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Idiot Proof
An idiot-proof or foolproof design is one that cannot be misused either inherently, or by use of defensive design principles. The implication is that the design is usable even by someone of low intelligence who would not use it properly. The term ''foolproof'' originates in 1902. The term ''idiot-proof'' became popular in the 1970s. It may have been invented as a stronger-sounding version of foolproof, as the force of foolproof had declined due to frequent usage. Perhaps for the same reason, "foolproof" is now a formal term, whereas "idiot-proof" remains informal. Several Murphy's law adages claim that idiot-proof systems cannot be made, for example "Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool" and "If you make something idiot-proof, someone will just make a better idiot." Along those lines, Douglas Adams wrote in ''Mostly Harmless'', "a common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paper Cutting Machine With Two-handed Safety Switches
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is drained through a fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed on the surface, it can be pressed and dried. The papermaking process developed in east Asia, probably China, at least as early as 105 CE, by the Han court eunuch Cai Lun, although the earliest archaeological fragments of paper derive from the 2nd century BCE in China. Although paper was originally made in single sheets by hand, today it is mass-produced on large machines—some making reels 10 metres wide, running at 2,000 metres per minute and up to 600,000 tonnes a year. It is a versatile material with many uses, including printing, painting, graphics, signage, design, packaging, decorating, writing, and cleaning. It may also be used as filter paper, wallpaper, book endpaper, conservation paper, laminated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defensive Design
Defensive design is the practice of planning for Contingency plan, contingencies in the design stage of a project or undertaking. Essentially, it is the practice of anticipating all possible ways that an end-user could misuse a device, and designing the device so as to make such misuse impossible, or to minimize the negative consequences. For example, if it is important that a plug is inserted into a socket in a particular orientation, the socket and plug should be designed so that it is physically impossible to insert the plug incorrectly. Power sockets are often keyed in such a manner, to prevent the transposition of live and neutral. They are also recessed in the wall in a way that makes it impossible to touch connectors once they become live. Defensive design in software engineering is called defensive programming. Murphy's law is a well-known statement of the need for defensive design, and also of its ultimate limitations. Applications Computer software Implementation d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murphy's Law
Murphy's law is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Though similar statements and concepts have been made over the course of history, the law itself was coined by, and named after, American aerospace engineer Edward A. Murphy Jr.; its exact origins are debated, but it is generally agreed it originated from Murphy and his team following a mishap during rocket sled tests some time between 1948 and 1949, and was finalized and first popularized by testing project head John Stapp during a later press conference. Murphy's original quote was the precautionary design advice that "If there are two or more ways to do something and one of those results in a catastrophe, then someone will do it that way." The law entered wider public knowledge in the late 1970s with the publication of Arthur Bloch's 1977 book ''Murphy's Law, and Other Reasons Why Things Go WRONG'', which included other variations and Corollary, corollaries of the law. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' evolved into a "trilogy" of six (or five, according to the author) books which sold more than 15 million copies in his life. It was made into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame. Adams wrote ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'' (1987) and '' The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul'' (1988), and co-wrote '' The Meaning of Liff'' (1983), '' The Deeper Meaning of Liff'' (1990) and '' Last Chance to See'' (1990). He wrote two stories for the television series ''Doctor Who'', including the unaired serial '' Shada'', co-wrote '' City of Death'' (1979), and served as script editor for its 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mostly Harmless
''Mostly Harmless'' is a 1992 novel by Douglas Adams and the fifth book in the '' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' series. It is described on the cover of the first edition as "The fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy". It was the last ''Hitchhiker's'' book written by Adams and his final book released in his lifetime. Plot summary Arthur Dent plans to sightsee across the Galaxy with his girlfriend Fenchurch, but she disappears during a hyperspace jump, a result of being from an unstable sector of the Galaxy. Depressed, Arthur continues to travel the galaxy using samples of his bodily tissues/fluids to fund his travels, assured of his safety until he visits Stavromula Beta, having killed an incarnation of Agrajag at some point in the future at said planet. During one trip, he ends up stranded on the homely planet Lamuella, and decides to stay to become a sandwich maker for the local population. Meanwhile, Ford Prefe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defensive Design
