SONOFF POW Mains Monitor

I’ll give my verdict first – a complete waste of time and money.
Yes, it’s a while since I purchased this thing and I’ve already referred to ‘Home Assistant’ – which if it was human, would have been dismissed forthwith.
So latterly I installed it. The first ‘hurdle’ is the so-called ‘User Manual’. I had to use a head-band magnifier to read it.
The 2nd ‘hurdle’ the connection diagram IS INCORRECT. Below a photo demonstrating both the almost unreadable text and the INCORRECT CONNECTION DIAGRAM. I’ve also laid an SD Card holder, to give an idea of scale.
Clicking on a photo DOES allow reading of the text due to the High-def pic taken with my old, but loved Agfa DC2030r 12 Megapixel camera.

Following this diagram will result in NO READINGS OTHER THAN ZERO.
Not surprising really, because the CT transformer needs to ENCLOSE ONLY ONE LEG OF THE MAINS SUPPLY, NOT TWO.
My photo below shows the CORRECT CONNECTION – only the ‘L’ leg of the supply going through the CT core.

On the left, is shown only the ‘L’ (Black in Portugal) leg of the mains connection inserted through the CT Transformer.

There are one or two conclusions that can be drawn from this experience.
NO-ONE has attempted to carry out the instructions provided. Primarily, because these are unreadable, and secondly it simply doesn’t work as stated.
This is so typical of the complete shit emanating from China.
Full of promise, complete failure to deliver.
‘Box-shifters’ like Robert Mauser here in Portugal, obviously trust the ‘CE’ given on these products, which are certified as such by the original supplier themselves. To me, ‘CE‘ inevitably signifies COMPLETE EXCREMENT.

And relax..

I can read the display, but I refuse to use the ‘Home Assistant’ crap. Instead I will use the device readings to calibrate my own design, which will be documented later in Tabuascasa

Bot or Not?

Tried to access hotels.com and was presented with this, on which I followed the instruction.
So I rotated the ‘object’ to face the hand:

Got this result after following the instruction:

Now who is the ‘bot’ here? The ‘admonition’ contained the important context of what was being asked for, missing in the question. WTF couldn’t they ask the correct question in the first place?
An irritating bag of shite – obviously run by ‘bots’. (I’m too polite here to use the term I would like to use about the authors of this crud.

Needless to say, hotels.com, didn’t get my custom.

Comments. Should you wish to comment, please do so, and simply ignore’ the ‘Block’ bullshit.
Please see what I think about WordPress’s idea of what a ‘comment is here: What is a comment?

Fatima, Wherefore Art Thou?

Fátima, porque estás?

Tradução para Português
Proudly announced on the website of ‘The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila’ on Nov. 10th 2024.

As the worldwide Catholic Church prepares for the 100th anniversary celebration of the apparition to Our Lady of Fatima to The Venerable Sr. Lucia dos Santos in Pontevedra, Spain next year, the World Apostolate of Fatima (WAF) Philippines invites the faithful to take part on the National Fatima Convention on the Centenary of the Five First Saturday Devotion of December 10th 2024.’

Hmmm! Now I always thought, and was taught, that ‘Our Lady of Fatima’ referred to the ‘manifestation’ of the Virgin Mary to three girls in Fatima, Portugal. There is not one mention of that in this article.
‘Smacks’ to me like another copycat ‘apparition’ used to boost tourist income.

Wickipaedia has this: ‘Fátima is a Portuguese city located in Serra de Aire , headquarters of the Parish of Fátima of the Municipality of Ourém , in the former province of Beira Litoral , and in the current region Oeste e Vale do Tejo and NUT3 of Médio Tejo , a parish with 71.29 km² of area [ 1 ] and 13,212 inhabitants ( 2021 census ) [ 2 ] , therefore having a population density of 185.3 inhab./km².

Its worldwide fame is due to the phenomenon of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary reported by three shepherd children from May 13 to October 13 , 1917.

I also have another issue with the article, I quote ‘worldwide Catholic Church prepares for the 100th anniversary celebration of the apparition to Our Lady of Fatima to The Venerable Sr. Lucia dos Santos in Pontevedra, Spain’

Who wrote this rubbish?

