Assigning null to variable in finally block
Does a finally block always get executed in Java?
Examples of patterns that eventually fail Often, when I try to describe mathematics to the layman, I find myself struggling to convince them of the importance and consequence of "proof". I receive responses like: "surely if Collatz is true up to $20×2^{58}$, then it must always be true?"; and "the sequence of number of edges on a complete graph starts $0,1,3,6,10$, so the next term must be 15 etc."  Granted, this second statement is less logically unsound than the first since it's not difficult to see the reason why the sequence must continue as such; nevertheless, the statement was made on a premise that boils down to "interesting patterns must always continue".  I try to counter this logic by creating a ridiculous argument like "the numbers $1,2,3,4,5$ are less than $100$, so surely all numbers are", but this usually fails to be convincing.  So, are there any examples of non-trivial patterns that appear to be true for a large number of small cases, but then fail for some larger case? A good answer to this question should:   be one which could be explained to the layman without having to subject them to a 24 lecture course of background material, and have as a minimal counterexample a case which cannot (feasibly) be checked without the use of a computer.   I believe conditions 1. and 2. make my question specific enough to have in some sense a "right" (or at least a "not wrong") answer; but I'd be happy to clarify if this is not the case. I suppose I'm expecting an answer to come from number theory, but can see that areas like graph theory, combinatorics more generally and set theory could potentially offer suitable answers. I'd like to output hello world over 20 characters.  printf "%-20s :\n\n" 'hello world!!'  # Actual output hello world!!        :  # Wanted output hello world!!========:   However, I don't want to complete with spaces but with "=" instead. How do I do that? Assume f is a bounded continuous function on $\mathbf{R}$ and $X$ is a random variable with distribution $F$.  Assume for all $x \in \mathbf{R}$ that  $$ f(x) = \int_\mathbf{R}f(x+y)F(dy) $$  Please help conclude that $f(x+s) = f(x)$ where $s$ is any value in the support of $F$.  The hints that I have come across are to use Martingale theory and consider $\{ X_n\}$ to be i.i.d. with distribution $F$ and make a martingale with some function of $S_n = \sum_{j=1}^nX_j$.    Thanks! I am writing a journal which has two column. I am using {figure} as well as {figure*} to place the figures in one column as well as stretch across two columns.   My problem is the order of the figures are not correct. e.g. their order of appearance is:                  Figure 1.                 Figure 2.                 Figure 5.                 Figure 3.                 Figure 4.   What should I do to make them appear in order? What exactly determines depth of field? There are several questions here about , about , and about . And of course there's the basic . And plenty of  questions. There's related questions like . But there's no be-all-end-all question asking:  What exactly determines depth of field in a photograph?   Is it just a property of the lens? Can lenses be designed to give more depth of field for the same aperture and focal length? Does it change with camera sensor size? Does it change with print size? How do those last two relate? Can I apply for a Schengen visa at a country where I'm not a citizen? If so, under what conditions? I'm a citizen of country A who would like to apply for a Schengen visa at a consulate in country B. When is this possible? Can anyone explain how one would convert one voltage range to another? I'm going to need to convert a range of -10 to +10 volts into a range of 0 to +5 volts. How would this be accomplished? Thanks!   Let me say  something more. Inside of a torpedo there are gyroscopes. This gyroscope give -10 volts when the torpedo have 180 degrees of deviation to the west and 10 volts when the deviation is to the east. This signal is DC, so i need to change this range a range: 0 to 5 v DC . Thanks Taylor series $\frac{z^2+z}{(z-1)^2}$ at $z=-1$ Simple Power Series Expansion for Problems similar to $f = (1 + \epsilon \,x)^{1/\epsilon}$ I was flicking through a book on perturbation methods and saw a simple question asking the reader to expand the following expression for $f$ in a power series (up to the first 2 terms):  $f = (1 + \epsilon \,x)^{1/\epsilon}$, where $\epsilon$ is a small parameter. I'm sure this is very simple, but I wasn't certain about the best way to approach this. A quick look at mathematica tells me the solution is $e^x - \frac{1}{2} (e^x x^2) \,\epsilon + ...$. How would I go about getting this answer - and more importantly, how would I systematically find series expansions for problems similar to this one? What is the best way to iterate over a dictionary? I have got a specific folder located in "/home/.../reboot/".  I have a series of users that require read-only access to the ever changing files within.  