NEC is top of the supercomputer tree, with its Earth Simulator offically overtaking IBM's ASCI White nuclear bomb simulator in the TOP500. This is not exactly a surprise: the emphasis is "officially. For the NEC Earth Simulator was first named fastest, biggest, tinnest on the planet, in April. However, the TOP500 supercomputer league table is updated only every six months, so it's had to wait until now for the enthronement. Anything else newsworthy? Ah, yes, AMD has sent us a press release with a curious headline, which contains more spin than a spinning thing in spinning lane in spinning land.

35 with a bullet