Let's hear some fun ideas for confusing connector sleeves!

Ha. I like the vga part but the part that makes your usb - c connector look like an old fashioned proprietary apple lightening connector is just too much!

Thank you for pointing that out, I didn't notice it lmao
- (I think that was a joke, it IS actually a lightning cable)
Am I missing something? That's Apple's proprietary connector, all right. But it's not "old-fashioned" in that it's still currently used for new devices (at least for iPads in the US).

Left: USB-C connector
Right: Apple Lightning connector

And USB-C has the wires on the inside (which then goes inside the port on the device). So, unless I'm mistaken, they weren't trying to look like anything other than the VGA part, because this connector wouldn't work for anything other than an Apple device...
- I believe the joke is calling Apple old fashioned for still sticking to a proprietary cable and/or calling proprietary cables old-fashioned in general. But also, Apple will be switching the iPhone cables to USB-C next gen iirc, so maybe it's also old fashioned that way?
- Huh? Both my M1 air and iPad Pro only use USB-C. Do some of the iPads still use Apple's lightning? These are the only two apple products I own, so I have never had any other connector. Except for a couple random items (stupid mouse), everything I own can use the same charger. Packing and traveling is so much easier.
- You could put a sticker on the left one and (from the right angle) make it look like the right one.
- Our new iPad 10 came with a usb c connector too. In the US.
- look at the vga connector again. it has a little icon on it that looks like a usbc slot

It's not the same without two little screws jangling about

I had fuckin bent pins and pins falling out of my vga connector. I had to straighten them and align them. Good times.
You could take the screws out of your iPhone and glue them onto the knobs, it’ll void your AppleCare though.

How about display port that looks like HDMI? Oh wait...

You Villain!
No, how about DVI that looks like HDMI? Hold on...

Explaination: basically HDMI is patent-troll-guarded version of DVI with some additional(and useless or actively harmful) stuff
On that note...

https://hackaday.com/2024/03/12/unusual-port-combines-displayport-and-hdmi/

Yes officer. This post over here.

No, seriously, why am I offended. This is offensive to me.
- Probably because the screws can’t be used!
- Because that stupid proprietary connector is now illegal in the EU YAAAAY
- Are you calling twitter mob?

this is the most comments I've seen on lemmy. now i know the community I'm in. God help me.

Leave a factually incorrect, unprompted whataboutism about socialism or communism in a thread criticizing capitalism and I bet you could rival this comment count.
- There was a thread this week about Biden's achievements and it got at least 600 comments haha.
- Anarchy in the UK!?
What, you an HDMI guy? Son, we charge our laptops with VGA cables
Op still uses VGA. And is offended. 😬
I had to double check I wasn't on Reddit lol. Glad to see it.
I came back to see how many people were truly offended by this like I was and....yeah. These are my people.
- Can explain to someone with english skill issue?

A power plug, but the three-prong ones like we have in the UK. The two lower prongs would appear to be plugged into the phone, and the top prong would just hover uselessly above the phone.

Bonus points for following the shape of the plug properly and having the cable come out of the bottom of the wall wart, so the phone can never lat down flat while it's charging.

That's brilliant. Do you have .stls available for that?

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5364705

An ethernet cable that's actually wired for a serial port

looks at network hardware vendors

Sounds like someone accidentally used the wrong port a few times.
- That's what she said?
- But there aren't any screws!?
That's a console cable. They're actually useful.
That's a valid use of Cat5 cable.
- Lawful good: Please don't use 8P8C for anything other than 10/100/1000BASE* compatible protocols, especially on network devices. It's confusing.
  Chaotic good: Please don't use ethernet cable for anything other than ethernet compatible protocols, especially on ethernet devices.
  Lawful evil: That's a valid use of Cat5 cable.
  Chaotic evil: Let's talk about RS-485
  
  True neutral: Wires are just wires and standards are just standards. In a parallel dimensions, somewhere, cat5 is used for 8-phase delta mains power.
I've seen it

At first I thought it was great standard connector. It turns out to be non-standard garbage.

