I am a engineering student with a 3.7 GPA. My transcript is somewhat messy (retaken classes, Bs everywhere), I was wondering if graduate programs usually analyze the whole transcript in a detailed sense or take a more cursory glance over it if the overall GPA is in a "ok" range. This is particularly in regards to the retaken classes which where two B-'s and one C+ before I retook and got As (my school has a program that if you retake classes taken during your freshmen year your second attempt is the only one that counts towards your gpa, a "freshmen forgiveness" program)  Am I screwed? Thank you!
When applying to a PhD program in the US, how does the admissions process work? If an applicant is weak in a particular area, is it possible to offset that by being strong in a different area?  Note that this question originated from this . Please feel free to edit the question to improve it.
Why do we need both the Suffrage and Vox Populi badges? The Suffrage badge is awarded for using 30 votes in the day, and the Vox Populi for using 40.  I understand from  that the idea of Vox Populi is to incentivise voting on questions, but is there any evidence that having two badges does so better than just having Vox Populi? Programmatically, how does "rooting" a device enable access? When is $\sin(x) = \cos(x)$? How do I solve the following equation?  $$\cos(x) - \sin(x) = 0$$   I need to find the minimum and maximum of this function:   $$f(x) = \frac{\tan(x)}{(1+\tan(x)^2}$$  I differentiated it, and in order to find the stationary points I need to put the numerator equal to zero. But I can't find a way to solve this trigonometric equation. In the case of a non-inverting amplifier, if I DC couple the input signal with a capacitor only, \$C_1\$ (i.e. no resistor to ground), sources (as well as an experiment in the lab) show me that the op amp input will be saturated as the input bias current deposits charges on the terminal without having a return path to ground. This is solved by using connecting a resistor (\$R_1\$, as shown in the image below) to ground to create the return path. [The image is reproduced from an answer by "Neil_UK" on one of my previous questions, thanks Neil!]    My questions:   1) How is the input bias current able to continuously deposit charges and saturate the input if I don't use the resistor? The resistor should not allow the DC bias current through, so where is this current flowing from/into?  2) Why is this not a problem for the feedback path to the "-" terminal? There is no resistor to ground in that case, and capacitor \$C_2\$ seems to be causing no issues. The PDFs I've been reading suggest that the feedback behaves similar to when I have a resistor to ground by acting as the return path, how is this? Removing the TK icon on a Tkinter window How to remove tkinter icon from title bar in it's window Is it possible to speed up the gzip process?  I'm using  mysqldump "$database_name" | gzip &gt; $BACKUP_DIR/$database_name.sql.gz   to backup a database into a directory, $BACKUP_DIR.  the manpage says:     -# --fast --best             Regulate  the  speed  of compression using the             specified digit #, where -1  or  --fast  indi‐             cates  the  fastest  compression  method (less             compression) and -9 or  --best  indicates  the             slowest compression method (best compression).             The default compression level is -6 (that  is,             biased  towards high compression at expense of             speed).    How effective would it be to use --fast? Is this effectively lowering the CPU usage on a modern computer?   My test results  I didn't notice any acceleration:   7 min, 47 seconds (with default ratio -6) 8 min, 36 seconds (with ratio --fast ( = 9 ))   So it seems it takes even longer to use the fast compression?  Only higher compression really slows it down:   11 min, 57 seconds (with ratio --best ( = 1 ))   After getting the Idea with lzop I tested that too and it really is faster:   6 min, 14 seconds with lzop -1 -f -o $BACKUP_DIR/$database_name.sql.lzo Rubik's Cube Combination Could anyone explain why the number of legal or reachable combinations of a $3\times 3\times 3$ Rubik's Cube is $1/12\mbox{th}$ of the total. I understood the logic behind the total number of combinations: $8! \cdot 2^{12} + 3^{12} \cdot 12!$. What I am not able to understand is why do we divide this quantity by $2 \cdot 3\cdot 2$. I don't have any idea about parity or group/set theory. Is there another possible explanation for it? Lufthansa connecting flight at Munich, only 45 minutes in between. Will I be able to make it? I bought a single ticket from Lufthansa, of Mumbai to Paris. My first flight (LH765) lands at 5:55am at Munich, from where I have another Lufthansa flight (LH2226) to Paris at 6:40am. This is a single ticket so I guess its responsibility of the airline to get me on the second flight, but since it's Non-Schengen to Schengen, will customs etc. be a problem? I am assuming the checked-in luggage would transferred automatically by the airline. Will I be able to make it? Maintaining Units of measure across type converstions Connecting multiple screens to the 2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar I'm thinking about buying the new MacBook Pro with 4 USB-C ports.  I want to attach two screens, mouse and keyboard and ethernet to the MacBook Pro while using the fewest number of USB-C ports possible.  