Is it a good practice to create a constant for 1 billion?
In languages that don't allow underscores in integer constants, is it a good idea to create a constant for 1 billion? e.g. in C++: size_t ONE_BILLION = 1000000000; Certainly, we shouldn't create …
explaining the derivative of $x^x$
You set the following exercise to your calculus class: Q1. Differentiate $y(x) = x^x$. A student submits the following solution: Let $g(a)=a^x$ and $f(x)=x$. Then $y(x) = g(f(x))$, so by …
Why arrow keys are not recommended in Vim
"Never use arrow keys in Vim!" I heard this from a random speaker, but didn't have the chance to ask him why. Also, if you don't use the arrow keys, how can you move the cursor in the Insert ...
Accumulation points of accumulation points of accumulation points
Let $A'$ denote the set of accumulation points of $A$. Find a subset $A$ of $\Bbb R^2$ such that $A, A', A'', A'''$ are all distinct. I can find a set $A$ such that $A$ and $A'$ are distinct, but not …
Players who want a dayjob for a megacorp. Should I allow it?
A player wants to work for EVO knowing the corp has a great reputation as an employer (according to Corporate Guide) and they have a great tolerance of technomancers. As part of the day job ...
Why do some photographers cover up the brand-name on their camera?
I have a professional photographer friend. He works for news agencies. He covers up the brand name on his cameras. This was the only photo I could find from him with his camera but it shows the ...
Law of Large Numbers, a confusion
According to Law of Large Numbers, if I throw a coin 1000 times approximately 500 will be head and 500 tail. Suppose that I throw the coin 700 times and I got 700 heads. Can I say that in the next 300 …
Why does the email subject appear before the body when composing an email?
Note: I am not talking about reading experience, I am focusing on the experience of composing email. I am very aware of this issue since it happens to me all the time, and I am pretty sure that it …
What does a probability of $1$ mean?
From a textbook on probability on the Law of Large Numbers: Theorem 3-19 (Law of Large Numbers): Let $X_1,X_2, \ldots , X_n$ be mutually independent random variables (discrete or continuous), each …
Did the FBI agents responsible for killing Tamerlan Tsarnaev die together during a FBI training exercise?
A viral image is being passed around Facebook claiming that two FBI agents who fell from a helicopter to their deaths during a training accident were the same two who killed Tamerlan Tsarnaev (of the …
Expansion of commands in errmessage
When I run \documentclass{article} \def\pet{dog} \errmessage{My \pet\ is {sick}} \begin{document} My \pet\ is {sick}. \end{document} the error message is: My dog\ is {sick}. but the PDF ...
Meaning of inner product $\langle \vec{r} | \psi(t)\rangle $
I have come across the equation which comes out of the nothing in Zettili's book Quantum mechanics concepts and applications p. 167: $$\psi(\vec{r},t) ~=~ \langle \vec{r} \,|\, \psi(t) \rangle.$$ …
What is the best way to prevent abuse of the gate spell?
The gate spell may be used for calling a extraplanar creature up to 39 HD for your service, e.g. Solar. That creature may be commanded to use wish spell for raising your attributes or for creating a …
Is it OK to ask for detailed feedback even after I got an offer?
Is it OK to ask the hiring manager for feedback on myself even if I have already got the offer? I just really want to know how I perform, especially comparing to other candidates.Also I believe the …
bash script selecting the last path variable
Hey all i am writing my first bash script. and i am making it install all the repos i have on github. warpInLocations=("git@github.com:acc/toolkit.git" "git@github.com:acc/sms.git" ...
Should portfast be used on a port potentially connecting to an unmanaged switch?
I understand the basics of how spanning tree works and why you would want to use portfast on user access ports. When dealing with a topology with a large number of dumb switches under desks and ...
Why is $\mathbb{Z}[\alpha ]$ not finitely generated as an $\mathbb{Z}$-module?
Assume that $\alpha \in \mathbb{C}$ is an algebraic number which is not an algebraic integer. My question is why $\mathbb{Z}[\alpha]$ is not finitely generated as an $\mathbb{Z}$-module. Clearly there …
Why didn't Tony Stark initiate the House Party Protocol earlier?
At the end of Iron Man 3, Tony tells Jarvis to initiate the House Party Protocol, which: However, prior to that he'd been working on restoring the Mark 42 unit he had been wearing, but which had …
Which geodatabase type is most appropriate for both open source and ESRI use?
Main Question: Is there a geodatabase type that seamlessly works with both ESRI and open source products? Details: My company currently passes around geodata in various vector and raster file ...
Task<T>.Result and string concatenation
I was playing with async / await when I came across the following: class C { private static string str; private static async Task<int> FooAsync() { str += "2"; ...
center point of a text?
i'm drawing a text using a spritefont and the draw.string function of the spritebatch object. in some point, i need to augment the size of the text, so i use a variable to scale it. all this is ...
Modify the rules of Gomoku (Five-in-a-row) or Connect Four type games to enforce the fairness among players
One colleague and me were discussing this problem during lunch today, and I did a little bit digging for several hours after returning to my office. Fact: For an $(m,n,k)$-game, there does not exist …
Get the head, the tail, and the last element of a comma-separated list
I have a comma-separated list, stored in a macro. It is non-empty, and it has commas between the elements but not at the start or end. How can I get: the first element (a.k.a. the "head")? the last …
Alternative to trains in Japan
So we all know about these pretty amazing trains they have in the "Land of the Rising Sun". They are always on time, clean, comfortable. But they are somewhat expensive for the average backpacker. …
GPO Enforced Precedence
What is the precedence for Enforeced GPOs, I can't really find any MS articles which give a refined answer. My current understanding is as follows: Lets say we have 5 GPO's - GPO1 through GP05. I …
Updating a table with millions of records, its been 4 days
I am currently updating a table with millions of records, its been 4 days and query is still executing. I checked the activity monitor its shows that query is running. In event log there is no ...
How to declare a 3D vector variable?
How can I do vector calculations without telling Mathematica the vector entries? I have very many arbitrary linear combinations in $\mathbb{R}^3$ which I want to perform some general calculations on …
Does Princess Leia ever learn that Darth Vader is her father?
Luke learns that he is Vader's son privately and finds out Leia is his sister in a separate revelation. Are these 2 points ever revealed to Leia, and what is her reaction to learning that the person …
Passing quotes and full strings to bash -c or zsh -c
When I am in Perl and I call system(some_command), this invokes some_command on /bin/sh. I would like it instead to run some_command in another shell such as bash or zsh. One way of running ...
Need Help: Wiring LEDs with 2 source voltages
I have a series of LEDs I would like to have display at 2 brightness levels and am confused how to properly wire this. This is for additional running lights/brake lights on my bike. LEDs - Typical …
These are the hottest questions across all topics on the network.
Create a filter to pick just the topics you want to see...
Stack Overflow
Super User
Server Fault
Ask Ubuntu
Mathematics
Arqade
Programmers
Ask Different
English Language & Usage
Meta Stack Overflow
These users asked the most up-voted questions on this page
