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14-Year-Old: Governments Could Save $370 Million by Printing in a Different Font
Breitbart ^ | 28 Mar 2014

Posted on 03/28/2014 5:37:46 PM PDT by mandaladon

Fourteen-year-old Suvir Mirchandani found a way to save the federal and state governments almost $400 million from their yearly budgets just by changing the typeface they use on handouts. The best choice? Garamond!

Mirchandani’s school was looking for ways to save money, but he noticed no one was paying attention to the ink used on its many handouts. He noticed that Hewlett-Packard printer ink is $75 an ounce, while an equivalent amount of French perfume is only $38.

Here is how he came to the conclusion that Garamond is the best choice:

Collecting random samples of teachers' handouts, Suvir concentrated on the most commonly used characters (e, t, a, o and r).

First, he charted how often each character was used in four different typefaces: Garamond, Times New Roman, Century Gothic and Comic Sans. Then he measured how much ink was used for each letter, using a commercial tool called APFill® Ink Coverage Software.

Next he enlarged the letters, printed them and cut them out on cardstock paper to weigh them to verify his findings. He did three trials for each letter, graphing the ink usage for each font.

From this analysis, Suvir figured out that by using Garamond with its thinner strokes, his school district could reduce its ink consumption by 24%, and in turn save as much as $21,000 annually.

He then used the data to project how much the government, both at the federal and state levels, could save via the switch.

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: fonts; garamond; government; printing; suvirmirchandani
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Smart kid!
1 posted on 03/28/2014 5:37:46 PM PDT by mandaladon
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To: mandaladon

Too bad nobody taught him that the government has no interest in saving money.


2 posted on 03/28/2014 5:41:28 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin
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To: mandaladon

As much as I want to agree. I think its just dumb teachers and admin staff who work for the government who don’t care because they’re not spending their own money


3 posted on 03/28/2014 5:42:08 PM PDT by 4rcane
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To: mandaladon

Can I assume that moving from Times New Roman to Garamond font, I can save money on my home printing?


4 posted on 03/28/2014 5:46:34 PM PDT by doc1019
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To: mandaladon

Arial...


5 posted on 03/28/2014 5:47:47 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: doc1019

-— Can I assume that moving from Times New Roman to Garamond font, I can save money on my home printing? -—

Yes, but there are lighter fonts than those. Just google free fonts.

Smart kid!


6 posted on 03/28/2014 5:49:32 PM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
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To: St_Thomas_Aquinas

TY


7 posted on 03/28/2014 5:50:16 PM PDT by doc1019
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To: mandaladon

Most government agencies don’t use ink type printers. It is too slow.


8 posted on 03/28/2014 5:50:17 PM PDT by ThomasThomas (Yes, You are always right /S)
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To: mandaladon

Next step: passage of a 1,432 page “Comprehensive Taxpayer’s Efficient Use of Government Printing Facilities Act” pushed through in the dead of the night just before the holiday weekend, with provisions for 7 new federal agencies, 423 new regulations, 3,012 enforcement officers, a dozen sweetheart deals for recalcitrant senators, and (coincidently enough), ink supplier requirements that steer all purchasing to firms headed by Democrat campaign contributors.

But you’ll have to pass it to see what’s in it.


9 posted on 03/28/2014 5:51:32 PM PDT by Stosh
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To: mandaladon

I thought we already solved this with the paperwork reduction act.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperwork_Reduction_Act


10 posted on 03/28/2014 5:51:45 PM PDT by PeterPrinciple
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To: doc1019

Both the well worn Times New Roman and the classical Garamond almost identical in the weights used in the various strokes an ascenders and descenders.

I remember when the computer was going to eliminate the use of paper entirely...boy THOSE were the days!


11 posted on 03/28/2014 5:53:29 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey ( "Never, never, never give up". Winston Churchill)
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To: mandaladon


12 posted on 03/28/2014 5:55:31 PM PDT by JoeProBono (SOME IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED;-{)
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To: mandaladon
I'm not sure I believe this because he's saying everyone is using "his" cartridge.

And Calistro light might use even less.

I can set my printer to use less ink.

Regardless, I refill my cartridges. You can buy a pint of ink for $30 and print forever.

13 posted on 03/28/2014 5:55:36 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: mandaladon

The Hildabeast figgered a savings of a few hundred K by using both sides of paper. She’s the greatest.


14 posted on 03/28/2014 5:55:54 PM PDT by sasquatch
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To: mandaladon

Sure they can


15 posted on 03/28/2014 5:56:16 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: PeterPrinciple

19...80

thats going back a ways...

this from the Minnesota Pollution Control...AGency

http://156.98.19.245/paper/


16 posted on 03/28/2014 5:56:21 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey ( "Never, never, never give up". Winston Churchill)
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To: ThomasThomas

What do they use?

Laser printers use ink


17 posted on 03/28/2014 5:58:46 PM PDT by kennyboy509 ( Ha! I kill me!!!)
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To: mandaladon

How about saving on Government publication costs by making English the official language for the country, instead of requiring translations of everything into Spanish (which takes twice as many words to convey the same information besides) ...


18 posted on 03/28/2014 6:00:51 PM PDT by mikrofon (Lingua Franca)
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To: mandaladon
Mirchandani’s school was looking for ways to save money

Sure, lol. Now the kid should calculate how much valuable time he wasted working on a problem that no government wants solved. Government will be happy to take his research a step further though and spend no money on font ink at all. Text will be white on a dark background. Powerpoint printouts to the rescue!

19 posted on 03/28/2014 6:03:49 PM PDT by Ezekiel (All who mourn the destruction of America merit the celebration of her rebirth.)
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To: MeshugeMikey

Yep, I remember telling everyone how we were entering the age of the paperless office (1990’s) ... still waiting. LOL!


20 posted on 03/28/2014 6:06:54 PM PDT by doc1019
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