened in the history of Belgian cuisine. Belgian historians claim that the so-called "French fries" are actually a Belgian invention. French has nothing to do with the country France, it's from the verb to French, ie. to slice into thin strips.

Livre de cuisine/Recettes de cuisine belge

title: Cookbook:Cuisine of Belgium


text:
Talk:Physics Study Guide/Normal force and friction

Here is a problem:

A block is at rest on the incline shown in the figure. The coefficients of static and kinetic friction are .53 and .45 respectively. The acceleration of gravity is 9.8

A 37-kg block on an incline of 24 degrees.

What is the frictional force acting on the 37-kg mass? answer in N.

5 N

Here is another problem- there is no figure


text:
Talk:Myers-Briggs Type Indicator/Idealist

Who cares about the NF's sports prowess?


text:
Cookbook:Tahini Goddess Dressing

This tahini goddess dressing is similar to several commercial brands. It is excellent on salad and rice or as a marinade.

Ingredients

 * 1⅓ cup canola oil
 * ⅔ cup water
 * 6 tbsp tahini
 * 6 tbsp cider vinegar
 * 4 tbsp lemon juice
 * 5 tbsp soy sauce
 * 6 cloves garlic
 * ⅛ tsp xanthan gum

 * 2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
 * 2 tbsp parsley
 * 2 tbsp chives

Procedure

 * 1) In a blender, combine the oil, water, tahini, vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, and xanthan gum. Blend on high for about 2 minutes. You will see a change in the texture of the mixture as the xanthan gum starts to work, producing a very smooth, creamy appearance.
 * 2) Add the sesame seeds, parsley, and chives. Blend on low, just until mixed.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * Xanthan gum is available in many grocery stores in the baking or grain sections.
 * Be careful with the xanthan gum; too much and the mixture will turn into a rubbery glob, too little and the oil and water will separate.
 * If brand substitutions are made, the recipe may need adjustment.
 * This dressing has a very strong flavors that need to be balanced. When in balance, the flavor really explodes.

title: Cookbook:Tahini Goddess Dressing


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General Relativity/Rigorous Definition of Tensors

< General Relativity

We have seen that a 1-form ("covariant vector") can be thought of an operator with one slot in which we insert a vector ("contravariant vector") and get the scalar $$\mathbf{\sigma} \left( \mathbf{v} \right)$$. Similarly, a vector can be thought of as an operator with one slot in which we can insert a 1-form to obtain the scalar $$\mathbf{v} \left( \mathbf{\sigma} \right)$$. As operators, they are linear, i.e., $$\mathbf{\sigma} \left( \alpha \mathbf{u} +\beta \mathbf{v} \right) = \alpha \mathbf{\sigma} \left( \mathbf{u} \right) + \beta \mathbf{\sigma} \left( \mathbf{v} \right)$$.

A tensor of rank n is an operator with n slots for inserting vectors or 1-forms, which, when all n slots are filled, returns a scalar. In order for such an operator to be a tensor, it must be linear in each slot and obey certain transformation rules (more on this later). An example of a rank 2 tensor is $$\mathbf{T} = T^\mu_{\ \nu} \mathbf{e}_\mu \otimes \mathbf{d}x^\nu$$. The symbol $$\otimes$$ (pronounced "tensor") tells you which slot each index acts on. This tensor $$\mathbf{T}$$ is said to be of type $$(1,1)$$ because it has one contravariant slot and one covariant slot. Since $$\mathbf{e}_\mu$$ acts on the first slot and $$\mathbf{d}x^\nu$$ acts on the second slot, we must insert a 1-form in the first slot and a vector in the second slot (remember, 1-forms act on vectors and vice-versa). Filling both of these slots, say with $$\mathbf{\sigma}$$ and $$\mathbf{u}$$, will return the scalar $$\mathbf{T} \left( \mathbf{\sigma}, \mathbf{u} \right)$$. We can use linearity (remember, the tensor is linear in each slot) to evaluate this number:

$$\mathbf{T} \left( \mathbf{\sigma}, \mathbf{u} \right) = T^\mu_{\ \nu} \mathbf{e}_\mu \otimes \mathbf{d}x^\nu \left( \sigma_\alpha \mathbf{d}x^\alpha, u^\beta \mathbf{e}_\beta \right) = T^\mu_{\ \nu} \mathbf{e}_\mu \left( \sigma_\alpha \mathbf{d}x^\alpha \right) \mathbf{d}x^\nu \left( u^\beta \mathbf{e}_\beta \right) = T^\mu_{\ \nu} \sigma_\alpha u^\beta \delta^\alpha_\mu \delta^\nu_\beta = T^\mu_{\ \nu} \sigma_\mu u^\nu $$

We don't have to fill all of the slots. This will of course not produce a scalar, but it will lower the rank of the tensor. For example, if we fill the second slot of $$\mathbf{T}$$, but not the first, we get a rank 1 tensor of type $$(1,0)$$ (which is a contravariant vector):

$$ \mathbf{T} \left( \cdot \, \mathbf{u} \right) = T^\mu_{\ \nu} \mathbf{e}_\mu \otimes \mathbf{d}x^\nu \left( \cdot \, u^\gamma \mathbf{e}_\gamma \right) = T^\mu_{\ \nu} \mathbf{e}_\mu \left( \cdot \right) \mathbf{d}x^\nu \left( u^\gamma \mathbf{e}_\gamma \right) =T^\mu_{\ \nu} \mathbf{e}_\mu u^\gamma \delta^\nu_\gamma = T^\mu_{\ \nu} u^\nu \mathbf{e}_\mu $$

For another example, consider the rank 5 tensor $$\mathbf{S}=S^{\alpha \ \ \mu \nu} _{\ \beta \gamma} \mathbf{e}_\alpha \otimes \mathbf{d}x^\beta \otimes \mathbf{d}x^\gamma \otimes \mathbf{e}_\mu \otimes \mathbf{e}_\nu$$. This is a tensor of type $$(3,2)$$. We can fill all of its slots to get a scalar:

$$\mathbf{S} \left( \mathbf{\sigma}, \mathbf{u}, \mathbf{v}, \mathbf{\rho}, \mathbf{\xi} \right) = S^{\alpha \ \ \mu \nu} _{\ \beta \gamma} \sigma_\alpha u^\beta v^\gamma \rho_\mu \xi_\nu $$

