Fighting with computers

If your HP LaserJet P1102 prints perfectly on Linux but outright refuses to print on Windows because of an "unofficial" toner cartridge, the hardware is not the problem. The issue is HP's status monitor software actively blocking the print spooler in Windows. While you could theoretically bypass this by routing a Linux CUPS server through WSL, there is a much cleaner native solution: strip away HP's bloatware and install the raw, host-based .inf driver directly. Here is the exact procedure to revive your printer. 1. Extract the Raw Driver HP often hides basic drivers behind their "HP Smart" app. We need the raw files. Disconnect the printer's USB cable from your PC. Go to the HP support site, manually change the OS version to Windows 10 (64-bit) , and download the full software package ( .exe ). Do not execute the file. Running it will install the HP cartridge-monitoring software. Right-click the .exe file and use 7-Zip or WinRAR to Extract its conte...

It is often said that reality surpasses fiction (I reckon Mark Twain's quote was "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities, Truth isn't."). That was definitely the case yesterday, with a total solar eclipse in some areas. As you can guess, I was lucky enough to get a first row seat for the event.  We walk up a mountain to a spot we previously checked and wait for the moon to slowly but surely block the sun's light. It took approximately one hour, and it did not look very different from a sunset; the difference, of course, was that the sun was not setting over the horizon but was just getting dimmer and dimmer. But at 20:30 local time, the sun was fully blocked, and only a few light rays were visible all around the dark moon. That lasted a bit more than one minute of wonder, some of it I wasted fighting with my camera zoom till I got a couple of not-so-good pictures. But the scene looked like a sci-fi movie. Rea...