[geeks] nerd reading for a Friday night ... old-skool waxed twine lacing

[der Mouse]

> Ring and Tip refer to the two sections of a phone jack as used on a
> switchboard (and head phones, and in monaural audio system work even
> today).

Well, actually, as used in telephony, tip and ring are but two-thirds
of an old switchboard plug, which had tip, ring, *and sleeve* - but
sleeve has fallen out of use with telephony now using two-wire
circuits.  (That's why ring is "ring"; it's a ring-shaped contact
between tip and sleeve - nothing to do with phones ringing.  You can
still see ring contacts on audio stereo plugs; while many of them are
1/8" instead of 1/4", they do still have fairly clearly defined tip,
ring, and sleeve contacts.)

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