The court heard there were baby gates in place and plug socket covers along with coverings on table edges.

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To find the energy hogs, you simply plug each appliance into the meter in turn, and then plug the meter into the wall socket and leave it switched on for a fixed time.

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The pen has been designed to be compact and easy to use, you just plug it into a power socket and can start drawing anything within minutes.

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"There's going to be one type of socket and one type of plug, " McQuary said.

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Users connect the adapter via an Ethernet cable to a router, and then plug the adapter into a wall socket.

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On the bottom edge is a trick flap that's both a micro-USB socket and a USB Type A plug depending on how it's positioned -- the micro-SIM slot is cleverly hidden behind it.

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Attaching appliances to a power socket via a smart plug containing sensors and a ZigBee transceiver allows information about the appliances' power consumption to be beamed automatically to a broadband router within the home, and thence to a web server located elsewhere.

ECONOMIST: The much-talked-of smart grid prepares to enter the home

This isn't the defunct EV1 we're talking about here, nor some of those other models we've heard about before, this is the Phoenix Motorcars electric SUV, which can be plugged into a wall socket and recharged with the same plug that powers your garden party boombox.

ENGADGET: Phoenix Motorcars intros a truly plug-and-play car