Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

@mnemeth Whats going on in Montreal? I'm hearing reports of hostages being held on the roof of Obisoft offices by at least 1 armed man, have you heard anything at all?

I have no idea... I've been on the road all day running down the lumber I need for this project. Maybe cyclin_al would have a bit of a clue; he's from that neck of the moose.


                                                  "You might be in Canada, ehhh...?!?"

Speaking of which... one of the lumberyards has an interesting mascot; my son named him Mustard Moose.

mnem
"Oh, just trample off, ya hoserrr..."

Wow.  That's one of very few moose left from Moose In The City back in 2000.  That thing's over 20 years old now.

Wait.... whattt?!? You mean the moose was a thing up here?

When I lived in San Damntonio, they were one of the first host cities for CowParade... and it was at the time when the whole thing exploded. We had like 100 cows produced through... IIRC, City Arts Foundation... and donated to various local artists and fine arts schools for the event. It was huge back then, before SA turned into one of the world's scariest strongholds of "Lets Make The Rapture Actually Happen" rabid religious right-wingnuttery and we had to run away. 

mnem
"Keep Austin WEIRD!!!"
"Keep san Antonio LAME!"

If I remember correctly, Chicago did it with cows and that's where the mayor of Toronto at the time got the idea.  I did a double take about this time last year when I saw a moose on top of a dry cleaning shop compete with antlers.  A lot of them got vandalized when this thing was current and the antlers would be broken off so seeing a moose is rare now and with antlers, even more rare.

Oh, shoot... I forgot the link: http://www.cowparade.com/our-story/

No, see... CowParade is a huge traveling circus art exhibition thing; it started in Hartford 20 years or so ago. The host cities all contribute cows to the project,  they get placed in public places all over the city during the show, then some of the cows get auctioned off, and a fair number of them stay in the host city afterwards.

It is sort of like... patronizing the arts the right way... giving the artists a canvas (the cow) and a place to show it (CowParade) and a way for the artists to actually be profitable at their art, so a few less of them struggle in obscurity. That's the gist of the thing. Or at least that's how they pitch it to to the Mayor and how they spin it to the public. There's a fair amount of host city tax $$ go into making the event happen, I'm sure.

Of course, the event is  also a huge circus-like moneymaker for the host cities and organizers... a traveling cash cow... as well.

Because, like... utter altruism is a lost concept. This is pretty much as close as it gets in today's world.

mnem
*currently thawing my fingers and mixing paint for sortie number 3*

[tggzzz]

We had like 100 cows produced through... IIRC, City Arts Foundation... and donated to various local artists and fine arts schools for the event.

We had 61 gorillas and I don't know how many Gromits, e.g.      

That is fukkin' awesome!     

You can never have too many Gromits. I think every tinkerer ought to have their own Gromit, just like every mad scientist should have an Igor.

Edited to add: "Frau Blücher"

Edited to add 2: I may have just broken the cardinal rule of polite English upper crust society: "I don't care what other people do as long as it doesn't frighten the horses.".

Gromit is the patron saint of all tinkerers. I keep one right next to the St Christopher's medal that came with my PT Cruiser.

Twenty years ago Aardman put on a small exhibition where I worked. My small daughter had the pleasure of picking up one of the original Gromits. I touched it reverendly, as I did one of the original (and rather tatty) King Kongs while I was at university.

The world is smaller that many people think.


(And apperently there were 80 Gromits around the city, for people to "find" and have a selfie)

[tggzzz]

@mnemeth Whats going on in Montreal? I'm hearing reports of hostages being held on the roof of Obisoft offices by at least 1 armed man, have you heard anything at all?

I have no idea... I've been on the road all day running down the lumber I need for this project. Maybe cyclin_al would have a bit of a clue; he's from that neck of the moose.


                                                  "You might be in Canada, ehhh...?!?"

Speaking of which... one of the lumberyards has an interesting mascot; my son named him Mustard Moose.

mnem
"Oh, just trample off, ya hoserrr..."

Wow.  That's one of very few moose left from Moose In The City back in 2000.  That thing's over 20 years old now.

Wait.... whattt?!? You mean the moose was a thing up here?

