Software Freedom Day 09

Hey guys,

Please visit http://freeit.nddu.edu.ph.

OS Chapter 4 Discussion Questions

1. Provide 2 programming examples in which multithreading provides better performance than a single-threaded solution.

2. What are the 2 differences between user-level threads and kernel-level threads? Under what circumstances is one type better than the other?

3. Describe the actions taken by the kernel to context switch between kernel-level threads.

4. What resources are used when a thread is created? How do they differ from those used when a process is created?

Please read your book and write your answers on your notebook. Be prepared for the oral quiz on Sept. 8, 2009 (Tuesday)

Some School Reminders

To my students in OS:

I have uploaded a new shell scripting tutorial at http://sites.google.com/site/itprofmylenesereno/Home.

Hope it helps. Please let me know if the link doesn't work. Just leave a comment, ok?

Thanks..

Win or Lose

I was recently invited to be a judge in different competitions by an IT school. It was a new experience for me. I've been a judge before, yes - for college beauty pageants and games such as Paint-Me-A-Picture. Sheesh. =D But not in "serious" stuff.

I was kinda apprehensive about accepting the offer but my friend assured me that all I had to do there was watch the participants, and eat my snacks. Haha. Pretty easy...

So I just shook all the apprehension away and prepared for the event by reading the guidelines for the different competitions. And I thought, well, it was a bit challenging but I guess there ain't much to worry about.

But I was in for a surprise. There was one participant who was so toxic. As in T O X I C. At first, he corrected me on the way I pulled the IDE cable. He said I could break the pins if I pulled it the way I did. Grrr.. I admit pulling computer cables is not one of my favorite things in the world but the way he said it really got into my nerves. I wanted to excuse him for treating me like that because he didn't know me but I can't help but get irritated. So I let him pull the other cables instead - though it was not allowed in the guidelines. Duh, whatever.

Then, when he started to assemble the PC, he was so rash, impetuous.. I deducted points from him for improper handling of the hard disk and other devices. He even shook the CPU box because one screw was missing. Gosh. And then when he turned on the PC, he couldn't get it to boot. After a few attempts, the computer really didn't boot at all. He kicked the table and said "Malas, Sir..", with a very disappointed face.

He started complaining that he got all the connections right and that there was just something wrong with the computer that is why it didn't boot. The other judge told him that he saw that the computer was functioning well before the competition and that there was no reason why it would suddenly malfunction.

To cut the story short, he was the ONLY ONE out of the 9 participants who wasn't able to boot the computer - and he was the MOST ARROGANT!

I was really stressed by the incident but I learned the following from the experience:

• Neverbe arrogant. Always be humble.
• If you are a judge, read the guidelines thoroughly.
• If you are a judge, you have to be calm and composed, ready to resolve any complaints from the participants.
• The decision of the judge is final and irrevocable.

I really learned a lot from the experience. =)

SFD 09 GenSan

We will be celebrating SFD '09 on September 19, 2009 (Saturday) at MSU High School, Laurel St., General Santos City.

Registration fee will be 40 (forty) pesos that will include snacks in the morning, certificate of participation, souvenirs and CDs for the first 200 registrants.

See you there!

Please visit the official SFD GenSan website for more details.