Coryndon LuxmooreMay 23
Mallory's Musings & Mischief

I got a label maker and had the strangest experience. I opened the box, loaded the sample roll of label ribbon, inserted 6(!) AAA batteries, and it worked.

No apps to download. No account to log into. No firmware updates. No pop-over "helpful tips" about how it's "now enabled with AI" or whatever.

I just typed in the label I wanted and hit "print", and it did it. Astonishing. Nostalgic.

May 22 at 1:13pmWeb
Show threadMallory's Musings & MischiefMay 22

I like how I post about an unapologetically "dumb tech" device and everyone starts boosting it.

RETVRN

Show threadMatthias May 22
@malcircuit I think about what you could’ve done with an AI subscription for your printer. 😳🀣
Btw: I love my label printer too. Great device
Show threadRihards OlupsMay 22

@malcircuit Cannot find it now, but there was a post which went something like this...

An apprentice approached a master.
- "Master, it is widely known that you have a smart house. Will you help me learn how to have one?"
- "Yes, gladly"
- "Are the lights automatic and smart?"
- "No"
- "Are the window blinds automatic?"
- "No"
- "Is the heating automatic?"
- "No"
- "But what is smart about it then?"

The master paused before replying.

- "Everything"

Show threadRihards OlupsMay 22
@malcircuit If somebody can find the original, please share :)
Show threadStacey Cornelius πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦May 23
@malcircuit It's pretty thrilling tbh
Show threadFlash Mob Of OneMay 22
@malcircuit Glorious.
Show threadThird spruce tree on the leftMay 22

@malcircuit

Brother is one of the last "makes things that just _work_." companies. And I have a similar model of Brother label maker.++
Their printers long were the holdouts vs. the HP style "disposable"/"subscription DRM ink" bullshit, though I've heard even Brother printers have gone that way.

++ have you got to the "making labels for everything just because you have a label maker" phase? including "Please stop wasting the tape, adding labels to everything" ON the label maker itself?

Show threadMallory's Musings & MischiefMay 22

@tezoatlipoca I'm at the "got a label maker 6 months ago as a gift (that I asked for) and forgot about it until I encountered a situation that would benefit from a thing having a label" phase lol πŸ˜…

I suspect now that I have it working, I might enter that "label everything unnecessarily, including the label maker itself" phase shortly lol

Show threadThird spruce tree on the leftMay 22

@malcircuit

Same thing with air fryers. Once you get one you do this phase where you air-fryer everything. Hot dogs? Broccoli? cheese? Pickles? fuck yes.

Show threadtone1928May 22
@tezoatlipoca @malcircuit Even tried kale chips. Best fail ever. Opened air fryer when finished and basket completely empty!
Show threadThird spruce tree on the leftMay 23
@tone1928 @malcircuit kale chips are ducking delicious. They magically dissappear in the oven too, but they take much longer
Show threadMark DownMay 22
@malcircuit @tezoatlipoca
Show threadDanni StormMay 22
@malcircuit @tezoatlipoca My phase has been over a year long. I'm starting to think it's not a phase for me lol
Show threadeestileib (she/hers)May 22

@malcircuit @tezoatlipoca

I had that phase with masking tape and sharpie

Show thread__j5s7__May 23
@tezoatlipoca @malcircuit Some months ago I decided to buy an ADF scanner made by Brother, because they have Linux support for a number of devices.
Show threadMr. Dr. Dragonbeard, Esq. πŸ‡²πŸ‡½May 22

@malcircuit

I love Brothers products. I have always used their printers because they still take 3rd party ink.
How do you like the label printer so far?

