How can I do graphic design work for free?

Question: I'm a graphic designer and illustrator. I enjoy doing these things. Nobody is hiring. I want to do it anyway. I've been posting ads all over various platforms advertising free art and graphic design services, but not many people answer. How do I improve my client intake?
Comment: Instead of doing freelance work, maybe look into finding a Graphic Design job at a company who would provide the work and clients.
Comment: So, not being harsh here - I'm a developer, I've worked with and been involved with hiring graphic designers before for projects. Why would I hire you? Getting a not great design done for free, with someone who I have no idea about their reliability, is so much more expensive in person hours, loss of stakeholder trust, etc than just paying for it.

And, as I'm the one paying, I don't go trawling through ads. I put a bid out that people can apply for. I might advertise said bid. I might send it to some graphic designers I know, but I'm not reaching out to ones I don't.
Comment: Perhaps you need to target clients that are actively looking for volunteers, e.g. charities or non-profit organisations. Commercial businesses might not want volunteers, and so will probably not be actively looking for them.
Comment: I'd also point out that during the pandemic *many* companies shifted gears. The pandemic taught people (and businesses) what *was* possible to do remotely. And rather than sub-contracting or farming out design projects, many companies hired an in-house (remote) designer. This has altered the paradigm for many would-be clients. Unlike 2 years ago, there are many smaller companies that no longer seek out freelancers on a regular basis.
Comment: Yeah freelancing can be difficult to start without a portfolio and with the "work for free" mindset. Instead, a junior level job will give you the opportunity to learn things, while doing actual work, while getting paid for it.
Comment: Ask to be paid in exposure? lol. Realistically, there are sites like Fiverr which would let you do relatively cheap work. I understand your dilemma; you like what you do but there's very little ambition to do it without a purpose/goal in mind.
Comment: Volunteer agencies exist for charities and non-profits. That's probably your best bet.  For example [this one in the UK](https://www.charityjob.co.uk/volunteer-jobs?keywords=graphic+design). You may need to do a web search to find something similar in your country.
Comment: I apologize if this is a bit harsh... not everyone can do the thing they want to do. I have no idea about the quality of your work. You're simply 2 random numbers on the internet to me. This is in *no way* personal. Your designs may be the best thing I've ever seen, or the exact opposite. The *desire* to be a designer can, and often does, outshine the *ability* to be a designer. No one's mentioned it, but the reality is, you may be having trouble getting clients because the work you display is not proficient enough for clients to see value in it, even for free. Desire alone is not enough.
Answer:  You hopefully realize you are asking many professionals, who make their living via design work, how you can charge nothing and essentially compete for the same clients.  You gotta "read the room" so to speak. Basic business survival dictates that one not give away effective marketing techniques to one's competition. This may be the wrong place to ask this question.

From the viewpoint of a desirable prospective client...
Think about the repercussions of offering "free services". Would you hire an auto mechanic advertising free services? An electrician offering free services? In fact, any professional offering to work for free? What if there's a problem with the "free services"? You can't argue about payment. You have no recourse if the work is faulty and you've lost days or weeks waiting for the "free work" to be completed, only to find out it is worthless and must be redone/fixed.
"Free" in the eyes of prospective clients generally translates to "no experience" or "hobbyist". If you're showing less than fantastic work in a portfolio, that can also be a factor. However, even if you have a monster portfolio showing stunning work, it won't necessarily be percieved as believable if you are willing to work for free. "You get what you pay for" is a common adage because it's often true.
In addition, in today's digital realm, data farming is a factor. An advertisement for anything "free" typically means there's a "gotcha" behind it. Sure you'll get my "newsletter" for free, but now that I have your contact information it's added to a mailing list and sold to every possible spam email marketer I can find. Or download my "free" app, but of course the worthwhile features are behind a paywall and require in-app purchases.
None of this may be your specific business model, but it is what the general public expects from "free" offers.
"Free" never really means free. Savvy people are aware of this. The cost of "free" is often more troublesome and annoying than merely paying for services.
To the best of my knowledge, only business operators hire designers - and even then only business operators possessing the wherewithal to understand that a designer will add value to their business. Most business operators are fully aware "there's no such thing as a free lunch."

Considering you and your goals....
Don't mistake my comments as "gatekeeping." You and I will never be competing for the same clients.
My point is, if the goal is a career in design, that will never happen working for free. The only way to be successful is to be seen as valuable to clients. No one values what they get for free. Just the opposite. One often finds clients more demanding or passively "abusive" when working for free. "Free" is not real world and actually sets you up for failure. If you want a career, conveying to clients they can get what they want for free just makes them wonder why they should ever pay for anything. You drown yourself essentially.
None of the clients you get working for free will continue using you when you start charging. Clients seeking free work are bad clients 99.5% of the time. The key to a career in design is repeat business. Clients seeking to get something done for as little money as possible are most often one-project clients and are not the clients you want if you wish to have a successful career.
If the goal is a portfolio, then you can do that without any clients.
"Free" clients aren't going to help you learn how to negotiate agreements, deal with budget constraints, learn to say "no" to clients - all of which are very imperative skills. Working for free may result in some portfolio pieces, but it also may not. Free clients are more demanding and the end result is often a more client-driven design because the client doesn't value your free work and thinks they know just as much or more than you - they just don't know how to push a mouse around in Photoshop.
I'd also point out that "free" clients which are unhappy with your work are generally more apt to quickly go spread bad word-of-mouth about your services rather than try and work with you. They aren't vested in any project and have no desire to negotiate in order to get to a "happy" place, because it was all free.
It's not about what or whether you are charging for services, it's about the clients which may respond to your offer. It's advertising, you have to think about respondents and if you are being wise in your targeting.
Cost of services is not even in the top 5 reasons a good client would choose you over someone else. And no good client is EVER going to dump a designer they are already working with for your "free" services solely to save money. Selling design isn't like selling a lightbulb - where every store is selling the exact same product and the only variance is price. Design a service where every provider offers something different and unique - price is just one (very minor) aspect of the hiring decision.
If you can only acquire "free work", then you should evaluate why that is. "Free" clients are a special breed of client, unlike any other client. I assure you, paying clients are not looking at cost alone. What you may charge, if you were to charge, is not the primary factor in hiring you - there's some other aspect of your marketing that is deterring paying clients and it has nothing to do with the pricing of any other designer.

TL;DR:
You are targeting a specific type of client if offering free services. And the clients you are targeting are not the clients you want if you wish to have a successful career as a designer.
You are completely mistaken if you think client acquisition and retention is all about what you are or are not charging for services. Cost of services is quite honestly an exceptionally minor thing to good clients.

Working on self-promotion pieces is often more fruitful than offering free work to clients.
If you really want to work for free, enter "design contests". Those essentially amount to "working for free" and most professionals avoid "design contests" like the plague.  (As they should -- nospec.com)
There are typically many ongoing "contests" at various crowd-sourcing design sites. Or an internet search for "design contests" will turn up several results.
Comment: With all the "gatekeeping" comments -- it would seem you are blaming other designers for *why* you can't get work. I assure you, that's not the problem. I don't know what the specific problem is, but it is most definitely **not** what other designers are doing or charging for services.
Comment: @66 I dont think they are gatekeeping anything. Its just that they have reliable clients. Markets change theres no guarantees Also how long can you keep doing this? I mean there are better ways like say self publishing a childrens book etc.
Comment: @66 You're misunderstanding the definitions of "work" and "job".  If it doesn't give you an income, then you don't have work and you don't have a job.  You have a hobby.  And as Scott says, you're not competing with professionals because the kinds of people who'd get their design work done by a hobbyist are not people who'd pay professionals anyway.
Comment: Sure in a decade or two 66 may be dealing with clients similar to my clients ... but by then I'll be retired or dead - so we still won't be competing. `:)`
Comment: I know *zero* about "66"'s abilities, skills, or experience. However, the willingness to work for free, and comments here in this question, convey quite a bit.  I've been freelancing full time for literally decades. I don't use online crowd-sourcing sites or social media for client acquisition.  It's an extreme improbability we will ever be competing for the same clients/work, @RohitPandey. To use a loose analogy, *I don't want to appear boastful or insulting*. There's Macy's and Wal-mart.. both may sell essentially the same things, but they aren't really competing due to price points/quality.
Comment: Yes i am competing with professionals by offering free work. Professionals are competing with me by keeping me from working. You have a job I want and my only means to get that job are to outcompete you by any means necessary. Until the playing field is made open to newcomers I will continue to do this and I dont care about how it hurts the people who gatekeep me from a career
Comment: My answer has ben updated.
Comment: I like all aspects of your very detailed answer and appreciate that you took out the time to try and help this person. However, the statement that "you and him will never compete for the same clients" seems a bit of a stretch, no? The probability of that happening someday are higher than most events considering you both want to do the same thing.
Comment: I see, makes sense. But 66 could change their strategy in the future to be aligned closer to yours. Maybe you should add the caveat that if they stick to their current strategy they won't be competing with you? Again, your answer is high quality regardless.
Answer: Contact a nonprofit that does good work and offer to do volunteer graphic design for them.
Comment: Random ideas: website for a "physical" org - [Wikipedia Graphics Requests](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Graphics_Lab) and [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org) - accessibility testing and consulting for the FLOSS office suites (LibreOffice, Calligra, ...) or graphics apps (Inkscape, GIMP, KDE, ...) - OpenStreetMap and Debian / Ubuntu / F-droid could also have some wishes.
Answer: You're asking the wrong question. You're asking where to find work to do for free but your real issue is finding good clients.
Here's a key: Don't work for free. You're bound to get better and more realistic clients if you charge something. Even if it's something like $5 for several hours of work, it's still skin in the game for the client which automatically makes them a better client.
Plus, most serious clients simply wouldn't hire someone for free, so you're automatically locking yourself out of those projects if you don't charge anything. If you see a job posted at a certain price, consider underbidding for it.
Answer: If you say your work is free, you are saying that it is not worth it. You are not adding value to a potential client or company.
If you want to design "for free" design a strong portfolio for yourself, in which style, potentially adds value to someone who is interested in it.
If in the end, your portfolio is good, then some clients would look to pay you for your services.
You are your first client. If you are not showing the capabilities of your design, so other customers want your product, you are doing something wrong. Work on it.
Make an Instagram page, ArtStation profile, Behance, DeviantArt. Get feedback, make some followers... There is a looooooot of work that must be done "for free".
Comment: @66 Honestly, clients don't know what they want either! As a designer, you're expected to come up with maybe a half-dozen different approaches sketched out quickly, and then the client says "I like this one, but can we change it a bit?" The market value isn't in how to use a DTP package to put things in places someone tells you, because any school kid can do that. Your market value *is* in creating initial designs yourself. If you can't create a portfolio of multiple different designs for a company (real or fictional), entirely on your own, then you aren't ready to work with real clients yet.
Comment: Helpful answer for beginners too!
Comment: Designing a strong portfolio is what i want to do. The problem is that I dont know what clients want. I know what I want but there's no market value in that. The only way i can tell what companies want is if they tell me, and the only way theyll tell me is if they hire me and the only way theyll hire me is if i have a portfolio of what they want. Do you see how that's an endless cycle? I have social media pages for my work but the algorithms there keep me down because I dont have enough views and the only way to get views is to do work. All of these endless cycles can be broken with free work
Answer: Help open-source projects! There are uncountably many open-source applications used by thousands to even millions of people that look like absolute ass. Because while open-source is a very common mindset among programmers, design people usually expect traditional professional work.
A good start is Wikipedia's "List of free and open-source software packages" or GitHub's Collections which is organised by topic, and you can explore related projects from there.
Some projects would like a snazzy logo, maybe some website work, or even UI design for web or desktop applications.
Answer: It's a bit counterintuitive that working for free does not yield more job opportunities. It fights against conventional wisdom of how money works. But what you're seeing is consistent with actual empirical data. Anyway I'll list some reasons:

