These days, the "antiglobalization movement" -- a misnomer, but whatever -- is renowned for attacking major brands: Smashing Gap stores, trashing Starbucks, cutting loose at Disney icons. Even so, one company has been hammered particularly hard lately: McDonald's.
One hundred years from now, I predict the whole issue of "brands" is going to be recognized as one of the most fascinating and queasy topics of the early 21st century. There's something brutally potent about brands, and how they signify the relationship between our sense of self and the commercial world that defines so much of our lives. I mean, does anyone have a neutral view of brands? We usually respond with love or disdain, but nothing in the middle. I am weirdly emotionally attached to a few brands (Radio Shack, Atari, Hugo Boss), and find other ones positively nauseating (J. Crew, Abercrombie and Fitch). But I rarely just shrug my shoulders.
(My attachment to Hugo Boss is probably all the more ridiculous when you consider the designer originally cut his teeth creating uniforms for the Third Reich. But god in heaven does the company make killer ties!)
Posted by Clive Thompson at March 27, 2003 01:46 PM
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Posted by: Kirk Comrie at April 4, 2003 2:35 PM
I am indeed a major sci-fi fan, and just bought a copy of Pattern Recognition two weeks ago! It's almost floated to the top of my to-read pile, and I'm hugely looking forward to it.
Posted by: Clive at April 6, 2003 2:04 PM
Posted by: Online Casino at January 16, 2004 2:37 AM
To address this issue, we turn to the second place to put variables, which is called the Heap. If you think of the Stack as a high-rise apartment building somewhere, variables as tenets and each level building atop the one before it, then the Heap is the suburban sprawl, every citizen finding a space for herself, each lot a different size and locations that can't be readily predictable. For all the simplicity offered by the Stack, the Heap seems positively chaotic, but the reality is that each just obeys its own rules.
Posted by: Rook at January 20, 2004 12:44 PM
But some variables are immortal. These variables are declared outside of blocks, outside of functions. Since they don't have a block to exist in they are called global variables (as opposed to local variables), because they exist in all blocks, everywhere, and they never go out of scope. Although powerful, these kinds of variables are generally frowned upon because they encourage bad program design.
Posted by: Tobias at January 20, 2004 12:44 PM
That gives us a pretty good starting point to understand a lot more about variables, and that's what we'll be examining next lesson. Those new variable types I promised last lesson will finally make an appearance, and we'll examine a few concepts that we'll use to organize our data into more meaningful structures, a sort of precursor to the objects that Cocoa works with. And we'll delve a little bit more into the fun things we can do by looking at those ever-present bits in a few new ways.
Posted by: Simon at January 20, 2004 12:45 PM
Earlier I mentioned that variables can live in two different places. We're going to examine these two places one at a time, and we're going to start on the more familiar ground, which is called the Stack. Understanding the stack helps us understand the way programs run, and also helps us understand scope a little better.
Posted by: Ambrose at January 20, 2004 12:45 PM
This variable is then used in various lines of code, holding values given it by variable assignments along the way. In the course of its life, a variable can hold any number of variables and be used in any number of different ways. This flexibility is built on the precept we just learned: a variable is really just a block of bits, and those bits can hold whatever data the program needs to remember. They can hold enough data to remember an integer from as low as -2,147,483,647 up to 2,147,483,647 (one less than plus or minus 2^31). They can remember one character of writing. They can keep a decimal number with a huge amount of precision and a giant range. They can hold a time accurate to the second in a range of centuries. A few bits is not to be scoffed at.
Posted by: Salamon at January 20, 2004 12:45 PM
When compared to the Stack, the Heap is a simple thing to understand. All the memory that's left over is "in the Heap" (excepting some special cases and some reserve). There is little structure, but in return for this freedom of movement you must create and destroy any boundaries you need. And it is always possible that the heap might simply not have enough space for you.
Posted by: Zachary at January 20, 2004 12:45 PM
This code should compile and run just fine, and you should see no changes in how the program works. So why did we do all of that?
Posted by: Ambrose at January 20, 2004 12:45 PM
This code should compile and run just fine, and you should see no changes in how the program works. So why did we do all of that?
Posted by: Phillipa at January 20, 2004 12:46 PM
That gives us a pretty good starting point to understand a lot more about variables, and that's what we'll be examining next lesson. Those new variable types I promised last lesson will finally make an appearance, and we'll examine a few concepts that we'll use to organize our data into more meaningful structures, a sort of precursor to the objects that Cocoa works with. And we'll delve a little bit more into the fun things we can do by looking at those ever-present bits in a few new ways.
