Why do methods that return objects have the asterisk in the brackets?    Example: -(NSString *) method:val;
Just a quick question from an Objective-C beginner: what does the asterisk in the parenthesis mean in the following sample code? Is it a pointer? Thanks in advance.  #import &lt;Foundation/Foundation.h&gt;  @interface Tire : NSObject @end @implementation Tire  - (NSString *) description {    return (@"I am a tire."); }  @end
Converting GeoPDF to vector format like CAD or shapefile? I want to convert a GeoPDF that has vectors entity in it to a vector format and preserve the real coordinates of these vectors. The GeoPDF has been exported from ArcMap and has layers in it.  I have try GDAL, but it rasterize the PDF before exporting it. Which is not good for me. Also I don't want a solution that would convert this image back to vectors, too complicated for the data I have.  Is someone aware of any tool that can do that? The resulting format can be a CAD file or a shapefile or anything that is a vector format. How can I turn off "middle mouse button paste" functionality in all programs? I don't like having the middle mouse button paste, because I often end up with uncompilable code in Eclipse. How can I turn this off (in all programs)? I'm running Fedora. Is there a word that describes a person who dies on his/her birthdate? Installing PHP 5.3 in Ubuntu 14.04 As you can see on this screenshot of 's Guake he has a startup message of ASCII art when he opens it, and that's what I'd like to do, can someone help me? Softmax vs Sigmoid function in Logistic classifier? What decides the choice of function ( Softmax vs Sigmoid ) in a Logistic classifier ?  Suppose there are 4 output classes . Each of the above function gives the probabilities of each class being the correct output . So which one to take for a classifier ? If you use sudo su - or sudo -s you will get the full root certification  "likewise a root user ".  Is this user an official user or is it from canonical?  ~$ sudo su - [sudo] password for username:  root@lp:~# id uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root) root@lp:~# pwd /root root@lp:~# When should I use "didn't" instead of "haven't"? Is haven't supposed to mean something I may still do and didn't not?  Can I use didn't for something I might still do? Imputing missing observation in multivariate time series If I multiclass into 2 or more spellcasting classes, how do I determine my known/prepared spells? If I multiclass into 2 or more classes/subclasses that can cast spells, how do I determine what spells I know or can prepare?  For instance, if I am playing a multiclassed character with 1 level in warlock, 2 levels in bard, and 3 levels in paladin, how do I determine which spells I know/have prepared?    Related: Let $p$ be a prime integer. Show that for each $a ∈ GF(p)$ there exist elements $b$ and $c$ of $GF(p)$ satisfying $a = b^2 + c^2$. How does one write on the outside of a circle?  I am looking for sample files/packages which imitate a magazine lay-out. Specifically a page with two columns having a circular picture between the two columns.    Example of the desired layout, created using Word: In Russian roulette, is it best to go first? Assume that we are playing a game of Russian roulette (6 chambers) and that there is no shuffling after the shot is fired.  I was wondering if you have an advantage in going first?  If so, how big of an advantage?  I was just debating this with friends, and I wouldn't know what probability to use to prove it. I'm thinking binomial distribution or something like that.  If $n=2$, then there's no advantage. Just $50/50$ if the person survives or dies.   If $n=3$, then maybe the other guy has an advantage. The person who goes second should have an advantage.   Or maybe I'm wrong. Not every open set in $\mathbb{R}^n$, for $n\geq2$, is a disjoint union of countable open balls. I know that every open set in $\mathbb{R}$ can be decomposed as the union of countably many disjoint open intervals and I'm trying to show that this property no longer holds in higher dimensions. For this I'm trying to show that there is no countable, pairwise disjoint open balls whose union is the open square $(0, 1)^2 ⊂ \mathbb{R}^2$. I know that it is because of the corners, but I don't know how to write this in mathematical terms. Thanks for any help. This is a homework question. $d,n\ge 2$.  Let $L=\{(x_1,...,x_n)\in (\mathbb{R}^d)^n: x_i\in \mathbb{R}^d,  x_i\ne x_j \forall i\ne j\}$.   I tend to think it is not path connected because if you assume $d=1$, this is the case. But I cannot prove for $d\ge 2$.  Any help will be appreciated! :) Is there an equivalent to Google Sketchup? remote ssh tcpdump command, through a gateway, to be opened, in realtime, in Wireshark, on local machine I (Host A - Windows based using plink) am trying to connect to a remote linux server (Host C), through a gateway linux server (Host B), and run this tcpdump on Host C to be piped all the way back to Host A (through Host B I assume), and opened, in real time, with Wireshark on Host A:  Below is what I saw as the command when not using a gateway ("direct remote fetch").  So, how would I make this work going through my gateway host B scenario above?  Host A$ plink.exe -ssh -pw abc123 root@Host C "tcpdump -s0 -U -n -w - -i eth0 not port 22" | "C:\Program Files\Wireshark\Wireshark.exe" -k -i - I would like to protect the formatting of a cell (or a range of cells) in a Google Spreadsheet, but still allow changing the data in that (or those) cell(s).  For example, I want to add a validation rule on a cell that says the cell has to contain a number between 1 and 10, and I would like others to be able to change the value in that cell, but not the validation rule itself.  How do I do that?  So far I was only able to completely protect the cell (content + formatting) or not at all (the user can change the content as well as the formatting).  To me this seems to be an important functionality when adding access rights to spreadsheets. Is it possible that it is completely missing from Google Spreadsheets? What Android emulators are available? I will like to know some of the android emulators that work really well with Ubuntu 11.10 and above. I want to try 'whatsapp' on Ubuntu through an android emulator. Thanks in advance Do all starred commands have anything in common? \section* produces an unnumbered section, align* , which is comparable in a way. \newcommand* , which is different.  Stefan Kottwitz :     Commonly, a star symbol * means a version of a command that behaves differently from the original. That often means suppressing numbering but could also refer to special features.   This might answer my question, but perhaps there's more to say (and it's nice to have it as a separate question).  Is there anything all starred commands have in common? Why would one define a starred command as opposed to another, differently named command indicating their semantic difference in the names? It seems that their definitions are usually entirely independent from each other.  Further reading: