When you call malloc, on a modern OS, all you're doing is allocating address space. It's the virtual memory manager's job to then make sure there's some available to you when you actually start to use it. I can allocate 4GB of memory on a computer with only 2GB because the virtual memory space is that large. It isn't until I attempt to use it that I'll find there's a problem.
The kernel's job is precisely to manage resources on the computer, and that is why it is the kernels responsibility to terminate runaway processes. Only older OS' without a good VMM would allocate all the memory on demand whether it is being used or not.
Not true. Every modern multitasking operating system will, in a low-memory situation, terminate background processes in favour of foreground processes. Other multitasking operating systems will be reduced to the performance of a snail racing through molasses in an attempt to keep everything running.
Neither approach is great from an end-user perspective, but at least when you run out of memory and the kernel kills processes to free up resources, the entire system is usable. The alternative is to lose everything because the system is so unresponsive you are forced to reboot to regain control.
When you're talking about a device with extremely limited resources, with no chance of increasing those resources, somethings gonna give, and in this case, it means that in order for the phone to remain operational the kernel will kill background tasks. It's not a limitation or fault, its a design trade-off based on the limited resources available. In my opinion its the right choice.
If your point is that the iPhone has inadequate resources to be used as a handheld computer, well then, I'd agree but that's another trade-off that Apple made in order to create the device they wanted, and its nothing to do with the iPhone's ability to multitask.
I'd be willing to bet that your Hero has greater storage resources available, either as RAM or FLASH and is therefore using some of that as a page file/device.
Yes, I have an iPhone, and yes, I'm just waiting two months for the contract to expire and I'll be replacing it with a Nokia N900.
The effective speed of light changes in different medium, but only because of the refractive index. The light is still travelling at the same constant speed but because of the refractive index, it's not travelling in a straight line so it only appears to travel slower.
What you refer to is the speed of propogation of light through various transparent medium. The light is delayed due to absorbtion and re-emission, but is not slowed down.
Even experiments to slow and completely stop a beam of light (say, in a Bose-Einstein Condensate) are really just affecting it's effective speed, effectively capturing it with "tiny mirrors" but the absolute speed of the light is unaffected.
If you have a constant speed (i.e. the speed of light), then units that normally describe duration can reasonably be used to indicate distance, especially over great distances.
Think of the light year mentioned above. A light year is the distance that light can travel in a year - so we're using a unit of time to describe distance. It works because the speed of light is the same regardless of your frame of reference, which also means the distance is the same regardless of your frame of reference.
Here in Europe at least, the wheel absolutely will not lock until the key is physically removed from the ignition. Simply switching off the ignition will do nothing to the wheel lock.
If you're idling, in drive, with no brakes, then you'll creep forward - but that's only because with no clutch to speak of that you have direct control over, once in gear, guess what? You're in gear! So depending on the power and torque of the engine, the idle revs are enough to move the car. That's also the reason why, if you're in stationary traffic, on a slight uphill incline, you can take your foot off the brake and accelerate without rolling backwards. Not because the car is braking for you, it's because the engine is giving just enough power to hold you.
It also means you can roll forward in very slow traffic without wasting fuel or friction material on your brakes.
If you don't want to move, disengage the freakin gearbox/transmission. It's not rocket science. Put the thing in park if you want to remain stationary. Better yet, put the handbrake on too. For what it's worth, the handbrake is NOT designed to slow you or stop you if you're moving, it's designed to hold you reasonably stationary when you stop, though some may be better at others when it comes to stopping a moving vehicle.
Ringtone lockouts have at least a token rationale: ASCAP and BMI (and foreign counterparts) have to be paid for public performances of major label music.
No they don't - ASCAP were recently handed their ass in their lawsuit against AT&T
Let me repeat the part that *you* missed. iTunes is there to manage the iPod and iPhone. The fact that you can use it without any other Apple product is irrelevant. You can take the music you download and use it with any other media player that supports the format. How exactly is that anticompetitive? They have plenty of competitors both in terms of the hardware and music store. The fact is, Apple are successful. If iTunes somehow prevented you from using your third party music player at all, that would be anticompetitive. If they prevented you from using another music store, that would be anticompetitive. If they converted all your mp3s to DRM'd AAC that can only be played on an apple device, that would be competitive. Providing, for zero cost, to anybody in the world, software designed to manage the music on music players manufactured by Apple that also has significant additional functionality that does not require you to purchase their hardware is NOT anticompetitive. Deal with it.
