What is the limit of $(1-cos(5x))/(sin^2(4x))$ as x approaches 0?
How to evaluate the limit $\lim_{x\to 0} \frac{1-\cos(4x)}{\sin^2(7x)}$
What does different focal length offer me? I am wondering if I can minimize a multi-variable function one variable at a time. In other words, is it true that:  $min_{x_1,x_2} f(x_1,x_2)=min_{x_1} min_{x_2} f(x_1,x_2)$ How is MSE divided by $\sigma^2$ always a chi-square distribution? ArgumentNullException or NullReferenceException from extension method? What would you consider to be the best exception type to throw when an extension method is called on a null instance (where the extension method does not allow it)? Since extension methods are nothing but static methods you could argue that it should be ArgumentNullException, but on the other hand they're used like instance methods so it might be more natural to use the NullReferenceException. Let's take the following example:  public static string ToInvariantString(this IFormattable value, string format) {     return value.ToString(format, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture); }   This way a NullReferenceException will be thrown if the value parameter is null.   The other example would be:  public static string ToInvariantString(this IFormattable value, string format) {     if (value == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("value");     return value.ToString(format, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture); }   EDIT: In some of the answers you have pointed out that an extension methods can be called like a static method and in those cases a null reference exception would be wrong, which is a great point, and actually one of my concerns, not sure why I forgot to mention that in the question in the first place.   Someone also pointed out that it's wrong to throw a NullReferenceException, and yes, it is. That's why I don't throw it, I just let it happen (let the CLR throw it) by not guarding the method.  I think I favor the ArgumentNullException (that's what I've use so far) but I still think there is at least room to argue for an against the NullReferenceException since it seems more natural in most places where the method is going to be used. su command + authentication failure I am having problems with the su command. I know my password and I am typing it correctly but su indicates authentication failure.  So I checked on the internet and then went into recovery mode and changed my username's password to what I was entering before.  Even now entering the same password on su gives me authentication failure.  Please suggest what am I doing wrong?? Can $R \times R$ be isomorphic to $R$ as rings? Explaining Horizontal Shifting and Scaling I always find myself wanting for a clear explanation (to a college algebra student) for the fact that horizontal transformations of graphs work in the opposite way that one might expect.  For example, $f(x+1)$ is a horizontal shift to the left (a shift toward the negative side of the $x$-axis), whereas a cursory glance would cause one to suspect that adding a positive amount should shift in the positive direction. Similarly, $f(2x)$ causes the graph to shrink horizontally, not expand.  I generally explain this by saying $x$ is getting a "head start". For example, suppose $f(x)$ has a root at $x = 5$. The graph of $f(x+1)$ is getting a unit for free, and so we only need $x = 4$ to get the same output before as before (i.e. a root). Thus, the root that used to be at $x=5$ is now at $x=4$, which is a shift to the left.  My explanation seems to help some students and mystify others. I was hoping someone else in the community had an enlightening way to explain these phenomena. Again, I emphasize that the purpose is to strengthen the student's intuition; a rigorous algebraic approach is not what I'm looking for. We add negative numbers and zero to natural sequence to make it closed under subtraction, the same thing happens with division (rational numbers) and root of -1 (complex numbers).  Why this trick isn't performed with division by zero? I go to the Minecraft menu and click on singleplayer to test out the 1.9 update. I made a new world (no mods), it said downloading terrain and then it crashes every time (I've tried about 20 times now).  Has anyone else experienced similar issues and know what the fix may be?  Here is the launcher log:  Completely ignored arguments: [--nativeLauncherVersion, 301] [00:35:12] [Client thread/INFO]: Setting user: Teddy_Cromwell [00:35:12] [Client thread/INFO]: (Session ID is &lt;censored&gt;) [00:35:14] [Client thread/INFO]: LWJGL Version: 2.9.4 [00:35:14] [Client thread/WARN]: Removed selected resource pack resources (no region and battle music).zip because it's no longer compatible [00:35:14] [Client thread/INFO]: Reloading ResourceManager: Default [00:35:15] [Sound Library Loader/INFO]: Starting up SoundSystem... [00:35:16] [Thread-5/INFO]: Initializing LWJGL OpenAL [00:35:16] [Thread-5/INFO]: (The LWJGL binding of OpenAL.  