Instant Regret Kit- non-working massage gun

@dave

@chienfou @dave
That’s kinda rude. But I like it lol

@chienfou @dave @Star2236 it’s kind of perfect tbh.

@dave @sillyheathen @Star2236
I found it “pithy”.

@sillyheathen I know. It has been a while (knock on wood) since I have gotten an irk full of broken glass (including a couple of things I really, really wish hadn’t been smashed in route) since outside of the bubble wrap multi irk running joke everything just gets tossed in there unwrapped.

@dkarmol I have gotten plenty of broken or non-working items in various irks. I have gotten lucky a few times to get some nice working stuff or unbroken breakable things as well. It’s a crap shoot. I’d say my hit rate of good stuff that works/unbroken glass stuff though is far, far less than 50%. The odds are, at least, better than winning the lottery though. There is that to be said.

@dkarmol @Kidsandliz @sillyheathen honestly part of the appeal was that you might get some very cool possibly expensive non working thing from old woot/meh and be able to fix it.

Happens less/mainstream people aren’t all “take everything apart” nerds

@ChadP You stole my reply out from under me.

@medz Is there still someone out there who doesn’t understand “Best by” vs. “Expired”?

(If so, then California is your friend.)

@rpstrong ok, I’ll let you put 2 year expired eye patches on your face. Good luck with that

@medz What part “expired food” did you miss?

@rpstrong your face

/showme person with low standards happily eating expired food items from a mediocre online store

@medz Here’s the image you requested for “person with low standards happily eating expired food items from a mediocre online store”

/giphy goteem

@medz yeah that’s just fucked up dude. Way to show your ass

@unksol I’m scared?

@medz I agree because if I don’t like the food, it is just thrown away or maybe fed to wildlife since the local food bank won’t accept food beyond the best buy date. Yes, the food might be still good but it’s a matter of pride of the food bank runner. When she was down on her luck back in the day, she applied for government food assistance and got turned down. As a consolation, the assistance office gave her a grocery bag of dented cans and food that was beyond the best by dates. She said it was the most humiliating time in her life to have to ask for assistance to help feed her kids and the bag of food just seemed like just another kick down,

I really miss the days of late-dated Ramen; I actually had to buy some full price and non-expired Ramen a few weeks ago. I was hoping in-date and full price might have made a difference, but no, it just made my wallet smaller. Lest we not forget the gem of an idea that was pastadrop.

@ironcheftoni I feel like that specific case is very different than my usual point. In that I don’t pay any attention to dates because they aren’t expiration. dates. They are literally just made up.

Also we have a lot of Amish stores. The large one up the road will have past best buy dates on shelf stable stapeles or frozen food but… Just not a stigma to me.

I’m sure I have so much “expired” food I bought at kroger and just isn’t.

If meat is off you can smell it. People are really weird about stuff. I guess since the FDA inspection teams have been wrecked so that’s more valid than it used to be. But a can isn’t going bad as long as it’s sealed.

@ironcheftoni as in we should not be cutting food assistance in the first place. And we know who is cutting it. And cutting SNAP. I just don’t throw out food I bought over an imaginary date.

@ironcheftoni and realistically we don’t give them enough money to wait and buy things on sale and stock the pantry… Just a mess. We should be ashamed in general… About where our government spends it’s money.

Never mind lack of finance education. Economics. Government. Sigh.

@ironcheftoni @unksol

If meat is off you can smell it.

Hugely false. E.coli is an example - it has no scent, is fairly common on the surface of a steak or a roast, but is destroyed during cooking - but what about a burger? Where the e.coli is distributed throughout the meat? Improperly stored ground beef is an e.coli breeding ground.

Odor is often the last indication of spoilage.

But a can isn’t going bad as long as it’s sealed.

Bawlz. If the can isn’t properly heated, you’re only sealing the bugs inside. [Google ‘home canning’ for way more than you want to know about it.] Most sealed cans are probably fine, but have you never come across - or at least been warned about - bulging cans? A sure sign of some sort of biological, gas producing activity inside - I’d suggest tossing it.

