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'Plugspreading' is an Abomination (cnet.com)
Mark Serrels, writing for CNET: A man [on a train], a human man as he lives and breathes, has put his bag, his stupid goddamn bag on the seat. He thinks his bag is more important than your buttcheeks. Than your tired legs. He is undermining your right to rest those legs, to plank those weary buttcheeks on a seat. This train is busy. He is a bad person. He doesn't care. This is a metaphor. In this metaphor the terrible man-person is a tech company. The bag is their terrible plug. A plug that is not content with taking up one slot on your powerboard, but needs two. Not for power, oh no. It just wants the space to... christ, I don't know. Mess with your day? Piss you off? Make your life worse? Stop you from plugging an extra device into your powerboard for no goddamn reason. Jesus wept. I call this phenomenon "plugspreading" and it's an abomination. [...] This is bad behaviour. This is a problem. That second socket was innocent man, it was collateral damage. He did nothing to deserve this. You ruined its life, starved that socket of its purpose, its reason for existing. Plugspreading is everywhere. It's a disease.
I'd really be afraid to Google that without "Safe-Search" turned on. That being said, I agree with your premise. How come if I have a power-strip with 8 sockets I can only ever plug-in 3 damn things? Crap Design! As usual. I don't know where all the "Designers" came from, but, be toasters, coffee-pots, vacuum cleaners, plugs, or software interfaces, they are ALL universally worthlessly incompetent and should be beaten with the "You have failed at your job Stick" until they leave the profession.
Are you on drugs?
I have no idea WTF this is about?
Can a millennial please explain this to me?
Bad Slashdot.
When you can't tell anymore whether articles like this are satire or not you know why "millenial" has become an insult.
https://www.amazon.com/Etekcit... Like these ones, as a simple example.
These things (or other similar ones by other companies) are a godsend, even if they are somewhat overpriced. I must have 30 or 40 of them in my house.
You can also get long power bars with as many as ten outlets that are well spaced - enough to permit use of most wall wart-type plugs without needing these cords.
Actually the real problem is most homes are not wired for DC power. The plugs in the wall are designed for high powered appliances like Vacuum cleaners, Air Conditioners, Fans, Mixers, and Incandescent light bulbs.
Most of the devices we plug in today are DC power. So we need a rather large brick to convert the AC current to DC at the correct levels, and safety.
If homes and offices were wired for DC plugs (Say the High Power USB Standard) then we wouldn't need such bricks, and wouldn't need to carry around these devices that are heaver then the devices we are actually wanting to use. I expect if homes has a Single AC to DC converter then we would probably on the average save a lot of energy as well.
However in the mean time, either get an Extension cord to give some space for the brick and room for an other plug, or deal with it.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
OMG! Too bad there's *no* way to solve this problem.
[ Sigh... (a) Why is this a story and (b) Why is this a story on /. ? ]
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Obviously it's a very slow news day.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
Wow this article is garbage. At least two of the examples don't support the point. That Samsung charger would allow something next to it if it were moved to the right and is actually pretty compact with it's wall space requirements. The Apple charger, if it were designed to protrude any other direction it wouldn't work well with a "normal" wall outlet and as shown seems to better indicate a bad transformer design and orientation. Beyond the fact that this is a stupid article, why did someone at Slashdot decide to promote it?!? This isn't news, or tech related, it's a stupid rant of someone at CNet.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The short answer is that devices are designed for use in multiple markets with varying plug arrangements. To reduce cost, the form factor of the conversion hardware is unchanged between markets; only the prongs are changed. That which is inconvenient in Europe may be perfectly fine in the US. It's not evil. It's a natural consequence of global commerce without global power connection standards.
What do you mean they cut the power? How can they cut the power, man? They're animals!
Look up "octopus power strip", these should be everywhere. As for the man, politely ask him to move his bag.
Twinstiq, game news
just giving your devices a rest during your trip home. Once there you can charge them any way you wish. I always laugh when I am out and about, 7 of 10 individuals everywhere have their device in their hand. They look away every so often in an attempt not to trip over the curb, run in to a door or wall or pretend to be working in case their boss walks by.
;)
But then I am different, I create tech but don't have much use for it.