Password management is hard. There are few easy solutions.
Correct, but there *are* easy solutions, so there is really no excuse for this. I mean, really - your remote account ultimately boils down to a system account and they've successfully handled passwords for a long time now. (NTLM not withstanding)
You're missing the point. iTunes isn't a generic, one size fits all, everyone's welcome music organising tool with a bit of sync functionality bolted on so that everyone can use it, where they just happen to be excluding Palm.
iTunes is the specific and only approved management tool for their entire range of music players and mobile phones. Does Apple manufacture the Palm Pre? No? Then why should they support it?
Actually, Apple are doing nothing at all to the Pre, they are certainly not breaking it. The Pre still has all it's functionality intact. Why do you think that just because Palm violates it's license agreements with USB-IF, and tries to rip off Apple by pretending to be an iPod when they aren't that Apple should somehow then be obligated in any way to support the Palm Pre?
As soon as iTunes starts syncing with a Pre, it is not unreasonable to think that Joe Schmoe would expect that Apple will support it if something breaks. Why do you think it's OK for Palm to produce their own product, but then try to force Apple to provide sync functionality and support without so much as a reach-around or dinner first?
I'm no lover of Apple, I think a lot of what they do is mediocre and derivative, but seriously, you're lucky that all that is happening is iTunes correctly detects the Pre and refuses to sync to it. It would be easier for Apple to take no special action at all - including not bothering to make sure no damage occurs. I suppose even with an explicit statement that the Pre is not supported and should not be used with iTunes you'd still cry foul if iTunes somehow managed to damage it, wouldn't you?
Who supports Pre syncing with iTunes anyway? Is it Palm? It certainly isn't Apple. Shouldn't your nerd rage be directed at Palm for shipping an intentionally broken product that is basically guaranteed to lose major parts of it's basic functionality every time you install iTunes, even though iTunes doesn't even breathe in the direction of Palm? Though I suppose that's Apples fault too, right? Right?
To use the Slashdot car analogy, you wouldn't expect your petrol engine to work when you "plug in" diesel fuel would you? So why do you expect iTunes to work with a Pre when you plug it in? They were never designed to work together, but that's not the fault of the engine manufacturer, nor the refiners who produced the diesel. No, it's Your fault, because you used fuel that was never designed to work with your engine and you got burnt. Don't expect the Pre to work with a different engine (iTunes) and you won't get burnt. The fact that Palm has no method and so far as I can tell (I haven't checked) has no plans for a method to do their own music sync is just an indication that Palm were so desperate to get something, anything out into the market, that they figured they'd get away with ripping off Apple and saving a lot of their own money into the bargain.
Stop demanding that Apple make iTunes work with any random third party music player, and stop expecting Ford or whoever to make your petrol engine work with diesel.
The libel/defamation laws in UK/AU are designed to make infuential people/organisations responsible for the consequenses of false accusations they make in public. Americans might see that as censorship. Like the OP I'm also a British born Aussie and see it more along the lines of enforcing common descency and keeping the highly politicised mass-media on a leash.
While that may be how they were intended when initially created, unfortunately, now they are used as a tool for influential people/organisations to silence legitimate criticism.
When I was doing my MCSA training a few years back, the instructor insisted that we boot from a DOS floppy, run smartdrv for the cache, then reboot off the Win2k CD or it would take an age to install.
Well, that's nice and all, but unless I was misunderstanding his (or her) whole reply was suggesting that it's actually quite unlikely - note the comment about being very generous, but even taking all that at face value to support the cell, then you end up with at least a giga-ohm resistance per centimeter of hair which, even assuming the cell was capable of producing the 18W stated, your guy reckons that's 4GW being dissipated just by the hair in the cell.
Um, thats almost 4 times the total power output of the Watts Bar 1 power station just to generate a measly 18W of electrical power?