For more information, see http://www.lwjgl.org) [00:35:16] [Thread-5/INFO]: OpenAL initialized. [00:35:16] [Sound Library Loader/INFO]: Sound engine started [00:35:18] [Client thread/INFO]: Created: 1024x512 textures-atlas [00:35:26] [Server thread/INFO]: Starting integrated minecraft server version 1.9 [00:35:26] [Server thread/INFO]: Generating keypair [00:35:27] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing start region for level 0 [00:35:28] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 5% [00:35:29] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 8% [00:35:30] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 15% [00:35:31] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 21% [00:35:32] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 27% [00:35:33] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 34% [00:35:34] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 42% [00:35:35] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 48% [00:35:36] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 56% [00:35:37] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 66% [00:35:38] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 74% [00:35:39] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 81% [00:35:40] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 91% [00:35:41] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 98% [00:35:42] [Server thread/INFO]: Teddy_Cromwell[local:E:6d7525a7] logged in with entity id 301 at (244.5, 69.0, 244.5) [00:35:42] [Server thread/INFO]: Teddy_Cromwell joined the game # # A fatal error has been detected by the Java Runtime Environment: # #  EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005) at pc=0x00007fffcf6e6b37, pid=15456, tid=12424 # # JRE version: Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (8.0_25-b18) (build 1.8.0_25-b18) # Java VM: Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (25.25-b02 mixed mode windows-amd64 compressed oops) # Problematic frame: # C  [ig8icd64.dll+0x16b37] # # Failed to write core dump. Minidumps are not enabled by default on client versions of Windows # # An error report file with more information is saved as: # C:\Users\Connor\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\hs_err_pid15456.log # # If you would like to submit a bug report, please visit: #   http://bugreport.sun.com/bugreport/crash.jsp # The crash happened outside the Java Virtual Machine in native code. # See problematic frame for where to report the bug. # AL lib: (EE) alc_cleanup: 1 device not closed Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM warning: Using incremental CMS is deprecated and will likely be removed in a future release Why is there not a simpler way to calculate the standard deviation? Steps of getting standard deviation. :        Work out the average (mean value) of your set of numbers   Work out the difference between each number and the mean   Square the differences   Add up the square of all the differences   Divide this by one less than the number of numbers in your set -   this is called the variance   Take the square root of the variance and you've got the standard   deviation      Am I missing out something, or why do we need to square the differences in step 3?  Why not simply do a Abs (multiply all negative numbers by -1) in step 3?  Also, my second question is why do we need to divide by one less than the number of numbers in the set in step 5? why not simply divide by the number of numbers? I'm in the market for a new Smartphone. Except for iPhone's, I'm new in the field and probably have some misconceptions.  My first choice was the Google Nexus S, but I was offered a great deal on the Samsung S Galaxy II (i9100). The only issue is that I read that it came with an "enhanced" version of Android. Being familiar with PC's, I know that these enhancements are almost always bloatware: I always do a clean install of Windows to get rid of it.  My question is fairly simple: is this possible to use the stock Google Android OS on the Samsung S Galaxy II (i9100)? That was the killer feature of the Nexus S for me: coming directly from Google, easily upgradable. Would that be possible and if yes, how?  Thank you for enlightening me. How do I get powdered mammoth tusk? Am I missing something? I can find plenty of tusks, but I just don't know if I can make them into powder myself or do I have to find them for sale? Why doesn't my command work when aliased? I use ps -ef | grep catalina | grep -v grep to print the tomcat process running on the system:  kshitiz   7099     1  0 May11 ?        00:02:29 /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0/bin/java -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,suspend=y,address=localhost:38156 -Dcatalina.base=/home/kshitiz/Documents/workspaces/ggts/.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.wst.server.core/tmp1 -Dcatalina.home=/opt/tomcat-7.0.42 -Dwtp.deploy=/home/kshitiz/Documents/workspaces/ggts/.