@rpstrong you know I mean industrial canning. No one brought up home canning. Those who do have been familiar with the USDA home canning guide for decades and probably didn’t need it. We know what botulism is. People know what spoiled food is.

Most other things depend on the time to kill the bacteria and the toxins they leave behind. All the current issues are because they are uncooked vegetables and the FDA has failed because of cuts. You already identified destroyed during cooking. Obviously if you want to eat a rare Burger. Which is a very specific situation than most people. And you know that.

There are obviously bacteria that can leave toxic spores behind that can not be destroyed by casual reheating AFTER COOKING if you hold it at the right temperature. Rice being one of the better known hosts.

My year old bag of rice is fine

@unksol No I did not mean industrial canning. I was specifically thinking of a canned tomato product which was bulging. I noticed the bulge a second too late. I’d already committed to squeezing the can opener down; I was greeted by a mini-tomato geyser. Thorough cleaning ensued.

And yes, botulism - not e.coli - was what I was thinking of.

And I really can’t accept your assertion that enjoying a rare burger is somehow unusual. Other than at drive-ins, it goes on all the freaking time.

@rpstrong I mean the use of ground meat for a rare burger is definitely a concern as far as bacteria. Grinding your own is a thing too.

But that the use of ground meat specifically for a rare burger is relatively rare for families. Before it cost a fortune for ground beef. But like ground pork and sausage.

I specifically meant industrial canning.

If you can at home like we did in ball jars. Especially if you do waterbath canning were you are relying on the heat to seal the lid and the acid in the food to keep down the bacteria which can work with tomatoes. Yes you have to watch for botulism which I would not mess with

If you do pressure canning where it’s heat sterilized like the actual invention of canning and what is done in modern tin cans. It lasts. I would just do pressure canning if I was going to bother but. That’s just me.

Not that we would give enough money or time to people we are taking benefits from to garden or drive to a pick you own seasonal place. But the home canning guide seems to have survived so far.

https://nchfp.uga.edu/resources/category/usda-guide

@rpstrong and the Purdue extension office is involved apparently.

State University agriculture hasn’t been hurt too badly yet/are good resources.

@rpstrong just to be clear I’m not trying to be a dick

But botulism is an anaerobic bacteria. It will only be predominant in contaminated home canned food that was not heat sterilized.

E-coli is obviously what you meant the first time which would out-compete on fresh food. And yes you should be careful. Botulism is dangerous

But vastly different things.

Also I think you asked a chatbot because this is not how you open home canning, not how botulism works, and by definition the geyser means you would know if it was spoiled.

" I’d already committed to squeezing the can opener down; I was greeted by a mini-tomato geyser. "

No one is squeezing a can opener down on home canned goods. You just pop the top. I personally would leave the canning ring on to protect the lid in storage but technically not necessary

@unksol Sorry, but I screwed up an edit and reversed my meaning. I meant to say that I was referring to industrial canning, not to the home process. Dunno why it came out backwards - I place full blame upon the proofreader.

And I avoid chatbots like the plague.
 

@rpstrong I can agree with you on fuck the chatbots. Lol but what canned jar are you openning like that?

Industrial canning is still heat sterilized so no botulism. I mean I wouldn’t blindly eat it fallout style. And I wouldn’t rotate it out of my pantry to people who needed food cause that’s… Very meh. Id just eat my old stuff/buy them something. But still

@yeld What brand was the vacuum?

@yeld at least it don’t Suck.

@narfcake Don’t remember and it is long gone.

@narfcake @yeld one of those things that depending on the connection you may have been able to build a battery pack but… Not for your average consumer. Or take the motor for a project

@marksullivan5
Which brand/model was it? I have a couple I’ve bought from this site and may be interested in acquiring it from you for spare parts…
(And if it doesn’t match my models I’m pretty sure someone else on this site might be interested in the same thing)

@chienfou iHome Auto Vac Nova S2

@marksullivan5
Ratz, doesn’t match either of mine…
If nobody else expresses an interest I may have you send it to me just to see if I can get it to work … If it’s still in the box or wouldn’t be too hard to package I can send you a pre-paid mailing label for it.
Just need to decide whether I want to devote some time to do something with it as opposed to the other 40,000 projects that I have around the house…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@marksullivan5 but if you had fixed it… You would have been thrilled lol at least for a few minutes. I got a robo vac with a discontinued app that can be functional. I still use it.

