Ethan J. A. SchoonoverApr 21
finally took a few minutes to solve a real world UI problem
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverApr 21

OMG the number of reply guys that feel compelled to explain unit prefixes to me based on this photo.

Yes, I am aware we could just say amp hours. We could also use coulombs. But this is what the powerbank industry has standardized on and I'm just going with that standard. If it was up to me we'd use nothing but joules.

Show threadaburka 🫣Apr 21
@ethanschoonover mega-amphours is the best unit anyway
Show threadtalpa
@aburka @ethanschoonover not as great as Mega Ampere Henry
Apr 21 at 7:05pmWeb
Γ—
Ethan J. A. SchoonoverApr 21
finally took a few minutes to solve a real world UI problem
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverApr 21

OMG the number of reply guys that feel compelled to explain unit prefixes to me based on this photo.

Yes, I am aware we could just say amp hours. We could also use coulombs. But this is what the powerbank industry has standardized on and I'm just going with that standard. If it was up to me we'd use nothing but joules.

Show threadGik  | πŸ’™βž‘οΈπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦Apr 21
@ethanschoonover sounds like they standardized on consumption instead of provision, like light bulbs.
Show threadaburka 🫣Apr 21
@ethanschoonover mega-amphours is the best unit anyway
Show threadtalpaApr 21
@aburka @ethanschoonover not as great as Mega Ampere Henry
Show threadPaul PalinkasApr 21
@ethanschoonover This *is* the social network for pedants, after all.
Show threadYogurtWrongApr 21

@ethanschoonover I mean, calories are a valid choice if you are using the power bank to heat up stuff...

okay I'll shut up

Show threadkΞ”Apr 21
@ethanschoonover My UI feedback is that the real problems have nothing like been addressed. Two pathetic pins with no grip and no protection against accidental shocking. You need to look at the plugs and sockets in we use in Ireland if you want to fix the real UI problems πŸ˜‰
Show threadphase separation anxiolyteApr 21
@ethanschoonover I should fix my labelmaker. I keep using avery 5162s and it's pretty suboptimal
Show threadThird spruce tree on the leftApr 21

@amsomniac @ethanschoonover
>avery 5162s

Kickin it old skool.. niiice. Every folder in our house is labelled with typewritten 526xs, thanks mom.

Show threadJessie Nabein Apr 24
@amsomniac @ethanschoonover 5162s are indeed just "ok". Not very sturdy imo compared to label makers
Show threadRoyce WilliamsApr 21
@ethanschoonover This is the way.
Show threadEmil Jacobs - CollectifissionApr 21
@ethanschoonover honestly making the world better.
Show threadthebluemarble πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆApr 21
@ethanschoonover Please, let's make these labels mandatory in the EU πŸ™
Show threadGurre VildskΓ€ggApr 22
@thebluemarble @ethanschoonover
Standardised to all be the same font, minimum colour contrast (colour blind friendly), and a minimum size.
Show threadWaltteriApr 21
@ethanschoonover Oh that's smart, I need to copy this 🧑
Show threadJoe CrawfordApr 21
@ethanschoonover This makes me feel guilty that I have not done this and then angry that it's not already done for me.
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverApr 21
@artlung It should be an industry standard practice!
Show threadGreenDotGuyApr 21
@artlung @ethanschoonover it's wild how vendors are allowed to print the output specs so small and in such low contrast. I have to use my phone camera and sneaky angles of light to figure out what some of my adapters can do.
Show threadJessπŸ‘ΎApr 21
And then there's the multiple incompatible "quick charge" specs and USB C cords that have a "right way up" and a "wrong way up".
@DarcMoughty @artlung @ethanschoonover
Show threadEndlessMasonApr 21

@JessTheUnstill
I'm sure your local friend group would be willing to chip in for a usb-c tester so you can separate the compliant from the "if it doesn't work get it the other way round" ones.

Maybe together you can use the crap ones to make a cargo net or a shade cloth or rope or mobeil or something?