Filling only the 3rd and 4th slots, we get a rank 3 tensor of type $$(2,1)$$:

$$\mathbf{S} \left( \cdot \, \cdot \ , \mathbf{v}, \mathbf{\rho}, \cdot \right) = S^{\alpha \ \ \mu \nu} _{\ \beta \gamma} v^\gamma \rho_\mu \mathbf{e}_\alpha \otimes \mathbf{d}x^\beta \otimes \mathbf{e}_\nu $$

As a final note, it should be mentioned that in General Relativity we will always have a special tensor called the "metric tensor" which will allow us to convert contravariant indices to covariant indices and vice-versa. This way, we can change the tensor type $$(n,m)$$ and be able to insert either 1-forms or vectors into any slot of a given tensor.


text:
User:Emlnxrz~enwikibooks

I'm just another random user...

title: User:Emlnxrz~enwikibooks


text:
PHP Programming/The if Structure

The if statement
Conditional structures are used to control which statements get executed. They are composed of three fundamental elements:
 * if statements;
 * elseif statements; and
 * if else statements.

Conditionals in PHP are structured similarly to those found in C++ and Java. The structure begins with an if clause, which is composed of the word "if" followed by a true/false statement in parentheses <tt></tt>. The subsequent code will be contained in a block, denoted by curly braces <tt>{ }</tt>. Sometimes the braces are omitted, and only one line will follow the <tt>if</tt> statement. <tt>elseif</tt> and <tt>else</tt> clauses sometimes occur after the <tt>if</tt> clause to test for different statements.

The <tt>if</tt> clause says "If this statement is true, I want the program to execute the following statements. If it is false, then ignore these statements." In technical terms, it works like this: When an <tt>if</tt> statement is encountered, the <tt>true</tt>/<tt>false</tt> statement in parentheses is evaluated. If the statement is found to be true, the subsequent block of code contained in curly braces is executed. However, if the statement is found to be false, the program skips those lines and executes the next non-blank line.

Following the <tt>if</tt> clause are two optional clauses: <tt>else</tt> and <tt>elseif</tt>. The <tt>elseif</tt> (or <tt>else if</tt>) clause says "If the last statement was false, let's see, if this statement is true. If it is, execute the following code. If it isn't, then skip it." <tt>elseif</tt> statements are only evaluated when the preceding <tt>if</tt> statement comes out to be false. Otherwise they are skipped. Other than that, the <tt>elseif</tt> clause works just like a regular <tt>if</tt> clause. If it is true, its block is executed, if not, its block is skipped.

Finally, the <tt>else</tt> clause serves as a "catch-all" for an <tt>if</tt> statement. Essentially the <tt>else</tt> statement says "If all of the preceding tests fail, then execute this code."

Conditional expressions
Conditional values function via basic formal logic. It is important to understand how the <tt>if</tt> clause, among other clauses, evaluates these conditional values.

It is easiest to examine such with <tt>boolean</tt> values in mind, meaning that the result of a conditional value will be either TRUE or FALSE and not both. For example, if variable <tt>$x = 4</tt>, and a conditional structure is called with the expression <tt>if ($x == 4)</tt>, then the result of the expression will be TRUE, and the <tt>if</tt> structure will execute. However, if the expression is <tt>($x == 0)</tt>, then the result will be FALSE, and the code will not execute. This is simple enough.

This becomes more complicated when complex expressions are considered. The two basic operators that expressions can be conjoined with are the AND (<tt>&&</tt>) and OR (<tt>||</tt>).

Examples
We are given variables <tt>$x</tt> and <tt>$y</tt>.

Given the complex expression:

We are given a result of TRUE, because the result of both separate expressions are true. When expressions are joined with the AND operator, both sides must be true for the whole expression to be true.

Similarly:

We are given a result of <tt>TRUE</tt> as well, because at least one expression is true. When expressions are joined with the OR operator, at least one side must be true for the whole expression to be true.

Conversely,

This expression will return <tt>FALSE</tt>, because at least one expression in the whole is false.

However,

This expression will return <tt>TRUE</tt>, because at least one expression in the whole is true.

Code Blocks
A code block is one or more statements or commands that are contained between a pair of curly braces <tt>{ }</tt>. Blocks are used primarily in loops, conditionals and functions. Blocks can be nested inside one another, for instance as an <tt>if</tt> structure inside of a loop inside of a function.

If, after one of the conditional statements, there is no block of code enclosed by curly braces, only the next statement will be executed. It is recommended that you avoid using this to help prevent accidents when adding extra code after the block. The following code will not work as intended: To avoid this problem, make sure to use brackets with conditional statements, even if there is only a single line of code to be executed. This prevents the error in the above code from occurring when you add an extra line after the existing block. This code fixes the previous bug.

Shorthand notation
If you are writing a long sentence where there are some parts non-static, you may create the string using if statement. The PHP syntax allows you to do this even within one line, using following shortcut syntax:

This code uses the shorthand syntax within a line.

For more information

 * PHP Manual: Control Structures.

title: PHP Programming/The if Structure


text:
Talk:Linux Guide/Archive 2

OK, I'm a Linux nOOb myself but gonna try to contribute here as much as possible but I only can while i'm at work so I don't know if the boss man is gonna like that much... Dhuss 18:37, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC)

in the distro dependent section are you meaning to have it sectioned something like

 * RedHat
 * Information
 * Tips
 * Is it right for you
 * SuSe
 * Information
 * Tips
 * Is it right for you
 * etc...

or someway else?

 * Surely:

 * RedHet
 * Advantages
 * Disadvantages
 * Mandrake
 * Advantages
 * Disadvantages

r3m0t (cont) (talk) 08:15, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Merge with linuxquestions.org?
Rather than have useful Linux documentation spread across multiple wikis, I wonder whether it wouldn't be better to merge this content with http://wiki.linuxquestions.org? They are using a Creative Commons license, so it can't be moved over wholesale unless all the contributors up to a certain version agree. But wholesale copying may not be the best approach anyway. -- Beland 22:24, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

Say 'no' to: "Merge with linuxquestions.org?"
I'm inclined to disagree. While I applaud what LQ is doing, I don't see the flexibility there that I do here. For instance, if I thought that another entry should be added under "Linux Sections" I don't think I could add it. I just don't see a way to do that. Here, however, the structure of the document is more completely within our control and such needs can be addressed.

