[comp.arch] The Stone Collection

alan@rnms1.paradyne.com (Alan Lovejoy) (04/18/89)

                       --- The Stone Collection ---

18 April 1989          Compiled by Alan Lovejoy            Largo, Florida USA

The following is a list of mostly whimsical benchmark names that have been
proposed by a host of people on USENET, by my fellow employees at 
AT&T Paradyne, and by myself.  These benchmark names are modelled on
the names of some actual benchmarks (Whetstone, Dhrystone, Dhampstone,
Mhoistone, Rhealstone and Iostone) which usually have the form ?h*stone.

I regret to say that when I first started compiling this list, I was only
doing it for my own personal use and therefore it never occurred to me
that I should keep track of authorship.  I would appreciate it if any
authors could contact me to claim their rightfull credit if they see
their benchmark name listed here without attribution.

Many of the names were suggested by multiple sources.  I have made no
attempt to figure out who was first; it is best to simply assume that
all suggesters arrived at their names independently, and to leave it
at that.

Names that are new to this version are marked with an asterisk.

Benchmark Name:    Object(s)/Subject(s) of benchmark          Author

    --- Names suggested by me:

Fhlintstone:       Computer graphics animation                Alan Lovejoy
Lhintstone:        Measures performance of "lint"             Alan Lovejoy
Whrystone:         Funniness of ?h*stone benchmark name       Alan Lovejoy
Bhridgestone:      Computer aided civil engineering           Alan Lovejoy
Fhirestone:        Thermodynamic modelling;                   Alan Lovejoy 
*                   Where your mileage may vary :-);           ???
*                   Number of lazy, good for nothing, goldbricks 
		   which can be laid off upon installation of a 
		   computer system.  There are two accepted 
		   pronounciations: fa-hire-stone (as in I am)
                   or fire-stone (as in you are).             ???
Ghrindstone:       Text processing                            Alan Lovejoy
Lhoadstone:        Program loading;                           Alan Lovejoy
*                   Benchmark that is a lhoad of 
		   <insert favorite expletive here>           ???
Bhirthstone:       Process creation;                          Alan Lovejoy
                   Speed of new product development 
		   (measured from conception to delivery).    Dave Brown
Hhengestone:       Celestial navigation                       Alan Lovejoy
Philosopherstone:  Artificial intelligence                    Alan Lovejoy
*Ghemstone:         Home-computer windowing systems            Alan Lovejoy
*Sphinxstone:       Riddle generation software                 Alan Lovejoy
*Gholdstone:        Financial software                         Alan Lovejoy
*Einstone:          Relativistic performance;                  Alan Lovejoy
		    Nearness to speed of light (logarithmic)   Steve Fowler
*Charlestone:       Dancing ability                            Alan Lovejoy
*Errol Fhlynnstone: Software piracy                            Alan Lovejoy
*Rheinstone:        Extent to which a benchmark name inspires
		    other similar benchmark names (in honor
		    of Rheinhold P. Weicker's "Dhrystone")     Alan Lovejoy
*Sthepstone:        Object-oriented language performance;      Alan Lovejoy
		    Robot balance/motion software              Alan Lovejoy
*Khornerstone:      Computer aided structural engineering      Alan Lovejoy
*Rhedstone:         Ballistics                                 Alan Lovejoy
*Bhrownstone:       Real estate                                Alan Lovejoy
*Hhingestone:       Gate delay simulation                      Alan Lovejoy
*Johnstone:         Amount of crap poduced by a system         Alan Lovejoy
*Prhestone:         Performance/Temperature ratio              Alan Lovejoy
*Ghravestone:       For deciding when a system shoul be allowed
		    to Rust In Peace                           Alan Lovejoy
*KholdSoberStone:   Ability of symbolic algebra programs
		    to derive...                               Alan Lovejoy
*NhoUnturnedStone:  Sorting and searching                      Alan Lovejoy

    --- Names suggested by my coworkers:

