Automated Dorm Room Causes a School Inquiry

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Automated Dorm Room Causes a School Inquiry

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday May 2, 2012 @09:36AM from the dorm-of-tomorrow dept.

First time accepted submitter ElectronicHouseGrant writes "Freshman Derek Low rigged up his Berkeley dorm room with something he calls B.R.A.D., which is short for 'Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm.' The room includes automated lighting, drapes, music, motion detection, and more. He can control everything through voice recognition, but a wireless remote, his iPhone and his iPad are also in on the control party. Derek started the install on February 4 and finished just a few days ago."

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School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 09:40 · Score: 5, Insightful

Maybe I missed something, but since the headline said school inquiry, shouldn't there be some info about that either in the blurb or the article it's linking to?
1. Re:School inquiry? by mjb · 2012-05-02 09:41 · Score: 2
  
  That's what I was thinking!
  
  --
  There are 10 types of people in the world; those who understand binary and those who don't.
2. Re:School inquiry? by Matheus · 2012-05-02 09:43 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Ya... terrible title doesn't match summary or linked article. News at 11.
3. Re:School inquiry? by jklovanc · 2012-05-02 09:48 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Here is a more complete article.
4. Re:School inquiry? by feepness · 2012-05-02 09:48 · Score: 2
  
  Well, you're inquiring, aren't you?
5. Re:School inquiry? by Auroch · 2012-05-02 09:51 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe I missed something, but since the headline said school inquiry, shouldn't there be some info about that either in the blurb or the article it's linking to?
  You know what's even more surprising? That someone at MIT didn't do it first. You know, those west coast silicon valley hipsters havn't been known to do anything progressive in the area of tech progress.
  
  /sarcasm
  
  --
  Quartz Extreme and Core Image. Are there any other real reasons to spend all that money on generic hardware?
6. Re:School inquiry? by terrab0t · 2012-05-02 09:58 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  This discussion thread is only for those of us who do not read the article. There will be another post later that actually links to the article to allow those annoying fact checkers to join in.
7. Re:School inquiry? by headwes · 2012-05-02 09:59 · Score: 1
  
  I'm guessing it has something to do with this:
  
  The wall switch was particularly dangerous and I left as a last resort. With no access to the circuit breakers of the dorms, the contacts and wiring inside the wall switch remains live even as I open and try to modify it.
  http://lab.dereklow.co/brad/
8. Re:School inquiry? by vlm · 2012-05-02 10:03 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Not very hard to guess the problem.
  Take a look a the third or so pic on http://lab.dereklow.co/brad/ The one with the light switch hanging out of the wall as he screws around with the wiring. If he could have just stuck to plug in modules like everyone else, but no he has to go all amateur electrician... I love this quote "With no access to the circuit breakers of the dorms, the contacts and wiring inside the wall switch remains live even as I open and try to modify it.". This dude is the stereotype of nothing is more dangerous than a programmer with a screwdriver... damn...
  Screwing around with the drapes might have pissed them off too. Worst case is losing some security deposit unless he can return it all exactly to original operation.
  Oh and the fog machine. My dorm didn't allow gasoline and oil products in the rooms, to discourage people from putting their scooter in the room, or doing oil changes in the dorms. Maybe they're worked up about fog juice and treating it as automotive lubrication oil.
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
9. Re:School inquiry? by PenquinCoder · 2012-05-02 10:12 · Score: 1
  
  Welcome to slashdot. You must be new here....
10. Re:School inquiry? by gstrickler · 2012-05-02 10:12 · Score: 2
  
  Note to Derek Low: My God man, you're in college. How dare you show any initiative and innovation?
  Clearly, you haven't learned much your freshman year. All innovation and initiative must be pre-approved by your faculty sponsor and the department head. In addition, such projects are reserved to graduating seniors with some exceptions granted for juniors who have shown they know how to behave properly.
  
  --
  make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
11. Re:School inquiry? by Sperbels · 2012-05-02 10:19 · Score: 1
  
  All innovation and initiative must be pre-approved by your faculty sponsor and the department head. In addition, such projects are reserved to graduating seniors with some exceptions granted for juniors who have shown they know how to behave properly.
  Well...yes. This is essentially what our society is morphing into. If you show the least little bit technical know-how with electronics, or chemistry, or biology, or anything mechanicky looking (that isn't a car), then you're viewed with suspicion and reported.
12. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 10:23 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  Wow, this guy's hardware-dumb... How about shorting it (and keeping it shorted lest someone reset the breaker), do your changes, then remove the jumper and call campus maintenance, ok?
  But it turns out he couldn't figure out how to do anything with the light switch anyway, because all he knows is sticking X10 stuff together... I love watching software guys trying this sort of thing.
13. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 10:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Messing with the fixed wiring in a room that you do not own is not "initiative", especially when you can't turn off the power while you're working on it. In that case it's called "recklessness". Faulty contacts are a serious fire hazard, and unlike the stuff you just plug in, the installed wires do not simply revert back to safe when you move out.
14. Re:School inquiry? by bluemonq · 2012-05-02 10:33 · Score: 1
  
  He's more than welcome to innovate. The issue is whether or not his modifications violated the terms of his dorm lease, which is ehy residence hall officials want to talk to him. For example, if you sign a lease contract that says you can't drill holes into the walls, and then your landlord heard from folks that you did that anyway, do you expect to be let off the hook for the damages because you've come up with a revolutionary new way of line-drying your laundry?
15. Re:School inquiry? by cayenne8 · 2012-05-02 10:41 · Score: 1
  
  My inquiry would be...
  What was that laser thing? That was pretty nifty.....however, somehow, and maybe I'm old school...the party music was seriously lacking in cowbell.
  Other than that, I think the kid has a hit!!!
  :)
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
16. Re:School inquiry? by cayenne8 · 2012-05-02 10:47 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Oh and the fog machine. My dorm didn't allow gasoline and oil products in the rooms, to discourage people from putting their scooter in the room, or doing oil changes in the dorms. Maybe they're worked up about fog juice and treating it as automotive lubrication oil.
  Yeah, all dorms have rules...but they never really enforced any of them...at least not in my day at LSU.
  I mean, we weren't supposed to have hot plates or anything to heat up food...we did. You weren't supposed to have kegs in your room....we did (after dorm crawfish boils, the left over kegs followed us into our room, as did the RA's that we befriended).
  Hell, you weren't supposed to have women in your dorm room over night, but I know a guy who had his chick living with him (and his room mate) for a whole semester. Basically in our dorm...there could have basically been an ax murderer come out and take out a whole floor...and no one would have noticed till a week or so later when the smell got even worse that usual.
  *sigh*..those were the days. I remember the 2 day poker/BourrÃ© games we played on a table we'd stolen from a study room, and placed in the elevator....and just rode up and down playing all weekend straight....only taking breaks to pee, grab some food...and replenish the beer in the cooler.
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
17. Re:School inquiry? by SeaFox · 2012-05-02 10:47 · Score: 1
  
  They're undoubtedly upset at changes he made to electrical wiring to get around problems X10 modules have with CFL bulbs he mentions on the project page. Also, if they have some strict guidelines about holes in the walls I suppose the mounted lights, motor, and pulleys for the curtains might annoy them.
18. Re:School inquiry? by Technician · 2012-05-02 10:53 · Score: 1
  
  The laser is a common DJ light effect from American DJ.
  AMERICAN DJ Galaxian Green & Red DMX Lazer Light Beams
  
  --
  The truth shall set you free!
19. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 11:10 · Score: 0
  
  This dude is the stereotype of nothing is more dangerous than a programmer with a screwdriver... damn...
  What's the worst that can happen? He screws up the live wall switch and has to restore from backup. Oh wait, he doesn't have a backup for his dumb ass when he gets zapped.
20. Re:School inquiry? by Dast · 2012-05-02 11:30 · Score: 1
  
  You must be new here.
  
