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I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

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Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#61

Post by otterley »

cinntaile wrote: post #51
scottlamb wrote: post #21

This is a fun idea, but I've read thermal paper is surprisingly nasty stuff. [Edit: unless it's advertised as "phenol-free".] It's not just paper. It contains plastics (BPA or BPS) that you absorb through your skin when handling it. I'd avoid working with receipts at my desk all day. (I'd also avoid being a grocery store cashier...) https://www.pca.state.mn.us/green-chemistry/bpa-thermal-pape...

Why do they use thermal printing for receipts? Is it just cheaper because you don't have ink that runs out? Less moving parts so less maintenance?

That, and also speed. Thermal printing is fast compared to the alternatives.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#62

Post by otterley »

CameronNemo wrote: post #47
_8j50 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We would have a lot of cancer victims who happen to be cashiers in that case?

I found this in two minutes: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29778011/

Insulin resistance isn't cancer (though I admit it's still troubling).

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#63

Post by otterley »

gotaquestion wrote: post #8

This is a really funny read for a Friday morning. It should play an MP3 of a line cook in a busy diner shouting, "Order up!", and then he can stick it on a rotating order wheel hanging above his desk. EDIT: One of these things: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/choice-stainless-steel-orde...

Have you been inside a Domino's franchise when they get a new order? Their order systems play a happy tune.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#64

Post by cridenour »

darkhorse222 wrote: post #29
scottlamb wrote: post #21

This is a fun idea, but I've read thermal paper is surprisingly nasty stuff. [Edit: unless it's advertised as "phenol-free".] It's not just paper. It contains plastics (BPA or BPS) that you absorb through your skin when handling it. I'd avoid working with receipts at my desk all day. (I'd also avoid being a grocery store cashier...) https://www.pca.state.mn.us/green-chemistry/bpa-thermal-pape...

that explains why it tastes so bad

There's a great I Think You Should Leave skit about why it might taste so bad.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#65

Post by ianbicking »

Kind of tangential, but I think it could be a lot of fun to make a "boardgame" computer that has a thermal printer, some number displays, and some buttons. It wouldn't try to run the whole game, but would only assist. It could print out scoresheets or special tokens, roll dice, keep track of a few numbers, that sort of thing. Maybe a barcode/QR scanner so you could round trip, like scan a printout and then choose an option as described on that printout.

The printer in particular could open up all kinds of generative and variable interactions or play pieces in a game while still preserving the physical tracking of the game. Maybe with some plastic holders you could even turn the printouts into rough cards...

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#66

Post by scottlamb »

otterley wrote: post #62
CameronNemo wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found this in two minutes: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29778011/

Insulin resistance isn't cancer (though I admit it's still troubling).

My threshold for "nasty" isn't "carcinogen". Not sure how that goalpost got moved, but let's move it back. The link I posted says this:

> The chemicals have been shown to be hazardous to reproductive systems in humans and animals and are linked with obesity and attention disorders.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#67

Post by alttab »

You should get a camera and write an OCR scanner that automatically scans the receipts as they are printed, then pushes it into a DB so you can view all your issues via a simple web application, replete with tracking, reminders, and then an e-mail integration that e-mails the opener of the issue when you put a comment on the receipt that's printed and rescanned.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#68

Post by knute »

ianbicking wrote: post #65

Kind of tangential, but I think it could be a lot of fun to make a "boardgame" computer that has a thermal printer, some number displays, and some buttons. It wouldn't try to run the whole game, but would only assist. It could print out scoresheets or special tokens, roll dice, keep track of a few numbers, that sort of thing. Maybe a barcode/QR scanner so you could round trip, like scan a printout and then choose an…

When I was DMing a D&D campaign I had an idea for using a receipt printer to print a "token" that would represent items that the players acquired and they could keep it or pass it around or turn it back in after it was used or destroyed.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#69

Post by RankingMember »

cinntaile wrote: post #51
scottlamb wrote: post #21

This is a fun idea, but I've read thermal paper is surprisingly nasty stuff. [Edit: unless it's advertised as "phenol-free".] It's not just paper. It contains plastics (BPA or BPS) that you absorb through your skin when handling it. I'd avoid working with receipts at my desk all day. (I'd also avoid being a grocery store cashier...) https://www.pca.state.mn.us/green-chemistry/bpa-thermal-pape...

Why do they use thermal printing for receipts? Is it just cheaper because you don't have ink that runs out? Less moving parts so less maintenance?

As someone who once worked a job in retail where we printed receipts on dot matrix printers on triplicate paper, we longed for thermal printing at the time. Noise, speed, and jams were a common occurrence.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#70

Post by tyingq »

cinntaile wrote: post #51
scottlamb wrote: post #21

This is a fun idea, but I've read thermal paper is surprisingly nasty stuff. [Edit: unless it's advertised as "phenol-free".] It's not just paper. It contains plastics (BPA or BPS) that you absorb through your skin when handling it. I'd avoid working with receipts at my desk all day. (I'd also avoid being a grocery store cashier...) https://www.pca.state.mn.us/green-chemistry/bpa-thermal-pape...

Why do they use thermal printing for receipts? Is it just cheaper because you don't have ink that runs out? Less moving parts so less maintenance?

No trying to get cashiers to refill ink properly is, I assume, the main business benefit. The only thing they refill is paper, which should be dead simple on a decent thermal printer.
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