You go MIT
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Interesting: My response would be "depends on the battery and the bulb", which was sort of justified as the right answer in the video.
But that is a difference between experience and knowledge.
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My first thought was "depends on the battery and the light bulb."
I certainly wouldn't expect a common battery to light a common house light. Then again, I'm not an MIT graduate.
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I love the response of one of them trying to justify "I'm not a electric or mech engineer"
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Video did not teach me how to power a light bulb with a battery. 2/5 stars.
What kind of engineers are they. I'm technically an engineer but I wouldn't be able to give myself an electric shock from a battery. I was asked the toilet question at an interview once. My first thought was fucking hell why would I want to know how a toilet works. Naturally all that came out of me squeaky meek no idea. Glad to say I turned them down for a second round. They were probably looking for a plumber.
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I was asked the toilet question at an interview once
Never heard of this one, what is the question?
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In the video, they do not say what light bulb and battery was used, so we do not know if the students' failure to light the bulb was due to their incompetence or was it faulty/mismatched hardware (broken bulb, empty battery, voltage too low, modern bulb with electronics that want 230V AC etc).
Also it is not easy to hold the cable, bulb and battery connected in air, it would be fair to give them a soldering iron. (It could be also fun looking at how they try to use it)
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@DogsB said:
It's nothing too contrary. Just how does a toilet work?I was asked the toilet question at an interview once
Never heard of this one, what is the question?
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I was thinking that but was too much of a gutless wonder to say it aloud in the interview. Cowardice, I thought, was the better part of valor at the time.
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Also it is not easy to hold the cable, bulb and battery connected in air, it would be fair to give them a soldering iron. (It could be also fun looking at how they try to use it)
Excuses.
With two free hands, it's easy enough. And nowhere does it say that they aren't allowed to put things on the ground. Failing that, you could probably even ask the person asking the question to briefly hold something. The failure that was demonstrated in the video is much more fundamental than that.
However, I agree that watching them soldering would be amusing. Especially while standing there and holding stuff midair.
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In the video, they do not say what light bulb and battery was used, so we do not know if the students' failure to light the bulb was due to their incompetence or was it faulty/mismatched hardware
In most of the responses, you can see the students holding a battery and what looks like a common house light.
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While a key part here seems to be realizing the fact that the bulb requires a much higher voltage, the mere fact that there needs to be a loop for the electricity to flow seems lost on a lot of the people in the video.
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What? Don't you see the type D 1.5V battery and the 70W light bulb?
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@Salamander said:
@DogsB said:
It's nothing too contrary. Just how does a toilet work?I was asked the toilet question at an interview once
Never heard of this one, what is the question?English or American? Because AIUI, they have quite different mechanisms
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Please note that that justification is for being unable to answer "why didn't that work?"
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English or American? Because AIUI, they have quite different mechanisms
It doesn't matter too much, because in all cases, a bucket of water will serve just fine as an alternate flushing mechanism. ;)
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And an empty bucket serves fine as an alternative toilet
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@DogsB said:
how does a toilet work?
"You pull the handle/press the button and the water flushes"
Don't forget "jiggle the handle"
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There are no easy-to-obtain light bulbs you can power with an easy-to-obtain battery. A few dozen batteries, maybe.
Now if MIT has a electronics parts store near by, they could have done this experiment with a individual LED. (Not an LED bulb with an Edison base.) That would have made more sense. Of course then you kind of need the right resistor or you have a good shot of blowing up the LED...
Anyway, the point is: MIT graduates can't do it because, practically-speaking, it can't be done.
No I did not, and will not, watch the video.
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Ok, the light bulb problem is one thing, but you seriously don't know how a toilet works? That's genuinely weird.
EDIT: although I guess I don't know how the ones in offices that don't have a water tank work. So. I am also weird.
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All this discussion about whether it's a bulb you can power using the battery or not, and no one noticed that one person did manage to get the light bulb working?
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Just how does a toilet work?
The goal isn't that you give a strictly correct answer, but to discover how you approach problems you're unfamiliar with. Do you give a facile, shallow answer and that's the end of it? Do you take some time to think? Do you admit you don't know, and do you explainhow you'd find out? Do you ask for clarification?Or, it's some HR drone who writes down "has no idea how toilet works, would not recommend", in which case they need a healthy dose of Basic Instructions.
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Ok, the light bulb problem is one thing, but you seriously don't know how a toilet works? That's genuinely weird.
