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Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

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Re: Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

#51

Post by adrianmonk »

mdip wrote: post #2

I had wondered how this individual was going to make Inkjet printer ink out of highlighter pens. I mean, considering the ink is priced somewhere around the same rate as liquid gold, I figured it was either going to end up being "way too easy" or we'd find out there was some important reason ink was so expensive. Neither was the result -- that's a Dot Matrix printer. I'd imagine if I'd have turned the volume on, you'd…

Since nobody else has explained why so far, the smoking gun that makes it clear it's not a dot matrix printer is that dot matrix printers put ink onto paper using pins to strike a ribbon.

They work on the same principle as typewriters did, which also used a ribbon. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter_ribbon)

The reason they're called "dot matrix" was to distinguish them from another contemporary type of printer that had type (letterforms) built directly into a ball or wheel, so that instead of an array of pins, a raised metal piece in the shape of (say) an "A" would strike the ribbon. ("Daisy wheel" printers were of this type.) These had nicer-looking, non-pixellated type, but they were slow and couldn't do any graphics.

So if this really were a dot-matrix printer, she would have been putting highlighter ink onto a ribbon, but she was putting ink into a reservoir.

Re: Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

#52

Post by myu701 »

paulmd wrote: post #34

Actually squeezing it from a highlighter is messy and unnecessary. You can buy bottled highlighter ink for fountain pens pretty cheaply. (there are special super-broad pen nibs for highlighting work. To use bulk ink, you have a "converter" cartridge with a piston or squeeze-bottle that allows you to suck ink out of the bottle and into the pen) Since you specifically seem to be after fluorescent, here's somewhere to g…

Good to see the Goulet Pens links.

I never found a reliable refillable rollerball to use with my FP ink, so I ended up using a Pilot Precise V7 refillable model from JetPens. I thought I was pretty clever.

I never thought of refilling inkjet carts with this though, so clearly I'm not too clever yet!

Re: Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

#53

Post by [deleted] »

nkrisc wrote: post #32
aidenn0 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one thing I don't get about UBI is who does the "shit" jobs. Those jobs that are low-skill low-pay under the current system. Most people who do those jobs do so only because the alternative is worse. Even in places with generous social-welfare systems there tends to be social pressure against relying on it, but making the payments universal seems likely to remove that stigma. The first order effects are obviously…

I suppose if those jobs are so terrible that no one who has UBI wants to do them, they'll have to pay a fair wage to attract people. If they're truly necessary, wages will rise until until positions are filled. And yes, you may now have to pay more for work that was woefully underpaid previously. If your scenario comes to pass, it just means we've been taking advantage of the people who currently work those jobs beca…

[deleted]

Re: Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

#54

Post by stragies »

tracker1 wrote: post #42
stragies wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect, many of the "shit" jobs will "die" out, or at least need a lots less people. I could easily imagine trash-collection, deliveries, all-kinds-of driving, cleaning etc to become fully-ish(95%+) automated, if not entirely for large sectors. Hell, if BostonDynamics can build RoboSoldiers, that can salto and run parcour, they sure as hell can build something, that can scrub my toilet. Currently I can't afford th…

Plumbing will unlikely ever any time soon be fully automated... it's too varied in terms of existing structures until AI becomes actual life. Similar for a lot of "dirty jobs." Just look at how poorly the couple of attempts at McD's to automate the cooking processes, they failed miserably... Even today there's a lot of manual work in automated factories.

It was my impression, that OP was using the term "shit jobs" to denote jobs with low pay, but high effort, manual, dangerous, etc.

"Plumbing" is therefore not a "shit job". It's well paid compared to most (Uber/Taxi/etc-)driving, cleaning, trash-collecting and many other jobs.

Re: Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

#55

Post by mardifoufs »

nkrisc wrote: post #32
aidenn0 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one thing I don't get about UBI is who does the "shit" jobs. Those jobs that are low-skill low-pay under the current system. Most people who do those jobs do so only because the alternative is worse. Even in places with generous social-welfare systems there tends to be social pressure against relying on it, but making the payments universal seems likely to remove that stigma. The first order effects are obviously…

I suppose if those jobs are so terrible that no one who has UBI wants to do them, they'll have to pay a fair wage to attract people. If they're truly necessary, wages will rise until until positions are filled. And yes, you may now have to pay more for work that was woefully underpaid previously. If your scenario comes to pass, it just means we've been taking advantage of the people who currently work those jobs beca…

But what happens when all prices go up? If everyone gets paid more, wouldn't the UBI be worthless? Landlords will just raise prices since working people will always have more money (UBI + salary) than non workers? Just like now? Same goes for almost every service.