Links to LQ and other sites should certainly be included, but such homogenization is probably not the answer we are looking for.

- DanR, a.k.a. NewBee Tue Sep 20 2005

Problem with Open Source definition
I have a small problem with how Open Source is defined. “Being an open source program means that (if you wanted to) you could view the source code of the operating system and change it to suit your needs.”

Open Source does not mean GNU’s definition of Free Software. Both Free Software and Open Source are not the same thing as the article leads one to think. Websites for example are Open Source. We can all look at the source code and study it to a certain extent. Looking at a website source code does not mean that I can change the source code of the website, nor does it mean that I can copy it and use it for my own doings. As with the website source code example, we see that Open Source doesn’t mean that it is equivalent to Free Software. I know that Open Source is commonly used interchangeably with Free Software but in truth this is a very bad practice. At least I feel it is. Open Source refers to the source code of a application being open for others to see it, but it gives no rights to the user who is looking at it apart from viewing the source code. Free Software gives explicit rights to the user, one of them being the right to view and study the source code. Free Software is a license and Open Source is not.

I think this something that new comers should be clear about when dealing with conversations about Open Source and Free Software. Any one agrees? --Zoohouse 15:09, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Merge with Linux Guide/Installing Linux
I wouldn't think that you should merge these two. This is (or hopefully will be) in my opinion a good guide for people who are computer-orientated but have never used linux. So I'm against. But certainly an interesting idea. Friendly.demon 20:24, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

I do not think this should be merged with installing Linux. I am a newbie and I have come hunting here via a Google search "linux for newbies". Many newbies will be like me, someone else installed it for them and now they are tryng to learn things themselves. So far the documentation I have found is absolutely woeful, it assumes so much knowledge. User delta_tango, sorry I can't register forany more Wikis, I'm losing track. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 58.160.202.148 (talk • contribs) 2006-06-02.

As a beginner to Linux, one of the major issues I face is the general lack of material, (that I can find) that covers this very area. There seems to be lots of more technical material that is targeted at user who knows something about Linux but not for individuals who are trying to convert from "other operating systems" to Linux. I have attempted to read the other document that you wish to combine this one with but, in my opinion they are targeted at totally different audiences. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Beardman (talk • contribs) 2006-10-13.

Keep separate. I think it's valuable to have a "brief, introduction to Linux" type of title that is separate from others like "installing," "configuring," etc. — David Spalding ta!k y@wp / Contribs 17:14, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

 * There's zero reason to have separate books for this. I hope to merge much of the linux documentation into one book in the future. — Mike.lifeguard | talk 19:26, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

Changes suggested
I think since this is Linux for Newbies, we should change the current layout of material: --Tweenk 11:18, 31 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Discussion of runlevels should go. This is relevant only for distro hackers.
 * More focus should be put on GUI applications and using them. The current terminal section is OK, but the regular user will only use it as a last resort.
 * Some security information. Some people will panic and try to install an antivirus on Linux until we explain it's usually not necessary.
 * The section about useful applications at it currently is is harmful, because considering that only the scary console based apt-get way of installing packages is presented, people will try to download them from the websites and install them manually instead of using the package manager.
 * Pipes are used in the commands though they are not explained.
 * I think there could be a simple guide to installing Linux from a Live CD or from the text installer. The current Installing Linux chapter in the Linux Guide relies heavily on terminal. Another option would be to change the Guide.
 * Text should be split into chapters for easier reading - there's currently quite a lot of it.
 * We definitely need an explanation about the X Server, because I have found some people that think that Linux is "built on top of a command line" like Windows 95. Also explain to people that the desktop environment is only a collection of programs, not a part of the kernel like in NT-based systems and can be changed easily.
 * I would opt for more focus on explaining the differences between Windows and Linux, because this is the reality.

Don't Merge Installation with Usage
I am definitely a Newbie and also being considered elderly have some difficulty in recalling specifics of commands that i previously enter:(.

I have two OLPC XO computers and they have Linux on them. I don't care how it got there. It is available through the Terminal. The same for the Macintosh that i have. So I don't need an extensive chapter on installing Linux here. Installing Linux would, i think, have to do with acquiring and installing some distribution like UBUNTU, FEDORA, BSD, into a computer usually, but not always, through terminal commands or a GUI. Linux for Newbies should concentrate on The Command Line entries to a Terminal that is already there.

What i am most interested in is how to use the commands(or as some call them "programs within the Shell" to accomplish some result. There are a lot of manuals that take the encyclopedic approach to commands, as does the Terminal command man and help and --. That's not helpful when you have a specific goal in mind. Kind of like a teacher handing you a dictionary and telling you to write an essay on "How to Start a Car"(and you don't know what a Car is).

Some important things that require step by step sequences of commands (forget about these characters like ; that say execute commands in sequence and also scripting for now. I would be happy to enter them one at a time, wait for completion, then enter the next one)

1. Listing what is in my computer, and what is running: la and ps commands do that but have several different variations (arguments) that produce different outputs. And of course you have to interpret what the output means.

2. Not running output off the screen and being unable to scroll back: |less following command that produces a listing. Remember that :q gets you out.

3. Finding my way: The concept of PATH is very hard to grasp when you are used to pointing and clicking icons or items on a menu or a folder listing. Here is where some of that tricky punctuation comes into play:. ..  /  ~ come to mind.

4. When there is a storage device such as a USB (or SD) drive (stick, floppy, or HD) connected to the computer what commands will transfer programs or data onto them or from them. How would you run an application or print data from them?

5. The commands wget yum and rpm tar are involved in obtaining applications from the internet and perhaps installing them. Most instructions from a given web site tell you to use these commands (or worse make you have to decide on several alternatives) and they apparently work and the result goes somewhere (that pesky PATH again). But then the user is in "left field" as to what then to actually get them to run on the target computer. See 6.