  --
  This sig is false.
21. Re:School inquiry? by hughJ · 2012-05-02 11:43 · Score: 2
  
  Yep. It means the school will now probably be obligated to double check all the wiring in the room just to cover their butts with respect to electrical code in case of future fire, etc.
22. Re:School inquiry? by Sperbels · 2012-05-02 12:01 · Score: 1
  
  Messing with the fixed wiring in a room that you do not own is not "initiative", especially when you can't turn off the power while you're working on it. In that case it's called "recklessness"
  It's actually both. He's a kid, recklessness comes with the territory.
23. Re:School inquiry? by Nethead · 2012-05-02 12:19 · Score: 1
  
  My wife gets all pissed at me when I replace switches and outlets without turning the breaker off. I just tell her that I always act like there is live power anyway so it just makes me even more careful. If you know how electricity works and actually THINK about what you are doing...
  
  --
  -- I have a private email server in my basement.
24. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 13:15 · Score: 0
  
  Ya... terrible title doesn't match summary or linked article. News at 11.
  You wrote that at 11:43PM. Do we really have to wait till 11:00AM? I want the news NOW!!!
25. Re:School inquiry? by rusty0101 · 2012-05-02 13:15 · Score: 1
  
  Not sure that anyone at MIT would stoop so low as to use X10 modules for a dorm project. Somehow I would tend to expect them to design their own solution that wasn't so noisy, or prone to being affected by someone in the next room with an X10 timer, or lamp control pad.
  
  --
  You never know...
26. Re:School inquiry? by Grishnakh · 2012-05-02 13:32 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  Don't be ridiculous. I was replacing wall outlets and light switches at that age, sometimes without turning the power off. It's easy, you just be really careful (so you don't short something and make sparks), and wear some rubber gloves. It's only 110V so as long as you're not wet and wearing rubber-soled shoes, it can't hurt you, only give you a small jolt. Obviously it's better to turn off the breaker if you can, but it's not that big a deal if you can't. Not sure I'd try this with 220V systems however.
27. Re:School inquiry? by Grishnakh · 2012-05-02 13:34 · Score: 2
  
  My dorm had a stupid rule against having microwaves, supposedly for safety, but then they tried renting us these massively overpriced microwave+refrigerator combos, and were forced to drop the rule against microwaves since it was obviously bogus.
28. Re:School inquiry? by Grishnakh · 2012-05-02 13:36 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, I've done it many times before too. It's not that hard if you're not an idiot or a klutz. It helps to wear gloves, however. 110V shocks aren't that dangerous (as long as you're dry), but they're quite annoying, kinda like a bee sting.
29. Re:School inquiry? by Missing.Matter · 2012-05-02 13:36 · Score: 1
  
  He's an 18 year old adult. He should start acting like one.
30. Re:School inquiry? by axlr8or · 2012-05-02 13:37 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  He has a point, and so do you. You always have to assume there is power anyways. I was a maintenance man at a fab company for tractor trailers. We often had to work with the power on anyways. Heh, about 6 months ago my boss paid an electrician to come in and rewire a messed up network. After examining the system he determined what breakers were to be turned off. After working a few hours he began messing with some wires and BAM! Power went out. Someone plugged an extension cord into a receptacle 50 ft away and completed a circuit through the light bulb and he got nailed. He laughed it off and didn't get hurt. But even HE said never, never assume a wire is neutralized.
31. Re:School inquiry? by mug+funky · 2012-05-02 13:45 · Score: 1
  
  you be trolling? i'm pretty sure current has some kind of contribution here. 110, 240, 12, it's gonna kill you if you're not careful (especially if you're a sweaty type).
32. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 14:02 · Score: 0
  
  It's not ridiculous -- dude says he has no access to the circuit breakers, so he has to do it live. Not that he knew he could trip the breaker and did it live anyway because it's only 115V..
33. Re:School inquiry? by Ukab+the+Great · 2012-05-02 14:04 · Score: 2
  
  X10 isn't worth getting hospitalized over.
  If you're going to get seriously hurt at college, the situation should at least involve several gallons of vodka, unprotected woo-hoo with an entire sorority, and questioning the football team's heterosexuality at a practice while tripping on shrooms. Precisely in that order.
34. Re:School inquiry? by Grishnakh · 2012-05-02 14:10 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Actually, no it doesn't. Maybe you should go read about Ohm's Law; current is a product of voltage and resistance. Voltage is fixed at 110VAC, so resistance controls current. Your skin resistance when dry is too high for current to be dangerous. The only way 110V is going to kill you is if you're playing with it while in the bathtub (which indeed is how most deaths by electricity occur I believe: people using a blow dryer while in the bath tub; the lethal combination of water + 110V is why kitchens and bathrooms are required to have GFCI outlets now).
35. Re:School inquiry? by Grishnakh · 2012-05-02 14:14 · Score: 2
  
  I didn't say it was ridiculous to change them live, I was saying exactly the opposite. The kid did the right thing given the circumstances, in my opinion, as long as he's confident he can work with 110V live; I am, and I was at that age too, so I'm not going to fault him for it. I was only saying it was ridiculous to short it intentionally and then involve campus maintenance, as the AC before suggested. That's way too much trouble, and who knows how long that'd take. Plus, you might knock out power for a bunch of your neighbors doing that too, and who knows how well the 50-year-old circuit breakers work. I'd say the AC before is the one who's "hardware-dumb", not the college kid.
36. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 14:26 · Score: 0
  
  Guy should have taped a solenoid to the wall switch, and have the X10 mechanically manipulate the existing switch - then there's no modification to the dorm's circuits...
37. Re:School inquiry? by flonker · 2012-05-02 14:45 · Score: 1
  
  Another thing that you see is that a wire is connected to two different circuit breakers on either end. Also known as two circuits that accidentally got joined together. Turn off the breaker, and the wire is still powered from the other side. Or if only the neutrals are tied together; turn off the breaker, you think you're safe, someone flips a light switch, and BAM! The white wire bites you.
38. Re:School inquiry? by hoboroadie · 2012-05-02 14:50 · Score: 1
  
  Best to wear safety goggles, even if you have those cool German plastic-covered screwdrivers, you still might short it out and send molten tool spattering about the room. Rubber gloves? sounds hazardous.
  Strangely enough, I've just returned from Bonanza in Oakland where I purchased the last of their Wera 1500v flathead screwdrivers for exactly that purpose. I have to change out about twenty outlets in my ex-wife's Apartment that she's selling soon, and I tend not to use the breakers for every job. (240v kinda hurtz so that's more likely to get my respect, or any time the wires get up above 10ga or so.)
  
  --
  They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
39. Re:School inquiry? by Nethead · 2012-05-02 15:20 · Score: 1
  
  As a kid I got zapped by a neon light transformer (7.5KV) and anything after that seems tame. That did get me into the proper mindset when I was working on broadcast transmitters though.
  
