Dried ink on printer cartridges can render your expensive ink unusable, but blogger Bucky decided not to toss the cartridges out and instead soaked the base of the cartridge in WD-40. The result: a cartridge that works again. I got a brain-storm of an idea the other day and decided to try soaking the base of the cartridge in WD-40 to see if it would soften and clean the dried ink and holy crap – it worked!!! (I soaked it over-night and then wiped it off good before reinstalling it in the printer.)
I had to run the printer through three head cleaning cycles afterward, but it cleared the clogged nozzles and it is now working perfectly.
Since printer cartridges are rather expensive, this tip should help save you money while helping you get the most out of your ink. Thanks, Lacy! AU - WD-40 is a very handy lubricant-cum-fix-all spray you can get in the US – I’ve found similar stuff here under a different name. Your local hardware store should be able to help you out.
Yet Another Use for WD-40 [The WVb]No sooner had I whinged about the lack of video on demand services in Australia, when we get news that Aussie startup Bluebox Devices has signed up to offer its VoD (video on demand) service through ISP Internode. According to a story in PC World, Internode expects to launch the service in the first half of 2008. The pair are currently trialling the service with Internode customers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Computer industry mag ARN reported that the trial encompasses 50,000 customers, which seems pretty huge. Last week Bluebox announced it had signed a content deal with Destra. I haven’t bothered contacting Bluebox for comment since both times I’ve approached them I haven’t heard a peep back. But if you’re out there, Bluebox, I’d love in on the trial. ;) You can find out more about Bluebox here.
Here’s another reason for OpenOffice users to upgrade to the latest version. ZDNet reports today that security researchers iDefense have discovered TIFF-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities in OpenOffice, which could allow attackers to remotely execute code on Linux, Windows or Mac PCs. iDefense says OpenOffice versions 2.0.4 and earlier are vulnerable to maliciously crafted TIFF files, which could be delivered via email attachment, published on a Web site or shared using P2P software. The latest version of OpenOffice (version 2.3) was released on 17 September and is not affected by the flaw.
OpenOffice TIFF flaw affects Windows, Linux and Mac [ZDNet] More »
