Remain anonymous online

Hurray! to all this cheap internet frenzy. You can now start living on the Internet. For those using dial up connections like modems, gone are the days when you had to take measures such as bookmarking regularly visited sites or disabling images in your browser to reduce browsing and downloaded content to preserve your hard earned money since you are charged per MB.

Hurray! to SIM card registration meaning all those scumbags plotting nefarious schemes to threaten and blackmail you or ask for impossible ransoms from unknown numbers are now gone. Wait a minute, yes, the privacy is gone too! Anyone with a "reason" to invade your privacy and enough "clout" real or perceived can now breeze in at your ISP (Internet Service Provider), henchmen in tow and inquire on your online behaviors then draw conclusions or use the information in other dangerous ways. Worse still it might be the chap at the server with all the rights, the one who always looks very distinguished in a suede jacket never mind it's to protect them from the biting cold in the server room/closet. Were it not an office environment, it may as well be a jungle jacket.

And why might anyone want to spy on you? Oh, the reasons are countless. It might be your competitors wanting to mitigate your rising onslaught in the market or you may have affiliates from the green-eyed tribe who don't want you attempting anything that might lead to your prosperity. "No we can't have that, can we?" they are always muttering to themselves and to each other. You might also be trying to access non-approved content without being found out by the IT team. The reasons are infinite.

The easiest way to remain anonymous online is to employ the use of anonymous proxies or the ssh protocol which requires some installation of this and that. But if you don't have the time or know how to do ssh, anonymous proxies will suffice. An anonymous proxy is a server which scrambles or garbles whatever you browse including search strings, your location and computer name or IP address so that the history you leave behind is not human readable and cannot be deduced in reasonable time rendering any monitoring activities akin to chasing the wind. And who are you to forbid the wind from blowing? The king of France is rumored to have attempted this feat in the days of yore. How it eventually went down is not clear but we can make a good guess. There are many free proxy servers for your indulgence out there and some good examples include hidemyass.com, nuip.net and so on you get it.

While such tactics may not protect you forever, it is a good start in frustrating the efforts of hostile parties and give you ample time to make good your endeavors before the "shit" hits the proverbial fan.

A printing solution worth a try

So you want to start a printing business? Better yet you want to upgrade your old printer to a newer one that is more efficient. If there is the slightest thought about cost efficiency in your imagination, there is one solution you might want to consider. The Epson printer.

Epson!! Isn't that one reserved for the rich and shameless? It was, but that was long time ago. All technological devices have their cons and for printers it is the fact that ink is more expensive than even the printer itself! You may acquire a printer for as little as KSh. 2500 or as much as KSh. 20,000 but that is not the main issue.

Refilling cartridges or replacing them is the worst nightmare cost-wise. Even in the prestigious offices employees almost always have second thoughts before they dare print anything and then have to approach the printer gingerly in case the boss ambushes them midway and unleashes a tirade.

Epson cartridges are generally not refillable and cost about Ksh. 2400 each and there might be four to six of them in your printer depending on the model as shown in figure 1. Each catridge holds about 10ml of ink and doesn't even last that long no matter how careful you are. The drill is similar for almost all other printer brands.

Figure 2

Figure 1

However, all these costs are needless. Almost all Epson printers can now be fitted with a device popular known as CISS which is an acronym for Continous Ink Supply System shown in figure 2. The bad news is that device is not shipped with the printer and has to be fitted separately. It follows that you will cough about Ksh. 4500 give or take a few redds for it and then your pain is over for good.

The good news is that the device will cut your printing costs by a substantial amount that you will even feel the burden lifting off your shoulders or more practically your printing budget will approach nil save for paper. In addition, the cost of the CISS is less than two cartridges and comes full of ink equivalent to many more cartridges. On the adverts they say costs will decrease by 98%. Hell as far as I am concerned they can put down 110% but I guess they have to maintain plausibility.

Anyway I am not here to pitch for Epson but to point you in the right direction lest you spend 400 years in the desert looking for the elixir of life while it is just under your nose the whole time. Since not all printers are supported it would be wise to do some research before indulging.

After acquiring the printer and CISS (the CISS is usually installed where it is sold for a small fee like Ksh. 150) you are good to go. You will also be given free maintenance support on how to maintain everything yourself as compared to those technicians who will charge you an arm and a leg for some triviality. The ink that supplied initially in the CISS usually lasts for several months regardless of your printing behaviors. Each time the printer blinks red to show there is no ink in the catridges you just need to unplug for 30 seconds and plug back in and pap! all lights green. You can find more info about maintenance Here. Even though the advice pertains to a specific model it is usable on all others.

As the saying goes, it is not yet over until the fat lady sings. If ink in the reservoirs of the CISS is very low you just buy another 100ml of the required ink for about Ksh. 250 and refill the reservoir. Enjoy your printing.