  --
  -- I have a private email server in my basement.
40. Re:School inquiry? by Grishnakh · 2012-05-02 15:31 · Score: 1
  
  I have to change out about twenty outlets in my ex-wife's Apartment that she's selling soon, and I tend not to use the breakers for every job. (240v kinda hurtz so that's more likely to get my respect, or any time the wires get up above 10ga or so.)
  Also, with 240V, since here in the US only a few circuits are 240V, it's pretty easy to tell which breaker goes to what in the breaker box. For the 110V outlets, you usually have no clue since the dumbass electrician who wired the place didn't bother to label anything, so trying to cut the power to the outlet before replacing it means having to cut the power to ALL the 110V circuits in the building.
41. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 15:44 · Score: 0
  
  And like a bee sting, has a small but non-zero risk of death with no way to predict whether you will be in the safe group or the dead group. It is so trivially easy to de-energize residential circuit that it boggles my mind anyone would literally risk their life to change out a light switch. There is a very small margin between a painful shock at 10-ish milliamps and a fatal one at 100 milliamps.
42. Re:School inquiry? by blackicye · 2012-05-02 17:25 · Score: 1
  
  Not sure that anyone at MIT would stoop so low as to use X10 modules for a dorm project. Somehow I would tend to expect them to design their own solution that wasn't so noisy, or prone to being affected by someone in the next room with an X10 timer, or lamp control pad.
  I agree, I already did this more than 10 years ago when I was in college. I guess the youtube crowd is easy to impress.
43. Re:School inquiry? by blackicye · 2012-05-02 17:27 · Score: 1
  
  Don't be ridiculous. I was replacing wall outlets and light switches at that age, sometimes without turning the power off. It's easy, you just be really careful (so you don't short something and make sparks), and wear some rubber gloves. It's only 110V so as long as you're not wet and wearing rubber-soled shoes, it can't hurt you, only give you a small jolt. Obviously it's better to turn off the breaker if you can, but it's not that big a deal if you can't. Not sure I'd try this with 220V systems however.
  I've received a few shocks doing stuff like this with both 110v and 220v, with 220v the jolt is a little worse, and your appendage may feel a little number after the jolt, but it's not that big of a difference between the two.
44. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 18:33 · Score: 1
  
  Sarcasm aside, of course this has been done years before right down to the Emergency Party Button. I can't help but think that this more worthy design was the inspiration: http://web.mit.edu/zacka/www/midas.html
45. Re:School inquiry? by Ford+Prefect · 2012-05-02 18:47 · Score: 1
  
  Voltage is fixed at 110VAC
  Erm... Alternating current? Also, it's 110V AC rms, so it peaks at +/- 110*sqrt(2) = 155V.
  Also, one slightly sweaty hand contacting a neutral pin while the other slightly sweaty hand touching a screwdriver touching live equals the possibility of a nice, healthy current across the heart.
  (Admittedly I was brought up on manly European electricity instead of this puny American stuff, but I still wouldn't risk it.)
  
  --
  Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
46. Re:School inquiry? by Ford+Prefect · 2012-05-02 18:49 · Score: 1
  
  That's 110/sqrt(2). My typing is defective.
  
  --
  Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
47. Re:School inquiry? by Ford+Prefect · 2012-05-02 18:51 · Score: 1
  
  No, 110*sqrt(2) as I originally had it. My error-checking has errors. AAAARGH.
  
  --
  Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
48. Re:School inquiry? by silentcoder · 2012-05-02 19:52 · Score: 2
  
  Actually that's not the most dangerous scenario. The most dangerous electrical shocks are straight through the blood-stream - blood has a much lower resistance than skin - and goes straight over the heart. My father is an electrical engineer - his final thesis included a proof that just 1v straight to the blood is deadly.
  Here's what really happens in most electrical shock deaths: the current causes a muscle spasm preventing you from letting go. Now you have voltage over high resistance - so the current isn't fatal. However - voltage against high resistance is known to produce large amounts of heat (that's how stove plates work). The heat starts to burn you, eventually it burns through the skin - and when that happens the voltage goes straight through the bloodstream - which is an excellent conductor - bang, you're dead.
  This is why we teach people that if somebody is experiencing electrical shock you should use a non-conductive object (such as a wooden broom) to push him away rather than try to do so with your hands - the risk is too high of spasming into place yourself.
  110v for a few seconds won't harm you, but if you are unable to break the circuit, 110v for 5 minutes almost certainly WILL.
  
  --
  Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
49. Re:School inquiry? by L4t3r4lu5 · 2012-05-02 20:21 · Score: 1
  
  The only thing that comes from heavy drinking before sex is soreness, and I don't mean a hangover.
  
  --
  Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
50. Re:School inquiry? by arth1 · 2012-05-02 22:58 · Score: 1
  
  you be trolling? i'm pretty sure current has some kind of contribution here. 110, 240, 12, it's gonna kill you
  
  What's this phobia against electricity? Sure, it can be dangerous, but it's not Ebola. I routinely used to slap 220V wire pairs with my hand to test whether they had voltage. If they did, and I couldn't turn it off, I isolated one strand while working on the other. If feasible, I started by installing a circuit breaker. :)
  
  if you're not careful
  
  Pretty much anything will kill you if you're not careful. I am sure more people die from falling from stools than from being electrocuted. Yet, you don't hear screams of panic if someone tries to sit on a stool.
51. Re:School inquiry? by Chris+Mattern · 2012-05-02 23:12 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  It's like a gun. You always assume a gun is loaded but you unload it before working on it. In both cases, it's dangerous enough that if you don't want *both* precautions, you're a fool.
52. Re:School inquiry? by CodeHxr · 2012-05-03 00:36 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you, sir.
53. Re:School inquiry? by spikedvodka · 2012-05-03 00:42 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  As the saying goes:
  - There are Old Electricians
  - There are Bold Electricians
  - There are no Old Bold Electricians
  
  --
  I will not give in to the terrorists. I will not become fearful.
54. Re:School inquiry? by sribe · 2012-05-03 01:09 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Your skin resistance when dry is too high for current to be dangerous. The only way 110V is going to kill you is if you're playing with it while in the bathtub...
  Bull. Fucking. Shit.
  Connect one finger to hot and one to neutral, and experience first hand how much current flows, and the pain and muscle spasms it causes. Now imagine that flowing from one hand to the other across your chest, through your heart.
  I don't know where the hell you got this horribly dangerous misinformation, nor how the hell it got modded informative, but please shut the hell up. 110V most certainly can kill people who are not wet, and is documented to do so.
  The reason that kitchens and bathrooms are required to have GFCI is that the addition of water makes even minor leakage current from defective appliances potentially lethal.
55. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 01:58 · Score: 0
  
  Actually, no it doesn't. Maybe you should go read about Ohm's Law; current is a product of voltage and resistance.
  
  Actually, current is voltage divided by resistance. Ohm's Law
56. Re:School inquiry? by IorDMUX · 2012-05-03 01:59 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  oltage against high resistance is known to produce large amounts of heat (that's how stove plates work)
  No, not quite. Power dissipated (in this case the "heat") is V^2/R. Higher resistance means less power. Stove elements work by putting mains voltage across a fairly low resistance, causing plenty of current, power, and heat. In actuality, 110 Vrms is not enough to produce much in the way of a burn.
  
