- Marysville is located in the west-central part of Snohomish County, five miles north-northeast of the county seat, Everett. Although the origin of its name has been the subject of considerable debate, most now agree that it comes from Maria Comeford (1846-1904), the wife of the founding father of Marysville, James Comeford (1833-1909). Comeford arrived in 1878; the town was platted in 1885, and in 1891 Marysville was incorporated. Long a small town known for its logging industry and later for its strawberry farms, Marysville has experienced rapid growth in the past quarter century, with its population quintupling between 1980 and 2000. The 2000 U.S. Census recorded a population of 25,315, with the town continuing to grow rapidly both in population and area today (2007), aided by multiple annexations during the past decade.
- A CT scanner reveals surprises inside the 386 processor’s ceramic package (righto.com)
Intel released the 386 processor in 1985, the first 32-bit chip in the x86 line. This chip was packaged in a ceramic square with 132 gold-plated pins protruding from the underside, fitting into a socket on the motherboard. While this package may seem boring, a lot more is going on inside it than you might expect. Lumafield performed a 3-D CT scan of the chip for me, revealing six layers of complex wiring hidden inside the ceramic package. Moreover, the chip has nearly invisible metal wires connected to the sides of the package, the spikes below. The scan also revealed that the 386 has two separate power and ground networks: one for I/O and one for the CPU’s logic.