Teen dead after rolling on to iPhone cable in her sleep

[iainwhite]

Does anyone know how this works in the US? So a epacket from china lands at a port or airport how do they pay the postal system for delivering it to your house?

It is a complex system but in simple terms, the Chinese postal service pays what are called "Terminal dues" to the US Postal service to deliver packets. 
The problem is that these dues are not a flat rate - they are calculated based on categories assigned to each country - Industrialized countries (e.g. most EU countries) are in the top group and pay most. China is categorized in (I think) the third group as a 'Transitional economy' and pays much less. This is because historically China was considered to be deserving of a subsidy on its mail to help it develop.
Even though China is now a strong economy, they understandably lobby to keep rates low.  The rates are set by an international body called the Universal Postal Union (an agency of the United Nations), not by the USA. 

If you are a glutton for punishment, read more here:   http://www.jcampbell.com/UPU-TDs/index.html

[MK14]

And no I don't know what you mean by 1984, I was born the year before that.

It is a book/movie(s) (by George Orwell) about what can happen, if rules are taken to crazy extremes and the resultant society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four_(1984_film)

[iainwhite]

China - EU trade figures are here:   http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/china/

About 2:1 in China's favor for goods but services are EU-positive.   So not quite as lopsided as some might think.

[rdl]

While a given country's overall trade with China may be somewhat in balance, how much of those exports to China are sent by mail?

[iainwhite]

While a given country's overall trade with China may be somewhat in balance, how much of those exports to China are sent by mail?

Probably very few, as the mail/'terminal charges' issue creates a huge distortion in the market for small-packet size items.
It is cheaper to send a packet from China to the US than for me to send a packet from my home in CT to a US address in a neighboring state.

My comment about trade was more to counter the perception that the trade with China is all "one-way" - it generally isn't, although it certainly is for small packets under 4 pounds.

[Simon]

China - EU trade figures are here:   http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/china/

About 2:1 in China's favor for goods but services are EU-positive.   So not quite as lopsided as some might think.

So like i said we don't sent as much mail to china as they send to us. Chinese imports from other countries at not of the same type they export to us.

[6PTsocket]

However, if you use a cello-taped charger cable, you're pretty much on your own, even if that should only mean exposure to 5 volts.

The case of the phone is not meant to take any voltage, in fact, my iPad4 mini and my OnePlus 5 all have case terminated to GND. My iPad4 mini has 3 Ohms to ground, and my OnePlus 5 has 50 Ohms to ground.
That's to say, if the charger is leaky, an intact cable won't save you. The only difference it makes is whether you die in sleep, or you die upon wake up.

Just how do you ground a non conductive plastic case? I have never seen a ground connection on a charger, they are all 2 prong. That is hot and neutral in North America and 220( both sides off ground) in most of the rest of the world.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[asmi]

OMG! "Ban this, forbid that"
What you need to ban is idiots who do stupid sh*t with mains-connected gear. No amount of technical measures will prevent determined enough idiots from doing stupid things!

I'm really sorry to hear about what happened, but the reality is out there for everyone with eyes to see - if you do enough stupid sh*t with dangerous things, it's only a matter of time until you get hurt. It applies not just to electronics, but to other things as well.

[orin]

Speaking of conterfeit junk, this came over "The Hacker News" email list today:

https://thehackernews.com/2017/11/counterfeit-product-websites.html

Over 20,500 domain names seized...

[hermit]

Speaking of conterfeit junk, this came over "The Hacker News" email list today:

https://thehackernews.com/2017/11/counterfeit-product-websites.html

Over 20,500 domain names seized...

Better do a quick check and see if fleabay is till on line.

[Simon]

OMG! "Ban this, forbid that"
What you need to ban is idiots who do stupid sh*t with mains-connected gear. No amount of technical measures will prevent determined enough idiots from doing stupid things!

I'm really sorry to hear about what happened, but the reality is out there for everyone with eyes to see - if you do enough stupid sh*t with dangerous things, it's only a matter of time until you get hurt. It applies not just to electronics, but to other things as well.

Not really. I just got a notification from our trading standards about basically anything and everything and be careful and be your own agency for checking what you buy conforms to the rules because oh my god shock horror unsafe toys are being sold for people to buy for xmas and we are talking about wheels that will fall of toy cars and trains and can be ingested because it is muck from china that should never have got here. There are no more standards because there is no more control over the import of this junk.

[Specmaster]

I agree, you can only go so far with these things, but people will take unnecessary risks with things even if you warn them about the dangers. In the end it has to come down to a mixture of sensible measures to prevent any accidental contact with potentially lethal voltages in normal day to day to use. The user also has to take sensible precautions as well when using anything that is plugged into a live supply and using leads with frayed and exposed conductors is a risk that need not be taken as charging leads are inexpensive and apart from the personal injury point of view, there exists the potential to damage the their expensive equipment due to short circuits etc, be it an iPhone, iPad or anything.

Common sense should kick in, of course this was a tragic incident and my heart and feelings go out her friends and family, but that does not alter that she took a risk, along with many others I suspect who go to bed with their phone under the pillows etc even though it is a well known fact that these devices can and have been known to overheat and burst into flames, the same has been know to happen with e-cigarettes as well.