Hheadstone:        Rate of defunct process creation;          Steve Fowler
                   Speed of product obsolesence.              Dave Brown
*Siltstone:         Bit residue at bottom of bit bucket        Steve Fowler
*Puddingstone:      Theorem proving                            Steve Fowler
*Afghanistone:      Measure of danger to Soviet soldiers       Steve Fowler
*Khabulstone:       Number of Soviet soldiers killed/year      Steve Fowler    
*Khobblestone:      Bootstrapping                              Mike Wolfe
*MastersAndJohnstone:  Orgasms Per Hour                        Mike Wolfe 
Rhinestone:        From Duke University...measures program ESP   Roy Crabtree
*                   Tests for cheap, flashy computer              
		   architectures                              ???
*Hhihostone:        Number of systems that dwarf yours.  
		    (Less than 7).                             Roy Crabtree
*Bhostone:          Number of supervisors owning a system. 
		    (Always more than 1).                      Roy Crabtree
Warestone:         Hirsuteness                                Ware Lynch
Wherestone:        Navigation;                                Ware Lynch
*                   Turns computer into a hairy stone
		   if the moon is full                        ???
Lhivingstone:      Anthropological ability                    Akash Deshpande
*KhastInStone:      Resistance of system to change             George Leach
*Phreestone:        Measure of available memory                Bill Freeman

