The Energy App That Blamed the Toaster

Emeline downloaded a new home energy app last month. The app tracks how much power each device uses. Every few days, it sends her a small report.

上个月，艾米琳下载了一个新的家庭用电应用。这个应用会记录每台设备用了多少电。每隔几天，它就会给她发一份小报告。

One morning, the app sent Emeline a strange alert. "Your toaster used a lot of power at three a.m.," it said. Emeline frowned and read it again.

一天早上，这个应用给艾米琳发来一条奇怪的提醒。“你的烤面包机在凌晨三点用了很多电。”上面写着。艾米琳皱起眉头，又读了一遍。

"I never use the toaster at night," she said. She turned to her roommate, Rania. "This app is probably wrong," she said.

“我从来不在夜里用烤面包机。”她说。她转向室友拉妮娅。“这个应用大概出错了。”她说。

Rania looked over Emeline's shoulder at the phone screen. "That's strange," she said. "Let's check the toaster together."

拉妮娅从艾米琳的肩后看了看手机屏幕。“真奇怪，”她说，“我们一起去看看烤面包机吧。”

They walked into the kitchen and looked at the toaster. It sat cold and unplugged on the counter. "It's not even plugged in," Emeline said. "The app made a mistake."

她们走进厨房，看着烤面包机。它冷冰冰地放在台面上，没有插电。“它连电都没插，”艾米琳说，“应用弄错了。”

Rania thought for a moment. "Wait," she said. "My fish tank heater plugs into that same outlet."

拉妮娅想了一会儿。“等等，”她说，“我的鱼缸加热器就插在同一个插座上。”

"The app probably reads the outlet, not the toaster," Emeline said. "It just has the wrong label."

“这个应用大概读的是插座，不是烤面包机，”艾米琳说，“只是标签标错了。”

They opened the app together and found the outlet's settings. Emeline changed the outlet's label to fish tank heater. The next report showed the correct name.

她们一起打开应用，找到了那个插座的设置。艾米琳把插座的标签改成了鱼缸加热器。下一份报告里就显示了正确的名称。