DRAM is often compared to SRAM (Static RAM). SRAM is able to store data as long as power/energy is used. There is no need to refresh it. SRAM can also be faster than DRAM. But SRAM is much more expensive than DRAM. Also, SRAM uses more electric power and heats up much faster than DRAM.
DRAM and SRAM lose the data when the power to them is turned off, unlike non-volatile random-access memory.
Touchpad
A touchpad (also called a trackpad) is a type of input device for computers that does the same things as a computer mouse. It is made up of a flat, touch-sensitive surface which the user slides one or more fingers on to move the cursor on the screen. Next to the touchpad are push-buttons that work just like mouse buttons, including left-clicking and right-clicking. In some newer touchpads, there are no actual buttons, and clicking is done by pushing near the button of the touchpad itself.
Unlike computer mice, touchpads stay in one place when they are being used. This makes it easy to build them into hardware. They are mostly found on laptop computers because, when the user is travelling, sometimes he or she cannot use a mouse. But most laptops do allow the user is able to attach (connect) a separate mouse. Besides laptops, touchpads are also more and more used on mobile devices with a GUI, including MP3 players (a well-known one being the iPod) and mobile phones (such as the BlackBerry). However, touchpads on today's mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have been replaced with the touchscreen, which is used much like a touchpad except the screen is built into the touch-sensitive surface itself so that no mouse cursor is needed. One can just touch anywhere on the surface to choose what is on the screen at that part.
Most touchpads have the function of tapping, which imitates the left-click button on a mouse. New models of touchpads often do more things because they can respond to the pressure of more than one finger. This is called multi-touch and makes it possible to do things like scroll though, zoom in and out, and rotate a page or part of the screen. The user can choose and change which functions happen if the user does certain moves. For example, the normal function for tapping on the pad is the left-click on the mouse. The user can change it in the settings section to the right-click of the mouse, if the user likes it better.
Fingerprint scanner
Fingerprint scanners are security systems of biometrics. They are used to unlock doors and in other security applications. During the 2010s fingerprint scanners became commonplace on mobile phones.
People have a pattern of ridges on their fingers. This fingerprint cannot be removed or changed. Every fingerprint is different from any other in the world. Because there are countless combinations, fingerprints are much used for identification.
They are based on the oldest technique, that consists of placing your finger on a glass surface or a prism that is illuminated by a led diode. When the ridges of fingerprints touch the surface, the light is absorbed, while between these crests a total reflection occurs. The resulting light and dark areas are recorded in an image sensor.
In practice there are some difficulties with this technique: wet and dry fingers make very different images, and the system is sensitive to dust and dirt on the surface. The unit is large and expensive. This system is also easy to cheat and if the skin is damaged, the fingerprint is not recognized correctly. The recognition of the fingerprint of older people is also difficult to do because their skin may not be elastic enough. In some circumstances this may result in false recognition. If the stored fingerprint was taken with less pressure, false acceptances may occur.
The sensor is a silicon integrated circuit with a surface that is covered by a large number of transducer elements (or pixels), with a typical resolution of 500 dpi. Each element contains two adjacent metal electrodes. The capacitance between the electrodes, which forms a feedback path for an inverting amplifier, is reduced when the finger is applied to said surface: it is further reduced when it detects ridges and less reduced when it detects the space between them.
The sensor is susceptible to electrostatic discharge. These sensors only work with normal healthy skins, they are not operative being used on skins with hard areas, calluses or scars. Moisture, grease or dust can also affect its operation.
It consists of tens of thousands of tiny pressure transducers that are mounted on the surface of the sensor. An alternative design uses switches that are closed when pressed by a ridge, but that stay open when they are under a valley. This only provides one bit of information per pixel, instead of working with a gray scale.
In this case the heat driven by the finger is detected, which is greater when there is a ridge than when there is a valley. A silicon component has been developed with a matrix of pixels called "FingerChip", that is, "finger integrated circuit", each of which is covered with a layer of pyroelectric material in which a change in temperature translates into a change in the load distribution of its surface. The image is in the gray scale that has the right quality even with the finger worn, with dirt, with grease or with humidity. The sensor has a robust protective layer and can provide a dynamic output.
Most of the sensors described have been altered in the past. To avoid this, a new operating mode has been added. Instead of simply placing your finger statically on the sensor, the finger moves slowly along it. The sensor only has a narrow sensitive area, and generates a complete sequence of images, which can be reassembled, by means of a processor, in a complete image. The benefits are improved appreciably and the elimination of any residual grease is guaranteed.
The most important use area is in access control for computers. This is especially important for laptops and PDAs. Thanks to the price falling, more and more devices are equipped with sensors. Other devices with built-in fingerprint sensors include USB hard drives, USB memory modules and card readers. They are also available in mice and keyboards.
Sensors are increasingly used to secure financial transactions and change machines for "online" banking. In the future, the owner's fingerprint will be stored securely on identity cards and credit cards and may also be used for authentication of emails using digital signatures.
Direct physical access to rooms and devices can also be ensured by coupling fingerprint sensors with door opening systems.
There are two construction forms: the stagnant and the moving fingerprint scanner.
324 Bamberga
324 Bamberga is the 16th biggest asteroid in the Main asteroid belt. It was found by Johann Palisa on February 25, 1892 in Vienna, making it one of the last big (diameter over 200 km) asteroids found. Apart from the near-earth asteroid Eros, it was the last asteroid which is "ever" easily visible with binoculars to be found.
Although its very high orbital eccentricity means its opposition magnitude varies a lot, at a rare opposition near perihelion Bamberga can reach a magnitude of +8.0, which is as bright as Saturn's moon Titan. Such near-perihelion oppositions happen on a regular cycle every twenty-two years, with the last happening in 1991 and the next in 2013. Its brightness at these rare near-perihelion oppositions makes Bamberga the "brightest C-type asteroid", about one magnitude brighter than 10 Hygiea's maximum brightness of around +9.1. At such an opposition Bamberga can in fact be closer to Earth than any main belt asteroid with magnitude above +9.5, getting as close as 0.78 AU. For comparison, 7 Iris never comes closer than 0.85 AU and 4 Vesta never closer than 1.13 AU when it becomes visible to the naked eye in a pollution-free sky.