My MHz Is Bigger Than Your MHz
The annual Microprocessor Forum, being held this week in San Jose, provides computer chip companies with the chance to show off their latest and greatest “parts,” as they say in the business.
This year, a new version of the PowerPC microprocessor--developed by IBM and Motorola and used to power Apple Computer’s Macintosh--is expected to create the biggest buzz. With the new PowerPC 603e, IBM and Motorola have broken the 200-megahertz speed barrier--the new chip will come in 225- and 240-megahertz versions--making it the fastest microprocessor available for personal computers.
Intel Corp., which dominates the microprocessor business, has yet to ship a 200-plus megahertz version of the Pentium in volume.
Macintosh clone makers such as Motorola, Umax Computer Corp. and Power Computing Corp. all say they will use the 603e in new computers, though Apple and IBM have yet to announce their plans.
A San Jose start-up called Exponential, which has licensed the PowerPC design from IBM, has gone the established powers one better with a 500-megahertz version of the PowerPC chip, which will also debut at the forum. But a high price and high power consumption mean the Exponential chip is likely to be used in powerful computer servers rather than PCs.
THIS WEEK
* Today, 5 p.m.: Supermodel Cindy Crawford goes online to share her makeup secrets. CompuServe. Go: EDRIVE
* Today, 6 p.m.: Investigative reporters Donald Bartlett and James Steele discuss special interests’ influence on the political process. Internet. https://www.pathfinder.com
* Tuesday, 7 p.m.: Noted African American feminist author bell hooks shares the perils of growing up black in America. CompuServe. Go CONFERENCE
* Thursday, 7 p.m.: Former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield talks about his Nov. 9 bout with Mike Tyson. Prodigy. Jump: Spotlight
ON THE NET
* Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt has asked educators to send him e-mail about the state of technology in their schools and classrooms. Even after a series of NetDay events, fewer than one in 10 public schools has resources for students to use computers and connect to the Internet. Read his appeal at NetDayNews (https://www.schoolwire.org), then share your thoughts.
* Nine-year-old Kaitlin went to New York City to see “Beauty and the Beast” and was stunned by the homeless people she encountered on her trip. That prompted her to start Kids Helping Kids, a Web site that solicits ideas for helping homeless children. Some of their suggestions are posted at https://www.geocities.com/Heartland/8677
* 1st Amendment buffs can read summaries of Supreme Court decisions about free speech at https://www.fac.org. There’s also a guide to 1st Amendment cases the court has agreed to hear this term and other 1st Amendment news.
* The Black Vote (https://www.netnoir.com/The-BlackVote) has a weekly poll on political issues ranging from school prayer, the deficit and environmental racism to the assault weapons ban and welfare reform. Visitors can register to vote and find out how to volunteer for political causes.
* Read up on the state’s ballot measures at https://www.aristotle.org. An e-mail address is reserved for each of California’s 14 million registered voters, and those who sign up will have a copy of the California ballot pamphlet delivered to their electronic in-boxes. Aristotle Publishing, which launched the service with Secretary of State Bill Jones, plans to pay voters 50 cents for each e-mail message they read--and pay for it with money the state will save by not having to print and mail paper versions of the pamphlet.
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