I was gonna mention something like a USB Type-C cable, but that's not really electricians' territory, is it?

I must have gotten pale when some festival organizer handed me the end of a cable with a male plug. 'Your electricity supply, here you go!'

Me: '... ???'

Organizer, still waving the cable end around: 'Just use an adapter!' (he barely managed to omit the 'stupid woman' in his answer ...)

USB-C is kinda sorta hermaphroditic.

I don’t get what you were supposed to do with a plug and an adapter.

The last extension cord you will ever need.

Here's a handy reference: everything downstream of a plug socket is electronics, everything upstream of a plug socket is electrical.

Sincerely, an electronics engineer that works in the electrical field.

send a picture to the fire department?

that "kinda sorta" is doing a lot of work there.

i guess if you're got a bad breaker on your panel, you can load 2 circuits on one breaker with that thing, at least until the hardware store opens. you still get overcurrent protection.... but a very unlikely thing to need

at least it's short enough that it will only reach two plugs on the same panel, thereby guaranteeing that the first things that blow are breakers.

Yeah, not what I need. I need NEMA 5-15 to CAT6 adapter

the P in PoE stands for Pulverization

Pfisterer HV terminations are male to male. They also have big butt plugs for when they're not in use. Kinky Germans.

Alternatively, One can plug one end in, then you have a creative new way to parent.

"Didn't mow the lawn? C'mere Billy, hold out your palm."

i managed to do that to myself once in my sleep; i had managed to wrap my arm around a lamp cord which came out of the plug, and when i rolled over i managed to put my thumb on the exposed wires.

Rj45 to nema15 in a pinch

When USB-C-compliant devices are connected, they have to negotiate which side is upstream and which is downstream. So yes, they're hermaphroditic, just like snails.

In contrast, the non-compliant USB A-to-A cable that Ugreen uses with its own devices is closer to hyenas. If you know, you know... and don't you wish you didn't.

USB-C is specifically designed so it can swap between different modes safely by way of devices being able to communicate what they need from a plug via dedicated pins in the socket. So yeah, you can have USB-C male/male cables and it's going to be safe as long as you use it with compatible devices.

Laughs in generator.

How else will my generator power my house?

...

And your house, and your house

I'll never understand why the US refuses to modernize the horrid NEMA 5 connectors. A recessed receptacle, insulators around the base of the live and neutral blades, spring-loaded detention mechanism to keep the connector from slipping out... in its current state, it's only two steps removed from sticking the bare wires into the socket.

Tbh insulating the blades bases would be a huge step in the right direction, and there's no remodeling required.

At least for homeowners, factories would need new production lines presumably.

My mpcie to pcie x4 adaptor uses an A-to-A cable, also says on the board to not plug in USB devices. :D

Then call the cops, then try to find a fire alarm to pull so you can evacuate the venue.

Even better:

1. Arrogance: we especially don’t want to do it because the rest of the world does.
2. Cost: not the equipment, though that can get pretty pricey considering we up the margins on everything, but mostly labor; labor is ungodly expensive (they cry insurance or (my fave) “you’re paying for the years of experience”).

I mean, generators exist and you usually need a male to male cable to plug into your house

Is this the one you use to feed the house from a generator? If so, I think that's the one time it's valid

The better solution is getting a sparkie to install a male socket (with protective cover) for power inlet if you're anticipating needing a genset on any regular basis. While they're at it get them to also install an isolating switch so you can easily avoid backfeeding power into the grid while keeping the house powered.

Unless one of your outlets is wired backwards, plugging this into 2 outlets on the same side of your electrical panel won't do anything.

If you were able to plug it into outlets on different sides of your panel, then you just created a 240v short and the cable is going to be real-spicy real-quick.

Ok i get the electrician joke, but what is this love wins thing? Its like a screenshot of two posts and the bottom is cut off

Bc when you plug something into the socket wrong, it always causes a full nuclear explosion! Yeesh, how did you not know this already...? (/s)

You can get a male-ended socket on the house for that exact scenario.

Unless you accidentally touch one of the prongs after plugging one end in... 😅

Oh that's so much smarter.

Are you supposed to do it? No. Is it safe? Also no. But did lots of our grandfathers run their Christmas lights with an odd mismatch of cords including one of these? Yesss with a cigarette in one hand, a beer in the other, they sure as hell did.

HDMI, C to C, etc. Cables

i don't live in north america, but this was in a house from the 1910s.

I think everything USB C is stupid. Bring back the A and A to C cables. Do I have to upgrade literally everything to use a laptop normally.

Don't forget a master switch between it and mains. Otherwise, line workers (and you) could get injured.

Bonus points if it auto-switches based on whether mains is available.

Electricians like in electricity, I guess

It's like saying we should go back to USB-b to A because I still have a printer using it, or even a serial port.

It's annoying the change I know, but once we'll just need one type of cable for everything IT related I think it will be for the best

then the thermal breaker would jump

Electricians don't deal with HDMI or C cables, that's probably an electronics engineer job or IT

Because everything the EU and the rest of the world does is stupid. By adapting things from other countries would be akin to acknowledging that other countries can do some things better than the US. But this can't be, since the US is Numbaaa 1! /s

You are forgetting the plug on the knob that will plug it in

You don't. You need an Interconnect and an "Inlet" port. You could use a male-to-male, but they're illegal and dangerous to the line workers.

If you really, really needed to power a whole house, you could use one of those, but you need to turn off the main breaker and lock the door shut. If you have the foresight to get a male-to-male, you have the foresight to get an interconnect setup.

https://xkcd.com/927/