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U.S. Senate primary runners rail against Mandel, BrownWritten by Caitlin McGlade | | email@example.com
Eric LaMont Gregory treated women and premature babies in Rwanda, before and after genocide defiled the state. Donna Glisman ran a hotel and restaurant and organized a fashion show for 3 and 4-year-olds on Put-in-Bay. Rusty Bliss flies airplanes. David Dodt worked at General Motors for nearly 36 years. Dr. Michael Pryce treats foot pain and Scott Rupert drives trucks.
Despite their various backgrounds, these six people have a few things in common. They want to become Ohio's next U.S. Senator, they are conservative — Rupert is an independent leaning right — and most of them disdain politicians who have held office for much of their adult lives.
The Northwest Ohio Conservative Coalition and The Children of Liberty hosted a forum for the U.S. Senate primary Feb. 16 at the Maumee Indoor Theatre. Candidate and Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, who has outpaced all of them in campaign funding and endorsements, did not attend.
The overarching theme was to rail against Mandel's experience by referring to him as a "kid" and labeling him a "career politician."
"Choosing Josh would be throwing Josh to the wolves," Glisman said. "Mandel's been married for four years and has zero kids. He can't relate to families with children."
General distrust of both the federal government and the Democrats in office was a pervasive point as well. After referring to Middle Easterners as "turban heads," Dodt staged an impression of President Barack Obama. He told his audience to use their imaginations because Obama has more hair and "his ears stick out more."
"Who the hell do you think you are that you can earn more than $250,000 without my permission and I haven't given it," Dodt shouted. "You will have the house I will tell you to, buy the cars I tell you to drive, you'll eat the food I tell you to eat and you'll send your kids to school and they're learn exactly what I tell them to learn."
The crowd applauded.
Josh Mandel
Mandel sent a representative, former Waterville Mayor Derek Merrin, to speak on his behalf. Some of the candidates rolled their eyes as he spoke; Bliss text messaged on his cellphone. Merrin told the crowd that Mandel was unable to attend because of scheduling conflicts. The treasurer, who has trailed Sen. Sherrod Brown in polls, also backed out of the City Club of Cleveland forum, which prompted Democratic party news releases to title Mandel's bid for Senate the "quiet campaign."
The treasurer is also under fire from Democrats for not attending a single State Board of Deposit meeting. The board determines which banks hold State money. The Associated Press reported that Mandel skipped January's meeting for a $500-a-plate fundraiser in Washington, D.C. for his
campaign. The Democratic Party sent Mandel a formal invitation to the latest meeting, designed to look like a fundraiser invitation, said Justin Barasky, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. Mandel did not schedule a telephone interview with Toledo Free Press before press time.
Mandel started his political career with the Lyndhurst City Council in 2003 and was elected to represent the 17th District in the Ohio House in 2006. In the legislature, Mandel advocated for school choice, free market principles and "family values," according to his campaign website.
Mandel's Republican critics share some of his core beliefs. Bliss, Dodt and Glisman particularly stressed their opposition to abortion during their speeches. Bliss considers himself a father of four although you'll only see three children in his family portraits. He and his wife lost their daughter days before the due date.
"It's not about the woman's rights, it's about the baby's rights," he said.
Health care is a major sticking point for Pryce, who has an orthopedic surgery practice in Kent. The doctor received a patent for a footwear device that compensates for problems stemming from flat feet. He decided to run for office when he was inundated with emails after "Fox & Friends" interviewed him regarding a book he wrote about the health care system in 2008. In his book, "Anathema! America's War on Medicine," he suggested eliminating the Medicare system in exchange for his own formula, which he says would cover all Americans at one-fifth the cost of the country's present health care system.
Neither Pryce nor Gregory mentioned the topic of abortion in their speeches. When asked by the audience, Pryce said that in medical school he was taught to see a pregnant woman as two patients: the woman and the fetus. Pryce said his expertise in health care helps him stand out among the other candidates.
"As a physician, I've seen the beginning and the end of the American life through my patients," Pryce said. "And I stayed home — Gregory hasn't had the opportunity to interact with Medicaid and Medicare."
Gregory, too, has treated suffering but in much different circumstances. The doctor was a consultant to the Maternal and Newborn Care Unit of the World Health Organization for years. His expertise took him to Guatemala in the midst of army-led death squads, to Kenya when tribal uprisings rattled the north and to Rwanda just weeks after the genocide hit a bloody halt.
As a result, he is a firm believer in analyzing the costs of intervention in world conflicts in light of the costs of the aftermath.
"I was overseas but I was still on the planet Earth," Gregory said. Gregory is credited with solving a number of medical conundrums. He researched how to reduce neonatal death in developing countries and he developed a better method than the standard treatment to keep blood flowing in premature babies. He has had to negotiate with rebel leaders to get through war zones in order to treat women and babies. And he invented a type of thermometer that charts temperature in color coding for people in developing countries who are unable to read numbers, he said.
"What happens to you after that is that everybody with a major problem comes to you regardless of what that problem is in, because you have solved a problem that most people said had no solution," he said.
Sen. Sherrod Brown
Brown has yet to begin campaign mode, as he is running unopposed in the primary, Barasky said. Brown garnered 56 percent of the vote against Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine in 2006 during his last bid for the U.S. Senate seat. The staunch public outcry and repeal of Senate Bill 5, which would have restricted collective bargaining rights, swung momentum away from the Republicans in Ohio, Barasky said. The fact that Mandel supported Senate Bill 5 highlights a key difference between him and Brown, who was outspoken against the bill.
"What [the Republicans'] real concern should be is that their party is going to nominate someone who does not stand up for Ohio's middle class," Barasky said.
Brown's record and philosophies are the opposite of many of the candidates who took the stage at the Maumee Indoor Theatre on Feb. 16. He has advocated for women's rights through the right to abortion, he supports Obama's health care reform and he has voted in favor of some gun control. Every candidate who spoke at the forum expressed fear that the Second Amendment is under attack.
"Ohio has relatively loose gun laws," Barasky said. "At a right wing party [forum], of course everyone's going to say [the government] is going to creep into their homes and take their guns."
The independent
The forum closed with a charged speech from Rupert, the independent candidate. That's independent with a "little i" — he insisted — because he does not want to be part of any label. Rupert is a truck driver and does not have a high school diploma. He said he is not the best America has to offer but that he wants to "step up to the plate."
His speech, in which he shared thoughts on party politics and the power of civilian voice, was met by resounding applause. He had mastered the art of public speaking by the end of it, locking eyes with numerous audience members and invoking dynamic tone variations as he spoke. Several people in the crowd whispered "wow" and "oh my gosh."
"I know that Americans are not as far apart as the loud voices say they are," Rupert said. "We the people have surrendered our government to fear."
He has operated on less than $2,000 in campaign money and is motivated by a sense that both parties have become too similar in terms of campaign contribution and lobbying interests. His independent status, however, is often seen as "stealing votes" from the major parties, he said.
"People come to me and say 'Thank you very much for what you're doing, what you're doing needs to be done but stop doing it'," he said. "But too often [candidates] say 'Vote for me so that guy won't break something.' They don't say, 'Vote for me and I'll fix something.'"
Tags: David Dodt, Derek Merrin, Donna Glisman, Eric LaMont Gregory, Josh Mandel, Michael Pryce, Rusty Bliss, Scott Rupert, Sherrod Brown, The Children of Liberty, The Northwest Ohio Conservative Coalition


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Even though the construction efforts for the Ashe County Airport are expected to make steady progress, the last leg of the project will be re-bidded to the lowest bidder because on unforeseen difficulties.
During the Ashe County Board of Commissioners meeting on Jan. 22, Ashe County Manager Dr. Pat Mitchell informed the BOC that upcoming winter weather forced Vannoy's Construction into an additional shutdown last October
According to Mitchell, these difficulties included inclement weather problems, the discovery of an underground stream, and the construction area contained more rocks than anticipated.
These barriers to the work's completion caused Vannoy's to file a few change orders, which modified their original contract. According to Mitchell, the county tried to work through the change orders to maintain the original contract, but eventually, the continued changes created a need to hash out a new contract.
According to Eric Payne, the manager at Ashe County's airport, this means the additional grating work that was not completed in the first contract will be added to the new contract that will also include paving, painting and lighting the runway.
Payne said the construction to extend the runway is still on schedule, despite the re-bidding process. With the northwest portion of the airport completed, Payne expects the airport to be completed by late-summer 2013.
"I would say as of right now, we're above 80 percent complete," said Payne.
Payne said part of the reason the construction at the airport will be re-bid is because the construction efforts are funded, in part, by a grant from the federal government.
The grant was a $2.5 million matching grant, with 10 percent being provided by Ashe County and 90 percent matched by the grant. This federal grant was channelled the N.C. DOT's Division of Aviation.
Payne said he wasn't concerned about the re-bidding process as long as the project is completed in a timely manner.
"All we want is a bigger runway and that's the bottom line," said Payne.
According to Dr. Mitchell, Vannoy's Construction will probably place a bid for the second contract, in essence, finishing the grating from their original contract before paving, painting and lighting the runway.
Before this project began, the Ashe County Airport runway was approximately 4,300 feet long. When the construction is completed, the runway will be over 5,000 feet in length, with an additional 300 feet of grass overrun.

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Partly Cloudy
Wind: 6 mph
Katrica Luce Kenyon, 84, Waitsfield, passed away in the comfort of her family on Saturday, December 7, 2013, at Woodridge Nursing Home in Berlin. Born in Montpelier on October 21, 1929, she was the daughter of the late Leon and Goldie (Carleton) Taylor.
