The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

2011-10-20 Reply Admin

geoffrey:
My favourite AC plug is the Australian AS/3112, a good solid plug that inserts nicely into an embracing socket. The United Kingdom BS/1363 is a close second.
US plugs have always disappointed me for their lack of stability - even the newer 3 prong type, can't remember the name, are susceptible to needless wobble (3 prongs is a necessity, 2 prong plugs are simply unacceptable these days).

Why are 2 prongs "unacceptable"? Why should my iPod charger need a ground? It's putting out 5 volts and a fraction of an amp.

I have a handful of appliances that can have special wiring so they get 240V. Electronics and smaller appliances don't need more than 120V, though they should be grounded. And everything else, all the small crap, works just fine without having big, thick, expensive cables.

Having massive cables and elaborate plugs is just a tremendous waste of money.

2011-10-20 Reply Admin

Bronie:
Jim:
I just realised that Nagesh is not a yank pretending to be an indian, but rather a Brit pretending to be an indian

That's not laughing matter, because America independence was illegal - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15345511

P.S. Fuck you Akismet

Isn't it wonderful that having a go at akismet is the only way to get around him

2011-10-20 Reply Admin

'Murruhkan:
Some damn Yank:
Steve:
Shall be sticking with BS1363, not that I have much choice. 13 Amp at 230v. And a fuse in every appliance. Its the future ;)
We (USA) have ground fault interrupters in every hair drier plug. THATS the future! (we also have GFI sockets near every sink, kitchen and bath, so we're double-covered)

This was something I was surprised I did not see in the UK and Ireland. In the bathrooms, they only have a plug for "razors only" that's attached to the light above the mirror. Super-annoying when you need to plug in your phone and there are only two plugs available in your room. A GFI-type plug that shut off before delivering the current that could kill someone would vastly improve the European electrical system.

In the UK they most likely were GFI sockets. Although it has only been mandatory for a couple of years it was already common place to have RCD/Trip switches (or any of the other names for them) instead of a traditional fuse box. These are GFI at the fuse box level so you wouldn't see test buttons at the plug like you do in the US. The fuse box or at least one of the circuits in your fuse box system is tripped if a leak is detected rather than at each plug. You still see GFI plugs for certain things like gardening equipment with long cables.

2011-10-20 Reply Admin

Don't ask me how I did it but... I was inserting an AU plug into a power point. I had my finger on the earth as it was going in... Ouch but still alive :)

2011-10-20 Reply Admin

Simon:
Don't ask me how I did it but... I was inserting an AU plug into a power point. I had my finger on the earth as it was going in... Ouch but still alive :)

How did you do it?

2011-10-20 Reply Admin

Severity One:
The British plugs have a natural tendency to lie on their backs with the pins up, and stepping on them is not pleasant, I can tell you from personal experience.

In trying to design electrically the safest plug system in the world, its creators were oblivious of the fact that there are more aspects to safety. Also, I dislike that they're not recessed and sometimes hard to plug in. A little extra safety may not justify the inconvenience, but I realise that's just my opinion.

Chelloveck:
I'm told that the difference between the US 120V tickle and the European 220V ouch! makes the additional safety measures worthwhile.

PSA: both can easily kill. Take electrical safety seriously.

Ozz:
But someone does indeed need to tell the England squad how to play cricket.

It's always the fault of the selectors, you know that.

frits:
Are you happy now, you pedantic dickweed? Neutral is a current carrying conductor and should not be used for safety ground.

You didn't say neutral, you said grounded. Your comment was completely incorrect and misleading. I'll grant that you didn't mean it that way, but it was. The proper response to such a correction is not to start calling people names, but to say something along the lines of: ‘That's what I meant; thank you for clarifying that for me.’

techpaul:
In a lot of countries that use Schuko you do not know which pin is Live and and Neutral, so devices with single fuse are banned in many applications.

This is by design. In case of an accident or mistake, polarity reversal could always occur. The neutral pin should never be considered safe, regardless of the socket used. This is why it's a good idea for the live and neutral pin to be identical, since that will prevent users and appliance designers from making unsafe assumptions in that regard.

frits · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Shinobu:
frits:
Are you happy now, you pedantic dickweed? Neutral is a current carrying conductor and should not be used for safety ground.
You didn't say neutral, you said grounded. Your comment was completely incorrect and misleading. I'll grant that you didn't mean it that way, but it was. The proper response to such a correction is not to start calling people names, but to say something along the lines of: ‘That's what I meant; thank you for clarifying that for me.’

