At an Intel lunch at its Intel Developer Forum two weeks ago, Pat Gelsinger admitted he was the brains behind shipping the Katmai-PIII with the ID number switched on. We were interested in this PR disaster. Sometimes, to outsiders like us, Intel seems like a lumbering dinosaur where the brain doesn't know why the tail is twitching. We said, at the time, this was a PR gaffe, rather than an error, per se. We quizzed Gelsinger about the PR disaster, specifically. Said Gelsinger: "That was my idea." Was it also his idea to ship PIIs with the serial number switched on, we wonder. ®