Notes for Americans:
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RE: https://nomenloony.com/@nomenloony/116019280517956996
Notes for Americans:
1. Until 1992 you had to wire your own plugs onto new electrical appliances in the UK (they were sold without pre-molded plugs).
2. Mains voltage is 230VAC, not 110VAC. It'll kill ya.
3. If you follow ChatGPT's advice *YOU WILL DIE*.
@cstross But a lot has changed in basic ability since 1992. Not in the positive sense either.
And people in China now wire the UK plugs on for you. -
@cstross how many do you keep around, "just in case"? (Me: two or three at least)
@tops @mpjgregoire @jbayes I don't any more. Used to keep a couple on hand until the mid-90s.
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@sotolf @cstross Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 uncovers 500 zero-day flaws in open-source code https://www.axios.com/2026/02/05/anthropic-claude-opus-46-software-hunting
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@TimWardCam @cstross @swetland
There were (and still are) three sizes of round three-pin plugs in UK: 2A, 5A and 15A. Because they don’t have fuses in the plug, the 5A and 15A outlets must be radially wired from a correspondingly-rated circuit breaker. (I’m not sure what the rules are for 2A; that’s almost exclusively used for lighting appliances, often controlled by light switches.) -
@sotolf @cstross Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 uncovers 500 zero-day flaws in open-source code https://www.axios.com/2026/02/05/anthropic-claude-opus-46-software-hunting
@sotolf @cstross or if you are into biology, AlphaFold — Google DeepMind https://deepmind.google/science/alphafold/ ,
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@cstross out of curiosity, surely it spits out a slightly different thing every time? Have people replicated this? I'm sure it'd give similarly deadly results multiple times
which is why people really need to do better and learn what these things are (not) so they don't fking go to it for advice and how-tos in the first place
@noodlemaz @cstross I've lost count of the number of people I've encountered who default to "I'll ask ChatGPT" instead of a search engine, never mind something like Wikipedia or a purpose built site.
Slop has become the first port of call for a staggering percentage of internet users. Voice input probably reduces the friction even further.
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@akicif I know: I grew up in one of those houses. (It was rewired when I was 13.)
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RE: https://nomenloony.com/@nomenloony/116019280517956996
Notes for Americans:
1. Until 1992 you had to wire your own plugs onto new electrical appliances in the UK (they were sold without pre-molded plugs).
2. Mains voltage is 230VAC, not 110VAC. It'll kill ya.
3. If you follow ChatGPT's advice *YOU WILL DIE*.
@cstross one saving grace here is that ChatGPT's plug has its pins in completely the wrong position so you're not actually going to be able to plug it into a socket anyway
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@cstross When people used to list life skills they thought should be taught in schools rather than academic subjects, how to wire a plug was a popular choice. So also was how to balance a chequebook.
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@cstross I would have thought, given it appears to be connecting live to earth, it'd trip the RCD rather quickly.
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There are WORSE AI-generated images of how to wire a UK mains plug. Here's one I saved last year.
@cstross ah yes the four wire uk plug with 2 pins
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@dresstokilt I'm talking about the UK. Where EVERYTHING runs on 230v and nothing came with a plug prior to 1992. Read for context!
@cstross @dresstokilt and you still see stuff with rewireable plugs fairly frequently (although molded plugs are getting more common)
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@cstross@wandering.shop I love the BS1363 plug. US wall plugs are FLIMSY JUNK.
Also, ChatGPT doesn't even have the PINS in the right places.
I saw a similar LLM-generated diagram of how to wire an outlet into a wall box. It was even more surreal. -
@uep You called, sir?
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RE: https://nomenloony.com/@nomenloony/116019280517956996
Notes for Americans:
1. Until 1992 you had to wire your own plugs onto new electrical appliances in the UK (they were sold without pre-molded plugs).
2. Mains voltage is 230VAC, not 110VAC. It'll kill ya.
3. If you follow ChatGPT's advice *YOU WILL DIE*.
@cstross @purplepadma @nomenloony
The Fake AI and The Real Darwinowing
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@cstross 1.a) The UK still had homes wired with the old round pin (2,5,15 amp) plugs until stupidly late.
A 2a round pin gave just enough energy to use a wee heating element to boil a cup of water.
For 13A plugs, the lowest available fuse was 3A so an old boilette could overheat for minutes before the fuse would blow....
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.
) , there are plenty of serious and useful applications of generative AI / transformers
![[Yaseenist] CauseOfBSOD](https://media.wetdry.world/accounts/avatars/112/893/284/039/284/003/original/cb402a13a3d09bf1.png "[Yaseenist] CauseOfBSOD"){kind=avatar}