On December 27, 1948, she married Bertrand G. Luce in Waitsfield. Bertrand passed away on August 19, 1978. On March 10, 1990, Katrica married Howard Kenyon in Waitsfield.
Katrica was a 1947 graduate of Waitsfield High School and following her marriage was happy and busy as a homemaker and raising her family. She later began driving children to school for the Warren School system, using the family Jeep that Bertrand added an extra seat to. Katrica later worked many years in the Mad River Valley as a chambermaid, first for the Tucker Hill Lodge, then the Christmas Tree Inn and later the Golden Horse Lodge.
Katrica was a member of Warren United Church and the American Legion Auxiliary in Montpelier. In her leisure time she enjoyed reading, puzzles, and working in all aspects on the Kenyon Farm with her husband Howard, especially taking care of the cattle.
Katrica is survived by her husband, Howard Kenyon of Waitsfield; her daughter, Corinne Moulton and her husband Brian of Warren; her grandchildren, who affectionately called her "fanny granny," Tony Moulton and his husband Austin of Shelburne, Lisa Nisen and her husband George of Northfield; three stepdaughters, Joyce Farnsworth, Evelyn Sawyer and her husband Jackie, and Brenda "Mickie" Eastman; two stepsons, Doug Kenyon and his wife Donna and Gary Kenyon and his wife Dixie; as well as nieces, nephews and extended family. Katrica was predeceased by a sister, Kit Hartshorn, and a brother, Konrad Taylor.
Funeral services will be held from Warren United Church on Thursday, December 12, 2013, at 2 p.m. with a reception to follow in the church dining room. Friends may call at Perkins-Parker Funeral Home in Waterbury on Wednesday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. Entombment will be in Hope Cemetery Vault in Waterbury pending spring interment in Warren Village Cemetery. The family requests that flowers be omitted; rather memorial gifts would be appreciated to the Alzheimer's Association, 300 Cornerstone Drive, Suite 128, Williston, VT 05495 (www.alz.org.) To send online condolences visit www.perkinsparker.com and Facebook.


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Don't look for the outcry over the Internal Revenue Service's improper targeting of tea party groups to subside with the ouster of the agency's acting commissioner.
Three congressional committees are investigating and the FBI is looking into potential civil rights violations at the IRS, Attorney General Eric Holder said.
Other potential crimes include making false statements to authorities and violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in some partisan political activities, Holder said.
President Barack Obama said Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew had asked for and accepted Steven T. Miller's resignation.
"Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it," Obama said Wednesday evening in a televised statement from the White House. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives."
To read the rest of this story, see the May 16 issue of The Post and Mail. Don't have a subscription? Call (260) 244-5153 or subscribe to our e-edition. For breaking news, sports updates and additional coverage, bookmark the homepage and find us on facebook and twitter.


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19 years in the hope and search, the radio feature of 808 State at Roskilde 1991 has finally surfaced. And I'm happy to share it with you here. Please move to sounds pages if you like.
http://soundcloud.com/selta/klubland-91 ... tival-1991
It is 20 minutes featuring interview, commentary and live recording at the venue. As produced and broadcasted by the national danish radio corp.
Apparently, and new to me, this was the first ever 808 State festival gig.
This reminds me. GRAHAM, would you please please surface the version of Pacific, which you used in gigs back then. As heard here and on the other 1990/91 gig recordings available on 808state.com. I understand it was ment as a backing track for live saxophone. But please.
The holiest of the holy grails.


text: and Donosaur I still disagree with your assessment that Chael outstruck Anderson in their first fight. He landed nothing of significance other than the couple good punches that he landed in the first round. Whereas Anderson landed some kicks to the body, legs, and dropped Sonnen with an elbow. And when you couple that with the fact that Anderson was most likely injured (and no, not everyone fights with injuries as significant as the one Anderson likely had), it doesn't really make Sonnen's striking seem impressive, even for that fight.


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The idea of aggregating the posts shared by Google Reader users to create a memetracker somewhere between TechMeme and Digg is not new. Mario Romero created a Facebook app called Feedheads that shows the most popular items shared by your friends, your groups and by all those who use the application.
ReadBurner doesn't focus on aggregating shared items from your friends and it's not restricted to Facebook: the application gets data from any shared items page. "In order to filter out the best stuff ReadBurner counts whenever an item is shared by multiple persons. Since Google Reader users can generally be described as very tech-aware, I think that over time lots of good stuff can come out of ReadBurner," explains the author of this project, Alexander Marktl. For now, most of the popular items are related to technology and a post can get at the top of the list if 20-30 people share it.
Louis Gray, who found this site in the referrer logs, thinks "there is a market for people looking for most popular shared items, and finding new people sharing what they read on Google Reader." It's not clear why Google Reader doesn't experiment with this idea, at least by de-duplicating the reading list and showing only once the posts shared by more people.
Answer: Identify these three insects
28 minutes ago


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It's not every day that we take fashion inspiration from Euro ski yuppies…but today is one day that we do. You see, Sunpocket shades experienced their first surge of popularity in the late '70s, when the sporty sunglasses were de rigueur on slopes from Switzerland to Sweden. The Kauai model was introduced after the brand's revival in 2011 and offers 100% UV-protection. The foldable frames feature lightweight, mirrored polycarbonate lenses that are virtually indestructible. Practical, portable, and très chic!
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It's your first day on the new job. You've got the programming chops, you're up on the latest tech, you're sitting at your workstation… now what? New Programmer's Survival Manual gives your career the jolt it needs to get going: essential industry skills to help you apply your raw programming talent and make a name for yourself. It's a no-holds-barred look at what really goes on in the office—and how to not only survive, but thrive in your first job and beyond.
Buy Now
About this Book
- 256 pages
- Published:
- Release: P1.0 (2011-11-16)
Programming at industry level requires new skills—you'll build programs that dwarf anything you've done on your own. This book introduces you to practices for working on large-scale, long-lived programs at a professional level of quality. You'll find out how to work efficiently with your current tools, and discover essential new tools.
But the tools are only part of the story; you've got to get street-smart too. Succeeding in the corporate working environment requires its own savvy. You'll learn how to navigate the office, work with your teammates, and how to deal with other people outside of your department. You'll understand where you fit into the big picture and how you contribute to the company's success. You'll also get a candid look at the tougher aspects of the job: stress, conflict, and office politics.
Finally, programming is a job you can do for the long haul. This book helps you look ahead to the years to come, and your future opportunities—either as a programmer or in another role you grow into.
There's nothing quite like the satisfaction of shipping a product and knowing, "I built that." Whether you work on embedded systems or web-based applications, in trendy technologies or legacy systems, this book helps you get from raw skill to an accomplished professional.
Contents and Extracts
- Professional Programming
- Program For Production
- Tip 1. Beat Up Your Code
- Tip 2. Insist on Correctness
- Tip 3. Design with Tests
- Tip 4. Tame Complexity
- Tip 5. Fail Gracefully excerpt
- Tip 6. Be Stylish
- Tip 7. Improve Legacy Code
- Tip 8. Review Code Early and Often
- Get Your Tools in Order
- Tip 9. Optimize Your Environment
- Tip 10. Speak Your Language Fluently
- Tip 11. Know Your Platform
- Tip 12. Automate Your Pain Away
- Tip 13. Control Time (and Timelines)
- Tip 14. Use The Source, Luke
- Program For Production
- People Skills
- Manage Thy Self
- Tip 15. Find a Mentor
- Tip 16. Own the Image You Project
- Tip 17. Be Visible excerpt
- Tip 18. Ace Your Performance Review
- Tip 19. Manage Your Stress
- Tip 20. Treat Your Body Right
- Teamwork
- Tip 21. Grok Personality Types
- Tip 22. Connect the Dots
- Tip 23. Work Together excerpt
- Tip 24. Meet Effectively
- Manage Thy Self
- The Corporate World
- Inside the Company
- Tip 25. Know Your Peeps
- Tip 26. Know Your (Corporate) Anatomy
- Mind Your Business
- Tip 27. Get with the Project
- Tip 28. Appreciate the Circle of (a Product's) Life
- Tip 29. Put Yourself in the Company's Shoes
- Tip 30. Identify Corporate Antipatterns
- Inside the Company
- Looking Forward
- Kaizen
- Tip 31. Mind Your Head excerpt
- Tip 32. Never Stop Learning
- Tip 33. Find Your Place
- Kaizen
Comments and Reviews
—Bob Martin President, Object Mentor, Inc., and author of "The Clean Coder"
I love the pragmatic tone and content.
—Sam Rose Computer science student, University of Glamorgan
A funny, honest, inside look at the ever-growing, ever-changing industry of writing code. If you just got handed your CS degree, this book is a must-have.
—Chad Dumler-Montplaisir Software developer
This book has everything I should have sought out to learn when I started in the industry. A must-read for new developers and a good read for everyone in the industry.
—Andy Keffalas Software engineer and lead team
An excellent overview of the "big picture" and the many facets of software development that a lot of new developers lack. A great primer for starting an exciting career in software development.