Given the vast quantity of content, I seriously doubt that very many people go through any sort of hassle to determine what is legit and what is not, which results in virtually everyone obtaining material that is copyrighted, regardless whether they know (or care). Given that, I think its a fair guess on their part that yes, most people that claim they are using file-sharing software do so to obtain material illegally.
"do so to obtain material illegally" requires intent. First you say people may obtain unauthorised copies of copyrighted material without knowing, then you accuse them of wilfully seeking out copyrighted material to which they have no authorisation to obtain.
Either it's unknowingly and therefore unintentional, or they are specifically seeking it out - it's your choice, but it isn't both, live with it.
It matters, because copyright is a civil issue and civil issues generally require intent, rather than something actually occuring.
Absolutely, but if we're working on the theory that a reauthentication may be required, even in specific circumstances, I'd say it is reasonable to assume that you'd only be prompted if it were possible. At the very least you'd get the annoying "Enable roaming" alert.
I certainly didn't log into itunes.... Admittedly I was in Australia at the time, so there may have been something to that (perhaps the global roam overrides the lock?) but I would have thought it would have made it less likely to work, not more....
So what gives?
By default, data roaming is disabled so while you were on a non-home carrier, iTunes wouldn't be able to even attempt to login.
Top Tip: Ctrl-Shift-Esc (IIRC) will run xkill. The cursor changes to a skull and crossbones - just click on the misbehaving window and it'll be killed for you. It'll probably take firefox with it, but it's still easier...
In a nutshell - if you're waiting on IO, there's nothing you can do until the I/O completes. Get a faster disk, get more memory for cache, you can smooth out the performance curve, but sooner or later, you're gonna be stuck waiting on hardware.
Slashdot Mirror
When you call malloc, on a modern OS, all you're doing is allocating address space. It's the virtual memory manager's job to then make sure there's some available to you when you actually start to use it. I can allocate 4GB of memory on a computer with only 2GB because the virtual memory space is that large. It isn't until I attempt to use it that I'll find there's a problem.
The kernel's job is precisely to manage resources on the computer, and that is why it is the kernels responsibility to terminate runaway processes. Only older OS' without a good VMM would allocate all the memory on demand whether it is being used or not.
Not true. Every modern multitasking operating system will, in a low-memory situation, terminate background processes in favour of foreground processes. Other multitasking operating systems will be reduced to the performance of a snail racing through molasses in an attempt to keep everything running.
Neither approach is great from an end-user perspective, but at least when you run out of memory and the kernel kills processes to free up resources, the entire system is usable. The alternative is to lose everything because the system is so unresponsive you are forced to reboot to regain control.
When you're talking about a device with extremely limited resources, with no chance of increasing those resources, somethings gonna give, and in this case, it means that in order for the phone to remain operational the kernel will kill background tasks. It's not a limitation or fault, its a design trade-off based on the limited resources available. In my opinion its the right choice.
If your point is that the iPhone has inadequate resources to be used as a handheld computer, well then, I'd agree but that's another trade-off that Apple made in order to create the device they wanted, and its nothing to do with the iPhone's ability to multitask.
I'd be willing to bet that your Hero has greater storage resources available, either as RAM or FLASH and is therefore using some of that as a page file/device.
Yes, I have an iPhone, and yes, I'm just waiting two months for the contract to expire and I'll be replacing it with a Nokia N900.
Well, yes and no.
The effective speed of light changes in different medium, but only because of the refractive index. The light is still travelling at the same constant speed but because of the refractive index, it's not travelling in a straight line so it only appears to travel slower.
What you refer to is the speed of propogation of light through various transparent medium. The light is delayed due to absorbtion and re-emission, but is not slowed down.
Even experiments to slow and completely stop a beam of light (say, in a Bose-Einstein Condensate) are really just affecting it's effective speed, effectively capturing it with "tiny mirrors" but the absolute speed of the light is unaffected.
If you have a constant speed (i.e. the speed of light), then units that normally describe duration can reasonably be used to indicate distance, especially over great distances.