You have to buy a million dollar iPod to use it.

I would want an RJ45 charger.

USB-C has official specifications for a screw lock connector
- Nice
- Why two different and incompatible options?
  
  Or, more generally, why can't I ever read some USB spec and get out with less questions than I had in the beginning?
- The single screw version looks wrong somehow.
- I wish things actually used this, it looks really stable.
Coaxial for me
- 25pin serial cable and ain't nobody at work gonna steal my phone charger no more.
- Cant do it, the BNC connector is not large enough to house a USBc end, even the Apple one which is the smallest I have. I would have to enlarge the BNC to a near comical size. Now if we removed the moulded housing it could be done, but it would have to be made on a bare PCB/Cable/Connector to be the right size.
Jack or Plug? if plug, would you want it to look like its plugged in, so just the retention tab and back half are sticking out?
- It would be epic if it is both.
https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3251.txt
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6449087

I have not done a test print yet, but this might work. Requires a Apple USB-C cable because anything else is too big.

Side note, does anyone know some sort of cable sleeve similar to this that instead grabs onto the device and stabilizes the port?

As much as I like type-C, the ports on my laptop have worn down significantly and aren't always stable

Depends on what you mean by stable.

It's likely dust in the port. If you gently clean it out with a toothpick or other small flat instrument you will get it to seat better. If dust is the issue, you should see some lint at the bottom of the port.
- Sorry for not being clear, I'm not talking about connection stability, I mean the type-c port (female) becomes flimsy over the years and doesn't hold the connector (male) securely anymore
Personally I have the opinion that usb-c should be a connector for mobile devices only and there should be something with the size of a type a or b for stationary stuff. The size makes the connector too flimsy
Yes, but they typically require that the side on the laptop is also prepared for it. Look for example how the usb ports on toughbooks look. They have a screw next to them.
You can use some of that heat shrink wire wrap to create a stiff cable where you want and how big
- A big stiff cable is exactly what we're looking for.
USB-C has been really fragile for me. Cables tend to only last a couple of months on my phone. People say it is a robust connector type, so idk if my phone is defective and destroying them, or if people are being overly generous about the connector resilience.
- This was my experience with micro usb, and everyone seemed to agree they were total shit. As for USB-C, I've never even heard of someone having trouble with the actual cord. Generally the issue is that there is lint or something in the charge port. I don't think I've ever thrown out a USB-C cord, to my memory.
  
  In short, check for lint, and if that's not the issue then yeah it really might be your phone. Mind if I ask what kind of phone you have?
- My question is on the cables. I learned way too quickly that the quality of the cables matters a ton with USB C.
  
  I haven't had any problems with USB C cables failing other than the one one of my kids chewed on
- I don't really know why your cables would be falling so fast, but to be fair part of the design of USB C is that, inverting the design of USB A, the connector is on the cable side, in the hope that the cable should be the part that deteriorates first. That way fewer devices get trashed for having dodgy sockets.
- I've had mine for like 4 years at this point and they are still perfect. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you are either buying cheap shit or are abusive as fuck with your cables.
- Maybe they're lonely and just want to talk to someone about it.

Make it look like an old Apple 30-pin.

That could actually be one of the more confusing ones.
- Especially on an Android phone :-)
But one of those chonky third party ones with the buttons on the sides, and have a FireWire cable coming out of there too for that 2003 feel

Terrible ideas:

Garden hose
NEMA 10-50 - each "prong" could be a different connector
CCS
USB-A
Quick-connect air coupler

The first one reminds me of this classic
CCS to USB-C?
How about a patch cable to female aux connector? Just leave it laying around somewhere visible in the office.

Print USB-A sleeves with the logo on the wrong side. People will be so surprised and confused when they can't plug the cable in on the first try!

