I have read that the shell searches the command in all the directories available in the PATH variable. My first question is what if 2 directories have the files for a command, which one will be executed ?   Second question is, does the shell searches in the directories shown in PATH variable recursively or not ? Thanks.
If I have a PATH variable that (when exploded onto multiple lines) contains something like this (with a few notes added by me):  /Users/brandon/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p353/bin /Users/brandon/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p353@global/bin /Users/brandon/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p353/bin /opt/local/bin /opt/local/sbin /usr/local/sbin /usr/local/bin   # &lt;&lt;--- notice this path appears again later /usr/bin         # &lt;&lt;--- notice this comes AFTER /usr/local/bin /bin /usr/sbin /sbin /usr/local/bin   # &lt;&lt;--- here it is again! /usr/local/git/bin /Users/brandon/bin /Users/brandon/.homebrew/bin /usr/local/mysql/bin /usr/local/share/npm/bin /Applications/Postgres93.app/Contents/MacOS/bin /Users/brandon/.rvm/bin   is it possible for the presence of the second /usr/local/bin/ to cause the /usr/bin to take precedence over /usr/local/bin?  This seems crazy (to me: I've never heard of such a thing) but that's exactly the behavior I'm seeing.  I've just installed PHP with Homebrew, and yet the system PHP (from /usr/bin) is taking precedence:  $ which php /usr/bin/php   BUT, after manually altering the PATH (rather than digging through all the files sourced by my .zshrc to try to figure out why &amp; where the duplication is coming from) to remove the second instance of /usr/local/bin, I find that /usr/local/bin is taking precedence over /usr/bin as I would have expected it to in the first place:  $ which php /usr/local/bin/php   What would cause this?  Is this normal?
"In the case of medical diagnostics, there is a cost associated with each medical procedure that provides additional information (blood test, x-ray, etc.)."   Should that end with "etc.).", "etc)." or "etc.)"? The Sharpshooter feat includes an interesting feature: you can choose to take -5 penalty to hit with a ranged weapon attack to increase its damage by 10. Normally, I'd dismiss the trade-off as too situational, but I've only just thought of combining it with the Archery fighting style (+2 to hit with ranged weapon attacks).  After building a sample character using these features, the end result looks quite effective. My questions are: Is this build valid? Have I interpreted the rules correctly? If so, how well does it compare against other damage-focused builds?  5th level variant Human Fighter:   Ability Scores (via point buy): Str 10, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 10 HP: 47, AC: 17 (or 18 with disadvantage on Stealth) Weapons: Hand Crossbow x 2 Fighting Style: Archery Martial Archetype: Battle Master (with the Precision Attack maneuver) Feat (variant Human): Crossbow Expert Feat (4th level ability score improvement): Sharpshooter   The end result is a fighter capable of hitting targets 120' away, behind 1/2 or 3/4 cover, or engaged in melee with him, all without penalty. Normally, he can make 3 such attacks per round (Attack action + Extra Attack + Crossbow Expert's bonus attack). Once per short rest he can make 5 attacks per round via Action Surge (Attack action 1 + Extra Attack, Attack action 2 + Extra Attack, Crossbow Expert's bonus attack).  His normal attack bonus is +8 (3 proficiency, 3 Dexterity, 2 Archery fighting style), and normal damage is 1d6+3. Not amazing damage, but nice accuracy and flexibility (attacks can be focused on one target, or spread around; works equally well in melee and ranged combat).  The real winner is his ability to take -5 on any of these attack rolls to increase the damage by 10, to an average of 16.5 per shot (excluding crits). If he lands his usual 3 attacks, that's ~47 damage; 5 attacks is ~83. While the -5 to hit seems imposing, he's still got superiority dice: he can increase his attack roll by 1d8 after seeing the result, up to 4 times per short rest. And even without the superiority dice, his attack bonus is still an acceptable +3; ok for hitting low AC targets, or those granting advantage on attack rolls (e.g. surprised or prone + adjacent).  With a decent AC, a Fighter's HP, and the Second Wind feature, he can also take a decent amount of damage. He'll also have decent Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws.  