My Scanner is a GENIUS.

Amber Williams · January 23, 2009, 10:27:49 AM

No. Not really. Right now it's being a jerk and so the comic may be a bit delayed-ish. I have a few things I am gonna try but it's possible I may have to go out this weekend and pick up yet another new one. Which irritates me because I was wanting to try to hold off on buying anything until the paperwork had gone out just in case of suprise fees.

Ugh...its aggravating cause I swear I just bought this one. (aka: short enough to remember, long enough for the warrenty to expire) and I remember my first scanner was a indestructable monolith that only had to be retired because the software was outdated in comparison to the newers systems.

If I don't have things going by Friday evening, odds are I will make mention on the site. I just wanted to let peeps here know why the comic has been delayed. Either way, I know a place that sells scanners and can get a new one come Saturday if thats the case. But hopefully it wont be.

Jairus · January 23, 2009, 10:30:40 AM

Ewww. That's not good. Well, good luck with getting a new scanner. Hopefully, getting a new one means that it won't give you any problems for a while.

Mao · January 23, 2009, 10:31:37 AM

Ouch. Sorry to hear that Amber.

I'd send you my recently purchased one, but I'm pretty confident it wouldn't get there in a reasonable amount of time.

Sofox · January 23, 2009, 10:36:19 AM

Tough luck Amber, hope things get sorted out.
Heh, I remember when I bought my first scanner, the guy was selling it because he found it perfectly fine to position a Digital Camera precisely over the paper and take a picture.

Tapewolf · January 23, 2009, 10:36:43 AM

Ugh. Well, I hope you get things operational again somehow. The title confused me a little as Genius do still make scanners.

I think my scanners are 12 and 11 years old respectively and still working reasonably well.

Chaos · January 23, 2009, 10:51:49 AM

Well let us not forget that artists have trouble with tech.

Amber Williams · January 23, 2009, 11:01:57 AM

...and now my site seems to be down.

Good Job Chaos. Making me aware of my technological distortion field has killed Xepher. I hope you are happy with yourself.

Naldru · January 23, 2009, 12:54:47 PM

I know of an instance where a PhD computer scientist famous for being one of the creators of the internet was giving a talk at an east coast WorldCon where he was incapable of getting a video projector to work. The projector was fully operational, and I won't risk further embarrassment by mentioning what he was doing wrong.

So, Chaos, until I see you rolling your own scanner from an old erector set and a Furby, let those who live in glass houses ...

Actually, my first thought when seeing the title was "Scanners Live in Vain".

I just recently obtained a new scanner and would be perfectly willing to send the old one except for the following problems.

It would arrive too late

It might not survive the journey

The software is old

It would have to go through customs at the border. And you know what crossing the border can entail.

Mao · January 23, 2009, 01:31:52 PM

Might I at this point, make note that computer scientist doesn't necessarily imply hardware specialist, Naldru. I have my B.CS and I specialized in software almost entirely. So while your anecdote might seem to make a point, I have to say that it fails to illustrate anything given that a projector is 1) Not a computer per-se, 2) has nothing to do with what the man was famous for and 3) Is just an unnecessary and ineffective dig at someone who was just trying to make light of a bad situation.

Anyway, that's just a pet peeve of mine. I get crap like that all the time from 'friends' and family when I'm unfortunately not able to diagnose and repair their computers hardware failures.

Sunblink · January 23, 2009, 02:07:30 PM

I totally feel for you about the scanner thing, Amber. Scanners have the worst habit of crapping up when artists need them

I hope it starts working again soon.

Naldru · January 23, 2009, 08:15:01 PM

And if the computer scientist shouldn't have felt guilty about having problems with the projector, why should Amber feel dissed because she had problems with the scanner.

Actually, the computer scientist refused assistance because he felt that he should be able to work it because he was a computer scientist.

Actually, I didn't like the statement that artists have problems with tech. Everybody has problems with tech at one time or another. Considering that Amber has been using scanners and Photoshop for years, she is probably much more tech savvy than most of the technicians where I work.

Chaos · January 23, 2009, 11:32:34 PM

Quote from: Amber Williams on January 23, 2009, 11:01:57 AM
...and now my site seems to be down.