"Free" means different things. A service like this is not really free for the potential client if he needs to participate in meetings, host server or print the designs, etc.
So if you truly want to do a free job, design it first and then offer it to the client without any expectations. There are a lot of potential clients who could accept your work in this kind of form. Lot of small charities, local clubs, hobby groups and open source communities could accept stuff like this, or other nonestablished businesses. But you should be committed for this and be ready to be dismissed.

Liability, and timelines continued support for the design. Free can be a bit troublesome when something special happens or is about to happen.
If you offered a free service, it's clear that the clients priorities and problems aren't necessarily on top of your timeline. Although it might be, it's hard to convince the client of this. It's also unlikely that you have liability coverage since you don't get paid.
So if something happens or client needs a change down the line it's not free anymore.

You might not have the proper resources for the job. Some things inherently cost money. A designer would ideally also somehow verify that their stuff works as intended. So getting proofs done, doing brand research, getting stuff hosted, and making production runs cost money.
You could of course do your work for free, but have the company pay for this. But considered from the client's point it's not free. Besides, if you handle it, how does the client not know that there's just markup for services?

Some of the above also run the risk of being some sort of bait-and-switch tactic. Client can not know even if you aren't.
People in general hate this kind of stuff. So they might be a bit cautious here.

There are lots of dabblers out there. Why choose you over your wife's niece or your best friends son or the new office assistant?

At the end of the day, graphic design is not just about one layout, but about consulting into tactics, business and marketing strategy by visual means. Would you have a free worker make your business decisions?
Also, it is often the purpose of design to increase profitability. How exactly does it prove that you can do that if you cant even do it for yourself?

Who owns the copyright? I mean, in some locales it's near impossible to release copyright with a contract that is very one-sided.

Etc, etc.
For you, the problem is that there isn't any clear path to convert many of the clients into paid clients in future. Also, unless you're extremely lucky, this might become a problem for you in the future as people now know you're willing to work for scraps.
Comment: @66 id like to point that your not getting lot of good work for free either
Comment: @66 With no pay comes no way to hold you accountable for the quality of your work. This is particularly bad sticking point if you are the one seeking them out rather than them bringing it up (but in that case it's also probably not a good sign for you).
Comment: @DKNguyen yeah there was a local story a few days ago where the town was asking a person who had been plowing snow off secondary roads for free to stop doing that. Even if it increased quality of life for the nighbourhood it did increase the liability of the town thus not free. Sad really, but thats the kind of world we live in.
Comment: I don't see a solution here. If I charge people I won't be hired. Free work is my only choice. I dont care about all the "bad" things that might happen because if I dont work for free I dont work at all.
Comment: @66 if you're not independently wealthy, you won't be able to afford to stay in business very long offering your work for free. Even if you're using free tools to work with.
Answer: So, I'm not being harsh here—I'm a developer, and I've worked with and been involved with hiring graphic designers before for projects. Why would I hire you? Getting a not great design done for free, with someone who I don't have any idea about their reliability, is so much more expensive in person hours, loss of stakeholder trust, etc. than just paying for it.
And, as I'm the one paying, I don't go trawling through ads. I put a bid out that people can apply for. I might advertise said bid. I might send it to some graphic designers I know, but I'm not reaching out to ones I don't.
This means the solution is sort of obvious. Don't post a load of ads; they're not working for you. Maybe post a few, but focus on either mining your network of friends/family/contacts to get a paid job for someone who would vouch for you, or start applying for bids/reach out to people. I'd second the suggestions earlier about charities/non profits, etc., but also look more widely. Is there anyone who owns a small business that you know? See if they'd like some design help!
Learn to deal with rejection incredibly gracefully, too. It's going to happen a lot, and so be polite, act like they've done a favour for you for even hearing your pitch, and learn to be extremely professional in your communication. I see in some of the earlier posts that you've got a bit of a chip on your shoulder about getting into the industry; lose that as fast as possible. We've rejected designers because their style doesn't fit the project, but, if they seem like they've been professional and easy to work with, we might invite them to the next one that works with their style.
Who we're not going to reach out to is someone who complained, or responded in a frustrated way when we declined to go with them.
However, your chances go up if your portfolio looks polished, has a nice range of examples, and shows you are interested in trying new styles and techniques. They go up again if you respond quickly to emails, are professional and organised, ask good questions about the project, and show you've done your research.
Answer: Unfortunatelly the field is by now overcrowded with many people getting a laptop, some fonts & templates, watching some tutorials, joining marketplaces. So you'll be competing against other people that are probably in the same position you are now, learning, doing work, looking for work, etc.
Try to work for friends or family at the very least, charge a little and do your best to impress. Build a portfolio and some networking, which in time can lead to more work. Join online marketplaces and try to find work there, too. Always add to your portfolio and polish your portfolio.
Also, understand the fact that large clients have no interest in working with beginners. It will probably take you years to build a solid enough portfolio and the experience to approach large clients, meanwhile, I guess focus on anything you can get, and learn from that.
Also, free work is a sign you're not confident enough to charge for the work. Clients will generally prefer to work with confident designers and they do expect to pay for the service. You need to get to a point where you'll know the value of your work.
Also, maybe a good idea try to get an internship or junior job. This will put you in front of real work directly and you'll quickly gain the experience.
Whatever they say on Instagram, freelancing from zero is tough.
Answer: Don't work for free. I've had some success on UpWork.com. Apply for freelance jobs, and try to build relationships with those clients.
Other alternatives are creating stock vectors/photography for stock websites. VectorStock is a good one.
Answer: You aren't offering free services, you are asking for free training. And it sounds like you need the training.

Designing a strong portfolio is what i want to do. The problem is that I dont know what clients want. I know what I want but there's no market value in that. The only way i can tell what companies want is if they tell me, and the only way theyll tell me is if they hire me and the only way theyll hire me is if i have a portfolio of what they want. Do you see how that's an endless cycle? I have social media pages for my work but the algorithms there keep me down because I dont have enough views and the only way to get views is to do work. All of these endless cycles can be broken with free work

Yes, well, people who hire designers aren't paying for jpegs/pngs/svgs. They don't know what to tell you to put in them. They are paying for someone to help them find out what they actually need and then give them that. One way to get better at that is to (try to) do it, but you don't just need to give your own time for free, you also need to find a reason why the other people would spend their valuable time on you.

I don't see a solution here. If I charge people I won't be hired. Free work is my only choice. I dont care about all the "bad" things that might happen because if I dont work for free I dont work at all.

Then actually work for free. But that means working on your portfolio and skills on your own, or at a school or other training facility. Businesses aren't going to train you out of the goodness of their hearts.
Answer: Indie video game developers are always in need of good art. You could participate in some indie game jam, for this, itch.io is a good place. Though, from my personal experience working with beginner level game-devs more than often leads to either unfinished or incredibly low quality end products.
Comment: This isn't a "job board". While the overall suggestion to help indie developers is great... I'm not so sure about the sub paragraph asking for volunteer work with a link. it's essentially a request for work, which isn't permitted here. If you wish to self-promote, add links to your *profile page* not in answers.
Comment: This is a grey area in this particular case. I'm not an expert on the policies of the website, but it does very directly address the concern the OP had.
Answer: What you may want to do is contribute to free cultural works.
Other answers already gave some examples of this: Graphics design for open source software, or contributing graphics to Wikimedia projects. Another example of a place where you could release vector graphics under a free license is OpenClipArt.
I am making this a community-wiki post so that people can edit this answer for more examples of useful places to contribute to the commons of free culture.
Answer: Disclaimer: I have no experience in graphic design or hiring graphic designers.
Why not set up a personal website that showcases your work? You can host it on Github for free. On the website, include your contact details for prospective clients in a place that is prominent and easy to find.
Another avenue is creating "how-to" videos and blogs on graphic design and linking your contact details on each of them.
I know there are websites where people creating music can offer their products for free to other creators (sound cloud for example). Their "customers" put the artists name and contact somewhere in exchange and this leads to exposure for the music composers. I'm sure something like this will exist for graphic designers as well. Maybe: https://unsplash.com? People writing blogs on Medium who just want to write and not create beautiful images will take yours and link your profile under them. If their blog does well, you get some exposure too as a result.
Edit by Willy: Artstation, devianart & instagram are also popular choices (cant speak for there effectiveness).


iid variables, do they need to have the same mean and variance?

