What makes the stock brakes stink?

[kannibul]

I was doing a bit of "hard driving" in an empty parking lot, and with that comes some hard braking...

Afterwards, my wife who was with me, commented on something being stinky, to which I replied that's the brakes. She asked me why, which I said they smell when they get hot - she of course said, aren't they semi-metallic - I said I don't think so, I think they come with organic...

So, with that, I guess this is a two-parter...

1) Are the stock pads semi-metallic or organic, or something else?
2) What makes them stink?
Bonus:
3) If they are Organic, would switching to semi-metallics be "better"?
4) When they smell, are they hot enough to be less effective?