Good Job Chaos. Making me aware of my technological distortion field has killed Xepher. I hope you are happy with yourself.

heh, heh heh. hehehe, hahahahah MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

>_>

<_<

L_L

*Runs Away*

Edit. Naldru, just so you know, I work for Verizon Technical support. So, my job consists of stories just like that, plus worse. I know how you feel. I'm not saying Amber is incompetent, she would kill me if I did, I simply say that her status as an artist causes things to fail around her, like anything that carries an electrical currant, bureaucracy, cars, and weather.

Alterationartist · January 24, 2009, 05:18:02 PM

Getting rid of old equipment is like throwing away an old, but still useable, pair of glasses. When the newer breaks, you'll wish you hadn't done it.

Lisky · January 24, 2009, 05:31:15 PM

... my scanner died on thursday... apparently they're dieing in record numbers this week

RobbieThe1st · January 24, 2009, 11:13:22 PM

Quote from: Alterationartist on January 24, 2009, 05:18:02 PM
Getting rid of old equipment is like throwing away an old, but still useable, pair of glasses. When the newer breaks, you'll wish you hadn't done it.

Exactly - That's what your attic/garage is for.

Valynth · January 24, 2009, 11:24:26 PM

Quote from: Amber Williams on January 23, 2009, 11:01:57 AM
...and now my site seems to be down.

Good Job Chaos. Making me aware of my technological distortion field has killed Xepher. I hope you are happy with yourself.

Wait.... Then how are the for- *Connection lost*

GabrielsThoughts · January 24, 2009, 11:39:54 PM

I believe newer products have manufactured obsolescence, My printer is just barely a year old, is temperamental and insists it has no paper, or alternatively that the paper is jammed, or boldly states that the ink is running low and refuses to print anything to frustration. even though I know for a fact that the paper is not jammed there's more than enough paper in the hopper and the ink cartridge was just replaced, so it couldn't possibly be that either.

Daymond42 · January 25, 2009, 12:17:07 AM

"Why does it say 'Paper jam' when there is no paper jam?"

Couldn't resist... I've got a scanner that I got about 7 years ago that still works... of course, the reason why it works is probably the fact that I barely use it.

Sofox · January 25, 2009, 12:38:09 AM

Quote from: GabrielsThoughts on January 24, 2009, 11:39:54 PM
I believe newer products have manufactured obsolescence, My printer...

That's a bad idea when it comes to printers. Companies don't make their money through printers, but in the constant buying of proprietary ink cartridges required to keep the things printing.
Causing the printer to wear out after a short period of time will just increase the likely hood that the customer will switch printers and the revenue from print cartridge sales will go to another company.

RobbieThe1st · January 25, 2009, 03:27:06 AM

Quote from: Sofox on January 25, 2009, 12:38:09 AM
Quote from: GabrielsThoughts on January 24, 2009, 11:39:54 PM
I believe newer products have manufactured obsolescence, My printer...
That's a bad idea when it comes to printers. Companies don't make their money through printers, but in the constant buying of proprietary ink cartridges required to keep the things printing.
Causing the printer to wear out after a short period of time will just increase the likely hood that the customer will switch printers and the revenue from print cartridge sales will go to another company.

Well, one thing that they *do* do is that if you leave the cartridge in the printer when its not in use, it will slowly leak all of its ink out into a pad(which is generally under the resting place for the cartridge. When that fills up... generally you get an error, and are supposed to replace the printer at that point(or take the thing completely apart, clean it, and hope for the best).

Though, I am pretty sure that the company doesn't lose *much* on each printer - there isn't much inside of em, and the ones which do have lots of components cost a fair amount.

Of course, when your printer does wear out(ostensibly from overuse), the idea is to then get you into a higher-model that costs lots more because it should last longer... but it probably won't.

Amber Williams · January 25, 2009, 10:36:48 AM

Well after a long marathon of aggravation, it seems the scanner is in fact running again. I should prolly go more detail.

The issue seems to have been more software than hardware...cause odds are had it been hardware I could have called it a lost from the get go. But it was the scanning program itself that seemed to be causing the issues. Between it locking things up halway, causing errors, and even causing my computer to go "blargh. I no like you! *freeze*", I wasnt sure if it was viral or just something happened that caused the program itself to go buggy.

