To understand what this means, take a look at the following C-snippet:

if(SomeFunc() == 4)
    return 54;
else
    return 2;


When compiled with no optimizations in Visual Studio, this is the output

    if(SomeFunc() == 4)
00A0140E call SomeFunc (0A01145h)
00A01413 cmp eax, 4
00A01416 jne 0A01421h
        return 54;
00A01418 mov eax, 54
00A0141D jmp 0A01426h
    else
        return 2;
00A01421 mov eax, 2
0A01426h ret


Nothing surprising here – almost a literal translation from C to assembly. Small, fast, efficient – what could we possibly improve upon?

One possible improvement could be removing the branches – the jmp and jne instructions.

Branch instructions are not in-and-of themselves particularly slow; all a jmp instruction does is write a value to the Program Counter (PC) register, and on a simple CPU which reads and executes one instruction at a time, jmp wouldn’t be slower than any other instruction which writes to a register. However, modern CPUs are anything but simple.

On modern CPUs, instructions are not read then immediately executed, one-by-one. Rather, the process is split into multiple stages, called the Instruction Pipeline. This allows, for example, the instruction two instructions in the future to be fetched (read) while the next instruction is being decoded and the current instruction is being executed, and the previous instruction is writing its results to memory! This allows incredible speedups in program execution time, but now that the CPU is essentially executing multiple instructions at once, the CPU designers must take extreme precautions to make sure that the results of the execution are still correct!

And herein lies the problem with conditional jumps like jne: How does the processor know what the “next” instruction will be before it actually executes the conditional? The answer is: it doesn’t. It can guess (I believe I read that the Intel x86 guesses correctly ~60% of the time), but if it guesses incorrectly, the entire Instruction Pipeline must be flushed: all the work the CPU did fetching and decoding the instructions it thought were going to be executed is invalidated and completely removed from the pipeline, and the entire pipeline sits around doing nothing while it waits for the jne instruction to complete. Essentially, a jne instruction with a failed prediction causes our fancy expensive pipelined CPU to act as though it were a boring old non-pipelined CPU.

(In fact, the situation is even more complicated than that: modern CPUs essentially have multiple pipelines, meaning they literally execute more than one instruction at once, even if there is only one core and the program is single-threaded. When a conditional-jump prediction fails, all these pipelines must be flushed and stalled, so all the pipelines sit around doing nothing when the conditional-jump executes)

Knowing all of this, let’s see how Visual Studio compiles the above code with optimizations enabled:
0012100B call SomeFunc (0A01145h)
0012101A sub eax, 4
0012101D neg eax
0012101F sbb eax, eax
00121021 and eax, -52
00121024 add eax, 54


Whoa, what happened there? There are no longer any branch instructions! Let’s translate this back to C, to help see what’s going on:
//A rough translation of the above assembly code
eax = SomeFunc() - 4;
eax = -(eax != 0); //See below
eax = (eax & -52) + 54;


It appears the branches have been replaced with some clever math and bit-fiddling. Here’s how it works (don’t feel bad if you have to read this over a few times, this is complex stuff!):

• We set eax = SomeFunc() – 4. Thus, if SomeFunc() == 4, eax = 0; otherwise, eax != 0.
• neg eax will set the carry-flag to 0 if eax == 0, or 1 otherwise. Thus, the carry-flag gets set to (eax != 0).

  sbb A, B (sbb means “subtract with borrow”) essentially does A = A – (B + carryFlag). Thus, sbb eax, eax sets eax = 0 if the carry-flag was 0, or eax = -1 if the carry-flag was 1.

  At this point, if SomeFunc() == 4, eax == 0. Otherwise, eax == -1

• Finally, we take the bitwise-AND of eax with -52, and add 54. Since 0 & -52 == 0 and -1 & -52 == -52 (Remember, in 2′s complement -1 has all bits set, so -1 & x always equals x), this means that if SomeFunc() == 4 (and thus eax == 0), the result will be 0 + 54 = 54; while if SomeFunc() != 4 (and thus eax == -1), the result will be -52 + 54 = 2. This is the exact same result as our original function!

