The Problem With Fish. All fish contain trace amounts of mercury. For most people, the small amounts in fish do not pose a health problem. Some fish, however, contain high amounts of mercury -- enough to damage a fetus or newborn. That is why pregnant and nursing mothers must be very careful about the amounts and types of fish they eat.
RS-232 devices may be classified as Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) or Data Circuit-terminating Equipment (DCE); this defines at each device which wires will be sending and receiving each signal. According to the standard, male connectors have DTE pin functions, and female connectors have DCE pin functions.
An example of a DCE is an analog modem, which provides a connection between a computer (the DTE) and the local loop POTS phone line (the serial transmission line). A DCE accepts a stream of serial data from a DTE and converts it to a form that is suitable for the particular transmission line medium being used. The DCE also works in reverse, converting data from the transmission line to a form the DTE can use.