  Now, you are correct about the bloodstream being a good conductor. It is quite rare that a live wire will directly contact the bloodstream, though -- but it does not need to. The resistance of human skin is non-linear, and is actually lower at higher voltages. Additionally, there is plenty of capacitance involved in the body's circuit*, meaning that the full impedance at 60 Hz is lower than just the DC resistance. If there is a route through the heart, and the "let-go threshold" has been exceeded, then even 110 V can be deadly -- no burns necessary.
  
  *The human body model capacitance is only 150 pF, but this represents the body's capacitance to the outside world. The actual capacitance through a narrow layer of skin is many orders of magnitude higher, though I can't get a good source for the actual value.
  
  --
  >> Standing on head makes smile of frown, but rest of face also upside down.
57. Re:School inquiry? by OhHellWithIt · 2012-05-03 02:05 · Score: 1
  
  Treating wires as live is a good operating principle. I met a guy in college who had lost his thumb because a line that was "dead" wasn't. FWIW, my wife gets pissed when I turn the breaker off.
  
  --
  "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
58. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 02:18 · Score: 0
  
  You are right, the voltage is not the threat, its the amperage.
  http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/98-131/pdfs/98-131.pdf (Page 7, Table 1)
  Estimated Effects of 60 Hz AC Currents
  1 mA Barely perceptible
  16 mA Maximum current an average man can grasp and “let go”
  20 mA Paralysis of respiratory muscles
  100 mA Ventricular fibrillation threshold
  2 Amps Cardiac standstill and internal organ damage
  15/20 Amps Common fuse or breaker opens circuit*
  *Contact with 20 milliamps of current can be fatal. As a frame of reference, a common household circuit breaker may be rated at 15, 20, or 30 amps.
59. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 02:19 · Score: 0
  
  This is why we teach people that if somebody is experiencing electrical shock you should use a non-conductive object (such as a wooden broom) to push him away rather than try to do so with your hands - the risk is too high of spasming into place yourself.
  110v for a few seconds won't harm you, but if you are unable to break the circuit, 110v for 5 minutes almost certainly WILL.
  The other thing they teach you right away in any electrical safety class is to only work with one hand at a time whenever possible. Since electricity tends to take the shortest possible path, you drastically reduce the chances of killing yourself if you don't set yourself up for that path to be up one limb and down another...
60. Re:School inquiry? by gstrickler · 2012-05-03 03:05 · Score: 1
  
  Presuming he messed with the wiring to accomplish this is recklessness. There is nothing in the video that requires more than wireless and plugging in to a power socket.
  
  --
  make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
61. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 03:19 · Score: 0
  
  I'm not sure if you're joking or if you simply misread what you quoted, but it works both ways.
62. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 03:43 · Score: 0
  
  One thing is clear, and that is that you are a fucking moron
63. Re:School inquiry? by drkim · 2012-05-03 04:25 · Score: 1
  
  ...an intentional short could also shut down another student's computer during a back up, or start a fire that could kill people at the worst. Bad times.
64. Re:School inquiry? by Talderas · 2012-05-03 05:17 · Score: 1
  
  Yes. Unfortunately it just "Caused a School Inquiry". The article was far more interesting when I believed it said "Causes a School Injury".
  
  --
  "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
65. Re:School inquiry? by TheLink · 2012-05-03 06:39 · Score: 2
  
  I'm not an electrician but if you're moderately paranoid:
  1) Press the breaker test switch to try to turn stuff off, and to test the breaker.
  2) Test the wires with a multimeter to make sure
  3) short the wires, so if some wise guy tries to turn stuff back on you don't get zapped so badly (the breaker should trip as tested in 1) ).
  4) Work on stuff.
  5) unshort the wires
  6) reset the breaker.
  This only applies for lower voltages.
  
  For the HV stuff you better be more careful - even if stuff is off the residual charge can be enough to kill you.
  --
  
  Too many replies beneath your current threshold
66. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 07:01 · Score: 0
  
  Just so you know, you can work on 110V wiring live without any issues. You just need to avoid touching wires to each other or grounds. Oh! And it helps if you're not a chicken shit when it comes to electricity. Anything under 440V is considered low voltage.
67. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 07:38 · Score: 0
  
  Aside from federal/state/local laws and safety rules, IIRC Cal dorm rules are fairly low-key, but generally well-enforced (this may depend on the RA). There may be some variation at Foothill or Clark Kerr, but overall they tend to be uniform.
68. Re:School inquiry? by froggymana · 2012-05-03 08:18 · Score: 1
  
  Ya... terrible title doesn't match summary or linked article. News at 11.
  You wrote that at 11:43PM. Do we really have to wait till 11:00AM? I want the news NOW!!!
  You must be new here. We never get the news too quickly.
  
  --
  "To prevent this day from getting any worse, I'll just read ERROR as GOOD THING" 1GJU8xLuDKDxEs4KLf8fAGyptoDsqvEsBT
69. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 08:35 · Score: 0
  
  MIT did this in 2006.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_kYaPZ6eds
70. Re:School inquiry? by Unkyjar · 2012-05-03 09:12 · Score: 1
  
  He is acting like an 18 yr old adult.
71. Re:School inquiry? by tuxicle · 2012-05-03 15:31 · Score: 2
  
  I'm not an electrician either (I'm an EE), but if you take some decent precautions (insulated sleeve screwdriver, or a stubby), it's not so dangerous to open out a wall switch. What's a lot more dangerous is if you have anything with both hot and neutral close together - then you're in danger of arc flash, which IMO is quite a bit more dangerous than live-to-ground leakage.
  Also, don't fog machines use glycol? It does leave a residue that can, at first glance, look oily, but its not the same thing
72. Re:School inquiry? by tuxicle · 2012-05-03 15:34 · Score: 1
  
  For the HV stuff you better be more careful - even if stuff is off the residual charge can be enough to kill you.
  Aye, grounding sticks are your friend!
73. Re:School inquiry? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-04 10:00 · Score: 0
  
  MIT did this in 2006. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_kYaPZ6eds
  ... hence, the OP.
74. Re:School inquiry? by kurzweilfreak · 2012-05-05 07:43 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know about that particular fog machine he's using, but many DJ/Band fog or haze machines these days use water-based fluids rather than oil-based. Oil-based fog/haze juice has a higher likelyhood of setting off fire alarm due to the hydrocarbons in the aerosol, but the haze from an oil-based fluid hangs in the air longer. Also, the oil-based juice leaves more of a residue. Fog machines put out a big puff of smoke that is gone in 2 minutes or less while haze machines make a finer mist that hangs longer and makes your aerial light effects visible.
  This guy should have used a hazer rather than a fog machine unless he wants his room to look like 5 AM on a winter day next to the bayou.
  
  --
  kurzweil_freak
  5th Kyu Genbukan Ninpo/KJJR student
  Be the darkness that allows the light to shine.
"...Causes a School Inquiry" by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 09:40 · Score: 1

No explanation of what the hell that means in the summary.
And since the link is already Slashdotted, I can't investigate for myself.
You fail again, /.
1. Re:"...Causes a School Inquiry" by Audiovore · 2012-05-02 09:42 · Score: 1
  
  There was nothing there, just a longer description of what he had done.
  