So now the important question: Are branchless conditionals really faster?

Well, that depends. If the branch-predictor in the CPU is consistantly right for our code, the instruction pipeline would never need to be flushed, and the code with branches would be faster – it does, after all, involve a lot fewer operations. If, however, the branch-predictor is wrong often enough, the instruction pipeline will need to be flushed all/most of the time the code is run, which would make the branchless code faster. And unfortunately, there is no way to determine if the branch predictor will guess correctly for your code. Thus, if this is an absolutely critical portion of your code: Profile! Test both code-chunks (branchless and branching), and see which is faster in your case!

And, for the love of god, don’t write your code like the “rough translation” above to try to force the compiler to write branchless code. Not only will you confuse the compiler and probably end up making your code slower, but you will drive whoever has to maintain the code absolutely insane.

Example from Eldad Eilam’s “Reversing: Secret of Reverse Engineering”:

if(LocalVariable & 0x00001000)
    return 1;
else
    return 0;

mov eax, [ebp - 10]
and eax, 0x00001000
neg eax
sbb eax, eax
neg eax
ret


Example from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/539836/emulating-variable-bit-shift-using-only-constant-shifts

int isel( int a, int x, int y )
{
    return (a >= 0 ? x : y);
};

int isel( int a, int x, int y )
{
    int mask = a >> 31; // arithmetic shift right, splat out the sign bit
    // mask is 0xFFFFFFFF if (a < 0) and 0x00 otherwise.
    return (x & (~mask)) + (y & mask);
};


Example from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1610836/branchless-code-that-maps-zero-negative-and-positive-to-0-1-2

int Compare(int x, int y)
{
    int diff = x - y;
    if (diff == 0)
        return 0;
    else if (diff < 0)
        return 1;
    else
        return 2;
}

int Compare(int x, int y)
{
    int diff = y - x;
    return (!!diff) << ((diff >> 31) & 1);
}


• How to Double the Length of Any Essay (Without Writing a Word!)
• Java BigInteger Benchmarks
• RSA Encryption, Part 1
• What’s the difference between neutral and ground?
• 1+2+3+… = -1/12

• Why do we use Alternating Current (AC) instead of Direct Current (DC) in power lines?

…they recognized Ramanujan’s enormous talent for mathematics, and together they convinced Ramanujan to write to English mathematicians about his discoveries. [...] The third letter he wrote, to M. J. M. Hill, received a reply, but was not very encouraging. In his reply, Hill stated,

“Mr. Ramanujan is evidently a man with a taste for Mathematics, and with some ability, but he has got on two wrong lines. He does not understand the precautions which have to be taken in dealing with divergent series, otherwise he could not have obtained the erroneous results you send me, viz:–

However, the problem was not with Ramanujan’s result itself, but rather with his lack of explanation of the result – or perhaps with Hill’s lack of knowledge on divergent series.

Before Ramanujan’s result can be explained, though, we have to first take a step back over 150 years in history. In 1749, the mathematics giant Leonhard Euler wrote a paper in which he derived the paradoxical result that 1 – 2 + 3 – 4 + … = 1/4.

Theorem (Euler) 1 – 2 + 3 – 4 + … = 1/4

Proof. Notice that the power series for 1/(x+1)² is

If we assume this to be true for all x, we can plug in the value x=1 to obtain the desired result! ◊

In order for his result to make sense, Euler proposed (several times throughout his life) that an extended definition of the word “sum” be made. In his own words,
“Let us say, therefore, that the sum of any infinite series is the finite expression, by the expansion of which the series is generated. In this sense the sum of the infinite series 1 − x + x² − x³ + … will be 1⁄1+x, because the series arises from the expansion of the fraction, whatever number is put in place of x. If this is agreed, the new definition of the word sum coincides with the ordinary meaning when a series converges; and since divergent series have no sum in the proper sense of the word, no inconvenience can arise from this new terminology. Finally, by means of this definition, we can preserve the utility of divergent series and defend their use from all objections.”