@DarcMoughty @artlung @ethanschoonover

Show threadEndlessMasonApr 21

@JessTheUnstill
Wind chimes!

@DarcMoughty @artlung @ethanschoonover

Show threadJessπŸ‘ΎApr 21
Every few years, I'll just order another pack of multiple good wall adapters and cables, then go around and throw all the crappy ones in the trash.
@EndlessMason @DarcMoughty @artlung @ethanschoonover
Show threadEndlessMasonApr 21

@JessTheUnstill
Pro-active! Love that.

I tried that on black Friday but the deliveries didn't sync up and the longer cables came via the return-after-10-seconds-at-the-door courier service and so anything they made it ended up in the bag i take on holidays - handy but not the goal

(I'll be putting this toot in my weekly journal too, i guess)

@DarcMoughty @artlung @ethanschoonover

Show threadROTOPE~1 Apr 21
@EndlessMason @JessTheUnstill @DarcMoughty @artlung @ethanschoonover a basic "sanity check" tester runs about ten bucks, it's worth the money. They don't know *how* the devices negotiated power delivery, but they will tell you how many volts/amps are passing by.
Show threadEndlessMasonApr 21

@rotopenguin
Nah, I'm taking doing hand shakes itself, led readouts of feature support, lightning and alt-mode testing, coffee maker, the whole thing. Top of the line machine. Polished brass. Mahogany. The whole nine. One you could hand down to your grand children.

@JessTheUnstill @DarcMoughty @artlung @ethanschoonover

Show threadbigiainApr 22

@EndlessMason I bought that one about 10-15 years back. "Here grandkids, this is a fully featured USB tester! It'll help you check and diagnose any and all USB issues for all your Mini USB cables!"

(I'm now wondering whether I hope the grand kids I don't have are still using USB-C, or if I can dream big enough to hope all their devices harvest power from the environment and never need external charging...)

@rotopenguin @JessTheUnstill @DarcMoughty @artlung @ethanschoonover

Show threadsolar powered boyApr 21
@ethanschoonover switching to white-on-black labels for the black ones is πŸ‘¨β€πŸ³πŸ€ŒπŸ’‹
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverApr 21
@x4nw I appreciate this being noted!
Show threadjiub   Apr 21
@x4nw @ethanschoonover getting white-on-black labels for my label maker felt like leveling up lol
Show threadit seems aetios is going to gpnApr 21
@ethanschoonover nooo my carefully refined corproate brand identity rudely disturbed by ugly stickers with useful information!?!
Show threadThird spruce tree on the leftApr 21

@aetios @ethanschoonover srsly. Especially those stupid Apple bricks.

Make your THING look nice, sure. But no one cares how aesthetic your power brick is d00d.

Dear industrial designers of power warts: please make your power brick take up no more than its allotted width on a standard power bar; and make your prongs swivel because not everyone of us can buy a $120 power bar where the sockets rotate and are set 3" apart.

Show threadBebnaApr 22

@tezoatlipoca @aetios @ethanschoonover

Just remove the plug and get a C7 cable for the apple ones. Makes them also much better to travel with.

Swivel plugs only work with the us style plugs.

Show threadThird spruce tree on the leftApr 22

@bebna @aetios @ethanschoonover That's a good point that I don't think a lot of people realize -nearly every AC power cord end is a standardized plug type; getting replacements or different lengths, plug rotation etc. is trivial and usually really cheap.

The "typical" NA PC/laptop power cord is a NEMA 5-15P to C13 female.

Show threadArcaikApr 21
@ethanschoonover If only there was a unit to express 1000 mAh :D
Show threadAndreas HontziaApr 21

@Arcaik @ethanschoonover That would be (in the upper right):

20 Watts with 10240 Mega Ampere Henry. (1 Ampere Henry is 1 Weber, which describes magnetic flux.) πŸ˜‰

Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverApr 21
@Arcaik i mean sure but mAh is just what the industry has standardized on, not Ah. Aligning with the product nomenclature here.
Show threadSean KleefeldApr 21
@ethanschoonover I am mad at myself for not having thought of that, but grateful for the simple/genius idea!
Show threadaliceifApr 21
@ethanschoonover but what voltages, that's even more important
Show threadROTOPE~1 Apr 21

@aliceif @ethanschoonover the only time I've really cared about voltages is when I'm using a PD-trigger cable.