Show threadMallory's Musings & MischiefMay 22

@Dennis5891 It does what it says on the box, so I can't complain lol

Someday I will explore the different font and formatting options lol

Show threadkayperinhaMay 22
@malcircuit The lightsabber of organisation! I own one too and you can use third party tape.
Show threadAlex MiΕ‚owskiMay 22
@malcircuit I also have one (also brother) and love it. Also great fun for putting a random β€œfunny” label on things meant for others. Enjoy!
Show threadStefan BohacekMay 22
@malcircuit Wild. But surely you had to read and accept terms and conditions. Right?
Show threadMallory's Musings & MischiefMay 22
@stefan Uh... I didn't even notice, but no. I powered it on and it was ready to print labels without it forcing me to accept a questionably binding legal contract. Something must be wrong with it.
Show threadQueen L’AntifaMay 22
@malcircuit Weird. Did it at least offer to let you join their mailing list? 🧐
Show threadTheriacMay 22
@malcircuit
On the flip side I have a brother printer that doesn't understand colour profiles and only applies whatever one was loaded at the factory. For physical proofs I have to go back in time 30 - 40 years and make 2 versions of everything - a digital one in the colours I want and one so that hard copies are in the colours I want with heavy annotations in CYMK.
Show threadIan TindaleMay 23
@Theriac @malcircuit yes, Brother printers have absolutely no idea about colour accuracy whatsoever, I don’t know why the technical people keep banging on about β€˜get a Brother laser printer’ and they’ll point to a mono laser, I mean what on earth use is a mono printer and I wouldn’t want to be sitting next to a laser printer anyway for health reasons. Sometimes I think the technical people have absolutely no originality and just copy what someone once said decades and decades ago when someone bought a Brother laser printer and never needed to check colour accuracy or print actual artwork on it, maybe they just needed to print a sign β€˜back in 5 mins’ and it did that successfully and forever now we’re saddled with technical people parroting off that Brother are marvellous because it printed a black and white sheet of dubious typography.
Show threadJacobo TarrioMay 23

@u0421793 @Theriac @malcircuit Hi! The reason techies love Brother printers is that, the one time every three years they need to print something, they can plug it in and cover a piece of paper with "Getqwintle" brand ink from Amazon in a configuration that resembles text so they can sign it, scan it, and send it back.

Someone who needs to print a color picture that looks exactly their screen or like an offset printer's output will certainly spend time and money on printers and ink.

Show threadJacobo TarrioMay 23
@u0421793 @Theriac @malcircuit Tl;dr: techies love Brother because they hate printers, and Brother is currently the least fussy of them all.
Show threadFurryBetaMay 22
@malcircuit Had a technician’s label maker from them at work. Worked great. Should’ve kept it when I quit, because they don’t make that model any more
Show threadBaral'heia Stormdancer Ξ˜Ξ”πŸ²May 23
@FurryBeta @malcircuit Even their regular P-Touch label makers are super useful tho. I have the big brother to this machine, the PT-D400, and I've made *so many* labels around the house with it! They're not terribly expensive either, and the cheap aftermarket TZe tapes work just fine with it too
Show threadFurryBetaMay 23
@baralheia @malcircuit I really need to look at getting one, because yeah, they’re handy to have around and are more legible than my hand writing on a Brady fabric label
Show threadBaral'heia Stormdancer Ξ˜Ξ”πŸ²May 23
@FurryBeta @malcircuit funny that, if you need fabric labels, Brother has you covered there too:
Show threadRetMay 23
@baralheia @FurryBeta @malcircuit dread to think how much the β€œofficial” ones of these are…
Show threadBaral'heia Stormdancer Ξ˜Ξ”πŸ²May 23

@ret @FurryBeta @malcircuit $26 USD for 9.8 feet (3m) worth of 1/2" (12mm) wide iron-on fabric labels.

Aftermarket is *much* more affordable, at around $5 USD each in a multipack on Amazon or eBay.

Show threadRetMay 23
@baralheia @FurryBeta @malcircuit same story with the heat shrink tubing (which is excellent btw)
Show threadFurryBetaMay 23
@ret @baralheia @malcircuit Yeah, the Brother branded cartridges are not cheap. For consumer level printers, they use the razor blade model of pricing: cheap printer, expensive tape. Of course when you look at the β€œprofessional” printers, then both printer and tape are expensive!
Show threadBaral'heia Stormdancer Ξ˜Ξ”πŸ²May 23
@FurryBeta @malcircuit but yeah, these things are pretty great and there's tons of support (both first-party and aftermarket) for tapes in various materials and such. If you have a need to label things, they're well worth the investment. The PT-D410 is probably the best bang for your buck - it supports label tapes up to 3/4" wide, and works great standalone - but you can also connect it to a Win/Mac PC via USB to design labels if you wish.
Show threadFurryBetaMay 23

@baralheia @malcircuit That wasn’t what I was referring to to, but still neat! I didn’t know they made iron-on labels!

