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Subject:Fun with the Pentium Bug! From:Binion Amerson <aba -at- OC -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 1 Dec 1994 07:42:29 -0600
I found this humorous piece on another newsgroup and thought all TECHWR-L
List readers might enjoy it as much as I did.
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Subject: Fun with the Pentium Bug!
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 15:46:18 -0600
Organization: The Periwinkle
Lines: 54
Message-ID: <wink-3011941546180001 -at- port6 -dot- tserver2 -dot- ucf -dot- edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: 132.170.20.106
Q&A: THE PENTIUM FDIV BUG
Q: How many Pentium designers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: 1.99904274017, but that's close enough for non-technical people.
Q: What do you get when you cross a Pentium PC with a research grant?
A: A mad scientist.
Q: What's another name for the "Intel Inside" sticker they put on
Pentiums?
A: The warning label.
Q: What do you call a series of FDIV instructions on a Pentium?
A: Successive approximations.
Q: Complete the following word analogy: Add is to Subtract as Multiply
is to:
1) Divide
2) ROUND
3) RANDOM
4) On a Pentium, all of the above
A: Number 4.
Q: What algorithm did Intel use in the Pentium's floating point divider?
A: "Life is like a box of chocolates." (Source: F. Gump of Intel)
Q: Why didn't Intel call the Pentium the 586?
A: Because they added 486 and 100 on the first Pentium and got
585.999983605.
Q: According to Intel, the Pentium conforms to the IEEE standards 754
and 854 for floating point arithmetic. If you fly in aircraft
designed using a Pentium, what is the correct pronunciation of "IEEE"?
A: Aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee!
TOP TEN NEW INTEL SLOGANS FOR THE PENTIUM
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.9999973251 It's a FLAW, Dammit, not a Bug
8.9999163362 It's the new math
7.9999414610 Nearly 300 Correct Opcodes
6.9999831538 You Don't Need to Know What's Inside
5.9999835137 Redefining the PC -- and Mathematics As Well
4.9999999021 We Fixed It, Really
3.9998245917 Division Considered Harmful
2.9991523619 Why Do You Think They Call It *Floating* Point?
1.9999103517 We're Looking for a Few Good Flaws
0.9999999998 The Errata Inside
--
Larry Wink <wink -at- pegasus -dot- cc -dot- ucf -dot- edu> or <larrywink -at- aol -dot- com>
"Naked in the Periwinkle."
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Now, back to work.
Binion Amerson
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Binion Amerson, Senior Technical Writer, OpenConnect Systems, 2711 LBJ, Ste
800, Dallas, TX 75234, Ph 214/888-0447; Fax 214/484-6100; E-mail aba -at- oc -dot- com
Director-Sponsor, Society for Technical Communication (STC) Region 5.
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