You didn't read the whole thread in context or you would have known I said neutral first. Don't tell me how to address other people either, shit for brains.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

frits:
Hey, Rest of the World: If you only used 120 VAC, you wouldn't have to worry so much about safety.

You meant to be funny, right?

xorsyst · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Dogga:
Mr X:
Chelloveck:
Mr X:
Yes, but then it would we wouldn't be able to make a proper cup of tea. Have you tried a 120VAC kettle?

Once it gets to 212 F (100 C for you foreigners), pumping more energy into the kettle isn't going to do a lot of good. Unless of course proper tea requires the rapid reduction of liquid via evaporation.

Besides, proper tea is chilled and has ice cubes floating in it. Everyone knows that.

But at 120VAC, it takes forever to get there. And don't try to tell an Englishman how to make proper tea. Or beer. Or how to play cricket.
Tea, perhaps, but I think we Aussies might be able to teach you a thing or two about beer and cricket

Cricket, perhaps, but definitely not beer. Aussie beer is terrible! Last time I was there, only Coopers was even close to tolerable.

xorsyst · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Some damn Yank:
Mr X:
Some damn Yank:
Mr X:
But at 120VAC, it takes forever to get there.
Not really. Ours takes less than two minutes.
Ah, but we have shorter ad breaks in TV too, and nearly two minutes is forever! Ours does enough for 2 mugs in about 40 seconds.
40 seconds! It takes that long to grind the coffee! Excuse me, fill the infuser. Then there's getting down the mugs, getting out the spoons, etc. By then your water's cold, and mine is just to a proper boil.

Get mugs out of cupboard. Get teabags out of cupboard. Put teabags in mugs. Less than 40 seconds :)

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

But... these are the normal sockets.

dkf · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

frits:
Hey, Rest of the World: If you only used 120 VAC, you wouldn't have to worry so much about safety.

It's not clear cut. With 120VAC you don't need so much insulation, but you're dealing with higher currents than with 240VAC (under the reasonable assumption that device power consumption is pretty constant) and that increases resistive losses in the wires. Higher voltage leads to more fire problems when plugging devices in (though not so much with modern plug designs) and higher current leads to more fire problems with delivering current to high power devices. I don't know which is the dominating factor safety-wise these days.

None of this is as crazy as when you've got a country which uses both. Helloooo… Japan!

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

You took the words right out of my mouth, eh, keyboard!

I experienced Swiss sockets for the first time this year (didn't need any electricity on last year's vacation :-)), and they are much more practical.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

(D'uh, f**ing quote function.)

Hans:
BS. While Schuko sets a very good standard, they are far from beeing the best in the world. The Swiss Ones have all the same features as Schuko, are in addition polarity-proof and much more compact. Clearly the Swiss win.
And I say that as a german who is proud of Schuko.

You took the words right out of my mouth, eh, keyboard!

I experienced Swiss sockets for the first time this year (didn't need any electricity on last year's vacation :-)), and they are much more practical.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

frits:
Nederlander:
frits:
Hey, Rest of the World: If you only used 120 VAC, you wouldn't have to worry so much about safety.

Half the voltage means double the current to deliver the same amount of power. And we all know that current kills.
If only there were some rule (or even better a law) that showed the relationship between voltage, current and skin resistance...

Umm, it's on the tip of my tongue

QJo · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Level 2:
frits:
Nederlander:
frits:
Hey, Rest of the World: If you only used 120 VAC, you wouldn't have to worry so much about safety.

Half the voltage means double the current to deliver the same amount of power. And we all know that current kills.
If only there were some rule (or even better a law) that showed the relationship between voltage, current and skin resistance...

Umm, it's on the tip of my tongue

Oh, maybe. Go 'ome. Ask 'Omer Simpson.

The poop of DOOM · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

gobes:
Here, in France, our plug system is close to the German one. But we have one more thing they apaprently don't have: a child-proof system. Actually it's a kind of cover that prevents inserting a plug if both pins are not inserted at the same time. We have to use a hammer every time we plug something but he, try to put a screw in one of our "normal" plug!