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A graphics system including a custom graphics and audio processor produces exciting 2D and 3D graphics and surround sound. The system includes a graphics and audio processor including a 3D graphics pipeline and an audio digital signal processor. The graphics pipeline renders and prepares images for display at least in part in response to polygon vertex attribute data and texel color data stored as a texture images in an associated memory. An efficient texturing pipeline arrangement achieves a relatively low chip-footprint by utilizing a single texture coordinate/data processing unit that interleaves the processing of logical direct and indirect texture coordinate data and a texture lookup data feedback path for "recirculating" indirect texture lookup data retrieved from a single texture retrieval unit back to the texture coordinate/data processing unit. Versatile indirect texture referencing is achieved by using the same texture coordinate/data processing unit to transform the recirculated texture lookup data into offsets that may be added to the texture coordinates of a direct texture lookup. A generalized indirect texture API function is provided that supports defining at least four indirect texture referencing operations and allows for selectively associating one of at least eight different texture images with each indirect texture defined. Retrieved indirect texture lookup data is processed as multi-bit binary data triplets of three, four, five, or eight bits. The data triplets are multiplied by a 3×2 texture coordinate offset matrix before being optionally combined with regular non-indirect coordinate data or coordinate data from a previous cycle/stage of processing. Values of the offset matrix elements are variable and may be dynamically defined for each cycle/stage using selected constants. Two additional variable matrix configurations are also defined containing element values obtained from current direct texture coordinates. Circuitry for optionally biasing and scaling retrieved texture data is also provided.
1. In a graphics system including a graphics processing pipeline that renders and displays images at least in part in response to primitive vertex data and texture data, a texture processing system for mapping a texture to a surface of a rendered image object, said texture processing system comprising:
a texture coordinate/data processing unit that interleaves processing of logical direct and indirect coordinate data;
a texture data retrieval unit connected to the coordinate/data processing unit, the texture data retrieval unit retrieving texture data; and
a data feedback path from the texture data retrieval unit to the texture coordinate/data processing unit to allow reuse of the texture coordinate/data processing unit in the same rendering pass;
wherein in response to a set of indirect texture coordinates the retrieval unit recirculates retrieved texture data back to the processing unit for deriving modified texture coordinates which are used in mapping a texture to a surface of a rendered image object.
2. The graphics system as set forth on
3. In a graphics system including a graphics processing pipeline that renders and displays images at least in part in response to polygon vertex data and texture data stored in a memory, the graphics processing pipeline having a texture subsystem for accessing and retrieving texture, the texture subsystem comprising a texture coordinate/data processing unit having: a) at least one binary data multiplier, at least one binary data accumulator and at least one control register for receiving instruction codes and/or data to control texture coordinate/data processing operations, b) a texture data retrieval unit connected to the coordinate/data processing unit, the texture data retrieval unit retrieving data stored in a texture memory, and c) a data feedback path from the texture data retrieval unit to the texture coordinate/data processing unit to retrieve texture data to the texture coordinate/data processing unit for further processing, wherein processing of direct texture coordinates is interleaved with processing of indirect texture coordinates to retrieve texture lookup data for use in deriving modified texture coordinates, a method for controlling the texture subsystem to perform one or more indirect texture referencing operations comprising the step of utilizing a generalized indirect-texture referencing API command function to place appropriate instruction codes and/or data in said control register(s), wherein said indirect-texture referencing function may be used to at least:
(i) define up to eight textures stored in a texture memory;
(ii) specify up to eight sets of texture coordinates;
(iii) define up to four indirect texture maps;
(iv) specify up to four indirect texture referencing operations to be performed;
(v) associate one of said eight textures with each indirect texture map; and
(vi) associate one of said eight sets of texture coordinates with each indirect texture maps.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application, Ser. No. 60/226,891, filed Aug. 23, 2000, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to computer graphics, and more particularly to interactive graphics systems such as home video game platforms. Still more particularly this invention relates to direct and indirect texture mapping/processing in a graphics system.
Many of us have seen films containing remarkably realistic dinosaurs, aliens, animated toys and other fanciful creatures. Such animations are made possible by computer graphics. Using such techniques, a computer graphics artist can specify how each object should look and how it should change in appearance over time, and a computer then models the objects and displays them on a display such as your television or a computer screen. The computer takes care of performing the many tasks required to make sure that each part of the displayed image is colored and shaped just right based on the position and orientation of each object in a scene, the direction in which light seems to strike each object, the surface texture of each object, and other factors.
Because computer graphics generation is complex, computer-generated three-dimensional graphics just a few years ago were mostly limited to expensive specialized flight simulators, high-end graphics workstations and supercomputers. The public saw some of the images generated by these computer systems in movies and expensive television advertisements, but most of us couldn't actually interact with the computers doing the graphics generation. All this has changed with the availability of relatively inexpensive 3D graphics platforms such as, for example, the Nintendo 64® and various 3D graphics cards now available for personal computers. It is now possible to interact with exciting 3D animations and simulations on relatively inexpensive computer graphics systems in your home or office.
A problem graphics system designers confronted in the past was how to create realistic looking surface detail on a rendered object without resorting to explicit modeling of the desired details with polygons or other geometric primitives. Although surface details can be simulated, for example, using myriad small triangles with interpolated shading between vertices, as the desired detail becomes finer and more intricate, explicit modeling with triangles or other primitives places high demands on the graphics system and becomes less practical. An alternative technique pioneered by E. Catmull and refined by J. F. Blinn and M. E. Newell is to "map" an image, either digitized or synthesized, onto a surface. (See "A Subdivision Algorithm for Computer Display of Curved Surfaces" by E. Catmull, Ph.D. Thesis, Report UTEC-CSc-74-133, Computer Science Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, December 1994 and "Texture and Reflection in Computer Generated Images" by J. F. Blinn and M. E. Newell, CACM, 19(10), October 1976, 452–457). This approach is known as texture mapping (or pattern mapping) and the image is called a texture map (or simply referred to as a texture). Alternatively, the texture map may be defined by a procedure rather than an image.
Typically, the texture map is defined within a 2D rectangular coordinate space and parameterized using a pair of orthogonal texture coordinates such, as for example, (u, v) or (s, t). Individual elements within the texture map are often called texels. At each rendered pixel, selected texels are used either to substitute for or to scale one or more material properties of the rendered object surface. This process is often referred to as texture mapping or "texturing."
Most 3-D graphics rendering systems now include a texturing subsystem for retrieving textures from memory and mapping the textures onto a rendered object surface. Sophisticated texturing effects utilizing indirect or multiple textures are also possible such as, for example, multi-texturing, meta-textures or texture tiling, but conventional approaches typically involve complex hardware arrangements such as using multiple separate texture retrieval/mapping circuits (units) where the output of one texturing circuit provides the input to a next texturing circuit. Such duplicated circuitry is essentially idle whenever such effects are not used. In on-chip graphics processing implementations, the additional circuitry requires more chip real-estate, can reduce yield and reliability, and may significantly add to the overall production cost of the system. Consequently, a further problem confronting graphics system designers is how to efficiently implement these more sophisticated texturing effects without associated increases in texture mapping hardware complexity.
One solution is to use a single texture addressing/mapping circuit and perform multiple texturing passes. Nominally, this may require at least generating a first set of texture addressing coordinates, accessing a first texture, storing the data retrieved in a temporary storage, and then regenerating the same set of texture coordinates again for use in computing new coordinates when accessing a second texture in the next or a subsequent texturing pass. Although this approach may reduce hardware complexity somewhat, it is fairly time consuming, requires generating/providing the same set of texture coordinates multiple times, and results in inefficient processing during mode changes (e.g., switching between direct and indirect texturing operational modes). Moreover, this approach results in a very course granularity in the data processing flow through the graphics rendering system—significantly affecting polygon fill rate.
To solve this problem and to provide an enhanced repertoire of texturing capabilities for a 3-D graphics system, the present invention provides a versatile texturing pipeline arrangement achieving a relatively low chip-footprint by utilizing a single texture address coordinate/data processing unit that interleaves the processing of logical direct and indirect texture coordinate data and provides a texture lookup data feedback path for "recirculating" retrieved indirect texture lookup data from a single texture retrieval unit back to the texture address coordinate/data processing unit. The interleaved coordinate processing and recirculated/feedback data arrangement of the present invention allow efficient processing of any number of logical direct and/or indirect texture mapping stages from a smaller number of hardware texture processing units while preserving a fine granularity in the overall data processing flow.
In accordance with one aspect provided by the present invention, the recirculating/data-feedback arrangement of the texturing pipeline portion of the graphics processing enables efficient use and reuse of a single texture lookup (retrieval) unit for both logical direct and indirect texture processing without requiring multiple rendering passes and/or temporary texture storage hardware.
In accordance with another aspect provided by the invention, the texture address (coordinate) processing hardware is arranged to perform various coordinate computations based on the recirculated/feedback texture data and to process both direct and indirect coordinate data together in a substantially continuous interleaved flow (e.g., to avoid any "course granularity" in the processing flow of graphics data throughout the system). This unique interleaved processing/data-recirculating texture pipeline arrangement enables efficient and flexible texture coordinate processing and texture retrieval/mapping operations while using a minimum amount of hardware for providing an enhanced variety of possible direct and indirect texturing applications.
In accordance with another aspect provided by this invention, an effectively continuous processing of coordinate data for performing logical direct and indirect texture lookups is achieved by interleaving the processing of both direct and indirect coordinate data per pixel within a single texture coordinate processing hardware unit. For example, a selector can be used to look for "bubbles" (unused cycles) in the indirect texture coordinate stream, and to insert computed texture coordinate data in such "bubbles" for maximum utilization of the texture mapper.