Just my 2 cents
I pay extra whenever I can to get my devices with a built-in PSU.
of course this is a msmash article
that lady needs a good dicking imo
That's no lady.
1. Extending non water-proof power supplies below socket height is illegal for electric appliance manufacturers and increases the cost tremendously as they need to extend the grounding or certify for double insulation. You can buy a short extension cord and do it on your own. Just be sure to plug it out every time you wash the floor and don't keep a cup of coffee near by ready to be spilled on it.
2. The supplies needs clearing space to dissipate heat and this is how the engineer made sure you won't stick a few right next to each other.
3. There's no ideal size or shape. Some people need their supplies to hag the wall as much as possible since they have a piece of furniture next to the wall they'd like to keep that way. Some people need the cable to come out from above / sideways since their table is just below the socket and the cable won't twist to such a sharp angle. Some people - like the author - would rather have the plug as long and as lean as possible (as wide as the prongs + plastic) to fit as many PSUs as possible... All of these demands conflict with each other. And all of them can be resolved with a short extension cord.
So, TL:DR; Buy a god damn short extension cord dumb ass.
Not if the plug has an earth pin its not (the French type, used in many other European countries).
Also there are varying standards for multiple adjacent sockets - a lot of wall sockets put two sockets one above the other, pins aligned hoizontally, which works for some wall warts but is crap for the 90-degree angled plugs, wheareas a lot of power strips angle the sockets at 45 degress, which in turn is crap for wall warts which come in two alignment types 90-degrees apart.
The only system which seems to have been designed with some consistency and attention to clearance is the British 3-pin.
A more accurate analogy than "A rude guy on the train" would be a "A fat person taking up two seats because they're too lazy to spend the time to lose weight." Analogies are pretty basic stuff and generally frowned amongst the journalist types. If you're going to make them, make them right.
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
Until I'm permitted to get Trans-Cranial Electrical Stimulation on demand, I'll have to make due with Coffee!
I am lazy, and didn't bother to make sure all parts of what I bought are to my satisfaction.
If you knew and bought it anyway, well live with it because money talks and you know the rest.
Yes, some 'transformer' designs suck and are just awful for the sake of cuteness, you still bought it.
> The purpose is to avoid you cramming in too many things without a chance of airflow for cooling.
We're still talking about electrical outlets and plugs aren't we?
Indeed. And as the one asking, I had just one asshole that refused so far. But he was taking up 4 spaces in a full train, so it was pretty obvious he was an utter asshole.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Seriously. And the thing about the bag? Are you unable to open your mouth and ask? Is it an imposition to you to be asked to communicate with another human being?
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
I call it "videospreading". Useless auto-playing videos that nobody cares about, wasting bandwidth that could have been used by something worthwhile.
#DeleteFacebook
Is this what Slashdot has come to? I wonder if the writer got a little treat from some woman he was trying to impress?
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
We have a type of surge protector/powerboard sold commonly in California called a âoeSquidâ. It resembles a squid: it has an oval body and five short cords of varying lengths, each one ending in a female power socket. It can power five wall warts at once regardless of their egregious size.
Whose Line Is It Anyway is funny; this article is not funny.
. . . I keep hearing about?
I just got rid of my cable a couple weeks ago. Disconnecting everything I ran across 1 plug I remember hating. It plugged in such that it took up 4 plugs. You couldn't put it at the end because one way it covered the power switch and every breath of air turned the entire power strip off. You couldn't hang it off the other end because it had polarized plugs and only went 1 way.
I had an entire power strip dedicated to 1 fricken power brick.
On the other hand, I had jury duty a few years back. I brought my laptop, it's charger, and a power strip. All power outlets were being used so I asked some woman if I could unplug her phone and plug in my power strip. She was fine with it. Me and my power strip were very popular that day, people were bummed when I got released, took my power strip, and went home.
Because you never read the fucking manual, they have to do it in hardware.
Also you must be new here to use train analogies in a car analogy forum.
Not if the plug has an earth pin its not (the French type, used in many other European countries).
The German (Type F) plug is far more common, and does indeed allow turning a grounded plug 180 degrees. As well as allowing an ungrounded plug (Type C) to be used in a grounded outlet.
https://wikitravel.org/en/File...
