Autonomic computing

A interesting term and many interesting papers mentioned about the concept of autonomic computing. The key of autonomic computing is: self-managing of distributed resources.


To manage distributed resources, there must be an algorithm. The algorithm can be separated into four steps:

1. Monitor
2. Analyze
3. Plan
4. Execute

The main algorithm is known as Monitor-Analyze-Plan-Execute (MAPE).

getaddrinfo

int getaddrinfo( const char* pHostName, const char* pServiceName,  const struct addrinfo* pHints,
                         struct addrinfo **pResults);

getaddrinfo() 用來取得 host 上某 service 的一系列的 IP addresses 和 port numbers。

舉例來說

struct addrinfo hints, *result;
memset(&hints, 0, sizeof(hints));
hints.ai_family = PF_UNSPEC;
hints.ai_socktype = SOCK_STREAM;

int error = getaddrinfo("www.kame.net", "http", &hints, &result);

Vocabulary Set 4.

1. dual-earner couples
1. 雙薪夫妻
2. mortgage /ˋmɔrgɪdʒ/ (n)
1. 抵押
3. mire /maɪr/ (v)
1. 使陷入泥沼
4. incur /ɪn`kɝ/ (v)
1. to come into or acquire
5. formaldehyde /fɔrˋmældə͵haɪd/ (n)
1. 甲醛
6. ply /plaɪ/
1. a thickness or layer of folded material
2. 夾層; 多層板
7. plywood
1. 夾板; 多層板
8. particleboard
1. 膠粒版
9. symptom/ˋsɪmptəm/ (n)
1. 症狀

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1. 
   

Vocabulary Set 3.

Today's vocabulary set is from an article talking about the mobile home in U.S..

1. quasi /ˋkwesaɪ/ (a)
• resembling; seeming; virtual; 準
• quasi-homelessness
2. rural /ˋrʊrəl/ (a)
• of, relating to the country life; 田園的
• rural America
3. solicit /səˋlɪsɪt/ (v.t.)
• to seek for something by entreaty; 
• He solicited aid from minister.
4. earnest /ˋɝnɪst/ (adj.)
• seriously in intention; 真誠的
• entreaty means "earnest request"
5. entreaty /ɪn`tritɪ/ (adj.)
• earnest request
• to seek for aid by entreaty (aid is uncountable)
6. tout /taʊt/ (v.t.)
• To solicit business, employment, votes, or the like importunately.
• Owning a manufactured home (often also known as a "mobile home") in a rural trailer park is often touted to these families as an affordable "next best thing"—and a step toward conventional homeownership.
• In the above sentence, the meaning of `touted` is similar to `sold`
7. decline /dɪklaɪn/ (v)
8. vulnerable /`vʌlnərəb!/ (adj) (`l` 不發音)
• capable to being wounded or hurt; 易受傷的, vuln 是古英文的 wound
9. serfdom /`sɝfdəm/ (n)
• 農奴身份, serf 是農奴, Hsinchu Code Serf
• Owning a mobile home but renting the land it stands on in a trailer park amounts to "a kind of serfdom"
10. mercy /`mɝsɪ/ (n)
• 慈悲
11. recourse /rɪ`kors/ (n)
• a source of helps in a difficult situation
• "Being landless leaves trailer owners at the park landlord's mercy," explains Salamon. "Because the park is private property, the owners have little recourse if they're evicted."
12. evict /ɪˈvɪkt/ (v)
• To expel a person from a land; 從某地驅逐

Vocabulary Set 2

A list of words clipped from recent readings - HBR, Advanced, Fictions, and technology reports.

1. dawdle (vi)
• to waste time
• Everyone dawdles from time to time
2. procrastinate (vi)
• to keep delaying something that must be done
3. pursue /pərˈsu/ (vt)
• follow something in order to catch or attack them
4. exert /ɪɡˈzərt/ (vt)
• to use something such as authority, power, influence, etc. in ​order to make something happen
5. genetics
6. dopamine
7. gratify
• to give someone pleasure or satisfaction
• His praise will gratify all who worked so hard to earn it.
8. fleeting
• quick
9. nuisance
10. loom (v)
    
• to appear as a large, often frightening or unclear shape or object
11. sheer (adj)
    
• nothing other than
• The suggestion is sheer nonsense.
12. gloomy (adj)
    
• dark
13. tenure (n)
    
• being the ​legal owner of ​land, a ​job, or an ​official ​public ​position, or the ​period of ​time during which you own it
14. zoology (n)
15. sloth /slɔθ/ (n)
• 樹懶
16. cosmogony /koz-mog-uh-nee/ (n)
• 天體演化學
17. thyroid /ˈθaɪrɔɪd/ (n) i.e. thyroid gland
• 甲狀腺
18. gland /ɡlænd/ (n)
• 線體
• an organ in the human or animal body that secretes particular chemical substances for use in the body or for discharge into the surroundings.
19. demeanour = demeanor
• behavior; facial appearance; a way of looking and behaving
20. introspective (a)
• The act or process of looking into oneself.
• 反省的
21. soothe /suð/ (vt)
• to make someone feel calm or less worried
•  A shot of brandy may soothe his nerves.
•  To soothe a crying baby.
22. shatter /ˋʃætɚ/ (v)
• to (cause something to) break suddenly into very small pieces
• break or cause to break suddenly and violently into pieces.
• The window was shattered by a stone.
• The glass shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.
23. blotch /blɑtʃ/ (n)
• an irregular patch or unsightly mark on a surface, typically the skin; 紅斑
• The overlapping windows create blotches, whenever you forget to refresh the windows in the proper order.
24. despair /dɪˋspɛr/ (n)
• the complete loss or absence of hope; 絕望
• She was in despair.
25. obviate /ˋɑbvɪ͵et/ (vt).
• remove (a need or difficulty);
26. obscure /əbˋskjʊr/ (adj)
• not clear or plain; ambiguous; vague; or uncertain

My zoology thesis was a functional analysis of the thyroid gland of the three-toed sloth. I chose the sloth because its demeanour - calm, quite and introspective - did something to soothe my shattered self.