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Placebo Button
A placebo button is a push-button or other control that appears to have functionality but has no physical effect when pressed. Such buttons can appear to work, by lighting up or otherwise reacting, which rewards the user by giving them an illusion of control. They are commonly placed in situations where it would have once been useful to have such a button but the system now operates automatically, such as a manual thermostat in a temperature-regulated office. Were the control removed entirely, some users would feel frustrated at the awareness they were not in control. Office thermostats It has been reported that the temperature set point adjustment on thermostats in many office buildings in the United States is non-functional, installed to give tenants' employees a similar illusion of control. In some cases they act as input devices to a central control computer but in others they serve no purpose other than to keep employees contented. A common implementation in buildings with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Push-button
A push-button (also spelled pushbutton) or simply button is a simple switch mechanism to control some aspect of a machine or a process. Buttons are typically made out of hard material, usually plastic or metal. The surface is usually flat or shaped to accommodate the human finger or hand, so as to be easily depressed or pushed. Buttons are most often biased switches, although many un-biased buttons (due to their physical nature) still require a spring to return to their un-pushed state. Terms for the "pushing" of a button include pressing, depressing, mashing, slapping, hitting, and punching. Uses The "push-button" has been utilized in calculators, push-button telephones, kitchen appliances, and various other mechanical and electronic devices, home and commercial. In industrial and commercial applications, push buttons can be connected together by a mechanical linkage so that the act of pushing one button causes the other button to be released. In this way, a stop button ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground passenger railway. Opened on 10 January 1863, it is now part of the Circle line (London Underground), Circle, District line, District, Hammersmith & City line, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. The first line to operate underground electric locomotive, electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2020/21 was used for 296 million passenger journeys, making it List of metro systems, one of the world's busiest metro systems. The 11 lines collectively handle up to 5 million passenger journeys a day and serve 272 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pedestrian Crossings
A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna and Geneva Conventions, both of which pertain to road signs and road traffic. Marked pedestrian crossings are often found at intersections, but may also be at other points on busy roads that would otherwise be too unsafe to cross without assistance due to vehicle numbers, speed or road widths. They are also commonly installed where large numbers of pedestrians are attempting to cross (such as in shopping areas) or where vulnerable road users (such as school children) regularly cross. Rules govern usage of the pedestrian crossings to ensure safety; for example, in some areas, the pedestrian must be more than halfway across the crosswalk before the driver proceeds. Signalised pedestrian crossings clearly separate when each type of traffic (pedestrians or road vehicles) can use the crossing. Unsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Switches
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of switch is an electromechanical device consisting of one or more sets of movable electrical contacts connected to external circuits. When a pair of contacts is touching current can pass between them, while when the contacts are separated no current can flow. Switches are made in many different configurations; they may have multiple sets of contacts controlled by the same knob or actuator, and the contacts may operate simultaneously, sequentially, or alternately. A switch may be operated manually, for example, a light switch or a keyboard button, or may function as a sensing element to sense the position of a machine part, liquid level, pressure, or temperature, such as a thermostat. Many specialized forms exist, such as the toggle switch, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magical Thinking
Magical thinking, or superstitious thinking, is the belief that unrelated events are causally connected despite the absence of any plausible causal link between them, particularly as a result of supernatural effects. Examples include the idea that personal thoughts can influence the external world without acting on them, or that objects must be causally connected if they resemble each other or have come into contact with each other in the past. Magical thinking is a type of fallacious thinking and is a common source of invalid causal inferences. Unlike the confusion of correlation with causation, magical thinking does not require the events to be correlated. The precise definition of magical thinking may vary subtly when used by different theorists or among different fields of study. In anthropology (the earliest research), the posited causality is between religious ritual, prayer, sacrifice, or the observance of a taboo, and an expected benefit or recompense. Later research indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deception
Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight of hand as well as distraction, camouflage or concealment. There is also self-deception, as in bad faith. It can also be called, with varying subjective implications, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification, ruse, or subterfuge. Deception is a major relational transgression that often leads to feelings of betrayal and distrust between relational partners. Deception violates relational rules and is considered to be a negative violation of expectations. Most people expect friends, relational partners, and even strangers to be truthful most of the time. If people expected most conversations to be untruthful, talking and communicating with others would require distraction and misdirection to acquire reliable information. A significant amount ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Affordance
