A little how-to guide for you here. Sorry for the lack of shows for the last two weeks, several of us were struck down by various illnesses, we weren’t even all back for this one. Normal service should be resumed one day.

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Joined this week by our executive producer, the rules are fully enforced.

There is a little too much beer for Boz and Casey’s audio setup is outed again.

Much giggling and silliness and some more great guest beer reviews.

Promised pics:

Links:
Brew Dog beers

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Remember Mallet’s Mallet? It’s a word association game where you mustn’t pause or hesitate from our collective UK childhood. You start with the words HP Photosmart C309a, and I say TURKEY! The damn thing just won’t print like it’s supposed to. Sure it will print, it will even print onto A4 paper completely borderlessly, yet when I define a page size with my own margin size it won’t work properly. I have spent the last month going back and forth with HP customer support and all they’ve managed to come up with is to tell me to reinstall the printer drivers. I’ve now done that close to 80 times and it never has an effect.

My Mac is running Snow Leopard 10.6.2, so I tried printing from Allison’s computer which is running Leopard 10.5.something, and so is using completely different printer drivers. It still didn’t work. Customer support have managed to keep me hanging on just long enough for me not to be able to return the device without a fight. Even if they take it back they say it will be subjected to testing to see if it really is faulty. A system which I expect is in place to give them the opportunity to say that it prints (which it does) and so refuse to give me a refund. Either way the printer is now back in it’s box and is for sale on Amazon.co.uk so I can try to get some of the money back that I wasted on it. Whatever ends up happening with that, so be it. Buying an HP printer was a mistake I won’t make again.

Now I face a choice and not an easy one at that. It’s time to get a new printer. I need one very quickly because there are store orders I need to produce and send out in time for Christmas, if they aren’t sent by the end of next week I risk more than a few justified complaints.

The old broken printer was an Epson. Back in the day they were very good, but now they seem to have let things slide, so I won’t be going down that road. Basically I’m going for Canon, either the iP4700 or the MP640. That’s where I don’t know what to do and I’m interested to see what you all think. Here’s the problem…

The iP4700 is just a printer and the MP640 is a printer/scanner/copier. Both have identical print quality according to Canon and they both use the same cartridges. The MP640 is around £30 – £50 more expensive than the iP4700.

First of all I have to ask myself what I need a printer/scanner/copier for. We already have a scanner of higher spec than the MP640 has and I haven’t needed to copy anything since I left teacher training. All I could say is that it would be nice to have the functionality incase I ever need it. Is that really justification for spending the extra money? More importantly the MP640 has Wi-Fi and the iP4700 doesn’t. Again I’m not really sure I can justify holding out for that either. In all honesty the only reason I want Wi-Fi is so that we can print from Allison’s computer, and as this is a Simply Syndicated printer bought with Simply Syndicated money, it’s fair to say that printing from Allison’s computer is absolutely nothing to do with Simply Syndicated, so why should it pay for it. On top of that even if the iP4700 is connected to my Mac then we can still print over the network as long as my machine is switched on, which it usually is.

Next, the only place I can buy the MP640 is online. Today is Saturday and if I order today it won’t be processed until Monday. I spoke to the only online store I could find that has one (thanks to @MrSnoobs on Twitter) and they say I can expect to have it between Wednesday and Friday next week. That means I could start sending out orders by Thursday next week at the earliest. Most would go out the following Monday. The iP4700 is sold in most electrical stores and I could go and pick one up right now, do the orders over the weekend, send them on Monday and most people would have their order in their hands by Tuesday. Does that difference in time really make it worth getting a less functional printer that I can’t really justify getting in the first place?

Finally there’s the price. If I ordered the MP640 today it will cost £148.70. If I went and bought the iP4700 from our local branch of Comet it will cost £109.99. A price difference of around £30. Being that a complete set of new cartridges is around £35 that means I’m spending a set of cartridges on functionality that “would be nice to have”. Further problems arise with the iP4700 being available online for around £90. If I’m willing to wait until the end of next week for the MP640 doesn’t it make sense that I should be willing to wait the same amount of time for the iP4700 in order to save £20?

