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Thursday 22nd April 2021

 Here's some of what you missed at The Thirsty Robot:

Technical Musings

Technology Topic - Printers

The discussion started with printers: ink-jets versus laser printers, ink cartridges versus toner cartridges (especially for colour printing), and capacities of paper trays. The main consideration seems to be the number of pages that will be printed in a given time period. Ink-jets for lower quantities, lasers for higher quantities. After that, then there are several ways to buy ink cartridges or toner cartridges: including various subscription methods that mean that you automatically receive replacements in the post without any effort. Maybe paper too, eventually?

Photo by Bank Phrom on Unsplash

Of course, for really big quantities of printing, then you would go to a specialist printer. It was pointed out that modern printing can be so automated that the first time a human being has ever touched the paper is when you open the envelope and take the magazine or book out of it. Conversely, printing can also be an art-form...

Technology Topic - Books with Alternative Titles

Previously, discussion at The Thirsty Robot has turned to books with politically incorrect titles, but this time, we talked about books with 'alternative titles'.  (Caution: some of these are NSFW, and some may even be Not Safe For Work as well!)



it is interesting to see that the book featured in one of the examples: 'Toad Checks If The Beers Are Cold Yet' uses a similar type of deliberate misinterpretation of the associated cover artwork as the 'humorous-in-a-different-way' politically incorrect books. In fact, this is a common theme for both types of books. 

It was also noted that this type of topic depends on being shared over social media, and so some of the the feeds are included above... In a world where satire and parody seem to have departed from much of mainstream media, it is refreshing to see that they survive in other forms of media. 

Just in case you are musing that maybe 'The Wind In The Willows' was influenced by the 30-years earlier 'Three Men in a Boat' considering the river setting, funny incidents and shared experiences between friends, then do not read this link or this link. Of course, what the artist's intention (or how they were directed) is another question...

There was also some discussion about a topic that has been covered before: domain names:


(Note the 8 year time warp here..)

Technology Topic - A Mobile Phone Without Andoid

Discussion turned to to procure a mobile phone that does not have Android as the Operating System, or beyond that, a mobile phone without Google on it. (i.e. A mobile phone that does not use any services from Google for mail, search, file sharing...)

As usual, this immediately led to discussion of other Operating Systems, and then went in other directions. One humorous suggestions was to use an Apple i-Phone, which resulted in an immediate refinement of the question: 

'A mobile phone without Android or Apple'


As you can see, Operating Systems led to Spaceships, to Earth and to the recent Chinese Blockbuster Movie: The Wandering Earth. You can't say we stick to a subject at The Thirsty Robot!

Technology Topic - Product Placement

One topic that elicited universal agreement was that there is too much advertising on TV in the UK (, and way too much on streamed media like Channel Four. Curiously, the 'All 4' web-site for Channel 4's streaming service contains no adverts on it at all, but the service quickly makes up for this. 

Wikipedia says about the UK: On the commercial channels, the amount of airtime allowed by the British broadcasting regulator Ofcom for advertising is an overall average of 7 minutes per hour, with limits of 12 minutes for any particular clock hour (8 minutes per hour between 18.00 and 23.00h). 

Product placement is often proposed as an 'in-programme' alternative to 'between programme' adverts (it was noted that the adverts in some countries (Germany is one example) are gathered together and played all at once, so you get continuous adverts for the last 'n' minutes in an hour. Technology and product placement continue to be more and more associated:


Recommended TV

Bob's Burgers [ On Disney+ Star in the UK ]

This actually came from a discussion of how long hair could get when access to hairdressers is removed, as in the recent lock-downs because of COVID-19.


Recommended Food/Snack

Unusual Flavours of Crisps


And just when you thought that crisps would always be with us:


...and to go with the crisps?


Plus the reverse: this that might bite you:


Recommended Movies


"In 2021, the whole world is connected by the gigantic Internet, and almost a half of the population is suffering from the Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS)..."
Sound familiar in any way?


As usual, we reckon it is best if you don't know anything before watching a film! So only click on a link if you want your experience to be potentially spoiled...

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A lot of discussion happens at The Thirsty Robot. This blog is an edited, biased summary of just a small fraction of the conversation, links/URLs and references that were mentioned. It is an imperfect record and is definitely not complete - for that you should visit The Thirsty Robot!

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The next online meeting at The Thirsty Robot is on Thursday 6th May 2021 at 7:30pm GMT.





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