CUE MONTAGE of me rummaging through a bajillion boxes to find the old software cd. After uninstalling, reinstalling, and going to the site to get upgraded things...still had the same issue.

Basically what I ended up having to do was uninstalling everything scanner-related and making my computer forget it ever had a scanner...than re-installing it from scratch. Which seems to have worked as its acting like nothing odd has ever happened.

Needless to say, I'm annoyed and the fact that I am now in the last week before the axe falls immigration wise...I am a bit hysterical.

ShadesFox · January 25, 2009, 12:02:53 PM

HD: Aggress scanner

Glad to hear that the scanner and good luck on immigration.

Naldru · January 25, 2009, 12:51:08 PM

Another reason that I believe in Windows defenestration.

To Gamma:

I currently run a MacBook Pro. I also run Fedora Linux, Ubuntu Linux, and Microsoft Windows XP on my laptop using the VMWare Fusion emulator. I have two Commodore Amigas in my home office, and have dealt with Compaq OpenVMS (previously DEC) and Solaris UNIX in the recent past. I deal with Windows XP and Windows Server at the office on a daily basis. So I do have a fairly wide background.

Perhaps I should say that I find the idea of Windows defenestration attractive. Although Windows does have a number of problems in unexpected side-effects when switching between versions or installing additional software, I realize that it's difficult to get rid of Windows. However, the main reason for Amber not changing from Windows is not technical, but simply the fact that it would be disruptive. (Do not underestimate the pain that comes from disruption of established work processes.) I view Mac OS X on the Macintosh as a quite suitable platform for doing work in the areas of art, music, publishing, and website development. The suitability of the Linux distributions vary.

I could go on for days on the platform wars, followed by a few days on the database wars (SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, MySQL, Postgres, etc.) and a few more days on the server wars (Microsoft Internet Information Server, Apache, Apache Tomcat, Apache Geronimo, JRun, WebLogic, WebSphere, etc.). However, one should go for whatever floats your boat the best with the least effort. (I have found myself doing too much bailing when using Windows.) Your milage may vary.

Gamma · January 25, 2009, 01:53:03 PM

It is unfortunate but necessary, we all must live with Windows, well except the few who do nothing to speak of with a computer, and a few other exceptions.*

Windows System Restore is your very best friend. It and "Last Known Good Configuration" are the single greatest things Microsoft has done to repair their own POS OSes.

I have been saved many a headache of fixing computers with the two mentioned above. Although, somethings just get eaten, "Oops were you still using kernel32.dll?"

*I understand that there are many alternative ways to get programs to work on other OSes, and the free ones too, but it's just not effective yet. Getting that sort of thing to run reliably for the average user is hard much less for advanced users. It'll get there, and soon, but in the mean time have fun with the four pains of glass.

Tezkat · January 29, 2009, 12:02:37 AM

Quote from: Daymond42 on January 25, 2009, 12:17:07 AM
Couldn't resist... I've got a scanner that I got about 7 years ago that still works... of course, the reason why it works is probably the fact that I barely use it.

I have a 1991 vintage scanner (Scanjet IIc) that still works perfectly. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

AmigaDragon · January 29, 2009, 03:34:13 AM

I have a whole stack of scanners out in the storage shed, some SCSI, some parallel, some even USB I think. They may or may not work, I have no SCSI cables (or ports) and no software for any of these to test them. My one known working flat bed scanner was a free one that I replaced the broken CCFT (very thin fluorescent tube) for under $5. The other scanner I know works is sheet fed in my all-in-one printer/scanner/fax.

Quote from: Amber Williams on January 25, 2009, 10:36:48 AM
The issue seems to have been more software than hardware...cause odds are had it been hardware I could have called it a lost from the get go. But it was the scanning program itself that seemed to be causing the issues.

Windoze is funny like that. I have a DVDROM drive that after a while won't read DVDs or data CDs, though audio CDs are fine. I have to uninstall it in Device Manager and reboot (letting it reinstall) to fix it.
Sometimes my EyeToy webcam (yeah, third (or fourth) party driver, modified) is no longer recognized, particularly if it was unplugged then plugged back in. I then have to uninstall the "unknown USB device" from Dev'Man' and reboot for it to install properly again. Windorks won't let me force the proper driver when I know better than it does that it's the right one for the hardware.

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