Zombie Proof House
| February 26, 2012
Month: February 2012
Welcome to Earth – Universal Time-lapse Video
| February 25, 2012
Over 3 years later, “deleted” Facebook photos are still online
| February 25, 2012
Facebook is still working on deleting photos from its servers in a timely manner nearly three years after Ars first brought attention to the topic. The company admitted on Friday that its older systems for storing uploaded content “did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site,” but said it’s currently finishing up a newer system that makes the process much quicker. In the meantime, photos that users thought they “deleted” from the social network months or even years ago remain accessible via direct link.
From Sand to Processor or How a CPU is made
| February 25, 2012
It takes about $ 5 billion dollars to build a processor manufacturing factory. This factory approximately has 4 years to return the invested funds in its technology, before it will start making the profit. If we make some simple calculations that comes to 100 microchips per hour that the factory should manufacture in order to return the invested funds.
The process of processor manufacturing looks like this: the special equipment is used to grow a mono-crystal of cylindrical shape from the molten silicon. Next, this resulting ingot is cooled and cut into the wafers, which surfaces are carefully leveled and polished to a mirror shine. In the bio-clean rooms of semiconductor factories are created the micro-circuitries on the silicon wafers using photolithography and etching. Then lab personnel make the random testing of processors under a microscope after re-cleaning of the wafers, and if everything is okay, the finished wafers are sliced into individual processors, which later are put in the casing.
Why Cats Can Survive Falls From Great Heights
| February 25, 2012
First, cats have supersensitive sense organs. A vestibular apparatus in their inner ear acts as a balance and orientation compass. They always know right side up. Second, cats have a unique skeletal structure – an unusually flexible backbone and the absence of a collarbone. So when a cat falls, its senses respond with lightning speed, and it is able to reorient its body and twist its head around so it can see where it’s going to land.
Beyond their amazing aerial spins, cats also have what could be called a built-in parachute. Like many small animals, they have a low body-volume-to-weight ratio, which when falling, allows them to slow their velocity by spreading out and becoming their own parachute. It’s the same kind of maneuver that flying squirrels do in mid-air.
But as amazing as their gravity-defying abilities are, cats are not invincible.
America’s Most Miserable Cities
| February 24, 2012
#1 Miami, Fla.The housing crisis has devastated Miami with 47% of homeowners sitting on underwater mortgages. Foreclosures have been rampant with 364,000 properties in the Miami area entering the foreclosure process since 2008 according to RealtyTrac.
#2 Detroit, Mich.Detroit has closed schools and laid off police in an effort to avoid a bankruptcy filing this year. Home prices are down 54% the past three years, worst in the U.S. The median price was $38,000 last year in the Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn metro division.
#3 Flint, Mich.Flint razed 775 abandoned homes in the year ending October 2011, to try and change the city landscape. The state of Michigan appointed an emergency manager last year to take over Flint’s budget and operations. Crime remains a severe problem with the violent crime rate the third worst in the U.S.
#4 West Palm Beach, Fla.South Florida has long been stained by corruption. One of the latest examples: Jose Rodriguez, the mayor of Boynton Beach (part of the West Palm metropolitan division) was suspended from his office last month by Gov. Rick Scott after he was arrested for allegedly using his position to obstruct a child abuse probe involving his wife’s estranged daughter. Home prices in the West Palm area are off 50% since 2006.
#5 Sacramento, Calif.Sacramento’s lone pro sports team is flirting with a move to Anaheim unless the city delivers financing for a new arena. Sac-Town might not miss them. The team has lost 73% of its games since the start of the 2008-09 season. Foreclosures in California’s capital were among the 10 highest last year.
