That makes sense. If you’re going that route though you should be fairly safe patent wise I would think? Most of the dot matrix patents, if not all, have to be expired by now?
ragebutt
joined 6 months ago
That is correct but it means it’s a lot of work for not much benefit
3d printing took off in 2009 when the stratasys patents on FDM expired. You can literally look at the history of consumer 3d printing and it’s basically nothing nothing nothing nothing 2009 reprap makerbot prusa. Similarly when SLA patents expired we suddenly got formlabs and eventually cheap resin printers.
Why reinvent the wheel? If a patent is about to expire just wait and do that. If it’s not and you truly have a novel idea for how to achieve the function that does not infringe on any patents, most people would end up trying to sell it (assuming they have the skill to bring it to market). Our culture is ruthless and requires capital to survive so I don’t necessarily fault someone for trying to secure the bag, though I wish they would at least do it in a way that wasn’t totally gross
Most modern printers aren’t what you describe though, they’re either a piezo that flexes with electricity to create pressure on the ink chamber and release a precise droplet of ink or they are a thermal design where a resistor heats inside the ink chamber to create pressure that forces ink out of the nozzle and subsequently draws more ink into the chamber as it cools. Heat is used here to eject the ink but heat is not used to set the ink in either process, that is done with evaporation and absorption (which is why printing a full page image can smear).
It’s not some big secret as you’ve said, the patents are openly available, but as you’ve said they’re off limits even for noncommercial use because America is stupid. It’s true that they’re not mystical and impossible to recreate but they’re definitely harder to replicate than a heat sink with a tube cut in it, a heat break, a cartridge heater, and a metal nozzle with a (typically) 0.4mm hole
The print head in most inkjet printers (at least non commercial ones) has no moving parts (unless you count the piezo flexing). Dot matrix used needles but why recreate that unless you specifically want that for the vibes or something?
The latter. Someone could create a novel means of transferring ink onto paper in a way that results in high resolution images and give it to the world for free i suppose
CUPS works great when it does work but it can be a real pain in the ass. That said if you build the printer around it it would probably work pretty well
An open source 2d printer is possible but will probably never happen
The print head is incredibly complex, the drivers and communications to talk to printers are all closed source, and unlike 3d printing the level of quality people are accustomed to is covered by patents for another 20-30 years
Except grandpas house and no young master to serve, only angry grandpa who doesn’t want her
Mustard powder absolutely acts as an emulsifier here. The mucilage is a polysaccharide which helps suspend the oil in low egg systems like miracle whip, but admittedly the cornstarch is doing more here
There is no direct msg in miracle whip, nor does it contain things like yeast extract or hydrolyzed proteins for natural glutamates to avoid labeling. At least in the USA these things cannot fall under the natural flavors loophole and msg must be labeled
It is an emulsion of eggs and oil (eg a mayonnaise) that is thinned with water and then thickened and flavored
It’s mayonnaise that has been thinned with water to lower calorie content. To regain an appropriate texture they add mustard powder and modified cornstarch. To offset the “tang” from the vinegar and mustard powder they also add sugar (via high fructose corn syrup)
There is also the possibility that something within “natural flavors and spices” contributes to texture and mouthfeel but that is a mystery protected by vague labeling and valuing trade secrets over potential allergen information and properly informing consumers
As a result it is not mayonnaise but more akin to a salad dressing. Many salad dressings start out as a mayonnaise but we don’t call them that anymore once you add a bunch of nonsense that makes them taste wildly different
A more interesting question is why is kewpie so different from hellmans/dukes/insert other American mayo? They are all definitely mayonnaise. The short answer is that kewpie only uses egg yolks, rice vinegar, and adds msg and some spices (probably pepper and garlic), whereas American mayos tend to use whole eggs, white vinegar, and no msg or spices. Otherwise the ingredients are fairly similar (sugar, salt, oil)
I remember reading a conspiracy theory that this key was purposely put in by a liberal employee who believed everything should be free and that’s why the first 5 digits are FCKGW - fuck George w - and that it was the volume license for Lockheed Martin or something
It’s not true but interestingly this key was leaked before windows xp even came out, like a month before, and it’s suspected to be a VLK from dell
Nowadays they’d probably say leftist
I was born blind in one eye and I’ve never seen a magic eye picture
When I was a kid I was convinced I could get it to work but I never did. I was never going to, I don’t have binocular vision, but I tried
I really sympathized with that one guy in mallrats
Patent infringement is about use, not price
It’s total bullshit that stifles innovation but such is life in the USA. At least the period isn’t completely obscene like copyright