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I have an Intel Xeon with EMT64 extensions that won’t run the x86_64 version of Matlab 7.0R14SP2. It spits back an error *** glibc detected *** malloc(): memory corruption: followed by a location in memory. I tested my RAM with hardware utilities and everything came back fine. It was only after these tests that I discovered this temporary workaround offered by the Mathworks.

In the file $MATLAB/bin/.matlab7rc.sh add the following lines to the beginning:

LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.4.1
export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL

Editing the existing text of a PDF is a little hidden in Adobe Acrobat 7 Professional. Its under the Tools Menu under Advanced Editing. Select the Touch-up Text Tool and you will be able to alter existing text. For future use you can enable the Advanced Editing toolbar and have the icons readily available. The toolbar does not display with the default layout.

Although there is no convenient way to maximize a once minimized window in Mac OS X, Control-F3 will take you to the Dock if Full Keyboard Access is enabled. This allows you to arrow over to the window that has been minimzed. Enter or space bar with activate or launch the highlighted item. Personally I’ve found that a combination of Expose and the Hide function has really negated the need for any minimizing, but its nice to know how to get them back should I hit Control-M accidentally.

The newer model T43 Thinkpad includes instructions on how to upgrade the machine’s RAM. It directs the user to a panel at the bottom of the machine where, once removed, they will find one memory slot. This is the so-called “user accessible” slot. However, installing the maximum supported chip in this slot will not get you to the machine’s maximum supported RAM. There is a second slot located under the keyboard. Expecting the RAM here to be soddered to the board, quite suprisingly its just like the slot on the bottom. Upgrade this RAM slot to max out your machine and thank IBM for conveniently neglecting to mention this fact.

With the top command capital ‘M’ sorts by resident memory size. The following fields all display information having to do with memory usage:

n: %MEM — Memory usage (RES)
A task’s currently used share of available physical memory.

o: VIRT — Virtual Image (kb)
The total amount of virtual memory used by the task. It includes all code, data and shared libraries plus pages that have been swapped out.
VIRT = SWAP + RES.

p: SWAP — Swapped size (kb)
The swapped out portion of a task’s total virtual memory image.

q: RES — Resident size (kb)
The non-swapped physical memory a task has used.
RES = CODE + DATA.

I placed an institutional spare parts purchase through Dell this morning. This afternoon I needed to cancel the order. Upon calling the Spare Parts department back I was transferred between departments five times. After the third transfer I was told that I would need to talk to the sales representative that originally placed the order in order to get it canceled. I was finally able to get the representative’s direct extension and he canceled it in approximately 30 seconds.

The lesson to take away from all this is to get your sales representative’s name and extension.

Here’s a really novel idea that someone came up with when faced with a forced upgrade of exchange. Iit pairs vmware, linux and an older version of exchange to keep the old infrastructure — pretty cool.