Notes for Americans:
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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.
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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 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!
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How the Holy Hell did they generate that? I mean, the UK has had more than enough competing designs over the years (some more dangerous than others), but that one's a physical impossibility.
I've used most of those, over the years, plus the bizarre one with standard earth pin, one round pin and one rectangular (rotated 45 degrees) with fuses for both small pins (Bi-phase 240V centre-tapped to Earth!) That one was at Dunlop, and now gone. (Thank the Gods.)
@cstross Even more obsolete/obsolescent and special purpose mains plugs! (I have used most of these types in the last six decades.)
Museum of Plugs and Sockets: unusual / phased out plugs
Annotated display of unusual and often phased out plugs and sockets
(www.plugsocketmuseum.nl)
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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 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.
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@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.
@SteveClough Note that by that point the UK had been almost universally re-wired, and EU safety legislation required molded plugs.
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@cstross I just asked Gemini to create one for us in Australia. Might try it later… just not sure…
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@tofugolem Expert system, not "expertise" system, and no, not really, that's not what they're for (did a course on designing them circa 1990)
@cstross
My apologies -
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 this is still ok, right?
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@barnesmaurice @ssilvonen @cstross Food, beer, a warm sheep and companions. Wait, 'OW MUCH! Nah, tha can all bugger off and leave me t'misen.
@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."
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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 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 !
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@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.
@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.
![[Yaseenist] CauseOfBSOD](https://media.wetdry.world/accounts/avatars/112/893/284/039/284/003/original/cb402a13a3d09bf1.png "[Yaseenist] CauseOfBSOD"){kind=avatar}