The only system which seems to have been designed with some consistency and attention to clearance is the British 3-pin.
Then again, in older British houses, ground is often earth, which causes Big Scary Problems when trying to use a converter plug or connecting the earth socket on a radio or receiver to earth...
The other problem with DC power has to do with fire safety and arcing. With AC, the current goes to zero and arc are self-quenching. Not true with DC, so you have a greater likelihood of fire. It also has to do with safety if you get shocked by DC versus AC your chances of injury are much greater.
The ease of transforming voltages with transformers gives AC an advantage. And if you look around your home, you'll see a fair number of high current devices -- heat producing, or motors (ovens, ranges, toaster, coffee pot, A/C, blowers, washing machine, dryer) that would need very heavy cables to power at 12 or even 48v.
Agreed
Momento Mori
It's entirely possible to design a single, generic low-voltage-output wall-wart that will fit comfortably within the minimum power-socket dimensions across all target markets
However, because this requires a little time, effort and money, the accountants and MBAs running pretty much every company instead source a brick from the lowest-cost Chinese provider... with, I am loathe to say it, the exception of Apple, as I've yet to see one of theirs overlap other sockets on a power strip of any country, unless the strip itself has been very poorly designed.
So, I suppose you were half-right - it is a natural consequence of global commerce, but combined with a complete lack of empathy or concern with regard to the customers...
This sig left unintentionally blank.
When I bought my first macbook, it came with an extension cable for the charger so that it only took up one slot on the power strip. Now you get the charger "brick" with the $1000 laptop and Apple charges you $20 for the extension cable. . The cable is the only thing that carries over from mac to mac.
Each company makes a thing (external HDD, Phone, whatever) then finds a power source, transformer. Cheapest wins. I have two power strips behind the desk, with the various gadgets plugged in four different ways.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075WC3LZG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_fiupBb28ZM5DB
Obviously, not a solution for every case. But in many, many cases, these are all you need to stop the scourge of "Plugspreading". As an aside, if this term has not yet been co-opted by the adult community, clearly this post will be its genesis. I expect an entire category on pornhub within weeks!
/* * pope1 */
..something different
The engineers may be optimizing for cost, conversion efficiency, component availability, EMI rules, reliability or development time
The designers want it to look cool and different and fit the overall design aesthetic
Very few or either group care about encroaching on nearby devices
True - but aren't modern switching supplies tiny? Most wall-wart plugs are for systems that are only a few watts. Seems like that should fit in a slightly larger than normal sized plug. Should be>90% efficient, so there shoudln't be much power loss.
I assume the standard transformers are cheaper?
No wall wart made in the last 15 years has used a transformer to step down. Switching supplies use small ferrite types but they don't get nearly as warm under load.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Looking at the plug styles images in the article they are in the south Pacific, probably New Zealand or Australia. Here in NZ we call the strip of 4 or 6 plugs a powerboard. Or power strip, or extension strip.
Those plugs are designed to contain the transformer, and give it space to cool.
also to keep your derpness from plugging 12 things into a single outlet and burning your house down.
Sounds fishy. It's like saying those javascript bitcoin miners are not "designed" by lazy, greedy people and instead had an imperative to even consider keeping my computer "safe" by alerting me indirectly (via slowdowns and subtle 100% CPU results --only if someone technical knows where to look) when I get myself too many tabs mining and watching videos on multiple sites all at once.
Replace this well-known maxim so you put goodwill and profits in place of malice and stupidity: Never attribute to *malice* what can be explained by *stupidity*.
The adapter guys just design something to power their own hardware and cover their butts by leaving a subtle label saying "1.5 amps", "0.5 amps" and perhaps add the ground prong at most. Remember that time when everyone making cheap USB 3 cables that burned down non-approved devices was forced to pay for someone else's damages due to ill-advised user action? Nope
The hole here is that every product fends for itself because liability / lawsuits. Miniaturization is expensive^W^W shaves profit margins. All that they're required by law to do is done, and nothing more.
Nobody designs to protect someone else's hardware except for the power strip and ATX power supply makers themselves.
Nobody babies us by even suggesting to protect your investment thru buying your own power strip. They assume you have a reliable mains power circuit brakers.
