Intel is very, very fond of initiatives. It has them all the time. Sometimes it forgets to tell anyone it has them, but luckily, the people it has the initiatives with often blab the details before the chip behemoth has primed its spin paramedics around the World. Thus we have the strange situation where Texas Micro, one of Intel’s partners in the new Applied Computing Platform Provider Program today announced that it will participate in the new Intel Applied Computing Platform Provider programme. Rather unsettlingly, this mystery programme demands that vendors meet Intel's "strict participation criteria". "This is truly a win-win opportunity for both Texas Micro and Intel Corporation," ejaculated Michael Stewart, president and CEO, Texas Micro Inc, prematurely. "We look forward to participating in the Intel Applied Computing Platform Provider program which reinforces our position as a leading board supplier for the embedded computer industry." Intel has apparently created the Intel Applied Computing Platform Provider Program to "support customer design activity based on Pentium processors, chipsets, flash memory and other hardware and software products in the applied computing market segments". These segments allegedly include communications, transaction terminal and industrial process control applications. Texas Micro claims it is one of nine companies participating in the ACPP program worldwide. The Register feels sure that Chipzilla will eventually find time in its crowded schedule to tell the rest of the World precisely what it’s up to. Or maybe not. ®