Oh god yeah, the child-proof system... You can sit there, wringing the damn thing in for 5 minutes before it finally shoots in and you scrape the skin of your hand on the wall. They're just one step away from being as annoying as pulling a power cable from a HD or DVD-drive in old computers. Pull pull twitch twitch pull pull twitch twitch and after moving a hundredth of a milimeter at a time for several minutes, the thing flies out and you scrape your hand (down to it just plain bleeding) on all sorts of metal plates.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Not some damn European:
Matt Westwood:
Not some damn European:
Some damn Yank:
Zog:
not that I've ever had to rewrite an Italian hotel socket to accept a plug that is standard in the rest of the EU....cough!
That's the difference between North America and Europe. In NA we figure that if we changed the socket standard then we'd have to re-wire every building and appliance on the continent. While in Europe, they feel free to change standards all the time, they just leave the old ones in place. Forever. How many "standard" sockets do you have, anyway?
Doesn't matter, really. I find that with a multi-tool, a coat hanger, and duct tape (of course) I can adapt any plug to any socket.
Maybe that's cause America is 1 country. Europe is at least 5....

Okay smartarse, you're so clever, can you name at least 5 European countries? For bonus points, name 5 European countries smaller than Luxembourg.
Malta, Andorra, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco

Liechtenstein, Andorra, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco

The poop of DOOM · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Level 2:
Not some damn European:
Matt Westwood:
Not some damn European:
Some damn Yank:
Zog:
not that I've ever had to rewrite an Italian hotel socket to accept a plug that is standard in the rest of the EU....cough!
That's the difference between North America and Europe. In NA we figure that if we changed the socket standard then we'd have to re-wire every building and appliance on the continent. While in Europe, they feel free to change standards all the time, they just leave the old ones in place. Forever. How many "standard" sockets do you have, anyway?
Doesn't matter, really. I find that with a multi-tool, a coat hanger, and duct tape (of course) I can adapt any plug to any socket.
Maybe that's cause America is 1 country. Europe is at least 5....

Okay smartarse, you're so clever, can you name at least 5 European countries? For bonus points, name 5 European countries smaller than Luxembourg.
Malta, Andorra, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco

Liechtenstein, Andorra, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco

What're these countries you guys're talking about? I thought the world was one big, global village nowadays.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Actually the socket/plug is a CRAP design. The "Earth" connection is incapable of carrying the full power that the pins can cary in a fault condition.

That is to say, if absolutely the worst possible situation arises, the earth connection would burn out before the current carrying parts, especially as the "earth" is plated, and to top it off the shitty german plugs do not have an integral fuse, so it is possible to turn the cable into an incendiary device, before the pins fail.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

The flat ones are Euro-Plugs without ground contact, intended for (somewhat) international compatibility.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

The "Earth" connection is incapable of carrying the full power that the pins can cary in a fault condition.

The ground connection is not meant to close the circuit. Modern installation will break if there is any current on ground. (See Residual-current device)

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Geoff:
I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not but, half the voltage means much less current flows for a given resistance, so you get LESS current through a human who has mistakenly make his or her self part of the circuit, not more.
So as far electric shock hazard 120v is safer. Now it also means many things run much hotter so from a fire risk it might be more dangerous.

Your understanding of electricity blows . But 120v is safer, because the lower the voltage, the shorter the jump (be it through air or skin or anything not really that conductive) - i.e. ability of current to go through low conductivity stuff.

Besides, if you're (even as a kid) dumb enough to fork a wall socket, so be it, natural selection ftw. (and yes i know you had a son who forked and it isn't funny blabla)

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

frits:
Matt Westwood:
frits:
Some damn Yank:
Sockatume:
I think it's a close run thing between Schuko and the hilariously overengineered UK mains plug. On one hand, the UK plug makes it nigh-impossible to unplug something by tugging on the cable, so people get conditioned to actually grip the plug and not the wire. On the other hand, the Schuko plug disappears into the wall, so well-designed USB adaptors, travel adaptors etc. sit flush with the surface.
I'm not going to defend our (USA) system, other than to say Thomas Edison himself designed it and, like Alexander Bell's telephone system, it always seems too expensive to change the existing infrastructure for a marginal improvement. But I'm curious; if the adapters sit flush with the surface, how do you get them out when you're finished using them?
Captcha: jugis. Please don't jugis in North America just because we're set in our ways.
Good point you bring up there. We invented electricity so piss off with your Euro-rules.