Fixing a bump sensor is gonna require some disassembly/soldering iron which some people are into

which some people are into

@marksullivan5 @unksol But please not like this:
/image stock image soldering iron fail

@marksullivan5 @narfcake ouch. That’s not gonna be a fun burn

@DLPanther
I’m surprised Best Buy wouldn’t take it. I’ve dumped recycled similar things with them in the past.

my broken office worn HP

@chienfou @DLPanther Saying broken and HP is somewhat redundant. The joke is that HP means Horrible Printers – and given how they make printers a subscription and DRM ink cartridges plus give them expiration dates, they’re easily the most anti-consumer of them all.

@chienfou @DLPanther @narfcake I have an ancient HP1200 laser printer that is still hanging in there. It was made from 2001-2005, Paper tray is broken but I have it propped up.

@DLPanther probably illegal. Just saying. We have ewaste laws to protect people’s health… Not that recycling works well for plastic

Not going to pretend I haven’t improperly disposed of a CRT before…

@unksol we may have once disposed of CRTs by dropping them off the top of tall buildings, parking garages, and the top level of interstate cloverleaf interchanges. Perhaps they may have been filmed, well before YouTube was a thing. Usenet had interesting videos back in the day.

@djslack @unksol When I was maybe 12 or 13, I was hiking along a country logging road when I came upon a site where some trash had been dumped. Among the trash was a (25 inch or so) glass vacuum CRT from a TV. Being of inquisitive mind (but poor judgement) I found a chunk of metal, stood back a good distance and let it fly. When it hit the CRT, it imploded with a whoosh, sending debris into the air. It was a damp, foggy day and there was a rain of charged debris making little sparks and bzzt sounds. In retrospect I see the error of my ways, but non-the-less weird and interesting.

@djslack @macromeh lol may have put a bullet through some. Or an explosive

@DLPanther Why didn’t you just fix it? An old HP laser will outlive your car, house, marriage.

@caffeineguy @DLPanther Yup. I use a HP1200 that is pushing something like 25 years. Still going strong even though the paper tray needs propped up as it is broken and won’t stay glued. Although…my 1990 grand caravan has still, so far, outlived the printer. The ghetto van (kiddo called it that - era of the peeling paint, swore she wouldn’t drive it. She lied.) died after 25 years and 3.5 months when it threw an engine bearing so the only buyer was the junk yard.

@caffeineguy @Kidsandliz I already have a Brother laser printer / scanner from 2004 still limping along that didn’t have severe structural damage from being shipped only padded by non-working smart watches in a thin cardboard box. I’m actually impressed it didn’t rip its way out of that box during shipping.

@unksol
My experience with Best buy has been if I walk in with a cardboard box full of stuff that is e-waste their answer is generally point me in the direction of the closet where they keep the giant box of crap. Of course YMMV… especially if you’re trying to dump off a 4-ft tall 400 lb office printer.

@chienfou yea nothing like that. Just a robot vac. Bunch of pcie cards. Loose cpus. Motherboards. There’s a circuit city server

Its an hour drive and they say 10 items and list laptops. Man I’ve got circuit boards lol. I guess I should try next time I’m in the city if there’s time

If each part counts towards the 10 piece limit it would take forever

@unksol
I know they have a limit, but in my experience, if you walk in there with a closed cardboard box they don’t check it. I have brought in boxes big enough to contain a full sized tower desktop computer crammed full of crap multiple times to my local one. But again, it depends on how anal the guy at the door is.
YMMV

@chienfou have to give it a try next time I go to Costco I guess. That box is bothering me

@unksol
Worst that can happen is they decline to tale it.

@chienfou yea you maybe I’m a soyboy lol

@unksol
I’m conflict averse. IF they told me “no” I would just go back out to the car and put the box back in the trunk. No harm/no foul.

@chienfou lol same. I do not understand the mindset you have to be in to start a fight over something dumb.