In accordance with yet another aspect provided by the invention, a hardware implemented texturing pipeline includes a texture lookup data feedback path by which the same texture data retrieval unit can be used and reused to:
In accordance with yet another aspect provided by this invention, a set of texture mapping parameters is presented to a texture mapping unit which is controlled to perform a texture mapping operation. The results of this texture mapping operation are recirculated and used to present a further set of texture mapping parameters which are fed back to the input of the same texture mapping unit. The texture mapping unit performs a further texture mapping operation in response to these recirculated parameters to provide a further texture mapping result.
The first texture mapping operation may comprise an indirect texture mapping operation, and a second texture mapping operation may comprise a direct texture mapping operation. The processing and presentation of texture mapping parameters to a texture mapping unit for performing direct texture mapping operations may be interleaved with the processing and presentation of texture mapping parameters for performing indirect direct texture mapping operations.
In accordance with a further aspect provided by this invention, a method of indirect texture referencing uses indirect texture coordinates to generate a data triplet which is then used to derive texture coordinates. The derived texture coordinates are then used to map predetermined texture data onto a primitive. In accordance with yet a further aspect provided by the invention, the retrieved data triplet stored in texture memory is used to derive a set of modified texture coordinates which are then used to reference texture data stored in the texture memory corresponding to a predetermined texture.
In accordance with yet another aspect provided by this invention, a graphics system includes:
In accordance with yet another aspect provided by this invention, a texture processing system for selectively mapping texture data corresponding to one or more different textures and/or texture characteristics to surfaces of rendered and displayed images includes a texture coordinate offset matrix arrangement producing a set of offset texture coordinates by multiplying indirect texture data by elements of a matrix, wherein one or more elements of the matrix are a mathematical function of one or more predetermined direct texture coordinates and one or more elements of the matrix can be selectively loaded.
In accordance with yet another aspect provided by this invention, a set of indirect texture coordinates are used to retrieve data triplets stored in texture memory, and a set of modified texture coordinates are derived based at least in part on the retrieved data triplets. The set of modified texture coordinates is then used for retrieving data stored in texture memory. These steps are reiteratively repeated for a predetermined number of data retrievals, and a set of derived texture coordinates resulting from the repetition is used to map predetermined texture data onto a primitive.
In accordance with yet another aspect provided by the invention, a set of generalized API (application program interface) indirect texture mapping functions are defined and supported by the texturing pipeline apparatus which permits specifying arguments for performing at least four indirect-texture operations (indirect lookup stages) and for selectively associating one of at least eight pre-defined textures and one of at least eight pre-defined sets of texture coordinates with each indirect texturing operation. The defined API indirect texture mapping functions also permit specifying texture scale, bias and coordinate wrap factors as well as a variety of texture coordinate offset multiplication matrix configurations and functions for computing new/modified texture lookup coordinates within the texturing pipeline.
In accordance with yet a further aspect provided by the invention, a texture address (coordinate) processing unit transforms retrieved texture color/data from an indirect texture lookup into offsets that are added to the texture coordinates of a regular (non-direct) texture lookup. The feedback path provides texture color/data output from a texture retrieval unit to a texture coordinate processing unit used to generate/provide texture coordinates to the texture retrieval unit.
In accordance with yet a further aspect provided by the invention, a single texture address processing unit comprising at least a pair of FIFO buffers is utilized for interleaving and synchronizing the processing of both "direct" (regular non-indirect) and "indirect" texture coordinates, and a single texture data retrieval unit is used for retrieving and recirculating indirect-texture lookup data back to the texture address processing unit for computing new/modified texture lookup coordinates. In an example embodiment, the retrieved indirect-texture lookup data is processed as multi-bit binary data triplets of three, four, five, or eight bits. The data triplets are multiplied by a 3×2 element texture coordinate offset matrix before being optionally combined with direct coordinate data, or with computed data from a previous cycle/stage of texture address processing, to compute modified offset texture coordinates for accessing a texture map in main memory. Values of the offset matrix elements are programmable and may be dynamically defined for successive processing cycles/stages using selected predetermined constants or values based on direct coordinates. A variety of offset matrix configurations are selectable including at least three offset matrix configurations containing elements based on programmable constants and two "variable" matrix configurations containing elements based on a values from a set of direct texture coordinates. Circuitry for optionally biasing and scaling retrieved texture data is also provided.
These and other features and advantages provided by the invention will be better and more completely understood by referring to the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments in conjunction with the drawings. The file of this patent contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Patent and Trademark Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee. The drawings include the following figures:
In this example, system 50 is capable of processing, interactively in real time, a digital representation or model of a three-dimensional world. System 50 can display some or all of the world from any arbitrary viewpoint. For example, system 50 can interactively change the viewpoint in response to real time inputs from handheld controllers 52 a, 52 b or other input devices. This allows the game player to see the world through the eyes of someone within or outside of the world. System 50 can be used for applications that do not require real time 3D interactive display (e.g., 2D display generation and/or non-interactive display), but the capability of displaying quality 3D images very quickly can be used to create very realistic and exciting game play or other graphical interactions.
To play a video game or other application using system 50, the user first connects a main unit 54 to his or her color television set 56 or other display device by connecting a cable 58 between the two. Main unit 54 produces both video signals and audio signals for controlling color television set 56. The video signals are what controls the images displayed on the television screen 59, and the audio-signals are played back as sound through television stereo loudspeakers 61L, 61R.
The user also needs to connect main unit 54 to a power source. This power source may be a conventional AC adapter (not shown) that plugs into a standard home electrical wall socket and converts the house current into a lower DC voltage signal suitable for powering the main unit 54. Batteries could be used in other implementations.
The user may use hand controllers 52 a, 52 b to control main unit 54. Controls 60 can be used, for example, to specify the direction (up or down, left or right, closer or further away) that a character displayed on television 56 should move within a 3D world. Controls 60 also provide input for other applications (e.g., menu selection, pointer/cursor control, etc.). Controllers 52 can take a variety of forms. In this example, controllers 52 shown each include controls 60 such as joysticks, push buttons and/or directional switches. Controllers 52 may be connected to main unit 54 by cables or wirelessly via electromagnetic (e.g., radio or infrared) waves.
To play an application such as a game, the user selects an appropriate storage medium 62 storing the video game or other application he or she wants to play, and inserts that storage medium into a slot 64 in main unit 54. Storage medium 62 may, for example, be a specially encoded and/or encrypted optical and/or magnetic disk. The user may operate a power switch 66 to turn on main unit 54 and cause the main unit to begin running the video game or other application based on the software stored in the storage medium 62. The user may operate controllers 52 to provide inputs to main unit 54. For example, operating a control 60 may cause the game or other application to start. Moving other controls 60 can cause animated characters to move in different directions or change the user's point of view in a 3D world. Depending upon the particular software stored within the storage medium 62, the various controls 60 on the controller 52 can perform different functions at different times.
In this example, main processor 110 (e.g., an enhanced IBM Power PC 750) receives inputs from handheld controllers 108 (and/or other input devices) via graphics and audio processor 114. Main processor 110 interactively responds to user inputs, and executes a video game or other program supplied, for example, by external storage media 62 via a mass storage access device 106 such as an optical disk drive. As one example, in the context of video game play, main processor 110 can perform collision detection and animation processing in addition to a variety of interactive and control functions.
In this example, main processor 110 generates 3D graphics and audio commands and sends them to graphics and audio processor 114. The graphics and audio processor 114 processes these commands to generate interesting visual images on display 59 and interesting stereo sound on stereo loudspeakers 61R, 61L or other suitable sound-generating devices.
Example system 50 includes a video encoder 120 that receives image signals from graphics and audio processor 114 and converts the image signals into analog and/or digital video signals suitable for display on a standard display device such as a computer monitor or home color television set 56. System 50 also includes an audio codec (compressor/decompressor) 122 that compresses and decompresses digitized audio signals and may also convert between digital and analog audio signaling formats as needed. Audio codec 122 can receive audio inputs via a buffer 124 and provide them to graphics and audio processor 114 for processing (e.g., mixing with other audio signals the processor generates and/or receives via a streaming audio output of mass storage access device 106). Graphics and audio processor 114 in this example can store audio related information in an audio memory 126 that is available for audio tasks. Graphics and audio processor 114 provides the resulting audio output signals to audio codec 122 for decompression and conversion to analog signals (e.g., via buffer amplifiers 128L, 128R) so they can be reproduced by loudspeakers 61L, 61R.
Graphics and audio processor 114 has the ability to communicate with various additional devices that may be present within system 50. For example, a parallel digital bus 130 may be used to communicate with mass storage access device 106 and/or other components. A serial peripheral bus 132 may communicate with a variety of peripheral or other devices including, for example:
3D graphics processor 154 performs graphics processing tasks. Audio digital signal processor 156 performs audio processing tasks. Display controller 164 accesses image information from main memory 112 and provides it to video encoder 120 for display on display device 56. Audio interface and mixer 160 interfaces with audio codec 122, and can also mix audio from different sources (e.g., streaming audio from mass storage access device 106, the output of audio DSP 156, and external audio input received via audio codec 122). Processor interface 150 provides a data and control interface between main processor 110 and graphics and audio processor 114.
Memory interface 152 provides a data and control interface between graphics and audio processor 114 and memory 112. In this example, main processor 110 accesses main memory 112 via processor interface 150 and memory interface 152 that are part of graphics and audio processor 114. Peripheral controller 162 provides a data and control interface between graphics and audio processor 114 and the various peripherals mentioned above. Audio memory interface 158 provides an interface with audio memory 126.
Command processor 200 parses display commands received from main processor 110—obtaining any additional data necessary to process the display commands from shared memory 112. The command processor 200 provides a stream of vertex commands to graphics pipeline 180 for 2D and/or 3D processing and rendering. Graphics pipeline 180 generates images based on these commands. The resulting image information may be transferred to main memory 112 for access by display controller/video interface unit 164—which displays the frame buffer output of pipeline 180 on display 56.
