I have a coastal line layer ( us-medium-shoreline from  ), which is loaded into a project with On-The-Fly reprojection ( WGS 84 / World Mercator CRS with +proj=merc +lon_0=0 +k=1 +x_0=0 +y_0=0 +datum=WGS84 +units=m +no_defs) and  I'd like to create a 500m buffer around this shoreline with the ultimate goal of intersecting the shoreline with inland polygons.  I'm expecting a polygon with the coastal line as its center, but I keep getting a circular region as resulting layer (with empty attributes table). Clearly I'm missing something as a GIS newbie.
I  have had no luck getting the buffer tool to accept anything but degrees as units of measure.  I have found lots of stuff saying the layer needs to be reprojected and saved but it hasn't worked at all for me.   Is there a way I could create a buffer without using ftools or at least force the units to meters somehow?  As a workaround I converted meters to degrees (lat) and used that but the final product needs to be as close to reality as possible.  Things I've tried:   setting every unit option I could find to meters (where possible). setting everything to NAD83/Maryland (data is for Washington, DC) and saving it as such (as layers in ESRI shape files). reimporting the reprojected layers setting relevant layers to Google Mercator   The was tried followed by creating a buffer. Many were tried in combination. QGIS 1.7.3 Slackware64 current (qgis from SBo-13.37 repo, tried on multilib and plain 64it with same results)
What identifies an action-reaction pair of forces? This is a question on a worksheet that I'm giving to a student:  A man of weight $W$ steps into the lift. The lift then moves downwards with a constant speed. If $R$ represents the force acting on the man by the lift floor, which of the following statements is/are correct? (3) $R$ and $W$ are an action-reaction pair according to Newton's third law  Why isn't this statement (3) correct? How do I enumerate the properties of a JavaScript object? Let's say that you want to output or concat strings. Which of the following styles do you prefer?   var p = new { FirstName = "Bill", LastName = "Gates" }; Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}", p.FirstName, p.LastName); Console.WriteLine(p.FirstName + " " + p.LastName);   Do you rather use format or do you simply concat strings? What is your favorite? Is one of these hurting your eyes?  Do you have any rational arguments to use one and not the other?  I'd go for the second one. How do I restrict my kids' computing time? Access to our computer (not only to the internet) needs to be restricted for the accounts of my kids (7, 8) until they are old enough to manage this by themselves. Until then we need to be able to define the following:   the hours of the day when computing is o.k. (e.g. 5 - 9 pm) the days of the week when computing is not o.k. (e.g. mondays to fridays) the amount of time allowed per day (e.g. 2 hours)   In 11.10 all of the following that used to do the job don't work any more:   : for > 11.10 no more available through the ppa. : command line alternative, but from 11.10 removed from the repositories. : Looks great but repeatedly crashes to force restarting X-server. So we can't use or recommed this program at the moment.   Are there any other alternatives? Why is my host name wrong at the Terminal prompt when connected to a public WiFi network? For three days straight, I have connected to the public WiFi network at my local library. Each day, I have seen a different prompt in Terminal. Here are some of the prompts I've seen:  zp-pc:~ russell$ mary-pc:~ russell$ normob05:~ russell$   I have check under System Preferences -> Sharing, and my computer name is "Russell's Mac". Also, I set the DHCP Client ID to "RUSSMAC" under System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> TCP/IP, but I still see the random host names at the Terminal prompt.  Why is my computer name changing every day? Why is Lamarck's evolutionary theory considered incorrect? Many sources postulate without much argumentation that Lamarck's evolutionary theory is "obviously incorrect". A classic example provided in such sources is the one with giraffes, in which Lamarck argued that the necks of these animals became long as a result of continually stretching to reach high foliage. This mechanism for adaptive change in response to the environment is considered wrong.  Now the counterargument to Lamarck's ideas comprises modern findings in genetics. So it is stated that organisms pass down traits through predetermined genetic information, not based on environmental adaptations during their lifetime. Furthermore, genetic research shows that living organisms cannot alter their genetic material as needed.   