For more ‘icing on the cake’, and slapping it on thick, read this: Apparitions at Pontevedra

Português
Orgulhosamente anunciado no site da ‘Arquidiocese Católica Romana de Manila’ a 10 de novembro de 2024

‘Enquanto a Igreja Católica mundial se prepara para a celebração do 100º aniversário da aparição de Nossa Senhora de Fátima à Venerável Irmã Lúcia dos Santos em Pontevedra, Espanha, no próximo ano, o Apostolado Mundial de Fátima (WAF) Filipinas convida os fiéis a participar sobre a Convenção Nacional de Fátima no Centenário dos Cinco Primeiros Sábados Devocionais de 10 de Dezembro de 2024.’

Hmmm! Ora sempre pensei, e ensinaram-me, que “Nossa Senhora de Fátima” se referia à “manifestação” da Virgem Maria a três meninas em Fátima, Portugal. Não há uma menção a isso neste artigo.
‘Parece-me’ como outra ‘aparição’ imitadora usada para aumentar o rendimento turístico.

A Wickipedia tem isto: ‘Fátima é uma cidade portuguesa situada na Serra de Aire, sede da Freguesia de Fátima do Concelho de Ourém, na antiga província da Beira Litoral, e na actual região Oeste e Vale do Tejo e NUT3 do Médio Tejo, freguesia com 71,29 km² de área[1] e 13.212 habitantes (censos 2021)[2], tendo portanto uma densidade populacional de 185,3 hab./km².

A sua fama mundial deve-se ao fenómeno das aparições da Virgem Maria relatadas por três pastorinhos de 13 de Maio a 13 de Outubro de 1917. ‘

Tenho também outro problema com o artigo, cito ‘A Igreja Católica mundial prepara-se para a celebração do 100º aniversário da aparição de Nossa Senhora de Fátima à Venerável Irmã Lúcia dos Santos em Pontevedra, Espanha’

Quem escreveu este lixo?

Para mais ‘cereja no topo do bolo’, e para dar um tapa na espessura, leia isto:Aparições em Pontevedra

National Fatima Convention to be held in Quezon City

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Se quiser comentar, simplesmente ignore a merda dos ‘bloqueios’ imposta em cada post pelo wordpress, e simplesmente digite o seu comentário.

Accidents and Incidents

‘Acidentes’ e Incidentes.

Porquê a referência acentuada aos acidentes? Porque, como sabemos pelos velhos e sábios pais que nos ensinaram, e pelos seus pais, e pelos pais antes deles – “os acidentes quase nunca acontecem”.

Existe geralmente alguém, ou mais provavelmente o comportamento separado, mas combinado, de alguém e de outros, que, à primeira vista, não são partes no “acidente”, todos “contribuem” para o “acidente”.

Fale com um polícia de trânsito – não há “acidentes” de trânsito, certamente não no Reino Unido, alguém, talvez mais, desempenhou um papel no incidente. Assim sendo, o que antes era a abreviatura ‘RTA’, agora RTI – Incidente de Trânsito Rodoviário. E acredito com razão.

A lógica “difusa” pode ser aplicada, perante uma medida de responsabilidade a todos os envolvidos, quer estejam presentes ou não.

Dê uma vista de olhos nesta fotografia. o que acha?

[English]
‘Accidents’ and Incidents.

Why the accented reference to accidents? Because as we know from the wise old parents that taught us, and from their parents, and parents before them – ‘accidents hardly ever happen’.

There is usually someone, or more likely the separate, but combined behavior of someone and others, who, at first glance are not party to the ‘accident’, all ‘contribute’ to the ‘accident’.

Talk to a traffic cop – there are no road traffic ‘accidents’, certainly not in the UK, someone, maybe more, have played a role in the incident. Therefore, what used to be the shorthand ‘RTA’, is now an RTI – Road Traffic Incident. And I believe rightly so.

‘Fuzzy’ logic can be applied, given a measure of responsibilty to all concerned, whether they be present or not.

Take a look at this photograph. what do you think?
Click on photo to enlarge it.
Clique na foto para a ampliar.

Eu tenho um cenário para ti. Um idoso está a falar com um amigo por cima de uma vedação. A conversa termina e o tipo volta para a estrada, mesmo no caminho de um camião carregado, não muito diferente do acima. O condutor pisa forte no travão e para o veículo antes de atingir o idoso.

