Silicon Artwork 118

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 15, 2003 @03:30PM from the back-from-the-beyond dept.

TeachingMachines writes "Photomicrographs are photographs taken through a microscope. A site called Molecular Expressions hosts a vast collection of photomicrographs, arranged in galleries. One gallery of interest is called the Silicon Zoo. While using a microscope to examine the silicon surfaces of processors and whatnot, investigators stumbled upon some renaissance artwork, dire warnings, and even some advertising that may be etched into your computer's silicon. Douglas Adams would have been happy to find this one. (from the Silicon Scriptures collection). This "EULA" probably has lawyers jumping for joy. An image on this page will give you a rough idea of how big the artwork actually is."

Silicon Artwork

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It's all in the details... (Score:2)

by Empiric ( 675968 ) * writes:

New Total Information Awareness chip [fsu.edu]?
- Google Image Cache (Score:3, Informative)
  
  by missing000 ( 602285 ) writes:
  
  Here [google.com]
  - Re:Google Image Cache (Score:2)
    
    by MobyDisk ( 75490 ) writes:
    
    That's over 8000 images. These are the ones the article refers to:
    
    Creatures [google.com]
Microscopic pr0n!!! (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes:

Yes...
EULA? (Score:2, Funny)

by Carnildo ( 712617 ) writes:

I wonder if current systems have a similar EULA?
- Re:EULA? (Score:1)
  
  by RichMan ( 8097 ) writes:
  
  I like the EULA. I will try to do something similar on our next chip. Needing fill is quite common. Doing it with text shapes is fine. I have done the company logo by hand. Always plans for something grand never enough time. Maybe we need a new output filter for the GIMP
Silicon Artwork... (Score:1, Funny)

by DrFlex ( 711207 ) writes:

Where are the Pam Anderson links?
- Re:Silicon Artwork... (Score:2)
  
  by Webmoth ( 75878 ) writes:
  
  This has nothing to do with silicone artwork.
Cool (Score:2)

by blitzoid ( 618964 ) writes:

I've seen this sort of thing before, you'd be amazed what you can find. I even once saw a drawing of Dilbert on one. It was quite good, actually.
- Re:Cool (Score:2)
  
  by demonbug ( 309515 ) writes:
  
  I even once saw a drawing of Dilbert on one. It was quite good, actually.
  
  Obviously not done by Scott Adams, then.
- Link to Dilbert picture (Score:1)
  
  by MCRocker ( 461060 ) writes:
  
  The picuture of Dilbert is included in the second image gallery [chipworks.com] from Chipworks silicon art [chipworks.com]. It also shows up on an ICE poster [chipworks.com]
- Re:Cool (Score:1)
  
  by serbanp ( 139486 ) writes:
  
  While we're here, are there public domain tools that take for instance a bitmap and convert it to GDS or CIF?
  
  I'd really like to put things like that on my circuits, but it's painful to draw them by hand in the layout editor du jour.
  
  Serban
  - Re:Cool (Score:1)
    
    by cwilson ( 45570 ) writes:
    
    Try p2m [ncsu.edu].
Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:3, Interesting)

by taniwha ( 70410 ) writes: on Wednesday October 15, 2003 @03:34PM (#7223331) Homepage Journal

those are from the days when chips had 1 or 2 layers of metal on them. These days it's more normal to put power and ground planes on the top hiding all the pretty stuff underneath

- Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:2)
  
  by crgrace ( 220738 ) writes:
  
  those are from the days when chips had 1 or 2 layers of metal on them. These days it's more normal to put power and ground planes on the top hiding all the pretty stuff underneath
  
  what planet are you from? No one uses power or ground planes on an IC. It would be complete and utter suicide! CROSSTALK BABY! The reason you don't see them anymore is that they are dangerous and some jerk-off designer putting a million dollar mask set at risk for a picture of dilbert just isn't worth it.
  - Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:1)
    
    by taniwha ( 70410 ) writes:
    
    apparently a different one from you :-) putting power on the top is very common these days - reducing IR drop at worst case switching all across the die means getting as much metal between the pads and gates in the middle is really important - people often reserve upper layers for power and gnd because we don't care as much about wire length (now days often limited by via length) and want to reserve the shorter via runs for signals. Sure cross talk is an issue - but your layout tools ought to be handling th
    - Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:2)
      
      by crgrace ( 220738 ) writes:
      
      apparently a different one from you :-) putting power on the top is very common these days - reducing IR drop at worst case switching all across the die means getting as much metal between the pads and gates in the middle is really important - people often reserve upper layers for power and gnd because we don't care as much about wire length (now days often limited by via length) and want to reserve the shorter via runs for signals. Sure cross talk is an issue - but your layout tools ought to be handling th
  - Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:2)
    
    by Trolling4Dollars ( 627073 ) writes:
    
    You blathered: "some jerk-off designer"
    
    Some of us have a sense of style when it comes to engineering and computers. You need a visit from the Fab5.
    - Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:2)
      
      by crgrace ( 220738 ) writes:
      
      You blathered: "some jerk-off designer"
      
      Some of us have a sense of style when it comes to engineering and computers. You need a visit from the Fab5.
      