Command processor 200 performs command processing operations 200 a that convert attribute types to floating point format, and pass the resulting complete vertex polygon data to graphics pipeline 180 for rendering/rasterization. A programmable memory arbitration circuitry 130 (see
Transform unit 300 performs a variety of 2D and 3D transform and other operations 300 a (see
Setup/rasterizer 400 includes a setup unit which receives vertex data from transform unit 300 and sends triangle setup information to one or more rasterizer units (400 b) performing edge rasterization, texture coordinate rasterization and color rasterization.
Texture unit 500 (which may include an on-chip texture memory (TMEM) 502) performs various tasks related to texturing including for example:
Graphics pipeline 180 includes a versatile texturing pipeline architecture that facilitates the implementation of various direct and indirect texturing features. As shown in
Reuse of units 500 a, 500 b, 500 c can be used to provide a variety of interesting effects including multitexturing for example. Furthermore, the present invention supports indirect texturing through reuse/recirculation of these components. In an example hardware implementation, texture address coordinate/bump processing block 500 b and indirect texture data processing block 500 c are portions of a single texture coordinate/data processing unit and the texturing pipeline is configured so as to allow retrieved texture indirect lookup data from texture unit 500 a to be provided back via data feedback connection 500 d to texture address coordinate/bump processor 500 b/500 c. The texture coordinate/data processing unit transforms texture data retrieved from an indirect texture lookup into offsets that are then added to texture coordinates for another (regular/non-indirect) texture lookup.
Using the above described feedback path arrangement, retrieved texture data can effectively be "recirculated" back into the texture processing pipeline for further processing/computation to obtain new/modified texture lookup coordinates. This recirculated/recycled texture lookup data arrangement enables efficient and flexible indirect texture mapping/processing operations providing an enhanced variety of indirect texture applications. A few of the various applications of indirect texture mapping/processing which the texturing pipeline can provide include, for example:
Texture unit 500 outputs filtered texture values to the texture environment unit 600 for texture environment processing (600 a). Texture environment unit (TEV) 600 blends polygon and texture color/alpha/depth, and can also perform texture fog processing (600 b) to achieve inverse range based fog effects. Texture environment unit 600 can provide multiple stages to perform a variety of other interesting environment-related functions based for example on color/alpha modulation, embossing, detail texturing, texture swapping, clamping, and depth blending. Texture environment unit 600 can also combine (e.g., subtract) textures in hardware in one pass. For more details concerning the texture environment unit 600, see commonly assigned application Ser. No. 09/722,367, entitled "Recirculating Shade Tree Blender for a Graphics System" and its corresponding provisional application Ser. No. 60/226,888, filed Aug. 23, 2000, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Pixel engine 700 performs depth (z) compare (700 a) and pixel blending (700 b). In this example, pixel engine 700 stores data into an embedded (on-chip) frame buffer memory 702. Graphics pipeline 180 may include one or more embedded DRAM memories 702 to store frame buffer and/or texture information locally. Depth (z) compares can also be performed at an earlier stage 700 a′ in the graphics pipeline 180 depending on the rendering mode currently in effect (e.g., z compares can be performed earlier if alpha blending is not required). The pixel engine 700 includes a copy operation 700 c that periodically writes on-chip frame buffer 702 to main memory 112 for access by display/video interface unit 164. This copy operation 700 c can also be used to copy embedded frame buffer 702 contents to textures in the main memory 112 for dynamic texture synthesis effects. Anti-aliasing and other filtering can be performed during the copy-out operation. The frame buffer output of graphics pipeline 180 (which is ultimately stored in main memory 112) is read each frame by display/video interface unit 164. Display controller/video interface 164 provides digital RGB pixel values for display on display 102.
The Texture Address Processor 6008 computes K sets of new/modified direct texture addresses (coordinates), ADDR_C0 through ADDR_C(K−1), based upon a predetermined function of the indirect texture lookup data values and the direct texture coordinates. Each of the K computed sets of direct texture coordinates (addresses), ADDR_C0 through ADDR_C(K−1), is passed to corresponding logical texture lookup units C0 (6010) and C1 (6012) through C(K−1) (6014). On one example implementation, these logical texture units C0-C(K−1) can be provided by reusing the same physical texture mapper used to provide logical texture units A0-A(N−1). Each texture lookup unit, C0 through C(K−1), uses the received coordinates to look-up a texel value in a corresponding texture map.
K sets of texture lookup values, DATA_C0 through DATA_C(K−1), resulting from the texture lookups are then provided to a pixel shader (6016). Pixel Shader 6004 receives the K sets of received texture values, along with zero, one, or more sets of rasterized (Gouraud shaded) colors. Pixel Shader 6016 then uses the received texture values, DATA_C0 to DATA_C(K−1), according to a predetermined shading function to produce color output values that may be passed, for example, to a video display frame buffer.
To aid in understanding,
In an example indirect texture lookup operation, as illustrated in
In an example implementation of the texture processing circuitry of the graphics pipeline 180, texture processing is accomplished utilizing the same texture address processor and the same texture retrieval unit. To maximize efficient use of the texture processing hardware and avoid coarse granularity in the overall data processing flow through the pipeline, the processing of logical direct and indirect texture addresses (coordinates) and the lookup (retrieval) of texture data is performed in a substantially continuous and interleaved fashion. Indirect texture coordinate sets generated by rasterizer 7000 per pixel are passed directly to a single texture retrieval unit 7012 via switches S0 (7002) and S1 (7010), while non-indirect (logical direct) coordinate sets are placed in Direct Coordinate FIFO (dFIFO) 7006.
In an example implementation of the graphics pipeline, texture retrieval unit 7008 operates on at least one texture per clock and is capable of handling multiple texturing contexts simultaneously by maintaining state information and cache storage for more than one texture. Retrieved indirect texture data, DATA_A0 through DATA_A(N−1), is passed via feedback path 7018 to Indirect Data FIFO (iFIFO) 7004 via switch S2, where the retrieved indirect texture data is stored until needed. Direct texture coordinates are passed to Direct Coordinate FIFO (dFIFO) 7006 via switch S0 where they are stored until needed. In the above example discussed with respect to
The computed K sets of texture coordinates, ADDR_C0 through ADDR_C(K−1) are output sequentially over K clocks. Switch S1 (7010) interleaves the computed texture coordinate data (sets) into the incoming indirect texture coordinate stream for providing to texture unit 7012. It does this by looking for unused or idle cycles ("bubbles") in the incoming indirect texture coordinate stream, and inserting the computed texture coordinate data (sets) during these cycles. Switch S2 (7014) routes the resulting texture lookup data, DATA_C0 to DATA_C(K−1), as well as the rasterized colors to a pixel shader 7016. Pixel shader (TEV) 7016 applies a predetermined shading function and outputs a single set of color values which may then be passed, for example, to a video display frame buffer.
In an example hardware implementation, the operation of the texture address processor may be simplified by utilizing the following two exemplary operational constraints:
Referring back to
As also shown by
As shown in
Next as shown in
As illustrated by the example in
System 50 first stores a texture image/data in texture memory 502 for use as an indirect texture (block 800). Based on one or more API command functions (blocks 802–810), commander processor 200 then provides a specified set of indirect texture coordinates to texture retrieval unit 500 a (see
The data retrieved from the indirect-texture lookup operation is "recirculated" back to the same texture address (coordinate) bump/processing circuitry 500 b/500 c via feedback connection 500 d for further processing. Texture bump/processing circuitry 500 b/500 c then use the retrieved indirect-texture lookup data as coordinates offset factors in computing new texture coordinates based upon a current regular (non-indirect) texture coordinate and/or pre-defined texture scaling, bias and rotation data (block 812). The new/modified coordinates are then used as regular direct (non-indirect) coordinates for mapping a texture to a polygon (block 814;
In an example implementation of system 50, the indirect and direct texturing operations described above are coordinated with corresponding stages of a recirculating shader within texture environment unit 600. See commonly assigned copending application Ser. No. 09/722,367, entitled "Recirculating Shade Tree Blender For A Graphics System".
In an example embodiment of the present invention, TEV unit 600 allows programmable color data blending operations for accomplishing polygon texturing and shading during discrete processing stages. These stages are pre-defined by an appropriate API command function. In the example embodiment, up to sixteen TEV processing stages can be pre-defined. Each stage is assigned a processing order ID (number) and processed in sequence. In this example, selected TEV processing stages 910 are associated with a set of texture lookup parameters 912 specifying a regular texture lookup operation using a texture coordinate ID 914 and an associated texture map ID 916. The appropriate texture is looked up using the associated coordinates and the retrieved texture data is provided for the corresponding TEV stage blending. While
The list of texture coordinate/texture map pairs are processed by recirculating texture unit 500 and texture environment unit 600 in an order specified by a GXSetTevOrder command using a number of recirculating stages as set by the GXSetNumTev stages command. In the particular example shown in
In the
As shown in
This function is used to specify the texture coordinate and texture map to be used with a given indirect lookup.
In more detail, example arguments are:
The above function associates a specified texture map and a texture coordinate with an indirect texture map ID name. It is used to specify a texture coordinate and a texture map to use with a given indirect lookup. In one example embodiment, a specified texture map is used as either an indirect or a direct texture, but not both, although alternative arrangements are possible.