My problem is that the same users are not authorized to view any of the parent directory files.  Right now, the only thing I have in place is that their starting folder is at "/home/.../reboot/" by changing the etc/passwd file; and I need to block all access to other folders.  How could I only give them access to this directory? We can test the symmetry of a distribution around $0$ by Wilcoxon sign rank test, based on its sample.   But if we want to test if a distribution is symmetric around its mean, based on its sample $X_1, \dots, X_n$, is it valid to first normalize $X_i$ by the sample mean as $Y_i := X_i - \bar{X}$, and then apply Wilcoxon sign rank test to $Y_i$'s?  If not, what are some ways?  Thanks and regards! How can I test for POSIX compliance of shell scripts? Considering that POSIX is the closest thing to a common standard among all unices, I'm interested in knowing if there's a shell that supports it exclusively. While most modern shells provide support for POSIX (and will run POSIX compliant scripts without any problem), they don't do a good job at pointing out non compliant features.  Is there any shell that implements POSIX and POSIX only, in such a way that it'd throw an error for any non compliant feature?  EDIT I want to clarify that I'm not asking for general tips for writing portable shell scripts. The related question mentionned in the comments already covered this. I thought of this question when I found out that bash has a --posix option but only to discover that it only affects some intialization behaviors which is not exactly what I'm looking for. Recovering user files with a Live CD For some reason I can't boot my system. I get an error akin to Operating System Not Found.   I tried bootrepair, and that didn't work. So then I decided I would just save my personal files, wipe everything, and reinstall.   But in the live session, when I go to the /home directory, my username folder isn't there, instead it goes to the Live CD's desktop and other directories. Is there some other error occurring? Is there a way to recover the files? How do I disable the drum beat sound on the login screen? I would have expected System ▸ Administration ▸ Login Screen ▸ Play login sound to control this, but unchecking it does not prevent the drum beat sound from playing. Axiom of Choice: Where does my argument for proving the axiom of choice fail? Help me understand why this is an axiom, and not a theorem. How to Mount Guest DOS OS with HOST OS.? I am newbie to VM concept. actually i have installed DOS6.22 under virtualbox and using 32bit windows 7 OS as HOST Operating System, now i want to copy some folders/files from HOST OS to DOS6.22 Guest OS. how can i copy.? ‘And what on earth’s a Squib?’ said Harry.   To his surprise, Ron stifled a snigger.   ‘Well – it’s not funny really – but as it’s Filch ...’ he said. ‘A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn’t got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual. If Filch’s trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib. It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much.’ Ron gave a satisfied smile. ‘He’s bitter.’   Chamber of Secrets - pages 110-111 - British Hardcover   If a Squib is 'kind of the opposite of a Muggle-born wizards' wouldn't that make a Squib more Muggle than wizard? Does a Muggle strictly have to be born to Muggle parents to be considered a Muggle, or can the lack of magic render a person, even of wizarding parentage, a Muggle?  Hermione can say in all truthfulness that she is a 'Muggle-born witch.' The nickname (albeit derogatory) for a Muggle-born is 'Mudblood.' Filch can say in all truthfulness that he is a 'wizarding-born non-magic person,' which, according to Hagrid is a Muggle.  'Squib' may be derogatory in the same way as 'Mudblood' is. Neville laments his family thought he was a Squib when he showed no magical tendencies as a child; the Longbottoms were so rattled at the thought of Neville being a Squib that they, among other things, threw him out a second-story window to see if he would bounce. So could 'Squib' actually be a derogatory term meaning the opposite of 'Mudblood'? After all, the Ministry doesn't allow Squibs to register as magical beings, and many Squibs are schooled and trained in Muggle professions. Squibs don't get a Hogwarts letter.    Wizards can be born to Muggles. Can Muggles be born to wizards?  ETA 11.22.14: In regard to this question, I was glancing through Philosopher's Stone, and I came across this, that Neville said:     ‘Well, my gran brought me up and she’s a witch,’ said Neville, ‘but the family thought I was all Muggle for ages. My great-uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me – he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned – but nothing happened until I was eight.’   Philosopher's Stone - page 93 - Bloomsbury - chapter seven, The Sorting Hat   Could what Neville says contribute to the theory and/or conclusion that Squibs are, or are not, Muggles? How do we apply what Neville said? PDF export on macOS Mojave produces bold fonts Are split infinitives grammatically incorrect, or are they valid constructs?