Serious stuff… I’ll come equipped with the law/rule. “Please take my junk” meh lol

@chienfou although I do wonder if an employee has to open that box and go “fml” realistically it should just go to a recycler and best buy corporate should compensate them… And then what tax credit are they getting… Which in this case if it’s correct I would be ok with to keep heavy metal out of ground water via the landfill so…

Wait why isn’t this just handled like hazardous material at my county waste disposal?

@chienfou @unksol Freecycle or free on craigslist / facebook marketplace. Never had a problem jettisoning motherboards etc. Recyclers are generally happy to take it.

@chienfou @outdoorslife those sites do tend to rely on population density. That’s a good option for the OP though if they don’t want to take it apart.

If I’m getting rid of something it’s probably so old/unfixable. Sometimes a cat peed on it so the circuit traces are worthless lol

@outdoorslife @unksol
I’ve also had success with turning in recyclables to Office Depot when they occasionally do a “bring an old printer etc. and get credit” program.

@unksol I think you can contend it’s one item… A box of ewaste. It sounds like stuff that’s generally appealing to recyclers, they get precious metals out of circuit boards. They have to limit items to keep someone from rolling up with a truckload of CRTs that they have to pay to dispose of.

@djslack the initial rules as I understand were written because of lead solder. And to keep heavy metals out of the landfill. Lead free solder has of course been a thing for a few decades. Was just mentioned when doing ECET. Wasn’t still a thing doing SMT in a college lab… But still was a thing/watch out for lead in salvage/fixing things.

@chienfou @unksol

Wait why isn’t this just handled like hazardous material at my county waste disposal?

It is at the local garbage dump/recycling center. There is just a big bin for electronic recycling and you drive up and drop your items in the bin. (Also bins for motor oil, glass, paper, metal, etc.) They also host Hazardous Waste Disposal days several times a year where you drive up and the friendly staff unloads your toxic stuff, sorts and disposes of it. Probably required by law here (Oregon).

@macromeh @unksol
Damn near unheard of here (in Alabama). We used to have a recycling center just up the street a few blocks, the city stopped taking stuff several years back unfortunately. Now the only thing I can get rid of is electronics at Best Buy or aluminum cans for the Kiwanis at the local Catholic church!

@chienfou @macromeh indiana of all places has hazardous waste disposal. In my county it’s available 3 days a week when the dump is open but the county over it’s scheduled for weekends only.

They don’t do ewaste unless you pay for it though. Just oil/chemicals/pesticides/paint. Probably Cause a kinda rural/agriculture state. There’s like a nominal fee for a “carload” of chemical stuff cause they want you to dispose of it responsibly instead of dump it down the drain/in the yard. And the people have to handle it.

But yea normal recycling the bins are free.

@chienfou @macromeh we do also have a for profit metal recycler in the county that puts a bin at the county drop off. It’s not actually the dump. So while aluminum/tin goes in normal recycling.

Steel. Brake rotors. Water heaters are cost free. I’ve been told to pitch used oil filters in there with is… Suspect. But if they are shreading and picking up the steal magnetically then filtering for other metals… Could be fine

@chienfou @macromeh @unksol Sounds familiar. I’m in a small mountain town in SoCal; we filled up our original dump, paved it over, and made it into a transfer station. A parking pad surrounded by dumpsters or containers for garbage, lawn clippings, recyclables, electronics, etc.

Mostly ‘free’ that is, called out in your property taxes.

@chienfou @macromeh @rpstrong there’s lots of ways to look at recycling. Plastic especially some times is a problem.

There is the famous crying indian ad that was a Coca-Cola scam. Cause we get lobbying in there too unfortunately

There is just us shipping trash across the world to another dump to let people pick through. To try and recycle it there at the detriment to their health.

Plastic is just solid oil why not incinerate it in power plants if we could capture the toxic byproducts?

But yea I’d be ok with my taxes figuring out how to reduce environmental pollution. And usually how that works is university and science funding. That finds a new process. That industry can use. And maybe we subsidize the industry for a few years until they are profitable and then cut em loose.

That’s been the model for a long time. We are dead without government supported research .

