23 Nov
2011
23 Nov
'11
2:29 p.m.
On Fri, 2011-11-11 at 05:07 -0800, Mr Ian Primus wrote:
> I kinda had the opposite reaction. I figured that the whole "attaching mains
power to data connectors" was a sort of rite of passage... something every geek has
done at some point. I'd wager that most of us have some kind of EtherKiller or related
dev
ice hanging around, if only for the shock value when someone else sees it. And,
of course, for demonstrating the meaning of the phrase "magic smoke".
I have a cable which consists of a UK mains plug, a length of
low-current mains cable... and a bare end.
That, and its relative with croc clips on non-plug end are geernally
known as 'suicide leads' round here :-)
Incidetnally, bare wire ends on a cable are known as 'universal
connectors' (A friend of mine coined the term and it caught on). You
might ask for a '3 pin DIN plug to universal conenctors cable' :-)
But I prefer a hammer. A much more tactile (and
satisfying) way of
ensuring a bricked HDD doesn't find its way back into my spares pile...
Plus it puts ruddy great dents on most sides, thus making it damn
obvious that the HDA and PCB are completely buggered.
I generaly remvoe any useful bits. Which includes any odd screws (Torx
head, unusual threads, etc), the spindle motor, the magnets from the
positioner, and even any useful chips form the PCB. At which point the
drive is clearly not fucntional :-) It's rare for me to actualyl throw
anything out, you never know what will come in handy later.
-tony