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USB Killer

kukuruku.co

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Re: USB Killer

#71

Post by makeitsuckless »

lucian1900 wrote: post #65
philjohn wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're ugly as hell, and insanely painful if you tread on them, but UK plugs are a bastion of good engineering. Things like not being able to stick things into the line/neutral holes unless the ground pin (which is longer) is inserted make them very safe, and the plastic lower part of the line/neutral pins to stop you accidentally touching something that will have current running through it until the plug is safely…

They are however no safer than Schuko plugs, which are significantly less annoying.

Schuko plugs are a pain in the ass, because more often then not they require brute force to unplug them (or even just plug them in). Also doesn't help the lifespan of powerstrips.

Being able to plug them in ungrounded Euro sockets is handy, but also makes them less safe.

Re: USB Killer

#72

Post by mhandley »

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #51
philjohn wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're ugly as hell, and insanely painful if you tread on them, but UK plugs are a bastion of good engineering. Things like not being able to stick things into the line/neutral holes unless the ground pin (which is longer) is inserted make them very safe, and the plastic lower part of the line/neutral pins to stop you accidentally touching something that will have current running through it until the plug is safely…

I know Britons love their plugs, and I have never quite understood why. They look brutish, clunky and over-engineered. The opposite of elegant. The reason why they have fuses is so you can use ring circuits, which saves copper compared to the usual radial wiring. So its just about saving a little money. Everyone now gets to state his favourite plug type. Bring it on! Mine is the swiss Type J ( http://www.worldstandar…

What fuse/circuit breaker do you put in the fuse panel with radial wiring? It's got to cope with the largest appliance you'll put on that circuit. With British plugs, a low-current device such as a lamp should have a 3 amp fuse, so it blows before the thinner 5A-rated wiring to the lamp melts.

The problem with British plugs though is the rectangular pins. Mechanically, it's simpler to get a good large contact surface area with a circular pin in a circular socket. You do sometimes come across UK sockets which have been slightly damaged and get hot because the contact resistance is no longer negligible.

Re: USB Killer

#73

Post by stef25 »

I thought I remembered reading something about quite a high profile hack that was carried by infecting computers by people using USB sticks that were strategically left on the floor of a parking lot near their car.

Re: USB Killer

#74

Post by philh »

lotsofcows wrote: post #60
MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know Britons love their plugs, and I have never quite understood why. They look brutish, clunky and over-engineered. The opposite of elegant. The reason why they have fuses is so you can use ring circuits, which saves copper compared to the usual radial wiring. So its just about saving a little money. Everyone now gets to state his favourite plug type. Bring it on! Mine is the swiss Type J ( http://www.worldstandar…

You're right. We should change an established, proven design to make it prettier. I don't understand why it's taken so long for someone to speak out. Stop the presses!

You're right, when MrBuddyCasino said "I think this design is better than that design", he clearly meant "we should get rid of that design".

Re: USB Killer

#76

Post by vjvj »

swombat wrote: post #63
vertex-four wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anyone actually care that their plugs are elegant? In any case, your Type J is missing the fact that in the UK, the cables point down towards the floor rather than sticking out, keeping them flush with the wall and often allowing you to hide the plugs behind things.

Swiss person here. The total length of the "plug" part of a swiss plug is actually roundabout the same as the width of a british plug. They fit just fine behind couches, shelves, etc.

And as seen here (http://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/j...) the socket is indented into the wall so less of the cable protrudes beyond the flat surface of the wall.

Re: USB Killer

#77

Post by MrBuddyCasino »

vertex-four wrote: post #54
MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know Britons love their plugs, and I have never quite understood why. They look brutish, clunky and over-engineered. The opposite of elegant. The reason why they have fuses is so you can use ring circuits, which saves copper compared to the usual radial wiring. So its just about saving a little money. Everyone now gets to state his favourite plug type. Bring it on! Mine is the swiss Type J ( http://www.worldstandar…

Does anyone actually care that their plugs are elegant? In any case, your Type J is missing the fact that in the UK, the cables point down towards the floor rather than sticking out, keeping them flush with the wall and often allowing you to hide the plugs behind things.

> Does anyone actually care that their plugs are elegant?

Some people do, I think its an expression of culture. Its hard not to notice that the swiss and the nordic countries (especially Sweden and Norway) value a certain aesthetics. This expresses itself in many things, ranging from architecture to product design, art and the design of public spaces.

There is a reason swiss typography was big, and why nordic design is appreciated all over the world. It could only emerge from these cultural surroundings, its a mindset.

That plug is an expression of british engineering values. Its certainly a very well designed plug, but I also believe the reason why swiss and nordic products are more popular than british ones is that they are made with a different approach.

Probably those same values are also the reason why british music is so great, and why swiss music is... oh well, have you ever listened to mundart-rock? So I'm not saying X is better than Y, there are trade-offs involved.

Re: USB Killer

#78

Post by MrBuddyCasino »

julian_t wrote: post #53
dtech wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is because Post-WW2 UK houses were wired as one giant ring circuit, while in the rest of the world there generally was a fuseboard with every fused circuit connected to a few sockets. This saves wire (copper) but requires every plug to have a fuse. I do not now if modern UK homes are still wired like this. In modern times the individual fuse still makes it safer, but it is also one of the reasons UK plugs are so…

They definitely shouldn't be.... IANA electrician, but as far as I am aware UK regulations require separate power and lighting circuits and a proper distribution board with RCBs. And while our plugs may be clunky, I kind of prefer them to the wobbly, spark emitting two-pin plugs that I seem to come across in the US...

Obviously the US plugs are the worst, but thats the price for being the first. PAL was better than NTSC, too.

Re: USB Killer

#79

Post by thret »

hereonbusiness wrote: post #46

One could give these out to activists around the world, they seem to be always at risk of getting their electronic devices confiscated by law enforcement.

Women who carry mace might also welcome one of these in their handbags. Or people who keep getting inspected at airports. I'm sure there's a market.

Re: USB Killer

#80

Post by anon4 »

sudhirj wrote: post #23
ademarre wrote: post #18

Is there any chance this could be dangerous to the human and not just his device?

If one wanted something dangerous to humans, one could just pack a USB stick full of explosives and use the current from the port as a detonator. I'm sure that's already been thought of before.

Or you could fill it with anthrax. Or dioxygen difluoride. Or chlorine trifluoride. Or Australian spiders. Or African bees.
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