6. A clear cut set of commands to install Flash Player and Java. These for some reason never are included in distributions and attempts to load them and have them work with a previously loaded browser become very iffy.

7. Getting out of situations: A lot of descriptions tell you in great detail how to do a set of operations, but don't say what to do to get out. For example if you use | less the end of the list is a big black square. Type :Q and you are out. Up and Down arrows scroll you up and down hopefully.

I have rambled on perhaps to excess and exposed some ignorance. A lot of the basic names for things escapes me. However, I hope I make the point that "Linux for Newbies" cannot be all encompassing. Stick to Terminal Commands with this one.

Regards: (BTW this is my first "EDIT" since registering. I did learn enough through observation to see that == on either side will make Title-size text)

title: Talk:Linux Guide/Archive 2


text:
User talk:Roadrunner~enwikibooks

Thank you for your contribution to General Relativity page. Any further help is greatly appreciated. -Lathem

I would appreciate seeing the figures 1 and 2 mentioned in the GR:Contra- & Covariant Indices page [user pellis]

I just wanted to thank you for the explanation of contravariant/covariant tensors in the General Relativity Book. I'm just a 17 year old student from germany but I understood it. It rocks! --84.130.160.229 17:33, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

A question
I need a bit of help. I was wondering how one could calculate the time taken for a body, from outer space to reach the surface of the planet given the distance / radius / Mass ...

chrisJonas

Astronomy
Thanks for your contributions at Astronomy. I'm sure your course was really interesting. Hope to see more of you in the future. --Brian Brondel 23:36, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Wikiversity
It is nice to see your enthusiasm about Wikiversity. You should take a look at the project proposal and related pages at the Wikimedia meta-wiki: Wikiversity/Modified_project_proposal. --JWSurf 20:46, 6 August 2006 (UTC)
 * It seems that Wikiversity, as proposed by your link, does not support accredation. Nevertheless, accredation would make Wikiversity much more useful and popular. Imagine a world where one needs to spend only one's study time to get a degree--no paycheck drain or scholarship drain necessary. Wikiversity, the fully accredited free university. --Yosofun 08:59, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Wikiversity: Physics
Incidentally, I should ask whether you have anything against NSF. You posted a number of Summer Research links on the BS in Physics page, but you failed to post the motherload -- the NSF-funded REU programs. This is where the vast majority of physics majors nowadays get their summer internships.

Finally, would you mind answering my more coherent questions on the BS Talk Page? --Yosofun 08:59, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Cheap hostels
Re Travel services - have you checked CouchSurfing (in Wikipedia) and Hospitality Club (in Wikipedia) ? I love the idea of these sites (Couchsurfing is my preference, but haven't given the other a proper try) and have listed them on my Online collaboration and networking page -- Singkong2005 03:31, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Cheap hostels
Re Travel Services - Check this site out - [www.hostelworld.com]....full description, location and rating on hostels. Able to check availability as well. CAS - 09/13/2006 03:30

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Roadrunner. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Roadrunner~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:38, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 05:25, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Roadrunner~enwikibooks


text:
General Relativity/IMPORTANT-Please read!

I originally designed this WikiBook a few years ago, while in graduate school at Georgia Institute of Technology.

My intention was not at all to make an exhaustive textbook of any sort, but instead to make a quick mathematical reference and/or primer, with notation matching that of Misner/Thorne/Wheeler.

A few years ago, when I designed this WikiBook, things just did not fall into place...in particular, there were a lot of issues with people posting in the book writing vague descriptions of things instead of using mathematics. At one point I just gave up....

For whatever reason, I would like to revive this WikiBook. I believe it still has potential.

If you do are interesting in working on this WikiBook, please contact me.

-blathem

Various comments
I am thinking of a (hopefully temporary) major overhaul of the book. There are many sections on advanced topics which are not being touched. I propose temporarily deleting those so that we can finish the introductory topics first. I will keep a copy of anything I delete in the GR Main discussion page in case somebody is actually planning on writing these sections. Let me know what you think. -Lathem

-

Probably it is better if you move them into an appendix for now.

Roadrunner 21:41, 18 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Yeah, I'll do something like that when I decide how I want it. -Lathem

As a grad student working in LIGO, may I suggest some additions to the gravitational waves section? A little bit on the linearized theory, and into some detection methods. If OK by you, I may add to that section.

--Drauh 10:12, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)

What would be nice is an short set of exercises for all the new set of ideas that are introduced as an option for a reader to get a grasp, personally i know that when i see things i do not quite grasp them by reading them and need a few exercises varying in difficulty before i appreciate what the things are done for, e.g., why and what is something used for and off the top of my head i cannot quite think of any specific situation.

--harryortho 18:51 22 Dec 2006

I am doing my research (Ph.D) on the paedagogy of general relativity with an emphasis on its more foundational aspects, which inevitably requires some history. I agree that this book needs a near complete overhaul...and am willing to help. --Brotherbobby

I plan to type some of my notes in here beginning with tensor algebra and then going over to tensor calculus prepared from the books by Inverno and Pathria as well as a text on mathematical physics popular for undergraduate courses in my country. I will be filling in more on the general theory as I read it. Brotherbobby

Linking to Modern Physics
I have linked this book from the Gravity entry in the Modern Physics textbook which was empty RobinH (talk) 17:33, 10 October 2010 (UTC).


text: Calculus/More Differentiation Rules

title: Calculus/More Differentiation Rules


text:
General Relativity/Covariant Differentiation

<General Relativity

Now that we have established some of the basic of tensor algebra and curved space, lets try to do something within that curved space. We start by taking a derivative. In Einstein notation, taking a derivative looks like

$$ \frac{\partial}{\partial x^j} f (x^i) $$

In the spirit of seeing how things work when we transform coordinates, we convert the coordinates from $$x^i$$ to $$x^{\prime i}$$ by a tensor transformation $$x^{\prime i} = A^i_k x^k$$

So let's figure out what our derivatives look like in our new coordinate system.

$$ \frac{\partial}{\partial x^{\prime j}} f(x^{\prime i}) = $$

$$ \frac{\partial}{\partial x^{k}} f(x^{\prime i}) \frac{\partial x^{k}}{\partial x^{\prime j}} = $$

$$ \frac{\partial}{\partial x^{k}} f(x^{l}) \frac{\partial x^{l}}{\partial x^{\prime i}} \frac{\partial x^{k}}{\partial x^{\prime j}} $$

So if the transform is a constant we get a very nice result.....

