brianorca

In AC, diodes work half the time, every 1/60 second. The “good” LEDs will have circuitry to fully rectify the AC into DC, drop the voltage properly, and smooth the peaks and valleys, so they will be continuously lit. So the cheap LED Christmas lights might have a slight flicker, and the good ones are steady. (Or get fancy with chasing colors, etc.)

All of that happens inside each of the “bulb” enclosures, or sometimes in a box at one end, so it technically doesn’t matter which end they are getting electricity from, since the socket at the far end is still just connected in parallel to the plug at the near end. (Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to link them together.)

It’s just a really bad dangerous idea to reverse them.

It would still work. But it is VERY dangerous. 1. The far end of the light string will now have exposed metal prongs that are energized at 120v, which can be fatal. 2. If the other end gets plugged into a socket, there is a 50% chance it will be a different circuit on a different phase, which can create a 240v direct short, across a wire that has no properly sized circuit breaker. 3. Using it to plug a generator into your house during a power outage can kill electrical workers trying to fix the outage if you fail to open your circuit breakers.

If someone can’t make the own cord, what’s the chance they know how vital it is to flip the breaker?

Two things: 1: there’s a high chance you do cross live and neutral, or even live and live on different phases. 2: using it to plug in a generator to power your house can kill electrical workers who are trying to restore a power outage. (If you fail to open your circuit breaker.)

My guess is that’s how high it needs to be for the sewer to flow in the right direction.

Spoilers in Connect are not readable when I click them. (White on white) Unless I first select the post so the background in grey.

You can get Mint on a “Live” USB flash drive, so you can boot it up and see if it handles all your hardware before you install anything.

Canines have five digits on their front paws, just like we do. Their “dew claw” is equivalent to our thumb, so the outside digit is still a pinky digit.

I’d guess it’s easier for the paramedics to jump out when they first arrive on scene. Nothing happening in the back yet, so they can look around and see the situation while rolling in.

I’m not sure there is any more the hermit kingdom can be sanctioned, other than getting Russia and China to actually honor the existing sanctions. (Ha!)

Ukraine doesn’t want to target Moscow. They are not like Russia, they go after actual military targets, not civilians. They have been using their homebuilt drones for long enough inside Russia to show their priorities.

The whole point of a public key is it can be publicized. Use any public publishing method, the more public the better.

We knew the deal was changed, but not by who. (As far as I know.)

Replace NT in this list with ME and you have all the consumer versions. NT versions 3.5 and 4 were the business versions in parallel with 95, 98, and ME.

Hair is hair. At least they didn’t use wall paint.

I’m switching back and forth at will, which is unusual for me with this type of illusion.

In what world would Putin allow anything other that a yes-man be his official backup?

Not as easy for individuals. Still relatively easy for a state actor. It’s not a magnitude difference, just a difference in degree.

When you have a few inches flat at the end, fold it over and tape it. Repeat as needed.

The skin of that cowling doesn’t look thick enough to do more than streamlining. You’re thinking of the containment ring found in jet engines.