When I lived in San Damntonio, they were one of the first host cities for CowParade... and it was at the time when the whole thing exploded. We had like 100 cows produced through... IIRC, City Arts Foundation... and donated to various local artists and fine arts schools for the event. It was huge back then, before SA turned into one of the world's scariest strongholds of "Lets Make The Rapture Actually Happen" rabid religious right-wingnuttery and we had to run away. 

mnem
"Keep Austin WEIRD!!!"
"Keep san Antonio LAME!"

If I remember correctly, Chicago did it with cows and that's where the mayor of Toronto at the time got the idea.  I did a double take about this time last year when I saw a moose on top of a dry cleaning shop compete with antlers.  A lot of them got vandalized when this thing was current and the antlers would be broken off so seeing a moose is rare now and with antlers, even more rare.

Milton Keynes had its "concrete cows" installed in 1978. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_Cows Looks like  they too have been vandalised and restored.

[mansaxel]

just found that in an online store of a supermarket ...

https://www.real.de/product/357333264/

"Der altmodische Amperemeter ist unpräzis und hohe Defektrate."

428b is questioning you.

[mansaxel]

I wish the eevblog forum could migrate from this terrible simple machine to something like this.
when I jump in other forum I always ewwww when I come back here.

I'd be satisfied with nothing short of a NNTP gateway. People who wish to post can do so, if they're capable of setting up a peering session.  And, Netnews, at least until August, is quite OK. 

( A newsgroup where I spent a lot of time in the late 90s / early 00s just woke up again. Feels quite OK, actually. ) 

[Specmaster]

With all the talk on this thread today about toasters and toasted crumpets with or without cheese reminded me that I promised SWMBO that I would fix a longer power cord to our Russell Hobbs toaster. Bloody thing came a 600mm lead which means that when in use it sits right underneath the wall cupboards and the rising heat melts the plastic coating on the doors which begin to shrink and discolour and also distorts. After 16 years of use, the only issue we have with our fitted kitchen is this door issue on the bottom edge from the toaster.

So with the talk of crumpets reminding me, I got out the toaster to replace the power cord but the bastards have made it impossible to do in my view because of the use of one time only fixings and mountings of the PCB and the heating elements which I discovered after having carefully taken the casing off the thing. So the only way of sensibly fixing it was in view to wire in a C13 and C14 plug and connector which now allows for the toaster to pulled out and away from the wall cabinets.

More to the point, why did they fit such a short length of cord to the unit, it is in my view a possible fire hazard, designing a massive heat source that can be used below wall cabinets which take the full might of the heat? It would only a toaster to malfunction and be left switched a few minutes longer than normal to cause a kitchen fire 

Anyway the job is now done and put back in the wall cabinet that it almost set on fire, ready for its next use.

[Cerebus]

It seems to be a trend. Our 'cordless' kettle has a short cord, so does our George Forman style grill and so does the single ring standalone induction hob we're got.

[Specmaster]

Yeah, so does our cordless kettle, which TBH, I originally thought was causing the problem with steam building up under the cabinets, which is even worse if you have what SWMBO wanted, a bottom valence fitted under them which also form a perfect trap for steam and heat. Are they trying to make such appliances become either fire hazards or shorten the life of modern kitchens?

[Mr. Scram]

With all the talk on this thread today about toasters and toasted crumpets with or without cheese reminded me that I promised SWMBO that I would fix a longer power cord to our Russell Hobbs toaster. Bloody thing came a 600mm lead which means that when in use it sits right underneath the wall cupboards and the rising heat melts the plastic coating on the doors which begin to shrink and discolour and also distorts. After 16 years of use, the only issue we have with our fitted kitchen is this door issue on the bottom edge from the toaster.

So with the talk of crumpets reminding me, I got out the toaster to replace the power cord but the bastards have made it impossible to do in my view because of the use of one time only fixings and mountings of the PCB and the heating elements which I discovered after having carefully taken the casing off the thing. So the only way of sensibly fixing it was in view to wire in a C13 and C14 plug and connector which now allows for the toaster to pulled out and away from the wall cabinets.

More to the point, why did they fit such a short length of cord to the unit, it is in my view a possible fire hazard, designing a massive heat source that can be used below wall cabinets which take the full might of the heat? It would only a toaster to malfunction and be left switched a few minutes longer than normal to cause a kitchen fire 

Anyway the job is now done and put back in the wall cabinet that it almost set on fire, ready for its next use.

