I presented my personal greatest threat to the world, as far as I know, on an otherwise quiet August afternoon in 1998. On that day, I knocked out the entire electrical and computing system of the World Maritime University in Malmo, Sweden.

I hadn't meant to, of course. I was at the university to co-teach a week-long class. My colleague D and I had been issued a US-made laptop designed to be powered by the US electrical system. We had been briefly instructed on how to set up a the chain of devices--adapter, converter, and so on--that needed to be connected in a precise order in order for the laptop to run on Swedish electricity.

You probably see where this is going. Hurrying to prepare for a class session, I must have set up the chain of devices in the wrong order. The instant I plugged the laptop into an electrical outlet, there was a loud bang, smoke poured from the outlet, and the lights went out. I hastily pulled out the plug , but the damage had been done. Moments later, hurrying footsteps and shouting could be heard in the corridors outside our classroom as people raced to fix the various problems I'd created, and the extent of the damage began to dawn on me.

Happily, the university's systems were brought back up within an hour (which felt like a particularly long hour to me). No data was lost, and the laptop, once back in the States, was restored to functionality. D was remarkably forbearing, considering that it was her session of our class that had been disrupted. The computer system administrator stopped by soon afterward to reassure me that no real harm had been done. In fact, he explained, the episode actually had been a good thing. The university system was out-of-date and still relied on fuses. He had been trying to convince the university administrators of the system's vulnerability and the need to modernize it, and saw what I had done as the perfect way to demonstrate its weaknesses. Or so he said. Such is the cheerful geniality of the Swedes I met, and I am very grateful for his kindness.

Today, I find myself with a new array of electricity-requiring devices that are bringing my Swedish experience back to mind. I travel to India next week and will remain in that country until mid-June. On this trip, I'll bring an iPod, a digital camera, and a Steripen for treating water, along with the rechargeable batteries and chargers they'll need. I'll also bring a plug adapter for Indian electrical outlets and a small surge protector. As you might imagine, I've carefully read and re-read all the documentation that came with each device. I've practiced setting them up, over and over, and have carefully checked each device to ensure that it is dual-voltage (they all are). I'm feeling quite confident that I've done this homework right, and that I have the equipment I need and know how to use it. But I'll still be holding my breath when I first plug into an Indian outlet.