How should I read the Star Wars books?
Where to start with the Star Wars books?
Are Android OS updates region specific? Well, I have a Galaxy Ace with 2.3.3, build XWKPY and Samsung Kies doesn't show an update to 2.3.4 yet.  I'm thinking of manually updating it through Odin and I need to know if I can just download any Gingerbread 2.3.4 update file or is there anything else that I need to be worried about? Google page title not matching html  tag I aim to show that $$(n+1)^n&lt;n^{(n+1)}$$ for all $n \geq 3$. I tried induction, but it didn't work. What should I do? How can brackets be escaped in using string.Format? For example: String val = &quot;1,2,3&quot; String.Format(&quot; foo {{0}}&quot;, val);  This example doesn't throw an exception, but it outputs the string foo {0}. Is there a way to escape the brackets? umask in RHEL 6 How can one set the executable bit on files using umask? According to documentation, a umask of 000 should work, but in practice this only works on directories.  Also open to other methods of automatically setting +rwx on a particular user's created files if you have any. A Basic Question about Gravity, Inertia or Momentum or something along those lines Why is it that if I'm sitting on a seat on a bus or train and its moving quite fast, I am able to throw something in the air and easily catch it? Why is it that I haven't moved 'past' the thing during the time its travelling up and down? Can I be admitted into a PhD program with non-thesis MS degree? If I do a non-thesis MS program in statistics, will I be eligible for an admission in to a PhD program in Statistics later in my life? The MS program I am looking into is a non-thesis program but I still have to complete a research project requirement (which involves oral presentation as well as some form of a written report) towards the end of the program...I am still not sure if it can lead to a PhD program though.  Thanks! Show that an integer of the form $8k + 7$ cannot be written as the sum of three squares. I have figured out a (long, and tedious) way to do it. But I was wondering if there is some sort of direct correlation or another path that I completely missed.  My attempt at the program was as follows:   A number of the form, $8k + 7 = 7 (mod 8)$. That is, we are looking for integers a, b, c such that $a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = 7 (mod 8)$.   LONG and TEDIOUS way: $$(8k)^2 = 0 (mod 8)$$ $$(8k+1)^2 = 1 (mod 8)$$ $$(8k+2)^2 = 4 (mod 8)$$ $$(8k+3)^2 = 1 (mod 8)$$ $$(8k+4)^2 = 0 (mod 8)$$ $$(8k+5)^2 = 1 (mod 8)$$ $$(8k+6)^2 = 4 (mod 8)$$ $$(8k+7)^2 = 1 (mod 8)$$  That is, using three of these modulo there is no way to arrive at  $$a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = 7 (mod 8)$$ Availability of MXD file for OpenStreetMap data in Esri Geodatabase? From what I understand, an ArcGIS mxd file contains the "styling" information on how to show data.  I downloaded and imported OpenStreetMap data into my geodatabase. Now I need to show them.  Is there any available mxd file match the OpenStreetMap fields/values that I can use?  I check this question(), but the links are all dead.  ps: right now the all the highway/roads/trail display as a single line in my map. I want to use mxd to show them in a better way, like Mapnik or google. Editing LaTeX generated PDF Is there an application (in Windows, Unix, or Mac) that allows you to edit the LaTeX generated PDF. I know there is pdfsync, but it only gives you the line, and then you have to search where in the line you want to make the change. This is OK sometimes, for a couple of changes, but when there are lots of changes it becomes really tedious.  I would really like to accelerate this process of correcting mistakes (mostly grammar, missing commas etc.). in my document, without going through all the markup. I have observed that in gedit if I edit a file, another file is created in the same directory (the one with the same filename and a tilde '~' suffix). The extra file remains even if I close gedit.  I understand the need for a temp file (eg. in case of a crash), but vim for example deletes the extra file it creates, when I close it.  Is there a way to do the same with gedit? Some configuration perhaps? When ever I hear the music to indicate the Mysterious Stranger has arrived, I can never find him. It is almost like he is not in the vault.  What is a good way to catch the Mysterious Stranger? Where does he usually show up? Is there a better way to do optional function parameters in JavaScript? How to prove that $z\gcd(a,b)=\gcd(za,zb)$ I need to prove that $z\gcd(a,b)=\gcd(za,zb)$.    I tried a lot, for example, looking at set of common divisors of the two sides, but I can't conclude anything from that. Can you please give me some advice how I can handle this problem? And $a,b,z \in \mathbb{Z}$. I can run faster than _____. (1) him (2) he? Consider the sentence &quot;I can run faster than 15 miles per hour.