Merge (software)

Merge is a software system which allows a user to run DOS/Windows 3.1 on SCO UNIX, in an 8086 virtual machine.

History

Merge was originally developed to run DOS under UNIX System V Release 2 on an AT&T 6300 Plus personal computer. Development of the virtual machine began in late 1984, and AT&T announced the availability of the machine on October 9, 1985, referring to the bundled Merge software as SimulTask. (The PC6300 Plus shipped with MS-DOS in 1985 though, because its Unix System V distribution was not ready until the end March 1986.) Merge was developed by engineers at Locus Computing Corporation, with collaboration from AT&T hardware and software engineers, particularly on aspects of the system that were specific to the 6300 Plus (in contrast to a standard PC/AT).

The AT&T 6300 Plus contained an Intel 80286 processor, which did not include the support for 8086 virtual machines (virtual 8086 mode) found in the Intel 80386 and later processors in the x86 family. On the 80286, the DOS program had to run in realmode. The 6300 Plus was designed with special hardware on the bus that would suppress and capture bus cycles from the DOS program if they were directed toward addresses not assigned for direct access by the DOS virtual machine. Various system registers, such as the programmable interrupt controller, and the video controller, had to be emulated in software for the DOS process, and a watchdog timer was implemented to recover from DOS programs that would clear the interrupt flag and then hang for too long. The hardware used the Non Maskable Interrupt (NMI) to take control back to the emulation code. More detail may be seen in the patent referenced in the External Links below.

Merge (linguistics)

Merge (usually capitalized) is one of the basic operations in the Minimalist Program, a leading approach to generative syntax, when two syntactic objects are combined to form a new syntactic unit (a set). Merge also has the property of recursion in that it may apply to its own output: the objects combined by Merge are either lexical items or sets that were themselves formed by Merge. This recursive property of Merge has been claimed to be a fundamental characteristic that distinguishes language from other cognitive faculties. As Noam Chomsky (1999) puts it, Merge is "an indispensable operation of a recursive system ... which takes two syntactic objects A and B and forms the new object G={A,B}" (p. 2).

Mechanisms of Merge

Within the Minimalist Program, syntax is derivational, and Merge is the structure-building operation. Merge is assumed to have certain formal properties constraining syntactic structure, and is implemented with specific mechanisms.

Binary branching

Merge takes two objects α and β and combines them, creating a binary structure.

Merge (version control)

Merging (also called integration) in version control, is a fundamental operation that reconciles multiple changes made to a version-controlled collection of files. Most often, it is necessary when a file is modified by two people on two different computers at the same time. When two branches are merged, the result is a single collection of files that contains both sets of changes.

In some cases, the merge can be performed automatically, because there is sufficient history information to reconstruct the changes, and the changes do not conflict. In other cases, a person must decide exactly what the resulting files should contain. Many revision control software tools include merge capabilities.

Types of merges

There are two types of merges: automatic and manual.

Automatic merging

Automatic merging is what version control software does when it reconciles changes that have happened simultaneously (in a logical sense). Also, other pieces of software deploy automatic merging if they allow for editing the same content simultaneously. For instance, Wikipedia allows two people to edit the same article at the same time; when the latter contributor saves, their changes are merged into the article instead of overwriting the previous set of changes.

Request (The Awakening album)

Request is the second album by South African Gothic rock band The Awakening released during April 1998. Taking a step towards the New Romantic sound, Request brought the band more exposure and club rotation with three singles as well as their first music video for "Rain."

Recording

A calmer, mellower and darker album than its predecessor, Request's singles "Maree", "Rain" and "Before I Leap" saw much success with radio and club rotation. A music video was shot for "Rain" by director Katinka Harrod. In March 1999, the album was re-released on Intervention Arts with the bonus track "The Safety Dance," a cover of the hit by the 1980s synthpop band Men Without Hats.

Track listing

All songs written by Ashton Nyte.

References

Label

A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, polymer, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information about the product. Information printed directly on a container or article can also be considered labeling.

Labels have many uses, including providing information on a product's origin, use, shelf-life and disposal, some or all of which may be governed by legislation such as that for food in the UK or USA. Methods of production and attachment to packaging are many and various and may also be subject to internationally recognised standards.

Uses

Labels may be used for any combination of identification, information, warning, instructions for use, environmental advice or advertising. They may be stickers, permanent or temporary labels or printed packaging.

Products

Permanent product identification by a label is commonplace; labels need to remain secure throughout the life of the product. For example, a VIN plate on an automobile must be resistant to heat, oils and tampering; similarly, a food label must endure until the food has been used.

Labeling theory

Labeling theory is the theory of how the self-identity and behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them. It is associated with the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping. Labeling theory holds that deviance is not inherent to an act, but instead focuses on the tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or those seen as deviant from standard cultural norms. The theory was prominent during the 1960s and 1970s, and some modified versions of the theory have developed and are still currently popular. A stigma is defined as a powerfully negative label that changes a person's self-concept and social identity.

Labeling theory is closely related to social-construction and symbolic-interaction analysis. Labeling theory was developed by sociologists during the 1960s. Howard Saul Becker's book Outsiders was extremely influential in the development of this theory and its rise to popularity.

Theoretical basis

Label (sociology)

In sociology, the word labelling is used more as a metaphor, than a concrete concept. The general function of labels are widely known and recognized as a method of distinction that helps people recognize one product from another. In social terms, labels represent a way of differentiating and identifying people that is considered by many as a form of prejudice and discrimination.

The most common method of 'labeling' people derives from a general way of perceiving members of a certain nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender, or some other group. When a majority of people hold a certain point of view towards a certain group, that point of view becomes a stereotype. That stereotype affects the way other people perceive the groups in question and the result is a 'label' that is metaphorically imposed on the members of the group in question. A member of a targeted group is thus 'labeled' by the larger society, and along with it, the nuances underlying the label, be it positive or negative, that aids in the formation of social stereotypes.