iMatt :: The Blog of Matt Clare

When I write code I like to make it interesting. For example, a variable¹ named $person can just as easily be name $dude. I once wrote a Flash animation with a function² that created four rings, naturally I called it audi().

1 A value that can be set and changed.
2 Bunch of code that does something, written as a function so the function can be executed instead of recreating all of the code in it. Functions are called with their name and brackets at the end in which you can pass values in.

It’s because of this style that I really have to commend BeOS, the operating system created by Be Inc. Not only did Be and it’s owner, Jean-Louis Gassée, have the Bes to scoff at a mere $200 million when Apple tried to purchase BeOS for OSX and held out for $400 million – they didn’t get it. BeOS also has the following system functions that I could work with:

get_system_info()- The get_system_info() function tells you more than you want to know about the physical capacities of your computer….
is_computer_on() - Returns 1 if the computer is on. If the computer isn’t on, the value returned by this function is undefined.
is_computer_on_fire()- Returns the temperature of the motherboard if the computer is currently on fire. If the computer isn’t on fire, the function returns some other value.
More at www.tycomsystems.com/beos/BeBook/The%20Kernel%20Kit/System.html

This entry was posted on Monday, March 27th, 2006 at 16:26 and is filed under *nix, General, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.