cc_rider wrote: 
They should test more one way then the other. Are those reading with them out of the circuit? They are probably ok. What is the appliance and what are the symptoms? You may have to power it up and see what voltage reading you get where the +'s come together and where the -'s come together. If you have the correct voltage there then the problem is further in. If there is voltage there then the problem could be a fuse, transformer or power switch etc. Be careful as its easy to get zapped.

 DaveInVA wrote:  This one has four black-with-silver diodes, labeled 'RL205', which Mouser says are 2 amp silicon rectifiers. I get about 1500 ohms one way, about 150 ohms the other, not sure if that's correct or means they've gone bad.

I think somebody hooked it up to 110V while the voltage selector was set to 220V. Doesn't SEEM like that should hurt it, but who knows?

 cc_rider wrote: 
Bridge rectifier circuits don't use Zenors. Zenor diodes are generally used as a voltage reference source in voltage regulator circuits. Bridges are usually made up of 4 silicon or Hexfred diodes (1N4007 etc)

Anybody got experience with Zener diodes? I'm tryin' ta diagnose a small appliance, and I'm wondering if the bridge circuit (four Zeners) is shot. I'm a mechanical engineer, so those pesky electrons confuse me sometimes...

 pdhski wrote: 
Or you just make shortcuts, stick them all in folders, put the folders on the taskbar and open the entire folder .

 Or that's what I'd do. If I had OCD.

Taskbar Shuffle is a simple, small, free utility that lets you drag and drop your Windows taskbar buttons to rearrange them - so you can keep stuff together when you work on multiple programs (and are OCD) like me

 oldslabsides wrote: 

wtf?

 hobbitt wrote: 
That doesn't surprise me much!

So you think you're a geek?  Or think you spent a lot on your wedding?  From an article at space.com:

The first weightless wedding is set to take place this month.

New Yorkers Noah Fulmor and Erin Finnegan plan to say "I do" June 20 while floating in microgravity on an airplane nicknamed "The Vomit Comet." asaThe couple, lifelong space fans who both dreamed of becoming astronauts, will exchange rings and vows in front of their closest family and friends aboard a modified Boeing 727-200 plane owned by the Zero Gravity Corp. The plane will depart from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., and make steep dives while airborne to give the passengers eight full minutes of weightlessness, just as astronauts experience while flying in space.

"Noah kept saying he wanted to get married in space," Finnegan wrote on the couple's blog, ZeroGravityWedding.com. "We probably won't be able to afford to go to space for at least another 25 to 50 years (maybe for our anniversary?) so when the Zero G plane opened to the public, I suggested we get married on one of their flights as a compromise."

Space tourist Richard Garriott, who flew to the International Space Station last year through a deal brokered by the company Space Adventures, will officiate the ceremony.

The bride will wear a dress specially designed for microgravity (underneath the skirt are pants) by Japanese designer Eri Matsui. The groom plans to don a custom made tuxedo by J. Lucas Clothiers with tails crafted specifically to take advantage of zero gravity conditions.

The bride and groom will even exchange special rings designed by jeweler Chris Ploof made with pieces of metal from the Gibeon meteorite, a space rock made of an iron-nickel alloy that fell in prehistoric times in Namibia.

The couple paid $5,400 per person for themselves and 10 guests to take the ride, though some guests are paying part of their own tickets.

"Noah and I are throwing a lot of money at our crazy wedding because private space travel is a cause we really believe in," Finnegan wrote. "We really think the future is space, and that private citizens ought to be able to travel there. We want to promote space travel as a positive thing."

In 2003 Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko got married in space while he was flying aboard the International Space Station. The ceremony was conducted via video, because the bride was back on Earth at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Fulmor and Finnegan are set to become the first two people to be married in a weightless environment.

After the short ceremony, the newlyweds will land and meet guests waiting on the ground, including the bride's mother, who declined to experience microgravity. Fulmor and Finnegan are hoping to recruit one more guest who can pay for at least half of his or her own ticket. Interested parties can contact them at noahanderin@gmail.com.

The couple is holding a launch party and press conference, which is open to the public, Tuesday at 7:00 pm at the Kush Lounge in New York City.

More at their blog.

I nearly posted here because I thought it was the Greek thread.

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This is like teaching dyslexics to read or the tone-deaf to sing. 

 

Computer geeks learn to flirt

BERLIN (Reuters) - Even the most quirky of computer nerds can learn to flirt with finesse thanks to a new "flirting course" being offered to budding IT engineers at Potsdam University south of Berlin.

The 440 students enrolled in the master's degree course will learn how to write flirtatious text messages and emails, impress people at parties and cope with rejection.

Philip von Senftleben, an author and radio presenter who will teach the course, summed up his job as teaching how to "get someone else's heart beating fast while yours stays calm."

The course, which starts next Monday, is part of the social skills section of the IT course and is designed to ease entry into the world of work. Students also learn body language, public-speaking, stress management and presentation skills.

"We want to prepare our students with the social skills needed to succeed both in their private life and their work life," said Hans-Joachim Allgaier, a spokesman for the institute at Potsdam University where the course is being offered.