Unless for some odd reason there is only one 15-amp device on the circuit. Then it violates the NEC (and probably local code too).

Most scientific journals that I have experience with to not pay authors in any way. This is certainly the case with all IEEE journals and several other scientific journals. Signing over the copyright is the cost of entry if you want your work published. There are probably exceptions to this, possibly for work that is easily identified as ground breaking. But my experience has always been that there is nothing paid when the copyright is transfered. In fact, most journals still ask for printing charges. This are usually optional (and I opt out) except when color figures are included in the manuscript. If there are journals paying authors I would like to know.

Edison has gotten far more coverage in the history books (at least US ones), He was probably best at business, although he is known as an inventor. On the other hand, Tesla was, without a doubt, the greatest engineer that has ever lived. He is proof that a formal advanced education is not necessary for scientific greatness. It is too bad that most people don't realize the impact he truly had.

If you finish grad school with a GPA of less than 3.5 there is a good chance you were not studying something you were passionate about (particularly for a doctoral degree). The bell curve does not exist in (good) grad programs when it comes to grades. This is because a disproportionate number of students are outstanding making for a lot of top marks. The grad engineering courses I took (possibly excluding "trial by fire courses") typically had an B+/A- average and grades amounted to: A=solid grasp of concepts, B=partial understanding, consider re-taking or serious reading, C=fail (did you even buy the text?). I never new of a single D given out, F was only in extreme cases (student though class was dropped).

Naturally, this may vary by program, department, and university. But I know that it is relatively common in engineering.

That said, even the academically "poor" students were often very gifted when it came to research. Ultimately, publications and products make for placement if you want an academic/research life after grad school. A respectable GPA may be be necessary for corporate jobs, but will probably carry less weight for faculty/post-doc type job searches. Nothing helps you make the short list better than proven research skills demonstrated a few first author publications.