Q&A: THE PENTIUM FDIV BUG

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 Close Enough, We Say So
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
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