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.wst.server.core/tmp1/wtpwebapps -Djava.endorsed.dirs=/opt/tomcat-7.0.42/endorsed -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -classpath /opt/tomcat-7.0.42/bin/bootstrap.jar:/opt/tomcat-7.0.42/bin/tomcat-juli.jar:/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0/lib/tools.jar org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap start   Then I use ps -ef | grep catalina | grep -v grep | awk -F' ' '{print $2}' to extract the process id:  7099   But when I alias the whole command alias tomcat_id="ps -ef | grep catalina | grep -v grep | awk -F' ' '{print $2}'" and use it via alias, it prints the whole text and awk doesn't seem to work.  type tomcat_id gives:  tomcat_id is aliased to `ps -ef | grep catalina | grep -v grep | awk -F' ' '{print }'' I just sent a text to a friend, who didn't understand an acronym I used for a game:      "Ah, I said it in a previous text so thought it was ok to abbreviate   it."   Though, since it was an acronym I had created, could I have used the word 'acronymise/ze' to be more specific?   I'm pretty sure it isn't a (formally used) word, but I wondered, as you often refer to acronyms specifically as acronyms, rather than abbreviations. Can you be more specific with a verb, too?  It sounds too odd to me, so I'm guessing generally no. But I wondered—so perhaps I'm wrong. Or half wrong. Clock displays incorrect time I've just installed 64-bit Ubuntu 11.04 and after I updated it, the clock stopped displaying the right time. It's now 8 hours behind my normal time. I've checked the Time and Date settings and the Location field is correct. What's even weirder is that the time displayed in Time and Date Settings adjusts itself after a few seconds and is correct. The time displayed in the task bar remains the same, however.  Any ideas? Too much memory getting used I have been feeling this way for a while, looking at task manager mentally ballparking how much physical memory should be in use, and noticing a large disparity. I finally got around to measuring it. Taking the results of tasklist and adding, gave about 3.87 GB. Task manager told me I was using 4.6 GB of memory. This seems like a large disparity. Where did it go?  EDIT: So its clear, it is not going to prefetch. It has also been suggested that its part of the OS, but not part of any of the system processes. If this is true, please find a way to get the OS to tell me how much memory is getting used. Since I want to find out where the memory went, asking me to look at the difference does nothing for me.  EDIT 2: It is not the following:   The kernel The cache Hardware reserved memory   Picture of resources taken up. Not quite sure what it will do but... Can every non-simple group $G$ be written as a semidirect product? When people want to classify a group with certain (small) order, they seem to find a normal subgroup $H$ and a subgroup $K$, and then consider how many distinct $H \rtimes_\varphi K$ are there.  My question is: For any group $G$, does it always exist normal subgroup $H$, subgroup $K$ and $\phi : K \rightarrow Aut(H)$ s.t. $G\cong H \rtimes_\varphi K $?  Sorry if this question is too basic...  Thanks the comment and the answers. Then if the $G$ is not simple, can we have can $G\cong H\rtimes_\varphi K$ for proper subgroup $H$, $K$, with $H$ normal?  EDIT:  If we have a group $G$, that is not simple (then $G$ has at least one normal subgroup), are there always a non-trivial normal subgroup $H$ and a proper subgroup $K$ s.t. $G \cong H \rtimes K$. (Note that if $G$ is simple this is clearly not possible).  But the quaternion group and $Z_4$ given in answers have shown that we cannot always have it. How do you convert a byte array to a hexadecimal string, and vice versa? How can you convert a byte array to a hexadecimal string, and vice versa? Similar to Lifepod 1993, but not it This film is very similar to Lifepod 1993, but it takes place in a large ship, not a pod.  I can remember three characters... a technical engineer, being the one sabotaging the ship. And also this military cut character (who looks a lot like Kane from Mortal Kombat) and another girl (I think it was long, wavy black hair).  The "plot" twist that sends this one apart, at least back in the 1990´s, is that the ending comes to the fact there is only enough food and oxygen for one survivor and no escape pods or cryotubes, only a device that "could" work as a cryotube. For some reason that I cant remember the "Kane" dude chooses to die instead, by taking poison (which had been previously used on other surviving members). But the girl "tricks" him and drugs him instead, then places him in the "cryotube" and she stays awake to await for the rescue team.  Of course, they get salvaged, and he is still okay, surprised that she tricked him and saved him. Rings a bell for anyone? Is definitely a B-movie. Find Java classes implementing an interface Some time ago, I came across a piece of code, that used some piece of standard Java functionality to locate the classes that implemented a given interface. I know the functions were hidden in some non-logical place, but they could be used for other classes as the package name implied. Back then I did not need it, so I forgot about it, but now I do, and I can't seem to find the functions again. Where can these functions be found?  Edit: I'm not looking for any IDE functions or anything, but rather something that can be executed within the Java application.