Comments by "DynamicWorlds" (@dynamicworlds1) on "Technology Connections" channel.

Anecdotal but, I have been electrocuted twice now by having my finger under a plug I was inserting or removing from an outlet or other extension cord slip under and touch the non-ground pins while it was partially in the outlet. One of those times, I was unable to let go of either the plug or tool for several seconds as the electricity running through my body (including my upper chest) was clenching both my hands tight. Whatever hypothetical (or actual) benefits there may be about liquids or other things falling down on the prongs, ground down is a safer orientation for clumsy people like me to handle such poorly designed plugs. The most dangerous part is clearly in view and in front of the tip of my thumb rather than to the side of my finger, giving me more control over it and less chance of the part of me closest to it to slip. I don't know if my experience is at all representative (it's certainly biased my pov as one has never caused me problems and the other has caused me multiple including one that could have killed me), but I feel way safer with ground down, especially since most plugs are shaped to be gripped best in that orientation. Would probably watch more plug related videos, though, including on that topic for the pros and cons, and curious to see what data might exist to compare that with my experience.
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I don't mind the levers on modern toasters....I just want to know why its so hard to get one that will toast even one side of one slice of toast evenly one time. I mean, yeah, having my toast done to the same doneness every time no matter how hot the toaster is inside would be really nice too, but can we please stop making toasters that toast my bread in wide strips? Please?
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@christopherdahle9985 an insulating coating part way up the prongs so that you can't touch them once they're far enough into a standard outlet to complete a circuit would be a simple, cheap, and highly-compatible step we could take in that dirrection. More fuses incorporated into plugs also probably wouldn't be a bad idea. We're starting from a bad design, yes, but there are improvements we could make without sacrificing compatibility, and as long as we stay compatible with current enough devices to not require too many adapters to be produced, we could incrementally move over a few decades to any plug design we wanted. It wasn't that long ago when ground prongs weren't standard, afterall. We managed that rather extreme design change fairly well so I'm confident we can do it if we're willing to make the choice to engage in sensible risk mitigation, and many changes wouldn't even take that but merely stepping past the "this is how we've always done things" and a couple extra cents to the production cost.
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@wallykramer7566 could be the manufacturer or a middle-man depending on the company I assume.
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@BandidoDescalzo not only that, but it frees up the stove and your attention for the rest of the meal
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Yeah, I'll admit that my current smoke detector situation isn't exactly up to par, but on the upside, I am able to get out of the window of every bedroom in my house rather quickly. Hell, my bed is right next to a picture window that opens and the window next to it opens onto the roof of my porch (which I could use to escape even if the side of the building I sleep against was what was going up in flames. I don't have as many detectors as I should, but I have abundant access to ways out if I really need to exit the building in a hurry and don't care if I get a little scuffed up on the landing. Hell, if I had a spare 30 seconds I could shove my mattress out the window and drop down on that.
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It wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't put one of them right on the edge of the bottom so it dug into our fingers when we went to use the darn things.
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"What if we took the entropy, and moved it somewhere else" There would be more than you started with.
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Tucson Jim oh, I'm sure there are ones out there that aren't stripey, but there's no good excuse for even the cheap models to be so at this point. There's no good excuse for vertical stripes with horizontally run heating elements, and I think we both know price isn't a reliable judge of quality at this point. I can understand having the done sensor being a thermal sensor pointed at the toast costing a bit, but properly run heating elements should be standard at even low price points.
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@christopherdahle9985 distributing the storage to a bunch of tiny lithium ion batteries each running a small computer to try and figgure out if they should be drawing or sending power uses a lot of extra resources in materials, wear on said batteries, power and bandwidth when you start adding it up. If you're doing on location power storage, a larger battery is going to be superior (and make it easier for someone to set up when they want to sell to or buy from the grid). Also, in larger setups, it opens up other potential options that don't miniaturize as well (such as the really cool liquid metal batteries which have been developed. Seriously, they're not theoretical and they're designed from step 1 for cheap, sustainable grid storage rather than a battery designed for a different application scaled up and shoved into that role), benefiting from economies of scale and leaving the lighter-weight battery materials (like lithium) for devices that need to be readily portable to keep costs lower for that application. I'm in agreement with the general idea especially at the grid-level, don't get me wrong, but there are advantages to not miniaturizating too far, especially when a key tech enters the equation.
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I imagine a less firm fit in hotel lamps results in a lot less broken lamps...doesn't excuse cheap ones in apparentment walls, but still.
