One thing that I have been doing that may hurt me is that when an answer gets down votes I delete the answer and rewrite it.   I don't just rewrite it because I have found that the down votes prejudice subsequent reviewers against my answer. I usually end up with a good answer that gets upvotes or at least remains at zero.   Although the official position is to rewrite the question or answer I have found that almost never works. This seems to me that my idea of bias against down voted questions is justified. How can this best be resolved?
Let's say I'm trying to answer a lot of questions just to up my reputation (even if I generally don't know what I'm talking about).  Then, whenever I get downvoted, I just delete my answer so that nobody sees that I've posted stupid answers, and so I don't lose reputation points.   Is this frowned upon? Do I lose reputation points on downvoted answers if I delete them?
"Single ampersand used with wrong catcode" error using tikz matrix in beamer Possible Duplicate:                If in a multiple linear regression (enter method) the general model isn't significant (F>.05) but one of the predictors is significant (β&lt;.05), should I consider it as a significant result? If $x\sqrt{1+y}+y\sqrt{1+x}=0$ find $y'$ java.net.SocketException: Connection reset I am getting the following error trying to read from a socket. I'm doing a readInt() on that InputStream, and I am getting this error. Perusing the documentation this suggests that the client part of the connection closed the connection. In this scenario, I am the server.  I have access to the client log files and it is not closing the connection, and in fact its log files suggest I am closing the connection. So does anybody have an idea why this is happening? What else to check for? Does this arise when there are local resources that are perhaps reaching thresholds?    I do note that I have the following line:  socket.setSoTimeout(10000);   just prior to the readInt(). There is a reason for this (long story), but just curious, are there circumstances under which this might lead to the indicated error? I have the server running in my IDE, and I happened to leave my IDE stuck on a breakpoint, and I then noticed the exact same errors begin appearing in my own logs in my IDE.  Anyway, just mentioning it, hopefully not a red herring. :-( "I go to school tomorrow" to imply that I will attend school tomorrow "I go to school tomorrow" to imply that I will attend school tomorrow. Is the aforementioned expression within inverted commas correct? What kind of lubrication should I use for a lock? I recently made the Yale lock on my front door much easier to open by spraying some WD-40 in there.  However, I just saw  on WD-40 not being a “true” lubricant, and wondered whether it was appropriate to use on Yale locks? Wine or virtual machine (VirtualBox) to run apps (eg. Photoshop) I am wondering if it will be better (stability, convenience and speed) to run apps like Photoshop with Wine or a virtual machine like VirtualBox? Can Yahoo! Messenger be used with Ubuntu? Delete all data in Postgres database Typical Japanese style anime art, it was a series.   It has been around for more than 6 years. I think it mixed fantasy and sci-fi. It was certainly not Isekai and it has no magic, it feels more like revered science. A boy gets a gem embedded into his arm after a terrorist attack and transforms into a white and orange humanoid being. There are more people able to transform into these beings. There is also a red flying ship with a dark yellow underbelly that throws boxes with parachutes. There is also this top-secret laboratory where the scientists study how to battle against the beings. There are some other flying ships of varying colors. If I remember correctly, the protagonist gets amnesia near the end of the plot. Derivation of Frey equation from FLT I understand, on  a layman's level, Fray's motivation to write an elliptic equation corresponding to an assumed solution to FLT. My question is, how technically is Frey's equation derived?   $1.$ FLT : Contradiction. There exist integers $A,B,C,n&gt;2$ such that $A^n + B^n = C^n$  $2.$  Frey: $y^2 = x(x-A^n)(x+B^n)$  $3.$  Elliptic curve $y^2= x^3 + ax + b$    $4.$  The curve is not modular. => not elliptic => FLT  proved.   I need is the algebra to go from 1. to 3. above.  Assume Numbers A,B,C such that A^n + B^n = C^n contradicting FLT.  $y^2 = x^3 + ax + b$ an elliptic curve in Weirstrass form. I am guessing A and B go unchanged into x(x-A^n)(x+B^n)   Is that correct ?  Expanding 2. I get a term in x^2 , there is none in 3. This is my problem.  What does a $2$ dimensional graph of the Frey curve look like ? Accidental chown under / as root QGIS area calculation differs when on the fly CRS transformation enabled When I open QGIS, add the layer, and calculate the areas of the shapefile via field calculator I get a different area than when I open QGIS and check "Enable on the fly CRS transformation" and calculate the area. This is despite making sure that the project and the layer have the same Coordinate system (same EPSG number). What am I doing wrong?   I have a shapefile with area calculations made with ArcGIS (not be me, the data was handed to me and I have no clue for which CRS the area was calculated with ArcGIS). The shapefile layer CRS is EPSG: 21781 (Switzerland). In QGIS, if I do not change the OTF settings and leave the project CRS as EPSG:4326 (WGS84) I get the same value as the ArcGIS area value. However, if I change the OTF before adding the layer to EPSG: 21781 I get different area values. As I understand this suggests that ArcGIS Area was calculated with the CRS EPSG: 4326.  