HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: gjc@mitech.com (George J. Carrette)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.scheme
Subject: Re: Are interpreters now as fast as compiled code used to be?
Date: 15 Dec 92 10:26:28 GMT
Organization: Mitech Corporation, Concord MA

In article <FEELEY.92Dec14215701@zohar.ai.mit.edu>, feeley@zurich.ai.mit.edu (Marc Feeley) writes:
> By the way, does SIOD implement the whole numeric tower?

No. But if it did it would be even faster(*) All computations in SIOD
are done using the C double type.

Especially on newer RISC computers you will find that the time taken
for dispatch (and the non-locality of dispatch) can easily be a lot
more than the time to compute a 64-bit floating point result.

You really have to be careful about the ordering of the switch statements
and the placement of the "goto's." Taking into account the predictive
branching hardware in some processors. Truly ugly stuff.

-gjc

(*) I know this to be true because I have another Scheme interpreter used
in some commercial products that has generic arithmetic and it runs 
standard-fib faster than SIOD. But unfortunately some of the implementation
techniques look a bit ugly (funky macro preprocessing of C-like source
files written in Scheme, just for arithmetic dispatch compilation),
so it is not as nice to release for public consumption as SIOD. 
If C had a decent built-in macro facility, well. No, I take that back,
even in LISP this kind of macro compilation of arithmetic dispatch
looks pretty ugly and special-purpose.
From: dijk@cwi.nl (Valentijn van Dijk)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.scheme
Subject: vectors,siod
Summary: No vectors in SIOD scheme?
Keywords: vectors,siod
Date: 15 Dec 92 14:24:53 GMT


I'm new to this newsgroup, and fairly new to Scheme as well. One thing
I understood is that the Scheme dialect I use is SIOD Scheme. Now I
wanted to use vectors, but it appears my system doesn't know what
vectors are.

Is there some library with an implementation of vectors?
Even better would be matrices + matrix operations as well.
Newsgroups: comp.lang.scheme,comp.lang.lisp
From: marcoxa@IMAGE.CS.NYU.EDU (Marco Antoniotti)
Subject: Re: Want history/command editing facilities in free Lisps
Organization: New York University
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 06:52:39 GMT

Xref: sparky comp.client-server:244 comp.sys.sun.misc:5927
From: guido@cwi.nl (Guido van Rossum)
Newsgroups: comp.client-server,comp.sys.sun.misc
Subject: Sun RPC time-out question
Date: 19 Dec 92 11:29:21 GMT
Followup-To: comp.client-server

Is there an expert on Sun RPC in this group?

I am in the process of re-implementing Sun RPC.  All the documentation
I have are RFC1014 (XDR) and RFC1057 (RPC), and RFC1094 (NFS).  I have
a question that isn't answered by these documents:

When using the UDP version, how does the client recover from lost
packets?  When the call packet is lost, a simple retransmission is
enough, however, when a reply packet is lost, a retransmission can
cause the request to be executed twice.  How does e.g. an NFS client
handle this if the request is not idempotent (like RENAME)?  Is there
a way for the client to tell from the failing reply from the second
try that the first try must have succeeded even though the response
got lost?

Note that I need to know how the existing Sun RPC implementation
handles this situation, not how it could be done in a hypothetical
system (I know all about Amoeba's RPC, for instance).

Pointers to sources or documents are welcome!

--Guido van Rossum, CWI, Amsterdam <guido@cwi.nl>
"That was never five minutes just now!"
"I'm afraid it was."
From: SPGJAF@CMSA.Berkeley.Edu (Joseph A. Faracchio)
Newsgroups: comp.client-server
Subject: Re: S clients...
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 09:58:32 PST
Organization: UC Berkeley (TCPIP)
NNTP-Posting-Host: cmsa.berkeley.edu

Sorry if I seem dense but client- what?
  Client ReadNews?  I'm running one right now.   NNR/VM from Mitre.
  Client X?  IBM has one.
  Client-server backup/archive? WSDSF/VM.
  Client-server Novell back-end?  LANRES/VM.
  Client-server NFS ?  IBM again but the product name escapes me.
                                     let me know .. joe.f.
Newsgroups: comp.client-server
From: clh@tfic.bc.ca (Chris Hermansen (V))
Subject: Re: Distributed Agenda
Organization: Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 20:17:40 GMT

In article <1992Dec17.184917.28542@jussieu.fr> nguyenth@amertume.ibp.fr (Thao Nguyen) writes:
>
>I'm in a process to design & write a distributed agenda on Unix
>that should be accessed on several machines (Unix, Mac, Pc...)
>
>Does anyone know if something similar exists so to get some
>*INSPIRATION* :)
>

Have you looked at Sun's new product "Show Me"?  It's a distributed white
board system, and so a little off the track.  I understand HP has something
similar...