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@KevinCrouch0 I was using the casual not medical definition, yes, but for the serious one as the current had to pass through my upper torso to go from one hand to the other (it was grounding itself to the tool in my other hand, not through my feet), it could easily have stopped my heart and ended my life. No serious damage thankfully, but I simply got lucky that the randomness of electricity worked in my favor that time. The general path the current had to take and the amount flowing through me were not trivial. It's only by chance that my shaking eventually broke contact with the circuit and only a slightly different path would have been needed to send it right through my heart. The other times were more of a shock, yes.
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@AndytheWhite that the most extreme work ethic won't prevent you from being disposable?
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@trevorlambert4226 I was using the word in the more casual, less technical sense, but it can also mean to be severely injured even by the strict definition. If you're going to be a pedant, don't also be wrong.
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@christopherdahle9985 the hypothetical you're describing is exactly what happened to me except it grounded to the object (the tool the cord was to) in my other hand causing the circuit to not be through my hand but from one hand to the other through both arms and my upper torso locking my grip on both objects, as my thumb wasn't touching the ground and apparently through me to the shell of the device was the easiest path to the ground. Only luck caused my shaking to eventually break the connection and spared me from the current stopping my heartbeat. I came away with only some muscle soreness, but it very easily could have ended very differently if I was just slightly less lucky that day.
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 @lordmrwhatsyourname I wouldn't have thought that would work and would be too afraid of them leaking to try, I must admit.
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It wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't put one of them right on the edge of the bottom so it dug into our fingers when we went to use the darn thing.
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Reverse those 2 sentences and it makes more sense
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I have some lights in my home that are wired to 2 switches so that when both the switches are in the same direction, the lights are off, but when they are in opposite directions, the lights are on. Being able to turn on the lights in the stairway from either floor is really convenient. The same principle could be applied to bedrooms, putting one switch by the door and another by the bed. Problem solved with no relying on having a brain in the mornings.
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@aidenohalliganesquire3148 wow, just not even going to bother to dogwhistle that mysoginy, huh?
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@briankerzetski5719 was using the term more loosely, yes, and "shocked" would be more technically correct, but "electrocuted" can also refer to serious, but non-fatal, injuries so I could have been and still typed it (though thankfully wasn't)
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@DavidDellsperger I'm not surprised there is a code about which way it's supposed to be as there are pros and cons to each, so if there's any difference in the balance of those someone's going to enforce a standard with how much can be on the line there, but it's surprising to me that such a thing would get so much attention, tbh, considering all the things that can go wrong with an electrical system.
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We're not talking about intelligence. We're talking about reaction times. At a mere 35 mhp that's >51ft/second. Even if we assume that it only increased the average reaction time from 0.3 to 0.5 seconds (which is overly generous on both numbers) that means the distance traveled before the brake pedal has been even touched has increases from ~16ft to ~27ft. If we assume a more realistic increase in reaction time of +0.5-1.2 seconds (given the frequency range of turn signals) suddenly the distance traveled before the brake pedal is touched moves up to ~41-62ft. That's easily enough to cause an accident which would be likely to knock the leading car into whatever hazard (such as someone blowing through a red light or a child running into the street) they were trying to avoid. In those given examples, that could mean a life and death difference. And that all is only at 35mph! Any increase in driver reaction times costs lives. Real lives.
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I remember seeing advertisements for these as a kid. They were touted as this new exciting thing...just like all the rest of the gimmicky crap that never worked as advertised that you could get for $19.99. Their marketing team created an association with a bunch of trash products, and so I just looked at it as something that "would be great if it worked but obviously doesn't because it's in one of those ads" and that was the end of that. If they'd put those advertising dollars into getting it into store shelves, maybe it would have taken off, because it would be there when someone was looking for a replacement can opener and be seen as a legitimate option, but nope. They had an absolute marketing failure.
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I don't mind the levers on modern toasters....I just want to know why its so hard to get one that will toast even one side of one slice of toast evenly one time. I mean, yeah, having my toast done to the same doneness every time no matter how hot the toaster is inside would be really nice too, but can we please stop making toasters that toast my bread in wide strips? Please?
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...I've been electricuted enough to be glad to not share anything close to whatever experience you refer to.
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I'm just surprised it even survived that long without corroding through and leaking! How did THAT happen?
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I imagine a less firm fit in hotel lamps results in a lot less broken lamps...just sayin'
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