  --
  Without music, life would be a mistake. --- Nietzsche
2. Re:"...Causes a School Inquiry" by slashchuck · 2012-05-02 09:55 · Score: 2
  
  Description of what was done at http://lab.dereklow.co/brad/
  
  --
  $sig not found
3. Re:"...Causes a School Inquiry" by davmoo · 2012-05-02 10:05 · Score: 2
  
  The only real issue I would have with what he did is the part where he fiddled with the switch in the wall. He does not own the building, and I doubt he's a certified electrician. If something electrical went wrong in his room, the insurance people would have a field day with that, whether his wiring caused the issue or not. And if the electrical problem caused injuries, many lawyers would become involved. If I were the school, I'd inquire over that too.
  Other than that, it's a cool room...although a bit small for partying :)
  
  --
  I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
4. Re:"...Causes a School Inquiry" by Technician · 2012-05-02 11:09 · Score: 1
  
  It is an X10 powerline device. A light switch replacement is not rocket science or safety issue once installed.
  I do not recommend using X10 in a dorm room. The standard is well known. Anyone can buy components. The power network is common to his neighbours. If I was his neighbour and thought the stereo was too loud, it would not take long to try the All Off command on all 16 House codes to turn everything off.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X10_(industry_standard)
  It uses a 4 bit house code. 16 tries is a guaranteed hit with the All Off.
  Personally, I would have used DMX-512a for network security in the dorm instead of powerline.
  
  --
  The truth shall set you free!
5. Re:"...Causes a School Inquiry" by Grishnakh · 2012-05-02 13:39 · Score: 1
  
  Who cares if he's a "certified electrician"? They don't sell wall outlets and light switches and romex wire at Home Depot to only licensed electricians; anyone can buy them and install them, and it's because it doesn't take a genius to work with that stuff. There's a lot more danger in letting the kid drive a car in traffic.
  How many people die every year from fires caused by electrical modifications made by unlicensed people? Zero? And how many people die in car accidents? 50,000+.
6. Re:"...Causes a School Inquiry" by UncleTogie · 2012-05-03 09:16 · Score: 1
  
  How many people die every year from fires caused by electrical modifications made by unlicensed people? Zero?
  The number is much higher than zero, and you know it. If you don't know it, Google should be able to enlighten you.
  
  --
  Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
7. Re:"...Causes a School Inquiry" by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-09 19:58 · Score: 0
  
  i assume you do all your own electrical modifications and aren't a qualified electrician... i really hope so :)
Blurtastic by second_coming · 2012-05-02 09:44 · Score: 1

Shame everything was blurred, maybe switch on autofocus next time eh?
brings to mind an MIT project from 14 years ago by Eric+Smalley · 2012-05-02 09:46 · Score: 2

http://people.csail.mit.edu/mhcoen/Globe/Globe.html

--
Eric Smalley
1. Re:brings to mind an MIT project from 14 years ago by TheSeventh · 2012-05-02 09:50 · Score: 1
  
  It's great that he got it done just in time for the school year to end. I'm sure that like most schools, that they'll let him keep all his stuff there all summer.
  
  Maybe next year he should work more on his planning and scheduling . . .
  
  --
  Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean that they're not out to get you.
2. Re:brings to mind an MIT project from 14 years ago by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 09:58 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe next year he should work more on his planning and scheduling
  Hey, he's a hacker; "planning" and "scheduling" aren't in his vocabulary. As with most hackers' projects, it's late and can be made to work, sort of.
3. Re:brings to mind an MIT project from 14 years ago by e2e8 · 2012-05-02 20:56 · Score: 1
  
  Also: http://web.mit.edu/zacka/www/midas.html
Thanks headline! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 09:46 · Score: 0

Would never have known about the inquiry without you...
Notice he's by himself by commodore73 · 2012-05-02 09:47 · Score: 5, Funny

During romantic mode.
1. Re:Notice he's by himself by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 10:40 · Score: 0
  
  Did you really expect otherwise?
  How long have you been in your basement?
2. Re:Notice he's by himself by interval1066 · 2012-05-02 10:45 · Score: 0
  
  He won't be alone long. Some great gal (or guy, whatever he's into) will snap him up. So will a tech company.
  
  --
  Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
3. Re:Notice he's by himself by Bucky24 · 2012-05-02 11:19 · Score: 1
  
  During party mode too....
  
  --
  All the world's a CPU, and all the men and women merely AI agents
4. Re:Notice he's by himself by drkim · 2012-05-03 04:36 · Score: 1
  
  ...and his hand automatically goes to his crotch...
5. Re:Notice he's by himself by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 06:34 · Score: 0
  
  > He won't be alone long. It doesn't take most of us very long. Other "long" jokes to follow. -- Universal healthcare is a socialist goal. Mandatory health insurance is a capitalist alternative.
6. Re:Notice he's by himself by interval1066 · 2012-05-03 12:19 · Score: 1
  
  I was actually making an earnest comment, but whatever. I gots karmas to spare so spin it biatches.
  
  --
  Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
/.ed by wbr1 · 2012-05-02 09:47 · Score: 4, Informative

Article appears to be slasdotted..and sparse per prior posts. Any better links?
Oh that's right.. unlike the submitter or the eds.. I can use google.
http://www.livescience.com/20048-ridiculously-automated-dorm-room.html
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2012/05/01/cal-student-creates-a-ridiculously-automated-dorm/
http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-video-berkeleys-most-ridiculously-automated-dorm-room-ever-20120501,0,2225746.story

--
Silence is a state of mime.
Project homepage by Huge_UID · 2012-05-02 09:48 · Score: 0, Redundant

http://lab.dereklow.co/brad/
1. Re:Project homepage by Coren22 · 2012-05-08 08:19 · Score: 1
  
  I thought he was in California, not Colombia...
  
  --
  APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Great and all but... by Psylok · 2012-05-02 09:48 · Score: 2

In my dorm here in Italy it's illegal (as for in Dorm rules) just to put a chair from the kitchen in your room.
And anything like that would not have passed the montlhy control check.
1. Re:Great and all but... by PRMan · 2012-05-02 09:57 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Land of the free, and all that...
  
  --
  Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
2. Re:Great and all but... by houghi · 2012-05-02 10:05 · Score: 1
  
  Darn, no mod points. +1 funny would it have been.
  
  --
  Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
3. Re:Great and all but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 10:17 · Score: 0
  
  You also can't place a chair from the local library inside your own house, because the chair is for the library and not your private home.
4. Re:Great and all but... by mooingyak · 2012-05-02 12:40 · Score: 1
  
  In my dorm here in Italy it's illegal (as for in Dorm rules) just to put a chair from the kitchen in your room.
  And anything like that would not have passed the montlhy control check.
  
  Land of the free, and all that...
  I'm going to start with the assumption that you already noticed he said Italy and just say... I don't get it. Can anyone enlighten me as to the funny?
  
  --
  William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
5. Re:Great and all but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 12:48 · Score: 0
  
  Nor I
6. Re:Great and all but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 13:52 · Score: 1
  
  It is both factual and satirical. The United States anthem ends with '..land of the free and the home of the brave.' That reference is simultaneously a satire of the standard patriotic American rebuttal to any foreign argument as 'does not matter, we do what we want', a shorthand version of that argument; which is a social norm; and pointing out it is not in Italy so there is no point in talking about how the rules would be applied there.
7. Re:Great and all but... by codepunk · 2012-05-02 15:27 · Score: 1
  
  I have been to just about any and every country you can name. I don't really consider the US to be land of the free, in fact quite the opposite.
  
