Quick Shots for 10/20/2017
Well, I did it. This week I finally purchased a Nintendo Switch. Right now, however, all it does is just sit there, pretty much as shown in the picture below. That is because I have yet to purchase any games for it.
That should be remedied soon as I am planning on purchasing (perhaps by the time you are reading this) Stardew Valley (for myself) and Snipperclips (for family multi-player). Additionally, on my radar (probably as Christmas list options) are Mario + Rabbids and Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Besides these games, what would you suggest? Is there a particular game that I should consider checking out?
Also, I mentioned multi-player above. In my family dynamic, there will often be three players, with the occasional rare fourth. This means, of course, I need to purchase some additional controllers. For about the same price there are two options: a second set of joy cons (which would allow for four players simultaneously) or a Pro Controller (which would only accommodate one additional player but comes highly recommended). Any suggestions? Which option do you think is best?
This week someone sent my wife the following image macro. (That is technically what it is called. It is not a meme.)
Some of you may find this hilarious. My wife and I may have, as well, if we understood it. I get the whole "step on a Lego" meme, which this image appears to reference. That being said, we don't quite understand what is represented in the picture. Are the silver things on the night Lego supposed to be spikes, implying stepping on a Lego at night is worse than stepping on a Lego during the day? If so, I would disagree. Stepping on a Lego hurts like heck equally, regardless of the time of day. If you have any insights, please feel free to leave them in the comments.
Unpacking my new Switch (see above) got me to thinking about AC adapters, or plugs. These things have existed since before I was born. You would think they would have made some advancements in their design over the years, but apparently not. What I am talking about is the fact that many AC adapters appear to be designed without any regard for basic outlet/power strip configuration.
I'm not an electrical engineer, but I suspect that some plugs are big and bulky because they need to house all the electronics necessary to convert the wall current to the proper strength required by the device it is powering. The problem is that bigger plugs often interfere with the efficient use of a wall outlet or power strip. Take, for example, the Switch AC adapter shown to the right. You are limited to plugging it in the bottom outlet or the end outlet of a power strip. If you wanted to use it in the top outlet it would extend so far down that it would block the lower outlet. Similarly, it would cover, at a minimum, one other outlet in a power strip if you didn't use the last one in the row. If you two oversized adapters you would have a real problem.
This seems like something that could easily be fixed by rotating the plug 90 degrees. Some wider plugs might also need to be made a little thinner. There will always be those power strips or outlets that are configured a bit differently than most, and no one solution will work all the time. Still, I believe my suggestion should work over 75% of the time. Electrical designers, please work on this. I'm sure you can come up with a design that works better than what we currently have.
That should be remedied soon as I am planning on purchasing (perhaps by the time you are reading this) Stardew Valley (for myself) and Snipperclips (for family multi-player). Additionally, on my radar (probably as Christmas list options) are Mario + Rabbids and Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Besides these games, what would you suggest? Is there a particular game that I should consider checking out?
Also, I mentioned multi-player above. In my family dynamic, there will often be three players, with the occasional rare fourth. This means, of course, I need to purchase some additional controllers. For about the same price there are two options: a second set of joy cons (which would allow for four players simultaneously) or a Pro Controller (which would only accommodate one additional player but comes highly recommended). Any suggestions? Which option do you think is best?
This week someone sent my wife the following image macro. (That is technically what it is called. It is not a meme.)
Some of you may find this hilarious. My wife and I may have, as well, if we understood it. I get the whole "step on a Lego" meme, which this image appears to reference. That being said, we don't quite understand what is represented in the picture. Are the silver things on the night Lego supposed to be spikes, implying stepping on a Lego at night is worse than stepping on a Lego during the day? If so, I would disagree. Stepping on a Lego hurts like heck equally, regardless of the time of day. If you have any insights, please feel free to leave them in the comments.
Unpacking my new Switch (see above) got me to thinking about AC adapters, or plugs. These things have existed since before I was born. You would think they would have made some advancements in their design over the years, but apparently not. What I am talking about is the fact that many AC adapters appear to be designed without any regard for basic outlet/power strip configuration.
I'm not an electrical engineer, but I suspect that some plugs are big and bulky because they need to house all the electronics necessary to convert the wall current to the proper strength required by the device it is powering. The problem is that bigger plugs often interfere with the efficient use of a wall outlet or power strip. Take, for example, the Switch AC adapter shown to the right. You are limited to plugging it in the bottom outlet or the end outlet of a power strip. If you wanted to use it in the top outlet it would extend so far down that it would block the lower outlet. Similarly, it would cover, at a minimum, one other outlet in a power strip if you didn't use the last one in the row. If you two oversized adapters you would have a real problem.
This seems like something that could easily be fixed by rotating the plug 90 degrees. Some wider plugs might also need to be made a little thinner. There will always be those power strips or outlets that are configured a bit differently than most, and no one solution will work all the time. Still, I believe my suggestion should work over 75% of the time. Electrical designers, please work on this. I'm sure you can come up with a design that works better than what we currently have.