"dead list" that contains all stopped threads and then have a special cleanup thread that simply waits for an item to be added to the list. The cleanup thread calls pthread_join() to merge it with itself. Now your entire cleanup will be handled neatly and efficiently in a single thread.

mutexes are used to serialize access to *shared data*. Don't use them for non-shared data, and don't use them if your program's logic ensures that only one thread is accessing a particular data structure at a single time.

if you are using shared data, use mutexes for both reading and writing. Surround your read and write sections with pthread_mutex_lock() and pthread_mutex_unlock(), or use them any time a program's invariant is temporarily broken.

pthread_mutex_destroy() does not free the memory used to store the pthread_mutex_t. It's up to you to free() your own memory. Also remember that both pthread_mutex_init() and pthread_mutex_destroy() return zero on success.

pthread_mutex_lock() accepts a single pointer to a mutex to lock. If the mutex already happens to be locked, the caller will go to sleep. When the function returns, the caller will be woken up (obviously), and the caller will also now hold the lock. This call either returns zero on success.

You should always unlock a mutex that you've locked as soon as safely possible (to increase performance). And you should never unlock a mutex that you don't hold a lock for

When you call pthread_mutex_trylock() you'll attempt to lock the mutex. If the mutex is currently unlocked you'll get the lock, and this function will return zero. However, if the mutex is locked this call won't block. Rather, it will return a non-zero EBUSY error value.

pthread_cond_wait() simultaneously unlock the mutex (so that other threads can modify the linked list) and wait on the condition (so that pthread_cond_wait() will wake up when it is "signalled" by another thread). Now that the mutex is unlocked, other threads can access and modify the linked list, possibly adding items

pthread_cond_wait() call has not yet returned. Unlocking the mutex happens immediately, but waiting on the condition mycond is normally a blocking operation, meaning that our thread will go to sleep, consuming no CPU cycles until it is woken up.

This is exactly what we want to happen. Our thread is sleeping, waiting for a particular condition to become true, without performing any kind of busy polling that would waste CPU time. From our thread's perspective, it's simply waiting for the pthread_cond_wait() call to return.

Immediately after unlocking the mutex, thread 2 calls the function pthread_cond_broadcast(&mycond). By doing so, thread 2 will cause all threads waiting on the mycond condition variable to immediately wake up. This means that our first thread (which is in the middle of a pthread_cond_wait() call) will now wake up.

After thread 2 called pthread_cond_broadcast(&mymutex) you might think that thread 1's pthread_cond_wait() will immediately return. Not so! Instead, pthread_cond_wait() will perform one last operation: relock mymutex. Once pthread_cond_wait() has the lock, it will then return and allow thread 1 to continue execution.

Debt is a social and ideological construct, not a simple economic fact.

I come from a working-class background, and I thought I had to be studying something that would get me a job.

This is the precept by which I have lived: Prepare for the worst; expect the best; and take what comes.

It's obvious that I come down on the side of free speech for anybody's work.

As far as 'Windup Girl' becoming a hit - none of us expected that. 'Night Shade' was just hoping not to lose their shirts, and I had grown up hearing from everyone that science fiction didn't sell, so all of our expectations were very low.

I wanted to be a physical therapist because I had torn up my knee and thought it was interesting with the rehab and whatever. I did kinesiology, and after the first four days of class, I dropped out because I was like, 'This ain't the class for me!'

I don't distinguish between men and women. This is irrelevant to me, and I don't think in these terms.

Basketball isn't as popular in Canada as it is in the US. Hockey is by far the most popular sport in Canada.

Love without sex is still the most efficient form of hell known to man.

My favorite movies of all times is 'Doctor Zhivago,' and I love 'Gone With the Wind.' I'd love to play some Southern belle or something where I owned a plantation.

Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.

I have loved football as an almost mythic game since I was in the fourth grade. To me, the game wasn't even grounded in reality. The uniform turned you into a warrior. Being on a team, the mythology of physical combat, the struggle against the elements, the narrative of the game.

Nannies love working in our house because they never know who's gonna walk through the door.

The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do.

God has to speak to each person in their own language, in their own idioms. Take Spanish, Chinese. You can express the same thought, but to different people you have to use a different language. It's the same in religion.

According to Johnny Carson, I was the guy who Marlon sent out to do all the dirty work.

Mexico is so close to us. No matter how long we stay here, we identify as Americans first, but we also have a place for our mother country. That is very visible in San Antonio.

'Marriage' was not that big a deal, to be honest! I mean, it makes life easier for technical reasons: insurance, next-of-kin stuff, joint tax filing, etc. The real shocker was falling in love with the man I'm married to. I was 32 when we met, and I had really never been in a functional relationship before, had never been deeply in love.

I don't like sweating the details, and I'm pretty disorganized. To be a better leader, I need to stay on top of these shortcomings, and being reminded really helps.

I used to paint pictures - what happened was, I used to draw and paint pictures. And some of my friends would be, like, 'Yo, you should put that on a T-shirt,' because that's where their brain would go.

Movies are the shadiest business in the world.

I think Wilco is going to definitely stand the test of time - no question - and Uncle Tupleo, and the whole No Depression scene, which is now alt-country. I think that's going to be around a long time.

In America, small business is a big deal.

You won't ever build your confidence from a perception of lack. For it grows and evolves from realizing who you are and what you already have.