Abstract: This application discloses a wind pressure-driven air intake device for natural ventilation of zero power consumption. Such a device comprises multiple tunnels being arranged around a common central chamber, each having an inflow valve at its inner end connecting the central chamber and an outer end open to ambient airflow. The inflow valve allows only inward flow from a corresponding tunnel into the central chamber. The central chamber has an opening allowing airflow exit to a space to be ventilated. The device is capable of capturing ambient wind flow and wind pressure to be fed to the vented space regardless of wind flow direction towards the device, with no need for a powered air driver.

Abstract: Systems and methods enable most valuable players (MVPs) of a gameplay session to play a bonus gameplay session where other players (non-MVP players) participate as player-spectators in online video games and, through a collective voting mechanism or through active interaction, determine the occurrence of certain events or contents of the bonus gameplay in real time. In this manner, non-MVP players are able to directly affect the course of the bonus gameplay.

Abstract: This disclosure describes a red-green-blue (RGB) vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array. Each VCSEL in the VCSEL array has a grating, one or more active regions and two distributed Bragg reflectors. Each VCSEL corresponds to either red, green or blue wavelengths. The number of active regions in each VCSEL may be based on the color emitted.

Abstract: This disclosure describes a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) structure with a locked polarization and collimating optical element. The VCSEL structure comprises a grating, an optical emitter such as a lens and a plurality of GaAs/AlGaAs mirrors between the grating and the optical emitter. The grating located between the mirror stacks and above or below the active region is able to polarize incident waves of the VCSEL structure.

Abstract: Handling a memory fault based on detecting whether a memory pointer was invalidated by a pointer authentication (PA) failure. After an access to a memory pointer causes a memory fault, detecting that the memory pointer was invalidated by a PA failure includes creating a new memory pointer by replacing reserved bits of the memory pointer with a default value, and determining that the new memory pointer corresponds to a memory address that falls within executable memory. This determination includes determining that the memory address is within an executable memory page, determining that a call instruction is stored at a prior memory address that immediately precedes the memory address, and/or determining that the memory address corresponds to a code section of an executable file. The PA failure is handled based on logging the PA failure, terminating the application program, and/or resuming execution at an instruction stored at the memory address.

Abstract: A program is executed using a call stack and shadow stack. The call stack includes frames having respective return addresses. The frames may also store variables and/or parameters. The shadow stack stores duplicates of the return addresses in the call stack. The call stack and the shadow stack are maintained by, (i) each time a function is called, adding a corresponding stack frame to the call stack and adding a corresponding return address to the shadow stack, and (ii) each time a function is exited, removing a corresponding frame from the call stack and removing a corresponding return address from the shadow stack. A backtrace of the program's current call chain is generated by accessing the return addresses in the shadow stack. The outputted backtrace includes the return addresses from the shadow stack and/or information about the traced functions that is derived from the shadow stack's return addresses.

Abstract: Systems and methods enable most valuable players (MVPs) of a gameplay session to play a bonus gameplay session where other players (non-MVP players) participate as player-spectators in online video games and, through a collective voting mechanism or through active interaction, determine the occurrence of certain events or contents of the bonus gameplay in real time. In this manner, non-MVP players are able to directly affect the course of the bonus gameplay.

Abstract: Performing shadow stack functionality for a thread in an audit mode includes initiating execution of a thread at the processor. Execution of the thread includes initiating execution of executable code of an application binary as part of the thread and enabling shadow stack functionality for the thread in an audit mode. Based at least on the execution of the thread in the audit mode, at least a portion of the shadow stack is enabled to be a circular stack. In response to determining that usage of the shadow stack has reached the defined threshold, one or more currently used entries of the shadow stack are overwritten, preventing the shadow stack from overflowing.

Abstract: This application discloses a wind pressure-driven air intake device for natural ventilation of zero power consumption. Such a device comprises multiple tunnels being arranged around a common central chamber, each having an inflow valve at its inner end connecting the central chamber and an outer end open to ambient airflow. The inflow valve allows only inward flow from a corresponding tunnel into the central chamber. The central chamber has an opening allowing airflow exit to a space to be ventilated. The device is capable of capturing ambient wind flow and wind pressure to be fed to the vented space regardless of wind flow direction towards the device, with no need for a powered air driver.

Abstract: Systems and methods enable most valuable players (MVPs) of a gameplay session to play a bonus gameplay session where other players (non-MVP players) participate as player-spectators in online video games and, through a collective voting mechanism or through active interaction, determine the occurrence of certain events or contents of the bonus gameplay in real time. In this manner, non-MVP players are able to directly affect the course of the bonus gameplay.

Abstract: A natural ventilator is herein disclosed that is free of moving parts, wind-activated, rain-proof, and free of dust or smog infiltration. It is not only suitable to be a standalone natural ventilator, but is also advantageous to be used as an enhanced exhaust exit in a forced-air ventilation system, for such enclosed spaces or objects as buildings and vehicles needing air relief. The ventilator assembly has rainwater-proof shapes or fixtures that serve to defend the vent system, and the interior space being vented, against rainwater invasion, even if raindrop trajectory becomes highly oblique from vertical as driven by strong winds. It also includes shapes or fixtures to prevent fume condensation from drifting outward and staining the exterior of a building or vehicle, or the like, that is being vented.

Abstract: This application discloses a wind pressure-driven air intake device for natural ventilation of zero power consumption. Such a device comprises multiple tunnels being arranged around a common central chamber, each having an inflow valve at its inner end connecting the central chamber and an outer end open to ambient airflow. The inflow valve allows only inward flow from a corresponding tunnel into the central chamber. The central chamber has an opening allowing airflow exit to a space to be ventilated. The device is capable of capturing ambient wind flow and wind pressure to be fed to the vented space regardless of wind flow direction towards the device, with no need for a powered air driver.

