Since `numeric_limits<half>::max_exponent` is a static inline constant,
it cannot be directly passed by reference. This triggers a linker error
in recent versions of `g++-powerpc64le`.
Changing `half` to take inputs by value fixes this. Wrapping
`max_exponent` with `int(...)` to make an addressable integer also fixes this
and may help with other custom `Scalar` types down-the-road.
Also eliminated some compile warnings for powerpc.