This build seems almost too well rounded. Unlike a blaster, he only requires short rests to recover his big hitters. Unlike a brawler, he can target just about anything on the field at a moment's notice. Have I missed any rules, or overlooked any drawbacks? Double-column listing package Not too well up on LaTeX, but I want to use the listings package for listings spanning a two-column format.  Unfortunately, asterisks cannot save me (like for figures/tables); this doesn't work:  \begin{lstlisting*} ... \end{lstlisting*}   I've Googled about, but got no satisfactory answer, and getting a bit desperate. Should be simple... hope I'm not missing something stupid. Perhaps it's possible to embed this into a separate spanning float?  Help?  (P.S., I've posted this on the main stackoverflow site as well...  if this is considered a duplicate, please comment and I'll remove the other. Getting a bit desperate fighting a deadline.) How would I prove that for all elements of a set {n | n ∈ ℕ ∧ n &gt; 7} (all natural numbers greater than 7), there are multiples of 3 and 5 which, when added up, are equal to that element of the set?  A := {n | n ∈ ℕ ∧ n &gt; 7} ∀ n ∈ A: n = x*3 + y*5   I do understand why this is true:   8 = 1*3 + 1*5 9 = 3*3 + 0*5 ...  15 = 0*3 + 3*5   and this pattern repeats once 16 is reached, as 8 can be replaced with 1*3 + 1*5, so I'd basically have to add 1 to x and y for every time 8 fits in n.  I am however not sure how I can formulate this mathematically correct.  Thanks in advance, CrushedPixel Am I going to have trouble flying without my full name on the ticket? How were bullets able to dent Captain America's Shield? Just after Captain America's shield was introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger, Peggy Carter shot few bullets at it which created few minor distortions on it.                                  From  page of Marvel.Wikia,     Proto-Adamantium   This is the original Adamantium created by Dr. MacLain. Proto-Adamantium is the official name for the metal that makes up Captain America's Shield. It has never been recreated and is the absolute most invulnerable item in all of existence.    From  page of Marvel.Wikia:     The true shield was once slightly dented by an enraged Odinforce empowered Thor, using Mjolnir, but he later reconciled and pounded out the small dent.    How were few bullets able to dent Captain America's shield then? Philosophy is the mother of all science Prologue Running google search:  at the time of this post yields about 114,000 results, and while this Quora post:  puts forth the question to determine the truth of the matter, it does not address the historical, etymological, and philosophical import of the matter. This PhilSE Post:  clearly addresses theory, but does not address the historical aspect. The related question in Researchgate post:  seems to not provide a substantial answer either. Inquiry What is the  context in which the statement 'Philosophy is the mother of all science' or related ones began to recognize as a  the  relationship between philosophy and the advent of modern science under thinkers like ? That is to say, what historical and social consequences were responsible for seeing  somehow superior as a theory to the ? Epilogue The question is intended to determine the metaphilosophical insights of philosophers. For example, if Karl Popper used the phrase or one similar, did he appeal to previous philosophers for insight on that same relationship? See Also Falsely accused witch befriends transforming dragon she was to be sacrificed to Story is in a medievalish setting and starts with a woman who has been falsely accused of being a witch being taken by 2 men to be sacrificed to a dragon.  She ends up befriending the (male) dragon, who is able to transform into various forms, including human, and can speak only the language of whatever form he is in. e.g. can speak English in human form, but can't in dragon form.  He needs to return to his dragon form every day at sunrise or he dies.  Contact with iron or steel causes him pain and prevents him from transforming.  Near the end of the book, he's been put in handcuffs by one of the two men from the start and the woman has to get the assistance of the other one (village blacksmith?) to remove them before sunrise, which they manage to do just in time.  I think I read it maybe 10 years ago.    I also remember it was a very short book, probably only about 100 pages. Are locks unnecessary in multi-threaded Python code because of the GIL? If you are relying on an implementation of Python that has a Global Interpreter Lock (i.e. CPython) and writing multithreaded code, do you really need locks at all?  