So what I need is an adaptor with:   two DP or HDMI ports (or one DP port with daisy chaining support) two or more USB ports an ethernet port   Best case would be a hub to which all devices are connected with a single connection to the MacBook Pro, including power supply. Worst case if attaching the MacBook Pro to the devices would require me to use all four of USB-C ports.  Given the answers up to far, I can tell that:   Daisy chaining might or might not work with the MacBook Pro (since it requires DP1.2 which is supported by the graphics chipset, but it's uncertain if it's supported by the MacBook Pro itself) I can attach the monitors with two cables as a last resort, leaving me with two ports for the remaining peripherals.   What I still don't know:   Would daisy chaining work with a hub or does it require the first monitor to be directly attached to the MacBook Pro? Does some kind of hub exist supporting attachment of all listed devices with a single upstream connection to the MacBook Pro? structs in C with initial values So, I got some laptop charger from my neighbor and I was thinking about to do something with it. Then one day I feel tiny shock from the output of the charger. I thought ac to dc filtering mechanism maybe shorted. Then I had tested other remaining charger to see if there was any AC current going on. And they all do the same. Is it normal to have flow some AC through DC ? Can I do something about it ? make it safer for work ? It does not feel like comfortable. What is the difference between HTML tags  and ? I would like to ask for some simple examples showing the uses of &lt;div&gt; and &lt;span&gt;.   I've seen them both used to mark a section of a page with an id or class, but I'm interested in knowing if there are times when one is preferred over the other. Are there any research careers except professorship for a person holding PhD in pure mathematics? Does casting a spell from an item allow you to apply class abilities that are used when casting a spell? This question is updated to request additional answers and details in light of information now available in the Dungeon Master's Guide. In the released DM basic rules, Lost Mine of Phandelver, Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and the DMG teaser there are wands, staves, and rings that you can use to cast spells.  Do abilities that trigger from casting a spell activate when casting a spell from an item?  Can the character modify the spell using class abilities when casting a spell from an item?   Examples include:  An abjurer Wizard's arcane ward recovering hit points from a Dispel Magic cast from a Ring of Spell Storing  A sorcerer using Twinned Spell on a ray of enfeeblement from a Staff of Power  An evocation wizard using Sculpt Spell on a fireball from a Wand of Fireballs.   Now that the DMG is out we have some clearer rules on casting spells from items (DMG p. 141):  Some magic items allow you to cast a spell from the item.  The spell is cast at the lowest possible spell level, doesn't expend any spell slots, and requires no components, unless the item's description says otherwise  The spell uses its normal casting time, range and duration, and the user of the item must concentrate if the spell requires concentration. A magic item, such as certain staffs, may require you to use your own spellcasting ability when you cast a spell from the item.  Does whether or not you can apply class abilities to the casting of the spell depend whether the item uses the user's own spellcasting ability (such as the Staff of Fire) versus an item that comes with a fixed spellcasting ability built-in (such as the Wand of Fireballs)? Does it matter if it's something that triggers more or less automatically like Arcane Ward, versus something you have to control, like Careful Spell? Should an off-topic question always be downvoted? The upvote tooltip says:      This question shows research effort; it is useful and clear.   The downvote tooltip says:      This question does not show any research effort; it is unclear or not useful.   Sometimes, a question can show research effort, be useful, be clear, but just not in the good place. Voting to close the question and downvoting seems like a double penalty.  Should an off-topic question always be downvoted ? How can I break on an unhandled exception in ASP.NET? How to search a string in the list of answers added by me on Stack Overflow? I am able to view all the answers given by me and questions asked by me, but not able to search a string in them?  Currently I have no other choice than clicking each ques/ans link manually (very hectic) ? Calculate sum of squares of first $n$ odd numbers Is there an analytical expression for the summation $$1^2+3^2+5^2+\cdots+(2n-1)^2,$$ and how do you derive it? Greek pdf bookmarks I am puzzled with sections titled with Greek characters. They do appear in the pdf's Content list, though not correctly.  For example, in my thesis--written in English with LyX, based on the KOMA-script--I choose to include a translation of the summary in Greek (=Περίληψη). The "raw" code for the (unnumbered) chapter title reads: \addchap{\textgreek{Per\char208lhyh}}. In the final .pdf file (using pdflatex) the respective entry appears as Per208lhyh. Using the unicode option for the hyperref package does not fix the problem.  Update detail: the document (should) not only contain Chapter or Section titles in Greek, but normal text as well.  I have found some relevant references within tex.stackexchange and elsewhere (e.g., , the manual of the textgreek package, , ). However, I cannot extract a concrete answer.  How can Greek characters appear correctly as bookmarks in the .pdf's Content list?  Note, the information of this Q&amp;A applies to/under LyX as well.