Don’t get me started on leaded gas or other commercial damage

@mycya4me I liked the pasta drops. The trackers… I was going to give to goodwill but at this point they should move to the ewaste pile probably. Sigh

I have issues throwing things out. So does meh

@mycya4me @unksol
IDK
40# of noods to my son was GREAT!

@chienfou @mycya4me I miss the noods

I have to ask how your son felt about getting your noods?

@unksol SO do I … I am a pack rat. that is becoming reformed!..
I Must clean out my Mobile home of 20 years. It is so hard to do. I have a Recycle bin (trash can size) that has become 3/4 full of Paper/ mags. No plastics yet!

I even thrown out old food stuff into the wood being the place… it will go back into nature.

With that much recycling I have only 1 bag of really trash (you can’t recycle that stuff) a month… it is just me.

@mycya4me Pasta drop was amazing… It was also peak Covid, lots of disruption in folks’ lives. But I wish I could have seen all the reactions to friends and family that got a load of noods. Kind of wish I saved some of the boxes, they were cool too.

@mycya4me @unksol No meh has no problem throwing things out. We are their dumpster and we pay them which saves them money.

@Kidsandliz @mycya4me that’s technically not throwing things out lol. Never mind if you can fix it/pass out on to someone who can use the parts.
I do wonder if they actually pitch anything… Like they must if it’s just physically broken.

@mycya4me @unksol

I do wonder if they pitch anything… Like they must if it’s just physically broken.

Well if my irks are anything to base it on I have gotten plenty of physically broken items, including some big and heavy thus pretty expensive to ship things that likely would have been cheaper to just put in their dumpster.

@Kidsandliz @unksol I know some companies If you want to return something, Well they just say Keep it, it not worth the return shipping, we will just return you money back onto the card you used.

@Kidsandliz @mycya4me well yea amazon will even do that. Sometimes like products that are past the best buy date.

But if the listing says best buy 2028 and you deliver early 2026. Yes I want it refunded.

Things do degrade/false advertising is different than me choosing to buy things past the best buy date at a discount. Or buying things and not using them.

I assume some glass or pottery/fragile? They do get bulk shipping I think. Through hubs. They probably hoped it would make it. Not just shards lol

@Kidsandliz @unksol Most of the time when I need to return something to amazon, instead of using UPS I will use Kohl’s which is FREE, No real package needed, You got a QR code, the will use of the Kohl’s bags, tie the bag Stick their label on & toss it in the box with other returns. a few minutes later they issue the Refund as they see it is on the way.

@Kidsandliz @mycya4me honestly I almost never return anything. I’m very particular about what I buy and unless it’s broke I don’t file for a return.

But also pretty rural. They will hire an “amazon” driver which I feel ways about because how they treat their contractors. But the warehouse can be closer than the nearest Khols. Even though I don’t pay for prime

I don’t like any of it… Have mixed feelings about the order in my Amazon cart… But it was significantly cheaper to do half on rockauto and half on Amazon… Ugh

@mycya4me @unksol

I assume some glass or pottery/fragile?

That but also electronics, ear buds, fan, heater, some weird shake you back and forth thing you stand on, and more…

@Kidsandliz @mycya4me mmm that is a much larger selection than I would have anticipated. Shattered electronics would generally involve broken cases… Which I would expect to be disqualifying except for some specific repair oriented people who might want the parts. Being saddled with trash disposal would definitely be very… I want to say meh. But hopefully not meh

@mycya4me @unksol Oh they can be missing parts, be cracked and broken, won’t turn on even when fully charged, etc. It’s pretty random what is wrong with them. Then of course some work just fine like the arch your back vibrator, massager, heat thing I just gave someone when we both happened to be out of town in Houston missing each other by hours (left it at her hotel) and just the box was beat up…

@Kidsandliz @mycya4me
I’m uh. Not going to ask any questions about this specific phrasing

"arch your back vibrator, massager, heat thing I just gave someone when we both happened to be out of town in Houston missing each other by hours (left it at her hotel) "

I hope it was effective.

@mycya4me @unksol You must have a dirty mind. . So I didn’t go into minute detail…oh well as I guess that gives you entertainment.