Posted by: Juliana at January 20, 2004 12:46 PM
When a variable is finished with it's work, it does not go into retirement, and it is never mentioned again. Variables simply cease to exist, and the thirty-two bits of data that they held is released, so that some other variable may later use them.
Posted by: Conrad at January 20, 2004 12:46 PM
Posted by: celebrex at December 17, 2004 12:08 PM
Branding runs through the heart of William Gibson's new book Pattern Recognition. Not sure if you're a reader of sci-fi but you might get a kick out of this one.
http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/source/qa.asp
Posted by: Kirk Comrie at April 4, 2003 2:35 PM
I am indeed a major sci-fi fan, and just bought a copy of Pattern Recognition two weeks ago! It's almost floated to the top of my to-read pile, and I'm hugely looking forward to it.
Posted by: Clive at April 6, 2003 2:04 PM
Nice site. thx.
Posted by: Online Casino at January 16, 2004 2:37 AM
To address this issue, we turn to the second place to put variables, which is called the Heap. If you think of the Stack as a high-rise apartment building somewhere, variables as tenets and each level building atop the one before it, then the Heap is the suburban sprawl, every citizen finding a space for herself, each lot a different size and locations that can't be readily predictable. For all the simplicity offered by the Stack, the Heap seems positively chaotic, but the reality is that each just obeys its own rules.
Posted by: Rook at January 20, 2004 12:44 PM
But some variables are immortal. These variables are declared outside of blocks, outside of functions. Since they don't have a block to exist in they are called global variables (as opposed to local variables), because they exist in all blocks, everywhere, and they never go out of scope. Although powerful, these kinds of variables are generally frowned upon because they encourage bad program design.
Posted by: Tobias at January 20, 2004 12:44 PM
That gives us a pretty good starting point to understand a lot more about variables, and that's what we'll be examining next lesson. Those new variable types I promised last lesson will finally make an appearance, and we'll examine a few concepts that we'll use to organize our data into more meaningful structures, a sort of precursor to the objects that Cocoa works with. And we'll delve a little bit more into the fun things we can do by looking at those ever-present bits in a few new ways.
Posted by: Simon at January 20, 2004 12:45 PM
Earlier I mentioned that variables can live in two different places. We're going to examine these two places one at a time, and we're going to start on the more familiar ground, which is called the Stack. Understanding the stack helps us understand the way programs run, and also helps us understand scope a little better.
Posted by: Ambrose at January 20, 2004 12:45 PM
This variable is then used in various lines of code, holding values given it by variable assignments along the way. In the course of its life, a variable can hold any number of variables and be used in any number of different ways. This flexibility is built on the precept we just learned: a variable is really just a block of bits, and those bits can hold whatever data the program needs to remember. They can hold enough data to remember an integer from as low as -2,147,483,647 up to 2,147,483,647 (one less than plus or minus 2^31). They can remember one character of writing. They can keep a decimal number with a huge amount of precision and a giant range. They can hold a time accurate to the second in a range of centuries. A few bits is not to be scoffed at.
Posted by: Salamon at January 20, 2004 12:45 PM
When compared to the Stack, the Heap is a simple thing to understand. All the memory that's left over is "in the Heap" (excepting some special cases and some reserve). There is little structure, but in return for this freedom of movement you must create and destroy any boundaries you need. And it is always possible that the heap might simply not have enough space for you.
Posted by: Zachary at January 20, 2004 12:45 PM
This code should compile and run just fine, and you should see no changes in how the program works. So why did we do all of that?
Posted by: Ambrose at January 20, 2004 12:45 PM
This code should compile and run just fine, and you should see no changes in how the program works. So why did we do all of that?
Posted by: Phillipa at January 20, 2004 12:46 PM
That gives us a pretty good starting point to understand a lot more about variables, and that's what we'll be examining next lesson. Those new variable types I promised last lesson will finally make an appearance, and we'll examine a few concepts that we'll use to organize our data into more meaningful structures, a sort of precursor to the objects that Cocoa works with. And we'll delve a little bit more into the fun things we can do by looking at those ever-present bits in a few new ways.
Posted by: Juliana at January 20, 2004 12:46 PM
When a variable is finished with it's work, it does not go into retirement, and it is never mentioned again. Variables simply cease to exist, and the thirty-two bits of data that they held is released, so that some other variable may later use them.
Posted by: Conrad at January 20, 2004 12:46 PM
celebrex
Posted by: celebrex at December 17, 2004 12:08 PM