I grabbed a kept of packs of these when I left: https://www.bradyid.com/labels/inventory/write-on-blank-labels-cps-3089410?part-number=WO-56-PK

Show threadChristine Burns MBE πŸ³οΈβ€βš§οΈπŸ“šβ§–May 22
@malcircuit I’ve had my P-touch for a good twenty years or more. It was one of the most useful Christmas presents my parents ever got me. It still works well and I had it out yesterday to label some suspended files.
Show threadDanni StormMay 22
@malcircuit Pretty sure we have the same label maker. My only complaint is the battery life. I use high capacity AAA rechargeable batteries and still it burns through juice. Otherwise yeah, it's dead simple and just works. Brother makes a companion computer app a friend insisted on trying. It was interesting but not worth the headache of introducing modern enshittification into something as simple as printing labels. Labels are my safe space to let my organization compulsion to run free. Not another thing to troubleshoot.
Show threadMallory's Musings & MischiefMay 22
@danni_storm Yeah, I definitely have mixed feelings about using AAA batteries. Thanks for letting me know it burns through them quickly. I'll have to make sure to buy a bunch of rechargeable ones.
Show threadDanni StormMay 22
@malcircuit On closer look I think yours is a slightly different model. I am not surprised it goes through batteries quickly as it's doing quite a bit for AAAs. I prefer easily replaceable options though so I'll live with the AAA experience. Do note that when the battery dies, your current text/font settings are lost. Happened a couple of times to me before I realized what was going on.
Show threadSoozcatMay 22
@malcircuit @danni_storm The battery suck is not my favorite part, but I tend to batch-create labels when I can (print out an absurdly long label tape, cut it into smaller bits) and that seems to help.
Show threadAlynMay 23
@Soozcat
I've found with my brother label printer (although a different model) that the batteries last an order of magnitude longer of they're taken out between uses.
I think there's a constant drain when my device is turned off, so they'll be flat if I print one label and leave them in for a week, but they'll happily print five labels a month for a year if I remove them.
@malcircuit @danni_storm
Show threadRihards OlupsMay 22
@danni_storm @malcircuit I got (perhaps a more expensive one) with a 220 source specifically to not be reliant on batteries when using it rarely. Same manufacturer.
Maybe they have a "battery pack" that fits in the compartment and feeds from power outlets?
Show threadMallory's Musings & MischiefMay 22

@richlv @danni_storm

I just remembered there is a 9v power plug on the back. It didn't come with an adapter though πŸ˜•

Show threadLilFluffMay 22
@danni_storm @malcircuit I discovered that my brother labeler was compatible with a cheap guitar pedal DC power supply I picked up originally for a pedal (then when I decided to put together a pedal board I picked up a slightly more expensive multi-pedal per supply, only after I discovered the original worked for the labeler I misplaced it).
Show threadIan TindaleMay 23
@LilFluff @danni_storm @malcircuit that’s interesting, guitar pedals are the opposite polarity to almost everything else with a barrel-jack plug and socket these days for some evolutionary reason to which indubitably there’s a story behind.
Show threadLinker3000May 23
Yes, their power plugs are also often centre negative, like a lot of music gear. Good to check before buying a power supply and plugging it in.
Show threadπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ haxadecimal πŸš«πŸ‘‘May 22
@malcircuit
They'll fix that in the next model.
Show threadRoland DieterichMay 22
@malcircuit Bonus: the labels are quite durable. This is a photo of a label on the outside of a south-facing window frame. So it gets blasted by sun and rain. Still readable after 11 years.
Show threadEdgeMay 22

@malcircuit

I love labelmakers, and still use them for every bin I have tucked away in the house. And they work so well...

Show threadBuckMay 22
@malcircuit Shockingly pleasurable isn't it?
Show threadStephen Bannasch (316 ppm)May 22

@malcircuit

I have one of those I bought at least 10 years ago. I use it maybe once or twice a year. It … just … works. And if it doesn’t it just needs new batteries.

Show threadMichael DexterMay 22
@malcircuit That reminds me of my Franklin digital thesaurus in high school. It hinted at what laptops might look like and was the most clear and useful thesaurus I have ever used. The online ones seem to be getting worse. It had one job and it did it extremely well. Without updates, TOS, or subscriptions.
Show threadaCiRePMay 22
@malcircuit cmon! You need at least cloud backup for your labels?!!! 😜😜😜
Show threadwojtekMay 22
@malcircuit slightly unrepeated but I LOVE #Brother - they make amazing printers / scanners that are absurdly cheap to buy and use and they Just Works without any lock in...
Show threadSoozcatMay 22
@malcircuit We need to encourage more of these by purchasing "complete" systems whenever possible.
Show threadMaria Langer | πŸ“πŸ›₯οΈπŸ’ŽMay 22
@malcircuit @User47 It's a Brother. That explains a lot.
Show threadAlmadMay 22

@malcircuit This seems to be The Brother Way and I love it so much that whenever I want to buy something, I check if they make it first.

Like, they even made me like my printer. Printer!

Show threadSantiMay 22
@malcircuit I love my label maker, also a Brother. The borders and styling make it just fun enough that I like to use it over my blister tape one.