Example Usage:
GXSetTevIndirect (GXSetIndirectTexture)
This is the general-purpose function used to control how the results from an indirect lookup will be used to modify a given regular TEV stage lookup.
In more detail, example arguments are:
The above function allows setting all of the various parameters for processing a given indirect texture associated with a particular TEV stage. The function associates an indirect texture map with a TEV color combining stage, specifies how the retrieved indirect-texture lookup data (color values) will be converted to texture coordinate offsets (i.e. 3, 4, 5 or 8 bit format), selects texture offset matrix and texture scaling values, specifies texture-coordinate wrap parameters and whether the computed new/modified coordinates should be used for level of detail (LOD) with mip-mapped textures. The function also allows selecting whether the computed output from the texture processing logic 512 (see below) during a previous stage is added to text coordinate in a current stage.
Example Usage:
This function lets one set one of the three static indirect matrices and the associated scale factor. The indirect matrix and scale is used to process the results of an indirect lookup in order to produce offsets to use during a regular lookup. The matrix is multiplied by the [S T U] offsets that have been extracted (and optionally biased) from the indirect lookup color. In this matrix-vector multiply, the matrix is on the left and the [S T U] column vector is on the right.
The matrix values are stored in the hardware as a sign and 10 fractional bits (two's complement). Thus the smallest number that can be stored is −1 and the largest is (1−1/1024) or approximately 0.999. Since +1 cannot be stored, you may consider dividing all the matrix values by 2 (thus +1 becomes +0.5) and adding one to the scale value in order to compensate.
In more detail, example arguments are:
The above example API function sets matrix M and scale values in lookup data processing logic (proc) 512. The retrieved indirect texture lookup data (e.g. texture coordinate offsets s, t, u) is multiplied by Offset Matrix 525 (M) and the scaling factor 526. The OffsetMatrix is an API function parameter specifying the 3×2 element matrix elements used within indirect processing logic 512 (see below). In a preferred embodiment, the matrix elements are within the range (−1,1). ScaleExp is a parameter specifying power-of-two exponent used for setting the scale factor. The preferred range of ScaleExp is (−32, 32).
Example Usage:
The above function associates a regular non-indirect texture map and a texture coordinate with an indirect texture map ID name.
Example Usage:
This function is used to set how many indirect lookups will take place. The results from these indirect lookups may then be used to alter the lookups for any number of regular TEV stages.
GXSetNumIndStages u8 Stages
The above function sets the number of indirect texture lookup stages.
Example Usage:
This function enables a consecutive number of Texture Environment (TEV) stages. The output pixel color (before fogging and blending) is the result from the last stage. The last TEV stage must write to register GX_TEVPREV, see GXSetTevColorOp and GXSetTevAlphaOp. At least one TEV stage must be enabled. If a Z-texture is enabled, the Z texture must be looked up on the last stage, see GXSetZTexture.
The association of lighting colors, texture coordinates, and texture maps with a TEV stage is set using GXSetTevOrder. The number of texture coordinates available is set using GXSetNumTexGens. The number of color channels available is set using GXSetNumChans.
GXInit will set nStages to 1.
The above function sets the number of TEV color blending stages. This function sets parameters associated with the amount of recirculation being performed by texture unit 500 and texture environment unit 600, as well as the sequence the recirculating stages are performed in.
Example Usage:
This function is used when one wishes to share a texcoord between an indirect stage and a regular TEV stage. It allows one to scale down the texture coordinates for use with an indirect map that is smaller than the corresponding regular map.
In more detail, example arguments are:
The above function sets a value for scaling the indirect texture coordinates. The texture coordinates are scaled after a perspective divide and before addition to the regular non-direct texture coordinates.
Example Usage:
This function is used when one wishes to use the same texture coordinates for one TEV stage as were computed in the previous stage. This is only useful when the previous stage texture coordinates took more than one stage to compute, as is the same for GXSetTevIndBumpST.
Example Arguments:
Example Usage:
This function sets up an environment-mapped bump-mapped indirect lookup. The indirect map specifies offsets in (S, T) space. This kind of lookup requires 3 TEV stages to compute. The first two TEV stages should disable texture lookup. The third stage is where the lookup is actually performed. One may use GXSetTevIndRepeat in subsequent TEV stages to reuse the computed texture coordinates for additional lookups. The surface geometry must provide normal/binormal/tangents at each vertex.
Example Arguments:
Example Usage:
This function sets up an environment-mapped bump-mapped indirect lookup. The indirect map specifies offsets in object (X, Y, Z) space. This kind of lookup requires only one TEV stages to compute. The indirect matrix must be loaded with a transformation for normals from object space to eye space. The surface geometry need only provide regular normals at each vertex.
Example Arguments:
Example Usage:
This function is used to turn off all indirect offsetting for the specified regular TEV stage.
Example Arguments:
Example Usage:
This function allows an indirect map to warp or distort the texture coordinates used with a regular TEV stage lookup. The indirect map should have 8-bit offsets, which may be signed or unsigned. "Signed" actually means "biased," and thus if signed_offsets is GX_TRUE, 128 is subtracted from the values looked up from the indirect map. The indirect results can either modify or completely replace the regular texture coordinates. One may use the indirect matrix and scale to modify the indirect offsets.
Example Usage:
This function may be used to implemented tiled texturing using indirect textures. Note that the regular texture map only specifies tile definitions. The actual number of texels to be applied to the polygon is a function of the base tile size and the size of the indirect map. In order to set the proper texture coordinate scale, one must call GXSetTexCoordScaleManually. One can also use GXSetIndTexScale in order to use the same texcoord for the indirect stage as the regular TEV stage.
Example Arguments:
Example Usage:
This function is used when one wishes to use the same texture coordinates for one TEV stage as were computed in the previous stage. This is useful when texture coordinates require more than one processing cycle/stage to compute.
Example Arguments:
Example Usage:
This functino sets the parameters for the alpha compare function which uses the alpha output from the last active Texture Environment (TEVk) stage. The number of active TEV stages are specified using GXSetTevStages.
The output alpha can be used in the blending equation (see GXSetBlendMode) to control how source and destination (frame buffer) pixels are combined.
The alpha compare operation is:
The Z compare may occur either before or after texturing. In the case where Z compare is performed before texturing, the Z is written based only the Z test. The color is written if both the Z test and alpha test pass.
When Z compare is done after texturing, the color and Z are written if both the Z test and alpha test pass. When using texture to make cutout shapes (like billboard trees) that need to be correctly Z buffered, one should perform Z buffering after texturing.
Example Arguments:
Example Usage:
In one preferred example embodiment, texture unit 500 and texture environment unit 600 have been implemented in hardware on a graphics chip, and have been designed to provide efficient recirculation of texture mapping operations as described above. In more detail, the texture address coordinate/bump processing block 500 b/500 c is implemented in hardware to provide a set of appropriate inputs to texture mapping block 500 a and texture environment block 600 a. Blocks 500 b, 500 c in conjunction with sequencing logic use to recirculate blocks 500 a, 600 a present a sequence of appropriate inputs at appropriate times with respect to various recirculating stages to efficiently reuse blocks 500 a, 600 a—in some cases creating a feedback loop via path 500 d wherein the output of block 500 a is modified and reapplied to its input in a later sequential recirculating processing stage. This results in a logical sequence of distinct texture processing stages that, in the preferred embodiment, are implemented through reuse/recirculation of the same hardware circuits over and over again. The resulting functionality provides any desired number of logical texture mapping processing stages without requiring additional hardware. Providing additional hardware for each of the various texture processing stages would increase speed performance but at the penalty of additional chip real estate and associated complexity. Using the techniques disclosed herein, any number of logical texture mapping stages can be provided using a single set of texture mapping hardware. Of course, in other implementations to improve speed performance, it would be possible to replicate the texture mapping hardware so that multiple texture mapping stages could be performed in parallel rather than in seriatim as shown in
Referring to the
Control register data received from command processor 200 is stored in registers 503 for controlling indirect texturing operations. Some of the stored control register data is utilized, for example, for selecting and controlling various computational operations that take place within coordinate/lookup data processing logic 512 (proc) (as indicated, for example, by register data lines 520 in
Incoming "recycled" indirect texture lookup data received via texture color/data feedback bus 518 (col) from texture unit 500 a is placed in FIFO unit 508 (ififo). Direct texture coordinates are aligned at the st output of FIFO unit 506 (dfifo) with the incoming indirect texture lookup data at the col output 519 of FIFO unit 506 (dfifo). Synchronizing circuit 510 (sync2) performs further coordinate data alignment and assembles a complete set of operands to provide to processing unit 512 (proc) for indirect texture processing operations based on the control logic codes stored in registers 503. These operands include, for example, multiplication coefficients/constants for the texture offset matrix elements and lookup data formatting parameters for performing texture coordinate computations within processing unit 512 (proc). After coordinate data and retrieved indirect-texture lookup data is processed by proc unit 512, the resulting data (e.g., new/modified texture coordinates) is passed to synchronizing circuit 504 (sync1), where the data is interleaved with a stream of indirect texture coordinates from synchronization unit 502 circuit (sync0) and provided to texture retrieval unit 500 a.
Referring now to the
In a preferred example embodiment of the present invention, the Format unit logic extracts three texture offset data components of 8, 5, 4, or 3-bits from a 24-bit data triplet on the col input bus 519 and extracts 5-bit bump-alpha select values (bs, bt, and bu)for possible output on the xym bus. Bypass multiplexer 532 is provided to allow selection of one bump-alpha value, bs, bt, or bu, to be output on the pipeline xym bus. An optional bias value may be applied to the data triplets by bias unit 523. For example, if eight-bit data triplet components were selected, then a bias of −128 could be applied by bias unit 523 to allow for signed offsets. (If data triplet components of less than eight bits are used, then a bias of +1, for example, is applied).
