Dear Gene,
I have recently upgraded to Leopard and have experienced similar issues with my printer – a Samsung CLP-300N. I am able to print with an Epson inkjet. I spent 2 hours each with Microsoft, Samsung and Apple to no avail. How do I reset the the printing system with Mac Pilot? Thanks for any help you can provide.

With Mac Pilot, click the Tools icon, then the System tab, and choose Reset Printing System.

I make no promises, but it’s something to try and you can, at least, reinstall extra drivers if need be.

Peace,
Gene

Dear Gene,
I have recently upgraded to Leopard and have experienced similar issues with my printer – a Samsung CLP-300N. I am able to print with an Epson inkjet. I spent 2 hours each with Microsoft, Samsung and Apple to no avail. How do I reset the the printing system with Mac Pilot? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Thanks for your kind comments. Indeed, I’m a fan of most of the sites you recommend and have them, where available, in my RSS feed collection. As you probably know, Roughly Drafted’s Daniel Eran Dilger is a semi-regular on my tech radio show too.

Peace,
Gene

First, thanks for such a great and long running site for Macintosh information. Many Kudus are in order and well deserved. I usually do not comment to marginal articles I read on the web, as it would seldom change the writers opinion and just add to the Flame War from Fanboys on both sides of an issue.

I, however bring myself to comment on Internet information in general, which is moving towards an all time low. You state you may have been over the top regarding your comments on Mac Troubleshooting Sites. I disagree. You were not strong enough, but you need to live to fight again tomorrow and I do not.

Mac Fix It used to be a really great site for troubleshooting information. The new ownership has reduced the site to fear mongering and have little of real value for a user looking to find out information on some problem they are encountering. Of course you can subscribe and pay your monthly fee, but I suspect that is not much better in troubleshooting a problem.

If you are a user that has read MacSurfer for some time, you may become aware of who the Naysayers consistently are. MacSurfer has slowly changed the format grouping of their sections, for the better in my opinion. I can now expect FUD headlines from at least a dozen on more sites on a daily basis. They are always the same usual suspects. If the subject matter does not have real FUD, these sites will fabricate what ever is needed, but seldom have any real facts behind their positions. Some misrepresent the truth because they need web traffic. Others are blatantly nothing more than paid shills for large competitors. Many are Bloggers, who have little or no oversight, that just want to stir up the opposition an increase their web traffic. The sad part about Blogs, is that the major News Media will pick up on a Blog issue that seems to have legs and the next thing we see is this same FUD being presented as fact by the major outlets. When it turns out to be incorrect or fabricated information against Apple it is just a Ho-Hum and on with business as usual. What a sad commentary for news in general as well as many internet sites and bloggers without oversight.

Many negative Apple Articles could be said to come from overseas websites. Are they really against Apple or are they against anything that is successful from the United States. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between.

There are several Financial Websites that go over the top to criticize anything Apple. Then the Bloggers pick up the FUD and the next day the Major News Outlets pick up the FUD. The stock goes down several dollars due to the incorrect information and someone cashes in. I would hope the Securities folks would find internet FUD that is untrue and drives down the stock price should not go unpunished, but that seems to be wishful thinking.

So at the end of the day, there are only a few Websites I read. They are:

1. MacSurfer for Apple News
2. XLR8 your Mac for Performance and Troubleshooting
3. Mac Night Owl for Legacy System Information
4. Roughly Drafted for Insight & Detail
5. BareFeats for Performance Testing
6. Tom’s Hard Drive for HDD Performance
7. Ars Technica for Technical Insight

The Websites I usually avoid in no certain order are:

01. Mac Fix It
02. San Jose Mercury News
03. Salon
04. Most British Websites
05. Most Australian Websites
06. San Francisco Chronicle
07. USA Today
08. ZDNet
09. MacUser
10. Mac 360
11. Fortune
12. IDG
13. CNet News
14. Computer World
15. Motley Fool
16. The Street
17. OS Weekly
18. The Register
19. The WSJ

I am sure the above 2 lists are incomplete, but they are representative of my experiences in spending a least an hour or two each morning staying abreast of what is new or notable in the computer world.

I am a retired Computer System Engineer and Analyst who still keeps their mind active as technology moves forward, sometimes on a daily basis. Keep up the good fight for all things true. Looking forward to reading your future articles. Thanks again!

Best – Robert McCullough

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