Question: If two random variables $x$ and $y$ are identical and independently distributed, do they need to have the same mean and variance? Can there exist a case where they are iid and still have different parameters?
Answer: The mean and variance are determined by the distribution. Thus, if they have the same distribution, they must have the same mean and variance.
Answer: If two variables are iid , then they must have the same distribution.Which means they have the same parameters namely mean, std dev.
Answer: If $X$ and $Y$ are iid random variables with cumulative distribution function $F(t)=\mathbb{P}(X\leq t)=\mathbb{P}(Y\leq t)$ and if mean and variance of the variables exists, then
$$\mbox{E}X=\int_\mathbb{R}tdF(t)$$
and
$$\mbox{Var}X=\mbox{E}X^2-(\mbox{EX})^2=\int_\mathbb{R}t^2dF(t)-(\mbox{E}X)^2.$$
If $F(t)$ is differentiable then you can write $\int_\mathbb{R}tdF(t)$ as $\int_\mathbb{R}tf(t)dt$ where $f(t)$ is a density function of $X$ and $Y$. So if iid (independent and identically distributed) variables are defined with such distribution functions, then there is no difference in means and variances. But it might happen that your variable does not have variance or mean. One example is Cauchy random variable, then you can't say anything about the mean or variance, because those characteristics simply do not exist.
Answer: The abbreviation iid usually refers to independent and identically distributed" (in linear modelling, error distributions need to be iid)

NOT identical and independently distributed (as Daniel's question mentions).

Two variables are "independent" if they are not correlated
Two variables are identically-distributed if they have the same frequency distribution (the same skew/kurtosis/variance etc.)
Two variables are identical if they are exactly the same. This would mean that these variables would be perfectly correlated. Therefore, by definition, they cannot be "independently distributed".
In other words, " identical and independently distributed" is a contradiction in terms.


How can I prevent a wasp entering the house?

Question: I leave very high up and yet there are many wasps entering. How do I prevent that?
Answer: You could install window/door nets. If you can't afford that a curtain should do the trick (with the end of it attached to the bottom frame, so that the draught does not blow it around).
From what you descride you probably have a wasp nest nearby (or there is a vast increase in wasp population in the area but in that case they would be everywhere). Well, you could prevent the wasps from entering if you find and destroy their nest, but unless you are allergic I wouldn't advise you to have it destroyed - wasps are alright to live around with and they won't do anything to you unless you attack them.
Comment: In addition to this useful solution, you can hang "fly strips" near each window in case any wasps sneak past the screen or curtain. In case you haven't heard of fly strips before, they are strips of extremely adhesive tape. When flying insects land on them, they get stuck and die.


What was taught in 19th century European electricity and/or magnetism courses?

Question: What topics were taught in late-19th century electricity and/or magnetism courses in Europe?
Comment: Were there such courses at all in 1880, say?
Comment: @GeraldEdgar Well, maybe they weren't called E&M, but certainly there were courses on electrostatics/electrodynamics and perhaps other courses on magnetism. I've edited the question making this clearer.
Answer: Some data:
The plan for the famous 1867 textbook Treatise on Natural Philosophy by William Thomson (Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for over 50 years) and Peter Guthrie Tait

contemplated four volumes; the printing of the first volume began in 1862 and was completed in 1867. The other three volumes never appeared.
It was intended to be an all-comprehensive treatise on physical science, the foundations being laid in kinematics and dynamics, and the structure completed with the properties of matter, heat, light, electricity and magnetism. But the literary partnership ceased in about eighteen years, when only the first portion of the plan had been completed, because each of the members felt he could work to better advantage separately than jointly.

Tait, who held the chair of Natural Pilosophy at Edinburgh from 1860 until shortly before his death in 1901, on his own produced books on:

Sketch of Thermodynamics (1877);
Heat (1884);
Light (1884);
Properties of Matter (1885).

Oliver Heaviside's papers on electromagnetism was collected into the three-volumes Electromagnetic Theory (1893-1912).

In 1884 he recast Maxwell's mathematical analysis from its original cumbersome form (they had already been recast as quaternions) to its modern vector terminology, thereby reducing twelve of the original twenty equations in twenty unknowns down to the four differential equations in two unknowns we now know as Maxwell's equations. The four re-formulated Maxwell's equations describe the nature of electric charges (both static and moving), magnetic fields, and the relationship between the two, namely electromagnetic fields.

Joseph John Thomson, that in 1884 was chosen to become Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge, published in 1895 his Elements of the Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism:

[it] was a readable introduction to a wide variety of subjects, and achieved considerable popularity as a textbook.
Answer: These 2 volumes discuss research and academic courses in physics in the 19th century at German universities:
Christa  Jungnickel  and Russell McCormmach. Intellectual Mastery of Nature. Theoretical Physics from Ohm to Einstein, Volume 1: The Torch of Mathematics, 1800 to 1870. University of Chicago Press, paper cover, 1990a. ISBN 0-226-41582-1.
     Volume 2: The Now Mighty Theoretical Physics, 1870 to 1925. University of Chicago Press, Paper cover, 1990b. ISBN 0-226-41585-6.
For example, in the years 1890-1893 Ludwig Boltzmann held the Chair of Theoretical Physics at the University of Munich and taught the theory of electrodynamics there. His lecture notes were written up by his students and published in two parts in 1891 and 1892. Quoting from the Volume 2 mentioned above, here is how he treated Maxwell's theory (which he supported):
In the second volume of his lectures on Maxwell's theory, Boltzmann proceeded from the hypothesis that the ether communicates electric and magnetic actions from volume element to the neighboring volume element. Each element supposedly contains an unknown motion causing a displacement, which Boltzmann called theelectrotonic state', following Faraday's terminology. As a starting point for the imagination, Boltzmann conceived of the displacement as the turning angle of a nucleus within each element, any change of which gives rise to a kinetic energy. To represent th e potential energy of an element, Boltzmann fell back on Maxwell's idea that between two rotating nuclei are particles, which serve as friction rollers; the potential energy is then proportional to the work done by the displacement of these particles. By substituting the terms for the kinetic and potential energies into the equation that express Hamilton's principle, Boltzmann derived one set of Maxwell's equations; the other set simply states  the assumptions of the derivation.
It was part of Boltzmann intention in his lectures to show how ideas from the distance-action theories relate to Maxwell's theory and to treat special problems by Maxwell's theory as thoroughly as they were treated by the other theories, making it unnecessary for students to go to the older textbooks any longer. In the language of potentials, Boltzmann compared Maxwell's equations with those of the older theories. As the potentials are expressed as integrals
over all space rather than in terms of states of neighboring volume elements, Boltzmann referred to the integral equations as ``Maxwell's distance-action equations' in contrast to his `contact-action' partial differential equations. Boltzmann went on to derive Neumann's induction law, Helmholtz's general theory, and other parts of the older electrodynamics."


Rest after workout

Question: How long is the duration for which we are required to rest after workout. Is it good to do 2-3 sessions of heavy workout every day? What should be the rest period between the two sessions.  I take 1 gm of proteins per pound of body weight. How I am I supposed to keep up my energy if duration of both sessions is 100 minutes?
Answer: It's all genetic for the most part. It has nothing to do with whether or not you're a rare, one-of-a-kind elite pro athlete that comes once in a generation; or if you're  a couch potato who can't lift 100 lbs.
How long you need to rest and recover varies and depends based on each person and how much you prefer to recover before loading again. I know of at least one guy who trains 6-7 days a week and it works perfectly for him (and no, he doesn't use pro-hormones). Why? Apparently he recovers faster.
Some people take longer to recover, but nothing stops you from jumping the gun. As far as I can figure you can't reduce gains just by jumping back in a little quicker -- just don't workout constantly.
In general, most people recover enough in 48-72 hours or less for more loading, but the point of diminishing returns depend on how much intensity. See, you can lift 7 days a week and curl paperback for 300 reps and I doubt you'll have diminishing returns -- but if you try and power curl 90% of your max every day you just might see no advantage. Interestingly, sleep helps repair muscles. If you just simply sleep more while maintaining a good diet you'll definitely see muscle repair faster.
If you spend an entire 24-hour period sleeping 80% of the time and eating the rest you'll probably recover enough to jump back in immediately the following next day, fresh as a water buffalo.
Three things you should know/focus on:
1.Intensity. If you do an extremely intense workout, odds are you won't recover the next day -- so give it several days at the minimum, unless you feel perfectly refreshed sooner. If you do low-intensity workouts, do it more times per week, possibly splitting up the days you do it if you prefer.
2.Recovery is genetic, but sleep helps. If you want to workout more and get stronger faster, consider sleep supplements if you're not a naturally good sleeper. Also, remember that good sleep is at least 9 hours (with REM) -- no less or you're slowing down recovery.
3.Calories and protein help recovery. This doesn't mean eat non-stop, but it does mean that you should eat every 4-8 hours, and shouldn't let your net negative energy balance stay below -800 for more than 10 hours at a time. Most meals should be small-ish but packed. Spread your calories and do not simply think you must always be in a surplus/deficit -- don't think in extremes because the world doesn't operate that way. Consistent eating replenishes muscles and helps them recover, so try and eat well consistently but do not over/under eat. Good luck and may you grow powerful like me.
Answer: For all but perhaps a few elite professional athletes, multiple heavy (intense) workouts per day are not good/useful, because they almost certainly cause more fatigue than that from which the body can recover within one day (or possibly multiple successive days).
Note that insufficient recovery usually prohibits the desired adaptation (for example, increased strength), so exercising more (that is, incurring more fatigue) does not necessarily increase strength -- it actually may decrease strength.
Answer: I would say that 2 - 3 sessions of heavy work every day would be too much, but then with adequate nutrition and recovery, I imagine even that can be adapted to.
It all comes down to what your goals are.
I know of a few weightlifters who train multiple times a day, but these are people who compete at a national level, and by necessity, training for weight lifting tends to involve lots of sets of low reps, especially for the more skilled movements (snatch, clean and jerk).
Some old school bodybuilders used to train twice a day, morning and evening, with pretty full on sessions both times (names escape me at the moment, but T-Nation has posted a few articles on some of these guys).
The Squat Every Day program gained some traction a year or so back (I've fallen out of touch, so maybe it still has some), the idea being that you work up to your squat max every day, and once you get over the initial week or so, your body gets used to it.
For skilled movements, and arguably for pure strength without a lot in the way of hypertrophy, training multiple times a day can be very beneficial. Suck at pulls ups? Then do multiple sets throughout the day and watch your strength increase. This is commonly known as Greasing the Groove and from my understanding trains the CNS to more efficiently recruit the muscles required to carry out the movement.
Answer: Research shows that you can get incredibly more size and strength gains by doing heavy training everyday compared to doing it 3 times a week(1) (At equal volume)
Also:

Further, a  2017 meta-analysis of 15 different studies published in theJournal of Sport Science(2) said:"Results showed an incremental dose-response relationship whereby progressively higher weekly training volumes resulted in greater muscle hypertrophy." This indicates training body parts more often is ideal for building muscle because of this in part, means a higher training volume overall. When you spread your training volume out throughout the week your muscles will have more time to recover and grow between workout sessions.

Not only does training more often gives better gains at equal volume but
training more often actually allows for greater volume over time, and volume is the is directly related to the amount of muscle and strength you can build.

Rest after workout


Software Center stops

Question: When I wanna see the list of installed applications or search for a new one, the panels changes to blank white and stops there with waiting mouse cursor! And Synaptic give an error on one of the repositories and leaves (Nautilus elementary) the relevant source file has only one word in it 'ain' which is mentioned in the error by Synaptic. Should I delete or change it into comment in the file ? If so how?
Answer: Do you use PPAs? Try to deactivate them in Software Sources > Other Software tab, and do sudo apt-get update in a terminal.

Software Center stops


The screen on my Nikon D5100 flickers

Question: The screen on my Nikon D5100 flickers. This is not due to the highlights which have been turned off. The menu and information screens flickers as well...
I also noticed that, when displaying pictures: the focus square (from live-view) stays weirdly overlaid on the screen (this does not appear in the real files).
Both times it happened was after shooting in live view with A mode. It went away after leaving the camera turned off for a while.
It seems that the firmwares are up to date (A 1.02, B 1.01).
Do you know where it could come from ?
Answer: This is obviously not normal operation, and neither should you debug yourself. Get a Nikon technician and have him fix this.
Answer: Sounds like a definite issue with the camera there.  I would advise taking it along to your local friendly camera dealer and see what they say.  They may be able to send it off to Nikon on your behalf to get it repaired properly.

The screen on my Nikon D5100 flickers


Better image compression by combining images?

Question: What is the name of the technique where many small images are copied into one large image to get better compression and avoid loading many separate images int memory? And is this still useful in modern devices?
Comment: A sprite sheet is often used as it only loads one file. Also, it's easier to maintain. But I doubt it has much to do with image compression.
Comment: That would be Sprite sheet. The biggest upside to using sprite sheet is that it reduces the amount of HTTP requests that your browser needs to make.
Comment: With a clever layout, a sprite sheet can be optimized to reduce wasted pixels around non-rectangular sprites. This could result in significant savings and might be (loosely) considered a form of compression...
Answer: It's not about image compression but rather the number of HTTP-requests. Sprite sheets are a common developer technique nowadays. You can read an overview of the technique and its benefits here: http://css-tricks.com/css-sprites/
Comment: Sprite sheets are rapidly becoming the old-school solution. Embedding "sprites" in your CSS via base-64 encoding is the more progressive technique now. A little bigger CSS download avoids the extra server request altogether.
Comment: Combining your images into a sprite sheet does allow somewhat better compression, too, if they contain similar elements. In fact, you may want to run your finished sprite sheet through an efficient (but slow) compressor like [PNGOUT](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PNGOUT) to make most of this benefit.
Answer: I'm not sure this directly answers your question, but since @AdamSchuld requested more detail ...
Sprite sheets are good
Sprite sheets have been around a long time and they are a wonderful tool. They can dramatically reduce the number of server requests for very small images. However, there is still a server request involved and it may not be necessary.
Data URIs are better (sometimes)
If the images in question are truly viable for a sprite sheet (ie, they're small) and your goal is page performance, base64 encoded images in the CSS may be a better answer. Using this technique, an image (usually a simple icon or image tile) is embedded directly in your CSS or HTML using a data URI.
In CSS it looks something like this:
background: url(data:image/gif;base64,Really/18asd926Long/451String265Here);

And in HTML:

There is a healthy discussion on SE that points out, among other things, that this approach is recommended for mobile. That should tell you something about the performance benefit where HTTP connections are a concern.
CSS-Tricks has a nice overview.
There are online converters that will spit your image out in base64 format.


What times and settings should I use for taking pictures of stars at night and falling stars?

Question: The season of the falling stars started and I want to try to achieve some picture of stars and falling one too.
I see a lot of picture with a immense number of stars but they are still. Now I'm concern about the shutter speed.
What is the amount of time at a given aperture to get still bright stars without trails?
And what are your tips for taking good picture?
I need to know because I'm not sure if the 30" of my EOS are enough or I need to but a remote bulb.
Answer: Well, the gist is - it depends on how picky you are about trails.  It will almost always start to trail immediately, but it may not be noticeable until a certain point.
Additionally, forget normal exposure rules for astrophotography.  It's generally about getting the most light in that you can.  The odds of overexposure are pretty slim unless you're in a very light polluted area.
First off, your aperture will have pretty nothing to do with the amount of time before you get star trails.  Its strictly a function of the rotation of the earth and the perceived trails is a function of your exposure time vs the focal length. The shorter the length, the longer you can track without noticeable trails.

If you go ultrawide and don't really be too picky, folks have been known to go up to 90 seconds.
At 50mm, you're really only talking about 18 seconds or so before they're noticeable (based on my own experience).
At 300mm, you can get away with at most 5 seconds before trailing shows up.

These times will vary somewhat, as the apparent rotational movement of the sky varies between the poles and the equator.
If you want to track longer, you're going to need a tracking mount of some kind that follows the sidereal rotation.  You can get a dedicated unit like an Astrotrac, you can piggy back on a telescope that already does tracking, or you can build a barndoor mount.  See this question for more ideas there (stacking multiple images is covered there as well).
Other tips:

You'll want the darkest sky you can imagine and make sure an point it away from the nearest city.  That city 'glow' will show up in your pictures as light pollution.
You'll want a large aperture - that way you can get more light in the short amount of time you have, but pick a sharp one.  So if you've got a 50mm 1.8, you may want to stop down to 2.8 to increase the sharpness.
Your next big challenge is focus.  Its incredibly difficult to focus on distant stars.  You have a few options, but your best choice is a Bahitov mask - mask in front of your lens that produces a particular diffraction pattern to help with focus.  Check this question for more details.
After than comes post processing.  Thats a whole thing in itself.  Generally, you'll be trying to remove light pollution and noise without removing stars, enhancing star / DSO (deep space objects - nebulas, clusters, etc) color, and push some faint stars / DSO into brighter existence.

All this applies to falling stars as well, you just need to try to catch a star fall during one of your exposures.
There's also whole lots of general AP information in this question as well.
Comment: Never realized that a Bahitov mask existed. +1!
Comment: I believe you mean _Bahtinov_.
Answer: I use the "Rule of 600".  Divide your focal length into 600, and the result is your maximum exposure without the stars trailing.  So with a 50mm lens, you can have a 12 second exposure.  With a 15mm lens, a 40 second exposure.
You generally want as wide an angle as possible, between 10-20mm if you have it.  30 seconds is fine if you bump the ISO up to say 1600.
If your camera has a long exposure noise reduction, use it.
Use a lens hood to block stray light.
Focus is difficult. You may want to prefocus in daylight and take note of where infinity is - hopefully you can use a flashlight and manually focus to that point (or use gaffer tape to lock it down)
Comment: Long exposure noise reduction doesn't work well for most wide field AP work at all.  In fact, you really want to make sure that you disable it and take dark frames separately. Unless you're doing a single light frame.  Going as wide as possible is completely dependent on what you want to do.  Bumping ISO up is not so cut and dry, especially esp your DR typically falls as your ISO increases.  If you prefocus in daylight and the nighttime temp is considerably different your infinity focus may change.
Comment: If you're stacking at all, then LE NR severely decreases the number of frames you can stack before your subject rotates out of frame.
Comment: I guess it's camera dependent.  I use ISO 2000 and long exposure NR and it works beautifully.
Answer: You need a fairly long shutter, 30 seconds+ but the problem is that you will quickly run into tracking issues.  Unless you have a system set up to counteract the earth's rotation, you will begin to move within your frame.
There are lots of systems out there, here's one example, but the basic idea is just a motorized camera mount that moved opposite to the earth's rotation, allowing you to take long exposures of stars.
Answer: Here are some tips from these websites:
http://www.jamesvernacotola.com/Resources/How-To-Photograph-Star-Trails/12233655_V7cX4D http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Learn-And-Explore/Article/h0ndzhvw/photographing-the-night-sky-star-trails.html


What disaster considerations should I make for my pet rabbit?