The result is much less nice if the transform changes with location, that is to say instead of transform $$A^{i}_{k}$$ we use the transform $$A^{i}_{k} (x^{j})$$

What we have here is a nice part, and a not so nice part. If only there was a way to get rid of the not so nice part. At this point we do an interesting trick and that is to redefine the notion of derivative. Instead of defining derivative as simply the way we do in Euclidean space, we create a new type of derivative called the covariant derivative. The covariant derivative is like the normal derivative, except that we add a "fudge factor" to get rid of the not nice parts of the equation so that the result transforms nicely.


text:
General Relativity/Comma derivative

< General Relativity

In General Relativity we write our (4-dimensional) coordinates as $$(x^0,x^1,x^2,x^3)$$. The flat Minkowski spacetime coordinates ("Local Lorentz frame") are $$x^0=ct$$, $$x^1=x$$, $$x^2=y$$, and $$x^3=z$$, where $$c$$ is the speed of light, $$t$$ is time, and $$x$$, $$y$$, and $$z$$ are the usual 3-dimensional Cartesian space coordinates.

A comma derivative is just a convenient notation for a partial derivative with respect to one of the coordinates. Here are some examples:

1. $$T^\alpha_{\ \beta, \gamma} = \frac {\partial T^\alpha_{\ \beta}} {\partial x^\gamma}$$

2. $$f_{, \mu} = \frac{\partial f} {\partial x^\mu}$$

3. $$w^\mu_{\, \nu} = \frac{\partial w^\mu} {\partial x^\nu}$$

4. $$\Gamma^\alpha_{\ \beta \gamma ,\mu} = \frac {\partial \Gamma^\alpha_{\ \beta \gamma}} {\partial x^\mu}$$

If several indices appear after the comma, they are all taken to be part of the differentiation. Here are some examples:

1. $$S_{\alpha \ ,\mu \nu}^{\ \beta} = \left( S_{\alpha \ ,\mu}^{\ \beta} \right)_{, \nu} = \frac {\partial} {\partial x^\nu} \left( \frac{\partial S_\alpha^{\ \beta}} {\partial x^\mu} \right) =\frac {\partial^2 S_\alpha^{\ \beta}} {\partial x^\nu \partial x^\mu} $$

2. $$f_{, \alpha \beta \beta} =\left[ \left( f_{, \alpha} \right)_{, \beta} \right]_{, \beta} = \frac{\partial^3 f} {\partial^2 x^\beta \partial x^\alpha} $$

Now, we change coordinate systems via the Jacobian $$x^\mu_{\, \nu}$$. The transformation rule is $$x^{\bar \mu} = x^\mu x^{\bar \mu}_{\, \mu}$$.

Finally, we present the following important theorem:

Theorem: $$x^\alpha_{\, \mu} x^\mu_{\ , \beta} = \delta^\alpha_\beta$$

Proof: $$x^\alpha_{\, \mu} x^\mu_{\ , \beta} = \sum_{\mu=0}^3 \frac {\partial x^\alpha} {\partial x^\mu} \frac {\partial x^\mu} {\partial x^\beta}$$, which by the chain rule is $$\frac {\partial x^\alpha} {\partial x^\beta}$$, which is of course $$\delta^\alpha_\beta$$. $$\square$$

So, as a matrix, the matrix inverse of $$\left( x^\alpha_{\, \mu} \right)$$ is $$\left( x^\mu_{\ , \beta} \right)$$.

title: General Relativity/Comma derivative


text:
General Relativity/Coordinate systems and the comma derivative

<General Relativity

In General Relativity we write our (4-dimensional) coordinates as $$(x^0,x^1,x^2,x^3)$$. The flat Minkowski spacetime coordinates ("Local Lorentz frame") are $$x^0=ct$$, $$x^1=x$$, $$x^2=y$$, and $$x^3=z$$, where $$c$$ is the speed of light, $$t$$ is time, and $$x$$, $$y$$, and $$z$$ are the usual 3-dimensional Cartesian space coordinates.

A comma derivative is just a convenient notation for a partial derivative with respect to one of the coordinates. Here are some examples:

1. $$T^\alpha_{\ \beta, \gamma} = \frac {\partial T^\alpha_{\ \beta}} {\partial x^\gamma}$$

2. $$f_{, \mu} = \frac{\partial f} {\partial x^\mu}$$

3. $$w^\mu_{\, \nu} = \frac{\partial w^\mu} {\partial x^\nu}$$

4. $$\Gamma^\alpha_{\ \beta \gamma ,\mu} = \frac {\partial \Gamma^\alpha_{\ \beta \gamma}} {\partial x^\mu}$$

If several indices appear after the comma, they are all taken to be part of the differentiation. Here are some examples:

1. $$S_{\alpha \ ,\mu \nu}^{\ \beta} = \left( S_{\alpha \ ,\mu}^{\ \beta} \right)_{, \nu} = \frac {\partial} {\partial x^\nu} \left( \frac{\partial S_\alpha^{\ \beta}} {\partial x^\mu} \right) =\frac {\partial^2 S_\alpha^{\ \beta}} {\partial x^\nu \partial x^\mu} $$

2. $$f_{, \alpha \beta \beta} =\left[ \left( f_{, \alpha} \right)_{, \beta} \right]_{, \beta} = \frac{\partial^3 f} {\partial^2 x^\beta \partial x^\alpha} $$

Now, we change coordinate systems via the Jacobian $$x^\mu_{\, \nu}$$. The transformation rule is $$x^{\bar \mu} = x^\mu x^{\bar \mu}_{\, \mu}$$.

