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X-Rays Of A TiBook's Interior
A reader writes: "A fine application of expensive medical equipment: producing neat desktop pictures by taking an x-ray of the guts of a PowerBook G4. Guy Mullins has the details." The actual photos are on a separate site.
I feel bad for whoever's TiBook this is... he didn't get the AirPort card! that means he has to actually leave the internet behind when he goes to the can!
(I just got my TiBook, and the airport range is less than spectacular anyway... sigh.)
Generally yes, though some are using prizmatic cell shapes but they are more costly than the good ol' cylindrical cell. If you go with a non standard cell size or shape it costs more per unit due to lack of volume. The standard cell sizes are also available from many different manufacturers. That means you have second and third sources available in case your manufacturer of choice fails to meet your demand for some reason.
By suggesting the use of an X-Ray machine to examine the interior of this computer, you are describing a method by which one can determine the layout of the circuit board (which is protected by copyright).
Since the case is secured by a means to prevent access (screws) except as authorized by the copyright holder, you have, in effect, transported a method to bypass said method of "encryption." As such, you have potentially violated rights under the DMCA.
Please remove the description of the x-ray methodology and all links from your site. Failure to do so may make you potentially liable for copyright violation and subject to civil penalties.
DMCA - the Peter Principle of Legislation
The little guy just ain't getting it, is he?
Yes, see that shadow spot in the top left? Yes, it looks serious. Looks like a mycrosoftius tumor. Probably malignant. We'll have have to remove several ASICs, the hard drive, and a few capacitors. You may even have to subscribe to Office XP. It doesn't look good. Please tell your family and have your credit card limit increased.
How'd they get that in somebody's mouth to take the picture?
Actually its an urban legend that air port xrays will do this. Its the conveyor belts that these things run on that does the demagnitization. Nothing to do with the xray.
These things use electric motors to pull them, which create electromagnets (errr...the electromagnets create the motor). Even so, you'd have to have media almost directly on the belt over top the motor for a while before it came close to damaging anything. A laptop is going to be more isolated because of the casing (yeah yeah, I know most of them are plastic anymore). And still, its been several years since airports had any of these where the strength was strong enough to damage anything.
For the most part, they let folks go with these because of this urban legend to keep the lines moving. Until I got the real scoop on these things, I'd have my powerbook waiting ready to go so I could show them its running and they let me go. Fuck, what if I had molded symtex (or however you spell it) into the second battery port. I'm paranoid as it is...I WANT these guys to stop everyone and run the sucker through the xrays - though in their defense, the xrays also do bomb material sniffing and occasionally they will not only ask to see your machine running, but they will ask for a wipe - they take an alcohol wipe and run a gas chromatography on it right there in seconds. Good job security dudes!
Most parts of a computer are "immune" to xrays. Meaning that the computer doesn't get damaged by them.
However, CMOS EEPROM cells that are designed using buried gate transistors (which is the most common type of EEPROM these days) can be damaged by xrays. If an xray passes through the buried gate to the channel, it'll ionize a bit of the silicon dioxide insulator between the buried gate and the channel. This makes the charge leak out of the buried gate somewhat faster. The more xrays that pass through that area, the more ionization and the faster the charge leaks out. This ionization is irreversable, and causes permanent damage.
Whether the damage actually causes the bit in question to revert to a 1 depends on the strength of the xray source and how long (total across all the sessions) your computer has been bathed. An airline xray machine is unlikely to erase a bit if your machine passes through once. But if you travel a lot, then its almost certain that you'll suffer at least a one-bit error.
In short: don't let the airport security goons xray your laptops, palm pilots, digital cameras, or anything else that has CMOS EEPROM memory.
Every airport security checkpoint in the US has alternate procedures for electronics (generally involving a swab and a "portable" gas chromatograph to search for nitrogen compounds). The goons will argue with you, but it's worth the annoyance.
I've done this in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, San Jose, Seattle, Denver, Sioux City, Minneapolis, and New Orleans. Those airports pretty much run the gamut of size from little podunk warts to huge transport hubs.
The FAA's assertion that airport x-ray machines dont damage electronics is a bald-faced lie.
-- Nolite audere delere orbiculum rigidum meum.