At 2:08 PM -0500 2/7/03, Wirt Atmar wrote:

>  The following is from today's NY Times. You'll have no trouble
>  in recognizing that there's a great deal in the article that
>  is reminiscent of MPE and of the care and quality that went
>  into its construction.
...

>  The AP-101 computers process data at a tiny fraction of
>  the rate of today's  personal computers. Yet today's
>  computers need a lot of processing firepower  because
>  they routinely handle big graphics, as well as audio
>  and video files.  All of that is important for people
>  playing computer games or downloading  music over the
>  Internet but not relevant to the shuttle's performance.

Well, the members of the Rego family positively practice
what Wirt Preaches.  We certainly have several clusters
of butt-kicking (Wirt's expression, BTW, used in the
Giant MPE Poster :-) graphics-and-sound-oriented Macs, iPods,
and what-have-you.  We also have good-old hp3000 machines
that "process data at a tiny fraction of the rate of
today's personal computers" ("congratulations to HP" is in
order for its leadership role and inventiveness when it
comes to crippling CPU speed :-)

As I wrote to an HP friend:

       ... the Ross Summer Mathematics Program
       http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/ross/ ...

       Be it as it may, you will be able to relate to
       the motto of this program:

             Think deeply of simple things


The key concept is "relevance".  You (or a machine) can't
be all things to all people (or to all machines).  The
idea is to do relevant things (and to do them well).

The Pythagorean theorem is a mature, well-crafted piece
of "simple" mathematics.  It is so simple, in fact, that
it keeps popping up in the most unexpected places --
particularly in the latest research involving the most
sophisticated "new" concepts.


Doing my best to think deeply of simple things,

   _______________
  |               |
  |               |
  |            r  |  Alfredo                     [log in to unmask]
  |          e    |                           http://www.adager.com
  |        g      |  F. Alfredo Rego
  |      a        |  Manager, R & D Labs
  |    d          |  Adager Corporation
  |  A            |  Sun Valley, Idaho 83353-3000            U.S.A.
  |               |
  |_______________|

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