All the big printer makers and sellers have several models of refurbished printers to choose from. It can thus be difficult to choose from all the computers available. It can also be harder to tell the genuine refurbished printers from counterfeits. The only way to avoid falling into this prey is by buying your refurbished printer directly from the manufacturer. Go also for one with policies that allow for return in case something is amiss. Go for a multipurpose printer such as the Docucolor 12 which is both a printer and a copier, capable of developing several printed CD covered.

Refurbished printers enable you to access the best technology at a fair price. Another thing is that you can connect your refurbished printer to any system outlet, including those that have been customized not to accept new hardware (printer, in this place). It is also possible to find quality printers that may not be in the market.

There are multiple reports that the conficker/cornflicker worm is set to strike millions of infected machines on 1st April 2009.  This is NOT an April fool joke!

Conficker - am I infected?

If you are NOT using a Windows-based PC you will be fine.  Conficker, like most virus’ is Windows only.

If you ARE using a Windows based PC and you have kept your anti-virus protection up to date and regularly scan, you should also be fine.  Just about every anti-virus program is aware of conficker and can safely kick it’s butt!

However, if you run a Windows based PC and you do not use anti-virus software, (like a lot of people) there’s a simple test you can do, to see if your machine has been infected.  Simply try to access the websites of some of the better known anti-virus companies - as conficker blocks access to many of these sites, in order to stop infected users from removing the crap from their system.

For more information on conficker, visit the conficker working group - a group of anti-virus providers, who offer help and advice on dealing with conficker.

The $250,000 Conficker bounty

The people / person behind cornflicker has REALLY pissed off Microsoft - so much so that Microsoft are offering a reward of $250,000 for information leading to the capture of its creator!

The Botanicalls Kit is one of the coolest new products around: a circuit board and components that, when properly assembled, plugged into AC and ethernet, and sunk into plant soil, can send tweets or text messages about your plant’s water needs.

Since this is a DIY kit, the assembly instructions are essential to customer success with the product. I haven’t actually tried to follow them (because I haven’t shelled out $99 for a kit), but they appear clear and thorough, with lots of step-by-step photos.

But apparently, there are a few pieces of information missing that would be useful, indicated by a posting on the user forums entitled Things I wish you said in your docs …. This kind of feedback is absolutely golden. Rarely do customers express so clearly and explicitly (and in technical detail, in this case) when they need that you haven’t given them.

This particular posting has been up for a week with no response from Botanicalls staff, as of this writing. That’s a shame. The appropriate response to this kind of feedback is an immediate big fat “Thank you!”, along with an explanation of what you’re going to do with the feedback. It may or may not be appropriate to include the requested information in the documentation, but the feedback should not go unanswered.