I think he's a human astronaut.  His boots have germs he is not aware of, which prove fatal to the aliens.  It might be by Arthur C. Clarke.
In the 70's or 80's I read a short story in which 2 astronauts looking for a nice place to eat lunch choose a spot at the pole of a small desolate planet, overlooking the world's only pool of surface water.  Due to the harsh extremes of heat, and lack of water, this is the home of the planet's single living organism, which has grown slowly over eons,  surviving the daily extremes, moving slowly over the bare rock, dissolving it with acidic digestive juices to get the nutrients it needs for survival. The men watch the organism while eating their lunch, then depart, unknowingly leaving death behind them in their garbage - cigarette butts, tin cans, wrappings - a bonanza that the creature moves over to dissolve and ingest, along with the human-based microscopic organisms that will destroy the alien being. The theme of the story is that although we reach out to the stars to seek life, we are much more connected to the lowest forms of life on Earth, than to any life we may find on other planets. I don't remember the author and title.  Can someone identify the story?
I have this directory /foo/bar/. Inside, I have a python file named myfile.py. I made it executable by adding (at the top):  #!/usr/bin/env python   Then, I made it executable by issuing   chmod +x myfile.py   I edited my path by issuing  sudo nano /etc/paths   I added /foo/bar/ to it.  The problem is that although I can run myfile.py by typing ./myfile.py while I am inside /foo/bar/, it doesn't work from any other location. What am I doing wrong?  Thank you. I have a problem with this file tex:  \begin{document} \begin{figure} \begin{center} \begin{pspicture}(0,0)(1,3.8) \psline{-&lt;}(0,0)(0,.2) \psline{-}(0,.2)(0,.4) \psline{*-&gt;}(0,.4)(0,.9) \psline{-*}(0,.9)(0,1.4) \psline{-&lt;}(0,1.4)(0,2.4) \psline{-}(0,2.4)(0,3.4) \psline{*-}(0,3.4)(0,3.6) \psline{&gt;-}(0,3.6)(0,3.8) \rput(1,.4){$y=0$}%testo \rput(1,1.4){$y=1$} \rput(1,3.4){$y=3$} \end{pspicture} \end{center} \caption{} \end{figure} \end{document}   but I don't understand where is the error. How to disable Django query cache? How do you pass a member function pointer? I am trying to pass a member function within a class to a function that takes a member function class pointer.  The problem I am having is that I am not sure how to properly do this within the class using the this pointer.  Does anyone have suggestions?  Here is a copy of the class that is passing the member function:  class testMenu : public MenuScreen{ public:  bool draw;  MenuButton&lt;testMenu&gt; x;  testMenu():MenuScreen("testMenu"){     x.SetButton(100,100,TEXT("buttonNormal.png"),TEXT("buttonHover.png"),TEXT("buttonPressed.png"),100,40,&amp;this-&gt;test2);      draw = false; }  void test2(){     draw = true; } };   The function x.SetButton(...) is contained in another class, where "object" is a template.  void SetButton(int xPos, int yPos, LPCWSTR normalFilePath, LPCWSTR hoverFilePath, LPCWSTR pressedFilePath, int Width, int Height, void (object::*ButtonFunc)()) {      BUTTON::SetButton(xPos, yPos, normalFilePath, hoverFilePath, pressedFilePath, Width, Height);      this-&gt;ButtonFunc = &amp;ButtonFunc; }   If anyone has any advice on how I can properly send this function so that I can use it later. Is my expansion of the state $| x \rangle$ correct? I've looked at the demo of Beeline reader and would like to test it out on a physical version of my books, which are done in LaTeX. I'm wondering if it would even be possible.   Beeline reader takes online test a puts a slight gradient on the letters for a single line of text. On the next line it reverses the direction of the gradient. The idea being that it helps tracking text and improves speed of reading.  Any hints or suggestions as to how to do this in LaTeX?  What follows is an example taken from Working with a huge file. Illustrator is super slow. What can I do to ease the load? The size of the file is 168mb and it's nearly impossible to work on the file because every action takes like five minutes or so to complete. The artwork is of a scene filled with characters and I so far outlined the entire thing with a brush and afterwards expanded all the strokes thinking it would help ease the load. However, the file is still way too big. Is there something I can do to make it easier to work on the file?  Edit: I flattened transparency and got it reduced to 33mb. Huge difference, but would like it even smaller if possible. What is a simple example of a limit in the real world? This morning, I read Wikipedia's informal definition of a limit:     Informally, a function f assigns an output $f(x)$ to every input $x$. The   function has a limit $L$ at an input $p$ if $f(x)$ is "close" to $L$ whenever   $x$ is "close" to $p$. In other words, $f(x)$ becomes closer and closer to $L$   as $x$ moves closer and closer to $p$.   To me that sounds like something that might be better described as a 'target'.  If I take a simple function, say one that only multiplies the input by $2$; and if my limit is $10$ at an input $5$: then I've described something that seems to match the elements contained in Wikipedia's definition. I don't believe that that's right. To me it looks like an elementary-algebra problem ($2p = 10$). To make it more calculusy, I could graph the function's output when I use inputs other than $p$, but that really wouldn't give me anything but an illustration of the fact that one's answer moves farther from the right answer as it becomes more wrong (go figure).   