Abstract: Enforcing shadow stack violations at module granularity, rather than at thread or process granularity. An exception is processed during execution of a thread based on code of an application binary, which is enabled for shadow stack enforcement, that calls an external module. The exception results from a mismatch between a return address popped from the thread's call stack and a return address popped from the thread's shadow stack. Processing the exception includes determining that the exception resulted from execution of an instruction in the external module, and determining whether or not the external module is enabled for shadow stack enforcement. Based at least on these determinations, execution of the thread is terminated when the external module is enabled for shadow stack enforcement, or the thread is permitted to continue executing when the external module is not enabled for shadow stack enforcement.

Abstract: A variety of methods for driving electro-optic displays so as to reduce visible artifacts are described. Such methods include (a) applying a first drive scheme to a non-zero minor proportion of the pixels of the display and a second drive scheme to the remaining pixels, the pixels using the first drive scheme being changed at each transition; (b) using two different drive schemes on different groups of pixels so that pixels in differing groups undergoing the same transition will not experience the same waveform; (c) applying either a balanced pulse pair or a top-off pulse to a pixel undergoing a white-to-white transition and lying adjacent a pixel undergoing a visible transition; (d) driving extra pixels where the boundary between a driven and undriven area would otherwise fall along a straight line; and (e) driving a display with both DC balanced and DC imbalanced drive schemes, maintaining an impulse bank value for the DC imbalance and modifying transitions to reduce the impulse bank value.

Abstract: Handling a memory fault based on detecting whether a memory pointer was invalidated by a pointer authentication (PA) failure. After an access to a memory pointer causes a memory fault, detecting that the memory pointer was invalidated by a PA failure includes creating a new memory pointer by replacing reserved bits of the memory pointer with a default value, and determining that the new memory pointer corresponds to a memory address that falls within executable memory. This determination includes determining that the memory address is within an executable memory page, determining that a call instruction is stored at a prior memory address that immediately precedes the memory address, and/or determining that the memory address corresponds to a code section of an executable file. The PA failure is handled based on logging the PA failure, terminating the application program, and/or resuming execution at an instruction stored at the memory address.

Abstract: A variety of methods for driving electro-optic displays so as to reduce visible artifacts are described. Such methods include (a) applying a first drive scheme to a non-zero minor proportion of the pixels of the display and a second drive scheme to the remaining pixels, the pixels using the first drive scheme being changed at each transition; (b) using two different drive schemes on different groups of pixels so that pixels in differing groups undergoing the same transition will not experience the same waveform; (c) applying either a balanced pulse pair or a top-off pulse to a pixel undergoing a white-to-white transition and lying adjacent a pixel undergoing a visible transition; (d) driving extra pixels where the boundary between a driven and undriven area would otherwise fall along a straight line; and (e) driving a display with both DC balanced and DC imbalanced drive schemes, maintaining an impulse bank value for the DC imbalance and modifying transitions to reduce the impulse bank value.

Abstract: Enforcing shadow stack violations for dynamic code. A thread is executed at a processor, which includes generating a portion of dynamic code for execution by the thread, identifying a range of memory addresses where the portion of dynamic code is loaded in memory, and initiating execution of the portion of dynamic code. Based at least on execution of the thread, an exception triggered by a mismatch between a first return address popped from a call stack corresponding to the thread and a second return address popped from a shadow stack corresponding to the thread is processed. Processing the exception includes (i) determining whether the second return address popped from the shadow stack is within the identified range of addresses, and (ii) based on having determined that the second return address is within the range of addresses, initiating a shadow stack enforcement action.

Abstract: Enforcing shadow stack violations at module granularity, rather than at thread or process granularity. An exception is processed during execution of a thread based on code of an application binary, which is enabled for shadow stack enforcement, that calls an external module. The exception results from a mismatch between a return address popped from the thread's call stack and a return address popped from the thread's shadow stack. Processing the exception includes determining that the exception resulted from execution of an instruction in the external module, and determining whether or not the external module is enabled for shadow stack enforcement. Based at least on these determinations, execution of the thread is terminated when the external module is enabled for shadow stack enforcement, or the thread is permitted to continue executing when the external module is not enabled for shadow stack enforcement.

Abstract: A variety of methods for driving electro-optic displays so as to reduce visible artifacts are described. Such methods include (a) applying a first drive scheme to a non-zero minor proportion of the pixels of the display and a second drive scheme to the remaining pixels, the pixels using the first drive scheme being changed at each transition; (b) using two different drive schemes on different groups of pixels so that pixels in differing groups undergoing the same transition will not experience the same waveform; (c) applying either a balanced pulse pair or a top-off pulse to a pixel undergoing a white-to-white transition and lying adjacent a pixel undergoing a visible transition; (d) driving extra pixels where the boundary between a driven and undriven area would otherwise fall along a straight line; and (e) driving a display with both DC balanced and DC imbalanced drive schemes, maintaining an impulse bank value for the DC imbalance and modifying transitions to reduce the impulse bank value.

Abstract: This application discloses a wind pressure-driven air intake device for natural ventilation of zero power consumption. Such a device comprises multiple tunnels being arranged around a common central chamber, each having an inflow valve at its inner end connecting the central chamber and an outer end open to ambient airflow. The inflow valve allows only inward flow from a corresponding tunnel into the central chamber. The central chamber has an opening allowing airflow exit to a space to be ventilated. The device is capable of capturing ambient wind flow and wind pressure to be fed to the vented space regardless of wind flow direction towards the device, with no need for a powered air driver.