Real supply and demand will stay the same, real economic production will probably stay the same too. So what's the point? 2000$ only feels a lot right now because it's an amount of money that represents a lot of work for a lot of people. Sure, you can link some small scale UBI experiments, but they have all been done in the context of a broader economy where the amounts given still had purchasing power.

There's a reason why most economists don't agree with UBI. I know people on HN love to discredit economists, but the push for UBI here is ridiculous. It is akin to simply denying a whole scientific field because you feel it's are wrong

Re: Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

#56

Post by cestith »

robk wrote: post #49
transreal wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One person's "shit job", is another persons fun job. We are all brainwashed that "low skill" is bad. I know people who enjoy cleaning. I love cooking, but want to maintain the lifestyle that working in software gives me. If UBI was there in the background, people could pursue their passions. Today, the situation is "what should I pursue so I can make money", not "what should I pursue so I can be happy".

No one wants to clean toilets

So with UBI demand for self-cleaning toilets comes up high enough that they're mass produced and i can pick one up at Lowe's any random weekend? Sounds good.

Re: Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

#57

Post by airstrike »

nkrisc wrote: post #32
aidenn0 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one thing I don't get about UBI is who does the "shit" jobs. Those jobs that are low-skill low-pay under the current system. Most people who do those jobs do so only because the alternative is worse. Even in places with generous social-welfare systems there tends to be social pressure against relying on it, but making the payments universal seems likely to remove that stigma. The first order effects are obviously…

I suppose if those jobs are so terrible that no one who has UBI wants to do them, they'll have to pay a fair wage to attract people. If they're truly necessary, wages will rise until until positions are filled. And yes, you may now have to pay more for work that was woefully underpaid previously. If your scenario comes to pass, it just means we've been taking advantage of the people who currently work those jobs beca…

> they'll have to pay a fair wage to attract people.

Wages aren't defined based on what is fair or unfair. They're decided based on supply and demand for labor, thankfully.

A "shit job" is by definition one that creates little value because value is defined as what is lost when someone exits the picture. Workers in those "shit jobs" can be immediately replaced so no value is really lost by their exit, so their value is close to zero.

Re: Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

#58

Post by tracker1 »

stragies wrote: post #54
tracker1 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plumbing will unlikely ever any time soon be fully automated... it's too varied in terms of existing structures until AI becomes actual life. Similar for a lot of "dirty jobs." Just look at how poorly the couple of attempts at McD's to automate the cooking processes, they failed miserably... Even today there's a lot of manual work in automated factories.

It was my impression, that OP was using the term "shit jobs" to denote jobs with low pay, but high effort, manual, dangerous, etc. "Plumbing" is therefore not a "shit job". It's well paid compared to most (Uber/Taxi/etc-)driving, cleaning, trash-collecting and many other jobs.

Trash collecting tends to pay pretty well too.

Re: Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

#59

Post by pugworthy »

userbinator wrote: post #4

Inkjet printers can use a variety of inks, one notable application is the special third-party inks used for thermal transfers on clothing and such: https://www.inksupply.com/heat_transfer_ink.cfm The printer shown here is based on the original HP Bubblejet thermal technology, and thermal printheads are less flexible with the types of inks they can use; hence why Epsons (piezoelectric head) tend to be preferred by tho…

I work with a very small group at HP that uses inkjet technology to dispense fluids for work in life sciences. Basically, inkjet TIJ technology lets you dispense very precise amounts of material with very precise timing. Normally that's just ink, but you can do it with quite a few other things.

In our case, what we do is dispense liquids that normally would be done with a micropipette. We can mix up to 8 different materials in different combinations as part of various life sciences experiments.

Re: Refilling an ink jet cartridge with highlighter ink

#60

Post by djsumdog »

pugworthy wrote: post #50
paulmd wrote: post #34

Actually squeezing it from a highlighter is messy and unnecessary. You can buy bottled highlighter ink for fountain pens pretty cheaply. (there are special super-broad pen nibs for highlighting work. To use bulk ink, you have a "converter" cartridge with a piston or squeeze-bottle that allows you to suck ink out of the bottle and into the pen) Since you specifically seem to be after fluorescent, here's somewhere to g…

Emily's a hacker who does a lot for fun and amusement. I get the sense that doing this in an efficient and effective way was not the end goal.

Yea, she has another video where she uses an Arduino to run an old printer, when it would have been way simpler to get a USB to parallel port adapter.
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