If It Prints, I'll Let You Know

Okay, this is not funny at all. Not even a little bit. In fact, it makes me feel a little upset because if it’s real, it’s pretty cruel. Not to mention, I have a fondness for pet rodents, so seeing this doesn’t settle too well.

Anyway, some of you may be interested in this picture.

Yes, that is a mouse in an HP printer. Where you’d normally find an HP printer ink cartridge, instead you find a mouse. Not a pretty picture. Poor thing looks like it choked to death.

Anyway, to be irreverent for a moment (yes, I know I’m always irreverent), I wonder what category of printer troubleshooting this falls under? Mouse issues? Paper jam? Mousey jam?

Apparently this picture was a part of an e-mail chain letter. In it, the author states the furry little guy got out unscathed. I’m crossing my fingers in hopes the mouse didn’t get squished by moving printer parts like a printer ink cartridge!

This guy has really thought this through. Watch and you’ll see what I mean.

I love it. I never realized it until now but boxer shorts’ prints do look a lot like wrapping paper patterns. Ah, the crazy world we live in!

So, I guess if you wear underwear with an interesting print on it, you too can follow this guy’s lead. Just remember to have some glossy printer paper and high quality ink cartridges on hand to complete the job.

We all have one (or three) lying around the house somewhere. In fact, they may even still be in plain sight. I’m talking about those old, useless printers that no longer start up, print, or if they do print, they print crazy. I know I’ve got an old Lexmark somewhere around here. Printed at a lightning speed of 1 page per minute. Yeah. It is that old.

With technology round-ups costing money, a lot of people (like me) have hung onto their old printers. Instead of just letting them take up space, however, you can make them into something fun. Here are a few ideas.

1. If your old printer is flat on the top, cover it in some cushiony fabric. Break out the hot glue gun for this one. Within a brief time period you’ll have a comfy foot rest.

2. If the printer relic is fairly small, place it in the center of your dining room table. This is especially great if you’re a technology nut. Place flowers in the paper feed and you’ll have a geeky vase on your hands.

3. If you have more than one old printer, put them on display. You can make it look like you have intentionally kept this old junk and have a “Tech from the ’80’s” mini-museum in your living room.

4. Spend some time learning the finer details of print workings. If there is absolutely no way the printer could be fixed, open it up and peek inside. I bet you never knew there were all of these weird lookin’ gizmos in there!

5. Finally, it makes a good practical joke. Wrap it up in fancy wrapping paper and give it to a friend as a gift. Watch as her face lights up only to find out the clunky machinery in her hands hasn’t worked since Steve Jobs had a full head of hair. Okay, that was a low blow. Steve rocks!

I hope you’re maybe now inspired and will look at your digital junk in a whole new way. Besides, you could always break out the bedazzler and get some sequins and rhinestones on that printer. Oh yeah. Now that is what I’m going to do.

Be sure to also check out fun things you can do with printer ink cartridges.

Ah, Belkin, how I love thee. Ye who makes so many accessories and products for my beloved Apple items. But even outside of the realm of the Mac, Belkin offers interesting products at reasonable prices.

Take one of their latest gadgets, for example. The Belkin Bluetooth Printer Adapter. This nifty product makes your printer wireless, meaning you can use a wider variety of products with the printer without a single cable.

All you do is plug in the bluetooth printer adapter to the USB port on your printer. The rest should take care of itself. Your other wireless devices like laptops, PDAs, Pocket PCs or what have you should work with your printer now. Essentially, anything with v1.1 technology should work with this printer adapter.

So what will a handy device like this cost you? About $115 at the moment. Any printer with a USB port will work with this printer adapter. And it truly is “plug and play.” Just plug in the adapter and you’re off and printing wirelessly. No more wire bundles to trip over. Well, you’ll probably have a few still–can’t forget that trusty power cord–but at least a printer adapter makes it so you have one less thing to trip over!

I just received this question today:

“When printing photos, my prints have great gobs of ink all over the paper. The paper is practically soaked by the time the print is done. Any advice?”

Don’t you just hate it when that happens? I know I do. You’re printing out your vacation photos to show off to the neighbors when all of a sudden all of the prints are covered in ink. The ink may even smear as it comes out of the printer–that’s just how much ink is being poured onto the paper.

As annoying as this is, there is an easy solution.

The problem could be that you are printing at too high of a resolution. Too much ink is then put onto the paper in one spot causing it to pool. Another possible cause is that you are using either the wrong kind of paper or the wrong side of the paper. Remember to use the glossy side for photos. And don’t print on the “photo-quality” setting if you’re just using regular copy paper.

There you go, a simply solution to a common problem. I hope this fixes it. And remember, if you have any printer ink cartridge questions, don’t forget to drop me a line.

May your prints be clear and bright this week.