Fiftythree is a personal site best known for the Etherkiller, a 2002 prank cable that sends power through Ethernet wiring.
HN links it whenever Ethernet power or cable hazards come up, usually as a nostalgic joke; commenters remember the Etherkiller and its hub as diabolical.
I thttp://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/ttp://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/ink it's a matter of foreseeing the potential failure modes and correctly deciding which ones are so remote as to be not worth the cost and complexity to protect against. For instance, I don't think there's a consumer device out there that wouldn't fry if connected directly to mains AC through any peripheral port at all. But that doesn't stop someone from making a cable that connects AC to USB and saying it's a fast charge cable on Amazon. That's a more extreme case than this, but only because it's more obvious what the flaw in the cable is.
Looks like the Etherkiller[1] needs updating for modern times. I wouldn't be surprised if usb -> serial plus the serial etherkiller would do the trick though.
OTOH, USB Killers do exist, but they only kill hosts; Mains -> USB-C could kill hosts and targets indiscriminately.
[1] http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/
I would assume it had a purpose similar to an EtherKiller [0]. Most experienced Shop techs have at least a couple of similar tools to assist with recalcitrant RMA departments.
Unless it's a Creative labs product. You'll never RMA one of those. Ever.
[0] - http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/
Ouch. I'd thought of the malware risk of plugging into a dead drop, but it never quite crossed my mind that someone could basically turn one into the equivalent of the Etherkiller:
http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/
I mean really all you need to show is the picture:
http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/img/etherkiller.jpg
My favorite though is the etherkiller hub, which is just diabolical.
That's like saying Ethernet, VGA, and many other standards are bad because http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/ shows cables that directly pump AC power into them.