Microblog Memes

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 7 points 9 months ago (1 child)

Is it supposed to resemble a cop pulling a gun?

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[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 9 months ago

Nah, It's USB type A, C, A, and B 😉

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[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 28 points 9 months ago

That took me a hot second, but I love that!

[–] lauracor@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago

Honestly, it’s oddly satisfying how universal those symbols are. You don’t need words—everyone just gets it.

[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Is that a penguin with a Glock?

[–] nailbar@sopuli.xyz 3 points 9 months ago

Oh yeah! Well now I can't see anything else.

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[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 2 points 9 months ago

took me a while, but glad I kept looking

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[–] okwhateverdude@lemmy.world 146 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (46 children)

ACAB but expressed in USB connector types (that funky shaped one on the right was a short lived USB connector type B). I only had like one peripheral, a scanner, that used it.

EDIT: Lots of people pointing me to printers and music gear with those ports! I dabble in music and my little korg nanoKEY2 uses mini USB. And I've not bought a new printer in over a decade (laser printer toner lasts forever). I think I unintentionally invoked Cunningham's Law here

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[–] breadsmasher@lemmy.world 127 points 9 months ago (4 children)

short lived

A printer I bought two years ago, a DAC a month ago. Its definitely not short lived

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[–] superfes@lemmy.world 66 points 9 months ago

Yeah, AFAIK all printers still have these

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[–] PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de 15 points 9 months ago (1 child)

A screen I bought recently has this for the integrated USB hub, I think?

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[–] picnicolas@slrpnk.net 14 points 9 months ago

Every monitor with a USB hub and every printer I’ve owned for the last 20 years has had one. It’s used to differentiate USB directionality, for example which side is upstream or the “host device” and which side is meant to plug into the computer.

They’re moot now with USB C which is bidirectional; USB-A male to USB-A male is dangerous and not compliant with the USB specification, so they’d use USB-B on one side.

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[–] okwhateverdude@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Wild, TIL.

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[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 49 points 9 months ago (5 children)

So short lived you can still find it on brand new printers

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[–] clif@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago* (2 children)

In case anyone thinks you're being figurative, LITERALLY brand new printers. The Brother laser I bought last week is USB-B, as I expected it would be : )

This replaced the HP laser I bought in 2004 which was, of course, also USB-B.

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[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago (1 child)

Why change? It does the job. The cable doesn't need to pass audio or video, doesn't need to pass fast charge power, and sure as hell doesn't need 80Gbps data transfer speeds... the bottleneck will always be the print function itself. Usb-c would be overkill. And Usb-b is made to be secured to prevent accidental disconnection for devices that typically dont move like printers and scanners, unlike Usb-c which is made for repeated insertions and easy release for devices like smart phones. Only reason the connector might change in the future is if they either start adding stupid features to printers or if it simply becomes cheaper to support newer standards.

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[–] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

That and if you're replacing a printer, you can just use the existing plugs as-is; no need to go fishing behind your PC to swap out the USB cable.

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[–] Blemgo@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 child)

Also some screens still use that one to act as an USB hub for the PC. There's also a variant that is a but taller, but I don't know what that type is for.

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[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 9 months ago*

The tall ones are just the USB 3.0 version

The tall bit on top of the type-B houses the five extra electrical connections that were added with USB 3.0.

Maybe you've seen the same on type micro-B which gets a little extra side car. Same story there, the same five connections were added on the side.

In a type-A connector they are in a second row deeper in the plug, you can see them if you look in, behind and offset by half to the classic four in front.

These three plug designs all allow the old USB 2.0 type-A, type-B and type micro-B plugs to fit in new USB 3.0 holes, they will simply make contact only with the classical four pins and work as USB 2.0 then.

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[–] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 39 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Every printer for the past 20 years has used USB B

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[–] Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 2 points 9 months ago

Hell, even my 3d printer connects to a computer via USB B, if you want/need to connect directly to it.

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[–] grue@lemmy.world -2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I don't think I've ever owned a printer that had USB-B that didn't also have Ethernet. The last time I hooked a printer directly to a computer instead of to the network, it was using a parallel port.

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[–] Tikiporch@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago (1 child)

This guy doesn't connect.

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[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

At least not for almost 30 years.

I think that was the last time I used a SCSI port printer with our family Mac. I know PCs hung on to parallel a little longer, but my first a win 98 machine had usb and a custom scsi port for my scanner and Zip drive (before I got an ATA internal Zip).