Oh for fuck sake. If you are standing and there is a bag on a seat, ask the owner to move it. If they dont, move it yourself. They didn't pay for two seats. It's that simple.
The problem comes down to economics. You're buying a device that requires DC power, and the manufacturer is not going to decide the converter; it is going to choose an existing DC converter and supply it with the device. They might put a sticker on it. The socket-friendly option would cost a dollar or two more, which, when included in the Amazon price, just might give the competing device the edge. You and the other buyers didn't research the socket friendliness of the device, and there would be little opportunity for the manufacturer to convey this advantage in the first place.
What incentive does the manufacturer have to improving products this way? Not enough to add $1 to the price. So there you have it.
BTW, the article was incoherent. Let me coin the term "blogspreading" to refer to an article that takes up space and makes you spend more time than necessary to figure out what it's talking about.
I get it that you're from the Sharpie Marketing Department. Is this the new campaign?
The perpetrator is almost always a woman, not a man.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
I may have missed the memo, but I'm not sure why I have to read this hipster `first-world problem` shit.
<rant>
Nobody cares, really. Nobody cares!
When you go to a meeting (or have your kale-infused frappo-latte at a coffee shop with your laptop and piss-off all the staff because you're taking up valuable marketable space and not ordering enough, but still using the 'free' wifi): BRING YOUR OWN POWER BOARD!
</rant>
Now you only need one vertical plug. Hey, if you're feeling charitable, you take the double-plug-occupying adapter and put it into your powerboard.
I never travel without one.
Same goes for network switches and USB hubs BTW.
Stop whinging about 'other people' and just make sure that you show up prepared.
And then there is the off-change that this was all humor, in which case I apologize to you personally, but the rant remains.
These wall warts transfer considerable energy, and some of it is lost as heat. Pack two of them close together, and they'll overheat. That's liability, so they have to design them to make it impossible. Apple fixes it by making them taller instead, but he complains about that too. BTW, there's a fix for the apple one - pull off the mains plug and you'll find that behind it is a standard figure-8 socket, so you can plug it in with any standard figure-8 mains lead, and who doesn't have a cupboard full of them?
Same thing with side entry USB power packs. Putting out 50W (and higher) in that small package is no small feat, so they need to ensure there's clear space around them, and putting the output on the side guarentees that that side of the plug remains clear for airflow.
All good, technical reasons. Doesn't stop it being annoying, though!
Prediction for end of Universe #42: Fencepost error in Quantum_bogosort.cpp
It's Australian speak for what you would call a "power strip"
Those plugs are designed to contain the transformer, and give it space to cool.
also to keep your derpness from plugging 12 things into a single outlet and burning your house down.
Seriously, who writes this garbage and how does it get on /. ? Next week we'll have some executive's coming-out-as-a-brony as front page news.
FFS.
Giving the transformer space to cool was literally a larger problem with the magnetic coupled copper based old school design that went out of fashion around 2010 and now is rarely seen. With the advent of cheap efficient switching circuits, modern designs can be shrunk due to greater efficiency, due in large part to high frequency low loss designs where you can pump a small amount of energy (small cheap parts) a very large number of times a second instead of huge parts at 50/60.
tl;dr There really is no good reason for these bulky designs.
plugging 12 things into a single outlet and burning your house down.
How about a smallish 15A breakers?
That can handle 15 incandescent 100 W light bulb, or a 1500 W portable heater.
If you have enough garbage plugged in to heat a small room, you have a real problem and it's not burning your house down.
ID: the nose did not occur naturally, how would we wear glasses otherwise? (apologies to Voltaire)
This actually needs its own article. Every news site now includes an autoplay video in the article which 99% of the time isn't even a video, it's just a static picture that pans across with text over it. What is the fucking point of this?!?
Seriously, fuck video. If I want video I go to Youtube or Netflix. Save web pages for text and images only.
Those plugs are designed to contain the transformer, and give it space to cool.
So put the transformer a few cms away from the plug so it doesn't get in the way
also to keep your derpness from plugging 12 things into a single outlet and burning your house down.
Not part of the requirement. It's just bad design.
