so that when you are standing atop a ladder and you put the lightbulb down on the top step while you grapple with the flex, shade etc, the damn thing don't roll off!
-- po, Jan 10 2004

Compact fluorescent bulbs http://www.city.davis.ca.us/DEEP/cfl.cfm
Most models have flat sides. And you'll have to change them less frequently. [waugsqueke, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Use LEDs http://www.nytimes....ircuits/08lite.html
They're mostly flat. [Account needed to see article, but it's free and you can always enter a bogus email if you don't like being watched.] [DrCurry, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

http://www.autopart...---APC403651HL.html http://www.autopart...---APC403651HL.html
Find out here. [Klaatu, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

faceted! http://www.angelfir...ts/nilcofaceted.htm
but you knew the round shape was not the only one possible. [DadManWalking, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

sorry, led you astray... http://www.collecto....com/fa/fa015.shtml
it is fusing and slumping techniques that I should have said, not floating glass. whoops! [po, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

hole-y ladders http://www.wernerladder.com/
ladders with holes in the top step for errant bulbs [rogerdna, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

The Beer Helmet http://www.twistedg...g/items/item287.htm
Always wear the appropriate safety gear for the job. [Canuck, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Spectral Power Distribution Curves http://www.soluxtli.com/new/spectrum.htm
for [bh] & [bp] [Worldgineer, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Includes compact fluorescent bulb. http://cc.joensuu.f...io/lamps_plain.html
[Worldgineer, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

(?) How many men does it take to change a lightbulb? http://www.crossroa...09-7-03%20mouth.htm
Find out here. [Klaatu, Oct 05 2004]

The other day I was wondering why they don't make all bottles square. Seems you would save a fortune on shipping. Probably the cost of making the bottles square outweighs it.

You can put spotlights on their head, though -- that's most of the lighting in new construction in the US.
-- theircompetitor, Jan 10 2004


my friend was only telling me about *glass floating* the other day, I forget what was involved though...
-- po, Jan 10 2004


//*glass floating* // That's for really flat glass, won't roll either, but its hard to make bulbs from flat glass.

You could hold the bulb in your mouth, I mean just the socket not the whole thing. Remember to remove any moisture from the socket before you put it in, or there will be arcing and a big stink the first time you turn it on.
-- kbecker, Jan 10 2004


LED paint?
-- theircompetitor, Jan 10 2004


//You could hold the bulb in your mouth// ? eh? how big do you think my... oh forget it.

re: glass floating, she was telling me that you could get shaped glass that way - I will need to read up on it.
-- po, Jan 10 2004


but is the craft of doing it - floating glass/glass floating?

<thinks> is there an extreme sport lurking in there somewhere?
-- po, Jan 10 2004


Can you put a square bulb in a round hole? I like the notion. They'd be fun to break, too. (I don't know why I said that...)
-- k_sra, Jan 10 2004


I despise float glass. It’s so...so...twentieth century. I hanker after the romantic distortion of leaded glass panes.
And gas lights.
And the clack of hooves on cobblestones.
Square bulbs? Ah well, if you must.

-- pluterday, Jan 10 2004


i like it, [po].....i always like the look of square things to the look of round ones.....they are so sleek...

interior designers run their customers through a little test to see if they are a "line person" or a "circle person" to help with the design process.
-- babyhawk, Jan 10 2004


I also like the shape of "quare" things! +
-- nomadic_wonderer, Jan 10 2004


sorry...fixed....
-- babyhawk, Jan 10 2004


IKEA would be the first to stock them: KUBIS, they'd be called.
-- k_sra, Jan 10 2004


babyh, how does that test go?
-- po, Jan 10 2004


[po] i am not sure of the details, but it is just a series of questions, and senarios...pick A or B type of things.....i can get details if you want..?
-- babyhawk, Jan 10 2004


hah!. I watched a tv programme a while ago about an artist who drew what he imagined was the perfect line - this memory loss may keep me awake for hours now... thank you tsuka.
-- po, Jan 10 2004