Affordance is what the environment offers the individual. American psychologist James J. Gibson coined the term in his 1966 book, ''The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems'', and it occurs in many of his earlier essays. However, his best-known definition is taken from his seminal 1979 book, ''The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception'': The word is used in a variety of fields: perceptual psychology, cognitive psychology, environmental psychology, criminology, industrial design, human–computer interaction (HCI), interaction design, user-centered design, communication studies, instructional design, science, technology and society (STS), sports science and artificial intelligence. Original development Gibson developed the concept of affordance over many years, culminating in his final book, ''The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception'' in 1979. He defined an affordance as what the environment provides or furnishes the animal. Notably, Gibson compares an affordance wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Illusion Of Control
The illusion of control is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events. It was named by U.S. psychologist Ellen Langer and is thought to influence gambling behavior and belief in the paranormal. Along with illusory superiority and optimism bias, the illusion of control is one of the positive illusions. Definition The illusion of control is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events, for example, when someone feels a sense of control over outcomes that they demonstrably do not influence. The illusion might arise because a person lacks direct introspective insight into whether they are in control of events. This has been called the introspection illusion. Instead, they may judge their degree of control by a process which is often unreliable. As a result, they see themselves as responsible for events to which there is little or no causal link. For example, in one study, college students were in a virtual reality setting to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Underground D78 Stock
The London Underground D78 Stock, commonly referred to as D Stock, was a type of sub-surface rolling stock which operated on the District line of the London Underground, except on the Wimbledon to Edgware Road service. The first units were withdrawn in January 2015 with the last withdrawn on 21 April 2017. History The D stock was ordered in 1976 to replace the pre-war CO/ CP Stock and post-war R Stock on the District line. Seventy-five six-car trains were built by Metro-Cammell, Washwood Heath, the first entering service on 28 January 1980 with last delivered in 1983. Details The D Stock consisted of six-car trains, as opposed to the seven-car trains of CO/CP and R Stock, whose cars were shorter: under normal operation, each train consisted of two 3-car units, and 20 of the units are double-ended to allow 3-car operations under exceptional circumstances. The traction motors were the same LT118 type as on 1973 Tube Stock, and the bogies are same, unlike other subsurface ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Londonist
Gothamist LLC is the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, and other local coverage. It was founded in 2003 by Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung. In March 2017, Joe Ricketts, owner of DNAinfo, acquired the company and, in November 2017, the websites were temporarily shut down after the newsroom staff voted to unionize. In February 2018, it was announced that New York Public Radio, KPCC and WAMU had acquired Gothamist, LAist and DCist, respectively. Chicagoist was purchased by Chicago-born rapper Chance the Rapper in July 2018. History Early history and other blogs The namesake blog, Gothamist, focused on New York City, was founded in 2003, by publisher Jake Dobkin and editor Jen Chung. other blogs operated by the company include LAist (for Los Angeles), DCist for Washington, D.C., Chicagoist, and SFist (for San Francisco) in the United States, as well as Shanghaiist internationally. Canadian blog Torontois ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Underground 1996 Stock
The London Underground 1996 Stock is a type of rolling stock used on the Jubilee line of the London Underground. The trains were built by Alstom, GEC Alsthom-Metro-Cammell and entered service in 1997. They are similar to the London Underground 1995 Stock, 1995 Stock used on the Northern line. The original 59 trains were initially built as 6-car trains. In 2005, an additional trailer car was added to lengthen each train to 7-cars and four additional 7-car trains delivered, bringing the total to 63 7-car trains. History The 1996 stock was ordered for the opening of the Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) from Green Park tube station, Green Park to Stratford tube station, Stratford. The original plan was to heavily refurbish the original London Underground 1983 Stock, 1983 stock with similar exteriors and interiors to the 1996 stock, and replace the single-leaf doors with double doors, but this proved too expensive and was abandoned. Delays in the construction of the JLE meant that the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Underground 1995 Stock
The London Underground 1995 Stock is a type of rolling stock used on the Northern line of the London Underground. A total of 106 six-car trains were built, entering service between June 1998 and April 2001, replacing the 1959 Stock, 1962 Stock and 1972 Stock. They are very similar to the 1996 Stock used on the Jubilee line. History In the early 1990s, one aspect of work to comprehensively refurbish the Northern line involved the replacement of the 1959 Stock, 1962 Stock and 1972 Stock trains in use at the time. In April 1995, London Underground and GEC Alsthom (later Alstom) signed a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deal worth £400m to provide 106 six-car trains. Unlike previous rolling stock contracts on the Underground, GEC Alsthom were contracted to design, build and finance the new trains - as well as maintain the trains for at least a 20 year period (extendable to 36 years). London Underground then pays Alstom depending on the availability and reliability of the trains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
