Finding an acceptable upper limit on a random generator with an unknown distribution Suppose we have a random number generator, and we do not know anything about the generator, including the distribution of its outputs. We are allowed to use the generator some number of times to get draws and observe the sample.   Then, from the sample(s), we want to find a number M such that we can say something like  "z% of the (future) draws from this random number generator will be less then M." (future draws meaning not including the draws we used to make sample(s))  How would I go about doing this, and are there any resources to go to?  Thanks!
Multi armed bandit for general reward distribution I'm working on a multi-armed bandit problem where we do not have any information about the reward distribution.   I have found many papers which guarantee regret bounds for a distribution with known bound, and for general distributions with support in [0,1].   I would like to find out if there is a way to perform well in an environment where the reward distribution does not have any guarantees about its support.  I'm trying to compute a nonparametric tolerance limit and using that number to scale the reward distribution so I can use the algorithm 2 specified on this paper (). Does anyone think this approach will work?  If not, can anyone point me to the right spot?  Thanks a bunch!
Receiving commandline input while listening for connections in Python Access images inside jar I have a Toshiba satellite A-200 laptop with a Vista OS on it with 4 NTFS partitions  (C:) Vista  (D:) Entertainment  (E:) Work  (F:) Sources   and I wanted to start using Ubuntu instead. So I tried it first from the live CD and everything was OK and all the partitions were shown and working and so I decided to install Ubuntu to replace Vista on the (C:) drive. After I did that I can no longer find my folders and files on the (D:), (E:), (F:) partitions and the only file system that is shown is one 198 GB although my HDD is 320 GB.  I can't access the lost data on the remaining 120 GB which I hope is still there and not totally lost  I am now working from the live CD but I am unable to install testdisk. Can I recover the Vista partitions by the product recovery CD to get my laptop back to the factory settings? Can I recover the NTFS partitions using a recovery program for Windows or will that make the problem worse?   I need these data badly as I don't have a backup for them. Why did the snake wink at Harry at the zoo? This is mostly a memory question - I'm having a hard time remembering this and I can't read the book right now.  On the first book, a snake at the zoo winks at Harry. For the sake of the question, we'll assume that snakes can in fact wink.  I have a fuzzy memory here - I think that it winked before Harry had any kind of interaction with the snake (was this before or after Harry broke the glass?)  So, why did the snake wink at Harry? Given that they had not met ever before.  I suppose that the only reason it would wink at Harry would be because it knows Harry can communicate with it. But this would imply that snakes are capable of sensing such ability on wizards - is there (other) evidence that this is true? Can domain masking be used to move content from a subdomain to a subdirectory? example.com is hosted on IP address c.c.c.c at host1, no access any windows server admin at all blog.example.com is  on IP a.a.a.a at host2, full access to Linux server admin, using WordPress   So basically, I can fiddle with subdomain all I want.  I can't 301 redirect because the content on host 1 is an eCommerce site that I have no server control over. Can't put WordPress on it, can't run scripts, can't do anything on the server period.  Is there a method to "mask" all the URLs on root blog.example.com so they appear as example.com/blog/ folder?  They can't actually be sent to example.com/blog/ as that doesn't exist. It just needs to look to the surfer as if they are there.  Can this be done with some kind of masking or something?  Will this be better for SEO as hopefully search engines will see the blog in a directory on the main domain? Easiest way to add a text to the beginning of another text file in Command Line (Windows) What is the easiest way to add a text to the beginning of another text file in Command Line (Windows)? I want to buy a home, but I'm not interested in using a realtor as a buyer's agent.  I know that in MLS systems, when a realtor lists a house they specify what commission a buyer's agent will be paid.  