(It should be noted that Euler’s proof would not be valid by today’s standards, because 1 – 2x + 3x² – 4x³ + … does not define a valid function when x=1. However, it would be valid to take the limit as x approaches 1 from the left; doing this yields the same result. Today there are many methods of finding the “sum” of a divergent series; the method just mentioned, laid out by Euler, is now known as the “Abel summation” of the series).

Now that we know what it means for a divergent series to “sum” to a certain finite value, we can ask the question of whether or not Ramanujan’s results were in any way correct.

Theorem 1+2+3+…+∞ = -1/12

Proof. This proof is due to Ramanujan – though he didn’t send it to Hill originally, he did write it down in his first notebook.

Say we set c = 1 + 2 + 3 + … Then

Subtracting the bottom row from the top,

ala Euler. Thus, c = -1/12. This result is correct to the extent that Euler’s result is correct as well. ◊

• RSA Encryption, Part 2
• RSA Encryption, Part 1
• Branchless Conditionals (Compiler Optimization Technique)
• What’s the difference between neutral and ground?
• Do transformers obey Ohm’s Law?

I’m collecting these questions and answers here in the hopes that they will someday save some poor internet-goer like yourself from all the trouble I had to go through.

Contents

• Why do we use Alternating Current (AC) instead of Direct Current (DC) in power lines?
• Does electricity flow from positive (+) to negative (-) or from negative to positive?
• What’s the difference between "voltage at a point" and "voltage between two points?" Also, what is ‘ground?’
• How fast do electrons move in a circuit?
• Why can the resistor go at the beginning of the circuit or at the end?
• What’s the difference between neutral and ground?
• How is it possible that there’s not a complete circuit to the power plant?
• How does jump starting a car work if current only flows when there’s a difference in voltage?
• Do transformers obey Ohm’s Law?

• How is it possible that there’s not a complete circuit to the power plant?
• What’s the difference between “voltage at a point” and “voltage between two points?” Also, what is ‘ground?’
• Does electricity flow from positive (+) to negative (-) or from negative to positive?
• Why do we use Alternating Current (AC) instead of Direct Current (DC) in power lines?
• Do transformers obey Ohm’s Law?

For this tutorial, I’ve used a stock photograph of the beautiful American model, Valerie Hatfield.

Those interested in her work can contact her here.

1. Open your image in Photoshop
2. As always, duplicate the background layer before anything else.

   

3. Highlight the ear. This can be done rather easily using the quick-select tool (alt+click to remove from selection).

   

4. Now warp the ear (edit->transform->warp) to your liking.

   

   (Note that you may have to remove part of the ear from the background. See any tutorial on removing objects from images – you could, for example, simply copy and paste a piece of hair over the old ear)

   ---

   That takes care of the elf ears – now let’s give her vampire teeth as well. We could use the same technique we used for the ears, but that leaves the tooth looking flat and two-dimensional; I prefer a technique which causes the tooth to affect the lips as well.

5. Select the tooth in the same way you selected the ear.

   

6. Now, using the lasso tool, add to the selection (by holding shift) a small portion of the lip and chin just below and around the tooth, as so:

   

7. Open the liquify window (Filter->liquify). Using the forward-warp tool and a brush about the size of the tooth, drag the tooth downwards. Try to do it one one swift motion, using undo (ctrl+alt+z) to go back as many times as necessary.

   

8. Select the Reconstuct Tool on the left, and use it to give your tooth a point. You may want to lower your brush density and experiment with different reconstruct modes (under ‘Tool Options’) to get it just right.

   

9. That’s it! Here’s what the finished tooth looks like:

   

   And, after a few more tweaks, the final image:

   

• The Greatest Romance Stories of All Time
• How to Double the Length of Any Essay (Without Writing a Word!)
• Polka, Burgers, and Sound Financial Advice
• signing up for a user account
• Java BigInteger Benchmarks

All of these statistics/instructions are for Microsoft Word 2007, but they apply equally well to older versions of Word or OpenOffice.

