The Virginia Tech shooting that occurred on Monday, April 16, 2007 hit home for many college students. It surpassed The University of Texas at Austin’s tower shooting in 1966. Additionally, with the advent of technology, many others were able to pay tribute to those who passed on as a result. Many events occurred over this week: Some explored the killer’s motives, some pointed fingers, and some sought to exacerbate the pain and suffering. These events have served as triggers to some of my anger, and while some may disagree with my feelings, I would like to express them here. Read the rest of this entry »

My spring break consisted of formatting all the computers in my house and reinstalling Windows XP. We also added a new server for printing. The print server runs Ubuntu Linux 6.10 and was capable of sharing the printer through Samba or CUPS (i.e. a HTTP address). I am writing this to share with you the frustration of trying to find that file that contains the driver. Instead, I was forced to install the entire suite of software HP wants me to install. Even then, I was unable to change the port to a network port. What happened to the old days?

I remember the days when installing a printer involved the process of plugging it in, putting in a CD, and going through Windows’ “Add New Printer” wizard. and selecting the .ini file. The printer proceeds to just work. If this printer were to be on the network, I would do the procedures again on each client with insignificant adaptations to the procedure.

I continue to wish for those days because it gives me the control I need to get a job done right in the most efficient and economical fashion possible. In the course of making things easier and more “idiot-proof,” I believe that the manufacturers actually complicated the process and introduced more points where things could go wrong. Perhaps this happens only because I am using an all-in-one printer and that I should separate printer and scanner again. Nevertheless, I believe that consumers should have control should they desire it. I, for one, am not willing to buy a $300 printer for the sake of its networking capabilities; and I am sure that some cannot justify buying one printer for each computer. Indeed, I see it as uneconomical and harmful to the environment.