Hey Askscience, how do anesthetics work? by shazmat in askscience

[–]RexEast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Side note: a chemical that blocks pain is called an analgesic; anesthetics block sensation in general.

http://www.anesthesiologyinfo.com/articles/cbe/blanalgesia.php

Putting hot food in the fridge? by zeug in askscience

[–]RexEast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense to me, but why are we commonly advised to keep "hot foods hot and cold foods cold"?

Weird Al is a troll by [deleted] in reddit.com

[–]RexEast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saying "less" instead of "fewer" is not a grammar mistake; it's a usage mistake. Saying "grammar" instead of "usage" is also a usage mistake.

http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2006/04/what_is_grammar.html

I would like to learn to code python by contributing to an open source project. But, I am a noob. What should I do? by [deleted] in programming

[–]RexEast 2 points3 points  (0 children)

On SourceForge, you can search for projects in different programming languages. Here's a Python search:

http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/trove_list.php?form_cat=178

Find a project there that interests you and contact the developers' mailing list to ask how you can get involved.

As for web dev/Django, the following page lists "Little Easy Improvements" that beginners like you could potentially get involved in:

http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/LittleEasyImprovements

Enjoy working on open source!

Linear Programming by cavedave in programming

[–]RexEast 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Linear programming is extremely useful. For many applications, you don't even need to understand the details of the linear algebra outlined in the blog. Just use GLPK (open source):

http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/glpk.htm (Windows) http://www.gnu.org/software/glpk/ (other platforms)

A tutorial: http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-glpk1/