diff --git a/Examples/reed_sol_01.c b/Examples/reed_sol_01.c
index ff7f477..1de63c7 100644
--- a/Examples/reed_sol_01.c
+++ b/Examples/reed_sol_01.c
@@ -37,12 +37,9 @@
  * POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
  */
 
-    
 
-/*
-	revised by S. Simmerman
-	2/25/08  
-*/
+/* Part of this code was revised by Scott Simmerman 2/25/08 */
+
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -56,8 +53,8 @@ usage(char *s)
   fprintf(stderr, "usage: reed_sol_01 k m w - Does a simple Reed-Solomon coding example in GF(2^w).\n");
   fprintf(stderr, "       \n");
   fprintf(stderr, "       w must be 8, 16 or 32.  k+m must be <= 2^w.  It sets up a classic\n");
-  fprintf(stderr, "       Vandermonde-based distribution matrix and encodes k devices of\n");
-  fprintf(stderr, "       %d bytes each with it.  Then it decodes.\n", sizeof(long));
+  fprintf(stderr, "       Vandermonde-based generator matrix and encodes k devices of\n");
+  fprintf(stderr, "       %ld bytes each with it.  Then it decodes.\n", sizeof(long));
   fprintf(stderr, "       \n");
   fprintf(stderr, "This demonstrates: jerasure_matrix_encode()\n");
   fprintf(stderr, "                   jerasure_matrix_decode()\n");
@@ -111,6 +108,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
   int k, w, i, j, m;
   int *matrix;
   char **data, **coding;
+  unsigned char uc;
   int *erasures, *erased;
   int *decoding_matrix, *dm_ids;
   
@@ -130,8 +128,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
   data = talloc(char *, k);
   for (i = 0; i < k; i++) {
     data[i] = talloc(char, sizeof(long));
-    l = lrand48();
-    memcpy(data[i], &l, sizeof(long));
+    for (j = 0; j < sizeof(long); j++) {
+      uc = lrand48()%256;
+      data[i][j] = (char) uc;
+    }
   }
 
   coding = talloc(char *, m);
diff --git a/Examples/reed_sol_03.c b/Examples/reed_sol_03.c
index 2070aa5..49321d9 100644
--- a/Examples/reed_sol_03.c
+++ b/Examples/reed_sol_03.c
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ usage(char *s)
   fprintf(stderr, "       \n");
   fprintf(stderr, "       w must be 8, 16 or 32.  k+2 must be <= 2^w.  It sets up a classic\n");
   fprintf(stderr, "       RAID-6 coding matrix based on Anvin's optimization and encodes\n");
-  fprintf(stderr, "       %d-byte devices with it.  Then it decodes.\n", sizeof(long));
+  fprintf(stderr, "       %ld-byte devices with it.  Then it decodes.\n", sizeof(long));
   fprintf(stderr, "       \n");
   fprintf(stderr, "This demonstrates: reed_sol_r6_encode()\n");
   fprintf(stderr, "                   reed_sol_r6_coding_matrix()\n");
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ static void print_data_and_coding(int k, int m, int w, int size,
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
   long l;
+  unsigned char uc;
   int k, w, i, j, m;
   int *matrix;
   char **data, **coding;
@@ -123,7 +124,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
   matrix = reed_sol_r6_coding_matrix(k, w);
 
-  printf("Last 2 rows of the Distribution Matrix:\n\n");
+  printf("Last 2 rows of the Generator Matrix:\n\n");
   jerasure_print_matrix(matrix, m, k, w);
   printf("\n");
 
@@ -131,8 +132,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
   data = talloc(char *, k);
   for (i = 0; i < k; i++) {
     data[i] = talloc(char, sizeof(long));
-    l = lrand48();
-    memcpy(data[i], &l, sizeof(long));
+    for (j = 0; j < sizeof(long); j++) {
+      uc = lrand48()%256;
+      data[i][j] = (char) uc;   
+    }
   }
 
   coding = talloc(char *, m);
diff --git a/Examples/reed_sol_hard_time_gf.c b/Examples/reed_sol_hard_time_gf.c
index e3cf6a2..e214956 100644
--- a/Examples/reed_sol_hard_time_gf.c
+++ b/Examples/reed_sol_hard_time_gf.c
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ timer_split (const double *t)
 
 usage(char *s)
 {
-  fprintf(stderr, "usage: reed_sol_hard_test_gf k m w [additional GF args]- Test and time Reed-Solomon in a particular GF(2^w).\n");
+  fprintf(stderr, "usage: reed_sol_hard_test_gf k m w iterations bufsize [additional GF args]- Test and time Reed-Solomon in a particular GF(2^w).\n");
   fprintf(stderr, "       \n");
   fprintf(stderr, "       w must be 8, 16 or 32.  k+m must be <= 2^w.\n");
   fprintf(stderr, "       See the README for information on the additional GF args.\n");
diff --git a/Examples/reed_sol_time_gf.c b/Examples/reed_sol_time_gf.c
index 6c9d54d..36645c8 100644
--- a/Examples/reed_sol_time_gf.c
+++ b/Examples/reed_sol_time_gf.c
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ timer_split (const double *t)
 
 usage(char *s)
 {
-  fprintf(stderr, "usage: reed_sol_test_gf k m w [additional GF args]- Test and time Reed-Solomon in a particular GF(2^w).\n");
+  fprintf(stderr, "usage: reed_sol_time_gf k m w iterations bufsize [additional GF args]- Test and time Reed-Solomon in a particular GF(2^w).\n");
   fprintf(stderr, "       \n");
   fprintf(stderr, "       w must be 8, 16 or 32.  k+m must be <= 2^w.\n");
   fprintf(stderr, "       See the README for information on the additional GF args.\n");