Q: What are ``near'' and ``far'' pointers?
A: These days, they're pretty much obsolete; they're definitely system-specific. They had to do with 16-bit programming under MS-DOS and perhaps some early versions of Windows. If you really need to know, see a DOS- or Windows-specific programming reference. If you're using a machine which doesn't require (or permit) making the near/far pointer distinction, just delete the unnecessary ``near'' and ``far'' keywords (perhaps using the preprocessor: ``#define far /* nothing */'').