It is really convenient to run a tiny cube charger to a 12v external hard drive, so much better than the drive's included brick. The stupid part is that newer chargers *don't support* 12v anymore.

Let me repeat - newer chargers have PPS where you can ask for any voltage from 5-20v. BUT YOU CAN'T JUST ASK FOR TWELVE.

Show threadaliceifApr 21
@rotopenguin @ethanschoonover not necessarily.
I have a 65W GaN charger that has both PPS and the static 12V profile.

But yes few things are more annoying when some shit phone is limited to 15W instead of 18W charging on an otherwise overkill charger because the latter is dongled behind PPD instead of being available on the 9V profile
Show threadROTOPE~1 Apr 21
@aliceif lol, what a weird brick. I didn't think there was that twilight zone between the "we're peeling off all the 12s and replacing them with 15s" and the "we're now doing PPS" standards.
Show threadaliceifApr 21
@rotopenguin ISY IWC 4065
Show threadFritz AdalisApr 21
@ethanschoonover
I did the same with wall warts with volts and amps. It makes them useful!
Show threadSteve PurcellApr 21
@ethanschoonover oddly satisfying
Show threadIan W.Apr 21

@ethanschoonover

When I get a new device that has a power brick, I write what device it came with and its power output in metallic sharpie on the wall side then print a label for one of the other sides. Labels can come off with heat and use, but the sharpie hasn’t failed me yet!

Show threadEndlessMasonApr 21
@ethanschoonover
I can feel the satisfaction through the screen
Show threadSnyperWolfApr 21
@ethanschoonover Did you know? 5000 mAh can be expressed as 5 Ah (5 Amp-hours)?
Show threadKlaus Maria PfeifferApr 21
@ethanschoonover kilo milli Ah πŸ˜‚
Show threadLuigi Apr 21
@ethanschoonover
Show threadKhleedrilApr 21
@ethanschoonover You need to reciprocate this on the backs of all your gadgets: show their power requirements and then you can easily match an adapter to the device.
Show threaddcbaokApr 21
@ethanschoonover true magic does exist in the world
Show threadflere-imsaho πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦Apr 21
@ethanschoonover my only issue while reading this was that mili- was not lowercased. (which is obviously a β€œmy” problem, and not relevant.)
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverApr 21
@mawhrin i was just too lazy to switch it out of caps. if i had i would have actually felt obligated to use the greek mu
Show threadCogito ergo mecagoendiosApr 21
@ethanschoonover @mawhrin Shouldn't kilo x mili just be 1AH ?
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverApr 21
@elrohir @mawhrin it was an intentional choice. https://mastodon.social/@ethanschoonover/114377314537310838
Show threadCogito ergo mecagoendiosApr 21
@ethanschoonover @mawhrin Thanks for answering, I figured the choice was intentional but did not know the reason.
Show threadjackApr 21
@ethanschoonover what labelmaker do you use? and can it do heatshrink? I've been meaning to get one
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverApr 21

@jackeric this one: https://www.dymo.com/label-makers-printers/labelmanager-label-makers/dymo-labelmanager-280-rechargeable-portable-label-maker/SAP_1815990.html

Not fancy. It does do heat shrink tube (limited by the size of the unit of course which I think is max 1/2 inch)

Show threadJoe Cooper πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦Apr 21
@ethanschoonover a while back, I decided to label every power supply when I stumble on them in drawers or whatever, but then I couldn't find the power supply for the label maker.
Show threadAndre VidelaApr 21
@ethanschoonover I should do the same for my USB-C cables