First workflow:   open QGIS  project CRS: EPSG 4326  add layer  project CRS adapts automatically and is EPSG 21781 now  calculate $area with field calculator    Second workflow:   open QGIS  project CRS: EPSG 4326  Turn on OTF, set project CRS to EPSG 21781  add layer  calculate $area with field calculator    Step 5 of the first and second workflow DO NOT produce the same area. How do I convert between big-endian and little-endian values in C++? How do I convert between big-endian and little-endian values in C++? For clarity, I have to translate binary data (double-precision floating point values and 32-bit and 64-bit integers) from one CPU architecture to another.  This doesn't involve networking, so ntoh() and similar functions won't work here.  Note: The answer I accepted applies directly to compilers I'm targeting (which is why I chose it).  However, there are other very good, more portable answers here. Proving the convergence of $\sum\limits_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{1+z^n}$ for $|z| > 1$ $\sum\limits_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{1+z^n}$, $|z|&gt;1$.  There are two facts that my professor uses that I am confused about.  The first is: $|1+z^n| \geq ||z|^n-1|$, I believe this is true for any $|z|$.  The other is: $\frac{1}{|z|^n-1} \leq \frac{2}{|z|^n}$, I believe this is also true for any $|z|$.  Can anyone prove these statements for me? rewrite script to use wp_remote_get instead of file_get_contents_curl Grabbing the first [x] characters for a string from a pipe $x^2+y^2=z^n$: Find solutions without Pythagoras! I was presented with the following problem:      Prove that there exist solutions to $x^2+y^2=z^n$ for all $n$, with $x,y,z, n \in \mathbb{N}$   I showed that by taking any Pythagorean triple $x^2+y^2=z^2$ and multiplying by $z^{2(n-1)}$ we get $(z^{n-1}x)^2+(z^{n-1}y)^2=(z^2)^n$, which allows me to generate solutions easily for any value of $n$. I managed to find several similar questions on this site, such as  concerning the specific case $n=3$. I notice that all of these questions take a similar approach and start with a Pythagorean triple and use it to generate general solutions.  Is there a way to prove the statement (or better yet provide solutions to the equation) without first relying on Pythagoras? Is $f(x,y) = |xy|$ differentiable in $(0,0)$? I have no idea how to approach this problem. We know that wizards in the Harry Potter universe are subject to regular physical harm (e.g. witness injuries from being hit by Bludgers or just colliding with things when playing Quidditch).  Therefore, it's almost a certainty that an average wizard would be vulnerable to, say, a bunch of bullets.   There may likely be spell(s) to protect from projectiles - witness Dumbledore's  deployed when Voldemort sent a bunch of glass at him during the  at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (according to , possibly an unusually powerful Protego or the Silver shield).   But:   those spells obviously take effort/energy/time to cast (not everyone's Dumbledore) AND more likely than not most Death Eaters wouldn't recognize a Muggle gun for a threat (or realize what kind of threat) till too late.   So, the guns should at best allow an over-matched OotP member (e.g. Harry or Hermione) to greatly equalize the power between any regular Death Eaters and themselves, and even perhaps help against Voldemort (who can't be killed with a bullet, but, at best, would need to expend magical energy and time into conjuring a shield, and, at worst, be stopped/interrupted/driven off).  So I'm looking for an explanation - ideally in-universe, but possibly just some statement by JKR - of why the Muggle-born OotP - who are likely very much at ease AND familiar with Muggle technology and live in the late 20th century - do not use guns. Or, for that matter, ANY Muggle technology of the late 20th century? Cue Arthur C. Clarke's "indistinguishable from magic" meme.  Even if they are on some kind of idiotic moral crusade to never kill their opponents (even the Jedi aren't this dumb), given the time-frame, non-lethal weapons would have already existed, such as rubber bullets and tasers.  NOTE: Please don't offer the "if they do it, Death Eaters would start using guns as well" theory. First, Death Eaters would have used the guns if they knew how to, anyway. Second, the guns, like any "secret weapon", could be reserved for strategic battles, say the defense of Hogwarts in Deathly Hallows.    The origin of the question stems from two things.  First, Harry's fascination with all things that are different in the magical world (e.g. moving photographs), based on his knowledge of the Muggle material world, as well as the somewhat amusing cluelessness of the "Muggle artifacts" expert, Mr. Weasley, regarding Muggle items and how they work.   Basically, from the books, it's clear that the Wizarding world wouldn't know details about guns or what they are for or how they work.  The second thing is it's clear, at least initially, that wizards are afraid of Muggles finding out about them. Hence all the efforts to cloak their society (basically, do you REALLY want every Muggle gunning for you, even with Magic)? The idea of how control over the Muggle world seems to be more indirect, by Death Eaters asserting mind-control over the government. This means there's an implicit understanding by Death Eaters that they don't stand a chance against armed Muggles even given the magical disparity.  Considering Harry and Hermione's overall adaptability and inventiveness (and brains in the latter case), it's mind-boggling that the idea of fighting Death Eaters with modern technology completely slipped their mind. I mean, it's a basic part of human myth (see Steel vs. Magic themes in Conan books, or Beowulf, or heck, A Yankee in King Arthur's Court). So it's not like the idea of using technology against magic would be impossible to come up with. The question begs itself - why not? Considering the fact that Rowling generally tried to be logical and consistent in building the HP universe, I feel like there must be some in-universe explanation for this that I just didn't notice.   (in-universe answers only unless there are some authoritative out-of-universe statements that are part of canon).