The short cords are a safety feature, intended to prevent children from pulling hot kettles and similar items from the counter top. It's unfortunately a very common way for children to sustain rather serious injuries.

[Robert763]

When he hears my employer cop says "oh, OK" and drives off 

eh eh, did you drop the secret three letter employer?
 

Not quite. Can't talk about current work on social media but it implies a certain level of trustworthiness.
 

[25 CPS]

If I remember correctly, Chicago did it with cows and that's where the mayor of Toronto at the time got the idea.

Was this the coke snorting one? Could explain a  lot...

No, you're thinking of Rob Ford.  The moose were Mel Lastman's project and he was two mayors before Rob Ford happened. 

Unfortunately, after seeing how the whole Rob Ford fiasco went down in Toronto, most of the rest of the province thought it was a good idea to make his older brother Doug the premier of Ontario.  Part of that's got to be attributable to the absolutely awful, horrible slates of useless tools of politicians we have to pick from here at every level.  A couple of reasonable, sane, middle of the road adults.  Is that too much to ask for?  I bought two used Agilent DMMs from an industrial electrician who was getting ready to retire back in the summer and we had a long conversation about that whole problem.

[mnementh]

Stumbled across this today; quite enjoyed it. Looking forward to Axanar; may even buy some swag when I have discretionary funds.

mnem
*pacifist gorn in exile*

[Specmaster]

@Mr. Scram Yes I can see that aspect but with the resultant fire hazard as witnessed in my kitchen, those same children could also be injured as a result of a house fire, or by grabbing the handle of say a hot frying pan on a cooker and tipping boiling hot fat etc over themselves. Seems that to eliminate one threat, they have perhaps unwittingly introduced another which could have even more dire consequences 

[nixiefreqq]

crumpets you say?

they sort of look like "english muffins".

could someone please embiggen my knowledge on this subject?


(embiggen is a perfectly cromulent word)

[bd139]

The short cords are a safety feature, intended to prevent children from pulling hot kettles and similar items from the counter top. It's unfortunately a very common way for children to sustain rather serious injuries.

Stupid and lazy parents injure children. It's just currently in vogue to pat the parents on the back and say "there there" rather than treat them as negligent.

[Mr. Scram]

Stupid and lazy parents injure children. It's just currently in vogue to pat the parents on the back and say "there there" rather than treat them as negligent.

Sure, but that's not really the case here. Relevant numbers of children get horribly hurt this way and parents don't need to be negligent for it to go horribly wrong. It's often a small mistake of lapse of attention with big consequences and any parent claiming they've never had similar lapses are lying idiots.

[Specmaster]

The short cords are a safety feature, intended to prevent children from pulling hot kettles and similar items from the counter top. It's unfortunately a very common way for children to sustain rather serious injuries.

Stupid and lazy parents injure children. It's just currently in vogue to pat the parents on the back and say "there there" rather than treat them as negligent.

That's my thoughts as well. That said though there does seem to be evidence that some parents are so lazy that they are happy for their kids to be out the house and even out of sight, thus happy for them to be either a problem to others or become a victim of other sick and depraved people. My kids were always supervised in the house and if playing outside, never allowed out of sight until they became old enough to take care of themselves.

[Mr. Scram]

@Mr. Scram Yes I can see that aspect but with the resultant fire hazard as witnessed in my kitchen, those same children could also be injured as a result of a house fire, or by grabbing the handle of say a hot frying pan on a cooker and tipping boiling hot fat etc over themselves. Seems that to eliminate one threat, they have perhaps unwittingly introduced another which could have even more dire consequences 

Are your wall cupboards 60 cm deep? That's unusually deep, to be honest. It's up to the user to safely place a device. That outlet or layout of your kitchen may not be the most suitable for modern standards.

[Specmaster]

Stupid and lazy parents injure children. It's just currently in vogue to pat the parents on the back and say "there there" rather than treat them as negligent.

Sure, but that's not really the case here. Relevant numbers of children get horribly hurt this way and parents don't need to be negligent for it to go horribly wrong. It's often a small mistake of lapse of attention with big consequences and any parent claiming they've never had similar lapses are lying idiots.