...There's a logo on one side?
- Hah! I never noticed the logo thing, I always aim with the metal seam facing down. Rarely fails.

A 24 pin mobo power connector just to strike ptsd into those who notice.

I think a standard IDE connector would do just fine
- The pro move there would be to physically modify it so that the power is actually going through the ribbon cable. So bulky, yet so thin!
PATA? Like how you think

That is a work of art.

Hey, I'd buy it. Maybe, I mean money is pretty tight.

VGA was a standard though, wasn't it?

Yes, VESA. Same people do DisplayPort.

You inspired at least one print. Thankfully, I have blue filament on hand!

V G A! V G A!

VGA master race.

I wanna see scart with a usbc

Oh my god lol.

I think I want a parallel port or Pata charger

That is hopefully wider than the thing it plugged into

First we has the Flesh Light. Then we broke the mold with the Vajankle. Now we have cracked the code with the VaGC!

I think it was in an episode of Mindhunters when they're speaking with Ed Kemper or someone, and he talks about cutting his mom's head off and having sex with her neck.

I had to look up what in the world a vajankle was, and I thought, "that's some serial killer shit." I don't even mean that in a kink shaming kind of way, that line from Kemper was just the first thing that popped into my mind... but thank you, I guess; now I know that's something that exists.
- I checked and this came up. I don't know what it is, but it's gotta be pretty damn good at $270...
I searched Etsy for Vajankle. I did get the one vajankle, amid a gallery of horrors.

One of those big old audio jacks. Bonus points for use of metal and leaving a good chunk of it ‘sticking out’.

Hozelock adapter with some authentic garden hose cable sleeving.

Bonus for fitting an adapter plug into a pipe fitting for an external hose that sits flush with the wall outket when plugged in.
- Related: http://www.wartoaster.com/store/p81/USB_>_Garden_Hose_converter.html

I love it!

I just cut up an old VGA cable to make some of these tonight. Surprisingly not that hard to take apart. I'll need to use my dremel to cut the screws off of their little blue thumb grips so I can glue them on.

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

Amphenol connector with full environmental backshell

Nah, this is Apple. It's got to be the most expensive: Lemo medical grade.

Haha this is brilliant

USB-A sleeve for an aux-cable (aux would just kinda dangle in the casing)

HDMI sleeve with a hole drilled through for an Ethernet to poke out

SCSI>USB-C

Which of them, though?
- 68 wide, of course!
Given the color and size, this looks like an old VGA connector, but since we cant see the pins it could b a serial connector. Def not big enough for SCSI

This is brilliant! 👍

We need that guy from Reddit who makes useless products…

You mean the one whose products were so useful he had to change the name of his channel?

this is beautiful

V.35 or IEEE-488

Boof it!!!

You shouldn't use this long term.

The cable strain relief (the ribbed part on the end) is nonfunctional because it is hard 3D printed plastic without any give, it's a very easy way to wear out your cable at that spot from the concentrated cable strain.

Could print it with TPU to resolve the strain.
- I assumed this structure is printed as a hollow shell, with a rigid plastic, you can maintain a solid shape, which you can't do with a shell of a soft TPE material.
  
  I've had multiple old charger cables fail at the same spot because of the lack of strain relief.
  
  What could be done to make it viable long term is to print the main body with a rigid plastic to maintain structure and only print the strain relief with a soft TPE material, but that would involve a little bit more complexity and assembly.

If this were designed in such a way that the metal plates surrounding the connector pins went fairly deep into the plastic casing, this would make for a very durable cable.

Remember parallel connection? You know, that giant ass VGA lookalike that worked like a slower version of USB? Let's make a connector sleeve that looks like that, surely it's not a terrible idea at all even if your phone has a headphone jack (it blocks the headphone jack from being used due to its size).

New Lemmy Post: Let's hear some fun ideas for confusing connector sleeves! (https://lemmy.world/post/11083228)
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