I'd just like to add that this thread tickles me to no end in both its geniality and its thoroughness. When humor meets citation-checking, it's serious business indeed. 

I can't speak as to whether the Pentium explicitly popped up in a Letterman Top Ten list, Dr. Spertus, but I can suggest that the January 5th, 1995, list you mentioned, "Top Ten Signs You Bought a Bad Computer," may include
an oblique reference specific to that time period.  Item "# 2" reads, "The only chip inside is a Dorito."

I remember the above gag from an edited volume of Late Show lists I was given. 

Link from the Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20061207001549/http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/top_ten/archive/ls_topten_archive1995/ls_topten_archive_19950105.shtml. 

Best,
Andrew

On Fri, Aug 14, 2020 at 10:08 PM Paul Ivanov <pi@berkeley.edu> wrote:

Ellen Spertus, on 2020-08-14 15:00,  wrote:
> I remain skeptical, because of the information (and absence of
> information) that I cite, but I think I should drop it if David
> Patterson is adamant that it happened.It's not a matter of
> great historic importance, just a minor curiosity.

I think your scepticism is well placed, Ellen, and the Royal
Society motto "Nullius in verba" ("Take nobody's word for it")
certainly comes to mind.

I took the liberty of contacting Don Giller, an authoritative
Letterman archivist (see
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/fashion/mens-style/david-letterman-late-show-don-giller.html>
or
<https://donzblog.home.blog/2019/09/26/my-letterman-databases/>
) and he categorically rejects the existence of a Pentium bug
Top Ten list from the show.

As nice of a story as it would have been to have floating point
humour in the late night show cannon,  it seems that this one
isn't true.


Don Giller, on 2020-08-15 00:27,  wrote:
> Hi, Paul,
>
> First, thanks for the twitter follow. Appreciated!
>
> Second, nope, no Top Ten List, ever.
>
> The only mention of the Pentium issue was during his monologue
> on December 15, 1994:
>
> "You know, you know what you can do if you have any of those
> defective Pentium computer chips? You know what I’m talking
> about? If you have any of those defective Pentium computer
> chips, get yourself some defective Pentium salsa, uhmm! I’m
> telling you, unbelievable! Knock yourself out."
>
> Don
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Fri, Aug 14, 2020 7:46 pm
> Subject: Letterman Top 10 list about Pentium bug?
>
> Hi Don,
>
> There's a email thread on the SIGCIS list (Special Interest Group
> for Computing, Information, and Society) that piqued my interest
> that you might be in a position to shed some light on.
>
> To the best of your knowledge and databases, did David Letterman
> ever have a top 10 list about the pentium bug? See the original
> email attached, it seems like if it happened it was in late 1994
> or early 1995.
>
>
> If you're curious about what other people have said  - see the
> "Is it a myth that David Letterman had a Top Ten List about the
> Pentium bug?" thread on the list archives here:
> http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/2020-August/thread.html
>
> best,
> pi

best,
--
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Paul Ivanov
https://pirsquared.org | GPG/PGP key id: 0x0F3E28F7
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