Oh fuck off did you. It was Faraday, COBOL-breath.
What, have you never heard of Benjamin Franklin?

Benjamin Franklin invented the kite, not electricity. Although kites are nice, I guess.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

bob:
Actually the socket/plug is a CRAP design. The "Earth" connection is incapable of carrying the full power that the pins can cary in a fault condition.
That is to say, if absolutely the worst possible situation arises, the earth connection would burn out before the current carrying parts, especially as the "earth" is plated, and to top it off the shitty german plugs do not have an integral fuse, so it is possible to turn the cable into an incendiary device, before the pins fail.

All theoretical, there's 99.9999 that a correctly sized fuse will blow way before you start melting cable.

On the other hand, if you like installing crapwire .. well just buy more fire extinguishers.

CAPTCHA : conventio : "welcome to conventia, the convention hall planet !"

The poop of DOOM · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

L.:
bob:
Actually the socket/plug is a CRAP design. The "Earth" connection is incapable of carrying the full power that the pins can cary in a fault condition.
That is to say, if absolutely the worst possible situation arises, the earth connection would burn out before the current carrying parts, especially as the "earth" is plated, and to top it off the shitty german plugs do not have an integral fuse, so it is possible to turn the cable into an incendiary device, before the pins fail.

All theoretical, there's 99.9999 that a correctly sized fuse will blow way before you start melting cable.

On the other hand, if you like installing crapwire .. well just buy more fire extinguishers.

CAPTCHA : conventio : "welcome to conventia, the convention hall planet !"

All lies! I once had my fuse blow AFTER my cables melted. Of course, those cables were laying on a flaming sponge. Fire extinguishers didn't help then, since the one closest was behind a locked door (my front door, which I lock at all times). Wet towels, on the other hand, is where it's at. Buy more wet towels!

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

frits:
What, have you never heard of Benjamin Franklin?

That guy who claimed that electricity stored in glass? Yeah

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Mr X:
Chelloveck:
Mr X:
Yes, but then it would we wouldn't be able to make a proper cup of tea. Have you tried a 120VAC kettle?

Once it gets to 212 F (100 C for you foreigners), pumping more energy into the kettle isn't going to do a lot of good. Unless of course proper tea requires the rapid reduction of liquid via evaporation.

Besides, proper tea is chilled and has ice cubes floating in it. Everyone knows that.

But at 120VAC, it takes forever to get there. And don't try to tell an Englishman how to make proper tea.

Yeah. I tried, and it's no use. The stubborn idiots.

First they ruin it by making it too strong, and then they make it somewhat drinkable again by adding all sorts of crap. Or milk, they do that too. They can have big discussions on whether to add tea or milk first, and never even consider the option of making proper tea in the first place.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Moonraquel:
frits:
Matt Westwood:
frits:
Some damn Yank:
Sockatume:
I think it's a close run thing between Schuko and the hilariously overengineered UK mains plug. On one hand, the UK plug makes it nigh-impossible to unplug something by tugging on the cable, so people get conditioned to actually grip the plug and not the wire. On the other hand, the Schuko plug disappears into the wall, so well-designed USB adaptors, travel adaptors etc. sit flush with the surface.
I'm not going to defend our (USA) system, other than to say Thomas Edison himself designed it and, like Alexander Bell's telephone system, it always seems too expensive to change the existing infrastructure for a marginal improvement. But I'm curious; if the adapters sit flush with the surface, how do you get them out when you're finished using them?
Captcha: jugis. Please don't jugis in North America just because we're set in our ways.
Good point you bring up there. We invented electricity so piss off with your Euro-rules.

Oh fuck off did you. It was Faraday, COBOL-breath.
What, have you never heard of Benjamin Franklin?

Benjamin Franklin invented the kite, not electricity. Although kites are nice, I guess.

I think he discovered that God, not man, invented electricity.

