Embedded systems is about the chips embedded in any number of devices in our lives, but there are sometimes interesting things embedded in those chips themselves. A recent C/Net story revived some pictures I first saw many years ago and added several new instances of unauthorized artwork that has shown up over the years in the lithography of chip designs. The article points out how much harder it is to find these gems in current chips, but they have never been about being easily seen.

Any job that people are proud of raises the need to somehow sign the work. Software engineers embed Easter eggs, the first Macs actually formed the signatures of the team into the plastic cases of the computers, and on and on. Many companies don’t like this, because it glorifies the individual rather than the team effort – a situation that is normally reserved for the CEO rather than the engineer – but it puts a very human face on technology that I enjoy seeing from time to time.

Larry Mittag