Top resistors

Even in Australia where I come from - and where we have crocs, and not 'gators - these were known as "alligator clips".

The alligator has a rounded U-shaped snout whereas a crocodile has a narrower V-shaped snout. The clips more resemble an alligator's jaws.

Regards,

crocodile clip is chiefly British - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocodile_clip

Moving on... it doesn't look to me the tip is attached to the lead, but I guess it could be; looks floating from this vantage point. Another interesting question is, why is he using the "alligator" clip in one but not the other; why wouldn't he be using the same thing on both ends.

More to the point though, do you really believe a resistor would truly measure differently based on "direction", as if it has some sort of partial diode effect? And the person who posted that link said it all made sense to him - what exactly made sense?

The typical O-Scope probe has a ground wire(with an alligator clip), that connects to the side of it's insulator body. The heavily protected(insulated) retractable hook probe, then can be connected to any lead, within(say) a component's chassis, for testing at various points in it's circuitry. All the resistors, shown in the pictures(of Mr E's site), are wirewounds. That means they contain drawn wire. Metallic wire molecules are of a crystaline construction and assume a directional, chevron shape, when drawn(ie: >>>>>> ). It's inferred by many, that the boundaries of the crytals can/will act as diodes, and may be the reason wire seems directional. That(partially) accounts for the popularity of Ohno Constant Casting(OCC or Mono Crystal), copper or silver wire, in the construction of cabling and interconnects.

OOPS- Make that Ohno CONTINUOUS Casting. BTW: I'll bet that the Bulk Foil and Nude Vishays, or Caddock Precision Films, would not show as dramatic a directionality, if at all.

Could this also account for the "directionality" in fuses some claim to hear? Any idea if the HiFi Tuning fuses are [P]OCC or not?