When this is baked, I will nevermore hear the sound of "chxzztpop! tinkle tinkle tinkle...Oh @#%!!" while I stand on a ladder, changing bulbs. As a glassblower, I can say this is entirely feasible. The vacuum in the glass would require a heavier bulb at a higher co$t, but I have broken so many bulbs that I would pay the extra. A side benefit would be that with square faces to grasp the bulb, it should be easier for the elderly or weak to change bulbs. [+]
-- Klaatu, Jan 10 2004


You also need a motorized stepladder on wheels for screwing without twisting your wrist.
-- FarmerJohn, Jan 10 2004


Once in a lifetime, so far.
-- FarmerJohn, Jan 10 2004


Use compact fluorescents. They won't roll off.
-- waugsqueke, Jan 10 2004


...and they give off heinous light.
-- k_sra, Jan 10 2004


(RT) All of them... only one to actually do it but the rest to offer their point of view on how they would have done it or if the rest of the world is ready for the way it was done.

Kind of like, there's more than one way to skin a cat, but what is the one way?

Square bulbs make too much sense. I've noticed that when something is that easy and sensible there are all kinds of reasons why no one has done it. So until it gets done ~ use a little square box to set the bulb in and then while you're putting the new bulb in you have somewhere to set the old one. (And don't wait too long to contact some of the bulb makers to generate their interest.)
-- no12pass, Jan 11 2004


Perhaps if there were a bump of some kind on the small screw end of the bulb, built into the metal, something could be done about this without too much hassle.
-- RayfordSteele, Jan 11 2004


Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the bulbs are round because light rays travel in straight lines from the filament. Having the bulb round evenly distributes the light in a room. A square bulb will not work in the same fashion. Although I like the fact that it would be easier to install square bulbs when your hands are tied, I gotta give you a [-]
-- v0rtexx, Jan 12 2004


I would have to agree with [v0rtexx]. Any other shape than spherical would give distortion to the emitted light pattern. Also, a sphere is naturally the strongest shape, (why are bubbles shaped so?) and so uses less glass.
-- xrayTed, Jan 12 2004


I would like to experience the light emitted from a square bulb nonetheless..it might be mmmm romantic.
-- po, Jan 12 2004


Square light bulbs might create a whole new revenue stream for the feng shui fakers - oops I mean "consultants" - out there. Since most people have rectangular rooms there is a difficult choice to be made - to align the corners of the bulbs with the corners of the rooms or not? I suspect that a number of schemes will be suggested such as pointing the corners at the north/south/east/west compass points; or one of them at the magnetic pole; or 45 degrees away from the room corners; or one at the sunrise etc. It's so confusing I'll have to sit in the dark while I make up my mind - thanks a lot for complicating my life [po]!
-- dobtabulous, Jan 12 2004


any time, dob!
-- po, Jan 12 2004


// ...and they give off heinous light //

Well, with the rolling-off solved, she'll need something else to complain about.
-- waugsqueke, Jan 12 2004


complain? moi?
-- po, Jan 12 2004


Talking of floating glass (well UB was ages ago), I went on a tour round Pilkingtons a few years ago and at one point they showed us the oven where the glass was floating on it's lake of molten tin. To look inside they gave us a kind of welder's mask with a panel of what appeared to be black stone where the eye slit should be. No light came through it at all, even when turned to the sun. When we peered through the viewing hole in the oven with the mask on we could see the lake of glass perfectly, it was even still a bit too bright for comfort. Erm.... yes. That was some bright molten glass and tin, I can tell ya.
-- squeak, Jan 12 2004


After walking through a home improvement store the other day, I was amazed at how many bulb types and shapes are commercially available. I don't think making a square bulb is a limitation of the industrial process, just the creative one. A croissant for you!
-- rogerdna, Jan 12 2004


blows kiss to roger..

