Latest Stinkyink Posts

Apple Release a Flurry of Updated Printer Drivers

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:07:54 +0000

Probably not included in the update...

It has just come to my attention that Apple have rolled out a new Software Update for OSX Lion and it's older brother, Snow Leopard entitled "Canon Printer Drivers v2.7".

Interestingly, aside from the titular Canon Printer drivers, the update also includes updates for printers by Samsung, Ricoh, Gestetner, Lanier, Infotec, and NRG. The update comes in at a rather hefty 324 megabytes and requires that you must be running at least OSX 10.6.1 to qualify. Details on the update can be found at the Apple Support Site

Win A Giant Bear for Valentines Day

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:12:20 +0000

There aren't many things cuter than bears.... and we don't know many things that aren't improved if made bigger.

So imagine if these combined into one GIANT CUDDLY BEAR!!!!! We managed to get hold of our own Stinkyink bear, named Alfie, who is now looking for a loving home this Valentines day. If you'd like your own 3-foot bear to love and cherish, just place an order at Stinkyink.com before 3:30pm Monday, February 13th, and you'll be entered into the prize draw.

We'll draw the winner at 3:30pm and get Alfie out on a courier for you, so you'll receive him Valentines day ready for some cuddles :-)

Alfie's life so far...

Alfie is a busy bear, and before he has the easy life at a new loving home, he's being put through his paces in the world of Stinkyink!

A video of Alfies day at Stinkyink...

How to Recycle Toner Cartridges

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:41:17 +0000

We have scoured the UK long and hard for how to recycle toner cartridges, and are lucky to have established schemes to help you recycle both ink and toner cartridges. This is a guide for recycling toner cartridges, and if you need help with ink cartridges then click here.

Otherwise, read on for clear advice, screenshots and links for everything you need to know to recycle a toner cartridge! Don't panic if you think this looks long, it's all pictures! Recycling your toner cartridges takes roughly 1-2 minutes from start to finish!

A Guide to Recycling Toner Cartridges

Step 1: Register for an account

Click here to visit our recommended toner recycling company. Once there, follow the on-screen instructions to register your details. The postcode field is case sensitive so make sure you capitalise your entry :-)

Make sure to enter all of the *'d fields, and tick the box next to Register Me if you don't want to receive email contact about recycling information.

Once you've registered, you'll receive an ID and on-screen confirmation of your registered email address. You'll also receive a handy email detailing all of your account information, and how to begin recycling. But back to the website now for the next step!

Step 2: Arrange a Collection

No matter which page of the website you're on, whether you're still on the registration completion page or back on the homepage, head to the top right of the page and hit "Arrange Collection". If you're coming from the email, simply click the third blue link titled "Arrange a Collection".

Click the link "Arrange Collection"

This takes you to a screen where you select how many cartridges you'll be recycling. Simply select the quantity that is applicable to you. Please remember you cannot recycle less than 20 cartridges at a time, if you select this option you will be reminded of this and unable to arrange a collection.

Select the size of collection you need.

Step 2, Part 2: Confirm the Toner Recycling Steps!

Once you've selected your quantity you'll be taken to the Four-Step collections screen, where you need to confirm:

...you have over 20 cartridges
...you have removed all excessive packaging
...you have written the address on the box
...you are ready to book the collection

The crucial part here is to CLICK EACH STEP TO CONFIRM YOU HAVE COMPLETED IT. You cannot simply jump to book collection, and must first click on the three boxes for Step 1, 2 and 3 as confirmation. (we know that's annoying, but it's necessary sorry.)

Your starting screen.

Make sure to click each step to confirm you've done it.

When you click it you will receive a nice green tick as confirmation

Stuck on step 3? This company does enable you to print your own delivery address under the "Print Address" link in the step 3 box, but if you feel like writing it on, here it is!

GreenIBIS Recycling

Units 1-2

Marlborough House

Chartwell Road

Lancing Business Park

Lancing

West Susses

BN15 8TU

Step 3: Sign in

Unless you're already logged in (skip this step if you are), you'll need your GreenIBIS ID, surname confirmation and email address to confirm the order.

Step 4: Confirm the Collection Date and Address

You're now able to select the date, number of packages and address for the collection, helping you choose a time that suits you! Don't worry if you live in the middle of nowhere, you can leave extra courier instructions to help the driver.