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[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 32 points 9 months ago (8 children)

Anything non-portable that you plug in to a computer with a USB-A connection is supposed to have a USB-B on the other end if the cable is removable.

I have a lot of music gear with USB-B connectors on them

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[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 9 months ago (1 child)

And then you have the cursed non standard USB A to USB A

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[–] Zikeji@programming.dev 4 points 9 months ago

My cheap knockoff elgato has that and it still creeps me out when I use it lol.

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[–] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Same. Music gear (although my recent stuff has started going C), printers and scanners since USB became a standard, older networking hardware, older external hard drives (most of them before USB 3.0), and every piece of medical equipment I've ever dealt with. It was ubiquitous from the time USB started in the 90s until USB C got popular after 2014.

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[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago (4 children)

until USB C got popular after 2014

Nonono, USB-C isn't over a decade old.....

....

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[–] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Well, the good news is that it wasn't really popular in 2014. It probably didn't become popular until about 7-8 years ago and that was thanks to smartphones.

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[–] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 9 months ago (1 child)

The Nexus 6P had it in 2015. Samsung was one of the last to switch over, and they still did in 2017. I'd say closer to 9 years ago.

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[–] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

You're right as far as devices go, I was just adding a year or two because most people don't switch phones immediately at release.

The other side of that is I'm probably a little biased because I was using the weird usb-b 3.0 micro connector (the long ass one) until a couple of years ago on external drives until it got too painful to open up my sample libraries on spinning platters.

So maybe 9 years ago and my view is colored? Or between 7 and 9 years ago depending on how you're measuring popularity?

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[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Yeah my 2021 hearing aids were microusb and that's late enough I was annoyed but not surprised. I'm due for a new pair this year and they better be C.

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[–] halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 26 points 9 months ago (6 children)

a short lived USB connector type B

Not short lived at all, it's literally one of the three standard connectors alongside A and C. USB is an inherently directional protocol, so one side if the host device and the other is the peripheral device. The difference between Type A and B plugs helped enforce that directionality. Prior to the C connector becoming the new standard regardless of direction, all USB cables had both a Type-A and Type-B connector. (A to A cables violate the spec, and are an abomination).

The miniUSB and microUSB connectors are both Type-B connectors, just physically smaller to accommodate smaller peripheral devices. There's also technically a mini-A and micro-A, but they're very uncommon since host devices are usually large enough for a full size plug, and now USB 3.0+ Type-C connections don't require a directional cable the same way.

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[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 9 months ago* (5 children)

I have a bunch of USB hubs that plug into a USB-A outlet and then give you USB-A outlets. Are these not cursed because they're a hub?

I also have a switchable USB hub from Amazon that lets you send your USB hub outlets to one out of four host devices. I use this to be able to have my mouse and keyboard plugged into my desktop or switch it to my laptop, if I have my laptop plugged into a USB dock.

That switchable USB hub uses USB-A to USB-A cables to connect the hub to the host devices. What cable should it use instead for this purpose? USB A to USB B? And the hub would have four USB-B inputs on the back?

To answer my own question, here is a expensive version of what I'm talking about, which uses USB-A to USB-B. https://www.startech.com/en-us/usb-hubs/hbs304a24a

And here is the cheap version I have from Amazon, over $100 cheaper which uses the cursed cable... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHY8L11W/

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

I have a bunch of USB hubs that plug into a USB-A outlet and then give you USB-A outlets. Are these not cursed because they're a hub?

The "cursed" thing is a male-A to male-A cable. A hub is fine because it's male-A to female-A

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[–] tyra@lemmy.ml 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Is there any risk of using the cheap A to A version?

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[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 9 months ago

So far the only downside I've seen is that the keyboard and mouse don't work super well in the UEFI screen maybe one time in 20. And sometimes the keyboard would disconnect in other contexts, but that seems to have resolved itself.

I'm assuming for the $100+ the real one better be reliable.

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[–] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 point 9 months ago

Not inherently, but if you or someone else plugs one of those cables into the wrong ports, you could lose a USB controller.

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[–] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 point 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

What cable should it use instead for this purpose? USB A to USB B? And the hub would have four USB-B inputs on the back?

Yes. I have an older model of this one, which only connects to two computers, but this is even cheaper and connects to four. If you absolutely need USB 3, this one is only a little more expensive than yours and is built correctly.