[Simon]

The problem is the wire is carrying a low voltage, the connector is made of exposed metal, the contacts are not exactly made inaccessible. The tragedy is in the fact that clearly the insulation between input and output has broken down. There in fact a reason why a transformer is in there in the first place, it's for galvanic isolation..... and there are standards for these things. Not all standards were dreamt up to make manufacturing stuff impossible.... some of them are basic common sense that must be followed no matter the cost.

[Beamin]

In America its always somebody elses fault. Who do we blame? It's not the fault of the florida shooter it was the cop that didn't go inside. The story isn't that we got caught doing something bad it's that someone leaked the story and that person is to blame.

The result is everything gets restricted and taken away because one person died being stupid. Unless it's guns, then the solution is more guns.

I made toast with my toaster in the bath tub to save time getting ready in the morning (10 youtube Life hacks that will save you time! )and I'm going to sue the electric company, youtube, and the maker of the toaster for not a having the warning in big enough font. Also the water company and the bathtub maker and the people that installed it. It's everyone else's fault but mine.

For once I want to see a headline : "Man dies from being stupid" or the "Dangers of being willfully ignorant or uneducated"-

Instead the news reads:
The parents of the man (the makers of his brain) commented "It's not our fault it's evolutions fault for not making our DNA grow a bigger brain. It's also gods fault for not performing a miracle and saving him" God could not be reached for comment. The great grand children of Charles Darwin assured the public "We are looking into the problem and the conversation needs to be about Edison vs. westing house electricity. We need to start having a conversation" Republicans responded "Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims since this is caused by Obama's job killing regulations. JERBS: TEY TOOK OURS" We also interviewed an average American what he thought of the issue: he just started shouting "911 BUILD THE WALL! LOCK HER UP LOCK HER UP JERBS!!!" he was then arrested for being drunk in public.

[Simon]

You have resurrected a three month old thread to have a political rant ?

[Beamin]

You have resurrected a three month old thread to have a political rant ?

My "show new replies to your posts" button has no concept of time. To it this is new. I blame the programmers of the software for not putting a warning up that this could happen. I thought my "God could not be reached for comment" line was funny. Nothing? Not really politics but the media coverage which is what this thread is all about. Old threads need love to!

[Simon]

haha, yes your post is somewhat humorous but I'm sure after 3 months no one is really interested anymore or this thread would be 50 pages long by now.

[Cyberdragon]

haha, yes your post is somewhat humorous but I'm sure after 3 months no one is really interested anymore or this thread would be 50 pages long by now.

I've seen a a lot of threads necroed and people start replying to the old posts (sometimes so old the poster they replied to could be gone) instead of the post that necroed it. It's like they don't even look *cough-cough*. If it's not caught within the end of the page, it's fully resurrected.

[Beamin]

haha, yes your post is somewhat humorous but I'm sure after 3 months no one is really interested anymore or this thread would be 50 pages long by now.

I've seen a a lot of threads necroed and people start replying to the old posts (sometimes so old the poster they replied to could be gone) instead of the post that necroed it. It's like they don't even look *cough-cough*. If it's not caught within the end of the page, it's fully resurrected.

Not like I'm trying to debate with someone who's last youtube post was 7 years ago about a topic that has come gone came back and died again.

I wonder what happened with the thread about someone trying to make a payphone into a MP3 player. I saw that thread when I was searching for daves video about taking apart the yellow telephone today. Some people in the thread told a total n00b who's never used a soldering iron that they could build that in 5 minutes easy with an Arduino or something ridiculous. OK  I wonder what the first thread was that wasn't rules or a sticky. I like reading posts from the people who have been doing this hobby for a few months and think they know everything because they have no idea how complex things are. Worst offenders are 20 year old kids on youtube that get an SDRdongle and think that its a 800$ hackRF and how they can just start making their own GSM base station with it and start "hacking because its cool". Then people start asking real questions and instead of saying "I don't know" they start using terms they read on Wikipedia telling them "everything is hackable". OK hack an old VCR into your own TV transmitter since they both relate to TV. Should only take five minutes while you learn how to solder.

[rsjsouza]

haha, yes your post is somewhat humorous but I'm sure after 3 months no one is really interested anymore or this thread would be 50 pages long by now.

I've seen a a lot of threads necroed and people start replying to the old posts (sometimes so old the poster they replied to could be gone) instead of the post that necroed it. It's like they don't even look *cough-cough*. If it's not caught within the end of the page, it's fully resurrected.

Hahaha... Yes, necroposting is something recurrent around here. I think the lead in resurrections was the FTDI thread - folks posting there months after to rehash the same beaten arguments...

[Ian.M]

Over on the Microchip forums, the oldest thread resurrection I have personally witnessed was nine years later: http://www.microchip.com/forums/FindPost/808632

[Simon]

That is possibly understandable as people use keywords to search for specific problems and turn up old threads. On here after 6 months there is a warning before you post that the last reply was over 6 months ago.

[rsjsouza]

And this is a good thing. One forum usually auto-locks threads older than "X" - this can be good for sanity but sometimes detrimental.

For example, this thread I opened several years ago keeps being reopened but still with relevant information.

[Simon]

yes but the thread we are in now serves no purpose anymore and has gone completely off topic.

[NiHaoMike]

OK hack an old VCR into your own TV transmitter since they both relate to TV. Should only take five minutes while you learn how to solder.

Just plug an antenna into the RF output. No soldering needed. The range is going to be very short but it would transmit.