Techno Blog Monologue

I've finally decided to use background music for this page. That's a real graveyard in the background photo. It's at Death Valley Junction.

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For months, I've been thinking that this blog need not be limited to negative advice; warnings, that is. I can pass on some useful information, that you can apply. Well, I've got an item in that category. First, a little background info would help. I tell you now that this is about printer cartridge nozzle cleaning. I've been plagued with out-of-ink/not-printing maladies, for years. I did try a black ink refill kit, finally. I bought it maybe two years ago, for $10.00, at a discount retailer, Fry's Electronics, to be specific. It sat for a long time, before I finally used it, but it worked fabulously, really. I printed hundreds of copies with that ink, and I've still got a little left. Within the last week or so, though, my printer has been temperamental; not wanting to print. For a day or two, it had me stumped. I knew I put plenty of ink in the cartridge, but it still wasn't printing in black-only mode. At that, I figured it was time to search the internet for an answer. Voila! I found it, in one of the very first articles I came across. It said that wiping the print nozzles, of the cartridge, with highly fibrous materials, like cotton (or maybe paper towels) can clog the teeny tiny ink orifices in the cartridge. It also seemed to imply that those passages can get plugged with dried ink, if the cartridge runs completely dry. It also said that contamination on the electronics of the cartridge can cause havoc too. Well, I knew the printed wiring had visible contamination on it, and I wasn't at all convinced that my nozzles weren't plugged, so I followed the advice. I put a quarter of an inch of water in a sauce pan, and heated it to almost boiling (plenty of steam). Then, I immediately put the cartridge into it, nozzles down. I let it soak for ten minutes (the article said 5 to 10 minutes). I also swished the nozzle end around in the hot water, occasionally, hoping that would ensure success. Well, it worked. It cleaned the ink off of the visible printed wiring and metal nozzle piece. When I put it back into my printer, just after, it printed fine, with no problems. So, now one can wonder which was the problem, the inky external contamination or dried ink plugging the nozzle, or maybe even both. Maybe I'll never know which was more to blame, but at least I've got my printer printing again.

Oh, by the way, I should point something out to you. Not all printers use "cartridges." A "cartridge" has the ink nozzles built into it. The ones I've used have a small, rectangular, silver metal piece (the nozzle piece). Some printers have what's called an "ink tank." It only holds ink, in the printer. If you have a model of printer that doesn't use a cartridge, but instead uses an ink tank, you won't be able to apply the above cleaning procedure to it. Of course, you wouldn't need to do that.

Unfortunately, my color cartridge is now empty, and in need of refill ink. I'm glad it's available so cheap. I plan to buy some soon. When I looked up that article, I saw a source that had a kit with BOTH black AND color ink, for something like twelve or thirteen dollars. I don't want to mislead you. If you buy larger quantities, like by the pint, the price per ounce is much lower. If you've never bought a kit before, you probably should buy one the first time, because it has the syringe for injecting into the cartridge, and it also has an instruction sheet for many brands and models of printers' cartridges. I bought a kit, and I may even buy another kit, rather than the large bottle, because my budget is so tight. I can't part with that much money at one time, at this time. I believe you can even buy the ink by the gallon bottle, if you use it up so quickly. I suppose only a large office would buy that much at one time.

The above blog entry was made on December 28, 2008.

Here's a tip for Internet Explorer users. If "view source" stops working, in IE, either empty the temporary internet files, the "offline content," or delete some of it. I read this explanation someplace, when I had this problem, so I tried it, and IT WORKS! Yippee! I know it doesn't seem to make sense. Has Windows ever made sense to you?

Now, here's a bonus item tip, to go with the above. I experienced a second benefit, from emptying my temporary internet files. I was finally able to successfully click "back," when navigating some numbered series of pages (as in click the page number: <= 1 2 3 4 =>). It seemed as though Internet Explorer had lost its mind (and maybe it had), but when I cleared out that huge store of web page objects (from surfing the web; photos, etc.) VOILA! My browser's "back" button was finally fully functional again. Double yippee!

The above blog entry was made on September 1, 2008.

I've been thinking that I should put new entries into this blog more often, even ones that aren't complaints. Here's one. I finally refilled my Hewlett-Packard black ink cartridge #27. It was a success. I definitely recommend buying the refill ink kit, which comes with a syringe and instructions, or just the bulk ink, if you've already refilled cartridges before, and know how to do it. Predictably, the printer manufacturer advises against refilling, but I ignore factory advice, when I know better. This refilling can save you big money, if you do reams of printing. I've already refilled this #27 about four times. That ink would have cost me a lot of money, had I used new cartridges each time. I've already saved about $100.00.