      Now that was a hilarious comeback. Mod up please!
    - Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:2)
      
      by Ella the Cat ( 133841 ) writes:
      
      Well said. VLSI Technology used to encourage us to put a dedication in the corner of our designs. The first I ever did was to my daughter, born 15 years ago today. The second one was to Stevie Coppell's Red 'n' Blue Army (and if you understand what that means and read Slashdot, I'll be very surprised).
Mirrors? (Score:1)

by ender1598 ( 266355 ) writes:

Any suitable mirrors up yet? I got to see one picture of Milhouse and now the server is smoking.
- Re:Mirrors? (Score:2)
  
  by Stephen Samuel ( 106962 ) writes:
  
  If you forward the image to me, I'll put it on a web page (and see how well *it* survives the slashdotting)
- Mirrors (Score:2)
  
  by Stephen Samuel ( 106962 ) writes:
  
  OK: I got a few of the images. They're on my website [bcgreen.com]. If you have missing images, or mirrors of your own, post in reply, or email to me, and I'll put pictures or pointers as appropriate on my page.
  - COPYRIGHT VIOLATION (Score:1)
    
    by wirelessbuzzers ( 552513 ) writes:
    
    You do understand that these images are copyright them, and they explicitly say not to mirror them?
    - Re:COPYRIGHT VIOLATION (Score:2)
      
      by Stephen Samuel ( 106962 ) writes:
      
      Well, considering that their server is fried at the moment, I'm hoping that they'll look at it as a reasonable exception -- besides, I'm including ample pointers back to their website. (and the copyright notices).
      It's not like I'm gonna make any money off of this. I will remember to remove the copies once their server has gotten off of it's electronic knees.
/. the National High Magnetic Field Lab... (Score:2, Funny)

by GuardianBob420 ( 309353 ) writes:

Uh-oh, looks like the Los Alamos NHMFL at FSU has been taken down... is that considered an act of terrorism?!?
Silicon? (Score:4, Funny)

by Vaulter ( 15500 ) writes: on Wednesday October 15, 2003 @03:35PM (#7223346)

I prefer my 'artwork' to be natural, not silicon enhanced.

- Re:Silicon? (Score:3, Insightful)
  
  by Saint Stephen ( 19450 ) writes:
  
  I prefer my artwork on LSD tabs.
- Re:Silicon? (Score:1)
  
  by ejito ( 700826 ) writes:
  
  I prefer my 'artwork' to be natural, not silicon enhanced.
  
  I'd like to take the time to kill this joke by saying it's silicone, not silicon.
  
  Thank you and goodnight.
TANJ TANJ TANJ (Score:1)

by farrellj ( 563 ) * writes:

The Slashdot Effect strikes again!

Anyone Got mirrors?

ttyl
Farrell
- Re:TANJ TANJ TANJ (Score:2)
  
  by cdrudge ( 68377 ) writes:
  
  Not personally, but my good friend Mr. Wayback does here [archive.org].
- Have Mercy! (Score:3, Informative)
  
  by thx2001r ( 635969 ) writes:
  
  Have mercy, this poor server is a little Wintel box running IIS 5 on Win2k [netcraft.com]!
  
