Canon Printer Problem Update 2

Monday I gave an update on my Canon Printer Problem Update, well last night, UPS dropped off my new printer.

I got it unpacked and set up and no problems. Packaged up my older printer, and shipped it back today.

Not too bad. It broke on Saturday. Monday I called. Thursday I had a replacement.

Old programs and new printers

For anyone out there with kids, you may be like me and find really neat older computer programs for the kids to play.

That happened to us. My boy had a program called Blue's Clues Kindergarten. It's a really cool program that he likes to play. As you finish activities, you get pages that you can print and continue learning off the computer as well.

My boy went to print and he couldn't. The program said there wasn't a printer attached to the computer.

My guess was that since the printer is a new USB printer, and the game was probably written for LPT printers. So, how can he print on this newer printer.

After some Googling, and some trial and errors, I found the answer and wanted to share with you.

1. Open Printers and Faxes
2. Right click your printer, and click on properties
3. Click on the port tab
4. Click the check box next to "Enable printer spooling"
5. Make sure the check box that your printer is connected to is check, then scroll up and also click on the LPT1: check box and hit OK.

That's it. Start your old application, and print your merry little heart out.

Tired

I am so tired this morning.

I went to bed at a decent hour last night (after watching Lost), but I set the alarm for 5:30 instead of 6:30 so I could go for a walk this morning.

During the night, I woke up with my allergies bothering me. I hate allergies, I really do. I've had them all my life.

Anyway, the alarm went off at 5:30 and I turned it off, and laid there for a few minutes. Got up and went for my walk. It was a beautiful morning for a walk. I got to spend some good time in prayer during my walk.

So, it was a real good morning, but I'm tired. I think I've planned out my day.

1. Take a nap
2. Go to lunch
3. Have a siesta
4. Go home
   

Not a bad day if I do say so myself... Course, that wont happen. Well, 2 and 4 will, but I'm sure 1 and 3 wont.

Nano breath test for cancer

While cruising Gizmodo.com I ran across this article on we make money not art titled "Nano breath test for cancer"

A team, led by Joerg Lahann at the University of Michigan, have won funding to develop a breath test device which will use nanotechnology to detect breast cancer.

I can just imagine that most women that would rather blow into a tube for a breast cancer test than have her boobs smashed between 2 ice cold plates for an Xray.

Now if they can only do that for prostate cancer before I get to the age for those tests.

Funny Oddity Thursday

Something funny will happen 2 times on Thursday.

3 seconds past 1:02 the time will be

01:02:03 04/05/06

I said it was funny, not profound.

Canon Printer Problem Update

As I talked about a couple days ago, I started having problems with my Canon Pixma MP450. I got a hold of their tech support this morning, and just as they were about to help me, I was paged for work. So I had to hang up with Canon.

This evening, I called again. I ran through some tests they wanted me to run on it. What I told him on the phone was that I think the wheel that pulls the paper into the printer isn't rolling. Once I finished all their test, and it still didn't work, they offered to get it serviced or replaced. I chose replaced.

They are shipping it UPS, and it should be here on Wednesday. Not only that, but I also get to keep the ink that came with this broken printer.

I've been real happy with this printer, and the service I received so far has been great.

Raising Happy Children

Steven had a really good post on Raising Happy Children

I've actually seen parents take making their kids happy to the extreme. They don't want to discipline them because that will make them sad or mad. Know what? Tough!

Though the article that Steven referred to did not say it, kids need discipline. They need to know that parents have rules and will stick to them. If you cave in all the time on punishment and what not, it lets the kids realized that what you say doesn't really matter.

Some people fail to realized that we punish our kids because we love them, not because we hate them. We want to see them grow into great adults.

Show me a kid that doesn't have a lot of stuff, but who knows their family really loves them and supports them, and I'll show you a happy kid. Sure, they probably would want "things", but they don't equal happiness.

Many of you probably know kids (and maybe even some adults) that have all the stuff in the world, and are not happy.

Happiness = Love

Cannon Printer Problems.

The first weekend of March I believe, we went and bought a new printer (Canon Pixma MP450) My old one had died after several years of use.

I ended up with a Cannon 3-in-1 (copy, scan, print).

Today, I printed a map from Map Quest. It finished printing, then the printer complained about a paper jam. Well, I looked, and there was no paper at all! After much looking, poking and prodding, it still says the same thing.

So, I called Canon. They are closed on the weekend. They will reopen on Monday at 8:00 ET. (Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind they are closed on the weekend, but it's frustrating when you need them.)

Halo 3 update

Back in May I talked how it looked like Halo 3 was to be released at the same time as the PS3. Since it has been pushed back, there was some speculation if Halo would be pushed as well. Would it still come out at the same time as the PS3?

Well, it appears we have our answer. Halo 3 (possible called Forerunner) has a March '07 release date now according to this Next Generation article.

Revolution/GO Specs

Well, Nintendo has revealed the specs for its Revolution (aka GO) .
Next Generation - Revolution Specs Revealed

The specs are better than the GameCube, but far below the 360 and PS3. Though according to IGN "there is no way to accurately gauge the performance difference between GCN's PowerPC-based architecture and the Intel-based CPU of Xbox".