Since I am the one who is bringing a qualified buyer to the listing agent, I feel that I would should get the commission (even if it is in the form of a discount on the house).    Essentially, the seller would get the same amount of money at closing... the listing agent would get the same commission as they normally would for showing the house to someone with a buyer's agent... but I would pay less for the house.  Is there a tactful way to negotiate this with the listing realtor?  For example, should I make a side contract with the realtor to pay me the commission at closing?  Or perhaps I can specify in my offer that they should reduce their fees to the seller by the commission amount if the offer is accepted, in order to make my offer more attractive?  Are these types of deals ever done, and if so, is there a conventional way to make it happen?  Thanks How do I invoke a Java method when given the method name as a string? What is "anycast" and how is it helpful? I'd never heard of anycast until a few seconds ago when I read "".  The wikipedia "" article on it is quite formal and doesn't really evoke a mental picture of how it would be used.  Can someone explain in a few informal sentences what "anycast" is, how you configure it (just in a general sense), and what its benefits are (what does it make easier)? Let $L$ and $R$ be $n \times n$ matrices. I am trying to solve the following minimization problem  $$ L^{k+1} := \arg \min_{L} \lambda \|L\|_{\ast} + \frac{1}{2\mu}\|L-R^{k}\|_{F}^{2} $$ $$ \mbox{s.t.}\ L \succeq 0 $$  where $\|\cdot\|_{\ast}$ and $\|\cdot\|_{F}$ denote the nuclear and Frobenius norms, respectively. Also, $k$ expresses the $k$th iteration when solving an optimization problem successively.  I don't know how to solve this problem. Would you tell me the way? Codomain of function complete implies function space complete Let $(X,d_X)$ and $(Y,d_Y)$ be two metric spaces.   Let $(C_b(X,Y), d_C)$ be a function space with the metric $$d_C(f,g):=\sup\limits_{x\in X} d_Y(f(x), g(x)).$$  Prove that if $(Y,d_Y)$ is complete then $(C_b(X,Y), d_C)$ is complete.  Unfortunately, I have no idea how to approach this problem. I can think of something like this:  Let $(y_k)_k\subset Y$ be a Cauchy sequence converging to $y\in Y$. Then there exists some $f\in C_b(X,Y)$ such that $f(x_k)=y_k$ for all $k\in \mathbb N$. Since $f$ is continuous, $\lim\limits_{k\to\infty} d_Y(f(x_k), y)=0$.  But how do I go from here? As far as I understand, what needs to be proved is that any Cauchy sequence of functions in $C_b(X,Y)$ converges in $C_b(X,Y)$, that is, that the limit is bounded and continuous. But how do we devise such a sequence of functions? How to disable the "highlight changes" feature? Our admins deployed a new version of Notepad++ (version 6.3) on our machines, and this version is highlighting all changes done in a file by default. It does so by setting the background color of every modified line to a bright orange, which I find very distracting.  We  have dozens of plugins installed, but I double checked and we do not have the "Change Markers" plugin (which could be the culprit).  Any idea where I can disable this feature? Changing the highlight color could also be an option. have lived vs have been living Selecting specific row in attribute table using ArcPy (without iterating through whole table)? I would be happy to get some hints on the following integral: $$ \int_0^1\frac{x^{19}-1}{\ln x}\,dx $$ It appears that on Server Fault and Super User, the navigation bar and question title have suddenly become misplaced. The same does not occur on SO and mSO, nor on any of the other SE sites I spot-checked.  This is being seen in both Chrome and Firefox and just began occurring within the last few minutes.      What it should look like:      While this was fixed for a few hours, it has returned as of 22:05. Use LaTeX to produce Epub Inaccurate shading on object root@SERVER ~$ df Filesystem  512-blocks  Free    %Used   Iused   %Iused  Mounted on /dev/YXCV   655360      365632  45% 6322    13% / /dev/ASDF   3801088     670648  83% 41759   32% /usr /dev/ASR    1048576     500496  53% 5555    9%  /var   How can I pipe the df command's output to only display lines that have more usage than 80%?  e.g.: it would only display:  /dev/ASDF   3801088     670648  83% 41759   32% /usr Is it possible to place windows with keyboard shortcuts in Gnome-Shell? With Compiz in Unity, I could press Ctrl+Alt+6 to place a window on the right-half of the screen, Ctrl+Alt+4 to place it on the left half, Ctrl+Alt+7 to place it in the top left quarter of the screen, and so on. Is there something similar in Gnome-Shell?