BACK IN OCTOBER OF 2001, when AMD launched its first Athlon XP processors with "model number" ratings, the company told us it would be working on an industry-wide initiative to produce a new standard for measuring performance. Since then, we've heard very little out of AMD about the new performance metric coming from its True Performance Initiative. I wasn't about to let 2002 slip by without finding out what became of TPI, so I started poking around asking nosy questions.

AMD was kind enough to point me to the fortuitously named Hal Speed, the company's Senior Manager of Strategic Initiatives and head TPI honcho. I asked Hal all manner of questions like, "Is TPI still alive?" "When will we see it?" and "Is that really your real name, really?" Read on to see what I learned.