New printer

Following 'death' of my old Epson 660, its replacement is a HP DeskJet 1050 all-in-one (printer, scanner, copier) J410 series.

Setup is relatively easy, although I cannot figure out why the USB cable for connection to a desktop PC must be bought separately.   

Build quality seems a bit plasticky, and the machine is somewhat noisier than I had expected, but the very fast A4 printing speed is impressive, and it spits out address labels in a second.

Full-colour A5 printing is fine, but I haven't tried it with any photo-paper yet. 

Interzone

The latest issue of Interzone magazine (TTA Press) includes my 'Laser Fodder' column of DVD & blu-ray reviews.

Here's the line-up of reviewed titles, plus ratings:

Interzone #233

Psych: 9 (4/10)
Alien vs. Ninja (5/10)
Operation: Endgame (5/10)
Paradox Soldiers (3/10)
Vamp (3/10)
Paranormal Activity 2 (0/10)
Primal (6/10)
The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra (0/10)
Altitude (4/10)
The Universe: 7 Wonders Of The Solar System (2/10)
Skyline (6/10)
The Gathering (5/10)
The Man Who Fell To Earth (8/10)
Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’Hoole (2/10)
Ink (4/10)

Epson660

My venerably ancient Epson Stylus 660 printer has finally died... 

Habitually creaking and whirring, partly fossilised, always prone to ‘communication errors’, it’s now announced its own demise with a full set of flashing red warning lights, and a complete failure to even attempt cleaning its own thoroughly clogged print-heads.

Bit sad to see it go, after all this time, because this was the last piece of equipment still in use from my very first desktop PC system; bought when this century was still new and shiny, and everything was beige.