- Franklin Falls (wta.org)
Hiking with kids, new to hiking, or just looking for an easy day hike with a spectacular endpoint? Look no further than Franklin Falls! At just 2 miles roundtrip with 400 feet in elevation gain it is the perfect destination for any hiker looking for something easy and beautiful.
- Franklin Falls Trail 1036 (fs.usda.gov)
A favorite hike for families, the Franklin Falls Trail follows the south fork of the Snoqualmie River for a mile, skirting a canyon with glimpses of deep pools and cascades in the river below as it descends the upper South Fork Valley below Snoqualmie Pass. The descent to the base of the 70-foot falls is steep and slippery but plenty of visitors make it down to eat lunch or cool in the mist of the plunge pool. It is an easy walk that rises gradually through old growth forests with views of the river. The trail ends at the base of Franklin Falls.
- Antenna diodes in the Pentium processor (righto.com)
I was studying the silicon die of the Pentium processor and noticed some puzzling structures where signal lines were connected to the silicon substrate for no apparent reason. Two examples are in the photo below, where the metal wiring (orange) connects to small square regions of doped silicon (gray), isolated from the rest of the circuitry. I did some investigation and learned that these structures are “antenna diodes,” special diodes that protect the circuitry from damage during manufacturing. In this blog post, I discuss the construction of the Pentium and explain how these antenna diodes work.