High voltages (was a new BBS...)

Helps. It doesn't take much of a shock to kill, if it goes anywhere near the heart. (I've even seen some topological(!) reasons to think that if it does go near the heart, a strong shock is safer than a weak one. Not that I'd want anyone to risk either, especially since those arguments give no real idea of what "strong" and "weak" are here.) Conversely, a shock that doesn't go near the heart - say, between fingers on the same hand - can injure, but is unlikely to kill. Thus, the electrician's "other hand behind your back" technique is actually sound. (But note that the conductivity patterns of the human body can be counterintuitive; a shock that goes up one leg and down the other can indeed go near the heart - there are major blood vessels going pretty much straight from the legs to the heart.) Absolutely. This isn't just irreplacable computer equipment we're talking about here, important as that is; it's your life. /~\ The ASCII der Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B