Finally, we present the following important theorem:

Theorem: $$x^\alpha_{\, \mu} x^\mu_{\ , \beta} = \delta^\alpha_\beta$$

Proof: $$x^\alpha_{\, \mu} x^\mu_{\ , \beta} = \sum_{\mu=0}^3 \frac {\partial x^\alpha} {\partial x^\mu} \frac {\partial x^\mu} {\partial x^\beta}$$, which by the chain rule is $$\frac {\partial x^\alpha} {\partial x^\beta}$$, which is of course $$\delta^\alpha_\beta$$. $$\square$$


text:
General Relativity/The Tensor Product

<General Relativity

If $$\mathbf{T}$$ and $$\mathbf{S}$$ are tensors of rank $$n$$ and $$m$$, then there exists a tensor $$\mathbf{T} \otimes \mathbf{S}$$ of rank $$n+m$$. The components of the new tensor (pronounced "T tensor S") are obtained by multiplying the components of the old tensors. In other words, if $$\mathbf{T} = T^{\alpha}_{\ \beta} $$ and $$\mathbf{S}=S_{\mu \nu}, $$then $$\mathbf{T} \otimes \mathbf{S} = T^{\alpha}_{\ \beta} S_{\mu \nu}$$.

For example, if T and S are two contravariant, one-rank tensors, then their tensor product is a two-rank, contravariant tensor.

More to come...

title: General Relativity/The Tensor Product


text:
Talk:Serial Programming

Scope
First, all of the items in the table of contents are good topics-- but this book would be HUGE. I'm going to create a Serial communications bookshelf, because I think we need to create several volumes; among them:

Basic Serial Communications
This volume should contain only the basics of serial data communications (and I mean the BASICS-- synchronous, asynchronous, parity, basic RS-232 protocol, and that's it) along with some demo code that will work between two PCs with a null modem cable. The goal should be to avoid overwhelming a novice C programmer who suddenly has to talk to "something on a serial port".

Advanced Serial Communications
This volume should contain stuff that's going to come up for anything beyond simple applications. Cabling limitations should be discussed (why only 50 ft. at 19.2Kbps? capacitance! etc.) Baud rate detection and other advanced concepts go here.

Practical Modem Communications
Should contain that gigantic Hayes AT command set reference we've come up with, along with descriptions and specs for XModem, YModem, YModem-G, ZModem, and, of course, Kermit. Should also cover ASCII/ANSI translation issues. Basically, BBS nostalgia time!

Serial Communications for Microcontrollers
This should cover the implementation of serial communications facilities on microcontrollers that are taken for granted on PCs-- UARTS, FIFOs, etc.-- and should try not to re-cover ground from the previous books. I suggest the PIC16F84 as a micro with a UART, and another Microchip part without a UART to cover implementing one, as reference source code for both cases is available from Microchip.

There is obviously potential overlap here with, say, "Advanced Microcontroller Programming" or "PIC Microcontroller Programming" or whatever we have/will have. ll

Universal Serial Bus Technical Manual
This will take a while, but there's more than enough source material. Should cover cabling, protocol, building small devices around USB "glue" chips and micros, writing basic host-computer drivers, etc. I suggest a simple USB-based LCD controller as the demo project.

I have started writing about the USB technology. It may take a while and I need help. --Grich 09:48, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Serial ATA Technical Manual
Ouch. Not very many people on the planet have the background to discuss implementing both sides of a Serial ATA chain-- the controller and the drives. We need contacts at Seagate or SerialATA.org for this one...

I'll modify this more soon, no doubt...

-- Breakpoint 26OCT2004

--

Breakpoint (and others),

I have not "abandoned" this book... I've just had some real life issues come up that have pulled me away. Also, I was working on the 8250 UART programming section where it just wasn't flowing the way I wanted it to work. Instead I'm going to try and rewrite that section almost from scratch or try to see what I can get fixed on it. This is the fundimentals of modem communication as well, so really does fall into a major subsection.

I had an original outline that was more to what I originally wanted to accomplish here, but it appears as though there are some others who want to add more to general serial programming in other areas. Much of this added material sort of broke up my outline, so the general structure of this book is suffering right now. That is fine, and certainly I feel that these other topics need to be added, it is just that the book needs to be reorganized a little bit as well.

A direction I wanted to get more into was serial packet communication as well. This was the "core" of what I really wanted to write about, but there is some preliminary information I wanted to get in first, such as raw RS-232 serial communicaion. Eventually I want this to move on to general low-level network communications done over serial data links, as a teaching tool to explain network concepts that normally get taken care of by a Network Interface Card, but can be done "manually" by software that can be written by an undergraduate or even high school student. Perhaps a modified version of this original book I intended should be on the serial data "bookshelf" as one of several books available.

Rob Horning 14:50, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Microcontroller reference?
I am interested in very simple communication schemes -- ones that will run on the tiny microcontrollers that I can buy for less than US$ 2.

I hope that this WikiBook becomes a reference for people who are developing new protocols -- so they can understand *why* previous protocols do it that way, so they can (a) keep the good parts of those protocols, things that turn out to be the best possible way of doing something, while (b) avoiding the icky things in current protocols that turned out, in retrospect, to be bad ideas. Everyone who designs a new ad hoc protocol seems to slam into the same sorts of pitfalls.

A nice reference on RS-232 and RS-485 might be nice; perhaps even extend to USB and FireWire and EtherNet.

-- DavidCary 05:42, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Serial Reference Data sheets
There are some reference materials available for RS-232 communication, but they are both proprietary (involve copyrights) and are reference orientated, which is a lousy way to try and learn a subject. I would like to add an appendix section to this Wiki book that goes over the items discussed as more of a reference work, as that also has value once you learn the information.

Other things I think would be useful would be the 8250 software specs (the typical UART chip on PCs), 8259 programming (the PIC controller and more info about what goes into it), and a similified explaination of TCP/IP packets, compared to the packet systems I'll be showing in these articles.

Right now I'm trying to find a few images that I can use legitimately to show DB-9 and DB-23 male and female plugs.

Rob Horning

other mechanical connectors
I see you've added pictures to Serial Programming:RS-232 Connections. Very nice. Would it be OK to add other mechanical connectors to that page, or should we use a different page ?

