Dark Shadow's Surprisingly Well-Lit Random Banter #217

[Teddy]

That's one thing you can't actually do in the UK--our sockets have a plastic shield inside them that covers the live and neutral holes, and you have to insert something in the earth socket in order to open the shield and put anything into them. Yes, you could jimmy that with a screwdriver or something, but you'd probably need three hands and a lot more smarts than the average 7 year old to do it!

Hmm, that's definitely a useful part of having a ground pin on the plug rather than the socket...

And while the schuko sockets may have child proofs installed, these are generally not the default, and my childhood home is from the 60's (IIRC).

for the record, my mishap with electrons occurred in the 1960's. if the US had any thing now to prevent shock hazards, it would not have been in effect back then.

Judging from my brief trek across the states a few years back, if the US has anything to prevent shock hazards, it is not in effect now either. I do not have a lot of respect for the American plug and socket design, it looks very obsolete to me...

[factotum]

As far as I'm aware, the child-proof shutter has been a feature of the BS1363 socket since it was introduced in 1947.

[Peelee]

Since we seem to have a gaggle of electricians gathered here, why does most of the world use 240 while US uses 120? Also, why are there seven standards for for the plug shape?

[Qwertystop]

Since we seem to have a gaggle of electricians gathered here, why does most of the world use 240 while US uses 120? Also, why are there seven standards for for the plug shape?

Plug shape is arbitrary; the major design elements of current standards are that a plug has three prongs (two current-carrying and one ground) and can't be plugged so that prongs are in the wrong sockets (ground and current-carrying mixed up). And that when plugged in, no live metal is exposed, of course. Older US plugs don't have a ground prong and are reversible, since AC doesn't care which power-carrying prong is which.

Apart from that, the actual shape and arrangement is arbitrary. The current standards were established in different places without an eye to international compatibility, since use of a device internationally is the unusual case.

I'm not actually an electrician (the above was just commonsense), I don't know about the voltage.

[factotum]

As far as I understand it, the 60Hz mains frequency in the US was something Nikola Tesla came up with, but not sure what he based that on. When the first big European generating plant was set up (in Germany by AEG) they chose to use 50Hz because it fit better with the metric system--the UK didn't standardise on the same until after WW2.

The voltage is a different matter. 110V comes from Edison--his first DC (direct current) bulbs used 110V because that was the highest voltage he could run a carbon filament at without it burning out too quickly, so it seems likely they kept that voltage when going AC. Europe increased this to 220V sometime in the 20th century basically to save copper--the losses in a wire go by current squared times the resistance, and since a 110V supply requires twice the current for the same power output, you get four times the losses. By increasing the voltage you reduce the current and can use thinner, higher resistance wires while still having lower electrical losses in the house wiring. The UK went even further (to 240V) but have scaled that back to 230V for better cross-compatibility with European power standards.

One other thing to note: I think some US electricity suppliers use a two phase system, whereby you get three wires coming in to the house--effectively +110V, 0, and -110V. In places where that's the case you can already use 220V for items that have high power requirements like water heaters and cookers, but obviously the sockets are still only 110V.

[Insane Jeenyus]

What every one is saying is pretty much at what I know. using the 220 - 240 v system with two hots, a grounding wire and sometimes a neutral, it allows the appliance to be built with thinner wire and therefore more cheaply.

[PopeLinus1]

What are normal people's ears shaped, that earbuds don't immediately fall out when they are placed in?

Asking for a friend.

[LaZodiac]

What are normal people's ears shaped, that earbuds don't immediately fall out when they are placed in?

Asking for a friend.

The secret to stupid bull**** earbuds is to string the string around your ear like it's a pair of glasses. They don't just hang down, they have to curve around and down.

Ears are relatively normal, it's the earbuds that are bad, is what I'm saying.

[DataNinja]

This is all I could think of.

[Insane Jeenyus]

This is all I could think of.

earbuds don't stay in my ears

[Feytalist]

The secret to stupid bull**** earbuds is to string the string around your ear like it's a pair of glasses. They don't just hang down, they have to curve around and down.

Ears are relatively normal, it's the earbuds that are bad, is what I'm saying.

I've seen people say that that's the "correct" way of wearing them, but that's even more irritating than the usual way. I'd stay far away from that method, personally


If you have earbuds with those interchangeable rubber cover things, I always swap them out with ones that are slightly smaller. Works pretty well for me. Haven't had earbuds fall out for years, now.