Not really. You know how to flush it. That's all you really need to know. This is why we have building maintenance and I presume they know how to call a plumber. I use my mouth to deliver food stuff into my stomach. Do I know how it gets from my mouth to my stomach. Or better still understand how the sugars in the food are stored by my arse.EDIT: although I guess I don't know how the ones in offices that don't have a water tank work. So. I am also weird.
The goal isn't that you give a strictly correct answer, but to discover how you approach problems you're unfamiliar with. Do you give a facile, shallow answer and that's the end of it? Do you take some time to think? Do you admit you don't know, and do you explainhow you'd find out? Do you ask for clarification?
How about fucking off and giving me a domain specific problem. Those I can puzzle out.
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an empty bucket serves fine as an alternative toilet
But one that's 1/4 full of sawdust to start with, and comes with another bucket full of sawdust and a scoop to finish with, is ever so much more civilized.
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There are no easy-to-obtain light bulbs you can power with an easy-to-obtain battery.
Do hardware stores not sell torch bulbs and D cells in your country?
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But one that's 1/4 full of sawdust to start with, and comes with another bucket full of sawdust and a scoop to finish with, is ever so much more civilized.
Australian confirmed
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It's useful to know these things before renovating the bathroom.
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Oh the possibilities......Ok, I'll go with:
That's the difference between a User and a Developer. If stops working for the User, they crap out 'cos they do not have the knowledge / skills to fix it. If it stops working for a Developer, and because he knows his shit; he can get things flowing again.
Oh, one other difference: A User takes no shit and hands out crap; a Developer takes all the crap and don't give a shit.
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When the water went at my parents' house (fairly regular occurrence when off-mains) we went with a bucket of rainwater to flush. Sometimes an unfortunate slug would have got into the bucket and go down with the rest of the water.
Later on, my Dad moved to a caravan with no services at all. His bathroom then was a hole in the ground: when I stayed with him I held it overnight until I could get to a house with a real toilet
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The truly amazing thing about the sawdust bucket is that provided you cover each dump with a scoop of sawdust and it's not completely saturated with old piss, it doesn't actually smell of anything but sawdust. Sawdust is amazing. We ran a 25 litre bucket with a seat on top for the week it took me to tear out and rebuild the bathroom floor, and filled it twice. Indoors, no special ventilation, didn't stink.
Edit: it was an American who gave me the idea. If I ever meet him, I shall buy him beer.
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The truly amazing thing about the sawdust bucket is that provided you cover each dump with a scoop of sawdust and it's not completely saturated with old piss, it doesn't actually stink
My cats somehow manage to gas the house out and they do bury it properly.
I can buy a little bag of sawdust-pellet cat litter for 10 quid, or for the same price I can buy a 25 kilo sack of bedding for horses. It probably comes out of the same packaging plant. My neighbour did look confused when he saw me lugging a half-dozen sacks of horse bedding through the front door though
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sawdust-pellet cat litter
doesn't de-stink as effectively as raw sawdust, because it has bigger air spaces. Our vet tells me I shouldn't use plain sawdust in Puss's litter tray though, as it allegedly tends to get stuck between their toes and cause infected wounds.
My favorite cat litter at present is this wood-pulp-based clumping one. Trick is to use a huge tray (ours is a twenty litre storage drawer) and have at least four bags of the stuff on the go at any time. With a tray that big, just scooping out the clumps and dumping in another bag when the pile gets a bit shallow is enough - the piss scarcely ever gets as far as the bottom of the tray, so it stays clean without ever needing to dump and refill the whole lot.
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Not really. You know how to flush it. That's all you really need to know.
Yeah but the mechanism wears out every decade or so, so unless you're a little baby-infant you've surely had to repair a toilet at least once. And it's basically impossible to repair one without knowing how it works.
I use my mouth to deliver food stuff into my stomach. Do I know how it gets from my mouth to my stomach.
I hope so, that's like middle school lessons around here.
Do hardware stores not sell torch bulbs and D cells in your country?
Maybe if I visited one in a time-pod. They've all been LED powered for like 10 years here.
That said, a LED flashlight bulb would make the experiment possible, this is true.
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I have a local pet store that sells this stuff called "Swheat Scoop". As implied by the name, it's made with wheat chaff somehow. Works great.
Years ago, SomethingAwful did a serious article about how you should never use clay-based litters, and I've always followed their advice even though I no longer remember the health concern they raised.
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And it's basically impossible to repair one without knowing how it works.
I don't know about you, but I don't repair my own appliances.
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Not really. You know how to flush it. That's all you really need to know.