A matrix select multiplexer 524 allows loading selected direct coordinates or constants for performing a matrix multiplication operation 525. In addition, a modulo wrap unit 527 is provided to optionally perform coordinate wrap operations on an associated regular direct texture coordinate. For example, using an API function, one may specify a wrap value of 0, 16, 32, 64, 128, or 256.
A matrix multiplication operation 525 is performed on a data triplet using matrix elements M. For example, the data triplet is loaded into a three-element vector data register V associated with matrix multiplication operation 525 and then multiplied by matrix elements M (
Referring once again to
Wrap logic 527 optionally applies a (modulo) wrap to the direct texture coordinates before the final add. The wrap size is a programmable power of 2 specified, for example, by an API function through the control logic registers.
Once the above processing operations have taken place, the computed offsets are added to the current direct texture coordinates using adder 528. The result becomes the new/modified texture coordinate that is used for further direct or indirect texture lookup. Stage output re-circulation buffer 530 is provided to allow optionally adding the computation results from a previous processing stage may be optionally added. The resulting computed new/modified coordinates are passed to the texture retrieval unit 500 a.
The following table shows non-limiting example control register descriptions and formats for controlling operations within indirect-texture/bump unit 500 b/500 c and processing logic 512:
In the proc logic unit, for the control registers shown in
Mode Changes
In an example implementation, operational mode changes within the pipeline are handled by interleaving a control register address-data pair (which contains, for example, the address of a particular hardware logic control register associated with some circuitry within the pipeline and the appropriate control data/instruction for controlling that circuitry) with rasterization data output by the rasterizer. This control register address-data pair information trickles down the graphics pipeline with the data and remains interleaved in the correct order with the data that it affects. Consequently, most operational mode changes may be effected without "flushing" (purging) the pipeline. Although mode changes may be complicated somewhat by the fact that there could be multiple paths data within the pipeline for control register data to reach its ultimate destination, more efficient operation may be obtained, for example, by adherence to the following exemplary operational constraints:
In an example implementation of the present invention, the possible texturing contexts are defined as either a direct context or an indirect context. Direct contexts may handle only direct texture data, and indirect contexts may handle only indirect texture data. A change in the definition of one or more contexts between, for example, indirect to direct or direct to indirect operation, may require a partial flush of the graphics pipeline.
As will now be appreciated, the recirculating direct and indirect texture processing architecture described above provides an extremely flexible and virtually unlimited functionality. An application programmer can invoke any number of logical texture mapping stages to provide any desired sequence of any number of direct or indirect texture mapping operations. This powerful capability allows the application programmer to create dynamically a number of complex and interesting texture mapping visual effects.
As one example, indirect textures can be used for texture warping effects. In this example case, the indirect texture is used to stretch or otherwise distort the surface texture. A dynamic distortion effect can be achieved by swapping indirect maps (or by modifying the indirect map or coordinates). One may apply this effect to a given surface within a scene, or one can take this one step further and apply the effect to the entire scene. In the latter case, the scene is first rendered normally and then copied to a texture map. One then draws a big rectangle that is then mapped to the screen using an indirect texture. Texture warping can be used to produce shimmering effects, special lens effects, and various psychedelic effects.
As another example, the indirect feature also allows the drawing texture tile maps. In this scenario, one texture map holds the base definition for a variety of tiles. An indirect texture map is then used to place specific tiles in specific locations over a 2D surface. With indirect textures, only one polygon needs to be drawn.
Certain of the above-described system components 50 could be implemented as other than the home video game console configuration described above. For example, one could run graphics application or other software written for system 50 on a platform with a different configuration that emulates system 50 or is otherwise compatible with it. If the other platform can successfully emulate, simulate and/or provide some or all of the hardware and software resources of system 50, then the other platform will be able to successfully execute the software.
As one example, an emulator may provide a hardware and/or software configuration (platform) that is different from the hardware and/or software configuration (platform) of system 50. The emulator system might include software and/or hardware components that emulate or simulate some or all of hardware and/or software components of the system for which the application software was written. For example, the emulator system could comprise a general purpose digital computer such as a personal computer, which executes a software emulator program that simulates the hardware and/or firmware of system 50.
Some general purpose digital computers (e.g., IBM or MacIntosh personal computers and compatibles) are now equipped with 3D graphics cards that provide 3D graphics pipelines compliant with DirectX or other standard 3D graphics command APIs. They may also be equipped with stereophonic sound cards that provide high quality stereophonic sound based on a standard set of sound commands. Such multimedia-hardware-equipped personal computers running emulator software may have sufficient performance to approximate the graphics and sound performance of system 50. Emulator software controls the hardware resources on the personal computer platform to simulate the processing, 3D graphics, sound, peripheral and other capabilities of the home video game console platform for which the game programmer wrote the game software.
As one example, in the case where the software is written for execution on a platform using an IBM PowerPC or other specific processor and the host 1201 is a personal computer using a different (e.g., Intel) processor, emulator 1303 fetches one or a sequence of binary-image program instructions from storage medium 62 and converts these program instructions to one or more equivalent Intel binary-image program instructions. The emulator 1303 also fetches and/or generates graphics commands and audio commands intended for processing by the graphics and audio processor 114, and converts these commands into a format or formats that can be processed by hardware and/or software graphics and audio processing resources available on host 1201. As one example, emulator 1303 may convert these commands into commands that can be processed by specific graphics and/or or sound hardware of the host 1201 (e.g. using standard DirectX, OpenGL and/or sound APIs).
An emulator 1303 used to provide some or all of the features of the video game system described above may also be provided with a graphic user interface (GUI) that simplifies or automates the selection of various options and screen modes for games run using the emulator. In one example, such an emulator 1303 may further include enhanced functionality as compared with the host platform for which the software was originally intended.
In the case where particular graphics support hardware within an emulator does not include the example indirect texture referencing features and functions illustrated by
While the
A number of program modules including emulator 1303 may be stored on the hard disk 1211, removable magnetic disk 1215, optical disk 1219 and/or the ROM 1252 and/or the RAM 1254 of system memory 1205. Such program modules may include an operating system providing graphics and sound APIs, one or more application programs, other program modules, program data and game data. A user may enter commands and information into personal computer system 1201 through input devices such as a keyboard 1227, pointing device 1229, microphones, joysticks, game controllers, satellite dishes, scanners, or the like. These and other input devices can be connected to processing unit 1203 through a serial port interface 1231 that is coupled to system bus 1207, but may be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port Fire wire bus or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor 1233 or other type of display device is also connected to system bus 1207 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1235.
System 1201 may also include a modem 1154 or other network interface means for establishing communications over a network 1152 such as the Internet. Modem 1154, which may be internal or external, is connected to system bus 123 via serial port interface 1231. A network interface 1156 may also be provided for allowing system 1201 to communicate with a remote computing device 1150 (e.g., another system 1201) via a local area network 1158 (or such communication may be via wide area network 1152 or other communications path such as dial-up or other communications means). System 1201 will typically include other peripheral output devices, such as printers and other standard peripheral devices.
In one example, video adapter 1235 may include a 3D graphics pipeline chip set providing fast 3D graphics rendering in response to 3D graphics commands issued based on a standard 3D graphics application programmer interface such as Microsoft's DirectX 7.0 or other version. A set of stereo loudspeakers 1237 is also connected to system bus 1207 via a sound generating interface such as a conventional "sound card" providing hardware and embedded software support for generating high quality stereophonic sound based on sound commands provided by bus 1207. These hardware capabilities allow system 1201 to provide sufficient graphics and sound speed performance to play software stored in storage medium 62.
All documents referenced above are hereby incorporated by reference.
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims.
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'Piracy': The terminology debate
March 19, 2010 | 3:44 pm
By Chris Meadows
What's in a name?
A lot, really. Take the issue of "piracy"—most commonly used in Internet circles to refer to unauthorized distribution of other peoples' intellectual property. Its use in that sense actually pre-dates the Internet by a considerable length of time (see video at bottom). For a long time, a debate on whether this is an appropriate use of the term has raged.
Representing those who do not think the term is properly used, the Free Software Foundation has this to say:
Publishers often refer to copying they don't approve of as "piracy." In this way, they imply that it is ethically equivalent to attacking ships on the high seas, kidnapping and murdering the people on them. Based on such propaganda, they have procured laws in most of the world to forbid copying in most (or sometimes all) circumstances. (They are still pressuring to make these prohibitions more complete.)
If you don't believe that copying not approved by the publisher is just like kidnapping and murder, you might prefer not to use the word "piracy" to describe it. Neutral terms such as "unauthorized copying" (or "prohibited copying" for the situation where it is illegal) are available for use instead. Some of us might even prefer to use a positive term such as "sharing information with your neighbor."
Of course, saying that the Free Software Foundation tends to think intellectual property is a bad idea in general is on the order of calling the Pacific Ocean "slightly damp," but in a way this illustrates the point: those most inclined to protest the use of the word often tend to be those most inclined to favor the practice, or at least not believe it to be as bad as the content industry thinks. (Similar issues surround the word "theft".)
For my part, I try to avoid or at least quotate "piracy" when discussing it simply because I feel getting into an argument over terminology muddles the real issue—the unauthorized distribution of other peoples' intellectual property itself. But in a way it is unavoidable: there just isn't another suitably pithy name that we can use to describe it.