QJo · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

The poop of DOOM:
gobes:
Here, in France, our plug system is close to the German one. But we have one more thing they apaprently don't have: a child-proof system. Actually it's a kind of cover that prevents inserting a plug if both pins are not inserted at the same time. We have to use a hammer every time we plug something but he, try to put a screw in one of our "normal" plug!
Oh god yeah, the child-proof system... You can sit there, wringing the damn thing in for 5 minutes before it finally shoots in and you scrape the skin of your hand on the wall. They're just one step away from being as annoying as pulling a power cable from a HD or DVD-drive in old computers. Pull pull twitch twitch pull pull twitch twitch and after moving a hundredth of a milimeter at a time for several minutes, the thing flies out and you scrape your hand (down to it just plain bleeding) on all sorts of metal plates.

Even our much-vaunted safety sockets in the UK can encourage unsafe practices. They fit so snugly to the sockets, and are gripped so tightly by the internal springs in the connector, that they can be pretty hard work to remove. Hmm ... let's see if I can find something to lever it out with - I know! Here's a butter-knife!

ContraCorners · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Moonraquel:
frits:
Matt Westwood:
frits:
Some damn Yank:
Sockatume:
I think it's a close run thing between Schuko and the hilariously overengineered UK mains plug. On one hand, the UK plug makes it nigh-impossible to unplug something by tugging on the cable, so people get conditioned to actually grip the plug and not the wire. On the other hand, the Schuko plug disappears into the wall, so well-designed USB adaptors, travel adaptors etc. sit flush with the surface.
I'm not going to defend our (USA) system, other than to say Thomas Edison himself designed it and, like Alexander Bell's telephone system, it always seems too expensive to change the existing infrastructure for a marginal improvement. But I'm curious; if the adapters sit flush with the surface, how do you get them out when you're finished using them?
Captcha: jugis. Please don't jugis in North America just because we're set in our ways.
Good point you bring up there. We invented electricity so piss off with your Euro-rules.

Oh fuck off did you. It was Faraday, COBOL-breath.
What, have you never heard of Benjamin Franklin?

Benjamin Franklin invented the kite, not electricity. Although kites are nice, I guess.

Franklin didn't invent the kite. The Chinese had been flying kites for thousands of year before Franklin.

No, Franklin's great innovation was the string. This allowed the same kite to be used repeatedly.

The poop of DOOM · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

ContraCorners:
Moonraquel:
frits:
Matt Westwood:
frits:
Some damn Yank:
Sockatume:
I think it's a close run thing between Schuko and the hilariously overengineered UK mains plug. On one hand, the UK plug makes it nigh-impossible to unplug something by tugging on the cable, so people get conditioned to actually grip the plug and not the wire. On the other hand, the Schuko plug disappears into the wall, so well-designed USB adaptors, travel adaptors etc. sit flush with the surface.
I'm not going to defend our (USA) system, other than to say Thomas Edison himself designed it and, like Alexander Bell's telephone system, it always seems too expensive to change the existing infrastructure for a marginal improvement. But I'm curious; if the adapters sit flush with the surface, how do you get them out when you're finished using them?
Captcha: jugis. Please don't jugis in North America just because we're set in our ways.
Good point you bring up there. We invented electricity so piss off with your Euro-rules.

Oh fuck off did you. It was Faraday, COBOL-breath.
What, have you never heard of Benjamin Franklin?

Benjamin Franklin invented the kite, not electricity. Although kites are nice, I guess.
Franklin didn't invent the kite. The Chinese had been flying kites for thousands of year before Franklin.

No, Franklin's great innovation was the string. This allowed the same kite to be used repeatedly.

Wasn't string invented way after Franklin's time? I clearly remember C not knowing what it is, while C++ supported it. So it must've been invented sometime inbetween those two.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Some Australian:
Nagesh:
Nagesh:
Some damn Yank:

Mr X:
Or how to play cricket.
I think the Indians may disagree. Nagesh?

We are curently creaming them at Mohali.
Yes, it is being very fulfiling to enjoy the one place India has dominants.
Hardly a creaming....4 balls to spare....

Haker school-boy Nagesh is not understanding cricket.

Watson · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Martijn:
First they ruin it by making it too strong, and then they make it somewhat drinkable again by adding all sorts of crap. Or milk, they do that too. They can have big discussions on whether to add tea or milk first, and never even consider the option of making proper tea in the first place.

