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in calmness @smallcircles@social.coopAnyone working with printers in their #activism should know about tracking dots. This project helps deal with them.
@smallcircles @floe Would it help to print on yellow paper? ;) If it’s close enough to the yellow toner/ink, detecting the dots would become much more difficult (until they add UV reflective particles to the yellow ink/toner)
Ha, that is a good one. Might be. Measure the exact color per brand, publish and go.
Btw, I found #Deda via HN but then realised that it is also on the delightful humane design list (previously 'awesome' list before I ported from Github to #Codeberg).
https://codeberg.org/teaserbot-labs/delightful-humane-design#tracking
Codeberg pages is down now, or the better link is:
@smallcircles just buy your printers from Craigslist, let's see them track that shit down. You can pick up a photo copier on eBay for a couple of hundred dollars make a mass run of leaflets and then just scrap the fucker...
@smallcircles Also a good reason to use old but still perfectly serviceable printers.
@smallcircles an amusement would be to collect and publish some wide ranges of dot patterns for official printers. The departments of State, large companies, utilities, churches.
A chaffing approach.
If the dots are spaced on a grid, then deliberately printing a dot at each grid point would be another chaffing defence. If the grid is finely spaced though one ends up with yellow paper.
I put effort into printing photographs, and I find I resent the idea someone else has added graffiti.
@midgephoto that is a very fun activist idea. Thx.
@smallcircles do we know the spacing and possible locations for dots?
@midgephoto no, I do not. I see the dots on my own laser printer printouts. I have seen articles in the past with background explanation, and I suppose there'll be standards to adhere to for printer manufacturers.