- A bug fix in the 8086 microprocessor, revealed in the die’s silicon (righto.com)
The 8086 microprocessor was a groundbreaking processor introduced by Intel in 1978. It led to the x86 architecture that still dominates desktop and server computing. While reverse-engineering the 8086 from die photos, a particular circuit caught my eye because its physical layout on the die didn’t match the surrounding circuitry. This circuit turns out to implement special functionality for a couple of instructions, subtlely changing the way they interacted with interrupts. Some web searching revealed that this behavior was changed by Intel in 1978 to fix a problem with early versions of the 8086 chip. By studying the die, we can get an idea of how Intel dealt with bugs in the 8086 microprocessor.
- Samish River Wildlife Area Unit (wdfw.wa.gov)
The Samish River Unit covers 107 acres in northwest Skagit County. The unit was comprised of agricultural land until WDFW acquired it in 2004. The federal Natural Resource Conservation Service holds an easement on the property which allows for 15 acres to be managed with agricultural enhancements for migratory waterfowl forage. The remainder of the unit is a mix of sculpted wetlands, grass fields, and shrub-scrub habitat. Two waterfowl hunting areas on the unit are managed by WDFW’s Private Lands Access Program.