[LaZodiac]

I've seen people say that that's the "correct" way of wearing them, but that's even more irritating than the usual way. I'd stay far away from that method, personally


If you have earbuds with those interchangeable rubber cover things, I always swap them out with ones that are slightly smaller. Works pretty well for me. Haven't had earbuds fall out for years, now.

I mean the correct way to wear earbuds is to throw them in the trash and get actual headphones, but that's a good option too.

[Mith]

I mean the correct way to wear earbuds is to throw them in the trash and get actual headphones, but that's a good option too.

Unless you have hearing aids. Modern hearing aids can come with adapters to be probably the best earbuds you can get due to being molded to ear shape. Plus, the electronics can adjust sound input to make it easier for you to understand.

So what I'm saying is that if you destroy your hearing with volume mis management with ear buds, the solution is some significantly better ones.

[Insane Jeenyus]

Unless you have hearing aids. Modern hearing aids can come with adapters to be probably the best earbuds you can get due to being molded to ear shape. Plus, the electronics can adjust sound input to make it easier for you to understand.

So what I'm saying is that if you destroy your hearing with volume mis management with ear buds, the solution is some significantly better ones.

in which case, a hearing aid may soon be in the future.

[enderlord99]

in which case, a hearing aid may soon be in the future.

That's exactly what he said.

[Algeh]

I get the quasi-earbuds with hooks to go over your ears. I tried a bunch of different in-ear-only earbuds back in the 90s, and they'd tend to have one fall out. The ear-hook style worked for me so I just kept buying them, so I have no idea if current earbuds with the flexible silicon ear-parts rather than the ones that had little foam coverings on the ear-parts would be fine without the hooks.

[LaZodiac]

That's exactly what he said.

The bolded part implies that he's saying "oh yeah I definitely listen to it too loud so that's definiteley going to happen".

[Insane Jeenyus]

The bolded part implies that he's saying "oh yeah I definitely listen to it too loud so that's definitely going to happen".

actually i was hinting to everyone to not listen to music at too high of volume.

[FinnLassie]

And why did I choose to make a dish that takes 3+ hours to make again? I'm hungry. I want food! Now!

[Teddy]

And why did I choose to make a dish that takes 3+ hours to make again? I'm hungry. I want food! Now!

Since three hours (and some) have passed and I assume you were well fed in the end, what were you making?

[FinnLassie]

Since three hours (and some) have passed and I assume you were well fed in the end, what were you making?

Karelian stew! Got the meat on sale. Ended up eating more mashed potatoes than the actual stew, though ... a kilo of it. Winter always makes me yearn for potatoes and become addicted to them...

[Insane Jeenyus]

mashed potatoes are better with cheddar cheese, bacon and cayenne pepper!

[Peelee]

mashed potatoes are better with cheddar cheese, bacon and cyan pepper!

I don't trust blue peppers. Also, you're forgetting the all-important garlic!

[DataNinja]

Mashed potatoes with Feta cheese is pretty nice, too.

[LaZodiac]

I don't trust blue peppers. Also, you're forgetting the all-important garlic!

Thank you for this I thought I was slowly going insane.

[enderlord99]

Spoiler: I wrote another creepypasta.

Show

It's raining!
Today's forecast is bright and sunny, with an average of 80 degrees Farenheit, or 27 Celsius.
It's pouring!
The drought is expected to continue for the rest of the week.
The old man is snoring!
Pollen count is very low, and will be all day and night; good news for those with congested airways!
Went to bed...
Around 11:00 tonight, there will be a meteor shower. The pretty meteors will not hurt you.
...Bumped his head...
As always, tomorrow's forecast will be airing at 6:00 AM.
...Couldn't get up in the morning!

[FinnLassie]

But... but... mashed potatoes made with cream is the true heaven!

[LaZodiac]

But... but... mashed potatoes made with cream is the true heaven!

You are one hundred percent correct! I put butter and ketchup on mine because I'm a sinner.

[Mystic Muse]

You are one hundred percent correct! I put butter and ketchup on mine because I'm a sinner.

Butter is fine.

Ketchup is only allowed on french fries, heretic.

[Insane Jeenyus]

I don't trust blue peppers. Also, you're forgetting the all-important garlic!

Sorry, was in a hurry to get ready for work.

And please forgive me for forgetting the garlic, butter, and heavy whipping cream.

like I said, I was getting ready for work.