Replace All the Periods
Increase in size: 42.9%
How to do it: Go to edit->replace and place a period (.) in both boxes. Highlight the period in the "replace with" box, and click on "more" in the lower-right hand corner. Then click format->font.
Under "size," increase the font-size significantly – I used 16 in this example.
Click OK, then hit "replace all."

Increase the Paragraph Spacing
Increase in size: 21.6%
How to do it: Higlight everything (edit->select all), right-click->Paragraph. Set "Line Spacing" to multiple, and set it to something between 2 and 3 (or between 1 and 2 if it’s a single-spaced essay). I set it to 2.5 for this example.

Change the Font Size
Increase in size: 9.1%
How to do it: The font size is right next to the font face, at the top. After highlighting everything, increase it by up to a whole point – I set it a half-point larger (11.5) for this example.

Use a Different Font
Increase in size: 9.1%
How to do it: Highlight everything, and just change the font from something other than the default, Calibri. I changed it to the old default, Times New Roman (12 pt font), for the 9.1% increase, but there are probably other similiar-looking fonts that will increase that even more.

Change the Margins
Increase in size: 7.2%
How to do it: Go to Page Layout->Margins->Custom and increase the margins. They default to 1" all around – I changed it to 1.15" all around.

Change the Character Spacing
Increase in size: 7.1%
How to do it: Select everything (ctrl+a), then right-click->Font->Character Spacing. Change the spacing to something small (Half a point or less). I use 0.3pt

All effects put together:
Increase in size: 114.5% (over double!)

• How to Give Someone Elf Ears and Vampire Fangs in Photoshop
• Why do we use Alternating Current (AC) instead of Direct Current (DC) in power lines?
• Golb
• How to Save Thousands on Textbooks
• Java BigInteger Benchmarks

1. Don’t Buy Your Books
This may seem like useless non-advice, but it’s actually the most important tip, which is why I placed it first. Ask any college senior, and you’ll likely find that as many as 50% of their textbooks have gone completely unopened over the years. Many professors recommend a book simply for the sake of recommending a book; it may be awful even as a reference, or have very little to do with the class. Find someone who has taken the class before and ask them if they needed the book for homework or assigned reading, they used it often as a reference, or if they simply never opened it. This little bit of anticipatory research can save you thousands over the course of four years.

2. The Library is Your Best Reference
Even if you need the book for homework or the occasional reference, you can still get away with not buying it. Most school libraries carry copies of the books required for each class. Though you probably won’t be able to check it out for any extended period of time, you can usually check it out long enough to do your homework each week or, if that’s too inconvenient for you, you could photocopy all the homework-pages ahead of time for only a few dollars, saving hundreds.

3. Borrow From a Friend
Okay, so you absolutely need the textbook, and can’t stand walking to the library every week. I have good news for you – you can still get out of buying your textbook! If, at least, you happen to make friends with someone who has taken the course previously. Ask around, find someone who has taken the class already, and bring them out for a drink. Even if they don’t have their textbook anymore or refuse to borrow (or rent..?) it out to you, they can still help you learn if you can save in other ways on this class’s textbook.

3. Buy Old Editions
A lot of the more greedy book publishers have realized that if they don’t reissue a new edition of their book every few years, the same few copies will continuously circulate in online trading sites, killing their sales. Thus, every few years they add a new paragraph or two, fix a few mistakes, and jumble the chapter problems (not even change them!) in order to re-release the same book as the "new edition." Since the demand for old editions of textbooks is so low, the price of even the previous edition is usually dirt-cheap.

The basics of Calculus have been the same for over 300 years – so do we really need a new Calculus textbook every six months?

On the off-chance that you actually need to do the chapter problems, you can still go to the library and photocopy them – or, even better, figure out which problems from your book correspond to the homework problems in the new book.
If you were planning on using the book only as a reference, you may want to consider buying a completely different book. The textbook I used for Calculus was nearly identical to the one we were supposed to use, but only cost me four dollars (including shipping)!