roger dna ? thats quite a thought!
-- po, Jan 12 2004


Why reinvent the light bulb when the problem is obviously the top of the stepladder? What we need is to mandate a circular hole be provided in the top step (which, oddly enough, is almost always "not a step" according to safety guidelines) of all stepladders. The hole must be of sufficient size to accomodate the neck of a standard light bulb. Viola! Your bulb will no longer roll off and break into smithereens upon impact with the floor, or a lower rung of the ladder, unless you really, really want it to.
-- Canuck, Jan 13 2004


Great idea [Canuck]. Why not add female threads to the hole in the top step so it could be screwed in. That way, when you fall and the ladder tips over, the bulb will remain firmly attached to the ladder. The broken leg will be enough pain without adding bleeding cuts to the mix.
-- Klaatu, Jan 13 2004


[po], I didn't think "roger dna" would raise an eyebrow around here. I wish there were a sordid story behind the username. Give me a day or two, and I'll think of one. Or better, someone else can think of one, and I'll adopt it for my own.

[Canuck], many commercial ladders do come with holes in the top step, see link. I'd like a ladder with a cupholder on the top step, so I wouldn't have to step down for a drink.
-- rogerdna, Jan 13 2004


o.k. roger, you've had long enough
-- po, Jan 13 2004


Roger that, [roger]. In my semi-considerable life span I, my elf have owned one or two non-commercial residential-type stepladders with a pair of holes, albeit not situated on the top (non-)step, but rather on the flip-down rack/paint can holder that always seems to be getting in the way just when you need to fold the ladder up in a hurry, but that's another gripe.

A simple cup holder might not suffice. I suggest you wear one of those hats that hold a pair of canned beverages and use strategically-placed platic tubing to deliver the refreshing liquid to your parched oral cavity (see link). Since the hat is made from a (semi-)hard plastic, you could claim it was required protective headgear for gruelling manual labour like ladder-climbing and bulb-changing.
-- Canuck, Jan 14 2004


Every time I have a halfbaked flash of inspiration, I keep envisaging a square lightbulb coming on above my head, like a cartoon. +
-- Fishrat, Jan 14 2004


Getting back to the floating glass... that's how Jesus was able to walk on water.
-- thumbwax, Jan 14 2004


Jesus was made of glass or tin?
-- k_sra, Jan 14 2004


[UB] //They are very rare here; We use the bayonet cap fittings, unless the light fixture is imported.//

Well, that kills a whole family of jokes.

Q: How many Harvard graduates does it take to insert a lightbulb?
A: One, he holds the bulb and the world turns one quarter turn and pushes up slightly to seat the the pins.
-- GenYus, Jan 14 2004


//High frequency fluorescents are supposed to be the most appealing type of natural light, so I thought//

fluorescent lights are actually bad for you. They suck out nutrients in your skin and actually burn skin cells, thus making your skin a yellow-ish colour. But they do no "permanent" damage so they are still considered safe. And cheap, this is why they are used in big office buildings
-- babyhawk, Jan 14 2004


One sordid story, comping up! [see the rogerdna HB user page]
-- rogerdna, Jan 14 2004


not camping up then? oh sorry!
-- po, Jan 14 2004


//They suck out nutrients in your skin and actually burn skin cells, thus making your skin a yellow-ish colour.// [bh], please cite a source for this. Sounds like urban legend fodder.
-- Worldgineer, Jan 14 2004


Looks to me like UV-A (320-400 nm) is similar for flourescent and incandescent bulbs (link). UV-B (290-320 nm), which is more skin-penetrating is all but non-existant in the flourescents.
-- Worldgineer, Jan 14 2004


I meant to be directing your attention to the "Philips PL 11W/827 white compact fluorescent lamp".
-- Worldgineer, Jan 14 2004


I have taken square light emitting diodes out of old radios and computers. But I guess they have a few square flashlights at K-Mart.
-- travbm, Oct 30 2015



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