Defensive design is the practice of planning for Contingency plan, contingencies in the design stage of a project or undertaking. Essentially, it is the practice of anticipating all possible ways that an end-user could misuse a device, and designing the device so as to make such misuse impossible, or to minimize the negative consequences. For example, if it is important that a plug is inserted into a socket in a particular orientation, the socket and plug should be designed so that it is physically impossible to insert the plug incorrectly. Power sockets are often keyed in such a manner, to prevent the transposition of live and neutral. They are also recessed in the wall in a way that makes it impossible to touch connectors once they become live. Defensive design in software engineering is called defensive programming. Murphy's law is a well-known statement of the need for defensive design, and also of its ultimate limitations. Applications Computer software Implementation d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanlon's Razor
Hanlon's razor is an adage, or rule of thumb, that states: It is a philosophical razor that suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behavior. It is purportedly named after one Robert J. Hanlon, who submitted the statement to ''Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong!'' (1980). Similar statements have been recorded since at least the 18th century. Origin The adage was a submission credited in print to Robert J. Hanlon of Scranton, Pennsylvania, in a compilation of various jokes related to Murphy's law published in Arthur Bloch's ''Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong!'' (1980).search result in archive.org A similar quotation appears in Robert A. Heinlein's novella '' Logic of Empire'' (1941). The character Doc in the story describes the "devil theory" fallacy, explaining, "You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity." Hanlon's razor became well known after its inclusion in the ''Jargon Fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inherent Safety
In the chemical and process industries, a process has inherent safety if it has a low level of danger even if things go wrong. Inherent safety contrasts with other processes where a high degree of hazard is controlled by protective systems. As perfect safety cannot be achieved, common practice is to talk about ''inherently safer design''. “An inherently safer design is one that avoids hazards instead of controlling them, particularly by reducing the amount of hazardous material and the number of hazardous operations in the plant.” Origins The concept of reducing rather than controlling hazards stems from British chemical engineer Trevor Kletz in 1978 paper "What You Don’t Have, Can’t Leak" on lessons from the Flixborough disaster,Kletz, Trevor (1978). “What You Don’t Have, Can’t Leak”. ''Chemistry and Industry'' pp. 287–292. and the expression "inherent safety" from a book that was an expanded version of the article.Kletz, T. A. (1984). ''Cheaper, Safer Plants ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poka-yoke
is any mechanism in a process that helps an equipment operator to avoid mistakes and defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors as they occur. It is a Japanese term that means "mistake-proofing" or "error prevention", and is also sometimes referred to as a forcing function or a behavior-shaping constraint. The concept was formalized, and the term adopted, by Shigeo Shingo as part of the Toyota Production System. Etymology Poka-yoke was originally ', but as this means "fool-proofing" (or "Idiot proof, idiot-proofing") the name was changed to the milder ''poka-yoke''. Poka-yoke is derived from ' (), a term in shogi that means avoiding an unthinkably bad move. Usage and examples More broadly, the term can refer to any behavior-shaping constraint designed into a process to prevent incorrect operation by the user. A simple poka-yoke example is demonstrated when a driver of the car equipped with a manual gearbox must press on the clutch pedal (a process s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unintended Consequences
In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences, more colloquially called knock-on effects) are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen. The term was popularized in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton. and later used to prevent erosion in earthworks, has become a major problem in the Southeastern United States. Kudzu has displaced native plants and has effectively taken over significant portions of land. The protection of the steel industry in the United States reduced production of steel in the United States, increased costs to users, and increased unemployment in associated industries. Perverse results In 2003, Barbra Streisand unsuccessfully sued Kenneth Adelman and Pictopia.com for posting a photograph of her home online. Before the lawsuit had been filed, only 6 people had downloaded the file, two of them Streisand's attorneys. The lawsuit drew attention to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phrases
In grammar, a phrasecalled expression in some contextsis a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consist of a single word or a complete sentence. In theoretical linguistics, phrases are often analyzed as units of syntactic structure such as a constituent. There is a difference between the common use of the term ''phrase'' and its technical use in linguistics. In common usage, a phrase is usually a group of words with some special idiomatic meaning or other significance, such as " all rights reserved", " economical with the truth", " kick the bucket", and the like. It may be a euphemism, a saying or proverb, a fixed expression, a figure of speech, etc.. In linguistics, these are known as phrasemes. In theories of syntax, a phrase is any group of words, or sometimes a single word, which plays a particular role wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