Right now I’m thinking I should get my ass to Comet, buy the iP4700, make the outstanding orders over the weekend and have them in the mail on Monday. Over the course of writing this post I think I’ve talked myself out of the MP640. While £50 isn’t a lot of money in the grand scheme of things I can’t justify spending it, especially when £50 might represent Simply Syndicated income for a month.

I’d love to hear what you all would do in the same situation. Please help!

Of course, if the damn HP printer worked in the first place I wouldn’t be in this mess. That was £157 pissed away.

-Rich

New Moon opened last weekend to record-breaking ticket pre-sales. How could Jakob and Mandi not do a show on it? Quite easily it seems. Instead they talk about a previous vampires vs. werewolves franchise with a cult following.

Read the shownotes HERE.

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Eating, sleeping, shitting and crying in the night! All this stopped when Stu had his baby.

Harrison Edward Perry

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Sometime in the last three-hundred years there was a brief period between the European discovery of North America, and the European rape of said continent, when the natives and the colonists actually co-existed peacefully. The tales of the first Thanksgiving are undoubtedly apocryphal and exaggerated with time, but the spirit of the holiday does not depend on historical fact. This is one of the few holidays in the US that is not overly tainted by commercialism, or religious dogma. You can wish anyone a happy Thanksgiving without having to qualify, or tap dance, or think of the current politically correct phraseology. Thanksgiving is simply a day when family and friends gather to take stock of what is good in their lives and rejoice together. And in the spirit of the day I’d like to express my thanks to all of you, the Simply Syndicated family, for all the wonderful things you have done for me this year. Rich, without your vision and drive we would not have had the opportunity to forge the bonds of friendship that we kiddingly call imaginary, but as is continually proven at the various meet-up, are anything but. Allison, you are the heart and conscience of our rag-tag family, and your kindness and unconditional love for all your ‘children’(even though some of us are just a wee bit older than you) have created an atmosphere of acceptance unlike any place on Earth or cyberspace. I want to thank everyone on the forums for your humor, and support, and abuse, and incredible knowledge and wisdom. Like any family we’ve had our squabbles and tiffs, but only very rarely do they end with our numbers declining. You guys and gals are my brothers and sisters; I start every day with a good morning to and from you, and end it with many a ‘good night, Admiral’. I love all of you. And finally to my beloved cohosts. Karen, you are an incredibly warm, knowledgeable, and truly funny person who bravely put your trust in me by stepping into the spotlight with us despite many good reasons to stay in the shadows. I never take that for granted, and it is one of my greatest joys to hear your voice every week. Kennedy, you’re OK for a Canadian. I keed! You are my brother from another mother, and I couldn’t ask for a better foil on the Starbase. Though we have yet to meet in person I feel like I’ve known you my whole life, and your sense of humor and professionalism, not to mention your ability to drag us back on track when we drift too far off course makes each show a joy to do. I never, for even a nanosecond, think that Starbase 66 is anything other than a group effort, and without Karen and Kennedy I’d just be some goob blathering into a microphone. I applaud you both, and look forward to a great second year.

And for those of you outside the US, even though you may not have an official day of thanksgiving, I hope that you are able to take stock of your blessings and appreciate those around you from time to time.

Live long and prosper, my friends, and may the Force be with you.

Love,
Marius

Thanksgiving is here again in the States which brings a smile to Mike’s face and a frown to Jay’s.  Hear them duke it out in a very special holiday Sucks or Rules debate.  Also, a big announcement of something new that you’ll be able to hear in addition to the regular show.  It’s tryptophan-tastic.
Bonus Material: Adam Sandler’s “Thanksgiving Song” Skull Fractures & Stabbings: The ‘Macy’s Day Parade‘  Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant”

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Seems like ages since we recorded this show, and it is.

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Jakob rolls 1d4, 1d12 and 1d20 to select a CD from his collection to review.
Today’s roll: 1 – 3 – 14.
Result: Motion to Rejoin by Brightblack Morning Light.

There’s always a scene in a blaxploitation flick where the hero wanders into a shooting gallery or opium den. There’s a lot of red light and a slow Rhodes electric piano jam playing in the backgroud. If that happened to be the first scene, and the hero never left that room, Brightblack Morning Light would write the soundtrack album. Continue Reading…

Ok this time it should all be working.

This week we leave it to our lovely listeners, so whilst we sup beer we play out your wonderful contributions.

Brewdog

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