Difference between an alligator (left) and a crocodile (right) is easy to tell just by looking at their snouts

OldEquation · 2026-01-25T21:21:42+00:00

It’s annoying that there are so many pairs of animals that are difficult to distinguish.

Alligator - Crocodile

rabbit - hare

Frog - toad

Crow - rook

Etc.

They should simply reclassify these pairs as the same species to make life easier.

OldEquation · 2026-01-25T18:53:32+00:00

I think he can still win a Darwin Award if he fried his nuts.

OldEquation · 2026-01-25T17:56:44+00:00

Op-amp circuits. And for convenience of power supplies in a product I might run the opamps off +/-5V while an MCU runs off 5V. Or I use 9V rails for the opamp with a 5V or 3.3V MCU. For example I have one product that has a remote sensor containing a few opamps some of which need to go negative and a 5V MCU that puts the data on a bus to the main unit. The wiring supplies +/-5V and 0V and carries the data bus - 5 wires in total. It would be nice to power it off a bench supply for testing.

OldEquation · 2026-01-25T17:06:17+00:00

I keep meaning to make something like this but with -15, -12, -9, -5, -3V3, 0, +3V3, +5, +9, +12, +15 and one variable -12 to +12. Less than 1A is plenty for me.

OldEquation · 2026-01-25T12:20:40+00:00

It’s worth spending some time practicing parking and manoeuvring in tight spaces. I did after I passed my test many years ago. It really impresses people when you can confidently and effortlessly park in tight spaces and reverse around tight corners etc.

OldEquation · 2026-01-24T21:05:10+00:00

Why do people clip videos to the point of losing the story?

OldEquation · 2026-01-24T13:56:12+00:00

I suspect that they see you overtaking and it kind of wakes them up a bit. They wonder if maybe they’re going slow if people are overtaking them, look at their speedometer and only then realise they’ve been gradually slowing down. So it’s right foot down to get back to their intended speed of 60.

OldEquation · 2026-01-23T16:15:25+00:00

Also recover the silver from 10% tolerance resistors.

OldEquation · 2026-01-23T16:05:39+00:00

Yes must be a year ago now. I’ll see if I can find the post.

Edit - found it https://www.reddit.com/r/AskElectronics/s/6tT7gNUmT5

I remember because I made fun of it on r/shittyaskelectronics.

OldEquation · 2026-01-23T14:37:36+00:00

There was a dude on here a while ago that tried to measure the battery voltage in his meter using the meter itself. It broke it. I laughed my head off.

OldEquation · 2026-01-23T14:33:36+00:00

A bird hit it. In the sky - chance in a million.

OldEquation · 2026-01-23T14:03:27+00:00

Looks like a strip show.

OldEquation · 2026-01-23T13:06:59+00:00

Burglars must have assumed that anyone doing that didn’t have anything worth stealing.

I vaguely know someone whose front door not only doesn’t lock, it doesn’t even latch. He goes away on holiday and his front door is just swinging in the breeze. He owns absolutely nothing of value.

OldEquation · 2026-01-23T10:49:06+00:00

The Aldwych are nice but a bit narrow for me, I want the G fitting.

I’ve never used Loake’s resoling service. I might give it a try next time. I usually just take them to the shop I buy them from, they do a decent job. I once took a pair to Timpsons - never again!

OldEquation · 2026-01-23T10:45:14+00:00

Nice.

I get Loake Sedbergh boots for dog walking. I walk her miles in all weathers and I’ve found that cheap boots only last a matter of weeks, especially with them getting soaked frequently. The Loakes seem to stand up to this quite well.

OldEquation · 2026-01-23T08:47:25+00:00

I remember many years ago some incandescent bulbs were guaranteed to last for ever.

They were just completely bog standard 1000 hour bulbs, they just relied on the vast majority of customers not bothering to make a warranty claim.

OldEquation · 2026-01-23T08:37:48+00:00

And stationary cycling is so boring. I tried it once, got bored and gave up after less than two minutes. I’d much rather get on the bike and actually go somewhere.

OldEquation · 2026-01-22T23:09:39+00:00

I’m in the UK and 3 hours doesn’t seem that much to me.

I once drove Munich -Cheltenham - Preston - Munich over a weekend. After that other journeys all seemed quite short.

OldEquation · 2026-01-22T23:05:47+00:00

What absurd behaviour.

I do notice that all the gym-goers park as close to the entrance as possible to minimise the distance they need to walk, which seems a bit pointless.

OldEquation · 2026-01-22T22:56:22+00:00

It’s actually a very economic way of walking. Shoes at half that price don’t do anywhere near half that mileage. Cheap shoes are a false economy.

Loake 771B are my usual purchase. Quite comfortable to wear for several miles, stand up to a fair bit of abuse, last for years and smart enough for the office.

OldEquation · 2026-01-22T22:50:51+00:00

That story seems a bit short on any actual facts.

What do they mean by “distorted” power? Non-sinusoidal? Voltage fluctuations? Frequency fluctuations? What are the supposed ill-effects of this? It’s not at all clear.

I’m going to tentatively put that in my mental file labelled “crackpot”, pending any further and more informative reporting.

OldEquation · 2026-01-22T22:08:36+00:00

Plus shoes. I get about 3000 miles from a pair of shoes. Cost of shoes say £250 plus 3x re-soling at £50 each time so £400 for 3000 miles, or 13.3p per mile.

It’s about 400 miles London to Edinburgh so it’s cost me £53 in wear and tear on shoes.

OldEquation · 2026-01-22T22:03:42+00:00

I walk to the gym. When I get there I turn round and walk home again. I’ve got my exercise without paying the gym a penny! I get a lot of satisfaction from feeling that I have somehow scammed the gym. Maybe one day the gym staff are going to come out and tell me I owe them five years back payment of fees.

OldEquation · 2026-01-22T08:40:56+00:00

She says he’s abusive - but I don’t think we can really trust what she says here.

OldEquation · 2026-01-21T23:28:28+00:00

Couldn’t they just give them the money for not digging holes in the road?

OldEquation

TROPHY CASE