Doesn't the latter contradict the evolutionary theory itself, which states that nature (i.e. environment) shapes species through natural selection in the environmental milieu? If it is not the environmental/natural factor that is responsible for genetic evolution, then what is? If genetic material were to be unchangeable, then how would adaptation to the environment and consequent evolutionary change would ever be possible? The genotype (following this logic) would remain the same. And lastly, maybe giraffes do not develop long necks at such a rapid pace (as Lamarck probably thought) by simply stretching their necks in one generation; however, what, if not neck stretching, is responsible for their consistently longer necks throughout thousands or millions of years? Hadn't the environment gradually shaped their genotype? Similarly, if I run more often, maybe my children will not become more fit, but isn't it just a matter of time (thousands of years) that if all of us consistently run a lot, then our offspring will eventually become more fit? Wouldn't our voluntary efforts eventually enhance our genetics? I do not see any problem with Lamarck's logic at all, except probably the time frame. I am trying to prove the following: Let $R=\mathbb{Z}[i]$, $a, b \in \mathbb{Z}, ab \neq 0$. Show that $a+bi$ is an irreducible element in $R$ if and only if $a^2 + b^2 ∈ \mathbb{Z}$ is prime. Since $R$ is a Euclidean domain, irreducible elements are prime. I think this is relevant, but am stuck on where to go from here. The difference between log and ln $$\dfrac{1}{2}\ln(x+7)-(2 \ln x+3 \ln y)$$  Our professor let's us solve this but i do not understand how $\ln$ works. He says it has same properties with $\log$ but i still don't get it. What's the difference of the two? I read this story in the early 2000s, but it was a Chinese translation so the English version could be older.  The beginning is a bit like the Passengers movie: on a spaceship, a man woke up from stasis too early and found that he could not go back to sleep. So he has to spend his whole life on the spaceship, alone.  For some reason (technical or ethical), instead of waking other people up, he created a fantasy adventure story featuring a brave prince as a pastime. He did stories, and drawings all over the inside of the ship. Then he died, not knowing how people are going to respond to his work. I've been looking around on the internet and I can't find anything in depth on how the cable/connection functions. I've only been able to find simple pin out descriptions.  If someone can link me or point me in the right direction, I would be very grateful. Stop Mathematica from giving imaginary solutions I have a cheap Chinese made tablet from Dubai called the Crony Dubai (www.cronydubai.com). It has a micro B, mini HDMI and a USB labeled as "Host" as well as a micro SD slot. It came with a micro B to USB adapter in box, and its running Ice Cream Sandwich. Is there a way to load Ubuntu on it? Also the tablet is very buggy and crashes often, would that be due to the tablet or the OS? Copy file geodatabase using Python? I am trying to copy fgdb from one path to another using Python.  copy(base.gdb,dest)   And got the message:  Error Info:  [Errno 13] Permission denied:   How to fix it? In what order do multiple readied actions with the same trigger resolve? How to force the browser to reload cached CSS and JavaScript files I have noticed that some browsers (in particular, Firefox and ) are very zealous in using cached copies of .css and .js files, even between browser sessions. This leads to a problem when you update one of these files, but the user's browser keeps on using the cached copy. What is the most elegant way of forcing the user's browser to reload the file when it has changed? Ideally, the solution would not force the browser to reload the file on every visit to the page.  I have found  and  suggestion to be useful. It turns out there is a term for this: auto-versioning. I have posted a new answer below which is a combination of my original solution and John's suggestion. Another idea that was suggested by SCdF would be to append a bogus query string to the file. (Some Python code, to automatically use the timestamp as a bogus query string, was .) However, there is some discussion as to whether or not the browser would cache a file with a query string. (Remember, we want the browser to cache the file and use it on future visits. We only want it to fetch the file again when it has changed.) I am attempting to settle a friendly bet.  Would a pendulum swing indefinitely in a hypothetical vacuum (i.e. no air resistance) having a hypothetical frictionless bearing (i.e. no energy lost due to friction) assuming the following   The frictionless vacuum is on Earth (9.8 m/s^2). The pendulum is already in motion and no other external forces other than gravity act on the pendulum. I have a valid US passport. I will fly Jet Airways to Delhi airport with 9 hours of layover to change to another Jet Airways Flight to Abu Dhabi. Do I need a transit visa? How does Fermat's principle make light choose a straight path over a short path? This is a thought experiment where I have made a &quot;C&quot; shaped hole inside diamond. The refractive index $(\mu)$ of diamond is 2.45. Say we shine a laser from top of the &quot;C&quot; as shown. My calculations show that light reaching A can reach B in the least possible time if gone through the &quot;C&quot;. but I'm pretty sure the perpendicular laser beam travels undeflected and straight down. Though I don't have experimental evidence, I see something wrong either with my intuition or with the theory. It would be great if someone could clarify. *       'a' in the diagram is the thickness of the cutout and all comparable distances can be taken 'a'. The forgetful functor $\mathsf{Groups} \to \mathsf{Sets}$ admits a left adjoint, namely, "forming the free group" functor.  I was wondering if this has a left adjoint.  This seems unlikely, but I don't have a proof.  Is there a functor $\mathsf{Sets} \to \mathsf{Groups}$ that admits a left adjoint at all? Schengen refusal formulae can be difficult to understand sometimes.    When an applicant receives a refusal with "Justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not provided", what does it mean?