The collection address will default to your account address, but if you want it collected from somewhere else that's no problem, simply change the relevant details, once you're done, click "Confirm Collection" and that's it :-) Wait for the collection on that date and your good-deed is done!

Select a date and address that suits you

Step 5: Hit "Confirm", sit back and feel good!

Once you click that glorious Confirm Collection button, you'll go to a completion page with an order ID, and receive a confirmation email with all of the collection details on. If for any reason you do need any changes made, just get in touch with their lovely customer service team on 0844 854 6300 and they'll be happy to help!

Would this make you recycle ink cartridges?

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:56:59 +0000

While this post is in no way meant to denigrate those who do not recycle, I personally believe that the non-recyclers would be easily converted if the following happened:

it was clearer what could be recycled
it was clearer how to recycle them
it was easier to recycle them

A Californian company has taken steps to tackle this, with a clever little machine that makes it amazingly easy to recycle portable devices such as iPods, iPads and Kindles with the minimum of fuss. Their company is trying to make a difference, with a company message of the fascinating statistic only 10% of used phones and similar electronic equipment gets a 2nd-life in some way, they are aiming to solve my major qualms of recycling-transparency and ease.

How does it work?

You couldn't want it much simpler. Each "ecoATM" has a recycling station that can electronically and visually inspect nearly any consumer electronic device, which then finds the best available price for your product from a worldwide secondary market.

The customers whom are recycling then deposit the electronic item, to immediately receive cash or in-store credit if the ATM is within a store.

How perfect would this be for printer cartridges?

This ecoATM would be an incredibly addition to the third-party market. Allowing customers to not only drop-off unwanted or used cartridges whilst on a standard shop, but actually receive money there and then, would surely lead to a significant increase in cartridges.

With the ecoATM's ability to discern quality and condition of cartridges, plus differentiate between the type of cartridge, would mean customers could easily see what's recyclable, what's not, and the value for each. Here's hoping...

Read more details on ecoATM here. If you've seen any other fascinating recycling stories then comment below and let us know!

Stinkyink Launches PayPal Payments

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:47:33 +0000

One thing we frequently hear from customers is how convenient they find paying for their goods with PayPal, and how they dream of a happier day where they could gleefully spend their PayPal pennies at Stinkyink.

Well, Stinkyink'ers, let the pennies flow! You can now buy Printer Ink Cartridges and Laser Toner Cartridges at Stinkyink.com using PayPal!

How to use PayPal at Stinkyink...

Whether you use the funds on your PayPal account, or the card linked to your PayPal account, you can pay quickly and easily by clicking the 'checkout with PayPal' button on our shopping cart page. You'll be whisked over to PayPal where you can login with your PayPal account credentials.

Here's an example button so you know what you're looking for at the checkout :-)

Once you've confirmed your payment, you'll be whisked back to our site to finalise the order. Then it's business as usual with a confirmation email and our warehouse team picking, packing and despatching your order.

Not using PayPal?

Don't worry... you can still pay as normal on our own 100% secure 256-bit SSL checkout! Nothing has changed in that respect, we're just adding more ways for you to enjoy our great products and service.

If you've got any other feature requests, or simply want to thank us for being awesome and rolling out the products you ask for, then please do comment below. Thanks, and have a great day from the Stinkyink team!

Click here to head to the Stinkyink homepage and start shopping!

Jonathan Brand Prints a Car!

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:21:41 +0000

American artist Jonathan Brand has gone through an extraordinary process to rebuild his car, creating an entire model from printed bits of paper! Read on for his quite extraordinary accomplishment.

His project is named "One Piece at a Time" after a Johnny Cash song about a worker who decides to steal the car parts he makes every day to build himself a dream car one piece at a time.

One piece at a time - literally

Brand has reconstructed a car that his father and he repaired when he was younger. However he previously sold the real car to pay for a diamond wedding ring. The interesting thing about this project however is that instead of sourcing parts and playing around with wrenches Brand made his new car entirely out of paper, ink and glue.

Unbelievably, Brand worked without any technical schematics, using only a few photographs and his memory for guides. He pain-stakinly designed, printed out, cut up and stuck together each piece of paper to create a work of art.

Using software on his computer he created the templates for each of the parts and printed them on his large format printer. Each part once printed was labeled and numbered so he could begin to put his car together like a 3D jigsaw.

Why not use schematics?

