Chip

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- President Clinton campaigned for civic values in the heart of Tennessee yesterday, endorsing congressional proposals to require television makers to install a computer chip that could automatically screen out programs that broadcasters had coded as violent."

Audrey and Allen Murray plunked down $800 for a pregnant broodmare in late 1954 -- before they were even married. The mare, Rip Fleet, gave birth to a foal the Murrays sold as a yearling for $4,500.Nice return. Easy business.In business now for 43 years -- their Murmur Farm near Darlington in Harford County comprises 133 acres -- the Murrays quickly learned what nearly every horse breeder knows:Not always nice return. No easy business.But the Murrays persevered. And now in their early 60s, still working as hard as ever, they are enjoying the fruits of their labor.

My Pentium-class PC was functioning well when I turned it off and went to work. When I returned and turned it back on, there were big problems. I got error messages saying that my (hard drive) controller was conflicted and that my two CD-ROM drives were no longer listed. The sound also was really garbled.After troubleshooting, I found that reinstalling the drivers for the motherboard cleaned everything up. A week went by without problems when the same thing recurred. Any ideas what could be causing this?

In the world of microprocessors, a 32-bit RISC chip is a powerhouse. Such chips typically are used in the class of computers known as workstations, which are to personalcomputers what jets are to propeller planes.Scientists use these powerful machines to create three-dimensional models of molecules, and graphic artists use them to create stunning animations and special effects used in motion pictures.Some people believe that 32-bit RISC chips, along with another specialized chip called a digital signal processor and a CD-ROM drive, will soon be at the heart of a $700 home entertainment center.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- This sentence is sponsored by Tostitos. So is this one. Everything here is brought to you by Tostitos, the miracle chip. College football had the big sports stage to itself last night, and it turned that stage into a colossal commercial.There are nine things painted on the Fiesta Bowl's field.One is "Nebraska."Another is "Florida."The other seven are "Tostitos."The word is spilled all over the field, from end zone to end zone, like a bowl of party chips dumped on the livingroom rug.Even the nonpainted spots on the field are redundant.

SAN FRANCISCO -- U.S. companies last year increased their share of the worldwide computer chip market for the first time since 1979, largely as a result of strong performances by Intel and Motorola, according to the market research firm Dataquest.But three Japanese companies -- NEC, Toshiba, and Hitachi -- retained the top spots in the annual market share rankings, and analysts said the U.S. gains did not necessarily represent a reversal of the decade-long decline of the American chip industry.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Right-hander Scott Erickson underwent successful arthroscopic elbow surgery in Los Angeles yesterday and could be ready to rejoin the Orioles' starting rotation in late April. Orthopedic specialist Dr. Lewis Yocum removed several small bone particles from Erickson's inflamed right elbow, including one significant bone chip that probably was the source of the soreness and swelling that sidelined the veteran starter last week. "The operation was successful," said Orioles vice president of baseball operations Syd Thrift.

LAS VEGAS -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. raised the stakes yesterday in its attempt to break Intel Corp.'s monopoly on one of the most popular microprocessors used in personal computers, showing off a chip that appears to match the functions of Intel's 80386DX microprocessor.Intel has been the sole source of 386 chips for five years, and it has become the standard for millions of high-performance, IBM-compatible personal computers. The company is waging a nTC bitter legal battle to keep Advanced Micro from selling the chip to computer-makers.

I have an IBM PC with an AMD 333 processor. I installed a DVD-ROM drive that called for system requirements of a Pentium 350 or above. It worked fine for a while, but now when I put a CD in my computer, it locks up. How can I fix my problem? You clearly stepped over the line by purchasing a drive that requires the speed of a 350-megahertz Pentium chip to handle the required data transfers. Your solution is dangerous and requires you to step over another line. I don't know if it is worth it. In brief, you can force your AMD chip to move data faster than its design is supposed to permit by using a dangerous technique known as "overclocking."