Think of the light year mentioned above. A light year is the distance that light can travel in a year - so we're using a unit of time to describe distance. It works because the speed of light is the same regardless of your frame of reference, which also means the distance is the same regardless of your frame of reference.
Here in Europe at least, the wheel absolutely will not lock until the key is physically removed from the ignition. Simply switching off the ignition will do nothing to the wheel lock.
My 2008 RAV-4 XT5 has keyless operation. The steering wheel lock solenoid will only operate when the ignition is off and you open the driver's door.
The wheel should only lock if you remove the keys, not just turn the engine off but leave the keys in the ignition.
Not entirely true.
If you're idling, in drive, with no brakes, then you'll creep forward - but that's only because with no clutch to speak of that you have direct control over, once in gear, guess what? You're in gear! So depending on the power and torque of the engine, the idle revs are enough to move the car. That's also the reason why, if you're in stationary traffic, on a slight uphill incline, you can take your foot off the brake and accelerate without rolling backwards. Not because the car is braking for you, it's because the engine is giving just enough power to hold you.
It also means you can roll forward in very slow traffic without wasting fuel or friction material on your brakes.
If you don't want to move, disengage the freakin gearbox/transmission. It's not rocket science. Put the thing in park if you want to remain stationary. Better yet, put the handbrake on too. For what it's worth, the handbrake is NOT designed to slow you or stop you if you're moving, it's designed to hold you reasonably stationary when you stop, though some may be better at others when it comes to stopping a moving vehicle.
Ringtone lockouts have at least a token rationale: ASCAP and BMI (and foreign counterparts) have to be paid for public performances of major label music.
No they don't - ASCAP were recently handed their ass in their lawsuit against AT&T
Dad, is that you?
Well, here in Blighty, lose is pronounced with a long o, as in 'oo', while news is pronounced as n-use, or n-you-s.
Let me repeat the part that *you* missed. iTunes is there to manage the iPod and iPhone. The fact that you can use it without any other Apple product is irrelevant. You can take the music you download and use it with any other media player that supports the format. How exactly is that anticompetitive? They have plenty of competitors both in terms of the hardware and music store. The fact is, Apple are successful. If iTunes somehow prevented you from using your third party music player at all, that would be anticompetitive. If they prevented you from using another music store, that would be anticompetitive. If they converted all your mp3s to DRM'd AAC that can only be played on an apple device, that would be competitive. Providing, for zero cost, to anybody in the world, software designed to manage the music on music players manufactured by Apple that also has significant additional functionality that does not require you to purchase their hardware is NOT anticompetitive. Deal with it.
That's different - the company owns the account and password, and there's a master decryption key available anyway.
Password management is hard. There are few easy solutions.
Correct, but there *are* easy solutions, so there is really no excuse for this. I mean, really - your remote account ultimately boils down to a system account and they've successfully handled passwords for a long time now. (NTLM not withstanding)
You're missing the point. iTunes isn't a generic, one size fits all, everyone's welcome music organising tool with a bit of sync functionality bolted on so that everyone can use it, where they just happen to be excluding Palm.
iTunes is the specific and only approved management tool for their entire range of music players and mobile phones. Does Apple manufacture the Palm Pre? No? Then why should they support it?
Actually, Apple are doing nothing at all to the Pre, they are certainly not breaking it. The Pre still has all it's functionality intact. Why do you think that just because Palm violates it's license agreements with USB-IF, and tries to rip off Apple by pretending to be an iPod when they aren't that Apple should somehow then be obligated in any way to support the Palm Pre?
As soon as iTunes starts syncing with a Pre, it is not unreasonable to think that Joe Schmoe would expect that Apple will support it if something breaks. Why do you think it's OK for Palm to produce their own product, but then try to force Apple to provide sync functionality and support without so much as a reach-around or dinner first?
I'm no lover of Apple, I think a lot of what they do is mediocre and derivative, but seriously, you're lucky that all that is happening is iTunes correctly detects the Pre and refuses to sync to it. It would be easier for Apple to take no special action at all - including not bothering to make sure no damage occurs. I suppose even with an explicit statement that the Pre is not supported and should not be used with iTunes you'd still cry foul if iTunes somehow managed to damage it, wouldn't you?