  I'm on FSU's campus in my office and through our LAN can't BARELY even reach the poor piece of fried silicon art we're creating on that machine right now! Perhaps they'll scan the smoldering processor from that box soon and show us a big /. image etched right on it ;)
Can I buy a vowel? (Score:1)

by tazanator ( 681948 ) writes:

Man this just goes boom in a fly over my head...Never have I had to look up so many words in the dictionary from a slashdot news blurb.
mirror here (Score:2)

by GillBates0 ( 664202 ) writes:

.
- Re:mirror here (Score:1)
  
  by madprof ( 4723 ) writes:
  
  That one was found to be a hoax, didn't you know?
Not a mirror, but (Score:1)

by TheGreatGraySkwid ( 553871 ) writes:

Google cache [216.239.41.104]

Isn't this article a dupe? I know I've seen this stuff before...
- Re:Not a mirror, but (Score:2)
  
  by netsharc ( 195805 ) writes:
  
  The site is nothing new, I remember visiting it about 2 or 3 years ago... I think I was wondering who else uses the word "sharc", so I looked it up. Apparently one chip in their gallery is named "sharc".
  - Re:Not a mirror, but (Score:1)
    
    by entartete ( 659190 ) writes:
    
    http://www.analog.com/processors/processors/sharc/ index.html [analog.com]
    
    There is a whole family of DSP chips from analog devices with that name(Super Harvard ARChitecture, more info about what that means [wikipedia.org] . SHARC's get used in lots of things, particularly audio equipment like creamware's dsp cards, behringer's digital mixers, etc along with many other uses. For some additional info about DSP's you can read this intro [analog.com]
Art preference (Score:3, Funny)

by tomzyk ( 158497 ) writes: on Wednesday October 15, 2003 @03:43PM (#7223423) Journal

I prefer my artwork to be of Silicone, rather than Silicon. First of all, you don't need a microscope to appreciate it. Secondly, depending on where you live, you can appreciate it freely (and possibly even openly) on the beach or even in a gentleman's club up-close!

Never Gonna Live This One Down (Score:2)

by stoolpigeon ( 454276 ) writes:

When you look at the pictures, it appears that there are no images on the silicon, but after seeing it about 15 times this morning, it looks like that the pictures are there. Initially, I was like "what a dumbass", but now, no matter what is on there, it's done.

This poor silicon is never gonna live this one down.
Mirror of one image (Score:1)

by TheKodiak ( 79167 ) writes:

Here [flail.com].
- Re:Mirror of one image (Score:1)
  
  by TheKodiak ( 79167 ) writes:
  
  Their server seems to be behaving better, now, but I'll leave this up for a while in case it tanks again.
  
  Images linked from the /. article [flail.com].
As seen on Ripleys: Believe it or not (Score:2)

by Stonent1 ( 594886 ) writes:

Last night. But isn't this about the 8th time this has been posted on slashdot? Oh well some people might have missed it. The coolest thing is when the guy who does the site contacted SGI and asked if they'd put the Florida State Seminoles logo on one of their CPU's and they did!
- Re:As seen on Ripleys: Believe it or not (Score:2)
  
  by chef_raekwon ( 411401 ) writes:
  
  But isn't this about the 8th time this has been posted on slashdot
  
  you'd think they'd figure out how to prevent the /. effect by now.....some people never learn.
partial mirror (Score:3, Funny)

by Whammy666 ( 589169 ) writes: on Wednesday October 15, 2003 @04:00PM (#7223560) Homepage

mirror [archive.org]

The mirror mostly works. Some of the images are broken.

The best chip "easter egg" I've seen was on the Intel P3 die which said something like "Microsoft Sucks" on it. The engineer responsible was fired if I remember correctly.

- Re:partial mirror (Score:1)
  
  by Ruzty ( 46204 ) writes:
  
  I was "bILL SuX" refering to Bill Gates.
- Re:partial mirror (Score:2)
  
  by Davak ( 526912 ) writes:
  
  This easter egg is a hoax... [snopes.com]
  
  Please let the rumor die...
  Please let the rumor die...
  
  Davak
  - Re:partial mirror (Score:2)
    
    by Davak ( 526912 ) writes:
    
    Sorry... wrong link.
    
    Here's the real link killing the rumor:
    http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blsux.htm [about.com]
    
    Here's another showing the original untouched photograph [informit.com]
    
    Please let the rumor die...
    Please let the rumor die...
    Etc.
    
    Davak
Bill Sux (Score:4, Funny)

by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) writes: on Wednesday October 15, 2003 @04:00PM (#7223567) Homepage Journal

Reminds me of those Intel engineers who got canned for putting bill sux [monash.edu.au] on the Pentium microchip. ;)

- AMD's Texas logo? (Score:2)
  
  by antdude ( 79039 ) writes:
  
  A few years, I was told that AMD had a Texas one on one of their CPU chips? Is this true? I have not been able to find this one.
  
  Thank you in advance. :)
- Re:Bill Sux (Score:1)
  
  by altek ( 119814 ) writes:
  
  And if you look at the bottom of the page you linked to, it explicitly states that it was a hoax...
  - Re:Bill Sux (Score:2)
    
    by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) writes:
    
    And if you look at the bottom of the page you linked to, it explicitly states that it was a hoax...
    