    --- Names suggested by USENET posters

Rhosettastone:     Natural language translation               Robert Garvey 
Rhollingstone:     Sound/music generation;                    Devin Ben-Hur
		   DSP chip performance;                      Robert Garner
		   Power supply distortion;                   Abhijit Chaudhari
                   For use on CMOS technology                 Paul Shields
Fhlagstone:        Boolean algebra/logical machine operations Devin Ben-Hur
Lhinestone:        Vector graphics                            Earl Killian
Lhynestone:        Wire-frame graphics                        ??? 
Bhlarneystone:     For use in measuring performance of 
		   vaporware;                                 ???
*                   Rigorous test of Irish computing systems   ???
Bhlackstone:       Magical ability; unix wizardry             ???
Ehverybodymustgetstone: Hipness of a system;                  ???
*                   Tests the degree of nondeterminism in an
		   instruction set                            ???
Slyandthefamilystone:  Funkiness of a system                  ???
*                   Soul music appreciation                   ???
Baudstone:         Serial io                                  Stephen Friedl
Sahndstone:        Silicon compiler/chip performance;         Devin Ben-Hur
*                   Degree of granularity in a system;         George Leach
*                   Raw electrical performance of chips        ???
Soahpstone:        Daytime (cable) tv viewing;                Devin Ben-Hur
                   Bubble memory technology;                  David Brooks
		   Number of dirty tricks used by programmer; Alan Lovejoy
*                   Measure of how clean a design is           ???
Whatstone:         Statistical verification of (pseudo) 
		   random number generators;                  Devin Ben-Hur
*                   Voice recognition systems                  ???
Whystone:          Heuristics;                                ???
*                   Asks computer "Why bother?" a whole bunch
		   of times                                   ???
Nhetstone:         Network performance w/real time control    Alex Colvin 
		   Measure of similarity to USENET            ???
Nhewstone:         Measure of similarity to television news   ???
Ghallstone:        Rate at which audacioius claims are made by
		   administrators, used car salesmen and Sun
		   sales representatives;                     Robert M. Panoff
                   Measure of MIPS inflation due to 
		   marketing hype;                            John R. Latala
		   Measure of frenchness;                     ???        
*                   Medical diagnostic expert systems          ???
Khidneystone:      Rate at which customer is pissed off by
		   administrators, used car salesmen and Sun
		   sales representatives;                     Robert M. Panoff 
		   Medical diagnostic expert systems          ???
Yhellowstone:      Ability to put out fires;                  ???
*                   Simulates a "let it burn" policy on your
		   computer's memory                          ???
		   Number of trees burned/hour                Steve Fowler
Mhilestone:        Ability to meet deadlines;                 ???
*                   How many design revisions (i.e., laps 
		   around the engineering department) before         
		   the project collapses                      ???
Mhillstone:        Degree to which something impedes progress ???
Sticksandstone:    Measure of how insulting something is      ???
*                  Number of bad things you can say about the
		   operating system per second                ???
Thunderstone:      Noise generated by union leaders after a 
		   strike is called;                          ???
*                   Measures floating point speed by simulation
		   of falling meteors                         ???
Touchstone:        Pixel resolution of touch screens          ???
Standingstone:     Availability of goods in the Soviet Union  ???     
*                   Benchmark by iterated astronomical
		   calculations.  Phase-of-moon dependent.
		   Requires operator to wear animal skins.    ???
Swhordinthestone:  Elected official's ability to lead         ???
*                   Finds the once and future computer
		   architecture                               ???
Lhymestone:        Mineral exploration software;              ???        
*                   Extent to which purchase of system leaves
		   sour taste in customer's mouth             ???
Phreciousstone:	Measure of the $$ spent on a computer system  Abhijit Chaudhari
Hhstone:	A benchmark for determining the quality of 
		benchmark names.                              Abhijit Chaudhari
Lhithpstone:	Measures the efficiency of the lisp 
		interpreter.                                  Abhijit Chaudhari
Stohnehenge:	Used to measure the power of previous 
		generation computers.                         Abhijit Chaudhari
Xhf25qcdtstone:	Measures the efficieny of a random number 
		generator.                                    Abhijit Chaudhari
Khillstone:	Benchmark measuring the physical damage caused 
		to a compter terminal when a process crashes. Abhijit Chaudhari
Swhearstone:	Efficiency of verbal abuse (can be run alnog 
	        with Kihllstone).                             Abhijit Chaudhari
rm*hstone:	Measure of the amount of work undone by a 
		silly error.                                  Abhijit Chaudhari
Mhenustone:     Measures the number of pop-up / pull-down menu 
		items that a system can draw per second;  
		It would test raw CPU performance, special 
		graphic hardware support, and operating system 
		efficiency; and it would probably give a good 
		indication of a menu-based system's speed as 
		seen by an interactive user.                  Richard L. Carlson
Shumnerstone:   PostScript font rasterization.                David Brooks
Lhodestone:     Cartography applications;                     David Brooks
                Time to load a program/boot the OS            S. Crispin Cowan
Fholkestone:    Quantum-effect technology                     David Brooks
                (The town at the English end of the Channel Tunnel)
HharryStone:    Legal "bench"-mark;                           Bob Adolt
*                Tests whether an input voice is Mel Torme's  ???
Ehlizastone:    Measure of how many times per second a computer 
		and operating system can misundertsand or 
		misinterpret the commands you give.           Prem Sobel
ShlyStone:      Measures speed of machine in providing random 
		answers to meaningless questions.             Elliot S. Frank
Thombstone:     How many processes the OS can kill/sec.       S. Crispin Cowan
Ehstone:        How many Canadians, like, worked on the
		system, eh?                                   ???
Je me souviens-stone: How many expatriate anglo-quebecois
		worked on the system?              aglew@mcdurb.Urbana.Gould.COM
Kheystone:      Speed of DES cracking                         Dave Brown 
Throwstone:	Tests for glass houses                        Paul Shields
Mhonumentalstone: In mockery of benchmark tests
		  (with apologies to P.B. Shelley)            Paul Shields
Yheatstone:	"Too long a sacrifice / Can make a stone of the
		heart / O when may it suffice?"               Paul Shields
Fhred Fhlintstone: Tests for neanderthal operating systems    Paul Shields
Khirbystone:	The noise volume of the cooling fan of a PC.  John J. Marco
*Captain Bhlighstone: Does some sort of micro-mutiny           ???
*Sighstone:      Relates performance time to how bored the
		operator is with doing benchmarks             ???
*Chrystone:      The operator is *thouroughly* bored now       ???
*Sthystones:     (Stystnes) Show operator how messy insides of 
		computer is in relation to its speed          ???
*Cherrystone:    Number of novice users of root a system can
		survive                                       ???
*Schissorspaperstone: A series of benchmarks that can be used
		to prove any machine architecture superior to
		any other                                     ???
*Stonestone:     Relative merit of smoke                       ???
Fhrankenstone:  Number of times benchmark can die and be 
		resurrected per second             snoopy@sopwith.UUCP