Chris Hermansen                         Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants
Voice: 1 604 733 0731                   302 - 958 West 8th Avenue
FAX:   1 604 733 0634                   Vancouver B.C. CANADA
clh@tfic.bc.ca                          V5Z 1E5

C'est ma facon de parler.
From: guy@Auspex.COM (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.client-server
Subject: Re: Sun RPC time-out question
Date: 19 Dec 92 19:13:49 GMT
Organization: Auspex Systems, Santa Clara

>You can
>reduce the probability of this happening a lot by doing a svc_udpenablecache()
>(svc_dgenablecache() in TIRPC) on the server side. This sets up a server side
>cache which throws away duplicate requests.

Presumably it detects duplicates by checking the XID (transaction ID)
field of the request.

(For those who are curious, "dg" in the TIRPC version presumably stands
for "datagram"; TI, you see, stands for "transport-independent", so UDP
isn't the only datagram transport - I think it's been run atop the ISO
connectionless transport protocol as well, for example.)
From: gupta@crhc.uiuc.edu (Aloke Gupta)
Newsgroups: comp.client-server
Subject: "Protocol-level" profiling of client-server interaction
Date: 11 Dec 92 19:08:22
Organization: University of Illinois Center for Reliable & High Performance
	Computing
Distribution: comp
NNTP-Posting-Host: buctril.crhc.uiuc.edu



   In my graduate work I have proposed an approach called "Protocol-level
   Profiling" (PLP) for characterizing client-server interaction. The basic
   idea behind PLP is to checkpoint the interaction between the client and the
   server and then estimate the computation invoked on the server by carefully
   assigning a cost to each of the messages on the basis of its attributes.

   I have written a profiler, Xprof, which is a protocol-level profiler
   for X Window applications. It is available by anonymous ftp from
   roundup.crhc.uiuc.edu (128.174.197.134) under /pub/Xprof.

   Question:
   ---------
   I am curious to know if such a strategy has been used to characterize any
   other client-server system.  Any pointers?

   I will summarize and post all such responses.

   Thank you in advance

   Aloke Gupta
--
Aloke Gupta                                         E-mail: gupta@crhc.uiuc.edu
Coordinated Science Laboratory                           or a-gupta@uiuc.edu
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Newsgroups: comp.client-server
From: nguyenth@amertume.ibp.fr (Thao Nguyen)
Subject: Distributed Agenda
Organization: Universite PARIS 7 - UFR d'Informatique
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 18:49:17 GMT

Hi netters,

I'm in a process to design & write a distributed agenda on Unix
that should be accessed on several machines (Unix, Mac, Pc...)

Does anyone know if something similar exists so to get some
*INSPIRATION* :)

Thank you all for any help,

-- 
Thao
Believe it or not but I have no e-mail address!
From: khale@camilla.Eng.Sun.COM (Abhijit Khale)
Newsgroups: comp.client-server
Subject: Re: Sun RPC time-out question
Date: 19 Dec 1992 16:26:25 GMT
Organization: Sun
NNTP-Posting-Host: camilla

In article <8411@charon.cwi.nl> guido@cwi.nl (Guido van Rossum) writes:

>I am in the process of re-implementing Sun RPC.  All the documentation
>I have are RFC1014 (XDR) and RFC1057 (RPC), and RFC1094 (NFS).  I have
>a question that isn't answered by these documents:
>
>When using the UDP version, how does the client recover from lost
>packets?  When the call packet is lost, a simple retransmission is
>enough, however, when a reply packet is lost, a retransmission can
>cause the request to be executed twice.  How does e.g. an NFS client
>handle this if the request is not idempotent (like RENAME)?  Is there
>a way for the client to tell from the failing reply from the second
>try that the first try must have succeeded even though the response
>got lost?
>Note that I need to know how the existing Sun RPC implementation
>handles this situation, not how it could be done in a hypothetical
>system (I know all about Amoeba's RPC, for instance).

Sun RPC over UDP does not guarantee at-most-once delivery. The way Sun RPC
over UDP (or any connectionless transport) works is to retransmit a request
repeatedly till either an answer is recieved or a total timeout value is
reached. So it is possible for the same request to be processed twice. You can
reduce the probability of this happening a lot by doing a svc_udpenablecache()
(svc_dgenablecache() in TIRPC) on the server side. This sets up a server side
cache which throws away duplicate requests. 