    And if you look at my comment, it explicitly ends with a wink emoticon, indicating sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, humor...
- Re:Bill Sux (Score:2)
  
  by MadFarmAnimalz ( 460972 ) writes:
  
  Hmm, according to this [mu.oz.au], that was a photoshopped hoax.
- Oddly enough- (Score:2)
  
  by Mu*puppy ( 464254 ) writes:
  
  -the Snopes article linked to at the bottom of the page is no longer there, nor does Snopes have any mention of 'Intel' hoaxes other than e-mail hoaxes. 'Google consensus' seems to agree with this being a hoax.
  Still though, I can't help but wonder how much time Bill bashers spent trying to find this on silicon... ;)
First dupe! (Score:3, Informative)

by Otter ( 3800 ) writes: on Wednesday October 15, 2003 @04:02PM (#7223580) Journal

Do I get Obesessive Whiny Nerd With No Life bragging rights? Hemos posted this [slashdot.org] five years ago. That seems like it ought to be well over the statute of limitations, though...

- Have I been visiting that long? (Score:1)
  
  by AsmordeanX ( 615669 ) writes:
  
  I saw the story and though - that's a dupe! After searching back 3 years I was convinced that I saw it elsewhere. I stand corrected.
  
  I only just realized that I have been visiting Slashdot for over five years now.
- Obesessive Whiny Nerd With No Life #2 (Score:1)
  
  by axjms ( 167179 ) writes:
  
  I thought I had read a post about this in the distant past. Of course, I had better thngs to do than to track down the actual post ;-) So although I am an obsessive, whiny nerd I must have more of a life than you, otter.
  
  JK of course.
See that Waldo's pic... (Score:1)

by miguelanxo ( 681259 ) writes:

That brings 'Where's Waldo?' a freaking new level of difficulty.
Lovesick in college... (Score:2, Funny)

by TheSync ( 5291 ) writes:

Whilst lovesick in college, I wrote my initials "+" my girlfriend's on a microchip.

When she later dumped me, I was glad it was only a hundred microns across...
Recommendation for upcomming silicon artists (Score:2, Funny)

by Jim Ethanol ( 613572 ) writes:

Someone needs to cut the "Bush Asshole Mosaic" [shon.org] into some new military silicon... Let's put that money to good use!
Silicon Graphics has been there (Score:1)

by crazylinux ( 207792 ) writes:

A couple of years ago I remember I found an article about artwork being part of the manufacturing process for Irix processors.

They stopped doing it because it was not economically advantageous, however.

I stripped the CPUs out of two Indies I had back then to have my own micro digital art collection :-)
- Mod this up! (Score:1)
  
  by trinity93 ( 215227 ) writes:
  
  yes most defently
Not dead yet! (mirror of sorts) (Score:1)

by Alcimedes ( 398213 ) writes:

http://www.chipworks.com/art/siliconart.htm

that link should still work. at least until a million of you all hit it. oh well, props to the first 1,000.
- Chipworks link you can click on (Score:1)
  
  by MCRocker ( 461060 ) writes:
  
  My first time as a karma whore... here's a link you can click on:
  
  http://www.chipworks.com/art/siliconart.htm [chipworks.com]
  
  I actually used to work with some of these folks. We used to see all sorts of cool stuff.
My mom remembers Pepsi at a nickle (Score:3, Interesting)

by kfg ( 145172 ) writes: on Wednesday October 15, 2003 @04:48PM (#7224029)

I'm from the "Dime Generation" myself.

On the other hand I also remember what we got payed in those days. Comes to about the same thing; and we didn't have 2 litre bottles for a buck.

You had to pull the bottle out of the machine just right too, or you lost your dime. I always hated that. Or the cup machines, you had to watch to make sure the cup came down properly or you just watched your soda spray all over the place.

Ah the good old days, immortalized in invisible etchings.

"Hey sweet thing, wanna seem my etchings? Bring your scanning electron microscope over sometime."

Somehow that just doesn't sound right.

KFG

(P.S. For those that haven't seen the pages this post is not offtopic.)

my first exposure (Score:2, Informative)

by AssFace ( 118098 ) writes:

When my dad was getting his PhD at VA Tech (he finished up in '91 or '92 I think), one of the guys in his lab group was Bill Bender. I don't recall exactly what his field of expertise was, but I think it involved lasers. And apparently also making his own circuits. He had a maginified pic of one up at his desk and his "signature" mark on them was a bicycle. He was big into triathlons, so the bike was a reference to that I suppose.

