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From the rules:

"A character can lift as much as double his maximum load off the ground, but he or she can only stagger around with it. [...]
A character can generally push or drag along the ground as much as five times his maximum load."

Should the carried weight (weapons, armor, equipment, etc.) count against the lifting and dragging maximum values?

Let's assume the caracters are talking to a stranger and he tells them his true appearance is different from what they see because it is concealed for safety reasons.
Unknown to the charactes, the stranger's true identity has been concealed by a Disguise Self spell.
What does happen at this point?
Do they receive a passive saving throw to recognize his appearance as illusory, even if they have not interacted physically with him during the conversation?
Are they allowed to study him carefully (only by sight and hearing) in order to receive the saving throw, even if they do not know the disguise he is using is an illusion?

As a DM, I am trying to give the characters an in-universe method to know what the players know about spells (and similar effects) by reading the rulebooks, on the basis of the characters' culture (measured by the ranks invested in the Knowledge skills).
It's not my intention to allow them to identify the class of a spellcaster by watching the spells he casts, or to be aware of any obscure, secret or forgotten magical lore.
The situations I want to manage are similar to those in the following examples:
- "My sorcerer is suffering a deadly disease. Does he know if there is a spell which can heal him and where should he go to get it?"
- "Our cleric has just been disintegrated. Does my bard know we should search for a divine spellcaster capable of casting a Resurrection spell to bring our friend back?"
- "Considering our paladin friend is as smart as a rock, can my wizard suggest him to use his Detect Evil on this mysterious stranger who is drinking blood from a chalice in front of us?"
- "People tell us a criminal has the superhuman ability of moving faster then the blink of an eye. Can my unusually erudite fighter guess this person is using a Dimensional Door spell or spell-like ability?"
- "My inquisitor is going against a notorius wizard. Does he knows his enemy can potentially cast Magic Missiles? Is it legit for him to buy a Brooch of Shielding?"

Knowledge (Arcana) allows you to identify a spell effect that is in place (CD 20 + spell level), a spell that just targeted you (CD 25 + spell level) and the spells cast using a specific material component (CD 20).
Spellcraft allows you to identify a spell as it is being cast (CD 15 + spell level).

Which skill should be used to determine if a character knows the existence of a particular spell and is able to plan to take advantage of its effects or avoid them?
Let's suppose I am a bard and I want to know the spell Magic Missile is on the wizard's spell list and its approximate effects, the spell Detect Evil is on the cleric's spell list and its approximate effects, and the spell Entangle is on the druid's spell list and its approximate effects.
What should I roll? And what should the DC be?

As a DM, I would establish the skill involved is Knowledge (Arcana), with a DC of 10 + spell level.
Do you think it is appropriate?

Why couldn't it be directed by simple mental instructions?
The description of Unseen Servant says "An unseen servant is an invisible, mindless, shapeless force that performs simple tasks at your command."
The description of Animate Dead says "This spell turns corpses into undead skeletons or zombies that obey your spoken commands."
It seems these are 2 different kinds of control: the first sounds generic (it's similar to the mental control of a spiritual weapon), the second is explicitly verbal.

I found these lines in the SRD 3.5, under the descriptions of the Sorcerers and the Wizards:

"A sorcerer can obtain a familiar. Doing so takes 24 hours and uses up magical materials that cost 100 gp. A familiar is a magical beast that resembles a small animal and is unusually tough and intelligent. The creature serves as a companion and servant.
The sorcerer chooses the kind of familiar he gets."

"A familiar is a normal animal that gains new powers and becomes a magical beast when summoned to service by a sorcerer or wizard."

It seems familiars were conjured creatures that appeared at the end of a specific magical ritual performed by their future masters.
I think this can be applied even to Pathfinder without problems of sort.

How do spellcasters obtain their familiars?
Do they go out and search for the creature they want? In this case, should they pick only creatures available in their region? And how does it work with extraplanar familiars (Imps, Quasits, Elementals, etc.)?
Or does the process work like one of the effects of the Conjuration Subschools (Calling, Creation, Summoning, Teleport) and the familiar pops up or is created through a magical ritual? In this case, is it possible to pick a familiar which belongs to a different habitat (a turtle in an artic region, an owl in a desertic region, a monkey in an urban region, etc.)?