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The EU Parliament is expected to pass a rule requiring a single small device connector. This will apply to tablets, digital cameras, headphones, portable game consoles, e-readers starting in 2024. Laptop computers will be forced to comply at a later date. Except for Apple, the rest of the industry has settled on USB-C, meaning this rule will force everyone to USB-C.
Wireless charging and data connections are exempt from this rule as these systems don't generate the e-waste that cables generate.
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It's interesting that, just occasionally, the EU comes up with a really good idea.
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I read that as, "we don't want you to throw away cables, so throw away all your cables".
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Apple are complaining, saying it "stifles innovation". Which is rich, since they are dead against other companies innovating with Lightning connectors ... 
It's a good idea: anything which reduces the number of damn chargers and connectors I have to play with ... My phone is USB-C, but my Surface won't charge through its USB-C connector, just the MS power thingy. And the keyboard on the Surface charges through a micro USB, while my camera uses a bigger micro USB ...
And trehg cat chews on all of them indiscriminately. 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Just curious... what's the EU protocol in a couple years when someone (not just Apple) comes up with a theoretically better connector?
I'm not a big fan of government (particularly unelected bureaucrats) designing my tech.
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Your guess is as good as mine - but it specifically excludes wireless charging, and I'd imagine that will become more prevalent anyway. Hopefully, that will get standardized as well, so Apple can't introduce a special charger pad that is essential for their phones ...
And if you think about it, governments already legislate mains electricity connectors and they haven't needed to change for a long time (the UK ones did - they went from a round pin plug to a square pin, shuttered, and fused plug in 1947 but haven't changed significantly since then). It's likely that USB-C will last a few decades at least!
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Apparently the EU is including guidelines for new connectors as technology progresses. However, the devil really is in the details on this.
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obermd wrote: Wireless charging and data connections are exempt from this rule as these systems don't generate the e-waste that cables generate.
I never looked into this, but just how much power is wasted by wireless charging systems? Efficiency can't be 100%...
Of course I'm not suggesting getting rid of cables that aren't strictly needed isn't a good idea...
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A quick Google reports efficiency of 50-75% when comparing wireless to wired charging. Personally I prefer wireless charging because it greatly reduces wear and tear on the connector on the phone.
Others have pointed out that some manufacturers (Apple included) have or are considering wireless charging-only models.
Software Zen: delete this;
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One key disadvantage of wireless charging that had me abandoning it is the impossibility to use the phone while in charge, even setting/resetting alarm clocks or checking the weather forecasts will end up with a disconnection. This will mess up the battery on the long run.
Also I can't read my Kindle Unlimited for 16 hours straight this way  though I might bite the bullet and buy a dedicted reader, having ebooks on the phone means I can read anywhere anytime - waiting for my wife outside of a cosmetic shop? Waiting for the tube? Waiting for my order at a restaurant? I can cram a chapter or two there!
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Your reader should sync across devices. ???
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Gary R. Wheeler wrote: efficiency of 50-75% when comparing wireless to wired charging
That's nothing short of terrible.
Now imagine everything going wireless. Demand is increasing all the time, capacity not so much. So basically we'd need to double capacity just to go wireless.
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How do wireless chargers get their electricity? I am sure they have cables!
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[Mind blown]
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He gave me a blank stair.
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I love puns -- they make me numb.
Especially math puns, they make me number. 
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Both of these really lit up my IFG
But the most interesting data concerns a little-known brain region called the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), a ridge on the bottom half of the frontal lobe. The left IFG lights up more during funny puns than regular jokes, and shows more activity during funny puns than unfunny puns, the study found. So this tiny little area, it seems, is the part of our brain that distinguishes between funny and unfunny, at least in these participants and for these kinds of jokes.
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Grab your coat and keep a' steppin...
Software Zen: delete this;
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You'll get to the bottom of it when push comes to shove.
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The funeral of a cat.
Our neighbour in our apartment had a cat. Today morning, I found this cat lifeless in our basement - no signs of injury, nothing unusual, a year-old healthy cat, but the animal was lifeless. I immediately told their owner, and we had a pit dug up in the open space of our apartment, and buried the cat along with the chanting of hymns and offerings of milk and water. The owners of this cat were inconsolable. We prayed that this cat get a better body in its next life, and sent the cat. (In the Indian system, we believe in transmigration of the soul, or reincarnation).
Not a physical pain, but indeed a painful experience bidding goodbye to the cat.
![Rose | [Rose]](https://codeproject.freetls.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif)
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Since pets are family members, loosing a pet is loosing a family member. As a pet owner, thank you for honoring your neighbor's pet.
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Just a thought. You might want to check CO levels in the basement. A faulty water heater or furnace could be producing lethal levels at floor level. CO is heavier than air.
"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."
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We are in the tropics, and there is no need of water heater or furnace at any time of the year. The basement is open to air and is used for vehicle parking.
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Then you might check for spills of anti-freeze from the cars. Cats are drawn to drink it, but it will poison them.
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP.
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