  --
  
  Got Code?
College by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 09:50 · Score: 0

This is what it is, now.
No longer a institute of higher education, it is now a place where children go to act like children for another 4+ years with minimal supervision, consequences, or responsibilities.
If you think what you see in the video / read about in the article is worthy of any praise, you're part of the problem. It just shows that this kid is wasting his parents's (as well as the public's) money and his own time on pointless shit that's trivial, but time consuming, to set up.
1. Re:College by bluescrn · 2012-05-02 10:24 · Score: 1
  
  Some students waste their college time on 'pointless shit' like sports. Others play with gadgets. The only problem here is the messing with mains wiring. But then again, you can get badly injured on the football field, too...
2. Re:College by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 10:46 · Score: 0
  
  My dorm also wouldn't have allowed the paper notes on the outside of his door. Any. Fire codes and such.
Great Headline! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 09:51 · Score: 0

If you use your imagination, you can actually see something in the linked article about the supposed "School Inquiry."
Or maybe it's like the Bible Codes, where it's a hidden message in TFA?
CAPTCHA: mating; how appropriate for the "romantic mode" in the video.
pick up routine by ozduo · 2012-05-02 09:54 · Score: 3, Funny

"come up and see my BRAD" doesn't work for me!

--
I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
1. Re:pick up routine by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 03:23 · Score: 0
  
  works great for me!
  -Brad
ALS Residence Initiative by Penguinshit · 2012-05-02 10:04 · Score: 4, Informative

The ALS Residence Initiative already built a paradigm-shift in skilled nursing care in Chelsea, MA. The Residence was built as part of the Leonard Florence Center for Living as a place for ALS/MS patients with severe disability to live with maximum independence and with the highest quality nursing care available.

The Residence was designed by my friend Steve Saling with his own long-term care requirements in mind. The building is stuffed with automation equipment from PEAC which enables people, who can only use their eyes to control a computer, to open doors, operate lights, call an elevator, or summon assistance (among other operations). The Residence is the first of its kind, and the ALSRI is committed to building these across the USA. The second facility is to be built near Atlanta, GA.

--
I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...
1. Re:ALS Residence Initiative by sconeu · 2012-05-02 10:10 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks for the info. My wife also has ALS, and your link is very cool.
  Thanks again.
  
  --
  General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
2. Re:ALS Residence Initiative by Penguinshit · 2012-05-02 10:19 · Score: 1
  
  You can contact me directly from the link in my signature if you ever want to talk about anything ALS. I am 7 years in and us "old timers" have a duty to help the newly diagnosed.
  
  --
  I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...
Disappointed by Reasonable+Facsimile · 2012-05-02 10:05 · Score: 2

I misread "inquiry" as "injury." Dang.
big deal - just strung together some X10 devices by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 10:09 · Score: 0

Big deal. I knew people who did that stuff when it hard - X10 does it all for you now. Now get off my lawn.
Also, I'm a little suspicious this might be viral astroturfing...there was a song in there that sounded just like the Microsoft commercials.
Consumer grade crapware? by LoudMusic · 2012-05-02 10:16 · Score: 3, Interesting

That just looks like a hodgepodge of cheap consumer crap he picked up at Home Depot and literally taped to the walls and ceiling of the dorm room. He even runs free apps on his Apple products to control that stuff.
Where's the fit and finish of quality hackery? Practically any geek with a spare couple of weekends could throw this together.

--
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
1. Re:Consumer grade crapware? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 10:51 · Score: 0
  
  did you also notice the 5 steps to turn the light on?
  1) open cover to ipad (no spell check, I will not capitalise apple products)
  2) press home button
  3) slide to unlock
  4) launch app
  5) slide to turn on
  It must be nice to be a posh twat. When I was at uni I didn't have time for something like that let alone the money. I lived on pot noodles for 3 years.
2. Re:Consumer grade crapware? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 11:37 · Score: 0
  
  did you also notice the 5 steps to turn the light on?
  1) open cover to ipad (no spell check, I will not capitalise apple products)
  2) press home button
  3) slide to unlock
  4) launch app
  5) slide to turn on
  It must be nice to be a posh twat. When I was at uni I didn't have time for something like that let alone the money. I lived on pot noodles for 3 years.
  I lived on pot brownies; noodles sound good. Recipe, please?
3. Re:Consumer grade crapware? by interkin3tic · 2012-05-02 11:46 · Score: 1
  
  You're complaining that the budget on this production was too small? He's a college student. I'm sure you could send him a check and he'd improve the quality for you.
4. Re:Consumer grade crapware? by dasunt · 2012-05-02 12:02 · Score: 1
  
  That just looks like a hodgepodge of cheap consumer crap he picked up at Home Depot and literally taped to the walls and ceiling of the dorm room. He even runs free apps on his Apple products to control that stuff.
  The X10 stuff is cheap (at least one ebay) but I wouldn't call it exactly crap. It is what it is and it works well, at least when I used it. It isn't as elegant as other remote control systems, but it doesn't have the price either. ;)
  But using the phone to control things looks like a pain. When I did a project to control the lights and music in an old apartment, I built myself an infrared transceiver, then configured software so that the same universal remote control I was already using would work to control the lights and music server as well.
5. Re:Consumer grade crapware? by ShakaUVM · 2012-05-03 03:14 · Score: 1
  
  Seriously. While we didn't have smartphones back in college, a friend of mine rigged up his alarm clock to a winch that would slowly lift up his mattress and dump him out of bed in the morning.
  I imagine engineers have been doing shit like this all the way back to the Egyptian days. Those traps protecting the pharaohs' tombs were probably just freshman year hijinks.
Why do American Dorm rooms by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 10:29 · Score: 0

always appear to be multiple occupants? I've always found that a bit weird.
1. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by PeanutButterBreath · 2012-05-02 10:39 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  always appear to be multiple occupants? I've always found that a bit weird.
  It is to condition Americans to despise a) sharing and b) small living quarters, yielding a steady supply of cooperation- and organization-averse individualists who seek sprawl and thus fuel the real estate, automobile, & energy industries.
2. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 11:55 · Score: 0
  
  What? Every article I've read in the last 10 years suggests a strong trend towards individual-occupancy dorms by various schools. I always figured it was a way to get greater diversity by encouraging more mentally chall^H^H^H^H^H^ republica^H^H^H^H^H rugged individualists on campus among the filthy psuedohippies.
3. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by readin · 2012-05-02 13:04 · Score: 1
  
  I always assumed that it is because it is cheaper to put multiple people in one slightly larger room than to put each person in a separate room. I had no idea that in other countries college students can afford individual rooms.
  
  There are other benefits to having a room-mate. If you get seriously sick in your room there is someone to 1. notice and 2. do something about it.
  
