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MIPS

   formally, `Million Instructions Per Second' (that's 10^6
   per second, not 2^(20)!); often rendered by hackers as
   `Meaningless Indication of Processor Speed' or in other
   unflattering ways.  This joke expresses a nearly universal attitude
   about the value of most benchmark claims, said attitude being
   one of the great cultural divides between hackers and
   marketroids.  The singular is sometimes `1 MIP' even though
   this is clearly etymologically wrong.  See also KIPS and
   GIPS.  2. Computers, especially large computers, considered
   abstractly as sources of computrons.  "This is just a
   workstation; the heavy MIPS are hidden in the basement."  3. The
   corporate name of a particular RISC-chip company; among other
   things, they designed the processor chips used in DEC's 3100
   workstation series.  4. Acronym for `Meaningless Information per
   Second' (a joke, prob. from sense 1).