General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsi've noticed something fascinating about plugging in to usb ports
90% of the time, the first attempt is upside-down.
you'd think it would be 50%, but no! much closer to 90%!
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)CurtEastPoint
(18,674 posts)unblock
(52,438 posts)CurtEastPoint
(18,674 posts)VOILA!
displacedtexan
(15,696 posts)I dot the top side of the dongle's end with nail polish: red for white cords & white polish (or white out) for black cords.
Life's too short to fuss with usb cords.
unblock
(52,438 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,334 posts)If it didn't, I'd get it wrong way more often.
The car charger for my phone doesn't have them. I'm worse than 50:50, like unblock said.
demmiblue
(36,911 posts)tavernier
(12,410 posts)It sounds slightly porn.
Nevilledog
(51,268 posts)eppur_se_muova
(36,317 posts)lastlib
(23,356 posts)I keep a bottle of the stuff at my charging station. But until I get that spot of NP on, I always have to look at the plug and the receptacle--and even then I only get it right about 20% of the time.....
Rollo
(2,559 posts)The polarity (if that is the correct term) on USB connectors is fairly subtle (a little white spacer at one end), at least for the full size ones. The mini-USB connectors have a rounded side which should make it easier to line them up correctly, except that they are so damn tiny.
unblock
(52,438 posts)i've never had an hdmi cable that fit in snugly so i was confident it wouldn't fall out if a big truck drove by.
even in the store, checking out expensive components and cables, they all just sit in loosely. bump the component and it falls out.
Response to unblock (Reply #12)
marie999 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)Fucking things are so snug its hard to remove them, and Im convinced Im breaking something every time I plug one in because the tolerance is so minimal.
pnwest
(3,266 posts)Plug it in,
nope,
turn it over,
plug it in,
nope,
turn it over again - oh, so I had it right the first time!
unblock
(52,438 posts)spinbaby
(15,092 posts)only explanation.
PatSeg
(47,711 posts)AC_Mem
(1,979 posts)I wonder why that is? I've started to look for the little design because I always put it in the wrong way!
ecstatic
(32,777 posts)I think I'm going to take the advice on this thread and use paint going forward. Maybe. Not sure it's important enough of an issue.
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)First try doesn't immediately go in, so I flip it. That obviously doesn't work, so I take a look, flip it back and try slowly.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)tile yet? If you do, I bet my number on mine is closer to the exact amount, only because I counted ten times.
unblock
(52,438 posts)If you have one watch you always know what time it is; if you have two watches, you're never sure!
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)I have a friend who sets his clocks five minutes fast so that he wont be late. Drives his family nuts. Incidentally, he sets his watch to his business time (not five minutes fast). People come up with the strangest rationales often.
unblock
(52,438 posts)it teaches you that you're fine if you're two minutes late.
and you have to constantly remember and adjust depending on which clock you're looking at. of if someone asks you the time, not that that happens much anymore....
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)No need to ask another person for time. It is truly amazing how cellphones have saturated our culture. Go anywhere, if people have to wait for an activity, they are on their phones.
unblock
(52,438 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)anything to start now.
I_UndergroundPanther
(12,496 posts)Is 5 minutes fast. For that reason. The others are the correct time.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Which clock do you pay attention to when going through your prepare to leave home routine?
I_UndergroundPanther
(12,496 posts)Ahead one. Actually it's ahead 10 minutes. Gives me breathing room to gather my stuff and myself before I go. Gives me a second to pet my kitty goodbye.
10 minutes ahead is so obviously off from the regular clocks you can't miss it.
Plus that extra10 minutes comes in handy for getting drinks and snacks ready before the show comes on.
babydollhead
(2,231 posts)except the car, that is an hour slow
lastlib
(23,356 posts)Asking for a friend.......