Other mechanical connectors:
 * Last week I saw a cable with the standard 9 pin RS-232 plug on one end, and what looked like a stereo jack on the other end to plug into a digital camera.
 * Many people use 2 pins (usually the outer 2 pins) of 4 pin RJ-11 telephone plugs for RS-485 serial communication (AppleTalk)
 * Is there a standard for connecting the TX, RX, GND of RS-232 to the 4 pins of a RJ-11 connector ? Paul Campbell says "I wired the GND to the yellow line, TXD to the black line and RXD to the red line." http://www.taniwha.com/~paul/fc/ass2.0.html
 * I have a cable with the standard 9 pin RS-232 plug on one end, and a tiny connector (2 mm pitch) to plug into my HP calculator on the other end. (Exactly like http://www.engr.uvic.ca/~aschoorl/faq/48faq-12.html and http://www.area48.com/makeacable.html ... not the http://net.supereva.it/enrico.freeweb/cable49g.htm version).

--DavidCary 03:26, 12 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I don't have any problem with trying to add any other connectors. I believe a "DB-15" connector may also have some value.

--Rob Horning

RS-232 on RJ11
The #1 problem with the RJ-11 connector is that it is not even remotely standardized regarding what wires are used for what RS-232 pin values. There are some interesting problems with hooking up an RS-232 line through a home phone network, however. The suggestion that you are making here to connect using a two-wire serial connection (transmit and ground, or ignoring ground altogether) would have some interesting value, as most homes (at least in the USA) are wired with a 4 wire phone system, but usually only two wires are in use with the other two "reserved" for a second phone line. With FCC regulation changes basically granting control of the phone system to the home owner, you are pretty free to do what you want on your phone system, as long as it stays within your home. If it goes on to another building, it starts to get a little more messy in a legal sense. Even more outside the USA.

I would like to propose that we "establish" an RJ-11 wiring standard, if we can't get one that even looks remotely common. This group of wiki pages could even get something simple going that could even be submitted as an RFC, and we could demonstrate that this does have an affect on the internet, so it would be a legitimate fourm for submitting a standard. Much sillier standards are submitted as RFCs, such as IP over carrier pidgeon or the Twelve Nights of the Enterprise (like the Twelve Days of Christmas). This has some real value because it is something that is openly useful and has practical applications. I especially like RJ-11 for RS-232 because it is a very easy wiring system to implement for a home hobbist, and can be used as a "backup network" for normal RS-232 systems. Even better, wouldn't it be nice to have an RJ-11 connector act as a serial connector for a laptop or PDA? Certainly it would be easier to implement than using a traditional male DB-9 connector.

--Rob Horning

The #1 problem with the RJ-11 connector is that it is not even remotely standardized

Not for RS-232. However, it *is* standardized for RS-485 -- The AppleTalk / LonTalk standard.

RS-485 is a small improvement on RS-232 -- most RS-232 equipment (such as my Hayes modem) can directly connect to most RS-485 equipment (such as my Apple Macintosh), with the right adapter cable.

I agree that discussing and proposing standard for RS-232 on RJ11, here in this wikibook, could be useful.

Should we make an article listing the various ways to connect RS-232 to a RJ11 connector ?

--DavidCary 02:46, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * The "8051 Board" at http://www.ustr.net/offers/index.shtml uses a RJ11 for its RS-232 connector. (Unfortunately I can't tell from the schematic http://www.ustr.net/offers/board1diags.shtml which pin connects to RX, which pin connects to TX, which pin connects to GND, and to what, if anything, the other pin is connected).

 * RJ-11 connector: Paul Campbell says "I wired the GND to the yellow line, TXD to the black line and RXD to the red line." http://www.taniwha.com/~paul/fc/ass2.0.html

it *is* standardized -- how does the w:LonTalk standard compare to the w:LocalTalk standard ? ... See w:RJ-11 for the exact pins used by LocalTalk ... --DavidCary 02:12, 19 May 2005 (UTC)

I just discovered that there *is* a EIA/TIA standard for RS232 on RJ45. Added it to Serial Programming:RS-232 Connections. --65.70.89.241 18:17, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

TODO

 * First thing to do: Create a real list of things to do.

 * http://johnscloset.net/ has some good stuff about Ethernet networking. It says "Copyleft: This site was created to be useful to people, and I have no commercial interests in it. Feel free to take what you need from this site. I'd appreciate being credited." Should I copy it here, or is there a better wikibook or other wiki more appropriate for basic home networking ?

 * http://hardwarebook.net/ has many obscure serial cable and other cable information. It says "Copyright © The Hardware Book Team 1996-2004. May be copied and redistributed, partially or in whole, as appropriate." Has anyone contacted these people for permission to copy big chunks of it here? --DavidCary 02:12, 19 May 2005 (UTC)

related Wikibooks
(Moved from the main page and placed there anonymously):

The difference between is ... um ...
 * Serial Programming:RS-232 Technical Manual
 * Programming:Serial Data Communications

---

I'm going to remark that this difference is mainly because of the following:

 * The two "wikibooks" were written (or at least started) by different authors.
 * They have differnet goals in mind (reference vs. tutorial)
 * Would be complimentary.

