Tag: recycling

Brother Canada laser cartridge return label

So you bought that Brother laser printer like everyone told you to. And now it’s out of toner, so you replaced the cartridge. If you were in the USA, you could return the cartridge for free using the included label. But in Canada … it’s a whole deal including registering with Brother and giving away your contact details and, and, and …

Anyway, my dear fellow Canadians, I went through the process and downloaded the label PDF so you don’t have to:

BrotherCanada-CartridgeReturnLabelDownload

If you have an address label printer, I even cropped it for you (with only slight font corruption):

BrotherCanada-CartridgeReturnLabel_croppedDownload

I’m pretty sure this is a generic label, since:

  1. the file is dated sometime about a year ago, and wasn’t generated directly for my download;
  2. I got a different tracking number when I handed the thing in at the post office.

But if they do complain, you know what to do: brother.ca/en/environment

old computers, new computer

Had a bit of a clear-out yesterday. I dropped off

  • one Sempron-based PC
  • an ancient eMac
  • a built-like-a-tank Samsung laser printer
  • two monitors: one LCD, one flatscreen
  • two mini-itx boxen of undetermined operation
  • about six external USB drives
  • a DVD player with VGA output
  • a box of stuff, including various network thingies, an NSLU-2 and a KVM switch.

at Free Geek Toronto. I’d heard about them from Colin at Mappy Hour, the monthly(ish) OpenStreetMap event. They have a very neat warehouse, and are definitely doing the right thing in getting surplus electronics either to people who need them, or properly recycled. On the (lengthy – 2 hours from the Junction to home, grr) drive back, I even heard a tiny CBC radio spot about them. Shame that the announcer almost said “old electronics crap” instead of “old electronics gear”, though …

I just built a new linux box to replace a bunch of the stuff I just threw out. It’s a small and quiet MSI 6676-003BUS with a fanless Atom 510 processor. It plugs straight into the HDMI of the TV, and remote work is done with VLC or SSH. To cut down clutter, I’m using a cheapo Logitech® Cordless MediaBoard Pro for PLAYSTATION®3, which works just fine as a keyboard and mouse with a generic $10 bluetooth USB adaptor.