The “better wording is”: Total innocent drop off and far cheaper than mailing it. Got it in my irk, I didn’t want it and had no clue if it even worked as it was in it’s original bashed up box packed as new, she had commented she’d have loved to get that so I told her she could have it for postage and it turns out she got it for nothing and I paid in gas and time because it turned out we’d both be in Houston with me leaving that Friday and she was arriving that Friday after I left (how’s that for a run on sentence?). She messaged me that it worked, she loved it and it helped her back.

@Kidsandliz @mycya4me I knew what you meant. Probably one of those massage guns that are very different than the famous Hitachi massage wand

I assure you I’m not in the minority for that particular phrasing. Maybe it was the “arch your back” bit.

@Kidsandliz @mycya4me also just archer

/image PHRASING

Are we getting too old for that now lol

@mycya4me @unksol Well the thing was literally curved in a way that would push you towards a back bend position. So I was literal with no, um, other intent intended despite the twisted minds around here.

@Kidsandliz @mycya4me IDK what’s twisted about wanting a lady. Or anyone. To have a nice time. Regardless of the massage method. I like giving them
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@Kidsandliz @mycya4me @unksol It depends on your particular return - I have been offered various options ranging from requesting a UPS pickup (extra fee), or a free, pre-packaged drop off at a third party shipper, or just bring it in (bare bones) to a UPS store or a location like Kohls for lmediate credit.

But that last option is not gauranteed.

@Kidsandliz @rpstrong @unksol every time I did the Amazon return It offered UPS but it must be boxed, Or else a fee, Kohls you just drop it off in the Bag or they will use one of their Bags Stick their label on it & throw it into the Big box they have ready to ship to amazon returns! FREE. So the few time I had to return something I choose Kohls.

@Kidsandliz @unksol We can’t expect any less from you!

@Kidsandliz @unksol Yep I rarely return anything as I am on a Very Tight budget so If I order something I needed it! So return is if Broken or they mixed up the order.

@mycya4me
I’m not going to throw away good money after bad, occasionally I return things cuz their sizing was wonky or the color was nothing like what was in the images (OR description). Or the product does not work as indicated in the ad. For instance I recently brought a trail camera which it turns out had to use cloud storage and a subscription model. That was not clear in their ad. I figured you’d be able to use it with a local SD card, but alas, no. It’s being dropped off at UPS by my wife today…

@chienfou Good for you… Being a Computer hardware Repair tech for over 20 years I have a LOT of stuff, sadly I got an early Color laser (Huge thing, weighs a lot. Now due to its age you can’t find proper drivers for it! I highly doubt even some of the Geekest Nerds would even want it! or some of my other Kool, but OLD hardware.
So what am I to do?

@mycya4me
You can always use it as outdoor decor in the garden…

@chienfou But that would go against the Old Geek code of Recycle, doing that would destroy it!It would hurt my heart when I think of how much I paid for it!

@chienfou @mycya4me I mean false advertising absolutely is a refund through the store front. Maybe a little meh on shipping it back regarding the cost to them. But I’m not paying it.

Even Samsung and Micron are doing bullshit. Although an RMA for repair is a little different.

/youtube rossman micron

I can’t get it to go to the nonshort. But right to repair/warranties/take em to small claims

@mycya4me

But that would go against the Old Geek code of Recycle,

Reuse > recycle.

@chienfou yep, some of it is really old, Sadly I am throwing out/ recycling some old tech books: win3.11, W95, w98, NT Adobe 6, Acrobat ect… The only thing they are good for is to be shredded & become new books or other paper products.
FYI I have been a Pro Computer tech for over 20+ years. I will have to get rid of a number of Keyboards, Mice, Mouse pads (No Apple stuff or wireless) all corded. Got to make room for other geeky/ nerdy stuff. I can drop shipping yo some of the hardware, of course you pick up the shipping

@chienfou @unksol I refuse to buy anything from Samsung!

@mycya4me
I think I’ve mentioned this project here before.