This wikibook is a mess right now, partly because there have been a bunch of "cooks" trying to go at this with no coherant strategy. I'm going to try and push forward now that I have a little bit of time on my hands, and get a couple more chapters done. Rob Horning 11:10, 28 May 2005 (UTC)
 * As one of the 'crocks' who contributed a lot of stuff I have just decided that I will leave you and your wikibook alone. You don't want contributes, you won't get contributions from me. Follow your coherent strategy and vision as much as you like. Hint: If you don't want to be disturbed, don't place your oh-so-coherent stuff on a wiki. 85.72.167.26 10:01, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * I did not suggest that nobody should contribute. The point here was that modules have been added that don't fit in with the flow of the book itself.  It is never my intention anyway to delete anything unless it is obvious spam (subjective, I know) or a substantial rework is done to expand what is said or to fix grammar issue.  That is called editing.  If something is added here that I don't like, I may move it to the serial programming bookshelf directly, but keep in mind that my opinion is as valid as anybody else's.  I am suggesting that before you start a completely new module, to at least read through what has already been done, read the introduction and goals of this wikibook (this is rather substantial), and try to make it fit in with this as a book you might see published in a dead tree format.  Not all of the added content to this wikibook so far meets that standard, IMHO (and that is my opinion).  BTW, I would consider that to be good guidelines for editing just about any Wiki module/article, and try to tread lightly before understanding the community that is putting the content together.Rob Horning 16:31, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I think it might be a good idea to try to merge a couple of half-finished wikibooks, ending up with a three-quarters-finished wikibook. I agree that it's a good idea to distinguish "reference" from "tutorial". But perhaps that would be easier done by breaking the list of chapters on the index page into "introduction", "tutorial", and "advanced reference" sections. I stuck in some "merge" suggestions. If no one objects, I'll start merging them together. (It will be easy enough to split them back apart if we decide it's really too big for a single wikibook, right ?) --DavidCary 16:54, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Thanks DavidCary. I came up with this wikibook as an initial concept and started to write content, but it appears as though there is a need to develop more kinds of material for serial data programming.  I love the more general serial data communication bookshelf idea (started by Breakpoint) and I think it could be used better.  The question as I see it is what should be put into the bookshelf as separate items and what could be used in this tutorial?  If this main page is going to be the jumping off point, perhaps it needs to be reworked a bit more.  As a book, I would like this to be (at least as a possibility) something you can thumb through in a dead-tree format as well.  Wikibooks is not Wikipedia, even if the interface looks largly the same. Rob Horning 16:31, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Removing "Stub" Status for the main page
I know that Breakpoint was "concerned" that this set of pages was abandoned, but I hope that the idea of this being abaondoned has been dispelled for at least the moment. My concern at the moment by advertising that this is a work in progress is that it tends to attract vandals and others who are merely intent on random changes rather than trying to read the structure and trying to make something that fits into this book.

For this reason I have removed the stub warning and call for articles. Users can still edit here, and I am encouraging others to help participate, but don't rub in my face (as well as all the other contributors here) that this is a tough, complex, and very technical subject that is going to take time to write material for. I expect that this will take another year or two before it is completely written, and even then there are going to be some changes.

In addition, calling this front page a "stub" is totally wrong. While some sub-modules can correctly be called a stub, as an introduction and table of contents it shows exactly what it is, the introduction to a large wikibook. I feel that this introduction is complete with the vision I have for this book, and while there are some changes that can be made, this is more style than substance.

I do like the % completed remarks that show off how much of the module has been written. I want to keep those marks on the page, and keep them updated as parts of this wikibook get completed.

If there are contributions that you (who are reading this talk page) or anybody else wants to make, please feel free to add to them here. I've tried very hard not to edit or remove anything on here... even obvious vandalism, without reviewing it first and seeing if it is appropriate to be placed here. I may do some moving around of content in the future as I get some more modules completed, particularly when they don't fit into the overall motif of this book I've been trying to work toward. Even then, I'm going to try and keep that content here on Wikibooks in some manner, although it may be moved to another collection of pages.

Rob Horning 13:33, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

Merging with Serial Bookshelf
I think it is a simply stupid idea all around. This is a book, not a bookshelf. I actually supported the idea of a full bookshelf for serial programming, and this book is cluttered with a number of topics like the USB technology and serial ATA hard drives that really merit their own seperate Wikibooks.

I have a roadmap and plan for this book, and that roadmap can be disputed and changed. That is fine. Just don't turn this into a Wikiproject conglomeration and a dumping ground for a bunch of stubs that a bunch of deletionists want to get rid of. Besides, I'm still writing more content even now, and it is progressing along on a snails pace, but I am adding a little bit of content everyday.

IMHO, this move to dump the content is going to destroy the flow and feel of this Wikibook. I don't mind other people working on the stuff I'm writing, but please read the introduction, title page, and a couple of completed chapters before you start dumping other stuff here. Try to harmonize any other additions with the rest of this book and not just throw random stubs around that seem like they need a home.

In short, if the Serial Bookshelf gets merged into this Wikibook, I'm going to have no choice but to make another bookshelf or dump the contents onto the Computer Science bookshelf where perhaps they really do belong. --Rob Horning 04:13, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

 * I have removed the merge notices. See Talk:Serial communications bookshelf. --Kernigh 03:22, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Book renaming
I am proposing that this book be renamed from its present Programming:Serial Data Communications name to simply Serial Data Communications, with the rest of the modules having a similar renaming occur. If there aren't any objections to this, I'm going to perform this change within a week. Most of this is to conform to the spirt of WB:NP, but there may be other directions we can go as well. I do propose to keep the colon naming convention between modules, and as this is a "grandfathered" book as per the naming policy, it is not against policy to keep this naming format. --Rob Horning 11:33, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Since there has been no major objection, I'm going to go ahead and do some page renaming. I'm still going to preserve the colon naming convention, as it is "grandfathered" in as per WB:NP.  That and I fail to see why the colon naming convention is "illegal" on Wikibooks.  --Rob Horning 14:22, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Windows ?
There isn't a section on serial port communications using the Windows API.. I'm curious why.

 * Time. Only time and effort.  I plan on writing it fairly soon to be honest.  --Rob Horning 16:02, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

DE9F
I'm amused to see that the connector picture is labled DE9F. I understand the historical context: I'm just not sure about the relevance of that label to this article. Is this the right place for the re-definition of reality on historical lines?

Is that picture actually of a DE9F (a particular part number), or it it really an anonymous '9 pin serial female' connector? If it really is a DE9F, it needs to have a company name associated with the part number. If it has been discontinued under that part number, it needs to have dates. Arcane part numbers are meaningless without a company name.

I tried briefly to look it up: http://www.arrownac.com/ has lots of components described as DB9F, but none described as DE9F. I'm sure that if I looked hard enough, I could find someone willing to sell me a 'DE9F', but that's not really the point is it?.

(david)218.214.148.10

 * There is generally a dash: DE-9. The 'F' means female. Many people erroneously call it a "female DB-9" which is technically incorrect, but since nobody ever puts just 9 pins in the larger DB-size shell it doesn't cause confusion. --66.215.203.188 00:31, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

yet another serial protocol
I thought I was pretty up-to-date on the variety of serial protocols in use, so I was stunned to stumble across yet another serial protocol that I'd never heard of: http://locobuffer.com/ mentions the "LocoNet" system used in some model railroads. --DavidCary 07:44, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Serial Programming