It seems the best form of attack is defence, for computing giant Dell at least. Having commoditised the laptop market and made enough money to keep him in teeth whitener for decades, Mr D has been on the back foot more recently, defending his firm’s dubious customer service record, even more dubious laptop batteries, and most recently that broadsheet favourite – an accounting scandal.

But Dell has come out all guns blazing – you know, a bit like that bit at the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but without the Bolivian army – and signed a new deal with University College London that will see its Legion supercomputer used by the university’s researchers. Sneak hears that Dell’s ubercomputer, which could reach performance levels of up to 43 teraflops, will be set to work on such big issues as discovering the origin of galaxies, and helping stroke victims. Maybe it could also work out one of mankind's most vexing questions; Jar Jar Binks - what was Lucas thinking of??

22 Sep 2007