Path: vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!utnut!torn!hermes.acs.ryerson.ca!hermes.acs!elf From: elf@ee.ryerson.ca (luis fernandes) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: DEC colors (was Re: painting computers) Date: 12 Apr 1994 18:59:52 GMT Organization: Ryerson Polytechnic University Lines: 48 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: brundel.ee.ryerson.ca In-reply-to: Joshua Eli Schachter's message of Mon, 11 Apr 1994 01:54:24 -0400 In article Joshua Eli Schachter writes: And soon to be Alpha AXP, the sucking computer. Ummm...you would not be saying that if you knew its *true* meaning. I posted the following to comp.arch on the 1st of this month: Vatican City, Rome April 1, 1994 For the first time since the first announcement of the Alpha chip, Digital Equipment Corp. (Maynard, MA) has publicly acknowledged the help of the Vatican in the design of the Alpha AXP computer chip. The press release stated that the Alpha is indeed meant to symbolize the re-incarnation of Jesus Christ as a silicon avatar and that it signifies that the second coming is near. The release provides, what it claims is the definitive explanation, proving beyond the shadow of a doubt, that "AXP" is indeed a reference to the second coming: The 'A', which stands for the first letter of the Greek alphabet: alpha, is a reference to the Book of Revelations, chapter 1, verse 8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. As for the 'X' and the 'P', quoting the 10th edition of Webster is sufficient: Chi-Rho \'kuE-'roE, 'keE-\ n, pl Chi-Rhos [chi + rho] (1868) :a Christian monogram and symbol formed from the first two letters X and P of the Greek word for Christ -- called also Christogram The press release went on to state that the first lot of AXPs were blessed by the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. In an unprecedented revelation the DEC press release also stated that cooling Alpha chips with holy-water would yield significantly better performance in floating-point operations; no specific numbers were given. More details will be posted as they become available.