Notes for Americans:

[bjn@mstdn.social]

@shaknais @oddhack @cstross I wonder if they’ll be happy to accept liability for any advice given when it inevitably goes disastrously wrong. There is a weak disclaimer at the bottom of the page. “You should always check your official statements before making product or other financial decisions.”

[cstross@wandering.shop]

@dearlove Also how to correctly address a letter (both on the envelope and in writing the contents). Reading a clock face and tying your shoelaces was supposed to be covered before primary school, though (by parents or kindergarten).

[ratsnakegames@mastodon.social]

@tautology @cstross Scotland was destroyed during the war.

[myricagale@mastodon.scot]

@cstross @tautology I love the network of rivers that connect and cross all over the place. Let's see who can define the watershed....

I assume Scotland has gained ultimate geological independence and is somewhere to the north of RIVRI TEMS (?).

[oschonrock@mastodon.social]

@cstross omg that's painful to even look at

[cadejohnson@toot.cat]

@nygl @cstross This is a great idea to keep plugs from being accidentally kicked loose!

[jdrm@social.linux.pizza]

@Sie @nygl @cstross WTF is that???

[codebyjeff@hachyderm.io]

@cstross no, I'm not at all missing the point

also, I'm old

you're just a wanker trying to defend being a wanker by saying that your ignorant wanker attitudes are "obviously true"

fuck yourself long and hard with a brick, sideways

[cstross@wandering.shop]

@jdrm @Sie @nygl Congratulations, you've discovered the thread about what happens if you ask various LLMs how to correctly wire up different types of mains plug (starting with British ones: all the suggestions are an electrocution hazard) …

[knud@mastodon.social]

@cstross @jdrm @Sie @nygl

You could have just said: "Congratulations, you've discovered the thread about what happens if you ask various LLMs."

[jamesravey@social.lol]

@cstross ah yes people often make the mistake of confusing live and blive. Thankfully this diagram makes it very clear which is which

[splendid_alex@mastodonapp.uk]

@DanKen @Sie @nygl @cstross Surprisingly charming, in its way.

[celeduc@mastodon.social]

@DanKen @Sie @nygl @cstross alt-text on point, historical accuracy difficult to verify

[edavies@functional.cafe]

@csstrowbridge The change was a decade or two later than it needed to be, but there was a time (1950s/60s) when requiring electrical items to be sold without a plug made sense. Much existing house wiring had not yet been converted to BS1363 sockets which was not a simple matter of replacing the socket. Given that “everybody” knew how to wire their local plug design it wasn't a big deal.

@cstross

[adriano@lile.cl]

@Nfoonf @cstross I mean these are great if you're making male-male cables, they save so much time.

[mhd@tilde.zone]

@ratsnakegames @Sie @nygl @cstross Oh, wow, the AI piss filter now affects words, too.

[teflontrout@beige.party]

@cstross @auxonic @ryanc actually the opposite of blive is bpre-recorded, which can lead to embarrassing blipsynch fails

[mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca]

@cstross
I believe you that suppliers weren't forced to sell with plugs before 1992, but why didn't they choose to do so? Given the choice, wouldn't consumers have preferred to pay a couple of pounds extra and to buy the kettle that they didn't need to wire themselves?

@jbayes

[cstross@wandering.shop]

@mpjgregoire @jbayes They didn't fit plugs because doing so would have cost them money *and nobody else was doing so*. Plugs were sold separately to consumers. Every corner shop sold them!

[kimsj@mastodon.social]

@cstross @cjwatson @lispi314 @feorag
As it happens, I wired up a 13A plug a couple of weeks ago. Being able to replace dangerous leads on appliances is a useful life skill.