A energia cinética armazenada na pilha mal protegida de blocos empilhados demasiado alto atrás dele faz com que a pega fraca, aplicada incorretamente, se rompa e os blocos sejam catapultados para a frente, atingindo o senhor idoso. Morre mais tarde no hospital.

Há algum tempo, um familiar meu próximo veio passar uma curta estadia. Testemunhou mais do que um incidente com o exemplo do comportamento do “velho cavalheiro” e, pior, de pessoas muito mais jovens, a fazerem exatamente a mesma coisa. Ele observou que isto cheirava a “solipsismo”. [procure!]
Uma perspectiva interessante, pensei.

Tenho aqui as minhas próprias opiniões sobre quem é o culpado, e também o “grau” da sua respectiva culpabilidade.
Diga-me o que pensa.

Esteja ciente de que existe a tentação de sugerir que a “teoria da probabilidade” poderia ser utilizada para distribuir graus de culpa. Isto seria errado, pois na verdade todos os “acidentes” têm “cenários” diferentes.
Lógica difusa(Wikipedia)

[English]
I have a scenario for you. An elderly guy is talking over a fence to a friend. Their conversation ends, and the guy steps back onto the road, right into the path of a loaded truck, not unlike that above. The driver steps hard on his brake, and brings his vehicle to a stop before hitting the elderly gentleman.

Kinetic energy stored in the badly-secured stack of blocks piled too high behind him, result in the feeble strap, incorrectly applied, snapping, and blocks catapulting forward, hitting the elderly gent. He dies later in hospital.

Some considerable time ago, a close relative of mine came for a short stay. He witnessed more than one incident of the example of the ‘old’ gent’s behaviour, and worse, by folks much younger, doing exactly the same thing. He had remarked that it smacked of ‘solipsism’. [look it up!]
An interesting perspective, I thought.

I have my own opinions about who is being culpable here, and also the ‘degree’ of their respective culpability.
Tell me what you think.

Be aware that there is a temptation to imply that ‘probability theory’ could be used to apportion degrees of guilt. This would be wrong, as in fact all ‘accidents’ have different ‘scenarios’.
Fuzzy Logic (Wikipedia)

IB50 – Big Brother Bombast or Bureaucratic Bullshit?

This is a copy of a post I formerly published on another of my websites, some considerable time ago.
It demonstrates quite clearly the offhand and demeaning treatment to anyone in the UK who is on the ‘radar’ of the UK’s so-called Benefit system.
It also demonstrates the patently obvious poor quality of employees who ‘manned’ the telephones purporting to give ‘help’ and ‘assistance’ to the general public.

The poor individual I spoke to, had no idea that I was recording our conversation, but having had to put up with stupidity and ignorance before with these folks, I was determined to capture exactly, what was said between us. He was also unaware of what lay in wait for him, as I have to admit here, that I knew exactly what I wanted to ask, having ascertained what I was entitled to.
My ‘interviewing’ technique may seem a little cruel to others, but in all honesty, I actually enjoyed his all-too-apparent discomfort, naughty of me I know. In retrospect, here was an individual who should never have been placed into a public-facing role.

BBBombast

Zay are so stupid!

“Desculpe?” I said.

He looked closer at me “English? Dutch?”

I was tempted to reply “Geordie”, given this is the second occasion I’ve been mistaken for Dutch by an English speaking non-Portuguese.

“English” I replied. “What is the problem?”

“Vot is the problem? They renovate the fountain and now I cannot stand my bottles to be filled vithout them tippling over!”

He demonstrated and repeated his complaint with even more vehemence. ” Zay are so very, very stupid!”

He had already filled ten or so, large bottles, and was busy filling the next ten. That his conspicuous consumption indicated filling a catering need, rather than a domestic one was obvious. His arrogant disdain of the people of the country within which he’d chosen to live was breathtaking. That a simple square of wood was missing from his ‘filling kit’ was clearly beyond his comprehension or imagination.

I felt very much like laughing, but stopped myself just in time, and just savoured the moment. Two reasons mainly. One, I simply enjoyed the moment of seeing someone who had his head so far up his own arse, his brains had turned to shit, and secondly, I didn’t want to continue where Wellington left off, and start Peninsular War II.

Zay are so Stupid!

Zay are so very stupid!