It’s so they can print the tracking dots.
this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2024
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For the unaware: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/household-printers-tracking-code/
Wow, I had no idea. I thought the joke was needing full ink in an unrelated color. I didn’t know about tracking. I’m sadly unsurprised.
It's for the purpose of serialization for counterfeit purposes. Also, high end copiers have a device installed called the BDU (Bill Detection Unit) that all scans pass through before being post processed. If the BDU detects a bill being scanned it can error and shut down the whole device until the manufacturer can send someone out to fix it. I used to be one of those people resetting BDUs at schools where a teacher thought it was a good idea to copy images of money for teaching students.
That, and tracking down anyone else the government doesn't like, apparently.
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feature originally intended as a deterrent to counterfeiting currency with laser printers.
Honestly, the USA is something special. So they do this, instead of putting modern anticounterfit (like polimer notes with transparencies) measures onto their notes.
I think it isnt to stop it, it is to get a conviction.
This is what I mean. It's bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted. This lists the security features on a $5 note, and here's for a £5 note.
In addition to not in lieu of. The US works very hard on preventing counterfeiting, including the creation of the Secret Service.
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consumers will not notice any difference in the performance or effectiveness of products equipped with this technology.
I believe they missed this part of the memo
It's obvious, more ink used = more profit. The government get the tracking they want, the printer company is slightly more profitable due to extra ink usage, and the customers got fucked. Win-win!
Hold up... Was "Reality Winner" the name of an individual or a business? Like, I was stunned by the fact the yellow dots thing is a thing, but then it starts talking about "Reality Winner" and I can't move on until I know what's up with that name. lol
She is a former NSA translator who sent some classified documents to The Intercept. The Intercept failed to redact the document properly allowing the NSA to view identifying marks on the printout and track her down. I believe she has been release from prison.
i wonder: so what do the laser printers use instead?
I can't find the article I read, but if I recall correctly, they use patterns of minute variations in the power of the laser to cause a machine-detectable pattern to appear in the final printed output.
They also use microscopic yellow dot patterns. Black and white only prints use a microscopic grey print pattern at the print boundary. The technique is a form of steganography. They aren't tracking you btw. It gets used primarily to investigate fraud. Printer companies do it primarily because if they don't, their brand will become associated with print related crimes. There are lists of printers that do not do steganographic serialization but those machines are almost entirely too poor quality to produce any convincing counterfeits anyways.
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My wife found a black and white Brother laser MFP at Goodwill for $15 and it has been an absolute game changer for us.
After losing my third or fourth shitty inkjet since college in a recent move, I needed to print something and found myself once again browsing the Staples flyer.
Eventually decided to spend a bit more up front and just got a Brother color laser.
Now it sits there quietly in the corner for months at a time, doing nothing, until I need it, at which point it is always ready, fast, and has great print quality.
Picked up a refurbished laser printer at a garage sale 8 years ago. I still haven't had to change the ink cartridges
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Ha jokes on you, I'll just call HP Painters instead! 😜
They're a good choice if you want your house bricked.
oh no what are you doing step Brother Laser Printer
Why would you paint a house brick?
Just call Brother painters and they will give your house a powder coat for 1/10th the cost!
I went to Best Buy. They have two options. Shit and more shit.
Don't sign up for HP Instant Amontillado.
Thank you for calling HP Painters! We would be happy to complete your painting job for the low, low price of $200! That's the up-front cost, then just a small subscription of $100/month on a 10-year contract.
Thanks again for calling, you can send in your deposit of your first born child to
HP Painting & Blood Extraction Services
666 Hells Way
Gary IN 46407
I love that they're located in Gary.
Until you get a call from them saying the can of unused paint has passed it support date and you need to purchase a new one, but we don't sell those outright any more you need to get a $20/m subscription.
And you have to buy them yellow paint NOT because they ran out, but because it got caked in the hose and clogged it up.
I don't have a Brother printer. It was not the best purchase I ever made (because I do not own one).
Uncannily relevant, I just had this happen with my Epson printer the other day. Is there any printer you can get these days that doesn't do this?
Brother BW laser. Can't require yellow ink if it only uses black toner.
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if you just need to print documents and other boring stuff, get a bw laser printer.
my canon mf3010 still works pretty well, even after like 7 years of use.
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Okay guys, you literally made me decide and go buy old Brother printer for $20. Didn't have a printer and didn't realize good printers can get so cheap on secondary market.
Going home :3
CMYK printing typically uses CMY only for black/grey generation up through a certain point. When I'm profiling my printer at work for transmissive printing, I can set that in the profile at about 50%; anything less than 50% gray is going to be CMY only.
And here's another fun fact; pure black ink (or toner) doesn't give you very good blacks. If you use only black when you're printing the darkest areas, you end up with a very washed out looking blacks. The best blacks are achieved with 400% ink coverage, using 100% of each ink channel.
Text is the only place where you can get away with only using black and still have it look good.
Brilliant
So I’ve come across enough comments to know that Brother is the way I’m supposed to go for document printing if I don’t want to deal with enshittification. What if I want to print photos though? I don’t think Brother covers me in that area.
Everyone says just go to the store. It doesn't cost too much and it'll be higher quality than any printer you can buy.
My color laser from Brother prints photos well enough for most of my uses for quick off things. But if want an actually high quality photo, I use Walgreens or the like. My prior inkjets was only in between the laser and the professional qualities anyway.
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Most rage inducing thing of the day.
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