Skip to Main Content
Idaho State University home

Glossary

Filter:
# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z All
M
M
MAC
MAN
MD5
MDC
Meg
MEP
MER
Mgt
MHS
MHz
MI
MIB
MLS
MOA
Mod
MOE
MOP
MOU
MRK
MRT
MSE
MTR
MTT
Mu
MUD
MUX
Mw
MIPS
  • /mips/ n. [abbreviation] A measure of computing speed; formally, `Million Instructions Per Second' (that's 10^6 per second, not 2^(20)!); often rendered by hackers as `Meaningless Indication of Processor Speed' or in other unflattering ways. This joke expresses a nearly universal attitude about the value of most benchmark claims, said attitude being one of the great cultural divides between hackers and marketroids. The singular is sometimes `1 MIP' even though this is clearly etymologically wrong. See also KIPS and GIPS.
  • Computers, especially large computers, considered abstractly as sources of computrons. "This is just a workstation; the heavy MIPS are hidden in the basement. "
  • The corporate name of a particular RISC-chip company; among other things, they designed the processor chips used in DEC's 3100 workstation series.
  • Acronym for `Meaningless Information per Second' (a joke, prob. from sense 1).