Weird and unwanted noise from lighting in interior setup
How to avoid noisy renders in Cycles?
Why might one also use a blank constructor? I was reading some Java recently and came across something (an idiom?) new to me: in the program, classes with multiple constructors would also always include a blank constructor. For example:   public class Genotype {   private boolean bits[];   private int rating;   private int length;   private Random random;    public Genotype() {              //  &lt;= THIS is the bandit, this one right here     random = new Random();   }    /* creates a Random genetoype */   public Genotype(int length, Random r) {     random = r;     this.length = length;     bits = new boolean[length];      for(int i=0;i&lt;length;i++) {         bits[i] =random.nextBoolean();     }   }    /* copy constructor */   public Genotype(Genotype g,Random r) {     random = r;     bits = new boolean[g.length];     rating = g.rating;     length = g.length;      for(int i=0;i&lt;length;i++) {         bits[i] = g.bits[i];     }    } }   The first constructor doesn't seem to be a "real" constructor, it seems as though in every case one of the other constructors will be used. So why is that constructor defined at all? For Christmas my kiddo got the D&amp;D Starter Set and we've been going though it and the full rules we downloaded online. I'm having a hard time figuring out how the example listed in the rules gets to a final value of 14.  The example is a level 1 character with wisdom of 15 and a proficiency in perception.  I understand that you start with  10 (base) + 2 (character level) + 2 (wisdom 15) which gets you to 14 but then how does the "proficiency in perception" help or factor in?   What gets more confusing is on one of the pre-generated character sheets has a level 1 character with wisdom of 10 but a passive perception value of 10. If I follow the math from above shouldn't it be 10 (base) + 2 (char lev 1) + 0 (wisdom 10 = 0 bonus) for a final score of 12?  How to calculate passive perception? Coefficient growth in the power series $\sum u_n z^n = e^{1/(1-z)}$? Is it possible to log back into a Pokemon Go account? Why $\sqrt{-1 \cdot {-1}} \neq \sqrt{-1}^2$? I know there must be something unmathematical in the following but I don't know where it is: \begin{align} \sqrt{-1} &amp;= i \\\\\ \frac1{\sqrt{-1}} &amp;= \frac1i \\\\  \frac{\sqrt1}{\sqrt{-1}} &amp;= \frac1i \\\\  \sqrt{\frac1{-1}} &amp;= \frac1i \\\\  \sqrt{\frac{-1}1} &amp;= \frac1i \\\\  \sqrt{-1} &amp;= \frac1i \\\\  i &amp;= \frac1i \\\\  i^2 &amp;= 1 \\\\  -1 &amp;= 1 \quad !!? \end{align} So I need to compress a directory with max compression.   How can I do it with xz? I mean I will need tar too because I can't compress a directory with only xz. Is there a oneliner to produce e.g. foo.tar.xz? Why do we notate the greatest common divisor of $a$ and $b$ as $(a,b)$? In my textbook on elementary number theory from a class last year, as well as elsewhere through my academic experience and even posts here, I often see the greatest common divisor notated as $(a,b)$ (where this represents the greatest common divisor of $a,b$).  My question is, why is such an unusual notation used? I say it's unusual (if not a bit absurd), for a couple of reasons:   It is unintuitive. It does not grant the reader an immediate knowledge of what it means. In particular, I can easily see it being misinterpreted as an ordered pair of points, and not as a function (which it basically is and I touch on in a second) or representing a single value. Good notation would be immediately understood, no? One should not struggle with parsing through the context or meaning. A clearer notation is often used, and just three letters away. You could certainly think of $(a,b)$ as an ordered pair, if we consider it a function. I often see the alternate $gcd(a,b)$: a function, which takes in two inputs ($a$ and $b$), and outputs their greatest common divisor (or factor, if you prefer). Merely adding the three letters makes the notation clearer by clarifying it is  a function, and using a relatively well-accepted acronym. (Or, at least, I often hear it abbreviated "g.c.d." in school.)   