&quot; Its meaning is clear and to my eyes obviously grammatically correct. Now let me present some variations that have given me trouble for a long time.  I am faster than 15 miles per hour. – To me this is clearly incorrect. Directly comparing me to a speed doesn't seem right. We need to compare my speed to a speed, or me to another person.  I can run faster than him. – Compared to the base sentence, there is a distinct shift in meaning of the comparison. While before I named a speed faster than which I can run, now I am naming a person. It doesn't seem quite right. I realize the parts of speech can change, but my initial objection is that &quot;him&quot; is not a speed.  I can run faster than he. – This seems most correct to me, but still somehow feels objectionable. Is this in fact the correct way to say it? And if so, is it proper as is or need I say &quot;... faster than he can&quot; or even &quot;... faster than he can run?&quot;  I am faster than him. – With &quot;am&quot; instead of &quot;can run&quot; it now seems slightly more correct. But is it?  I am faster than he. – I'm in doubt here. It doesn't seem wrong to me to say, &quot;I am faster than he is&quot; or even &quot;I am faster than he is fast.&quot; (Though I suppose that is a given since I could hardly properly compare to some other category as in &quot;I am faster than he is smart.&quot;)  My speed is faster than his. – Hmm. This seems more proper as &quot;my speed is greater than his.&quot;   So which of these constructions is correct and which is incorrect? Is there a general rule that I can follow? UPDATE The scholarly article  may be of great interest to some readers!  Once we accept that the elided constituent and its antecedent can differ in form, it becomes reasonable to ask how large this difference can be. The answer in Rooth (1992), Fiengo and May (1994), Chung et al. (1995) and subsequent work is that the wiggle room is actually quite small: the elided constituent and its antecedent are allowed to differ only in the realization of inﬂectional morphology. Other than that, both constituents have to be syntactically and lexically isomorphic. How do I get a file extension in PHP? It seems I put a   Bounty assigned by outside party, two lengthy, reference-citing answers, one "-1" (awarded the bounty), one "-2", two others scored "0" and "-2" respectively, the answers suggesting one or the other is correct, 73 comments and no consensus so far - and me, as the asker, lost without a clue what to think of the answers anymore -  this is no longer "Learners' Level" question, so I thought I'd bring it here and hear what the experts have to say.    Original question:  Plurality of verb depending on plurality of list elements  An edit was suggested to my sentence.     There was were an orange, some grapes, two apples and a small pile of cherries on the plate.   In my native language plurality of the verb always follows plurality of the first element on the list. There were an orange,... sounds awkward to me, no matter what follows up. My simple solution was reordering:     There were some grapes, an orange, two apples and a small pile of cherries on the plate.   But that's not the first time I faced this situation and I'd like to know what the rules of grammar say about that - was my editor overzealous or am I trying to copy rules of my language that don't apply in English?    Someone linked a  for negatives, where the situation is more clear-cut ("There is no..."). Same applies to connection with "or" apparently, per accepted answer there. Still, nothing for "and".  It seems there is a consensus that in that if the verb goes after the list, it will be plural.     an orange, some grapes, two apples and a small pile of cherries were on the plate.   There doesn't seem to be clear consensus for:     On the plate { was | were } an orange, some grapes, two apples and a small pile of cherries   Adding more to the confusion is the abbreviated form: "There's"     One last note. In North America, at least, there is a widespread use of using a singular form like "there is" and "there was", without regard for the subject item or items, and this "there is" is often shortened to "there's":           There's three apples on the table!      Could you please clarify this mess? What is the meaning of p values and t values in statistical tests? What causes the portraits of Wizards to behave interactively? Does J.K. Rowling address how the interactive portraits work? Would a portrait painted after a Wizard/Witch died become interactive, or does the painting of the portrait have to take place during the Wizard/Witches lifetime? How can I disable Amazon search results in the Dash?