I got a bunch of library discards years ago and much as it pained me to do so, cut them down to about an inch and a quarter after stripping the pages out. I used them to create the illusion of books in a bookshelf I built that is actually the cover for a Murphy bed. It’s in my office (which is currently in a state of massive disarray as I try to reorganize everything) so I can’t open it up fully. But here’s a picture of some of the books and picture frames with a couple pulled out so you can see where they’ve been cut off.

Across the room is an actual bookcase and cabinet which matches the style of this one and has real books and cabinet spaces. It was a fun project.

BTW this is the only way you would find Reader’s Digest condensed books at our house.

@chienfou @mycya4me the books. They are just no longer relevant. Because tech manuals. I may have burned a book once.

Anyone remember that like 1500 page PC hardware book that used to come out every year in the 90s/early 2000s? I read that thing cover to cover a few times from the library as a kid. I have a copy in a box somewhere the library was selling as defunct. just to have it.

My Brother is from 2004 and the software/scanner won’t work on windows 11… Even though there is no major change. Found some software that will work for a bunch of different models so Microsoft could support things. They just don’t

@mycya4me @unksol
Linux support?

@mycya4me @unksol
I built our first computers in the late 80s early 90s using Computer Shopper catalogs…

@chienfou @mycya4me @unksol
When I retired 5 years ago (from the SW company 3 former co-workers and I started in 2000) I kept a set of the paper tech manuals and a copy of the source code of the product that we developed. They came in handy early-on when I’d get the occasional call for help. But the calls eventually quit coming and now I suppose I should dispose of them - the sentimental and practical value has faded.

@chienfou @mycya4me it was thinking of peter nortons inside the PC but I had to pull boxes to find it and others I have had for 20 years. I have a lot of WW2 stuff too so left that in. Also pulled some out I don’t remember reading

@chienfou @unksol It is possible, But my knowledge of Linux is extremely weak.

@chienfou @unksol I belive I have a copy of the 1st two books, maybe the 3rd (top row) But remember I am not a Codehead, I would toss the bottom 2. That is a totally different head space than a Hardware tech. which I have done for over 20+ years.

@chienfou the thing is, I need the space, Most of my bookcases are full, so I can keep some of the newer titles, I Must recycle the much older ones, the Library’s don’t want them, none of my geeks friends want them, In fact if yo need them, you can get a PDF of them online. That is also the reason I have been tossing Bins full of magazines (they are the trash cans that have a Recycle lid on them. the last time I am sure I filled the Bins 3 times. Plus when you have been in a place 20+ years you have a LOT of paper so 1 bin full of paper/ mags (no plastics.)

@chienfou @unksol Yes I do have a Couple Win/AMD computers, the tower (custom by me) is Win 7 pro, a Laptop (I am given them) I upgraded it to win 10. that is it for that model.
Mostly I use a MacBook Pro that will run the current O/S, I am told with the newest Update (MacO/S 27) they will no longer support Intel based apps any more. So I have to make sure that all my apps are updated!
Yes I have an early HP Color laser (it is huge & weighs a 1/2 a ton) No driver support, a Brother Multi function printer/Fax - No drivers. you should at the very least be able to do B&W printing. as I said friends Don’t want it.

@chienfou @mycya4me

So what am I to do?

Write your own driver?? Ones with basic features ae not rocket science and probably can follow a generic version.

I need the space, Most of my bookcases are full

Replace them with ebooks. Probably available between Internet Archive and Anna’s Archive.
Personally, if I paid for a physical copy, I have zero qualms about free-/down- loading an ecopy in PDF or epub format. Can even keep the physical copies in a less prominent place.

@mycya4me @phendrick
Maybe this would be a good use case for AI written code.

@chienfou Has anyone ever tried to pull out one of the facade books?
Also … I think it’s a camera or binoculars case, but it looks like you have a strange little gnome staring out from one of your shelves!

@Kyeh
Yes, in fact my (ex) brother-in-law tried that and was totally befuddled. He couldn’t wrap his head around why the books were so short…
And good eye on the case. It IS an old Kodak leather case and still contains the camera it was made for.

@chienfou A 100% literal book of short stories!
And I think that Kodak camera case looks haunted.

@Kyeh
Love it!

@mossygreen
Still works. Just a lot more effort!