I've mulled this over for a while and I can't think of much without borrowing inspiration from other "unusual" notations. For example:   Common understanding in context: consider the $\log(x)$ function. Depending on context, without a base stated as seen here, it can be presumed to mean whatever is most "appropriate." It could be base $e$ (common in mathematics), base $10$ (common in engineering), or base $2$ (common in computer science). The ambiguity is essentially resolved by context in other words - personally, not a fan of that (I like the explicit stating of bases for full clarity), but if such a motivation holds elsewhere, it might stand to reason that $(a,b)$ could just be taken as a shorthand and "understood" in the context of number theory to simply be the greatest common divisor. That it is in fact used despite $gcd(a,b)$ being clearer and somewhat common also does seem to suggest this playing a role. Perhaps it just started that way and it kept being used. For example,  (based on a ) regarding how logarithms, roots, and exponentiation can be unintuitive from a notation perspective, and proposes an alternative, easier to understand notation. I haven't been in middle school in nearly a decade, but guessing from discussions online, that obviously hasn't really picked up too much. In that sense, perhaps it's like that for $(a,b)$: like we still notate exponentiation, etc., the same way today despite how counterintuitive it is (at least for students), perhaps it just "stuck" and proliferated?   I wasn't able to easily find any reason why online, and it bugs me a bit, so I ask:     Why do we so unintuitively notate the greatest common divisor of two numbers $a,b$ as $(a,b)$?   I of course recognize that this is somewhat moot in light of how easily it's made clear - as established above, all I have to do is append the front of the parenthetical by $gcd$ or $gcf$ to make it way better. And of course, people do that. But I'm more curious in where this ambiguous former notation arose and, in light of a better notation, why it is still used today. How to get remote host DNS address from a super-slim host (docker) without ping or bind-utils? What is a word for someone without allegiance? What is the rule for comma placement before a quotation mark? When should the comma go before and when should it go after the quotation mark? Do Stack Exchange sites allow editing of comments and posts from other users? How can I get Stack Exchange to send me to a conference? I read , which states,  Depending on the circumstances and location, we can also sponsor community leaders to attend an event on behalf of their site. We will subsidize your costs to attend, within reason, and provide you with a bunch of swag to use as an ice-breaker when introducing yourself.  This sounds great. But the blog is sparse on the details. What do I actually have to do to get in on this? Why do objects move when you apply a force that's equal in magnitude to the friction? If the friction on an object is 200 N and you apply 200 N, it seems, the forces should immediately cancel each other out since the friction and your applied force go in opposite directions, leaving you with an object that is motionless. Yet, from what I've read, that's not the case. I feel like I'm misunderstanding something. Could it be I'm wrong about needing to apply 200 N initially? Might the amount of force I actually need be greater, but instantaneously decrease to 200 N? Will everything eventually be a single black hole? Given the idea that gravity is always a factor (even though greater distances are excessively tiny), would everything eventually end up forming a single black hole?  My thinking is that, with infinite time, all mass will eventually be pulled together. Why was the previous Code of Conduct FAQ (and all answers) removed? I noticed that the  was deleted.   When the  came out, I tried to look for my old answer as well as others for comparison.  Why not just mark the old one superseded by [insert link]?  Note: I don't care about lost rep. There were a lot of useful links in answers and comments there (and some less-than-useful ones too).     Old CoC FAQ may be available  and . Source: (, ). What do you do when the bus bike rack is full? Sometimes I take commute via bike, other times on the bus, but I rarely plan on doing both because I worry about the possibility of waiting for a bus only to find that its bike rack is full and having to wait for the next bus, which may also have a full bike rack.  What do you do in this case? I asked a bus driver today on the way home and I couldn't really understand what he was saying, but he said something about a bike rack in the back and I think he was saying that were he not driving the rapid bus and were his schedule different, he would put any extra bikes in the back. Not sure though, he could have said something completely different. Can I deduct a contribution to a traditional IRA if I am also contributing to a 401(k) in the same tax year? If the $n^{th}$ partial sum of a series $\sum a_n$ is $S_n = \frac{n-1}{n+1}$, find $a_n$ and the sum. How many regenerations does the Doctor have after The Time of the Doctor? In The Time of the Doctor, the Doctor says that he has a "new regeneration cycle". Does this mean he has another set of 12 regenerations, or just the one? Avoiding copy of objects with the "return" statement