Who supports Pre syncing with iTunes anyway? Is it Palm? It certainly isn't Apple. Shouldn't your nerd rage be directed at Palm for shipping an intentionally broken product that is basically guaranteed to lose major parts of it's basic functionality every time you install iTunes, even though iTunes doesn't even breathe in the direction of Palm? Though I suppose that's Apples fault too, right? Right?
To use the Slashdot car analogy, you wouldn't expect your petrol engine to work when you "plug in" diesel fuel would you? So why do you expect iTunes to work with a Pre when you plug it in? They were never designed to work together, but that's not the fault of the engine manufacturer, nor the refiners who produced the diesel. No, it's Your fault, because you used fuel that was never designed to work with your engine and you got burnt. Don't expect the Pre to work with a different engine (iTunes) and you won't get burnt. The fact that Palm has no method and so far as I can tell (I haven't checked) has no plans for a method to do their own music sync is just an indication that Palm were so desperate to get something, anything out into the market, that they figured they'd get away with ripping off Apple and saving a lot of their own money into the bargain.
Stop demanding that Apple make iTunes work with any random third party music player, and stop expecting Ford or whoever to make your petrol engine work with diesel.
The libel/defamation laws in UK/AU are designed to make infuential people/organisations responsible for the consequenses of false accusations they make in public. Americans might see that as censorship. Like the OP I'm also a British born Aussie and see it more along the lines of enforcing common descency and keeping the highly politicised mass-media on a leash.
While that may be how they were intended when initially created, unfortunately, now they are used as a tool for influential people/organisations to silence legitimate criticism.
True Fact:
When I was doing my MCSA training a few years back, the instructor insisted that we boot from a DOS floppy, run smartdrv for the cache, then reboot off the Win2k CD or it would take an age to install.
Well, that's nice and all, but unless I was misunderstanding his (or her) whole reply was suggesting that it's actually quite unlikely - note the comment about being very generous, but even taking all that at face value to support the cell, then you end up with at least a giga-ohm resistance per centimeter of hair which, even assuming the cell was capable of producing the 18W stated, your guy reckons that's 4GW being dissipated just by the hair in the cell.
Um, thats almost 4 times the total power output of the Watts Bar 1 power station just to generate a measly 18W of electrical power?
It was reviewed by peers (engineers none the less) within that field, and has shown some promise.
Citation?
Given the vast quantity of content, I seriously doubt that very many people go through any sort of hassle to determine what is legit and what is not, which results in virtually everyone obtaining material that is copyrighted, regardless whether they know (or care). Given that, I think its a fair guess on their part that yes, most people that claim they are using file-sharing software do so to obtain material illegally.
"do so to obtain material illegally" requires intent. First you say people may obtain unauthorised copies of copyrighted material without knowing, then you accuse them of wilfully seeking out copyrighted material to which they have no authorisation to obtain.
Either it's unknowingly and therefore unintentional, or they are specifically seeking it out - it's your choice, but it isn't both, live with it.
It matters, because copyright is a civil issue and civil issues generally require intent, rather than something actually occuring.
Absolutely, but if we're working on the theory that a reauthentication may be required, even in specific circumstances, I'd say it is reasonable to assume that you'd only be prompted if it were possible. At the very least you'd get the annoying "Enable roaming" alert.
I certainly didn't log into itunes.... Admittedly I was in Australia at the time, so there may have been something to that (perhaps the global roam overrides the lock?) but I would have thought it would have made it less likely to work, not more....
So what gives?
By default, data roaming is disabled so while you were on a non-home carrier, iTunes wouldn't be able to even attempt to login.
Top Tip: Ctrl-Shift-Esc (IIRC) will run xkill. The cursor changes to a skull and crossbones - just click on the misbehaving window and it'll be killed for you. It'll probably take firefox with it, but it's still easier...
Nope, that's a different scheduler.
In a nutshell - if you're waiting on IO, there's nothing you can do until the I/O completes. Get a faster disk, get more memory for cache, you can smooth out the performance curve, but sooner or later, you're gonna be stuck waiting on hardware.