IIRC, one of my favorite books, Acts of the Apostles also references the conc
Marriage proposal... (Score:1)

by cwilson ( 45570 ) writes:

A friend of mine engraved a proposal to his (now wife) on a microchip he was fabricating. I'll try to get permission to post the micrograph.
Unix is a registered trademark of... (Score:1)

by JeffGB ( 265543 ) writes:

Look at the second last line of this [fsu.edu] close-up.
It reads, "Unix is a regist". SCO Lawyers should be very busy trying to read this!
better page.. (Score:3, Interesting)

by glassesmonkey ( 684291 ) * writes: on Wednesday October 15, 2003 @10:28PM (#7226342) Homepage Journal

The silicon zoo page is so old and busted.

Here's a dose of new hotness: Chipworks [chipworks.com]

How these guys can reverse engineer in the day of DCMA astounds me. Speaking of greyscale images are interesting.. And I'll hint people towards looking at a Transmeta chip.

Artwork (Score:1)

by outanowhere ( 686527 ) writes:

Yes, the artwork is great but their stories about the artwork are not necessarily accurate to any degree. And they apparently ignore any comments and corrections sent them about their stories.

Sure, look at the pretty pictures but don't believe the stories with them are all true.
- Re:more artwork (Score:1)
  
  by yourmom16 ( 618766 ) writes:
  
  what pervert modded the tubgirl link up??

There may be more comments in this discussion. Without JavaScript enabled, you might want to turn on Classic Discussion System in your preferences instead.

It's all in the details... (Score:2)

Google Image Cache (Score:3, Informative)

Re:Google Image Cache (Score:2)

Microscopic pr0n!!! (Score:1, Funny)

EULA? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:EULA? (Score:1)

Silicon Artwork... (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Silicon Artwork... (Score:2)

Cool (Score:2)

Re:Cool (Score:2)

Link to Dilbert picture (Score:1)

Re:Cool (Score:1)

Re:Cool (Score:1)

Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:3, Interesting)

Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:2)

Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:1)

Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:2)

Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:2)

Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:2)

Re:Sadly you wont see many more of these ... (Score:2)

Mirrors? (Score:1)

Re:Mirrors? (Score:2)

Mirrors (Score:2)

COPYRIGHT VIOLATION (Score:1)

Re:COPYRIGHT VIOLATION (Score:2)

/. the National High Magnetic Field Lab... (Score:2, Funny)

Silicon? (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Silicon? (Score:3, Insightful)

Re:Silicon? (Score:1)

TANJ TANJ TANJ (Score:1)

Re:TANJ TANJ TANJ (Score:2)

Have Mercy! (Score:3, Informative)

Can I buy a vowel? (Score:1)

mirror here (Score:2)

Re:mirror here (Score:1)

Not a mirror, but (Score:1)

Re:Not a mirror, but (Score:2)

Re:Not a mirror, but (Score:1)

Art preference (Score:3, Funny)

Never Gonna Live This One Down (Score:2)

Mirror of one image (Score:1)

Re:Mirror of one image (Score:1)

As seen on Ripleys: Believe it or not (Score:2)

Re:As seen on Ripleys: Believe it or not (Score:2)

partial mirror (Score:3, Funny)

Re:partial mirror (Score:1)

Re:partial mirror (Score:2)

Re:partial mirror (Score:2)

Bill Sux (Score:4, Funny)

AMD's Texas logo? (Score:2)

Re:Bill Sux (Score:1)

Re:Bill Sux (Score:2)

Re:Bill Sux (Score:2)

Oddly enough- (Score:2)

First dupe! (Score:3, Informative)

Have I been visiting that long? (Score:1)

Obesessive Whiny Nerd With No Life #2 (Score:1)

See that Waldo's pic... (Score:1)

Lovesick in college... (Score:2, Funny)

Recommendation for upcomming silicon artists (Score:2, Funny)

Silicon Graphics has been there (Score:1)

Mod this up! (Score:1)

Not dead yet! (mirror of sorts) (Score:1)

Chipworks link you can click on (Score:1)

My mom remembers Pepsi at a nickle (Score:3, Interesting)

my first exposure (Score:2, Informative)

Marriage proposal... (Score:1)

Unix is a registered trademark of... (Score:1)

better page.. (Score:3, Interesting)

Artwork (Score:1)

Re:more artwork (Score:1)

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