  --
  I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.
4. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Grishnakh · 2012-05-02 13:46 · Score: 1
  
  Really? That's news to me. I've never heard of an individual-occupancy dorm room, unless someone bought out the entire room. Plus, it'd be kinda hard for most American universities to move to that, since their dorm buildings are all decades old and designed for having roommates. University dorm buildings aren't exactly replaced on a frequent basis; they're giant concrete-and-steel buildings designed for a lifespan in the centuries I'm guessing. Plus, universities located inside cities typically don't have a lot of extra real estate to build nicer dorms that give students extra living space.
5. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 14:28 · Score: 0
  
  Here's at least one example:
  http://www.coloradodaily.com/cu-boulder/ci_19554226
  I swear I read similar stuff at the Chronicle of Higher Education, or NYTimes, or other rags of note or relevance.
  Now whether that's actually a trend, or just one of those factually unsupported "many say that" type of stories that pass for journalism is anybody's guess.
6. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 14:31 · Score: 0
  
  You don't get extra living space - the standard UK dorm contains a single bed, a desk usually fixed to the wall under the window, some kind of micro-closet, and about two square feet to stand up and dress in. Sometimes there's an ensuite bathroom (more expensive) otherwise there's one down the hall.
7. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Grishnakh · 2012-05-02 14:45 · Score: 1
  
  Sounds nice and all; for new-construction dorms, it makes perfect sense to me, and I don't know why they didn't do it before. Probably just to save the tiny bit of money that the additional wall costs. However, for older dorms I don't see it happening; I'm thinking of the dorm I lived in as a freshman/sophomore; it was two rooms, each with two roommates, both sharing a common bathroom. I don't see any way of modifying that building to split apart the rooms; you'd have to demolish it and start over, unless you just want to give everyone a double-size room. Dorm buildings (indeed all university buildings) are very expensive to build, which is why you see so many 50-100 year old buildings in state universities, so I'd only expect to see this with new construction. Heck, I remember reading over 10 years ago how many universities were making males and females share the same community bathrooms. This was because many dorm buildings, being old, were build with community bathrooms, where one whole floor shares the same big bathroom. But that was back in the days when most students were male; but now with demographics changing, many universities simply ran out of room to keep the two segregated, and I guess didn't have money to knock down the old dorms and build new ones, so they just kept the boys and girls in separate rooms, but made them share the same bathrooms (including showers).
8. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Nimey · 2012-05-02 15:31 · Score: 1
  
  My alma mater usually had two to a room, although one year I was in a larger room with three total (third guy was usually at his girlfriend's, so the extra space was nice. I'd imagine it's more efficient and is also meant to build character. I think the only people with single rooms were the resident assistants, basically upperclassmen who were den mothers to a given floor.
  IIRC the average 2-bed room was 120 square feet, or a little over 11 square meters. How big are the rooms in your country?
  
  --
  Hail Eris, full of mischief...
  
  E pluribus sanguinem
9. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 18:06 · Score: 0
  
  In Germany the dorms usually have rooms with a size of 10-20 square meters - but they are always single rooms. Even with single rooms there is less privacy in a dorm - so I really don't get why people would accept being cramped into those tiny holes in multiples... If I'm on vacation and I spend a few nights in a youth hostel sharing rooms is fine - but all the time?
10. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 18:11 · Score: 0
  
  Greetings from saudi arabia? Why segregate male and female university students? Seriously - why?
11. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Asic+Eng · 2012-05-02 19:36 · Score: 1
  
  If you get seriously sick in your room there is someone to 1. notice and 2. do something about it.
  So that helps if you suddenly get so sick that you can't get out of the room, can't reach a phone and your room mate just happens to be in (and not e.g. attending a class). Should we enforce a policy where nobody can ever be alone anywhere just because they could possibly get sick?
12. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 20:06 · Score: 0
  
  I am a student at Oklahoma State, and I while it is true that all of our older dorms are oriented to multiple occupants in single rooms, the newer buildings are pretty much all suite or apartment style.
13. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 20:19 · Score: 0
  
  50-100 year old? Pish. My first room at Oxford was built in the 15th century and I didn't have to share.
14. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by readin · 2012-05-03 02:27 · Score: 1
  
  Without the roommate, you might go 24 hours or even a week without anyone realizing something is seriously wrong (friends might just assume you're busy or on a road trip). Chances are the roommate will be home within a few hours.
  
  --
  I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.
15. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 02:38 · Score: 0
  
  Nothing wrong with mixed-sex ablution facilities. I've lived in (and visited, he he) many college dorms around Australia and found these kind of facilities perfectly acceptable.
16. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Nimey · 2012-05-03 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  Closest we had to mixed-sex facilities was one dorm that'd been recently renovated. Each room had an en-suite 3/4 bath and while each room was single-sex, the floors were mixed. Other dorms on campus had sexes segregated by floors, and each floor had its own shared shower and toilet facilities.
  It was interesting to see how different the dynamics were in the mixed-floor system. It was a lot quieter, for instance, and in general people seemed more respectful. That wasn't just because freshthings were banned from the building, though I'm sure it helped! Before that I'd been in another dorm on the single-sex floor system (still no freshthings) and it was still somewhat quiet but fun-rowdy at times, with the odd drunks coming in and causing trouble. The first dorm, which was largely filled with freshthings, was the worst - loud at all hours and drunks pulling the fire alarm a few times week during the night. The worst part was that this was advertised as a "quiet floor" for people who wanted to study, but they didn't get the whole floor filled up with those people and so they let ordinary freshthings in to fill it up. I'm told the situation prevailed the next year.
  You wouldn't see mixed-sex shower/toilet rooms here; we're much too sexually repressed as a culture.
  
  --
  Hail Eris, full of mischief...
  
  E pluribus sanguinem
17. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Grishnakh · 2012-05-03 06:28 · Score: 1
  
  You wouldn't see mixed-sex shower/toilet rooms here; we're much too sexually repressed as a culture.
  You sound like an American. That's the thing: so am I, and the article I was referring to was talking about American universities having mixed-sex shower/toilet rooms, which is why I was rather shocked, as you're correct: we're very sexually repressed, so it's hard to imagine that here. But, I haven't been in a dorm building for almost 20 years, and different colleges and different dorms are different, so I can't say what's really going on anyway, just that I had read this article several years ago saying this was becoming commonplace in some colleges with old dorm buildings.
18. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 07:39 · Score: 0
  
  Universities are demolishing and building like crazy these days. I'm not sure of the exact reason, but it has something to do with a combination of the conditions of various bequests/funds/endowments, the need to assure donors that their money is being spent on tangible things, the need to attract prospective students, and interest rates. For whatever reason, every university, state and private, is knocking down and building up like a seven year old with a new set of Lego bricks. Today's kids won't be shoved into a fifty-year-old concrete block prison with no air conditioning and no amenities. They want all the comforts of Mom and Dad's real-estate-boom-era McMansion.
  And yes, there is a definite trend toward more-private rooms over the past twenty years. Typical dorms built in the past two decades have four individual rooms with two shared bathrooms and one shared kitchen and living room between them.
  True, there are lots of century-old double-occupancy rooms still around, but it's mostly the freshmen who draw short straw in the room lottery that get stuck in them. And even that won't last too much longer; see paragraph 1.
19. Re:Why do American Dorm rooms by Grishnakh · 2012-05-03 08:02 · Score: 1
  
  I guess things have changed a lot in the ~15 years since I was in dorms. I thought having a roommate was one of those things that was just part of the "college experience", to force you to get out of your shell. Then again, I had mostly negative experiences with my roommates as a freshman and sophomore before I stopped living in dorms, so the two shared bathroom and one shared kitchen and living room per four individual rooms plan actually sounds pretty nice to me.
Re:big deal - just strung together some X10 device by TheCarp · 2012-05-02 10:46 · Score: 2

I was thinking similar. I was messing with X10 a decade ago, and it wasn't terribly new then. Very limiting. I was looking at really doing up the house with a project like this, but, over a wider area than a dorm, and I eventually want more intelligently controlled devices (RGB lights, I want to be able to go from soft white, to warm white, or rave/strobe mode)
In any case... X10 is cool and all, but, so basically all I need to do to really fuck with him is inject X10 from anywhere in his building...a dorm. ROTFL good luck kid. I bet he is going to find his shit going crazy at 4 am pretty soon.
I don't have those worries but...in a place as humorously "hostile" as a dorm where any of hundreds of people could just decide to mess with you, and watch the results! That is just asking for it. X10 doesn't have the first bit of message authentication or authorisation.

