Ask Chromus

Twilkitri · Post by **Twilkitri** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 12:26 am

Here's a question I've been wondering about for awhile:
What exactly is a dynamic link library?
And if you say a .dll file, well, let's just say... it won't be cold.
* Dark Twilkitri brandishes the EZBake Staff.

chromus · Post by **chromus** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 1:12 am

I took a look at the link you gave me and I have a few words to say. First of all, I hope none of you plan on buying any of these plans. From the sound of them, most of the plans don't look like they would work. Secondly, if they did work, I'm not sure about the legality of the devices that would be built.

I cannot say that a dynamic link library is a DLL file because it isn't. A DLL file, however, is a dynamic link library, as evident by the acronym. A dynamic link library is a library that is dynamically linked to from a program, instead of statically linked. What this means is that, instead of the program including all the code for the library in itself, as it would in the case of static linking, it references external libraries while it runs. This has a few advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that the program is much smaller and when the library is updated, the program works automatically instead of having to be recompiled. The disadvantages are that it's harder to distribute a program because the program needs all the right DLL files in the right places to work, plus the program often runs slower than it would if it were statically linked.

Vorpy · Post by **Vorpy** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 7:08 pm

Programs need to be moved into the computer's primary memory (RAM) to be executed. Executable files contain information for the operating system to use in addition to the executable code. This information tells the operating system technical stuff for placing the code into memory. When a program uses a dynamically linked library, it is sort of telling the operating system to also give it access to the DLL. There can be other advantages to this. The operating system could load a large DLL once, and then have multiple programs share it without having to make multiple copies in memory. Different versions of an operating system could have slight differences in their DLLs, to make use of changes in the operating system. DLLs are a convenient way for an operating system to provide common code for programs to use, instead of forcing every program to statically link the libraries which would mean that each program would then need to load its own copy of the libraries into memory. The exact implementation of dynamic linking depends entirely on the operating system, and different operating systems could allow them to work in different ways to allow it to use or not use these various potential advantages and probably others as well, depending on how it is implemented.

Zornak · Post by **Zornak** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 2:00 am

Which JFK assassination theory do you believe?

Twilkitri · Post by **Twilkitri** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 7:40 am

Why do ADSL connections require you to be within 5 kms of the local exchange?

and

Why won't Telstra hurry up and enable the exchange near me? (does not expect this question to be answered)

Zornak · Post by **Zornak** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 3:04 pm

If the value of the dollar depends on how much gold we have in the depository, why don't we put more gold in the depository and use less on jewelry?

Phred · Post by **Phred** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 8:15 pm

what does my friend mean when she says it should be impossible for bees to fly?

chromus · Post by **chromus** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 10:27 pm

Sorry about not answering sooner. I've been caught up in school work and couldn't get to the forum except for brief bits where I would post a new word in the word game.

Concerning JFK, I don't believe any of the conspiracies, because that's what they are. I try to avoid making a final decision about anything until I have as many facts as possible, and in this case, there aren't many available.

DSL technology is very sensitive to changes in electric signal. Because electricity degrades over distance, the farther away you are, the slower of a reliable connection you can maintain. This is because the hardware on either end compensates for the degradation by extending the length of each signal. The longer each signal is, the less information you can pass in a given amount of time. The cap is where the phone company can ensure the minimum connection speed, which isn't very far from a exchange.

The problem with most telephone companies building new exchanges or updating current ones is that they see no reason to. If they feel that the number of subscribers in a certain area will be low, then they won't spend the money in the first place to upgrade it because they will lose money in the long run.

The problem is that the value of the dollar doesn't depend on the amount of gold we have. It used to be that way, a long time ago. Currently, the value of any country's currency is based on the economy of that country. The better an economy does, the more the money is worth, the more money the citizens have. Sometimes, to offset economic loss, the government will put more money into the system by giving it to banks to distribute. When the ecomony goes up, less money is produced by the government to increase the value of the money. In general, the value of a country's currency shows how much you need to puchase a service.

I'm going to need more information about bees than just that. Why does your friend believe this? What evidence does she have that supports her conclusion?

Phred · Post by **Phred** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 10:40 pm

the wings are too small to support the size of the bee

chromus · Post by **chromus** » Sun Mar 23, 2003 10:10 pm

Sorry. I have no idea why your friend would believe that. If the wings on a bee were too small to support it, it obviously wouldn't be able to fly. Since almost all of us have seen at least one bee fly by, this must be false. However, if you look at the wings on a bumblebee, the extremely large variety, it would seem as if the wings were too small. They can still fly though, due to flapping the wings extremely fast.

Phred · Post by **Phred** » Wed Mar 26, 2003 10:57 pm

why do hits to the head cause bumps? its mostly skull, so a hit to the head should bruse and make a dent? whats up with that?

chromus · Post by **chromus** » Thu Mar 27, 2003 2:56 am

You're right that there's a lot of skull, but there's also a lot of blood vessels. That's what causes such large bruises. The top of the head contains skin, blood vessels, hair folicles, and bone. When you hit your head, a lot of the vessels break, causing a bruise larger than if you had hit yourself somewhere else on the body.

Zornak · Post by **Zornak** » Thu Mar 27, 2003 4:38 pm

why do when i wake up sometimes everything seems strange and i have no idea where i am for a short time?

Vorpy · Post by **Vorpy** » Fri Mar 28, 2003 3:06 am

There's some sort of story floating around about how according to modern physics, bees can't fly. Some searching around on the internet reveals that this is quite an old story, from the 1930s or something, and apparently some physicist just did a few quick calculations one time about bees and it turned out that according to the calculations bees couldn't fly. The calculations assumed stuff about rigid, non-moving wings. The story was popularized, because science had apparently "proven" something that was obviously not true. Later research into this area revealed the tricks that bees and other insects use to produce enough lift to fly (it has something to do with the way air is pushed off the back of their wings as their wings flap).

chromus · Post by **chromus** » Fri Mar 28, 2003 8:46 pm

Zorn, I'm not sure why that happens. It could actually be some sort of disorder, though I highly doubt it. More likely, it's your brain adjusting to a new environment after shifting from a different one, perhaps your dreams.

It seems I didn't do as much background research as I should have. Oops.

Now, about chaos theory. The name is quite misleading, as it is more accurately described as prediction theory, or order-from-chaos theory. The theory states that with enough information, we can predict anything. Any readers of Asimov's Foundation series should recognize this as the central theme in the books, where mathematical equations are being developed to explain everything.