Graduation cake my wife got for me - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 03:44:43 am
content: I graduated with an Associates Degree in Database Management today, and I think you all will appreciate the cake she had made.The funny part is the cake lady apparently was extremely worried that I wouldn't like it because she didn't know if she put the wires in the right place.

author: t_ryner
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 03:58:13 am
content: Careful there! If you flip it on its side, all the electrons will fall out! (nice cake!)

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 04:06:14 am
content: Sweet cake. Just out of curiosity what are the solder pad things? They look shiny, so I can't figure out if they are actual metal or something else.Also gold ceramic CPUs, I love those...

author: SkyMaster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 04:09:34 am
content: Congratulations, and yes this is a very cool cake that you wife offered you. You should let the cake lady knows that she did a good job.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 04:30:21 am
content: Quote from: TwoOfFive on May 13, 2017, 04:06:14 amThey are mad out of sugar but silver colored. I've seen then in the cake icing area at the grocery store.

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 04:35:33 am
content: Great cake, how does it taste?

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 05:26:55 am
content: How many layers? ;-)

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 05:33:30 am
content: She is very sweet to you to appeal to you at your terms. Treasure her as you treasure your new degree.Suggestion: At an appropriate time, do somethingshe likeswith her - be it some place for dinner she likes, or whatever as long as it isher preference over yours. She earned it.And, congratulations to you for your graduation! Best wishes to the both of you!

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 08:41:34 pm
content: Quote from: TheSteve on May 13, 2017, 04:35:33 amPretty good. It was a single layer chocolate cake with buttercream frosting.

author: NivagSwerdna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 09:45:43 pm
content: That's great. Congratulations to you, your wife and the baker!

author: med6753
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 10:15:30 pm
content: That is cool and congratulations!

author: Cerebus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 11:35:21 pm
content: Quote from: Stonent on May 13, 2017, 04:30:21 amSometimes called silver dragees. On the better glossy ones it's a real silver (Ag) coating.P.S. I hope the OP used a non-conductive knife when they cut it, and served it on ESD safe plates.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 11:49:37 pm
content: Congratulations!DO NOT CUT INTO THAT CAKE WITH A METAL KNIFE - IT WILL SHORT OUT!

author: X
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 06:03:03 am
content: You know what they say on the EEVBlog. Don't eat it up, take it apart!Your wife and the baker sure put a lot of thought into it, check out the high quality red precision caramel-film 0resistors and blue high-stability sugar diodes. Now sugar diodes in general have a fairly high forward voltage, so I'm not sure why they would use them here, perhaps they are meant to be zener reference diodes. I also like the upside-down ICs for extra mechanical stress tolerance, and I just love the old 22-pin classic eggs-eighty-six compatible CPU, of course your wife would have had to license the design from Lindtel.As for the rectangular packages at the top in the middle, my guess is that the two larger ones are ADCs, whereas the smaller one is a PLL used to keep the two ADCs in a synchronised staggered pattern to increase the sample rate. The IC near the bottom just above the first red and blue jacks also seems to be an ADC for handling the trigger input. On most cakes, it is very fast (around 800MHz or so) but has a low resolution (2 or 4 bits).You can also see some DRAM chips near the bottom-left corner of the cake, to store the samples. I believe once they get full, the oldest of the samples are overwritten, but each chip appears to store up to 8GB which is pretty good for this kind of cake, and also the 12-pin QFP above the two chips, which I think is a dual-channel DRAM controller. I think the chip on the top-right corner of the cake is some kind of EEPROM for storing the firmware.The two ICs under the "Congratulations" track look like some kind of glue logic, probably jellybean CMOS logic I think.And check out the red low-ESR ultra-high precision Marzipan supercapacitor under the bottom-right corner of the CPU, what a beauty! It must be for the RTC chip on the right side of the blue jack at the bottom. Many other computers use a battery, but Marzipan technology has evolved to a point where the leakage current is extremely low, but they can only be used with extremely low voltages. This one here appears to be rated at 750mV, and I'm not sure what value it is but looking at its size, appears to be either 50F.Overall, it's a really high quality cake, very nice design, and so much attention to detail must have gone into building this cake.

author: Cubdriver
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 07:12:38 am
content: VERY cool cake, and congrats on your graduation!Your wife sounds like a keeper! Treasure her!-Pat

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2017, 08:27:56 am
content: Very nice cake indeed. Congratulations on your degree and choice of wife !

author: aargee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2017, 01:54:14 am
content: There's some love in that cake.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2017, 01:04:08 am
content: Congratulations on getting your degree and for marrying such a clever wife.

author: Electro Detective
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2017, 05:36:15 am
content: I hope the baker put in the good caps rated to 105 CCongrats and best wishes

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 16, 2017, 11:04:11 pm
content: Quote from: Electro Detective on May 16, 2017, 05:36:15 amNo need to spend the money on 105 C-oven gets way hotter than that

author: Electro Detective
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2017, 11:27:09 pm
content: Quote from: GreyWoolfe on May 16, 2017, 11:04:11 pmAgreed, but some bakers know that higher ESR and leakage from cheap 85 C caps may affect the taste

author: AF6LJ
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 16, 2017, 11:28:20 pm
content: That's a cute cake

author: yada
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2017, 11:41:25 pm
content: As far as the wires go it looks like she used the auto router. Nice ground plane. That will never pass RF compliance.