GIFspreading is also really trendy. Having animated GIFs instead of static images in articles.
"The standard you walk past is the standard you accept" is from a famous speech by Lt. Gen. David Morrison,1 Chief of Army, about sexual harassment and humiliation in the ranks in the Australian Army. Does quoting that line in a speech about wall warts seem a bit...overwrought to anyone else, or is it just me?
1Gen. Morrison credits the Governor of New South Wales, David Hurley, with the quote, but Morrison's is the most famous use of it.
Most of us have been using AC pigtails for decades.
I have been using 2-pin and 3-pin pigtails to avoid this very problem for over twenty years.
To defeat the "Plugspreaders," carry a multi-socket pigtail and plug the Plugspreader's offending adapter into it.
Kriston
Then again, in older British houses, ground is often earth, which causes Big Scary Problems when trying to use a converter plug or connecting the earth socket on a radio or receiver to earth...
I'm confused. I thought in British English ground is called "Earth". So really old and new houses will have ground as earth. Are you confusing neutral in there somewhere? They have Line, Neutral, Earth. Like in North America, Neutral is tied to Earth at the entrance, but should never be connected to exposed casing like a protective earth. Doing so would be called a "bootleg ground", or I guess a "bootleg earth".
A man [on a train], a human man as he lives and breathes ...
Ok, so this is the Joseph Cotton character, Martins?
Jesus wept.
Check. This is Major Calloway, played by Trevor Howard.
That second socket was innocent man, it was collateral damage.
This represents all the people who suffered from the fake penicillin. Collateral damage.
The bag is their terrible plug
Yea. The second plug. This is definitely Harry Lime. Orson Welles. But who is Anna (Harry's girlfriend) in this tale? Tired Legs? Weary Buttcheeks? Man, you got my head all turned around.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
With its giant plugs no AC adapter is too big to fit nicely in UK sockets...
More than 200 comments on the optimal size and design of plugs is why I love slashdot. This is truly stuff that matters.
Video of some good progressive thrash music
Love these things.
When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
Secondly, this would mean adding cables rated for 240V AC to devices that are supposed to supply 5V or maybe 12V DC. That's a waste of copper
Actually it doesn't work this way.
The voltage has no impact on the rating of the cable (well, at least within a reasonable limit, like voltage found at home. Of course at 10kV, the insulation could fail).
The *current* is the one that has an impact. (as the thermal loss is only proportional to the current (squared). That's why long distance current is transported at very high voltage : you could pass thus the same power using very little current and minimize your losses).
It's just happens that most house hold cable are rated for 10A (thus 2.5 kW), whereas most USB devices use 2A at most. (USB devices that need more than 10W usually rely on a protocole like USB-PD to politely ask a higher voltage - like 9V or 12V - while keeping the current low).
In theory you could go with a cheap tiny extension cord rated for only 0.1 A.
But then, either you need to use a non standard connection at the wall wart (which then makes complicated to obtain cable, and requires more custom cables, raising the price again) - (that's the solution used by several "exchangeable" tips for wall-warts)
Or you use a standard connector (like IEC 60320 C8 (figure 8) or C6 (mickey/cloverleaf) and risk that somebody plugs this cable into a laptop powerbrick that requires 2.5A and burns the cable - (most company then either opt for only "exchangeable tips" like Apple and older Ericsson, or actually pack a more expensive high rated cable that will work everywhere).
In Europe, the alternative is elongated wall warts that are the exact width as an Europlug and only rely on length for cooling and electronics size needs. (e.g.: some recent Apple, nearly everysingle 3rd party manufacturer like Hama, etc.)
These will always fit in any space designed for a standard plug without "plugspreading".
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
I don't think the nail is supplying any grounding.
At least not in the US.
It's a 2-probg plug, and only plastic touches the nail.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
There is a simple and very defined reason for the designs: Australia is special enough to want their own polar plug, but not special enough to get vendors to create custom designs for them.
USA and EU plugs are non-polar, or in some cases polar for only a subset of devices. Samsung, Nintendo, Logitech, all my chargers fit without a problem next to each other in a power board. On the only socket in my house which is horizontal as opposed to vertically stacked I can just plug the second Samsung charger in upside down and it fits happily as well.
