As a general approach to procedural mesh definition we propose two mechanisms for mesh modification: generalized subdivision and rule based mesh growing. In standard subdivision, a specific subdivision rule is applied to a mesh to get a succession of meshes converging to a limit surface. A generalized approach allows different subdivision rules at each level of the subdivision process. By limit...

Virtualization, a technique once used to multiplex the resources of high-priced mainframe hardware, is seeing a resurgence in applicability with the increasing computing power of commodity computers. By inserting a layer of software between the machine and traditional operating systems, this technology allows access to a shared computing medium in a manner that is secure, resource-controlled, a...

A set S of vertices in a graph G = (V,E) is a total dominating set of G if every vertex of V is adjacent to a vertex in S. The total domination number of G is the minimum cardinality of a total dominating set of G. The total domination subdivision number of G is the minimum number of edges that must be subdivided (where each edge in G can be subdivided at most once) in order to increase the tot...

In this paper we explore the trade-offs involved in making one major middleware fault-tolerant. Our work builds on the FT-CORBA specification (April 2000), which is not in widespread use due to lack of quantified knowledge about design rules and trade-offs. Recent results show preliminary overhead and trade-off analysis for a not entirely FT-CORBA-compliant system for embedded applications (Ete...

A set S ⊆ V of vertices in a graph G = (V,E) without isolated vertices is a total dominating set if every vertex of V is adjacent to some vertex in S. The total domination number γt(G) is the minimum cardinality of a total dominating set of G. The total domination subdivision number sdγt(G) is the minimum number of edges that must be subdivided (each edge in G can be subdivided at most once) in...

The basic workings of inflationary models are summarized, along with the arguments that strongly suggest that our universe is the product of inflation. The mechanisms that lead to eternal inflation in both new and chaotic models are described. Although the infinity of pocket universes produced by eternal inflation are unobservable, it is argued that eternal inflation has real consequences in te...

How do temporal and eternal beliefs interact? I argue that acquiring a temporal belief should have no effect on eternal beliefs for an important range of cases. Thus, I oppose the popular view that new norms of belief change must be introduced for cases where the only change is the passing of time. I defend this position from the purported counter-examples of the Prisoner and Sleeping Beauty. I...

The basic workings of inflationary models are summarized, along with the arguments that strongly suggest that our universe is the product of inflation. I describe the quantum origin of density perturbations, giving a heuristic derivation of the scale invariance of the spectrum and the leading corrections to scale invariance. The mechanisms that lead to eternal inflation in both new and chaotic ...

Evaluating sums of multivariate Gaussian kernels is a key computational task in many problems in computational statistics and machine learning. The computational cost of the direct evaluation of such sums scales as the product of the number of kernel functions and the evaluation points. The fast Gauss transform proposed by Greengard and Strain (1991) is a 2-exact approximation algorithm that re...

Evaluating sums of multivariate Gaussian kernels is a key computational task in many problems in computational statistics and machine learning. The computational cost of the direct evaluation of such sums scales as the product of the number of kernel functions and the evaluation points. The fast Gauss transform proposed by Greengard and Strain (1991) is a ǫ-exact approximation algorithm that re...