So limits are important; what I've just described is trivial. I do not understand them. I know calculus is often used for solving real-world challenges, and that limits are an important element of calculus, so I assume there must be some simple real-world examples of what it is that limits describe.   What is a simple example of a limit in the real world?  Thank you  -Hal. What is wrong with this deduction to show that within a multiplet different state has different square angular momentum? I am watching Susskinds's lecture , in which he introduced square angular momentum operator $L^2$, which can be written as $$ L^2=L_z^2+L_-L_++L_z $$ where $$ L_\pm=L_x\pm iL_y $$  Besides, he argued that the spectrum of $L$ can only be $m,m-1,\cdots,-m+1,-m$ in which $m$ is an integer or half-integer. If we denote $|m\rangle$ the eigenvector corresponds to eigenvalue $m$, we have $$ L_\pm|l\rangle=|l\pm 1\rangle\;\text{or}\;0 $$  In the lecture he showed that $L^2|m\rangle=m(m+1)|m\rangle$ for $m$ the highest eigenvalue, by $$ \begin{align*} L^2|m\rangle&amp;=L_z^2|m\rangle+L_-L_+|m\rangle+L_z|m\rangle\\ &amp;=m^2|m\rangle+0+m|m\rangle\\ &amp;=m(m+1)|m\rangle \end{align*} $$  Then he left an exercise to show that for any $-m\leqslant l&lt; m$, we also have $|l\rangle$ is an eigenvector of $L^2$ with eigenvalue $m(m+1)$.  In the lecture, he hinted by showing that it suffices to show that $L^2$ commutes with $L_i$ for $i=x,y,z$, which gives us $$ L^2|m-1\rangle=L^2L_-|m\rangle=L_-L^2|m\rangle=L_-m(m+1)|m\rangle=m(m+1)L_-|m\rangle=m(m-1)|m-1\rangle $$  I believe it is true since I find the   online.   However, my question is that, why the following proof is wrong.  I tried to mimic the proof for $|m\rangle$ to have that  $$ \begin{align*} L^2|k\rangle&amp;=L_z^2|k\rangle+L_-L_+|k\rangle+L_z|k\rangle\\ &amp;=k^2|k\rangle+L_-L_+|k+1\rangle+k|k\rangle\\ &amp;=k^2|k\rangle+|k\rangle+k|k\rangle\\ &amp;=(k^2+k+1)|k\rangle \end{align*} $$  which shows that $|k\rangle$ does not have eigenvalue $m(m+1)$ but $k^2+k+1$ for $k&lt;m$. If my account is already a member of the administrator group why do some functions on Windows 7 require me to run them as administator? I kind of thought that was implied? Did this character lose a limb in “The Force Awakens?” Inspired by  which states limb loss as a recurring theme, I started thinking about the final lightsaber battle. After watching The Force Awakens the second time, I was not sure if      Kylo Ren   lost a limb or just lost his lightsaber. We definitely see      Rey slash at Ren’s right hand.   So knowing that context:      Did Kylo Ren actually lose his arm/hand? I am running out of storage, I usually have bought a lot of my games on disk but if I buy a game on the store then delete it, and want to redownload it do I have to buy it again Let $\{X_\alpha\}_{\alpha\in J}$ be a family of topological spaces and let $X=\prod_{\alpha\in J}X_\alpha$ be endowed with the product topology. Show that $X$ is path connected if and only if each $X_\alpha$ is path connected.  I know this is true if path coennected is changed by connection but I am very confused with this problem, I have tried to do the following:  $\Rightarrow $ let $x,y \in X_\alpha$ be then $(x_\alpha), (y_\alpha)\in \prod X_\alpha$ where $x_\alpha=x, y_\alpha=y$ and $x_\beta=0, y_\beta=0$ for any $\beta\neq\alpha$, and since P is path connected then there is continuous $f:[0,1]\rightarrow \prod X_\alpha$ such that $f(0)=(x_\alpha)$ and $f(1)=(y_\alpha)$, then if $\pi_\alpha:\prod X_\alpha \rightarrow X_\alpha$ is the projection, which is continuous, we have that $\pi_\alpha f:[0,1]\rightarrow X_\alpha$ is continuous and $\pi_\alpha (f(0))=x$ and $\pi_\alpha (f(1))=y$.  $\Leftarrow$ I do not know how to do this address, could someone help me please? Thank you very much. I am interested in determining the ages of all 70+ my servers. I would like to create a growth graph showing when servers and databases were added to the environment either/both monthly or annually. I executed the following query using the SSMS multi-query feature with only partial success.  SELECT [name], create_date FROM sys.databases   It's partial success because the master and model databases return with a date of 'April 8, 2003' when I know that I created some of these servers during the past couple years.  I refresh databases from one server to another several times a week, which appears to be causing issues with the database create date.   Is there a simple method to determine the actual create date for both servers and databases? I absolutely hate it when I watch a video on YouTube and it automatically loads another video page after it's done playing.  This is especially annoying when I'm in the middle of typing a comment as it will cause me to lose what I have typed.  I'd like the video to simply stop and for no further action to take place once it is finished playing.  Is there any way to accomplish this? Can I run a natural gas dryer from a portable propane tank? Why does jQuery or a DOM method such as getElementById not find the element? $$\sqrt{x + \sqrt{x + \sqrt{x + \cdots}}}= 5$$ I'm setting up a Cronjob that will backup a MySQL database I have in my server, but I don't want it to keep overwriting the same file over and over again. Instead, I want to have an array of backups to choose from, done automatically. For example:  ## Cronjob, run May 21st, 2011: mysqldump -u username -ppasword database &gt; /path/to/file/21-03-2011.sql  ## SAME Conjob, run May 28th, 2011: mysqldump -u username -ppasword database &gt; /path/to/file/28-03-2011.sql   And so on.  Is there any way that I can use the system date and/or time as some kind of variable in my Cronjob? If not, what are your suggestions to accomplish the same? How to determine a Python variable's type?