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Theo de Raadt Details Intel Core 2 Bugs
Eukariote writes "Recently, Intel patched bugs in its Core 2 processors. Details were scarce; soothing words were spoken to the effect that a BIOS update is all that is required. OpenBSD founder Theo de Raadt has now provided more details and analysis on outstanding, fixed, and non-fixable Core 2 bugs. Some choice quotes: 'Some of these bugs... will *ASSUREDLY* be exploitable from userland code... Some of these are things that cannot be fixed in running code, and some are things that every operating system will do until about mid-2008.'"
Thank God I got a AMD this time around.
If information wants to be free, why does my internet connection cost so much?
.. not intel compatable.
Ask for your money back folks!
Old COBOL programmers never die. They just code in C.
can someone at slashdot please provide an "english" translation of the problems and how dangerous they are to normal users?
"We don't have the complete picture yet, but things look bad"
Hanno
What is a bug but an undocumented feature?
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Some of these bugs are along the lines of "buffer overflow"; where a write-protect or non-execute bit for a page table entry is ignored. Others are floating point instruction non-coherencies, or memory corruptions -- outside of the range of permitted writing for the process -- running common instruction sequences.
It will be interesting to see what Intel has to say about this.
Yea! Damn, where's the Intel Opinion Center exactly when you need it!
The first Pentium had a floating point bug. Maybe they're working too closely with Microsoft? (I kid! I kid! Put down that flamethrower!) Any way, here are a few Pentium jokes I dug up. If only the Core 2 bugs were all floating point erroirs we could recycle all of these old jokes to Core 2 jokes!
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?
A1: Successive approximations.
A2: A random number generator.
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!
Q: Did you hear about the new "morning after" pill being developed as a replacement for RU-486???
A: Its called RU-Pentium. It causes the embryo to not divide correctly.
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
THE TOP TEN REASONS TO BUY A PENTIUM MACHINE:
10. Your current computer is too accurate
9. You want to get into the guinness book as "owner of most expensive paperweight"
8. Math errors add zest to life
7. You need an alibi for the I.R.S.
6. You want to see what all the fuss is about
5. You've always wondered what it would be like to be a plaintiff
4. The "intel inside" logo matches your decor perfectly
3. You no longer have to worry about cpu overheating
2. You got a great deal from JPL
1. It'll probably work
Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week. Remember to tip the bartender. Lets see, 20% of... divide by...
% uname -a
:(
FreeBSD myhost.grateful.net 6.2-STABLE FreeBSD 6.2-STABLE #0: Mon May 28 09:52:28 PDT 2007 me@myhost.grateful.net:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/AMD64 i386
Wait... this works in Slashdot's text area?
% uname -a
% uname -a
Damn it
Any sufficiently advanced undocumented feature is indistinguishable from a bug. :-)
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.