It's milk. Both for heat-transfer reasons and because it allows fine-tuning how strong the tea should be.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
Not some damn European:
Some damn Yank:
Zog:
not that I've ever had to rewrite an Italian hotel socket to accept a plug that is standard in the rest of the EU....cough!
That's the difference between North America and Europe. In NA we figure that if we changed the socket standard then we'd have to re-wire every building and appliance on the continent. While in Europe, they feel free to change standards all the time, they just leave the old ones in place. Forever. How many "standard" sockets do you have, anyway?
Doesn't matter, really. I find that with a multi-tool, a coat hanger, and duct tape (of course) I can adapt any plug to any socket.
Maybe that's cause America is 1 country. Europe is at least 5....

Okay smartarse, you're so clever, can you name at least 5 European countries? For bonus points, name 5 European countries smaller than Luxembourg.

Who cares? Hell, we have hundreds of counties bigger than Luxembourg.

Watson · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

The poop of DOOM:
What're these countries you guys're talking about? I thought the world was one big, global village nowadays.

Well they sent around the stuff to connect everything but the plugs wouldn't fit.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

frits:
Shinobu:
frits:
Are you happy now, you pedantic dickweed? Neutral is a current carrying conductor and should not be used for safety ground.
You didn't say neutral, you said grounded. Your comment was completely incorrect and misleading. I'll grant that you didn't mean it that way, but it was. The proper response to such a correction is not to start calling people names, but to say something along the lines of: ‘That's what I meant; thank you for clarifying that for me.’
You didn't read the whole thread in context or you would have known I said neutral first. Don't tell me how to address other people either, shit-for-brains.

FTFY. What the hell? I thought everyone in America was taught to diagram their sentences.

PedanticCurmudgeon · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Gherty:
Roman:
What is happening???
No "frist" comments?!!
Curiously, no filthy minded Z-Guy either....perhaps Akismet is working? (or perhaps all FRIST comments come from one person)

The Z-Guy is busy on the other thread trying to prove he's not a virgin.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Uhh... do you remember anything about basic circuits?

V = I*R

Your body resistance isn't going to magically quarter in size, so when a lower voltage is applied to your body, you're going to get less current through you.

Yes, if you're trying to get the same amount of power you have to have much more current, but with a simple resistor attached, such as the skin along your body between the two contacts, a lower voltage means a lower current -- hence the US 120VAC is safer than the EU 240VAC

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Geoff:
I'd rather use ours then those bulky, expensive looking hunks of CRAP any day.

what kind of idiot are you?

Severity One · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Level 2:
Not some damn European:
Matt Westwood:
Okay smartarse, you're so clever, can you name at least 5 European countries? For bonus points, name 5 European countries smaller than Luxembourg.
Malta, Andorra, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco
Liechtenstein, Andorra, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco

The Holy See (or Vatican City), Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, more or less in that order (small to slightly less small). Not sure about Moldova, Kosovo (not recognised by about half of the countries on earth) or Montenegro.

Gibraltar is a crown colony of the UK. And then there are the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey & Aldernay, but even though they are not part of the UK, they are not considered to be independent countries.

I happen to live in Malta. The difference with the other micro-states is that we have no 'hinterland', in other words a big country surrounding it where there is space. It's also one of the most crowded countries on the planet, and the most densely populated off-shore island in the world. But it's still warm enough to go to work in a short-sleeved shirt.

And yesterday, the former leader of the country due south of us ended up with a bullet in the head, which means that we can start doing business again there.

kilroo · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

greenlight:
Also unless you are aggressively stupid and or careless NEMA1-15 and NEMA5-15s are really not that dangerous.
Everyone I know personally who grew up in the U.S. has chocked themselves at one point on those things. We're all really lucky the voltage is so low. With Schuko plugs it's physically impossible to shock yourself plugging it in.

Oh, I bet I know some people who could figure out a way.

...You might pretty much have to be trying in order to accomplish it, but that's a different issue.

Severity One · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Paul:
Mr X:
British plugs are regarded as both the safest and the largest plugs around. This would be impossible in a british socket, because the live/neutral holes aren't exposed until the earth pin is inserted.
Or a screwdriver, or a pair of scissors, allowing a 2-pin European style plug to be inserted.
Don't try this at home, as they say on TV.