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)and they record accurate time until the next time change. I believe that they look nicer than digital clocks.
herding cats
(19,569 posts)They're actually 10 minute fast. He's not plugged into his cell all day (oh, that he was! This wouldn't be needed) and it helps keep my perpetually late husband on time to his jobs.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Ill have to apologize to him the next time we talk, he will love that given how much that I have laughed at him about his clock habit.
herding cats
(19,569 posts)My husband doesn't wear a watch and seldom looks at his phone, unless it's via his vehicle. At home I wear an Apple Watch and have learned to fudge the numbers for him when he asks so he hurries up and eats his oatmeal! He's a perpetual procrastinator.
I'm pretty sure we're outliers on the matter, and my husband still, all these years later, doesn't know he runs on a time 10 minutes early. But, he's seldom very late anymore.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Goes in right every time. But if you want to see a clueless idiot, just give me a phone protective case without in it and tell me to put the phone in. There are just somethings in life that trip all of up at times, the human mind is a wonderful mystery.
intrepidity
(7,346 posts)At least in my experience, it has to do with the torsion (?) on the wire. The natural way that I grab the hanging wire is the wrong orientation, and I have to twist the wire beyond it's comfort zone to flip it.
I have concluded they do it on purpose.
jrandom421
(1,005 posts)If you have USB-C devices and ports, the direction doesn't matter. Upgrade and modernize your devices and cables to USB-C!
unblock
(52,438 posts)It's the desktop computer I use to charge everything up that still has old USB ports. Some of the cables require a usb-c to usb adapter
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)My iPhone has a USB-C charge cable. My personal Laptop, which is 6 years old, has the old USB ports. I upgraded to what I thought would be a better Laptop (it is more powerful), but I really dont like the screen and didnt like the keyboard once I started to use it, so I am back to my older Laptop. I realize that I could have used a wireless keyboard, it is I am so used to typing on my computer keyboard, there are situations that I get into where using a wireless keyboard or any external keyboard is not possible.
cos dem
(903 posts)install it the right way. No guarantee that everyone adheres to that part of the standard.
Especially if it's a "vertical" slot, then what are you supposed to do?
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)The side that goes up has the USB logo embossed on it. The smooth, un-embossed side goes down. Same goes for you phone charger and your Kindle charger.
unblock
(52,438 posts)Smooth on both sides
lunatica
(53,410 posts)Last years thoughtless actions are todays biggest activities. Our perspectives And priorities sure have changed!
Disaffected
(4,572 posts)You tend to remember the times it's upside-down more than the other (called confirmation bias?).
Here in Canada, where food info on a box of whatever is in English on one side and French on the opposite, I almost always seem to pick up the box with the French side showing. I swear
unblock
(52,438 posts)Your setup puts stress on the cable in a particular way, especially if the other side is already plugged in.
So it's not really random.
if your particular setup happened to have the unplugged end windup in the "upside down" position, I guess it might tend to revert to that position when unplugged again (due to torsion or to mysterious forces yet undiscovered).
But, if the unplugged end happened to wind up in the right side up position, it would also tend to revert to that position when unplugged again.
So, the chances that any random plug will revert to the upside down position would still seem to be 50/50 (??).
Man, who would have thought that connector plugging in could be so complicated.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,112 posts)the white dots go on the bottom.
SeattleVet
(5,481 posts)A throng of mourners were reportedly horrified yesterday when it was revealed that Ajay Bhatt, inventor of the USB port, had been unintentionally buried upside down during his own funeral. The error was revealed when pallbearers lowered the body into the designated tomb only for the underside of the casket to swing open, causing Bhatts body to unceremoniously tumble out into an awkward heap.
...
Everything was always upside down with him, said Genevieve Bhatt, laughing even as a single tear rolled down her cheek. You should have seen him in the bedroom! He never could insert right side up on the first try.
...
(More at link!)
(Do I really have to add the HUMOR tag?)
lame54
(35,343 posts)unblock
(52,438 posts)USALiberal
(10,877 posts)airplaneman
(1,241 posts)If the odds are 50-50 then the chance of getting it wrong the first time is 100%
-Airplane
airplaneman
(1,241 posts)ornotna
(10,807 posts)And you can be wrong 100% of the time. You're not trying hard enough.
SouthernCal_Dem
(852 posts)It certainly feels that way.
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)I'm getting it right, but the dang devices put the dang plugs in upside down!