Data segment

In computing, a data segment (often denoted .data) is a portion of an object file or the corresponding virtual address space of a program that contains initialized static variables, that is, global variables and static local variables. The size of this segment is determined by the size of the values in the program's source code, and does not change at run time.

The data segment is read-write, since the values of variables can be altered at run time. This is in contrast to the read-only data segment (rodata segment or .rodata), which contains static constants rather than variables; it also contrasts to the code segment, also known as the text segment, which is read-only on many architectures. Uninitialized data, both variables and constants, is instead in the BSS segment.

Historically, to be able to support memory address spaces larger than the native size of the internal address register would allow, early CPUs implemented a system of segmentation whereby they would store a small set of indexes to use as offsets to certain areas. The Intel 8086 family of CPUs provided four segments: the code segment, the data segment, the stack segment and the extra segment. Each segment was placed at a specific location in memory by the software being executed and all instructions that operated on the data within those segments were performed relative to the start of that segment. This allowed a 16-bit address register, which would normally provide 64KiB (65536 bytes) of memory space, to access a 1MiB (1048576 bytes) address space.

DATA (band)

DATA were an electronic music band created in the late 1970s by Georg Kajanus, creator of such bands as Eclection, Sailor and Noir (with Tim Dry of the robotic/music duo Tik and Tok). After the break-up of Sailor in the late 1970s, Kajanus decided to experiment with electronic music and formed DATA, together with vocalists Francesca ("Frankie") and Phillipa ("Phil") Boulter, daughters of British singer John Boulter.

The classically orientated title track of DATA’s first album, Opera Electronica, was used as the theme music to the short film, Towers of Babel (1981), which was directed by Jonathan Lewis and starred Anna Quayle and Ken Campbell. Towers of Babel was nominated for a BAFTA award in 1982 and won the Silver Hugo Award for Best Short Film at the Chicago International Film Festival of the same year.

DATA released two more albums, the experimental 2-Time (1983) and the Country & Western-inspired electronica album Elegant Machinery (1985). The title of the last album was the inspiration for the name of Swedish pop synth group, elegant MACHINERY, formerly known as Pole Position.

Data (word)

The word data has generated considerable controversy on if it is a singular, uncountable noun, or should be treated as the plural of the now-rarely-used datum.

Usage in English

In one sense, data is the plural form of datum. Datum actually can also be a count noun with the plural datums (see usage in datum article) that can be used with cardinal numbers (e.g. "80 datums"); data (originally a Latin plural) is not used like a normal count noun with cardinal numbers and can be plural with such plural determiners as these and many or as a singular abstract mass noun with a verb in the singular form. Even when a very small quantity of data is referenced (one number, for example) the phrase piece of data is often used, as opposed to datum. The debate over appropriate usage continues, but "data" as a singular form is far more common.

In English, the word datum is still used in the general sense of "an item given". In cartography, geography, nuclear magnetic resonance and technical drawing it is often used to refer to a single specific reference datum from which distances to all other data are measured. Any measurement or result is a datum, though data point is now far more common.

Slap!

Slap! is the fourth studio album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was a radical redefinition of the band's sound and attitude. The songs now inspired dancing more than moshing, and the lyrics were celebratory as opposed to victimist.

Track listing

Personnel

with:

also appearing on this record are: Carl Douglas, Elvis Presley, Mark E. Smith, Dagmar Krause, Philip Glass, Adam Ant, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, George Gershwin, Penny Rimbaud, Jake Burns, Rob 'n' Raz, Lenny Bruce, Muszikas Ensemble, Mark Perry, Gang of Four, and Poly Styrene.

References

Slap (song)

"Slap" is the fourth single from Ludacris' fifth album Release Therapy (2006).

Song information

"Slap" is an account of poverty on Bush America. Its narrator explains that he is feeling tired about working a lot and getting a low wage, and because of this, he has thoughts about beating (in the uncensored version, killing) his boss. His frustration is then explained to be bigger than that: his best friend was murdered just a day before. He also explains that he has thoughts about robbing a bank to have enough money to feed his newborn baby. Later, at the end of the song, his car is robbed and he expresses an ever bigger disappointment at the government. According to Allmusic reviewer Marisa Brown, Ludacris' character in the song has these thoughts because he is suffering from depression.

Music video

The music video was released early in 2007. It is based on Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, with Ludacris as Travis Bickle, with many references to the movie, including Ludacris kicking over his TV while watching President Bush and doing the iconic "You talkin' to me?" in an interlude. The video shows Ludacris as a taxi driver (wearing the same jacket as Robert De Niro) and the video ends with Ludacris storming a brothel and punching the bouncer and a prostitute's customer, in a similar fashion to Taxi Driver's ending, but without the use of guns. It is dedicated to Ludacris' father and best friend Wayne Bridges as it is said at the end of the video. In the scene where Ludacris is working out he is seen wearing a fan t-shirt of the Paratroopers Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces.

Egyptian Ratscrew

French Slap /Egyptian Ratscrew (also known as Egyptian Ratscur, Egyptian Ratscurry, Rat Slap, Grapsch, Egyptian Ratslap, Egyptian Ratkiller,Egyptian War, and many other similar names) is a card game of the matching family of games. The game is similar to the 19th century British card game Beggar-My-Neighbour, with the added concept of "slapping" cards when certain combinations are played, similar to and perhaps borrowed from Slapjack.

Gameplay

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck or with multiple standard decks shuffled together for larger numbers of players. As many people can play in one game such that they can reach the central pile at an arm's length. Each person is dealt an equal number of cards; extras are distributed as would in a normal deal. As a variation, one or more Jokers may be added to ensure an even deal or to change gameplay.

Players cannot look at their cards at any time including placing a card onto the central pile. Players are to flip the cards away from themselves when placing a card upon the pile.