>Pointers to sources or documents are welcome!

Sun's freely licensed RPC/XDR implementation, RPCSRC 4.0, is 
available via anonymous ftp from bcm.tmc.edu and by email from the
archive-server@bcm.tmc.edu.

If you use the archive server, send mail to archive-server@bcm.tmc.edu
with a Subject of "send nfs index" to see all the names of the files.
Sending a message with the Subject "help" will return to you more
information about the archive server itself.

Abhijit
From: neal@grover.stat.washington.edu (Phil Neal Inc.)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: CHI 93 ?
Date: 12 Dec 92 02:13:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec12.021340.13274
Organization: U. Washington Dept. of Statistics
Originator: neal@grover.stat.washington.edu

Dear human factors people,

Is there going to be a CHI 93 ? If so,
how can I get information on submitting a paper and attending ?

Thanks,
Phil Neal


-- 
Phil Neal, Systems Programmer, Statistics Department GN-22
University of Washington, Seattle, Wa. 98195 USA  | 206-685-1627
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Look, another bit!" -- Repo Man (the movie)
From: fj_maddi@csd.uwe.ac.uk (FJ Maddix)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: Red Plasma Displays
Date: 17 Dec 92 14:52:31 GMT
Organization: University of the West of England, Bristol

But surely they'd still *see* the screen info? Even if it didn't look red.
I'm slightly red/green colour blind, which means that some brown cars look
green in certain lights.
It doesn't mean I can't see the car.

Frank.
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: mguyott@eriador.prime.com (M. Guyott)
Subject: Re: Gnu I/F (Self-Destructive?)
Organization: /etc/organization
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 16:20:15 GMT

In article <1992Dec15.231336.4441@colorado.edu> jcook@mumble.cs.Colorado.EDU (Jonathan E. Cook) writes:
>There was some concensus on comp.editors a while back that the
>control-key interface in emacs is very destructive in terms of
>CTS. Mentioned in that discussion was the fact that you have to
>hold the CTRL key down, and I think its compounded by the fact
>that its pervasive (i.e. you use it alot), and there's only one
>CTRL key (Shift, on the other hand, isn't used as much and 
>distributes the work over both hands). Key placement also seems to
>aggravate the CTRL key use.

My PC keyboard, on which I constantly use Micro EMACS, has two CTRL keys, one
on either end of the keyboard.  Each CTRL key is located immediately below
the SHIFT key on either end of the key board.  If people are having problems
with the CTRL key then they will probably have the same problem with the
SHIFT key (if it were used as much as the CTRL key).  In fact, is the problem
less the location of the CTRL key and more the fact that one key is being
used excessively?  Does remapping the CTRL key solve the problem or will the
problem continue to recur because this new key is now being used excessively?

On another note, I have used Micro EMACS extensively for the over five years
now and have never had any keyboard related problems.  I am a full time
software engineer doing development for the MS Windows environment so I do
a lot of editing.  Now the mouse, that's another can of worms!  I can no
longer use the mouse with my right hand.  I never had a problem until about
a year ago when my company bought some cheap mice.  The tactile feeback
"click" of the mouse was so sharp that it began to cause pain in my finger
joints.  Now I have a MS mouse and use my left hand with no problems.  I used
to use a Logitech mouse for many years and I had no problems with this mouse
either.  The moral of the story:  Beware of cheap mice!

Marc
----
Two of the worst things we teach our children are that a knowledge of science
is nice but not necessary, and a knowledge of sex is necessary but not nice.

Marc Guyott              Constellation Software, Inc.          (508) 620-2800
                         Framingham, Mass. 01701 USA                Ext. 3135
mguyott@primerd.prime.com       ...!{uunet, decwrl}!primerd.prime.com!mguyott
mguyott@eriador.prime.com       ...!{uunet, decwrl}!eriador.prime.com!mguyott
From: pcastine@tubkom.prz.tu-berlin.de (Peter Castine)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: Red Plasma Displays
Date: 12 Dec 92 14:55:48 GMT
Organization: TU-Berlin TUBKOM, Germany

In article <dsmall-101292155928@ilab-mac6.mitre.org> dsmall@mitre.org (Duane W. Small) writes:
>
>This is the second response to mention color-blindness, so perhaps it's
>worth pointing out that color-blindness doesn't mean that a person can't
>see red.  In the common forms of color-blindness, the person can't tell red
>from green.  In a monochrome display, that shouldn't be a problem.