Brand said avoiding using technical schematics was a conscious choice and that he likes it "when things are slightly off, in the wrong place or missing, just like my memories of the original."

While it might seem a little strange rebuilding his car from immobile paper and ink, Brand says that the original car never actually ran and he certainly never drove it so the paper and ink model is about as functional.

The attention to detail is astounding as you can see in some of these images from his page.

The car interior.

The detail in the motor is astounding.

Spare tyre anyone?

I'd be interested to know how much ink he got through overall, but I'll bet he could've saved himself some dosh by opting for our compatible inks.

Kodak Digital Photography - The Kodak Killer?

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:07:59 +0000

The recent news that Kodak have brought in a team of legal experts renowned for dealing with bankruptcy cases raises serious concerns about the health of the ailing digital photography and printer ink company. But how did such a massive company come upon such hard times and were they, as many suggest, the architects of their own downfall?

It's a sorry state of affairs for a company once ubiquitous in photography. The Eastman Kodak Company held a dominant position in photographic film throughout the 20th century, capturing 90% of the market during its peak in the mid-70s. Their presence in the public conscious was such that their old advertising slogan, "a Kodak moment", became embedded in the vernacular much like Google has today. Their most popular brand of film - Kodachrome - was popular enough to be the subject of a song by Paul Simon. Not only that, Kodak is responsible for capturing some of the most iconic images of the 20th century; the piercing stare of The Afghan Girl would have never been captured were it not for Kodak's film.

A Colourful Past

It had come a long way from its origins in Rochester, New York, in 1880. Founded by George Eastman, Kodak saw an opportunity to simplify the byzantine process of developing photographs for the burgeoning photography industry of the late 1800s.

Those inchoate days of photography bear little resemblance to today's world of digital photography where a photograph can be captured and put online within minutes. Despite Kodak seemingly being irretrievably linked in the mind of the public to the increasingly out-of-date film processing business, Kodak's downfall was not due to it being a lumbering dinosaur unable to escape the meteoric progress of digital photography. In fact they pioneered the new technology - Kodak had developed a primitive prototype of a digital camera as early as 1975. By 1996 they had their first point-and-shoot digital camera.

Kodak Fades

Kodak's problem was that the new digital cameras were too popular. By April 2001, Kodak had debuted a range of EasyShare cameras which proved so popular that customers couldn't get hold of them. By 2005 they were the number 1 digital camera manufacturer in the US with sales worth $5.7 billion. An enviable position to be in, except that Kodak were cannibalising their own business model.

Kodak had long been battling to preserve margins in a competitive market place. During the 1980s and 1990s their market share was being steadily eroded by competition from Fujifilm who offered a cheaper alternative to processing film. With their entry into the digital photography market, Kodak suddenly found themselves trying to compete in a commodities market where margins were tight and profits were hard to come by.

Worse, for every digital camera sold, that was one fewer customer looking to use Kodak's profitable film processing service. Kodak were simultaneously investing in less profitable digital cameras and driving customers away from their lucrative film processing.

Digital photography was not a complete misstep for Eastman Kodak Company however. A valuable technology portfolio landed them with enough licensing money to branch out into printer ink in 2007. Here was a market they were more comfortable in - not only were they able to sell the hardware (as with cameras) but they were also able to offer high margin consumables for the lifetime of that hardware.

Unfortunately the strategy is yet to yield fruit. Kodak's printer ink division has so far failed to turn a profit. And now, with the news that chapter 11 filings are looming, it seems unlikely it ever will.

It's a sad end for a company with such a storied past. But with the rising ubiquity of commodity digital photography appearing in phones, laptops and tablets, it seems inevitable that a company which built its fortune on the antiquated concept of developing film should struggle to survive in a world of digital photography.

Five Surprising Projects from 3D Printing

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:00:21 +0000

We’ve reported before on all kinds of uses being found for 3D printers, today I’ve collected some projects that show 5 surprising areas where 3D printing is making headway.

Animation - Robotics - Fashion & Art - Novelty Items - Printing

Read on below to see some of the fantastic projects that are being enhanced by the emergence of 3D printing.

Animation

One of the most surprising fields that 3D printing has made an impact on is animation. The team behind this sustainable farming advert seen used a 3D printer to enable them to mass produce the models.

According to them the use of a printer meant they didn’t have to sub-contract out the painstaking and time consuming task of hand crafting the models saving the studio time and money.