If the GIL doesn't allow multiple instructions to be executed in parallel, wouldn't shared data be unnecessary to protect?  sorry if this is a dumb question, but it is something I have always wondered about Python on multi-processor/core machines.    same thing would apply to any other language implementation that has a GIL. Operation 'Split, All The Metas!' Shall Commence On April 16, 2014 Update 2014-04-17 04:47 UTC: Stable, with some odds and ends to clean up      The main MSO/MSE sites are stable, but there are plenty of corners left to sweep. For details, see:    Not all of them mind you, just Meta Stack Overflow into Meta Stack Exchange.  I'll have you know, factually, that we really did believe this would take place in six-to-eight weeks when it was , but we've finally got a tentative date established.  If things go according to plan, we'll begin the operation shortly after 8:30 PM EDT on the 16th, completing everything within a few hour window. Ideally, all service disrupting endeavors will be completed within the first hour, which include:   The availability of Meta Stack Overflow The availability of Stack Overflow (more on this shortly) The availability of Chat on Meta Stack Overflow   As you know, we'll be bolting on a standard issue per-site meta on Stack Overflow, while breaking the link between what will have become Meta Stack Exchange and Stack Overflow. There's some irritable innards in that particular region, so we'll be asking folks to expect the unexpected during the maintenance window. Affected sites will be in and out of read-only mode, or quite possibly just down for maintenance while we're doing the actual break.  I'll be posting a system message on both Meta Stack Overflow as well as Stack Overflow itself 24 hours before we begin the actual work.   Did I say tentative in a six-to-eight-something time frame again? Why yes, I did - we're currently running some tests on the dev tier to simulate the split as closely as possible, so that we can better anticipate quirks that we need to address prior to actually doing it.  Once the sites have actually been stood up functionally on the production tier, we're going to get to work on finishing touches. This will include things like site settings (which determine bits of text you see in the question prompts, rep thresholds, etc) and all sorts of other fine tuning.  Once we're done:   Stack Overflow will have a blank, empty child meta site just like every other site The new Meta Stack Exchange will be up and running All rooms on Chat Meta Stack Overflow will be moved to Chat Meta Stack Exchange  I'll send over about 150 - 200 questions from MSE to MSO, most of which will be tag or SO-specific feature related posts that got buried by the network stuff without resolution.   If the tentative date moves, I'll update this post with the new date. However, we do not anticipate this happening any later than Saturday, April 19 - in the case that we see down time we can't mitigate and need to do it on a weekend.  The ground work is basically done, we're finishing up sanity now with a great deal of confidence, and we're pretty certain that we'll hit between those dates, if not directly on the tentative 16th.  Questions? Kvetch? Anonymous confessions? Answer below, and I'll address each in comments. This problem comes from another equation on another question (. I tried to split it in half but I found out that $$\sum_{k=0}^\infty \frac{k}{2^k}$$ can't be divided. Knowing that $$\sum_{k=0}^\infty x^k=\frac{1}{1-x}$$ I wrote that $$\sum_{k=0}^\infty \frac{k}{2^k}=\sum_{k=0}^\infty \left(\frac{\sqrt[k] k}{2}\right)^k=\frac{1}{1-\frac{\sqrt k}{2}}=\frac{2}{2-\sqrt[k] k}$$ But that's not what I wanted. Could anyone help me? How do I make the method return type generic? Consider this example (typical in OOP books):    I have an Animal class, where each Animal can have many friends. And subclasses like Dog, Duck, Mouse etc which add specific behavior like bark(), quack() etc.  