For everyone who really wants to know....
He's not joking. I really did knock a light (a swing arm lamp) into the chassis of a computer.
Interestingly, the mobo itself was un-harmed (and I'm still using it - it's a Pentium I ), probably because it was on plastic stand-offs.
Well, Arkhan explained to me yesterday how this was based on a true story, that it actually happened to you in the past and so it wasn't applicable here. It was still a prank, but anyway, I'm over getting "punked." It's water under the bridge. I just wish I hadn't wasted my time and written little essays on Disaster Recovery earlier.
Yes, the lamp and the computer were on the same power strip. Apparently the power strip was not quick enough, as this accident blew the fuse in the main fusebox. Don't know if a GFI would have helped, but I'll keep it in mind.
Ah OK, so I did rationalize the story correctly. Yeah, based on this scenario, not that it does you any good now, I'm pretty sure a GFCI outlet would've made a big difference and tripped its breaker a lot quicker (
in milliseconds if properly functioning) and AT the outlet (
not the service panel/fusebox)! It's unlikely an old home would've ever been upgraded to have such an outlet though (
unless you took initiative), beyond the kitchen, bathroom and anything that's outside of the building so you don't get zapped when working with a power tool standing on the grass or something (
and thus are better grounded), etc. New homes have this protection built-in at the service panel, even surge protection, etc. But yeah, I guess it would be a good idea to upgrade one's computer center outlet with a GFCI model given such a scenario...
A 15 Amp GFCI outlet offers 2 forms of protection: 1) the standard electrical current limit, so if you draw 16 Amps by plugging in too many devices, it should trip its breaker first, before any breaker or fuse at the building's service panel trips/pops, and 2) electrical leakage detection; electricity flowing from the Hot line should be returning via the Neutral line, so if all of a sudden, flow rapidly increases, and yet the return flow from the Neutral line decreases, that constitutes leakage: the electrons have found another path to travel to ground, either the ground from the plug itself or from another spot, etc. It's the scenario of throwing a blow dryer in a steel bath tub full of water. If you just have 15 Amp protection, you'll be dead before the breaker ever trips because of >16 Amps of current overflowing. But with leakage protection, it'll be detected in milliseconds and it'll save your life. Anyhow, both forms of protection can stop a fire from occurring, so these outlets are worth upgrading to in general.
And needless to say, the lamps around my work area are now florescents - I hope they won't fry anything if I do it again 
Those don't operate on the full 120V, but with a step-down transformer at much lower voltages, so yeah, probably not.