The person afflicted with color-blindness (or color weakness) cannot
reliably distinguish red from green. This is true. However, I know
from a test of a laptop with a red plasma display made several years
ago, that one person who used it found the display very tiring on
his eyes. This person also suffered from color weakness. Since he
was the only person who complained about the screen, we assumed
that both facts were related.

This is, admittedly, not a scientifically researched conclusion, I
simply thought it might be a point worth investigating before investing
many kilobucks in a system that many people will have to use.

-- 
Peter Castine. Is this sig. short enough for you?
From: amanda@intercon.com (Amanda Walker)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: User interface quality definition (what do you think?) 
	(repost)
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 22:03:49 -0500
Organization: InterCon Systems Corporation
Distribution: world
Reply-To: amanda@intercon.com (Amanda Walker)
NNTP-Posting-Host: chaos.intercon.com
X-Newsreader: InterCon TCP/Connect II 1.1b22

martin@DMI.USherb.CA (Jean-francois Martin) writes:
> Question: For you, what means "User Interface Quality"? What is your 
> definition of this expression, what is the most famous definition you 
> ever saw (good or bad or point of reference). 

To me, the quality of a user interface is inversely related to how noticeable 
it is.  The best user interface is one which no one ever notices, because 
they are able to think only about the task at hand, not the tools they are 
using.



Amanda Walker
InterCon Systems Corporation


Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: randell@hawk.adied.oz.au (Mark Randell)
Subject: Re: CHI 93 ?
Organization: Australian Defence Industries
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 02:55:49 GMT


>Phil Neal writes:

>>Is there going to be a CHI 93 ? If so,
>>how can I get information on submitting a paper and attending ?
Tom Worthington added:
>Don't know about CHI'93 but we are having a OZCHI in Canberra in 1993.
>Why not put in a paper for that (very warm in Australia in November).

There is a HCI International '93 (5th international conference on
HCI, jointly with the 9th symposium on human interface (japan)) on
between August8-13, 1993 in Orlando, Florida. Organised in cooperation
with IEEE, ESPRIT, Chinese academy of sciences, International Ergonomics
association, and every other person and his dog.

Details from:  Ms Myra M Leap
               Conference Administrator
               School of Industrial Engineering
               Purdue University
               West Lafayette  USA
               Phone 317-494-5426
               Tel   317-494-0874
               mleap@ecn.purdue.edu

=================================================================
Mark Randell                     |  "We remember dreams, not data
ADI  Technology Park             |   at the wild end."
     Bentley WA AUSTRALIA        |
     randell@pf.adied.oz.au      |       - G Vizenor
================================================================

D
D
D
D
B
A
randell@pf.adied.oz.au
From: jb6o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jason Andrew Barshay)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: Gnu I/F (Self-Destructive?)
Date: 18 Dec 92 07:09:29 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.4fAUL9600XsKQECn9Z
	<1992Dec17.182817.27173@netcom.com>
Organization: Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA


This is going to sound a little strange and it certainly goes against
any standards but how about a CTRL pedal?  I mean why make your hands be
the only input medium?

Just a whacky idea.

Jason
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: rick@sq.sq.com (Rick Innis)
Subject: Re: Gnu I/F (Self-Destructive?)
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 18:53:44 GMT

In article <1992Dec17.150430.800@news2.cis.umn.edu>
fin@unet.umn.edu (Craig A. Finseth) writes:
>In article <1992Dec15.231336.4441@colorado.edu>, 
>jcook@mumble.cs.Colorado.EDU (Jonathan E. Cook) writes:
>
>|> And of course, just ask Richard Stallman - he can't type anymore.
>
>Since there is no reason to assume that he actually reads this news
>group, we should not be assuming that silence means consent.
I can confirm this.  Richard may be able to type for small periods of time,
but generally he has to rely on someone else to type for him.  Whether this
can be linked to his heavy use of emacs in the past is unknown.  (You can
refer to an article on RMS in the Boston Sunday Globe from around November
1990 - either the 11th or 18, I think - for more on rms generally and a
description of his hand condition in particular.  Seems it has the medical
profession baffled.)

>I have used Emacs key bindings daily for 14 years.  
Could be that some people are more susceptible to CTS than others.  Anyone
know if there's been any studies to investigate that?  

Just to illustrate the point, I used jove to type this and my hands are sore
already.  Fortunately I'm about to begin a two-week break....