The problem is very specific and affects a very small subset of people who receive standardised designs accross the world. How standard? They even use the same charger for USA / EU which use different votlages.
On top of that the stupid ranter is ranting for ranting's sake. The one case he found which in Australia specifically addresses his complaints he proceeded to complain about because somehow he managed to find a place where an outlet was installed stupidly close to the ground.
Sorry angry ranter, life's not fair. Stop your whining. We're macho men who spend all day fighting deadly animals and you're sillyness is a blight on our reputation.
The epitome of a first world problem...
I've got a power strip just for wall warts. I can plug one into each of its six outlets without problems. Maybe the author's thoughtless purchasing decisions are the problem.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The "nail" is, in fact, a functional ground connector, but only when used with a grounded cord.
VideoGIFspreading is also a thing. Replacing auto-playing videos by videos converted to GIF, so not only is there no sound but the "video" takes almost 10 times as much bandwidth to download.
#DeleteFacebook
Okay, dude, seriously, if you're this upset about a freaking plug, take a xanax. Everything looks better after a xanax.
This signature has Super Cow Powers
This is outrage for outrage's sake. This is Dalsim-level reaching for article content. This isn't a problem, move along.
I don't know if this is the one I own, but with these no device can Plugspread on me. https://www.amazon.com/Splitte... I have something like this under my desk, I need to put one in a couple other rooms
Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
But as someone else said, don't google "plugspreading" at work. Or anywhere.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Spend four bucks. A wall wart is not at all the same thing as able-bodied folks taking up all the accessible bathroom stalls or parking spaces. If you can afford all your devices, you can afford some breakout cables.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/QV...
A few years ago I read about some class action lawsuit (that I was too late to join) regarding a power strip I'd been using for years.
Do you have one of these?
https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2...
(NOTE: Originally sold by APC).
I verified I had one that was recalled but it only had about half the sockets in use due to oversized plugs. It was slightly warm, but not alarmingly so.
I was tempted to keep using it but couldn't justify even a slight risk of fire.
In parts of Europe, you don't have 3-phase live + neutral where the differential between live and neutral is 110 or 220V, but 5 phase to the house with two (arbitrary) live wires where the diifferential between the two used lives is 220V, plus a separate ground. This can either be floating ground, connected ground at the nearest transformer, or true earth in each house.
Thankfully, most wall warts are just 2 prong. I usually being an extension cord specifically for those. That way, the small plug of the extension cord is the only thing talking up space on my strip
Why does he say every thing twice? Two times, does he really need to do that?
A power cube is a cube about 5cm / 2" on a side with one power socket in each of 4 sides. The 5th side has 2x2.1amp USB-A sockets. The 6th suffer is where the power cord joins the cube. They are small, light and great for home or traveling. Mine is 240v which works great anywhere (240 or 120) with the right adapter. You'll never buy a flat power bar again.
Only boring people are ever bored.
I suppose it is entirely too ... "masculine" ... to ask "May I sit here?" People don't put their bags, or briefcases, or backpacks on the seat just to piss you off; they put it there because that seat was empty when they sat down.
You need or want that seat. An ADULT would say "Excuse me, my I sit here?" Nine times out of ten, the person will say something like "Oh, excuse me. Sure." and move the bag between his feet. The 10th time is probably some sort of hostile/drunk/drugged out boor, and you probably don't want to sit next to him anyway.
Of course, if it's a woman - as it sometimes is - she'll often say "NO", because she doesn't want to share the seat with me, a man. I sort of understand that, because she can't see that I'm a former Boy Scout, absolutely honorable retired military officer who would sacrifice his own life to save hers. She just sees "Creepy old man!"
No woman would ever refuse to allow another woman to share the seat, of course.
Just what makes you think you DESERVE to sit in the most convenient spot for you. I can guarantee you that I made the extra effort to get where I needed to be and search the perfect spot for me at the time. First come, first served. You are not entitled to anything, it's there as a convenience, not an entitlement. What would you do if there were no outlets? Stop blaming other people for your poor planning, and plan ahead like you won't have access to power.
There are 2 groups of people you can make fun of on the Internet without fear of attack. The illiterate, and the Amish.