Robotics

A team at the Cornell Computational Synthesis Laboratory have been using a 3D printer to allow them to quickly build different designs for wings for their flying robot.

The different wings, often taken from nature itself, can then be tested and the results analysed.

There have been several other designs in the robotics field that have been helped along by 3D printing, including a 2 meter long worm that is intended to help find people trapped in collapsed buildings.

Each segment of the worm has been printed out and, despite it’s creepy-crawly nature, it could really save lives.

Novelty Items

I’d have really liked to get one of these in my Christmas stocking. granted, it doesn't really do anything, but I could find myself staring at a revolving cube made of gears for hours (don't lie, you know you could too).

Another bit of fun is this design, similar to a gyroscope it could quite happily fill the time wasting role of a newtons cradle on my desk.

Fashion and Art

The ability to create any shape that comes into the mind really has a large impact on the world of fashion.

Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen has recently used items made using a 3D printer as part of her Capriole collection. An interesting implication is that as 3D printing becomes more accessible to end-users intricate designs like this could re-created in the home.

In the world of art 3D technology is being used to create amazing things. One example of this is this stunning sculpture by Sophie Kahn.

Made by printing epoxy resin, plaster and cyanoacrylate the broken face of “Laura” is fascinating.

Printing Printers

It is truly amazing that they’ve used a 3D printer to create a fully functional 2D printer... and it may just be me being a little paranoid... but isn't this bringing skynet that one step closer?

I hope you've enjoyed these little examples. If you have any other great examples of stunning imagery or things accomplished with a printer then please comment below or drop us an email and we'll get them added.

Sony Turns Paper Into a Power Source

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:12:02 +0000

Engineers at Sony have been working on some new technology aimed at not only finding a use for waste paper from your old print outs but actually using it to power electronic devices!

As with some of the best innovations the idea is similar to one found in nature. Ants and termites digest wood and other plant matter, converting it into sugars which can then be easily used for energy.

In a similar way Sony's team have developed a solution containing cellulase enzymes which turns shredded paper into glucose sugar. This glucose is then used in a process involving a further mixture of enzymes in the presence of oxygen to create energy.

The only waste products caused by this chain of reactions were plain old water and gluconic acid (while that may sound quite scary it's actually a harmless acid that commonly occours in nature) so the process is quite clean compared to the other method of getting energy from paper - fire.

In a demonstration children were asked to dip paper and cardboard into a solution then shake it. After a few minutes a connected fan started turning showing that electricity was being generated.

Obviously the project has some major appeal. With the rising costs of fuel, turning wasted paper and card into energy could really help households. Sadly though this technology a long way from commercial deployment and it's not yet viable for powering much more than an mp3 player.

Environmental groups have praised Sony for working in this area with John Sauven from Greenpeace saying that: "Any way to provide a greener technology could be a potential magic bullet. So from that point of view this is interesting, and I think it's fantastic that companies like Sony are looking to make the generation of energy more environmentally friendly."

Still developments in this area are always interesting and we'll keep you informed if we hear anything new.

HP Patch Laserjet Printer Exploit

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:25:40 +0000

The Saga Continues

Back in November we told you about a flaw in some HP laser-jets that may have allowed their security to be compromised, possibly even turning your friendly printer into a fire hazard! At the tail end of last week HP responded to the situation by releasing a patch to remove the vulnerability.

While HP maintains that no-one has complained of falling victim to the exploit, due to the subtle nature of the hack it could be a long time before people know that they've become victims. Annoyingly for HP and their customers if a printer had already been compromised it may be able to resit the firmware upgrade.

So what do you need to do?

First of all head over to www.hp.com/support, confirm your location and get the latest driver for your printer. It's also worth checking out HP's secure printing advice which can be found here. While it’s always best practice to get the latest patches it’s particularly important when such a big security hole is exposed as without the updates your printer could be left wide open.

Even if you're not using a HP machine it's probably worth checking that you're sporting the latest firmware for your own printer. Other security flaws are constantly getting found and patched out so if you haven't checked in a while now would be a great time.

The other important step is to make sure your router has got it’s latest firmware. In most households the router also functions as the primary firewall and thus is the main defence against attacks on network devices. It doesn’t take long but it’s well worth checking for updates periodically just to be on the safe side.

Of course we keep our ears to the group on this sort of thing so if there are any more developments to this story we’ll let you know. If you’ve got any queries or concerns leave a comment below or get in touch with us.