balsoft

1. This is not a problem that needs solving, it's an artificial barrier to prevent you from using the device which reduces profit for the manufacturer. Being able to install and run whatever software you want (apart from actual hardware limitations) has been part of personal computers since the invention of personal computers.
2. Google is trying its best to do this as well, if you've missed the news.

I think the actual headline should be "Apple forced to remove some illegal barriers to app installation for users in Brazil".

I am annoyed by the headline giving Apple the agency to let users use their device. Screw that, if someone buys a device they should be able to use it however they please, including installing their own OS and their own apps on top, and replacing any part of the hardware. Anything preventing that should be illegal.

Ground is always there just for safety. It is supposed to be connected to any metal bits on the outside of any device, so that if a live wire touches the outside it just shorts and some fuse blows or circuit breaker trips, rather than providing an unpleasant surprise to anyone who touches it.

Most modern electronics is "double-insulated", meaning there are at least two layers of reinforced insulating material between any mains-carrying conductors and the user. This is deemed to be safe enough so that those devices don't need to be grounded, and if the case is plastic then they will almost never be. So if you're only connecting plastic-cased electronics to the socket, a ground would be superfluous in almost all cases. There might be some exceptions, like power supplies connecting one of the low-voltage pins to ground, but it is quite rare to see.

Electricity doesn’t really work in a way the host can “push” current

On a basic level this is precisely how electricity works, a power supply literally pushes electrons by creating a difference in electric field magnitude between two points; or, in other words, by applying an electromotive force to electrons; or, in other words, by creating a voltage between two points. A load then does something with those electrons that usually creates an opposing electric field, be it heating a wire, spinning a motor, or sustaining a chemical reaction within a battery. The amount of power produced by the source and released at the load is proportional to (voltage) * (number of electrons being pushed by the supply per unit of time); usually, this is the limiting factor for most power supplies. They can hold a steady voltage until they have to push too many electrons, then the voltage starts dropping.

Edit: I see what you mean now. Yeah, for a given voltage, it is the load that determines the current, so there's no safety issue with this for the load. However there could be issues with the cables. IIRC there was an issue with noise being introduced by higher current draws that meant you couldn't charge and transfer data at the same time with some cables.

Well, the original comment was about "pushing more current through than the spec", and that's pretty much what we did...

Yeah, but usually the batteries are kept down low and make the vehicle more difficult to flip. But I wouldn't put it behind tesla to fuck that up somehow too.

Sure, sorry if it came off as rude, wasn't intended that way

MFers will rather invent their own definitions for socialism and communism than read a book of theory. Sad.

The default standard power limit is still the same as it ever was on each USB version

Nah, the default power limit started with 100 mA or 500 mA for "high power devices". There are very few devices out there today that limit the current to that amount.

It all begun with non-spec host ports which just pushed however much current the circuitry could muster, rather than just the required 500 mA. Some had a proprietary way to signal just how much they're willing to push (this is why iPhones used to be very fussy about the charger you plug them in to), but most cheapy ones didn't. Then all the device manufacturers started pulling as much current as the host would provide, rather than limiting to 500 mA. USB-BC was mostly an attempt to standardize some of the existing usage, and USB-PD came much later.

I don't generally disagree, but

You don’t just double the current you send over USB and expect cable manufacturers to adapt

That's pretty much how we got to the point where USB is the universal charging standard: by progressively pushing the allowed current from the initially standardized 100 mA all the way to 5 A of today. A few of those pushes were just manufacturers winging it and pushing/pulling significantly more current than what was standardized, assuming the other side will adapt.

Most humans start to freak out and scream when a car is at ~15-20° bank angle. Some SUVs flip over at 30° bank angle. The steepest street on the planet is 35°.

Hiking trails are usually around 20-25°. You usually need to help yourself up with your hands when the slope goes beyond 40°.

Angles are a lot steeper in reality than what you think if you just look at the numbers.

If the ABS was faulty and fighting him, or the power brakes failed, there is 0 chance for a human to stop a 3000 kg truck rolling down a 26° slope, even with perfect grip. Whether it has hydraulic or fly-by-wire breaks, if the electronics were faulty it wouldn't matter.

I've had to stop my 2000 kg van from 110 km/h, on a relatively flat surface, when the ECU shat its pants in the rain and the engine died. Let me tell you, I weigh 80 kg, never skip leg day, and yet it took all my strength for a good 20 seconds whaling on the service brake to stop it (and yes, I made sure to let off a bit when a wheel locked). Add another metric ton or a steep hill and it would basically be impossible for all practical purposes.