The above blog entry was made on June 22, 2008.

I just noticed that many people were having trouble with their Norton Anti-virus software interfering with their msmsgs.exe, which is the executable file of Microsoft's Windows Messenger. If they're not using Windows Messenger, then this is how to uninstall it the right way:

1. Go into your Windows settings screen (the control panel).
2. Double-click "add/remove programs."
3. Single-click "add/remove windows components" (on the left of the screen).
4. Scroll down the list, and untick (remove the checkmark from) "Windows Messenger."
5. Click "next" or "finish" (whichever applies to your screen options), and finish.

To check to see if it was successfully uninstalled, reboot Windows, and see if the Messenger icon is gone from the taskbar (on the lower-right). If it's gone, your done; Messenger is gone. If you decide to start using Messenger, you can reinstall it later, which would require your Windows installation disk.

The above blog entry was made on April 5, 2008.

I now have more reason than ever to suspect Trend Micro, provider of PCcillin, of being a malware and spyware culprit. I just cleared out countless spyware entries in my Windows registry, that PCcillin didn't even mention were there. If Trend Micro were legitimate, you'd think they would have caught most of those.

It's the same damn thing with Zone Lab's product, called Zone Alarm. I had one of the worst attacks, ever, back when I had their software so-called protecting my computer. I have reason to think it was their doing, but I don't want to describe why I suspect it.

There are many so-called software products out there that are really malware attacks. I wish it weren't so, but it's that way.

Be especially wary of CD burning software or CD burning freeware. Many of those so-called products are really sabotage malware, that will easily crash your computer's operating system.

The above blog entry was made on July 27, 2006.

Well, I just battled another malware attack. Malware sources have had no mercy on me. I used a trick I learned to make it easier this time, though. This last blitz makes me suspect Cryptainer encryption software of being the malware culprit. Judging from my experience, it seems that there are no for-real computer security software companies, only saboteurs and intruders. If I want to recover my encrypted documents, with the private information in them, I have to reinstall Cryptainer to decrypt them. That means that if Cryptainer was really the culprit in the recent malware attack, I'd be reinstalling it, and its cargo of malware, just to retrieve those encrypted documents. I'd likely have to go through the marathon of reinstalling Windows to get rid of the malware again. The malware didn't show up right away though.

Malware is cyber hell.

The above blog entry was made on August 4, 2006.

I found a mention recently of Microsoft's using Trend Micro to service all of its Hotmail system. Well, that's another reason I now have to distrust Microsoft. I've already distrusted Microsoft for many years, so that's nothing new by any means. Here's another reason, though. For shame, all you greedy, political software and computer organizations like Microsoft. If one presumes Trend Micro of being the villains I suspect they are, one can't believe that Microsoft isn't aware of such mischief.

The above blog entry was made on September 4, 2006.

Here's more on the Trend Micro thing. One of their latest tricks, it seems, is to only give the appearance of a free scan. It appears that the so-called free scan no longer removes any malware or viruses or other bad stuff. I think they are in cahoots with Microsoft, which is very very bad for the public. Shame on both of them.

The above blog entry was made on March 27, 2007.

Here's how to look at Microsoft's so-called quality. If your software is genuine Microsoft, it is genu-wino, as in wino quality. Imagine the world being run by winos. After they bum a few bucks off of passers-by, they head for the liquor store to buy another bottle of cheap wine. They'd break that routine once in a while to oversee everyone's work at the jobsite. Now that's Microsoft so-called quality. If you ask me, if your software isn't genu-wino Microsoft, you ought to be glad. Who needs software that acts like it's the software equivalent of the wino? This commentary is especially good to put here, since I included those Windows 95 tutorial videos in my Jennifer Aniston blog. You see, if those tutorials don't work, this is the explanation. This is why, basically.

I'm now convinced that most or all so-called anti-virus software companies are dishonest hackers and malware purveyors. So, what does one do now, throw up one's arms and say, "Yeah, alright, malware, spyware, viruses. Where are they at? Let's get going. I hate my privacy and quality software." It's not what I'm doing and saying, anyway. Shame on all of those frauds.

The above blog entry was made on April 30, 2007.

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Blues My Wanting Hillary Gives to Me
Voice of Steve Malinowski accompanied by Raderman's Jazz Orchestra

Digitally remastered by Steve Malinowski ©2007
Lyrics by Steve Malinowski ©2007
(Based on the earlier lyrics , with some words retained.)
Music: Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me
(N. Swanstone, Charles R. McCarron and Carey Morgan)