Question: After reading through http://www.ready.gov/ I have a family plan and am creating a Disaster Supply Kit.  What considerations should I have for my house rabbit?  What supplies should I include in the kit for my bunny?
Comment: Kind of related (on "disaster", not "rabbits"): http://pets.stackexchange.com/q/1632/31
Answer: One of the most important things is that you get an appropriately sized travel carrier.  The carrier should be large enough that your rabbit can fit in it comfortably but should not allow room for the rabbit to move a lot when the carrier gets jostled.  During an emergency you likely will not have time to slowly and carefully move your bunny.  A properly sized carrier will help keep your bunny from experiencing trauma from being thrown around its cage.  A bunnies back and neck are relatively fragile so this is important.
 This is a double carrier for 2 rabbits but you can also find single or triple carriers depending on your need.  These carriers are also available in various sizes.  It is important that your carrier not be too big or too small for your rabbit
You should have at least a weeks supply of food. Rabbits do not handle stress well and the emergency is going to be enough stress.  Changing its food at this time could very well push it over the edge.  Stress can kill a rabbit.  Having a week of the food that it is used to should help your rabbit get through this period, as well as giving you time to find more food.  If you are unable to find a source of the same food your rabbit is used to by day 3 then I would start mixing in what ever food you plan to replace it with.
Your rabbit should be able to handle a few days in the carrier but you will want to find it at least a temporary cage as soon as you get to someplace you can stay for a few days. If that will not be possible then you should have a temporary rabbit sitter that can provide that stable place for your rabbit.  I am against boarding a rabbit at a Vet clinic only because your rabbit is liable to be exposed to some diseases it has no immunity for during a time where it is already stressed.  But if that is your only option your rabbit is better off there than riding in your car.  Having an emergency sitter prepared ahead of time will save you and your bunny stress.
Comment: wire-bottom cages without a place for the rabbit to sit off grid are a no-no.  Rabbits don't have pads on their feet like cats and dogs, and thus the wire cages can really hurt especially if they are forced to stand on them for prolonged periods.  Consider changing your example cage to an appropriately sized cat carrier; there are several made out of cloth that fold down and store nicely.


Can RPi be used to stream internet TV shows from web pages?

Question: Since turning off my cable TV, i would like to view some of my TV shows from the various network websites. Can i use RPi to do this, so i don't have to invest in a larger PC or laptop for this minimal function?
Comment: Do you know what format the videos are provided in. What country you in? I think in UK BBC's iplayer is now working on the Pi. Netflix and Lovefilm too. So it is likely but...
Answer: Yes you can.
If you have a spare SD card or are happy to use your existing one you could install Raspbmc (as a dual boot).
http://www.raspbmc.com/
There are plenty of guides to installing it and there is also Sam Nazarko's book available on the Raspbmc website.
I wrote an article last year on setting up Raspbmc which you may also find useful:
http://intelligentheating.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/raspberry-pi-powered-tv-and/
There are some links there for the plugins you will need to watch BBC iplayer, Amazon VoD etc. as well.
Answer: Yes. The Midori browser may be limited, but it's faster than the Chromium browser. Here are the instructions to get HTML 5 videos to play on either.
http://lin.jojen.de/?p=32
Get HTML5 videos to play in Chromium on Raspberry Pi
Comment: HTML5 video is not a format but a standard for markup. What video formats does this "Midori" support? MP4/OGG/WEBM? Allot of content is provided in flash or silverlight wrappers also - Companies are reluctant to move away because they don't know which video format to choose. At the moment its MP4 and WEBM that are leading but there is still a big split in browser support. *cough* Explorer VS Chrome VS Firefox *cough*


Connecting Android to Fedora to browse the web

Question: I have bought an Android phone Spice MI-270. I wanted to connect the phone to Linux Fedora so that I can browse the web using the services provided on my SIM card. How can I connect the Android phone to Linux Fedora to use the Internet ?
Comment: Why do you need to connect to Fedora to use Internet from your SIM card?
Comment: @ roxan i want to use internet on my laptop
Answer: If you want to use the internet connection your Android device provides to access the internet when working on your laptop, this is called Tethering (this Wikipedia article gives you closer information). The followint Q&A gives you some closer information on this topic:
Use 3G connection on my Android in Ubuntu
Though the title mentions Ubuntu, the solution provided there explicitly states to also support Fedora -- and it should work via USB cable.
Starting with Froyo (Android 2.2), your device can also directly act as a Wifi Hotspot (just check in the setup under Wireless & Networks) -- which of course requires your laptop to support Wifi (but which laptop does not?). When running into trouble with this, you might want to check this Q&A:
Tethering an Android 2.2.1 (Froyo) using Wifi

If your question is rather the other way around: Your laptop having internet, and you want to use that connection from your Android, this is called Reverse tethering. In this case check:
Connect Android device as wifi adapter to a PC to create an ad-hoc network
More on reverse tethering you can find checking the questions tagged reverse-tether.


What does "overwhelming" mean in cryptography?

Question: I found the term "overwhelming" when I study cryptography.
According to the definition, we call $f$ overwhelming if $1-f$ is negligible.
I already know the negligible function and its way to use but I don't understand why we consider the overwhelming function.
Can someone teach me how to use it and some examples?
Comment: IIRC we don't always want to _guarantee_ that cryptosystems are functionally correct with probability 1 which is when we them to work with overwhelming probability / fail with negligible probability.
Comment: An example could be the correctness of decryption: in certain encryption schemes (e.g. most lattice based schemes) we have a negligible probability of decryption error, i.e., a ciphertext may not decrypt to the correct message. So we say the scheme decrypts correctly with "overwhelming"  probability. "Overwhelming" is essentially just a convenient way to say "with probability 1-f, for a negligible function f".
Comment: We want a system to work with overwhelming probability and fail with negligible probability.
Answer: "With overwhelming probability" means that an event happens with probability at least $1−2^{Ω(n^\varepsilon)}$ for a constant $\varepsilon >0$.
Example: In a public key cryptosystem where $\mathcal{PK}$, $\mathcal{SK}$ and $\mathcal{R}$ are the spaces of public keys, secret keys, and sender randomness respectively, if $∆_{\mathcal{R}}$ denote the distribution on $\mathcal{R}$, then we require the usual correctness condition: for all $pk ∈ \mathcal{PK}$, all $sk ∈ \mathcal{SK}$, and $b ∈ \{0, 1\}$, we have $Dec_{sk}(Enc_{pk}(b; r)) = b$ with overwhelming probability over $r ← ∆_{\mathcal{R}}$.
Comment: Thanks for your answer, but how do you define $\Omega(m)$ for a positive real number $m$? I see that you used it for $m:= n^{\epsilon}$. TIA!


What's the tree with many leaves in one branch and grow tall

Question:

This tree is all over our backyard and it keeps coming when i cut down, want to know if its a useful one if not, want to cut them down and apply glyphosate to the left over trunk..
Comment: Both of these answers hold a lot of weight.  Both of them are super plants and should not be killed so willy nilly.  I'd like to know WHERE this tree resides on your property...Tree of Heaven and Sumac...are great plants.  Yes you need to know about them and their propensity to survive with irritant saps...but it certainly depends on their location, your family, your needs.  Otherwise I've planted LOTS of both residential and commercial.  They are both kinda 'weeds' because they are such great survivalists!  "A plant out of place is the description for weed"...need to know WHERE they live.
Comment: Unquestionably Ailanthus altissima. Unquestionably an undesirable and potentially dangerous weed. (The wood becomes vey brittle as the age and large limbs break of in winds).
Comment: @stormy they live in northern California. Zone 9b
Comment: @stormy I agree, totally. I hadn't thought of Rhus typhinus, as Bamboo has pointed out as a possibility when I answered.
Answer: Possible that it is Ailanthus altissima 'tree of heaven'.
They are known for sending up suckers from their shallow root system. They originate from China, and were brought over to Europe in the mid 1700s and onto the United States later on in the century.
I've never been near one, but they can apparently develop a horrible odor.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailanthus_altissima
Answer: I think its suckers from Rhus typhinus, or one of the sumachs anyway. They're fast growing and will appear along the length of roots under the soil from the original tree, so you may find as many as 5 or 6 sucker growths along each main rootline. If the original tree has died or been cut down, that simply means more suckers with more vigorous growth.
It's probably necessary to cut each one down and treat the stump or base with a brushwood or stumpkiller, now they've taken hold. Wear gloves when handling the foliage, the sap can be highly irritant in some people, and sometimes the suckers have thorns.
Comment: Sumacs in my area usually have that red discoloration on new leaves as well, and the wood has a very distinct smell (it doesn't smell terrible, but not good either). Also, some species of sumac are poisonous when burnt I've heard, so don't do that.
Answer: Sumac and Ailanthus look very similar. Your stems look reddish brown, if they're also fuzzy it may be sumac. If you smell the leaves and it smells like what a plant fart would smell like if plants could fart it's ailanthus altissima. Ailanthus are horribly invasive trees and not ones you'd want to keep around but they're very hard to control.  Ailanthus can not only take over your yard, your neighbor's yard it can also find it's way to natural habitats where it can harm the natural ecosystem. The roots can cause damage to sidewalks, foudnations, sewers, etc. Sumac while a native tree is also very invasive.
They're not very attractive trees and Ailanthus stinks. When they get big they release hundreds of thousands of seedpods everywhere.
Do everyone around you a favor and get rid of them. If you search around different forums you'll find plenty of people complaining about how difficult they are to control.
Sumac eradication
Ailanthus control
More detailed information on Ailanthus altissima control.
More on Ailanthus from http://www.ecolandscaping.org/05/invasive-plants/tree-of-heaven-an-exotic-invasive-plant-fact-sheet/

By the early 1900s however, tree of-heaven began losing popularity due
  to its prolific root sprouting and weedy nature in human-occupied
  areas coupled with the foul odor of its stems and leaves (DiTomaso and
  Kyser, 2007). Presently, in this new era of exotic invasive plant
  awareness, Dirr (1998), states that tree-of-heaven has no
  horticultural value because there are many other tree species of
  better quality for designed landscapes. Similarly, Whitcomb (1985
  p.51) states that although it is an "indestructible tree" it "should
  be avoided".