4. Buy Used or International Copies
An international version of a book has the same content as the non-international version, but is meant to be sold in places where it’s illegal to artificially jack up the price of textbooks (I’m looking at you, America). These textbooks can be found at any online book-trading site; one good place to compare prices from these sites is www.dealoz.com, though there are many others (Facebook has a marketplace as well).

5. Sell Your Books at the Start of the Next Semester
Buying a book for $50 and selling it for $40 is basically the same as renting the book for $10. Google is a better reference than most of your textbooks anyways, so why keep them around after you’re finished with them?
If you’re going to sell a textbook, the best time is when they’re in highest demand – at the beginning of the next semester. Based on the number of users, the best places to sell are probably amazon and half.com.

That’s it – with all the cash you’ll be saving, you can finally afford that solid gold replica of Billy Joel you’ve been eyeing on ebay for the past week. You better start bidding before the auction ends.
Next week I’ll show you how to double the length of an essay without writing a word.

• Does electricity flow from positive (+) to negative (-) or from negative to positive?
• Branchless Conditionals (Compiler Optimization Technique)
• No News is Good News
• Polka, Burgers, and Sound Financial Advice
• An Interesting Random Number Problem

• How to Give Someone Elf Ears and Vampire Fangs in Photoshop
• Polka, Burgers, and Sound Financial Advice
• How to Save Thousands on Textbooks
• 1+2+3+… = -1/12
• How fast do electrons move in a circuit?

Jiro’s Theme

————————-5—————————————-
———6—–5—–6——-6———–6—–5—–6————
———7—–7—–7——————-7—–7—–7————
—–7——————————-7—————————-
-5———–5—–5————-5———–5—–5————–
——————————————————————

Theme of Gemini

—–11—10—–11————-11—10—–8————————–
-8——————8——-8—————–11—–9————–8–
———————————————————–8—10——
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–

—–11—10—–11————-11—10—–8——————-8——
-8——————8——-8—————–11—–9—–11——-8–
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–

———————————————————————–
-8—8h9—8————–11———————11———-8h9——-
—————10—8——–10——-10—8——–10—————–
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–

—————-8——-8—8/9—9—————-8/9—9————-
-8—9—9h11—————————9———————-9——-
——————————————10———————10—-
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–

———————————————————————–
——9—9/11——-11—11h13—–11-10——————————
-11——————————————————————–
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–

—–11—10—–11————-11—10—–8————————–
-8——————8——-8—————–11—–9————–8–
———————————————————–8—10——
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–
———————————————————————–

—–11—10—–11————-10h11—10—–8——————-8—–
-8——————8——-8——————–11—–9—–11——-8-
————————————————————————-
————————————————————————-
————————————————————————-
————————————————————————-

—–11—10—–11————-10h11—10/11—
-8——————8——-9——————-
————————————————
————————————————
————————————————
————————————————

–8-9—–9—9/11—11/13-
—————————
—————————
—————————
—————————
—————————

• How to Save Thousands on Textbooks
• 1+2+3+… = -1/12
• The Greatest Romance Stories of All Time
• RSA Encryption, Part 3
• How is it possible that there’s not a complete circuit to the power plant?

To begin with, a perfect random number generator is a mythical device which spits out bits of either 0 or 1 completely randomly, with a 50% chance of spitting out either a 0 or a 1 at any time regardless of what bits it’s output in the past. Of course, such a generator is impossible to create in deterministic machines (computers), so programmers use pseudo-random number generators instead.

Now, the problem: Assume you have a biased-random number generator – that is, you have a magical random number generator which is completely non-deterministic, but the probability of outputting one bit-state is higher than the other. For example, it could output a "1" with 60% probability and a "0" with 40% probability, or perhaps output a "1" with 0.01% probability and a "0" with 99.99% probability. The only thing known about the probability of outputting a 0/1 is that it’s fixed and greater than 0%.
Given only a computer which can read bits from this biased-random number generator, can you create a perfect random number generator? (and if so, how?)

• RSA Encryption, Part 1
• Why can the resistor go at the beginning of the circuit OR at the end?
• RSA Encryption, Part 3
• Branchless Conditionals (Compiler Optimization Technique)
• Java BigInteger Benchmarks