Woefully Behind the Times

I'm convinced that HP stands for Hokey Printers. My last two DeskJets were complete flops: the first one had a breakdown after only a year or two, at which point I purchased a DeskJet 952C. When the color cartridge started to go I did what all mammals do and bought another one. But the colors where never right again, they were off (blue kept coming up as a faint green). Another cartridge, very similar if not the exact same problem.

Now that printer is gonna get the beat down, ala Office Space.

So I gots me a Canon MP240 - it was on sale, which is great, but it's also a scanner for added bonus!

I diligently follow the instructions for setup, when I get to the step that requires connection to your PC, but can't find the slot for it on the printer. Further inspection reveals a square USB port, 'Oh I've got some of those' I think to myself without missing a beat. But the cords I do have are for cameras and such, the connections are far too small for the one on this printer.

What, no more big, clunky printer cable. You mean that I can finally ditch that monstrosity? More importantly, when did this happen and why wasn't I informed?

Nine Inch Nails Waves Goodbye?

Trent Reznor, the only full time member of Nine Inch Nails, posted an update on nin.com called A note from Trent and a wave goodbye. Along with some tour details, he had the following to say about the band's immediate future:

"I've been thinking for some time now it's time to make NIN disappear for a while. Last year's "Lights in the Sky" tour was something I'm quite proud of and seems like the culmination of what I could pull off in terms of an elaborate production. It was also quite difficult to pull off technically and physically night after night and left us all a bit dazed. After some thought, we decided to book a last run of shows across the globe this year. The approach to these shows is quite different from last year - much more raw, spontaneous and less scripted. Fun for us and a different way for you to see us and wave goodbye."

I'm hoping he isn't just gonna throw in the towel and call it quits. Like my earlier years listening to Pink Floyd over and over, Nine Inch Nails has become the music of my soul, so I'd hate to see them go. Then again, it's common for NIN to take a few years off between albums. Actually, the past few years have been the exception, with the releases of With_Teeth (2005), Year Zero and Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D (both 2007), then Ghosts I-IV and The Slip (both 2008).

I can still remember first listening to Pretty Hate Machine, way back in 1990. It was unbelievable to my ears, an album overflowing with emotion, yet as a whole flowed together front to back so flawlessly. I've had a copy ever since, to this day it remains one of my favorite albums. Broken and The Downward Spiral didn't impress me initially, when I first heard them I passed Broken off as just noise and Downward Spiral as weird.

Then came The Fragile, which was an impulse buy (back in the days before stored had machines that let you preview every album). In my humble opinion, the best album NIN has ever released and one of the best records of all time. I've listened to it so much that I just had to purchase my 4th copy of the CD, since I wore out all the other disks!

Unlike Floyd, which I only saw once on their last tour, I've been to three Nails shows: one for With_Teeth, then just last year the club show in Atlantic City and in Manchester NH with my son - the best light show of all time (beating even Pink Floyd, hands down!) So at least if this is the end, the band's going out on top.

Facebook

I just created a Facebook page, to hook up with my high school buddies for a reunion.