--
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
His Curtains... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 11:19 · Score: 1

sound like a band saw!
"Romantic mode. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
X10 - is this a dorm room in 1975? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 11:27 · Score: 0

Seriously, X10 is connectionless (no handshaking) and is therefore the UDP of automation protocols, where a congested and noisy network causes around 10% failure.
1. Re:X10 - is this a dorm room in 1975? by xmas2003 · 2012-05-02 12:39 · Score: 1
  
  Yea, but X10 is cheap & simple plus works "most" of the time ... which presumably is adequate for this application. The bigger issue Derek will have is other people deciding to take control of his room since there aren't that many house/unit codes.
  
  But hats off to him for a most excellent job!
  
  --
  Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
2. Re:X10 - is this a dorm room in 1975? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 12:53 · Score: 1
  
  X10 is one of those things that I think most people need to try at least once, just to get a sense of the problems (such as: "did it toggle?"). That's actually good for you. Then you get thinking about how to fix it, and keep around a cardboard box full of X10 stuff ("maybe some day I'll use this, for a less demanding application than something .. as critical as .. um .. turning on a light") for about 12 years until a girlfriend explains that dusty junk isn't coming along when you move in together.
  X10: it's .. along the way.
Eureka by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 11:30 · Score: 0

Speaking of automated living spaces named BRAD, wasn't that the name of SARAH's psychotic alter-ego on the TV show Eureka? I certainly wouldn't want to be Derek Low's dorm-mate. I'd be afraid of the dorm trapping me inside and sucking all the air out of the room.
what can be be done with! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 11:59 · Score: 0

surprising what can be done with a students loan LOL
Control 4 & Crestron by phishfood · 2012-05-02 12:13 · Score: 1

I like where he is going but dislike the disregard to safety in a dorm room. I've spec'd out Control 4 and Crestron/Lutron systems for homes that do just that and without the danger.
Clothes line by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 12:54 · Score: 0

Reminds me of sophomore year ('92) when I had my ham radio inverted L wire antenna strung up between the dorms. RA says to take that clothes line down; stupid bitch. This at an engineering school....
Blacklights? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 13:09 · Score: 0

Yeah... may not be a good idea for a college dorm room.
He's a kid, for pete's sake by QuincyDurant · 2012-05-02 13:48 · Score: 1

There's more to engineering than classwork. This kid's got it in his genes. Go Bears!
Turns directly to gas!! by bdabautcb · 2012-05-02 14:11 · Score: 1

I am not impressed. I would be impressed if he made a sledding hill out of ice that doesn't melt but turns directly into gas!!!

--
Koalas. They're telepathic. Plus, they control the weather. -Margaret
Re:Tool by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 14:58 · Score: 0

Oops, that Wera's 1000v.
It's just got about 15mm bare at the tip.
So he finished by MrBippers · 2012-05-02 16:12 · Score: 2

just in time for the semester to end and to take it all down. Sadly, that emergency party never did arrive.
I fail to see the innovation by msobkow · 2012-05-02 16:55 · Score: 1

He bought off the shelf X-10 controllers. He used off the shelf controller software.
Where's the innovation? The creativity? The uniqueness that makes this an engineering project instead of just an assembly of existing parts?
Back in University, some students in my hardware class wired up a Radio Shack sound generator chipset project. The prof spent 40 minutes tearing them a new arsehole because they did nothing more than wire-wrap a canned project. They didn't design, create, or innovate a single thing, which was the whole point of the semester-long project.
It strikes me that my prof would have given this fellow the same lecture.

--
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
1. Re:I fail to see the innovation by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 21:53 · Score: 0
  
  I had the same problem with this "creation". I did this 4 years ago, also simply with off-the-shelf kit, but I built at least my own lights :)
2. Re:I fail to see the innovation by tuxicle · 2012-05-03 15:40 · Score: 1
  
  I'd normally rant a bit here about lowered bars and such. Kids these days...
The Industrial Controlled Alarm Clock by rainfay · 2012-05-02 18:09 · Score: 1

DISCLAIMER: I am the creator of the Industrial Controlled Alarm Clock............ http://endofnet.com/ICACP.html which was written up on hack a day http://hackaday.com/2007/05/02/industrial-alarm-clock/ way back in 2007......... this project was to wake my but up in the morning to control DMX Power, Sound and misc devices. while I was in the doom. It used an LED sign to convey the state of the alarm...... it did not need voice control it had 30mm NEMA buttons that light up :P It did not need IPad and Iphone devices, I could ssh in to a box that was hooked up to it. But this gives me ideas to work on revision 2.0, An Emergency Party Mode would be an cool feature to have with it.

--
-- Let Random be Random
Toys by Lando · 2012-05-02 20:27 · Score: 1

Well, the system looks interesting; however, I'm more interested in the camera work a video editing. It seems, especially at the beginning, to have been professionally done. Is that the level of sophistication of today's modern video recorders and editing software, is this guy into video production or was there outside help? It seems a mismatch in skills as the hacking is fairly insignificant in comparison to the video skills.

--
/* TODO: Spawn child process, interest child in technology, have child write a new sig */
1. Re:Toys by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-02 21:02 · Score: 0
  
  no, his video skills are fairly amateur as well.
2. Re:Toys by Lando · 2012-05-04 06:12 · Score: 1
  
  Seemed like a decent video compared to most home stuff. I'd like to know what tools were used to produce it.
  
  --
  /* TODO: Spawn child process, interest child in technology, have child write a new sig */
alterations may not be to code, creatign liability by peter303 · 2012-05-03 02:03 · Score: 1

Plenty of cases where schools have to pay out large claims due to accidents. Schools also check for carpentry projects like lofts and too many appliances, both which may be dangerous.
60 mA to the heart can be fatal by l00sr · 2012-05-03 02:34 · Score: 4, Informative

Lethality of electric shock depends on way, way too many factors to make blanket statements such as above. For example, according to wikipedia, for a large contact area and dry skin, 5% of the population has a hand-to-hand impedance of 1,200 Ohms. 110/1200 ~ 100 mA, which is significantly above the 60 mA threshold for a fatal shock to the heart. 50% of the population are just about at the threshold. Also, broken skin, sweaty skin, duration of contact, etc. are all factors. This is also why you should never break the ground pin off of an electrical plug. Case in point: a Cleveland State prof. died in 2006 after touching a lamp with a broken-off ground pin.
1. Re:60 mA to the heart can be fatal by sribe · 2012-05-03 03:06 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  This is also why you should never break the ground pin off of an electrical plug.
  Yep. Also, installing a 3-prong outlet onto an old 2-wire circuit with the ground disconnected presents the same hazard, just disguised so future users can't know about it without looking in the walls.
  But a useful tidbit, installing a GFCI outlet in that situation is safe, and even code-compliant ;-)
Missing the obvious... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-03 06:39 · Score: 0

The obvious to point out here is what a waste this is...if he just finished this week (and it supposedly took him 3 months on this), the guy has a full week or 2 to actually enjoy this, and then the semester is over. Then he's got to take down everything too before he leaves.