[The Fhrankenstone] is currently very dangerous to run, as an electrical storm
is required.  It is hoped that a low power technique can be found for the
next release.  An industry spy overheard the principal researcher asking his
assistant to "Put   the   stack-pointer   back."  It is believed that the
researcher was trapped in a subroutine at the time.  Sun's SPARC technology
currently leads the pack in this benchmark, but mAMP, a joint venture between
MIPS and AMPhenol hopes to overtake SPARC with their on-chip battery design
fed by special high-current connectors which also serve as the chip's heat
sink.  Company spokepersons were unwilling to reveal how many milliamp-hours
their product would cache on-chip.  Public confidence in the new product
was dampened at an early demo of a prototype unit which used a defective
cpu and a pair of automotive battery clamps from a junkyard.  The prototype
paniced easily, and the public demanded it be dismantled.  Improvements
to the prototype, including a voice-synthesis unit, has calmed public
fears of the new technology.  It's not easy being on the cutting edge.
"Hard drives and kilobytes are tinkertoys, I'm talking about the central
networking system."


===========================================================================
From: <uunet!ames!ames!claris!portal!cup.portal.com!Devin_E_Ben-Hur>

for the record, i submitted these...
---------------
RhollingStone -- for benchmarking sound generation systems.
Sahndstone -- for benchmarking silcon (get it, sand) chips.
Soahpstone -- for measuring daytime cable tv usage.
Flahgstone -- for benchmarking boolean operations.
WhatStone? -- for statistical verification of psuedo randome number generators

Devin_Ben-Hur@cup.portal.com
...!ucbvax!sun!cup.portal.com!devin_e_ben-hur

============================================================================

From: uunet!gatech.edu!hubcap!panoff (Robert M. Panoff)

Ghallstones, Khidneystones:

Don't know if I was first or not, but believe I was to suggest these,
although with different definitions than those you posted. Mine arose
from dealing with SUN sales people (Ghallstones being the rate at which
audacious claims are made by administrators, used car sales folk, or SUN
sales; KhidneyStones measure the rate at which you get pissed off by same.
I was running at about 7KS when I came up with them).

rmp, for the Bob's in my office

===========================================================================
From: uunet!Sun.COM!sybase!robert (Robert Garvey)
Robert Garvey       robert%sybase.com@sun.com       Sybase, Inc
{pyramid,pacbell,sun,lll-tis,capmkt}!sybase!robert  Emeryville, CA 94608

>    --- Names suggested by USENET posters whose names I failed to record
>
>Rhosettastone:   natural language translation (I can't believe I missed this!)

If you're interested in attributing that one, I take credit for it.

============================================================================
>From: rob@amber.UUCP (Rob Adams x5527)

Mr. Adams submitted a list (to rec.humor.funny) he compiled from comp.arch. 
Items in his list that were not in mine have been incorportated into mine.  
Unfortunately, he did not show who the authors were for each submission.  
But he did have a list at the end of who the authors were:

Leonard T. Armstrong
Dave Binette
Donald C. Currie
Myron Deale
Akash Deshpande
Kevin Ferguson
Robert Firth
Steve Fowler
Robert Garvey
Don Gillies
Kim L. Greer                       
John Hogg
Steve Melvin
Tom Merkel
Scott Neugroschl
David Newton
Daryl Odnert
Robert M. Panoff
Gary Piatt
Renu Raman
Eric S. Raymond
Rick Richardson
Warren Seltzer
Jim Shankland
Neil Weinstock
Ed Wright
and
Devin_Ben-Hur@cup.portal.com
----
Rob Adams
Interleaf, Inc.
Cambridge, MA
rob@ileaf.com
=============================================================================
Alan Lovejoy; alan@pdn; 813-530-2211; AT&T Paradyne: 8550 Ulmerton, Largo, FL.
Disclaimer: I do not speak for AT&T Paradyne.  They do not speak for me. 
__American Investment Deficiency Syndrome => No resistance to foreign invasion.
Motto: If nanomachines will be able to reconstruct you, YOU AREN'T DEAD YET.