Accidents will always happen, you cannot prevent them, only take steps to minimise them. But why minimise one form of an accident to replace it with another possible accident that could have far more damaging results.

[Mr. Scram]

That's my thoughts as well. That said though there does seem to be evidence that some parents are so lazy that they are happy for their kids to be out the house and even out of sight, thus happy for them to be either a problem to others or become a victim of other sick and depraved people. My kids were always supervised in the house and if playing outside, never allowed out of sight until they became old enough to take care of themselves.

People love acting high and mighty but the reality is that these kinds of accidents happen in responsible and caring families too. People pretending they're better parents because they didn't win this unlucky lottery are idiots.

[Specmaster]

@Mr. Scram Yes I can see that aspect but with the resultant fire hazard as witnessed in my kitchen, those same children could also be injured as a result of a house fire, or by grabbing the handle of say a hot frying pan on a cooker and tipping boiling hot fat etc over themselves. Seems that to eliminate one threat, they have perhaps unwittingly introduced another which could have even more dire consequences 

Are your wall cupboards 60 cm deep? That's unusually deep, to be honest. It's up to the user to safely place a device. That outlet or layout of your kitchen may not be the most suitable for modern standards.

No, the 600mm was a guess, thinking about it is more like 400mm at best, thus the toaster has to be under the cabinets when in use, especially when the toaster cable entry as actually at the front where the controls are located, so that means the length of the toaster eats up some length of the cord in order to be able to operate the toaster  It is piss poor design that adds to the danger.

[Mr. Scram]

Accidents will always happen, you cannot prevent them, only take steps to minimise them. But why minimise one form of an accident to replace it with another possible accident that could have far more damaging results.

Probably because your assessment of the likelihood of both isn't accurate. Besides, it's up to you to safely place your toaster instead of going "This cord's too short! Whelp, guess I'm going to burn my house down". The same argument made for supposedly negligent parents can be made for toaster users, except that these are functioning adults handling equipment without a will and feet of their own. If your toaster is attempting arson as soon as you turn around it's really up to you.

[bd139]

Stupid and lazy parents injure children. It's just currently in vogue to pat the parents on the back and say "there there" rather than treat them as negligent.

Sure, but that's not really the case here. Relevant numbers of children get horribly hurt this way and parents don't need to be negligent for it to go horribly wrong. It's often a small mistake of lapse of attention with big consequences and any parent claiming they've never had similar lapses are lying idiots.

Yeah mine have done lots of stupid stuff and it was always preventable by me. I was negligent on numerous occasions. Fortunately no serious injuries.

The point is that a lot of parents do not learn from others or themselves if these issues occur nor do they evaluate risks to start with. If you have a responsibility to other humans you need to take it seriously. Hence my cousin who was killed at the age of 4 by a car after my aunt left the front door open and he wandered onto the A38 in the dark. This was the third time she had left it open after going out to smoke and he had escaped. Sympathy all around for her loss of course 

That was the first funeral I went to.

[Specmaster]

That's my thoughts as well. That said though there does seem to be evidence that some parents are so lazy that they are happy for their kids to be out the house and even out of sight, thus happy for them to be either a problem to others or become a victim of other sick and depraved people. My kids were always supervised in the house and if playing outside, never allowed out of sight until they became old enough to take care of themselves.

People love acting high and mighty but the reality is that these kinds of accidents happen in responsible and caring families too. People pretending they're better parents because they didn't win this unlucky lottery are idiots.

Nobody on this side of the discussion is as you say acting high and mighty, hence why I said in my last post before you posted this one and I quote "Accidents will always happen, you cannot prevent them, only take steps to minimise them. But why minimise one form of an accident to replace it with another possible accident that could have far more damaging results"

[mnementh]

My suspicion was always that the real reason here is much more sinister... the fact you can "safely" draw more current out of thinner cheaper wire if it is short enough. Cut the cord in half, use cheaper odd-gauge-smaller cord, cut per-copy cost to 1/3 of previous model and sell the obnoxiously short cord as a "safety feature".



Sounds exactly like the sortof idea Stef Murky would have.

mnem