Someone on my block let an ailanthus grow in their yard and it's now huge. During the warm months I'm plucking a half dozen or more seedlings from my yard every week. If you see one in your yard do whatever it takes to eradicate it before it gets too big and costly to do something about it. If you have a neighbor that has some growing, educate them about the tree. Of all the invasive plants people have planted in my area this one is by far the worst.
Read this deleted answer from someone who is suffering with this tree. https://gardening.stackexchange.com/a/8339/2448


Why didn't Nero visit his homeworld to warn of its destruction?

Question: In the Star Trek reboot (2009), since Nero and his crew travelled back in time, why didn't they just take off and warn their homeworld of its imminent destruction? The ship had warp drive, did it not?
Comment: but without convenient plot holes, how does a story move forward?
Comment: Awesome, me and my fiance have been debating this with people for a while.
Comment: @Shahriar: and be tried for pedophilia maybe.
Comment: he could've just returned to his homeworld in the alternate timeline and reunited with his wife
Comment: He did, they just never said he did.
Comment: How do we know if he did or not?
Comment: He tried...

"So, 'Nero,' you said your name was?  Even though you don't really look that much like a Romulan?  And you came back in time through a black hole, creating a parallel timeline?  Even though that's not how time travel has ever worked?  Young man, do you know the penalties for prank calls to the Senate?"
Comment: Did he *know* he had travelled back in time?
Comment: It would have ruined the story
Comment: Nero is over a century in his past after the worm-hole so his wife is unborn.
Answer: Nero was captured by the Klingons and tortured for almost 25 years. My guess is it drove him insane, leaving nothing but revenge in his mind.
Comment: note that this was not mentioned in the theatrical version of the movie but was included in the deleted content.
Comment: Just keep in mind that deleted scenes are not canon. :)
Comment: Occam's Razor - simplest answer must be right
Comment: That still doesn't explain why his crew didn't mutiny, though.
Answer: A practical answer of possible universes:

If he could successfully warn his homeworld and prevent its destruction, then that would create a causality paradox where the new Nero would not have a reason (or ability) to go back in time to warn his homeworld.  Therefore, reality wouldn't allow such an action to be possible (assuming reality only exists in a state where it has referential integrity or it would not exist).  This sucks because: The average person has no understanding or interest in paradoxes when it comes to entertainment... so who gives a crap.
If he could successfully warn his homeworld and prevent its destruction, then he would diverge into a different alternate reality where there are now two version of Nero... and the old reality has non (and no homeworld).  Alternate reality theories are selfish because the reality only shifts for the active traveler and nothing changes for anyone else.  This sucks because: Changing anything doesn't effect Kirk or anyone else not on Nero's ship... so who gives a crap.
Ultimately, what it comes down to, it's just a narrative loose end that the writers either weren't intelligent enough to identify, were told to ignore it as irrelevant to the narrative, or they just didn't cared.  Star Trek writers are notorious for not caring about things that don't make sense within a plot... this is no exception.
Comment: Having had the experience of pitching to a Star Trek writer and producer (Ron Moore) and get feedback from him on what I pitched, I think it's unnecessarily condescending to say "that the writers weren't intelligent enough to think or care about."  These are the people that created that entire script and have proven themselves by writing stories good enough so they can make a living writing.  You can't tie up every loose end in some stories and trying to results in extraneous lines that most viewers don't care about that only bog down the story and pacing.
Comment: However as he destroys Vulcan it is not Vulcans who can prevent and fail to save it hence why should new Nero make revenge against extincting race?
Comment: It's pretty cool that you met and talked with Ron Moore... I'm a fan.

Lets keep things straight, he's not the only writer... and the reality is they create too many loose ends, plot holes, and ridiculous situations.

Every time a writer includes time travel in his story, he needs to be VERY meticulous because it's way too easy to totally mess it up.

So I stand by my statement that the writers aren't intelligent enough OR care enough to wrap up the loose ends they created.

I think that's reasonable with an addendum that sometimes producers force these things for the same reasons.
Comment: Your first bullet canonically is wrong because the entire demonstrated premise behind the Kelvin timeline is that a new timeline is started from the divergence in the past.   Therefore there is no possible discussion of paradoxes here.
Comment: I'd have to agree with the paradox answer
Comment: ThePopMachine, you're not wrong.  Alternate reality version of time travel makes what i said invalid.

In my opinion, however, alternate reality explanations of time travel is called "lazy writing".  It's using time travel simply to start over and tell the story differently instead of dealing with the time travel you're using... lazy.
Answer: The two comics (albeit non-canon) provide some interesting insights:

Countdown
Nero

I haven't read Nero, but from Countdown alone we get the feel Nero was driven mad by the destruction of Romulus as well as the death of his wife and unborn child.
Answer: Maybe he tried and nobody believed or he didn't try because nobody would have believed him anyway.
Of course, he has very advanced technology to prove he's from the future, but in a tyrannical government that tightly control the information he's likely to be seized and jailed forever or killed while the government keeps the technology to advance the empire.
Another issue with warning his home-world is that he might have driven himself and his wife out of existence. He wanted revenge on Spock, not to save his people, specially when it might not only not save his wife, but totally erase her.
Answer: I know there are plently of good answers here already. But this was sniped from the script itself:
Captain Nero(N) to Captain Pike(P).

P: You're blaming the Federation for
  something that hasn't happened...
N: It has happened! I watched it happen!
N: I saw it happen!
N: Don't tell me it didn't happen!
N: And when I lost her, I promised myself retribution.
N: And for 25 years I planned my revenge against the Federation.
N: And forgot what it was like to live a normal life.
N: I did not forget the pain.
N: It's a pain that every surviving Vulcan now shares.
N: My purpose, Christopher,
  is to not simply avoid the destruction of the home that I love...
N: But to create a Romulus that exists, free of the Federation.
N: You see only then will she be truly saved.

So you can see his intention wasn't only revenge, he wanted to destroy the Federation, get revenge on Spock/Vulcan, save Romulus and make Romulans the dominating race in the alpha quadrant.
Comment: Indeed, this sentinment is also echoed inthe comic "Nero".
Comment: This is obviously the canon answer, but why wait 25 years to wipe out the Federation...
Answer: I got the impression that this was always part of his plan.
He was wiping out the Federation planets so Romulus would reign supreme.
I presume after he'd taken out the trash he'd have gone home a hero and warned everyone about the destruction that wasn't to hit for decades yet.
Answer: Warning them wouldn't help. His view was that the Federation was responsible for Romulans being all concentrated on Romulus instead of spread throughout the galaxy (as with humans).  So destroying Earth saves the Romulan race, even if the destruction of Romulus itself is inevitable.
Comment: Pike tells Nero that Romulus is safe, it's out there, it hasn't been destroyed. Nero replies that it has happened, I saw it happen. This is a key version of time travel - from certain perspectives timelines' don't appear to change, events are immutable. From other view points, not so much; time is a fluxy medium of uncertainty.
Answer: He didn't need to warn the planet, and he didn't want it to be destroyed.  He literally BLAMED Spock, so he decided that removing Spock would be all that is necessary to fix his future without negatively affecting life on Romulus (or changing events so his birth might not happen).
Answer: Nero was driven mad with rage after witnessing the destruction of his homeworld, and knowing it also spelled the death of his wife, and his unborn child. He was supposed to be their savior – he had promised her, and she had believed him – and now he was watching them all burn.
Unable to cope with his own failure, he lashed out against anybody that he found remotely culpable. He killed the Romulan senate, whose inaction had hindered him start, and then against the Federation that had failed him. He had put his faith in Spock, come to rely on him to save Romulus, and so he resented him the most.
When he arrived in the past, Ayel saw an opportunity to return home. But Nero saw something different; he saw his destiny to return to Romulus a hero; to wipe out the Federation that would one day betray them, and to claim the red matter "weapon" for his people, that they may rule the galaxy.

Now imagine that thought, festering in his mind for 25 years in a Klingon prison.
Answer: Imminent destruction? In 2258 the Hobus supernova was still 129 years in the future.
It wasn't at the top of his to-do list.
But the film did indicate that he planned to save his homeworld in the alternate timeline. As Nero said in the film:

My purpose, Christopher, is to not simply avoid the destruction of the home that I love...
Answer: He DID go back and warn his homeworld and in fact, he saved it from destruction and lived happily ever after.
However, as established in the TNG episode Parallels (And backed up by the plot of the movie this question is about), the Star Trek universe has an unlimited number of different realities that have an unlimited number of alternate possibilities existing simultaneously.
This movie follows one of the more action packed alternate realities.


Am I allowed to leave airport in the USA during a 23-hour layover?

