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- Notes on the Pentium’s microcode circuitry (righto.com)
Most people think of machine instructions as the fundamental steps that a computer performs. However, many processors have another layer of software underneath: microcode. With microcode, instead of building the processor’s control circuitry from complex logic gates, the control logic is implemented with code known as microcode, stored in the microcode ROM. To execute a machine instruction, the computer internally executes several simpler micro-instructions, specified by the microcode. In this post, I examine the microcode ROM in the original Pentium, looking at the low-level circuitry.
- Beta Draconis (Wikipedia)
Beta Draconis (β Draconis, abbreviated Beta Dra, β Dra) is a binary star system and the third-brightest star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Draco. The two components are designated Beta Draconis A (officially named Rastaban /ˈræstəbæn/, “head to sole of foot”, the traditional name of the system) and B respectively. With a combined apparent visual magnitude of 2.79, it is bright enough to be easily seen with the naked eye. Based upon parallax measurements from the Hipparcos astrometry satellite, it lies at a distance of about 380 light-years (120 parsecs) from the Sun. The system is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −21 km/s.