	--Rick.
-- 
Rick Innis
SoftQuad Inc.           "Have you seen the secret of the Universe?"  said 
rick@sq.com             Zebedee, arriving.  "I know I left it here somewhere."
+1 (416) 239 4801
From: jandreau@lingo.psych.rochester.edu (Steve Jandreau)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Reading Screens
Date: 15 Dec 92 19:18:46 GMT
Organization: University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)


	I'm looking for some references about the ease/difficulty
of reading text off a screen.  Any leads will be appreciated.


				Thanks,


				Steve Jandreau

				jandreau@prodigal.psych.rochester.edu
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: a722756@roper.mc.ti.com (W. Donald Rolph)
Subject: Re: mouse crisis
Originator: a722756@roper.mc.ti.com
Organization: Texas Instruments / Attleboro Mass / USA
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 16:31:11 GMT


We are starting to document apparent carpel-tunnel syndrom from mouse usage.
-- 

Regards.
 
Don Rolph  a722756@pan.mc.ti.com WD3 MS10-13 (508)-699-1263
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: brian@dsm.fordham.edu (Brian Downing)
Subject: Re: Gnu I/F (Self-Destructive?)
Organization: Fordham University/CLC, Division of Science and Math
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 10:48:07 GMT


 For what it's worth. I just thought I'd mention that when I use an
 IBM PC type clone and a terminal emulator (such as kermit) then I
 have two Control keys and two Alt keys. I still only use the left
 control though. For some reason the right control is difficult for me
 to get used to after learning to use emacs on a Digital VT320.


--

 Brian...

 brian downing@->fordham university, nyc ny
         brian@dsm.fordham.edu       bdowning@mary.fordham.edu
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: barons@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Barry Arons)
Subject: Re: left-handed keyboards
Organization: M.I.T. Media Laboratory
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 03:59:39 GMT

Today we had a talk: 
				     
	  "Half-QWERTY -- One-handed typing on a QWERTY keyboard"

			       Edgar Matias
			   University of Toronto


Half-QWERTY is a new one-handed typing technique, designed to facilitate
the transfer of two-handed typing skill to the one-handed condition.  It is
performed on a standard keyboard, or a special half keyboard.  In an
experiment using touch typists, hunt-and-peck typing speeds were surpassed
after 3-4 hours of practice.  Subjects reached 50% of their two-handed
typing speed after about 8 hours.  After 10 hours, the average speed was 35
wpm, with individual performances ranging from 24 to 43 wpm.  Half-QWERTY
offers new possibilities in providing access for disabled users, and for
the design of palmtop and wearable computers.

Try contacting him at: ematias@dgp.toronto.edu

Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: ron@rivm.nl (Ron Roozendaal)
Subject: Re: CHI 93 ?
Reply-To: ron@rivm.nl
Organization: RIVM
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 08:28:40 GMT

In article <randell.724388149@hawk> randell@hawk.adied.oz.au (Mark Randell)
writes:
>
>>Phil Neal writes:
>
>>>Is there going to be a CHI 93 ? If so,
>>>how can I get information on submitting a paper and attending ?
>Tom Worthington added:
>>Don't know about CHI'93 but we are having a OZCHI in Canberra in 1993.
>>Why not put in a paper for that (very warm in Australia in November).
>

And of course there is going to be a CHI in 93. It will be in Amsterdam (for
the first time out of the States. Flying costs comparable to crossing the
States). It is called INTERCHI'93, as it is a combination of the IFIP INTERACT
congress and CHI.


e-mail to ic93.chi@xerox.com for info.




Ron


____________
  Ron Roozendaal (ron@rivm.nl)
  Senior Consultant
  National Institute on Public Health and Environmental Protection (RIVM)
  Informatics Service Centre
  Postbox 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, the Netherlands
  Tel. ++31 30 742790, Fax. ++31 30 282 316

Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: ricky@matilda.vut.edu.au (Andrew Stein)
Subject: executive computing implementation
Organization: Victoria University of Technology
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 05:25:20 GMT


I am commencing a thesis based upon the work of Mary Boone (
Leadership and the computer) and am applying her methodology 
in bringing togehther the executive and computing technology. I
will be applying this to small  / medium sized Australian enterprises.  
I am trying to contact people with experience in this methodolgy or
academics who also have an interest in the development of 
computing solutions for executives. Please contact me through email.





Andrew Stein  Lecturer  Dept. Business Computing
Victoria University of Technology
Melbourne
Victoria, Australia.

ricky@matilda.vut.edu.au

PO Box 14428 MMC
Melbourne Victoria 3000