Date: Thu 15-Jan-1998

By CURT CLARK

Published: Aug 11, 1999 12:00 am

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-memory-leakage-Brand

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: Memory Leakage

By Bob Brand

Attention power surfers! Has this ever happened to you? While surfing the Net

using Windows '95/'98, suddenly a nasty blue warning message box pops up:

"Windows is running low on system resources and may become unstable. Please

close any unused applications or restart Windows."

Uggh!! How can this be? With 80 megabytes of RAM, and a half full 2GB-plus

hard disk, there should be plenty of "resources." Well, not exactly.

It gets worse. If the user ignores the warning, the nasty message returns. In

fact, every time the warning appears, you must click the "OK" button in order

to continue. If using a program with many icons, suddenly they start to "wash

out" -- not appear in full detail.

Deterioration can reach the point where the desktop becomes replaced with the

"Blue Screen of Death." The user is forced to reboot the computer. Sometimes

the computer hangs completely (does not respond to mouse or keyboard commands)

and the only solution is to turn the computer off.

Everything is reset. In this drastic event, any information not saved to disk

is trashed to bit-heaven.

The Cause

In order for any program to run on a computer, it must be retrieved from the

hard disk (or network) and loaded into the computer's memory. When the user

exits a software application, the memory used by an application is returned to

the memory pool.

Poorly written programs do not return all the memory, thus reducing the size

of the pool. As the pool shrinks, the warning messages start to appear. The

computer becomes unstable. Welcome to cumulative memory leakage.

The frantic pace of the Internet and rush to get new software products on the

market ahead of competition often results in sloppily written software. In

fact some very popular Internet and general purpose software applications leak

memory. Here is a sample as reported on the Chicago-Soft, Ltd website: AOL

v2.5 and 3.0, Corel Draw 5.0, MS Excel 5.0, HP DeskJet 870C printer driver,

Netscape 2.0, 3.01, and Navigator Gold 3.0, Quicken for Windows, WinWord 6.0.

There are many more.

Changing Habits

As net-sters become more accomplished surfers, they often place greater

strains on computer resources. It is not unusual to find people running

several browsers simultaneously, listening to music at Spinner.com, word

processing while having anti-virus software and other background applications

running. Over time, memory leakage problems reach more and more users.

Like the common cold, a "silver bullet" cure remains elusive. Microsoft has

been hearing the complaints. As a result, memory management in Windows '95/'98

is superior to Windows 3.x.

Later versions of many common software packages tend to cause less leakage

than earlier code. Programs written in Java programming language, with its

automatic garbage collection feature, should be better than programs written

in C++.

One way to minimize leakage is to avoid opening/closing/opening the same

program. This type of activity aggravates the cumulative effect of inefficient

resource de-allocation.

A shareware version of Chicago-Soft's WinMiser may be helpful to surfers who

currently use Windows 3.x. Windows '95/'98 users may find Mcafee's Hurricane98

(webprice: $40) useful in minimizing memory leakage.

The complexity of the Windows operating system coupled with bloated/slipshod

software lies at the root of this problem. More power users are starting to

dabble in the Linux operating system for personal use. Somehow I feel memory

leakage is less of a problem with Linux. Time will tell.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.quickref.com/wmpro/leakanal.html

http://www.beyond.com/PKSN100890/prod.htm

http://www.thebee.com/bweb/iinfo133.htm

(This is the 137th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Next, Hacking Furby is the subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until next

week, happy travels through cyberspace.

Previous issues of "Internet Info for Real People" can be found at

http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and suggestions to

rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)

The Way We Were

Silver Alert For Blue McGrath Ended

Top Of The Mountain

Cargo Van Driver Taken To Hospital Following Collision With Gas Tanker

Knotweed Initiative Program Planned

Well that is some spin. The Democrats have a super majority on the LC and passed the Education Budget without serious consideration of if the voters could afford the multi million dollar increase. "Was the request justified?" rather than "is this needed?" and "can the voters shoulder yet another large increase?" The voters rightly sent it back. Then for some reason all the discussion around reductions to the increase seemed to be coming from the classroom, rather than administration and overhead costs. Is this a coercive tactic to manipulate parents into supporting the budget like tacit threat of cutting freshman sports was two years ago? Who believes the Democrats did not caucus privately before the meeting and came in with a number already worked out? This is the Dems budget, they own it.