Question: We will be traveling from Germany to USA and have 23 hour layover in Atlanta. I have an American Passport. The other travelers have German passports.
Comment: I'm very surprised that you have such a long layover at one of the busiest airports in the world. Even if there's only one flight a day from Atlanta to your destination, couldn't you have taken a different flight to Atlanta to better coordinate with that connection? Or flown via a different hub?
Comment: @AustinW. Yes, you can absolutely edit it that way. And you may as well just say "during a layover", since it doesn't matter whether the layover is for 23 minutes or 23 hours. (OK, it would be hard to physically get out of the airport and back in 23 minutes, but you know what I mean.
Comment: I am too!! But no there arent any that are cheaper. I waited to long to book the flight. All of the other flight from point A-C are the same. Since they are both very small airports. And I appreciate the edit.
Comment: Related: [Can I leave O'Hare airport during a layover?](http://travel.stackexchange.com/q/21064/12011) I suppose it's not technically a duplicate since one asks about Atlanta and the other about O'Hare, but the answer is the same for all U.S. airports.
Comment: Is there any way I can edit this question so it can be Generalized? Like "Am I allowed to leave a USA Airport during 23-Hour layover" So this question doesn't come up for every airport.
Comment: Words of advice learned. 1. Place your ticket and photo ID separate from your wallet/purse which should contain the credit card used to purchase your ticket (so you can get a duplicate quickly if your separated ticket is lost). Your wallet should have an alternate accepted ID to get through security without delay (that could cause you to miss your connection). If your wallet is lost in your fun excursion, you are still OK. 2. Do check the announcement board for expected arrival time, and most important, gate changes. 3. Be polite but be wary of overly friendly strangers on your short escape fr
Answer: Having an American passport usually means you are an American citizen. As such, you can enjoy unrestricted travel in the US.
The other travelers will have to be admitted to US before the start of the 23hr layover. If they are admitted, they also enjoy unrestricted travel.
Remember, that there are no transit zones in US airports. Immigration checkpoint is passed (usually) at the airport of the first entry.
So, yes you and your companions can leave the airport.
Comment: The Germans would need either to be qualified to use the visa waiver program or to be in possession of a suitable visa. Otherwise they won't be admitted. But since they have to clear immigration in Atlanta in any case, if the Germans are *not* admitted, they'll be sent back, unable to continue their journey, in which case being unable to leave the airport is going to be the least of their problems.
Comment: I am not experienced with international travel, but I do know ATL. Last time I was there I cleared immigration (as a U.S. citizen) which put me in the unsecured portion of the airport. I actually had to go back through security to get to my next flight. If I had a long layover I (and anyone else) could have certainly left the airport.
Comment: @JohnR.Strohm: The reciprocity that exists ***is*** the Visa Waiver Program. This exempts _most_ Germans on straightforward business or tourist trips from needing a visa, provided they apply for an ESTA in advance -- but there are various ways a German can be ineligible for it, either based on the purpose of travel or because of his/her travel/immigration history or other citizenships. That's why Phoog thought it should be hedged a bit.
Comment: US citizens, at least as of a few years ago, could enter Germany on a visa waiver.  I had to transit Frankfurt, with a 12-hour layover, and the Admirals Club was groundside, so I have entry and exit stamps for Germany in my previous passport.  I would be very surprised to learn that German nationals did not enjoy reciprocity on this.
Comment: @HenningMakholm: Thank you for the clarification.  It sounds as though Germans simply transiting the US must apply for an ESTA anyway.  I was not previously aware that there were no transit zones at US airports.  (I thought I'd seen a transit lounge at DFW Terminal D, on the hallway that leads to Immigration, but I've never seen anyone actually in it.)
Comment: This answer could use some re-ordering. Currently, it reads something like "yes, but no for the other traveler unless X, but they will have X". It would be much better along the lines of "Yes, for you and the other travelers. For you, because , the others would need X, but they need X anyway in your scenario."
Answer: If you are transferring to another city in the US via Atlanta, then yes. You are going to go through immigration in Atlanta, after which you will be landside, i.e. you have essentially left the airport. So there will be absolutely no problem for you to leave the airport and do whatever you want, regardless of whether you are an American citizen.
If you are transferring internationally, the same applies. In the US, all transfers, domestic or international, requires passengers to go landside, passing through immigration checks. So nothing changes.


'Build up Your chess' but a level lower

Question: I've bought first tome of 'Build up Your chess' but it is too difficult for me. I am looking for the comprehensive self-study book exactly like 'Build up...' but for a little weaker player.
Comment: What's your rating?
Answer: I don't know of any books that follow the format that Yusupov uses in his series.
The Soviet Chess Primer by Ilya Maizelis, and Journey to the Chess Kingdom by Averbakh and Beilin are both good initial books. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess by Patrick Wolff is also a nice book.
There are also series of books, such as Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess ... series, and Lev Alburt's books.

'Build up Your chess' but a level lower


Baby shower games

Question: This question is more of a wiki about what games would be fun to play at a baby shower. My wife is throwing one and the games are fairly boring. I was hoping I could help think of at least one, original, fun game for her and her friends. Any ideas?
Answer: If you have enough people, Werewolf (a.k.a. Mafia or Assassin) makes a great party game - it often reveals exactly what your friends think you are capable of!
The 'turns' are fairly quick, so it works well with large groups (in the dozens) - although you might want to limit the length of discussion/argument in between!
It also has the added advantage of not needing any equipment and as a by-stander to the party you'd make the perfect 'Narrator' (they moderate the game, rather than participating).
From the wikipedia page:

A party game modeling a battle between
  an informed minority and an uninformed
  majority. Players are secretly
  assigned roles: either "mafia", who
  know each other; or "townspeople", who
  know only the number of mafia amongst
  them. In the game's "night" phase the
  mafia covertly 'murder' a townsperson.
  During the day phase, all of the
  surviving players debate the
  identities of the mafia and vote to
  eliminate a suspect. Play continues
  until all of the mafia have been
  eliminated, or until the mafia
  outnumber the townspeople. A typical
  game starts with seven townspeople and
  three mafioso.

EDIT: The thread 'Anyone know more 'social' games like 'Werewolves"' has a great list of similar 'party games'.
Answer: So, this is not really a board or card game, but I think it could be fun for you to do.
At one of my friend's baby showers, they played this game where they removed the labels on a few jars of baby food. Then, each guest (that wanted to play) had a taste from each jar. The goal was to try and correctly guess the type of baby food in each jar. And, they gave the winners - the top 2 or 3 people with the most correct answers - some prizes.
Like I said, not a BCG, but could definitely be fun, and memorable...
Answer: How about Pictionary? I've played it with quite large teams (about 10 on each side) and it's a riot.
Answer: There's a great book called Super Party Games that describes a bunch of games that can be played by groups of 10 or more. I generated a set of puzzles for one of the games described in the book. Each player is given a sheet of paper that they tie to their forehead where they can't see it. On each sheet of paper are three letters, and you have to arrange yourselves to spell out a secret quote without telling anybody what letters are on their heads. You can download the puzzles and print out one of the puzzles for your group size. If you don't mind being excluded from the game, you could find a quote related to babies and make your own puzzle for the people at the party to play.
Answer: When I'm hosting a large party I also find it's useful to have several different fast 4-15 player games out, so that people can circulate in and out of game-playing and casual conversation.
With that in mind: I'd start with Apples to Apples.
Answer: There's a wonderful free party game called a number of names, including Eat P**p You Cat which is best described as the love child of Pictionary and the telephone game.
The game is hilarious and requires only pencils and paper for each participant. It requires no skill and can be explained in two minutes.
Comment: P**p? I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be offended by the un-censored version ;)
Comment: @Jon Hadley - Yes, but I was actually poking fun at [this discussion](http://meta.boardgames.stackexchange.com/q/68/5) on meta.
Answer: Baby Bingo - create bingo cards with baby-related words, randomly arranged.  (It's best to use a reasonably small set of 25-50 words; include specific words related to the mother or baby if possible.)  Write a story that includes all of the words.  Read it slowly and let people mark off the words on their cards.  First person to get 5 in a row wins.
Answer: Apples to Apples is a really great game for moderately large groups. In my experience ladies tend to enjoy it. Scattergories is also fun, and scalable by dividing into teams. Lastly, my family and I recently discovered Guesstures, and the best antics by far were those of my 80-year-old grandmother, on which fact my 14-year-old niece and I agree (read: good for all ages).

Baby shower games


How do you make 3d features from survey point data in arcGIS 9.3?

Question: I have survey point data brought into ArcGIS using Survey Analyst Extension. I have created my 2D shapefiles of the cross-sections, thalwegs, and roadways but I can not get it to populate the zfield from the point data.
Answer: You need to create a ShapeZ shapefile.
can be done with GeoWizards Free Functions
Point To Point Z (M)
http://www.ian-ko.com/
Answer: When you load data in arcgis you assign the z value and the vertical crs
Edited: for comment - I have not used survey analyst.
However if you follow this process it might help you find the corresponding process for survey analyst.
I would think that SA would have a process for 3d point creation. that said...
In arccatalog if you right click on the folder you want to create a new shape file in> select new> shapefile.
The dialog should default to the point feature type. Select the check box at the bottom for z values. Then just give it a name and select edit for the spatial reference. Complete the xy coordinate system tab and then select the z coordinate system tab with the appropriate system OK to complete.
Comment: what do you mean by vertical crs? Sorry I am a new user in GIS.
Comment: see edit above.