Here's the Animal class:  public class Animal {     private Map&lt;String,Animal&gt; friends = new HashMap&lt;&gt;();      public void addFriend(String name, Animal animal){         friends.put(name,animal);     }      public Animal callFriend(String name){         return friends.get(name);     } }   And here's some code snippet with lots of typecasting:  Mouse jerry = new Mouse(); jerry.addFriend("spike", new Dog()); jerry.addFriend("quacker", new Duck());  ((Dog) jerry.callFriend("spike")).bark(); ((Duck) jerry.callFriend("quacker")).quack();   Is there any way I can use generics for the return type to get rid of the typecasting, so that I can say      jerry.callFriend("spike").bark(); jerry.callFriend("quacker").quack();   Here's some initial code with return type conveyed to the method as a parameter that's never used.   public&lt;T extends Animal&gt; T callFriend(String name, T unusedTypeObj){     return (T)friends.get(name);         }   Is there a way to figure out the return type at runtime without the extra parameter using instanceof? Or at least by passing a class of the type instead of a dummy instance. I understand generics are for compile time type-checking, but is there a workaround for this? I need to run a bash script at boot-time as superuser in Xubuntu. I don't know where to start. I have to do something described in a Arch Linux guide. That guide says exactly:     Add following at the end of the file : /etc/rc.sysinit   # Do my action /etc/rc.d/do_my_action  /bin/dmesg &gt;| /var/log/dmesg.log   But I do not have /etc/rc.sysinit and /etc/rc.d/ in Xubuntu. I'm sure there are equivalent ones, right? Where does "pay through the nose" originate? I live in Ethiopia and the government blocks all urls with the word "proxy" in them. I couldn't use that word in the title above because that would make the url contain the word proxy.   When I apt-get upgrade I get errors because some packages like libproxy1, libproxy1-plugin-gsettings, libproxy1-plugin-networkmanager, python-libproxy all contain the p word.  Therefore, it is all blocked. I tried putting the urls into proxy sites, but they all just returned to their home page.   Are there any other solutions? How much money, outside of the cost of the house, do I need to buy a house? In Pillow Problems and a Tangled Tale Lewis Carroll presents the following problem:     A bag contains a counter, known to be either white or black. A white counter is put in, the bag is shaken, and a counter is drawn out, which proves to be white. What is now the chance of drawing a white counter?   One can easily reason that in the end, the bag must be in one of three states:   Black remains, new white taken New white remains, original white taken Original white remains, new white taken   In two of those states, a white counter remains to be drawn. Therefore, the chance is 2/3.  How can one arrive to this answer using Bayes' theorem? Why is $\mathbb{R}^2$ not a subspace of $\mathbb{R}^3$? Why would a slug thrower be more effective against a lightsaber/Jedi than a blaster? From  question about gunpowder in the Star Wars universe it is  that the shot from a  slug thrower is not completely deflectable by a lightsaber. This seems to be listed as an advantage (over blasters) against lightsabers and Jedi.     For example, during the days of the Galactic Republic, mercenaries fearing an intervention by Jedi Knights used rapid-fire slugthrowers that were impossible to completely deflect, unlike blaster bolts.   This doesn't make much sense though. A slug, while maybe not as deflectable should be just as ineffective against a lightsaber as a blaster shot is, due to the nature of a . That is, a blade made of plasma should simply vaporize the slug, should the slug manage to penetrate the containment field.     The weapon consisted of a blade of pure plasma emitted from the hilt and suspended in a force containment field. The field contained the immense heat of the plasma, protecting the wielder, and allowed the blade to keep its shape.   While a slug would seem to be more accurate than a blaster bolt (at least when used by a skilled marksman), I can't imagine that the slug would be faster than a bolt. Or if it is faster I wouldn't imagine it would be so fast that a Jedi would be unable to react with enough speed to block it, either with their saber or with the force. So what is the implied advantage of a slug thrower, versus a blaster, when used against a Jedi? Manual/automatic line breaks and text alignment in TikZ nodes How can I insert a line break in a TikZ node? Simply putting \\ where I want the break doesn't work (see MWE).  Is there a way to make lines break automatically at some specified width?  And can I control the alignment of the text (left, right, centered, justified)?  \documentclass{article} \usepackage{tikz} \begin{document} \begin{tikzpicture} \node {First line\\second line}; \end{tikzpicture} \end{document}