No I haven't. I had a problem with toilet once and the landlord fixed it that afternoon. The system works.Yeah but the mechanism wears out every decade or so, so unless you're a little baby-infant you've surely had to repair a toilet at least once. And it's basically impossible to repair one without knowing how it works.
I hope so, that's like middle school lessons around here.
I have my doubts about English schools. I vaguely remember but the saliva bit sounds icky and I've made it a point to know as little as possible about bodily fluids. It always ends there in tears.
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I don't know about you, but I don't repair my own appliances.
Like I said, you're a little baby-infant.
You're not yet a man until you've repaired at least one toilet.
No I haven't. I had a problem with toilet once and the landlord fixed it that afternoon. The system works.
Little baby-infants all over.
You disgust me.
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To be fair, there's some complex shit going on with the toilet actually flushing all the water down the drain, and some of it you don't really need to know to fix anything going on in the tank, which is where all of the issues I've had to repair have occurred.
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To be fair, there's some complex shit going on with the toilet actually flushing all the water down the drain,
... gravity?
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I have a local pet store that sells this stuff called "Swheat Scoop". As implied by the name, it's made with wheat chaff somehow. Works great.
Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for a similar type for testing. Don't think I've seen it for sale here so far though.
Trick is to use a huge tray (ours is a twenty litre storage drawer) and have at least four bags of the stuff on the go at any time. With a tray that big, just scooping out the clumps and dumping in another bag when the pile gets a bit shallow is enough - the piss scarcely ever gets as far as the bottom of the tray, so it stays clean without ever needing to dump and refill the whole lot.
I'll have to try that. My female is very picky about the state of the litter box and that might suit her better.
I've got one of these at the moment as it was getting weird to have a cat stare at you without blinking while it laid a cat-egg:
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- Looks like you missed my oh-so-subtle pun.
- Suction, too.
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Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for a similar type for testing. Don't think I've seen it for sale here so far though.
I have no idea where you are, but Petsmart has it. They're pretty huge here in the US.
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I have no idea where you are, but Petsmart has it. They're pretty huge here in the US.
I'm in the UK, if anyone else is interested I think the closest we have (wheat and corn) is this stuff:
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you've surely had to repair a toilet
Actually: having to repair / unblock the toilet was, what I call, a life event. It was the occasion when I realised that I actual owned my own home, because the buck stopped with me. Yes, I had done so before but there was always the comfort of knowing that I could "pass the buck".
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I no longer remember the health concern they raised
If they're talking about the bentonite-based clumping stuff, I expect it would be dust. Damp bentonite is amazingly sticky stuff and I'm sure bentonite dust does nothing good to lung tissue.
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http://www.petsmart.com/cat/litter/cat-36-catid-200093?SearchParameter=%26%40QueryTerm%3D*%26CategoryUUIDLevelX%2FnfoKmUCQmRYAAAFD8RNUeFk3%2Fjl4KmUCQRAUAAAFDaEdUeFk3%2F4NIKmUCQ5NoAAAFD3S1UeFk3%2Fyb0KmUCQcncAAAFDeSRUeFk3%3DjGgKmUCQK2YAAAFD5EBUeFk3%26CategoryUUIDLevelX%3DnfoKmUCQmRYAAAFD8RNUeFk3%26OnlineFlag%3D1%26Brand%3DSwheat%2BScoop%26%40GroupSize.Brand%3D0%26%40Sort.CategoryPosition%3D0%26%40Sort.SalesRankUnitsIndex%3D0&PageSize=24&_t=Brand&gclid=Cj0KEQjwtO2wBRCu0d2dkvjVi5cBEiQAMEIVGcjxXHOhGhYW9C2as2WdirtuasZwwedJBB-Zy9P8yrQaAjSM8P8HAQ
I have no idea where you are, but Petsmart has it. They're pretty huge here in the US.
Much like their URLs.
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Oooooooooooooooohhhh that maybe a whoosh.
Actually: having to repair / unblock the toilet was, what I call, a life event. It was the occasion when I realised that I actual owned my own home, because the buck stopped with me. Yes, I had done so before but there was always the comfort of knowing that I could "pass the buck".
See this is why behaving like a adult is scary. The horror of having to unblock your own toliet without a safty net.I can't help but thing this is relevant. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1a5nmh/what_do_you_do_when_you_poop_at_someone_elses/
This one I feel is most relevant https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1a5nmh/what_do_you_do_when_you_poop_at_someone_elses/c8udgos
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it's made with wheat chaff somehow. Works great.
Does it clump?