One very important reason for that is that the British use ring circuits. Contrary to the continental systems, where there are a couple of groups with breakers, the British system requires the plugs to be fused. Putting in a European appliance without a fused converter means that there's no protection between your little device and your high-current circuit.

Another thing that is different is that there are separate circuits for lighting and plugs, which means that you can still fix the sockets in part of your house and leave the lights on.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

PedanticCurmudgeon:
Gherty:
Roman:
What is happening???
No "frist" comments?!!
Curiously, no filthy minded Z-Guy either....perhaps Akismet is working? (or perhaps all FRIST comments come from one person)
The Z-Guy is busy on the other thread trying to prove he's not a virgin.

I don't need to prove anything - trtrwtf just needs to be honest with the world about what we had together. Of course he won't though, he's a filthy stinking lying, conniving, smooth-talking, manipulative BASTARD! But the jokes on him. I kept some of this man milk in my freezer and I'm going to have his child. Then I'll tell my dad and he'll get his shotgun and we'll be together forever...

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Severity One:
Another thing that is different is that there are separate circuits for lighting and plugs, which means that you can still fix the sockets in part of your house and leave the lights on.

That's not necessarily a European thing. My house in BFN, US is wired up that way.

QJo · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Severity One:
Level 2:
Not some damn European:
Matt Westwood:
Okay smartarse, you're so clever, can you name at least 5 European countries? For bonus points, name 5 European countries smaller than Luxembourg.
Malta, Andorra, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco
Liechtenstein, Andorra, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco
The Holy See (or Vatican City), Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, more or less in that order (small to slightly less small). Not sure about Moldova, Kosovo (not recognised by about half of the countries on earth) or Montenegro.
Gibraltar is a crown colony of the UK. And then there are the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey & Aldernay, but even though they are not part of the UK, they are not considered to be independent countries.

I happen to live in Malta. The difference with the other micro-states is that we have no 'hinterland', in other words a big country surrounding it where there is space. It's also one of the most crowded countries on the planet, and the most densely populated off-shore island in the world. But it's still warm enough to go to work in a short-sleeved shirt.

And yesterday, the former leader of the country due south of us ended up with a bullet in the head, which means that we can start doing business again there.

Malta, you lucky person. Delightful place.

blatant_mcfakename · 2011-10-21 Reply Admin

The bad thing about these plugs is how the cheaply made extension strips are constructed.

You have two strips of metal running along the length of the power strip for the live/neutral rails that the pins push through and make contact with. The earth clips are made from a U-shaped piece of metal that is held just above those, crossing both rails and only insulated by air.

This is all fine, unless you have a bent earth clip, you don't notice and the plug pushes the earth inwards.

I learned that lesson in Spain when I reduced one extension strip to a pile of smoking, molten plastic plugging a laptop in.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

'Murruhkan:
Some damn Yank:
Steve:
Shall be sticking with BS1363, not that I have much choice. 13 Amp at 230v. And a fuse in every appliance. Its the future ;)
We (USA) have ground fault interrupters in every hair drier plug. THATS the future! (we also have GFI sockets near every sink, kitchen and bath, so we're double-covered)

This was something I was surprised I did not see in the UK and Ireland. In the bathrooms, they only have a plug for "razors only" that's attached to the light above the mirror. Super-annoying when you need to plug in your phone and there are only two plugs available in your room. A GFI-type plug that shut off before delivering the current that could kill someone would vastly improve the European electrical system.

You didn't see them because in Europe they are not integrated into some power outlet but are installed in the breaker box and usually protecting ALL circuits. These devices are called RCD (Residual-current device) over here and are mandatory for new installations e.g. in Germany, Norway and the UK.

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

Also unless you are aggressively stupid and or careless NEMA1-15 and NEMA5-15s are really not that dangerous.

Which is rather surprising, since everything else must be, judging by the amount of safety labels on everything. :)

http://bash.org/?4753

2011-10-21 Reply Admin

At the top of this page, what kind of plug is that on the left end of the red The Daily WTF?

Schuko Shucks

Leave a comment on “Schuko Shucks”