Now it turns out that some in the content industry are starting to agree that "piracy" is an inappropriate term, but for an unexpected reason: they think it makes illicit content sharing "too sexy."
Agnete Haaland, the president of the International Actors' Federation, believes consumers need to be made more aware of the damaging economic and social impact of their illegal activity.
"We should change the word piracy," she told reporters at the unveiling of the report on Wednesday.
"To me, piracy is something adventurous, it makes you think about Johnny Depp. We all want to be a bit like Johnny Depp. But we're talking about a criminal act. We're talking about making it impossible to make a living from what you do," she said.
Mike Masnick at TechDirt, where I first noticed this report, has some pointed words for that description, including that in most cases of "piracy", the copyright violation in question is actually a civil offense. (Of course, she was likely using "criminal" in the looser, "morally reprehensible" sense rather than the strict justice system sense, but even so.)
However, Ms. Haaland is at least a few decades too late to stop the use of that term. I don't know its exact history (though I did download Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates when the University of Chicago Press offered it free and look forward to reading it), but I know it has been used to refer to unauthorized commercial copying of content for decades. And it is unlikely any suitable replacement term can be found.
I guess the piracy wars will continue.
It's worth remembering that the content industry has taken issue with "piracy" for decades…but back when it was limited to strictly commercial operations, there was a time when they could still laugh about it…
Related: Review:The Pirate's Dilemma by Matt Mason
TeleRead Links: UK e-book piracy, loosening e-book licensing terms, digitizing fanzines, and more
Will the next Voyage work with an optional solar-power case from Amazon? RUMOR alert!
TeleRead Store: Sony 55″ 4K Ultra HD 120Hz TV on sale for $1,200. E-book display for some? Writing tool, too? Here's why.
TeleRead Links: E-books by phone and candle? Apple Siri and music hassles. Streaming vs. ripping.
TeleRead Links: Powell's Bookstore, selling standalone books, Minion Yellow, and more
I've never made a living from piracy. I do it on the side! And, as Spain has shown, if you do it for no profit, it's legal!
According to dictionary.net, pirate has been used to refer to copyright infringement since at least 1913 (http://www.dictionary.net/pirate) It's a terminology everyone recognizes and is commonly used. Yes, no surprise the Free Software Foundation doesn't like it. I'm not huge on it either, but it does the job.
Rob Preece
I'd love to have a better term. If you come up with one that does the job, I'll use it! I don't think prohibited copying will do so, though. It's a little too unwieldy.
As for whether the copying is legal without profit, that's ridiculous. It may not be criminal, but it's certainly not legal.
More, I think you have a moral responsibility to abide by that author's decision about whether a book should be shared for free, or only sold. You may be right that you're not hurting him or her, but the decision isn't yours to make.
When you read the history of deep sea piracy you discover they often operated on the edge of the law. If they performed the same actions under a Letter of Marque they were a privateer sharing the bounty with the government.
They had complex "shares" contracted to split the bounty with investors.
They had documented compensation for the workers on the ship with payouts for the loss of specific body parts.
They were actually much closer to the large corporations that are shouting "pirate" then a teenager downloading Avatar in his basement.
It's childish name calling.
I wonder why the term "piracy" took over from the more accurate "bootleg" that was used in previous decades. Was it just because the kids decided pirates were cool?
Websters definition:
bootleg – 2 : something bootlegged: as a : moonshine b : an unauthorized audio or video recording
"Unauthorized" copying seems to hit the mark, exactly.
I don't know, speaking as an expatriate Georgian, I have a soft spot for 'bootlegger'. My late uncle was… no, never mind. I think I'll go 'leg me some major publisher 'shine. Where did I put that scanner? (sotto voce: "…copper kettles sittin' side-by-each, copper coil, cuppa' Georgia peach…")
Jack Tingle
I suspect the term piracy in relation to actually software comes from the so called pirate radio stations common in the 50-60ies in europe, Pirate radio stations were normally ship based operating in the safety of international waters just off shore, The terms were as far as i recal my history the term pirates were adopted by the iligit broadcasters to signal their "rebel" status. (they of cause did not pay royalties either)
This is probably the reason piracy and not bootlegging became the word to descibe napster and successors.
Wikipedia's entry on "copyright infringement" has changed my mind on the use of the term "piracy". I didn't know it had such a long history:
For electronic and audio-visual media, unauthorized reproduction and distribution is also commonly referred to as piracy (an early reference was made by Daniel Defoe in 1703 when he said of his novel True-born Englishman : "Its being Printed again and again, by Pyrates"). The practice of labeling the act of infringement as "piracy" actually predates copyright itself. Even prior to the 1709 enactment of the Statute of Anne, generally recognized as the first copyright law, the Stationers' Company of London in 1557 received a Royal Charter giving the company a monopoly on publication and tasking it with enforcing the charter. Those who violated the charter were labeled pirates as early as 1603.
There may be excessive negative connotations to using "piracy" for ebooks that infringe copyright, but the precedent is 453 years old. And it's far from the only English word that varies in weight and meaning depending on context. People don't really think an ebook "pirate" raped and pillaged to get that file on their reading device. 😉
Correction: "the precedent is 453 years old" should be "403 years old". I mistakenly went from 1557 instead of 1603.
Then how about bandit? Bandit is an Indian (as in from India, not Native American) word for thief. Most of these bandits, or pirates, or whatever they're called, would probably rather be known as Valjeanists, for the protagonist in "Les Miserables" who was obsessively pursued by Inspector Javert for the "crime" of stealing bread to feed his family. Then again, they might see bandit as cool and rebellious and anti-establishment too, since it conjures images of Ali Baba and kick-ass swordfighting in the desert, or Aladdin getting everything he wanted as a wish without having to actually work for it. (Hm, maybe Obama is a genie out of the lamp?)
Plunderer connotes violence on the high seas too. Gangster, well, that's just too hip-hop and Snoop Dogg (as in "gangsta") or bootlegger fashion plate a la Capone and Dillinger. I don't think these kids would see it as "uncool" to associate themselves with a bunch of dudes who shot up G-men while in pinstripe suits. Plus there's the fact that they essentially beat the government, that is if they actually read into history and know the history of Prohibition. It basically all goes back to making something forbidden only makes it more popular. See also: conservatives/church and sex.


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Apple has completely removed all product promotion from its www.apple.com homepage this evening and replaced it with a touching tribute to the life of Nelson Mandela, who passed away earlier this week. The New York Times has an interactive timeline of Mandela's life.
Apple has previously replaced its homepage to mark the passing of only a few other individuals: Gregory Hines, George Harrison, Rosa Parks, board member Jerry York, and Steve Jobs. Apple executives Tim Cook and Phil Schiller shared their thoughts about Mandela's life via Twitter:
"Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement." His Excellancy Nelson Mandela, 1918 - 2013
Philip Schiller (@pschiller) December 06, 2013
Amazing human being. Champion of freedom and human dignity. He set an example for all of the world. RIP Nelson Mandela. We miss you already.—
Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 06, 2013
" What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others....." Mandela 2002—
Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 06, 2013
Mandela appeared in one of Apple's early Think Different print advertisements:
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16 Responses to "Apple celebrates life of Nelson Mandela on its homepage"
I thought all this kind of stuff about him too, and then my fb friends educated me.
I suggest you do a little reading… O_o
You know Steve Jobs wasn't a saint either. That doesn't mean he wasn't an inspiration, a visionary and that his life shouldn't be honored.
All of us have fallen short of God's glory and we're far from perfect but in our mess hopefully we can find a way to make a difference and be remembered for our accomplishments and not our shortcomings.
Well I've been truly schooled the last couple of days since posting this comment. :\
Mandela was the one person I wanted to meet before I died. I am now in a bot of a state of shock at what I have learned.
Nelson Mandela brought hope to a completely broken nation. That nation is still broken. Madiba's replacement is a disgusting human. South Africa needs to embrace Madiba's forgiveness. Regardless of race, Zuma needs to go. Anyone that says H.I.V. is not transferrable if you "have a shower" afterwards is ignorant, and frankly not helping our race move forwards. Mandela would not want millions of people mourning his death, he would want us all to move forwards to a better, harmonic South Africa.
The truest comment, and the wisest comment from Madiba was that success is measured by the positive effect you have on the lives of others. We all need to focus on what's good for our race as human beings. When was the last time you enriched the life of another?
Apple also honored Akio Morita founder of Sony on the home page when he passed away.
Celebrating a terrorist, communist, genocider, racist, and torturer? That's real classy Apple. He sang about killing white people (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcOXqFQw2hc), his organization created a form of torture used on children called Necklacing that was endorsed by his wife (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necklacing) and he created and led an organization that tortured people, committed genocide against whites, and terrorized the country with road side bombs similar to what our military faces in the Middle East (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umkhonto_we_Sizwe). He specifically advocated violence. This is the sick mind of "anti-racist" liberals. It's just cultural Marxism by force.
Its astounding how ignorant some of you Americans are…..understand the situation surrounding his actions before passing comment. You need to have a "feel" of our country. Reading mere text does not explain circumstances.
instead of the word "celebrates" you should have used "remembers".
It is entirely appropriate to consider his 'terrorism' when weighing the facts. However, in doing so, consider the oppression he was up against and then ask yourself: what if he just 'lay down and took it up the tail pipe?'
My point being, in the US, Martin Luther King Jr. was able to just take up the mic… and look what happened to him.
Surely Apple will not stand in the way to talk about Nelson Mandela for their own self promotion. Don't get me wrong, he was an amazing man, but seriously what association has Apple ever had with him?