Software to make DIY Item Cards

Question: I'm a big fan of Paizo's GameMastery item cards.  I also like GoDeckYourself but I'm wondering if anyone knows of any other software or websites that can be used to make your own Item Cards or Power Cards or some other custom cards?  I appreciate any assistance and advice you can provide.
Comment: Magic Set Editor is shareware/freeware.
Comment: A big thanks go out to all who have replied so far.  Love the ideas.  Truth be told, I know that there's a piece of shareware out there that does this too.  I stumbled upon it **once** and now I can't find it again.  Anybody know what it is?
Comment: Anyone have a word template? A word template would be nice.
Answer: You might try Magic Set Editor. The stock templates are sort of M:tG-oriented, but there are a ton of alternative templates on the download page. For the sake of completeness, I'll note the 4e-oriented Universal Card Set MSE project -- some of the templates there could be useful as well.
Personally, I use OmniGraffle on my Mac to make cards, but it's not free. Inkscape is a great free vector editing program.
Comment: Another Vote for this
Answer: The website Power2ool is designed for expressly this purpose, with the ability to import cards from compendium, edit every aspect of them, order them in a 2d space, and print them if you like.
Here's a demo video.
Comment: If that grabbed the data from iplay4e it would be a lot cooler.  Having to manually edit all of the powers each level is too painful to contemplate.  (Yes, I'm horribly lazy) :)  I'll definitely keep an eye on it though, looks like it is being actively developed.
Comment: The author encourages feedback. Send him an e-mail.
Answer: I prototype all the time using this method:

Print out your cards on a letter or A4 sheet, 9 to a sheet if playing card sized.
Grab some manila file folders or, if you want it extra thick and clean, bristol board
Spray it with 3M super 77 spray mount (available at craft stores)
Affix your card sheet to the glued backing.
(If you are doing two-sided) Cut two edges of the now-glued cardstock right to the card's edges, then cut the second sheet containing card back print-out likewise, so they will mate perfectly. This is more accurate than guessing, but build in some bleed in your designs.
Affix the backs.
Cut each card out.

This is super fast and results in cards with a nice hand feel, very easy to use.
Comment: Rather than go through the trouble (and mess) of gluing on card-backs I just use transparent card sleeves, placing three items in each: a paper-printed back, an old MtG common card from my collection, and the power/item/stat/skills paper card. I purchased a 3-sheet paper cutter for $15.00 from Office Max to make the cutting go quickly...
Answer: One easy way to make cards for various purposes is (if your printer can handle it; most can) to print them directly onto 3x5 index cards. It's pretty easy to set up a Word template. I like to use them for small stat blocks as well. Here's some good generic instructions.
Answer: A compact photo printer works great for printing on 3x5 index cards (or smaller). You can just use work or whatever and size your document accordingly. I used it to print out 4e monster cards.
Comment: Ping. It looks like your images have broken.
Answer: Wandering into the realm of hackery, if you have (or can find) a copy of the old Character Builder (the installed, not the online one), then you can use CBLoader to add whatever custom content you like.
DIY Item cards would appear in the printable character sheets.
Answer: I made decks for the characters in my game - fairly closely following the model provided at Ben's RPG Pile. He uses Magic Set Editor and his item cards look like this. Though I borrowed his technique of buying Paizo cards for the backs, I use the templates from Tintagel instead (though he's charging $9.99) You can see my cards in play on the edges of the table here:

One other difference - they found the quest/plot/character cards (built out of a MtG standard template) too bulky to keep in their character deck boxes. We moved them to collector-card sheets. Each player keeps a binder with those cards: image, flavor, and mini-statblocks arranged however they wish for easy review and updating.
Answer: Check out nanDECK. It's a nifty software specifically for laying out decks of cards or sheets of counters using a relatively easy scripting language (and optionally a CSV or Excel file for the card data).
The tutorials are easy to follow, and highlight the features well.
It's for Windows only, but I've successfully run it under Wine on Linux (though the HtmlText directive's IE-flag doesn't work).
Answer: I did create a number of Item Cards (mostly weapons, but I used some for tools too - it depended on the scenario) for a Pulp game I ran.
Here you can see the some of the cards and I did something similar (on a larger scale) for vehicles, too
I used HTML, with a set of nested tables, and just cut the cards after printing them.
The idea was that they would be used during play and replaced as soon as spilled coke, notes, or erasing the marks on the spent bullets made the current one unusable.

Software to make DIY Item Cards


Can the bitcoin lightning network support more than 8 decimal places?

Question: Say Bitcoin goes to 1 a million dollars. We need more decimals, but btc core only supports 8 decimals? By that time its safe to assume everyone will be using lightning to do transactions, but will lightning have support for more than 8 decimals?
Comment: I think you should unaccept my answer, as it is wrong.
Answer: Generally lightning transfers the currency of the baselayer. In the case of Bitcoin the smallest unit of account is 1 Satosh. However the base unit on lightning is 1/1000 of 1 Satoshi. This means that smaller transfer of value than 1 Satoshi is possible. With this comes an issue: the base layer can't enforce sub Satoshi amounts. So while it is possible to make such payments and calculate with such amounts on lightning in the case of channel closing the amounts will be rounded and channel partners cannot rely on such amounts.
There are two solutions to have an enforcement of sub Satoshi amounts on chain. First one could do a Bitcoin fork that enables sub Satoshi amounts. Second there could be a sidechain line laid which peggs Bitcoin but internally supports a smaller denomination than Satoshi. The lightning network could also be extended to that base chain.
Comment: I think it would be useful to mention that currently when you make a transaction in sub-satoshi, you generally remove it out of your own balance in the commitment transaction rather than making it as an HTLC output. this is because the entire transaction would not be enforceable on the bitcoin network, in case you want to do a unilateral close, if you make a sub-satoshi output.
Comment: Fully agree. Even sub dust htlcs are not created as outputs as I recently mentioned here. Well edit / improve my answer later
Answer: Lightning uses millisatoshis as the unit of account for all transactions and routing fees, but the sub-satoshi balances are not reflected on the bitcoin blockchain in the event of channel closure.
When a channel is closed, any sub-satoshi amount held by each party is dropped from the commitment/closing transaction and goes towards payment of the on-chain transaction fee which miners collect.
Amounts below a satoshi, or rather, below dust_limit_satoshis, are made cooperatively between the parties of a channel and are not enforcible on-chain, but if many of such transactions are made, they add up to whole satoshi amounts which will be enforcible in later commitments.
Answer: https://lightning.engineering/index.html#faq

Lightning doesn't use its own token or currency, it only uses Bitcoin when on the Bitcoin blockchain. Lightning sends payments using the transaction format of the underlying blockchain. When running on Bitcoin, Lightning is actually exchanging native Bitcoin transactions—without the need to broadcast every transaction to the chain.

This suggests that Lightning transactions use the same units as Bitcoin, and that it is not possible to use Lightning (in its current form) to exchange amounts in denominations smaller than 1 satoshi.


What are some good and authoritative reference/data source for modern usage examples of words?

Question: What are some good and authoritative references/data sources for modern usage examples of words? My typical workflow of learning a new word is to look it up on OED and read the definitions and example sentences.  But a huge drawback and uncomfortableness is that OED's example sentences are typically old or oldest usage example sentences that their editors could find which is NOT the best resource for learning the words' usage in modern context. What are some other references and data sources I should use to complement OED?
Comment: Resource requests are typically on Meta.
Comment: COCA for American, BNC for British, Google just to see.
Comment: Wordnik is good for finding both old and new examples of context. See also our list of reference works here: http://meta.english.stackexchange.com/questions/2573/what-good-reference-works-on-english-are-available
Comment: For up-to-date usage in context, compare the corpora listed at [CORPORA](http://corpus.byu.edu/). Context at the paragraph level or more is available after searching with most of the corpora (by clicking a context link). These corpora are a treasure trove of information.
Comment: The comments from @Mitch and @ JEL here are the sort of answers I'll give checkmark to.
Answer: I'd say that if you've got access to the full OED then that's a good place to start. No other source has (nor probably ever will have) that level of acknowledged expertise (as opposed to unaccredited sources like Urban Dictionary, or those like TheFreeDictionary that effectively "scrape" other dictionaries).
If you want to get a better handle on how the way a word is used might have shifted in very recent times, you need to bear in mind that some usages which might appear ubiquitous today may very well turn out to sound extremely dated (or even be unfamiliar to most) within a very few decades. I don't know, but my guess is most new usages don't actually last long (doubtless that's part of the reason dictionary editors tend to be conservative! :)
Having said that, I normally search Google Books with the search criteria set to 21st century if I want to see current instances in context, and NGrams if I want to see prevalence trends.
Comment: The first half of your answer seems manifestly missed my point. I do have full access to OED and that does NOT help with the specific thing I was looking for, hence I asked this question. Gladly, the second half of the answer looks relevant enough.
Comment: @qazwsx: I put the first paragraph in because I wasn't 100% sure you had access to the *full* OED. Lots of posters on ELU confuse it with the very limited spinoff version available free online. And I put the *second* paragraph in because we also get lots of people who don't fully appreciate the [ephemerality](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ephemerality) of most recent coinages and usage changes.
Comment: Emphasizing the emphemerality of (newer) word meanings misses the point too. All I care is to find modern example sentences as good learning material for words, no matter if the word is a newer or ever-existing one, and no matter if some of its meaning is ephemeral or not.
Answer: What I think you are looking for is a number of examples of a target word in a sentence or paragraph (most dictionaries will give at least one sentence in its definition).
The OED is great (arguably the best) for definitions of words, with nuance provided by finely differentiated subdefinitions. Also, a number of context sentences are given to show it's historical usage (the first known appearance and then a handful of later appearances). Unfortunately these citations don't always give the full context.
A corpus, a well-curated collection of texts, should give not only good coverage of vocabulary in narrative texts, but also allow for you to search for individual items and look at the original text, the surrounding sentences for fuller context.
The most easily available corpora are:

COCA for primarily American English
BNC for primarily British English

But see the longer list of corpora here.
Because these are curated, they are likely to have few errors, but are more likely to come from formal sources (newspapers, official transcripts).
Internet search engines, like Google, give copious examples of search terms in context. However, the entire world is not curated, and the examples are not necessarily formatted well or even sentences. But it might be the easiest and quickest to use.
Comment: Urban Dictionary is not wholly terrible. It is really good at showing that a slang term exists and hints to its meaning. The entires are supposed to provide a social context for how the word is used, and sometimes those entries can give you a really good idea. However often the entries are composed with little thought to accuracy.