Education Cuts: Who Voted For What

I think it is important that we do not villainize every black box seen around a home, business, farm, or municipal property. A black exterior station does not always mean rat poison is being used. These stations can hold a number of different products, including monitoring blocks, snap traps, non-toxic bait, anti-tick bait stations, organic salt- or cornmeal-based control products, and newer fertility-control approaches intended to reduce rodent populations without traditional poisons. The better conversation, in my opinion, is not simply “black boxes are bad,” but rather: what is inside them, who is maintaining them, and whether the rodent issue is being managed responsibly. Exclusion, sanitation, trapping, habitat reduction, and careful monitoring should all be part of a responsible IPM strategy. To be fair, on my own property I do use rodenticides, including Bromethalin and Bromadiolone, in secured bait stations. But that is a choice I make for my property, based on my circumstances and the risk I am trying to manage. I also believe property owners should understand the tradeoffs and be encouraged to use the least harmful effective method whenever possible. I support protecting Newtown’s wildlife. I also support giving residents accurate information and not assuming that every black box represents reckless or unsafe pest control. The goal should be responsible rodent management, not fear of the box itself.

Discusses Policy Against Rodenticides

Debora, thank you! I accidentally doubled the project prices by adding the bond to the appropriation. Thank you so much for catching that and pointing it out. With the corrected numbers, the voters approved a combined $1.32 million for a salt shed ($600k) and library pavement ($720k), while rejecting the $1.12 million replacement turf. Regarding the 80s, I truly respect the hurdle of 14% mortgage rates. My point is simply that the math has shifted: in 1980, while the rates were higher, the price of a home relative to earnings was significantly lower. We are facing a different, but equally crushing, financial wall. Ultimately, it is disheartening that voters who recognized safe sidewalks and parking lots as essential, dismissed a playing field in the exact same condition. The turf has passed its life cycle and is just as much of a liability as the library’s pavement, the only difference is that this safety concern affects thousands of children who, coincidentally, cannot vote. These are apples-to-apples needs. I was hopeful our community would agree that all Newtown residents deserve safe conditions, regardless of which facility they utilize. Again, I would be remiss not to mention that when 82% of residents don’t show up, we have to deal with the interests of those who did. Hopefully, the next referendum will have a bigger turnout.

The ‘Me’ Generation

Thanks for the reply. I meant the numbers you presented in your letter. I found one place where other numbers were listed: https://www.newtownbee.com/04232026/get-out-and-vote-on-the-2026-27-proposed-municipal-and-school-budgets/?q=\\\%22advisory%20questions\\\%22. In that article, the numbers were cited as: Treadwell field: $1,125,000 Library: $720,000 Salt Storage: $600,000 As one who started out in the early 80's when inflation was double digits, my 1985 mortgage rate was 14%, and child care costs were comparable (in present value), I shared your grief but never considered the voters ironic or shameful. PS. I agree college tuition is ridiculous. Thankfully, universities are offering (or considering) waiving all or most tuition for middle class families (upwards of $200,000 incomes). Hopefully, they'll also reconsider their need for those funds in the first place.

Sure! Child care costs: https://www.ffyf.org/2022/10/13/data-child-care-prices-continue-to-rise-ahead-of-midterm-elections-outpacing-inflation/ (also from 2021-2025 we had 2 children in a local daycare in Newtown and it cost us $3200 a month, so that's a number I am very familiar with) Home price / median price vs income source: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/home-price-income-ratios Tuition increase vs inflation: https://feed.georgetown.edu/access-affordability/noting-a-decline-in-middle-class-students-colleges-provide-more-aid/ Hope this helps :)

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Date: Thu 15-Jan-1998

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