2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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speedometer
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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n. A pattern of lights displayed on a linear set of LEDs (today) or nixie
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tubes (yesterday, on ancient mainframes). The pattern is shifted left every
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N times the operating system goes through its main loop. A swiftly moving
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pattern indicates that the system is mostly idle; the speedometer slows down
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as the system becomes overloaded. The speedometer on Sun Microsystems
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hardware bounces back and forth like the eyes on one of the Cylons from the
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wretched Battlestar Galactica TV series. Historical note: One computer, the
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GE 600 (later Honeywell 6000) actually had an analog speedometer on the
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front panel, calibrated in instructions executed per second.
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