Notes for Americans:

[vladimir_lu@hachyderm.io]

@cstross @uep Luckily there’s no olympic ski jumping for rats otherwise we’d be on to a wi(e)nner

[medeavanamonde@beige.party]

@cstross @purplepadma @nomenloony

The Fake AI and The Real Darwinowing

[cadbury_moose@wandering.shop]

@akicif @cstross

The old BS546 round pin plug is (I think) still used (in the 15 Amp size) in theatre/stage lighting because they are not fused - so you don't have to climb the gantry and change fuses in mid air if one blows. The 13A (BS1363) plug tends to come with 3A or 13A fuses fitted, but there's an entire range from 1A to 13A available: "Fuses Assorted Household UK 8 Values 100 Pcs BS1362 1A 2A 3A 5A 7A 10A 13A 240V 6.3x25 mm". 3 amp are red, 13 amp are brown, the rest are black.

[lightfiar@mstdn.plus]

@cstross Nonsense and lies by libtard poindexters! And we'll show youse! Sharing with all my MAGAt friends!!

And they say there's no air in space! Ha!

[cadbury_moose@wandering.shop]

@cstross Even more obsolete/obsolescent and special purpose mains plugs! (I have used most of these types in the last six decades.)

https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Unusual.html

[steveclough@metalhead.club]

@cstross And the reason that pre-fitted plugs were made mandatory was because so many people didn't know how to correctly wire one.

Which I find intensely depressing, as I have known how to wire one from very young.

[cstross@wandering.shop]

@SteveClough Note that by that point the UK had been almost universally re-wired, and EU safety legislation required molded plugs.

[dearlove@mathstodon.xyz]

@mewsleah @cstross Basic balancing your bank balance is there in the app or online that your bank provides. Of course bank always provided statements, but the difference now is you can have it in real time, any time.

[mewsleah@meow.social]

@dearlove @cstross oops, sorry! didn't realise you were fishing for an argument

[chigaze@mstdn.ca]

@nygl @cstross I feel like these are evidence these things are becoming aware and actively working to kill us.

[tofugolem@mastodon.social]

@cstross
My apologies

[th@social.v.st]

@cstross this is still ok, right?

[barnesmaurice@mastodonapp.uk]

@tautology @ssilvonen @cstross The mist on't moor, yer best homing pigeon at yer breast an't sound o't chippy van bell in't distance. "Kathy yer daft begger, you'll catch yer death, gerroff'om wi'yer sen."

[elaine1helen@mstdn.social]

@cstross So here’s what I don’t understand. If I search “How to wire a UK plug” and ignore the AI, the first handful of sites I checked all have correct wiring diagrams. There must be hundreds of correct diagrams online. So if the AI is basing its answers on what it finds, why is it getting this wrong? It should be easier to get it right than wrong !

[_thegeoff@mastodon.social]

@SteveClough @cstross We still teach it in some ~15yo science classes, but having assisted in some of them it can end up being "little enough knowledge to be dangerous". Students who didn't entirely nail it may be left with false confidence. Should be taught later, 5th or 6th year (17/18), when students are a bit older and more motivated.

[mhoye@cosocial.ca]

@th @cstross

[cstross@wandering.shop]

@elaine1helen AIs are *generative* and they're designed to generate an answer shaped object, not provide an *actual* answer.

[mbirth@social.mbirth.uk]

@th @cstross The hidden marvels of BS1363!

[marjolica@social.linux.pizza]

@th @cstross well in terms of electrical connections this is how many double insulated/unearthed appliances (such as phone chargers) already do it in the UK, except they hide the lack of connection of the earth prong inside a regular UK plug or 2-pin adapter.
Still I'd rather not do it as shown.

[faraiwe@mstdn.social]

@ErikJonker @cstross *its

And *it's* easy to identify the ai techbro dickbag shills.

There is no good from LLMs, the evil they wrought is overwhelmingly superior to any hurrr-useful trivial bullshit.