James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

Post by maxerickson » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 12:57 AM UTC

sublinear wrote: post #26

ryanjshaw wrote: post #15

Anybody else get confused by whether the arrow represents where the car should be or the pump?

I agree. As much as people appreciate the factoid, it's not an example of good design. I don't ever recall the arrow being paid attention to until listicles and other blog spam were born. It has all the elements of great clickbait.

Post by perilunar » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 1:37 AM UTC

echoangle wrote: post #202

perilunar wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USB-C is better than A in that it works in two orientations instead of one, but the correct answer for connectors should be any orientation — the best connectors are cylindrical connectors: barrel plugs, RCA, BNC, banana, phono, TRS, TRRS, etc. Just make them round .

Would it be practical to have a round port as a universal connector? USB C uses a lot of pins, how would that work? Like an audio plug with a lot of rings?

Post by echoangle » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:39 AM UTC

perilunar wrote: post #203

echoangle wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would it be practical to have a round port as a universal connector? USB C uses a lot of pins, how would that work? Like an audio plug with a lot of rings?

I think it would be practical with glass fibre. Two wires/rings for power, and fibre for data. Something like a Mini-TOSLINK, but even smaller. Ideally the plug would be barely thicker than the cable.

Post by perilunar » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 3:19 AM UTC

echoangle wrote: post #205

perilunar wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it would be practical with glass fibre. Two wires/rings for power, and fibre for data. Something like a Mini-TOSLINK, but even smaller. Ideally the plug would be barely thicker than the cable.

Glass fibre is pretty fragile though, it would probably break in the first hour for most people if used like a normal USB Cable.

Post by 0_____0 » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 3:55 AM UTC

skywhopper wrote: post #172

perilunar wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USB-C is better than A in that it works in two orientations instead of one, but the correct answer for connectors should be any orientation — the best connectors are cylindrical connectors: barrel plugs, RCA, BNC, banana, phono, TRS, TRRS, etc. Just make them round .

Man, there’s nothing more satisfying than the feel of a quarter-inch TRS plug slotting in to a high quality jack. Truly one of the great plug designs.