Time for an Upgrade

It has been a while since I last did any real management of my Linux box. I believe that the last time that I actually shutdown the computer and put in a new component was over a year ago. Those are also the times that I usually spend some time cleaning the system and doing general maintenance.

Since it has been over a year now, I decided that once I get my next paycheck, I'd purchase something small that the computer needs: RAM.

The RAM in the PC isn't too bad, it's 1.0 GB with 1.0 GB Swap. But it does have an excess of memory being used by applications (not HDD caching), which annoys me, especially when there is some application that uses a lot, and ends up causing the system to flip out, pulling data out of and putting it right back into swap,

I hope things will run a little smoother with the extra 2.0 GB, and at under $55 (after shipping), it was a decent enough deal that I just had to pursue it.

Printer Woes

Friday, I spent most of my day working on various printers. I'm convinced that the biggest problem with computers is the devices responsible for conversion from analog to digital. Printers and scanners; mice, keyboards (HIDs) are okay... but scanners and printers always seem to be troublesome.

I had one printer that had a report of having "black streaks."

Found nothing major wrong, accept the rollers were worn a bit.

Another printer was out putting black dots along one side. It was a problem with the drum, which I tried to clean off a bit, which minimized the black dots, but suggested be replaced anyway.

Finally a fax had white streaks. Dead fuser.

These devices are incredibly annoying. Especially the ones that are used rather frequently.