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[–] umbraroze@slrpnk.net 17 points 9 months ago* (2 children)

USB 1.x type B definitely wasn't short lived, I've picked up new devices with a B connector in recent years.

The B connector you pretty much never see is the USB 2.0 one. Pretty much all devices I've seen use the wide version of USB Micro-B or, you know, USB C.

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[–] 4aceb14e@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago (1 child)

Are you thinking of the USB 3.0 versions of Type B? 1.0 and 2.0 should be pretty much indistinguishable.

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[–] umbraroze@slrpnk.net 3 points 9 months ago

Right, that one. Sorry

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[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 9 months ago (1 child)

ACAB: All Connectors Are Beautiful

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[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 2 points 9 months ago

Except that ugly "Lightning" one, flashing its pins all over outwards like a slag.

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[–] Underwaterbob@sh.itjust.works 9 points 9 months ago (1 child)

USB B is still standard with audio hardware for some reason.

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[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Because it's not short lived, it has a niche use. Basically its meant for receptor devices, whereas A is for host devices

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[–] not_IO@lemmy.blahaj.zone [S] 9 points 9 months ago

usb microphone, usb audio interface, midi keyboard, printer they all use it

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[–] zr0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Wait until you learn about USB 3 with connector type B.

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[–] PumaStoleMyBluff@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

And of course USB 3 micro B, the mangled step child.

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[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 1 point 9 months ago (1 child)

Such an ugly connector

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[–] zr0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 point 9 months ago

It’s my favorite one.

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[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 1 point 9 months ago

This needs to be a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.

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[–] Strider@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

As others have pointed out, B is still well in use today. But it seems nobody mentioned why: it's because an A to A cable would be nonstandard and since there was no c yet, it's the a to b cables. C to c is okay and there are funky A to A things which shouldn't exist.

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[–] carpelbridgesyndrome@sh.itjust.works 8 points 9 months ago (7 children)

The average person I know thinks of USB-B as "that squarish one." The existence of the differently shaped USB-B 3.0 doesn't help with this. Micro USB 3.0 also really throws people for a loop.

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[–] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (6 children)

I think I've used maybe 3 devices in my whole life that use micro USB 3.0.

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[–] carpelbridgesyndrome@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)

It was common for like five years on external hard drives.

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[–] Petter1@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 9 months ago

And stupid is, even while you are able to connect 2.0, many disk won’t work properly with it (shows up in PC but file transfer just doesn’t work)

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[–] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Yeah that was one or two of the three devices

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[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 9 months ago (1 child)

Didn't the PS3 controller use it?

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[–] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 1 point 9 months ago

No those were mini-USB

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[–] ulterno@programming.dev 1 point 9 months ago

I have used 4.
But 1 of them hadn't implemented the USB 3.0 correctly in firmware, so it only worked well if I connected a micro USB 2.0, so I guess it's 3 for me too.

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[–] Takapapatapaka@tarte.nuage-libre.fr 6 points 9 months ago

That's genius, im stealing this!

[–] randint@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 5 points 9 months ago

I can't be the only one who thought that this was a cute lil' guy flipping his middle finger right?

[–] one_knight_scripting@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago*

Why doesn't it at least have USB-A 3.0? One of those ports needs to be blue.

[–] lemmy_get_my_coat@lemmy.world 1 point 9 months ago (1 child)

Loss?

[–] undu@discuss.tchncs.de 13 points 9 months ago*

No, it's

USB-A

USB-C

USB-A

USB-B

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[+] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz -17 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I think that “ACAB” is a bad thing, however I have to admit that this is clever

[–] baguettefish@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 9 months ago (1 child)

ACAB isn't about individual cop's moral qualities, it's about them as a whole institution enforcing unfair systems

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[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

And, as the recent FBI agent quitting over being forced to switch a murder investigation into something is not for politics, there are no good cops. There are bad cops and cops that quit the force. Good people don't seek the rush of shooting others.

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[–] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 24 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I think cops are a bad thing and I agree that this is clever.

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[+] Nomad@infosec.pub -9 points 9 months ago (1 child)

[deleted]

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[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

And yet, their actions say otherwise.

This is like saying there are "good" Trump supporters. There are people who don't believe or realize they're fascists, but that doesn't excuse their fascism. The net result on society is negative, so they are all objectively "bad".