Chartreuse Technology

coachisright.com ^ | July 6, 2011 | Basil Irwin, staff writer

[jmaroneps37]

A while back, the WWF (no, not the World Wrestling Federation, but the World Wildlife Fund) announced a new computer document format that is supposedly impossible to print.

That is, you can read it on your computer, but not print it; sort of like a digital Roach Motel: “Data checks in, but doesn’t check out!” Somehow this is supposed to save the rain forests, the planet, the toner shrubs, whatever.

While lesser mortals may sniff that a deliberately non-printable file format is a stupid idea, I personally think it’s a brilliant idea, and I suspect it will spark a whole new generation of technology that’s environmentally friendly simply because it’s been deliberately crippled.

You know, while maybe not exactly being “Green” ,such technology certainly would at least be “Chartreuse” ,that poisonous, polluted, half-yellow, half-green pretender.

Listed below are a dozen “Chartreuse” technology ideas :1. A chartreuse mail stamp that allows the post office to simply compost your mail rather than actually delivering it, thereby saving huge amounts of transportation energy…

2. A chartreuse automotive fuel that causes your car engine to fail to start. I’m thinking that 100% dihydrogen oxide would work perfectly. Automobile pollution would be tremendously reduced, road maintenance costs would go down to almost zero,….

3. Mandated use of chartreuse (or “Algore”) light bulbs that always burn out during the first second of usage, thereby saving large amounts of electricity by encouraging you not to flip the switch…

4. Chartreuse stereo speakers which have their volume limited to zero decibels. These would be cheap to make too, since you could simply spray paint some concrete blocks chartreuse…

5. A chartreuse TV set that produces only a dim, energy-saving picture that’s viewable only in the pitch dark. Additional energy savings are achieved

[jmaroneps37]

The next seven hit the mark just as well.

[Da Coyote]

Do they honestly think there’s not a way around this?

Are they all liberals - who cannot understand the function of the simplest tool?

[camle]

chartreuse? or snot?

[facedown]

That is, you can read it on your computer, but not print it;...

Print Screen.

[LearsFool]

Well the greenies have got a point about paper usage. We use the stuff like it grows on trees or something!

Oh wait, it does. Nevermind.

;-)

[Oceander]

This is so utterly stupid it could only have been thought up by a liberal. Here's the description of this "unprintable" file format from the WWF website:

Thousands of trees are cut down to produce paper everyday. In the age of internet, ebooks [pdf], emails, IM; papers are still extensively used. Even people prefer printing whole ebooks and also emails before reading. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) took a great initiative to help protect the environment, save trees. WWF announced a new nonprintable file format .wwf, in a press conference last month, and requested individuals & organizations to adopt .wwf files for work.

WWF files are the extension of PDF (Portable Document Format) files, just the difference is WWF files can't be printed. The print function will be completely blocked with it. The better part of wwf files is you don't need any different file reader to ready it specifically. Any regular PDF reader like Foxit Reader and Adobe Reader will be able to read the file.

The giveaway is this line: "WWF files are the extension of PDF (Portable Document Format) files, just the difference is WWF files can't be printed."

First, the pdf format itself contains the text you're seeking either in plaintext or in some easily reversed encoding (as opposed to encryption).

Second, and more to the point for the vast majority who do not enjoy DIY text-extraction from pdf files (I've done it, it's a PITA), there are all manner of free and for-pay apps that will unlock pdf files for you, such as Free PDF Unlocker which, as the name says, is free.

Dumb, dumber, dumbest.

[apillar]

Do they honestly think there’s not a way around this? Are they all liberals - who cannot understand the function of the simplest tool?

Even if truly "impossible" to print, it would take a good programmer hardly any time to create a conversion program that would convert the unprintable text into a printable font.

[Myrddin]

The "greens" aren't known for being intelligent. They function on irrational emotions. When pressed to support their positions with facts, the response is often an ad hominem tirade directed at the person requesting factual explanation.

[stuartcr]

It seems that ever since computers have become more commonplace everywhere, paper usage has increased by a huge factor.

[chrisser]

stuartcr wrote: It seems that ever since computers have become more commonplace everywhere, paper usage has increased by a huge factor.

I submit that observation is a correlation without causality.

A more causal corrolation might be the volume of taxes and regulations, necessitating that individuals and organizations both account for even the slightest transaction, and be able to document it completely years later. The non-compliance costs are high enough to offset the record keeping costs of multiple media types, including paper - the one that auditors and regulators love the most.

Without the regulatory state, most business could be run out of a small notepad ledger.

[stuartcr]

Yes I know, I did write/submit that, and I disagree with you. I am basing it on personal observation over the last 40yrs or so. Everyone one wants a hard copy, even though it’s right in front of them on the screen. Copy after copy of reports are printed up, just to be placed in front of someone at a meeting, then thrown away afterwards, because it was already e-mailed to them.

[fso301]

It seems that ever since computers have become more commonplace everywhere, paper usage has increased by a huge factor.

Overall paper use may have increased but I suspect if you look at it as a percapita percentage of business activity and information availability, I think you will find that it has decreased.

[stuartcr]

I’m not looking at it as a percentage, just overall usage as you mentioned.

[Excellence]

I have PaperPort. I rarely print anything. My computer would be useless without PaperPort.