Universal Converter Box
Universal Converter Box
[Universal converter box with wires to connectors:] VGA DVI HDMI Thunderbolt Firewire Component [sharing connectors with Component:] RCA 1/8" Audio 1/8" Video Parallel Port S-Video Airline Pneumatic Tube Audio PS/2/3/4 120V AC [pointing to ground pin:] Removable Floppy/IDE/2.5"/SCSI [pointing to sections in IDC connector:] Break here USB USB (weird other end) Mini-USB Micro USB Macro USB F Connector Fiber RJ11 Ethernet Token Ring MagSafe MagSafe 2 MagSafe 3 MagSafe 4 Bluetooth Dongle SCART String (fits most cans) [Fuel nozzle with selector for:] 87/91/93/Diesel

Converter boxes are used to connect two or more devices together which otherwise couldn't be, due to differently shaped plugs, different voltages, or different protocols of communication.
Converter boxes or converter cables are commonly found for several of the plugs at the top of the list - such as from USB to micro-USB. As this is supposed to be a Universal Converter Box, there are many connections.
The humour from this comic comes from the sheer number of different standards that all claim to be the universal way to connect two devices, in their target market, as well as the progressively ridiculous conversions that this box is capable of doing, for example, converting audio from a 1/8 inch / 3.5 mm headphone jack, into a variety of fuel suitable for running your car.
A connector is capable of making a connection to another connector only if the connectors are of the same style and the opposite gender ("male" connector is plug, "female" connector is socket), except for rare "genderless" connectors, such as the token ring mentioned above. Gender changers are devices with two connectors of the same gender. The "circular center pin DC adapter tips" in the title text are barrel jack power plugs. There are a large number of these style connectors, and many of these devices look the same, leading to frustration.
The plugs are numbered from top to bottom and incremented for every wire that comes directly out of the converter box.
For some interfaces, such as USB, the female side is standard to the device while the male side is standard to the cable. For other interfaces, such as the RS-232 serial port, the conventions vary or there is no convention.
The "universal" connector here doesn't support the proper RS-232, with the closest surrogate available being RJ-11. The other nearest analog would be the parallel port, available in Centronix and D-25-pin connectors.
The SCSI connectors have been available as the "internal" connectors (see the "break-away" above) of 2 different widths, Centronix, 2 widths of the mini-D connectors with the easily bendable pins, 3 widths of the more reliable pin-less mini-connectors, and high-speed serial.
Not only is there gender and connector type, but there are also different standards on what data/power is connected on each pin of the connector. Building a working connection often involved getting 3 or 4 adapters connected in a sequence to produce the right connector, gender and pin-out.
Barrel jack power plugs were developed in the 1980s. The "barrel" has an inner diameter an outer diameter, and different style pins.
A D-shell is a trapezoidal metal skirt that protects the pins, prevents the connector from being plugged in the wrong way, and makes the physical connection more secure.
A VGA was developed in 1987, and with new versions being developed since then.
DVI can be configured to support multiple modes such as DVI-D (digital only), DVI-A (analog only), or DVI-I (digital and analog).
HDMI has slowly been replacing DVI and VGA ports on newer devices due to the simplicity and the smaller footprint and overall dimensions.
Thunderbolt is far faster than almost any  connector on the market for transferring data. However, the limited adoption by manufacturers, the higher costs of the hardware, and the security concerns inherent to the interface have limited the adoption by consumers.
Because Firewire is designed to allow backplane access and direct memory access (DMA) to devices, there are additional conversion and security issues with it.
The phone connector diameter of 1/8" is only an approximation using Imperial units . The standard actually specifies a size in the Metric system of 3.5 mm. The video plug has 3 contacts (Tip, Ring and Sleeve) and the audio has 4 contacts (Tip, Ring, Ring and Sleeve).
While no longer common in homes or offices, parallel connections are still used in some embedded systems .
Airline pneumatic tube audio was used by in-flight entertainment systems manufactured from 1963 until 1979.
Note that while AC adapters are necessary—and widely available—to suit sockets in other countries, this "universal" converter does not feature any other AC power plugs, but this could be accommodated using adapters.
Cheater plugs exist to connect a NEMA grounding-type plug (three prongs) to a NEMA non-grounding receptacle (two slots), but the use of such an adapter can be hazardous if the grounding tab is not connected to electrical ground. A safer alternative is to replace the outlet with a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) breaker outlet.
The computer media drive connectors are unlike the motherboard-powering connectors from the Power Supply Unit of a PC, which may involve multiple additional 4, 6 and 8-pin 'breakout' supply cables that have this feature and specially 'keyed' pin-sheaths as well to allow forward/backward compatibility between various versions of PSU and motherboard that could be used (and power-hungry GPUs of various kinds, as well).
Note that some embedded systems such as cash registers actually do use larger USB connectors to include 12V and/or 24V power connections. These are not, however, called "macro-USB", and are not as large.
Other countries often use RJ11-ended cables with locally-specific adapter-ends, e.g. the BS 6312 in Britain. Broadband microfilters may make use of this difference by splitting a relevant telephone plug standard into the local non-RJ11 style of telephone plug for an "audio-only" pass-through socket and an RJ11 for the router/modem to be cabled up to for the abstracted "data-only" signal — making an adapter for this will be nearly impossible.
There are two common systems for showing octane numbers on fuel pumps; the numbers shown (87, 91, 93) most closely map to Anti-Knock Index values which is used for the North American market and a number of other countries, the other system used in the rest of the world is Research Octane Number. In the AKI system; 87 octane (91 RON) is regular US, 91 octane (95 RON) is regular European, 93 octane (98 RON) is premium European, and in US both 91 and 93 are considered premium/super depending on the regulations of a particular state. Some states, such as California, forbid the sale of the gasoline above 91 octane. Only very rarely could both 91 and 93 be found at the same gas station. The typical line-up is "regular" (87), "plus" (89), and "premium"/"super" (depending on the state and on the fuel brand, 91, 92 or 93 octane). A standard diesel nozzle (24mm) is slightly larger diameter than a standard petrol nozzle (21mm) so you cannot tank diesel into a petrol car but if this nozzle has the petrol nozzle diameter you are still able to tank with it into some diesel cars. Some manufacturers such as Volkswagen fit a misfueling guard and fuel filler neck cap or have redesigned the fuel filler to prevent a petrol nozzle being used in a diesel car.
Since the release of this comic, Apple has created a magnetic charging cable for its Apple Watch, which functions in the same manner as the current MagSafe 1 & 2 by using a magnet to connect to the device. This new charger looks identical to the fictional MagSafe 3 in the comic.
[Universal converter box with wires to connectors:] VGA DVI HDMI Thunderbolt Firewire Component [sharing connectors with Component:] RCA 1/8" Audio 1/8" Video Parallel Port S-Video Airline Pneumatic Tube Audio PS/2/3/4 120V AC [pointing to ground pin:] Removable Floppy/IDE/2.5"/SCSI [pointing to sections in IDC connector:] Break here USB USB (weird other end) Mini-USB Micro USB Macro USB F Connector Fiber RJ11 Ethernet Token Ring MagSafe MagSafe 2 MagSafe 3 MagSafe 4 Bluetooth Dongle SCART String (fits most cans) [Fuel nozzle with selector for:] 87/91/93/Diesel
