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From the headline I assumed that technicians were literally able to smell whether a chip is new, possibly by it releasing gases shortly after production. It rem
by larelli 8y ago
From the headline I assumed that technicians were literally able to smell whether a chip is new, possibly by it releasing gases shortly after production. It reminded me of the distinct smell of new hard drives when you open the factory sealed pouch.
I was slightly disappointed when I found that the article describes software based testing instead.
- ajross 8y agoIt's, uh, a reference to "new car smell" -- the combination of fragrance and volatile outgassing from new plastics that only lasts for a few months after manufacture. Even if you missed the social reference you got the idea: "new hard drive smell" is surely a physically similar effect.
- codetrotter 8y agoI too expected to read about people smelling the flash memory. The reason I expected that was exactly because I have smelt new car smell.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- khedoros1 8y agoI understood that part of the reference, but "tech" is ambiguous. If it meant "technician", then it would imply to me that the "new memory smell" was both figurative and something that a human nose could detect, in a literal sense. Reading the article makes it clear that "tech" refers to "technology", making it more likely that the "smell" is purely figurative.
- mirimir 8y agoYou can buy that smell in a spray can.
- unit91 8y agoOne can imagine your disappointment when you discovered "code smell" has no actual odor.
- jethro_tell 8y agoIt does on my floor. =<
- make3 8y agoI'm sure a few web shops are quite happy bad code doesn't actually smell
- overcast 8y agoAre you sure about that? I never want to be down in those CS labs ever again.
- ficklepickle 8y agoThat is an awesome product idea: A device connected to your computer that emits a pungent substance when you commit "smelly" code. It could be part of CI. Instead of giving you an error, it fails silently but releases a terrible odor.
- rdiddly 8y agoIn my imagined version there was a chemical sampler/detector connected to a machine-learning algorithm, so basically a robot was doing the smelling.
- disillusioned 8y agoUhhhhhh, embarrassingly, same.
- ChuckMcM 8y agoI can confirm from experience that if you apply too much voltage it takes on that “never going to work again” smell :-)
- nfriedly 8y ago"All diodes can be light-emitting - once"
- femto 8y agoFunnily enough, all diodes actually are light emitting, and light receiving, to some extent. It's why diodes are generally in opaque encapsulation. Whether a PN junction is an LED, PV cell or rectifier/switch is a matter of what the design optimises for. Try putting a voltmeter across a glass encased signal diode and shining a strong light on it to see it act as a PV cell. One wouldn't normally use a diode as a PV cell, but if the desired power was very small, a glass encased diode might be used as a cheap PV cell.
- kylek 8y agoThat has a name, too- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_smoke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_smoke
- rdtsc 8y agoFrom tinkering with electronics my brain has imprinted the smell of various components (resistors, capacitors), isolation. I often wonder what effect inhaling those fumes had on me, can't imagine it was a positive one.
- paulsutter 8y agoOf course chips don’t work if the smoke escapes, internally they operate on smoke. We tested this with a chip socket connected to 120VAC. All the chips that we connected released smoke, and none of them ever worked again.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- z3r0_v 8y agoI personally assumed it was a dog called 'Tech'.
- DannyB2 8y agoNow if only they could detect how much wear and tear is on the filament. 6.3 VAC