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Signed Overflow
The C and C++ language standards say that overflow of a signed value is undefined behaviour. In the C99 standard this is in section 6.5. In the C++98 standard it is in section 5 [expr], paragraph 5. This means that a correct C/C++ program must never generate signed overflow when computing an expression. It also…
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al-Sadr Truce
I watched the Democratic debate on Saturday night. There was a question about how things are going better in Iraq now, perhaps thanks to the surge, and what that meant to the candidates Iraq plans. There were some good answers, but I was surprised by an omission. Moktada al-Sadr, the head of the Mahdi army,…
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Separate Appliances
Why don’t people routinely make appliances which work together? The refrigerator generates heat; this should be routed into the oven. The oven generates heat; this should be routed into the hot water heater. This is probably not significant energy usage compared to cars; is it not worth doing at all? We need to keep working…
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Krugman on Globalization
Paul Krugman recently admitted that in some limited cases free trade is not a good idea. This an interesting admission from an economist who in the 90s was a strong proponent of globalization and free trade. I’ve thought for some time that free trade, and free flow of capital, without free immigration, leads to a…
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Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd actually works better as a movie than on the stage, at least when Johnny Depp is on the screen. The music overcomes the staginess and melodrama of the story. Closeups make Sweeney Todd more tortured and less bombastic. On the other hand, I think that Angela Lansbury (who I’ve only seen in video)…