Either way, you'll not see me in line for this one.

Photo Contest

I entered a photo contest yesterday at cvilleok.com with a picture from the snow we had last week.

A set of judges will pick the winning entries each month and award a cash prize (likely $50) and the winning photos will be enlarged and displayed at locations such as City Hall and used in publicity for Collinsville.

It would be cool to win.

Solar Eclipse Wednesday 3/29

I'm slow in talking about this, but there will be a full solar eclipse tomorrow. Course, no where around here. To see the totality, you'll have to be in parts of Brazil, Africa, and western Asia.

While reading about this, I found it interesting that the Astronauts on the ISS will see the moons shadow on the earth similar to this picture from a total solar eclipse of Sunday, Nov. 23, the Moon dropped an odd shadow on Antarctica. (assuming 2005).

What I didn't realized were some of the myths about solar eclipses.

One Indian paper advised pregnant women not to go outside during the eclipse to avoid having a blind baby or one with a cleft lip. Food cooked before the eclipse should be thrown out afterward because it will be impure and those who are holding a knife or ax during the eclipse will cut themselves, the Hindustan Times added.

So, if you have extra money to spare, maybe you'll want to fly to one of these spots, and take a look.

gethuman

I've talked about a web page that had listed many of the short-cuts to get to a real person when you dial a company so you can skip their IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems.

Well, it appears it has taken off, and now they have created the gethuman database. There are many more numbers than there use to be, and much more information.

R Gym PlayPlace

McDonald's introduces new PlayPlace design

"The gym has climbing walls, dance games, basketball goals and the classic climbing toys."

This sounds interesting. When I first heard they were looking to make their playgrounds healthier, I was skeptical, but this sounds interesting.

If you want to see, then you have to go to the 21st and Garnett McDonald's here in Tulsa. It is the prototype of this new playground.

Burn Ban Back

*sigh*

Yep, the burn ban has been reinstated. I could defiantly smell the fires this afternoon at soccer practice.

Time for allergy meds.

Soccer Saturday

We had a good soccer game Saturday.

The other team called wanting to reschedule since they had 2 kids call in sick, so would only be able to play with 3 kids (having no subs). I hate canceling and rescheduling games. Plus we would not be able to have a ref if we did since we didn't give the 2 days advanced notice that the refs require. For our age group, that isn't necessarily bad, but I wanted the other coach to know that.

So, he decided not to cancel. I was glad since my parents were coming down to watch my boy play.

My wife pointed out that I could let one of my kids play on his team to help them out. I thought that was a GREAT idea. So I offered and he took me up on it.

I ended up putting my boy on his team for a few reasons. The main reason was because I didn't mind and you never know how parents will react to that.

Well, my boy didn't like that. He played pretty miserably the first quarter. I went and talked to him at half time and what point he just cried and cried on my shoulder. I felt bad both for him and the other team.

I told him that if the team he was playing on won, so did he, and if his normal team won, he won too. Didn't work.

Tried explaining how he was being a good helper by playing with them. Didn't work either.

So, I resorted to bribery. Told him we'd get ice cream if he played good. That seemed to work. He played much better the last quarter. (Though he still wouldn't throw in the ball).

Plus, at the end of the game, he ended up with snack from both teams. I think he made out like a bandit. He still didn't like it.

What really upset him was he didn't get to play on daddies team.

Star Wars

My son and I watched Episode II tonight. He acts as if he has never seen it. We have had a lot of fun. 1 thing I noticed tonight though that I found amusing. Obi-Wan cut a persons hand off in a bar in this episode. He does the same thing in Episode IV.

hmmmm.... interesting habit.

Spring Snow

Well, we are a few days into spring, and I thought I'd shared some pictures of Spring in Collinsville Oklahoma.




Here is a lovely close up picture of my red bud tree.





And here is my snow covered Forsythia. I think the yellow and white look sorta cool. (no pun intended)




I drove by this creek while taking my son to day care. This was just beautiful!






Here is an old grain silo I see when I take my son to day care. There is something really neat about it.


I'm really glad I took the time to take this pictures this morning as the snow is quickly melting away. This will probably be the last snow of this season... probably. This is Oklahoma after all.

(You can click on the pictures for larger versions)

Battletech becoming real?

Ok, that is a bit of a stretch. However, it appears that artificial muscles may no longer be science fiction.

UTD NanoTech Institute - News: "University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) nanotechnologists have made alcohol- and hydrogen-powered artificial muscles that are 100 times stronger than natural muscles, able to do 100 times greater work per cycle and produce, at reduced strengths, larger contractions than natural muscles."

In the Battletech universe, there was a substance called Myomer that was a form of artificial muscle.

I always find it very amusing when things from science fiction work their way into reality.

Firefox 2.0 alpha set for release | Tech News on ZDNet

Firefox 2.0 is starting it's alpha stages.

"The final release of Firefox 2.0 is expected in the third quarter of this year."

This article from ZDNet has states that this Alpha is not recommended for anyone other than developers and testers. It is an alpha after all. They tend to be a bit buggy.

Something else to look forward to this fall other than the PS3.