How do they do that?

'Benjimawoo' on Wed, 14 Jul 2004 09:08:12 GMT, sez:

Could be something old fashoined to do with magnets.

I'm sure the geniuses that created total immersion advertising (Bet you had a branded pen, to take notes from a branded powerpoint slideshow on branded notepaper to file in a branded ring-binder!) aren't above hiding a wee reed switch in the inky tube and big magnets in all the conference rooms.

Or it might be something even more old fashioned, like good old magic.

'Craig Murphy' on Wed, 14 Jul 2004 19:32:35 GMT, sez:

I have sinister news for you. Brace yourself.

Here's how it's done:
http://www.craigmurphy.com/blog/images/pen.gif

Clearly this famous brand name has discovered transparent sensor technology.

'Kerry' on Thu, 15 Jul 2004 07:32:26 GMT, sez:

The government puts an RFID chip in the ink tube. (They are scared of smart people)

So when you throw away the pen along with your other garbage, they can easily find the trash bags at the dump and look through it to see what you are up.

They're pretty clever, you have to admit.

'kip' on Thu, 15 Jul 2004 20:24:10 GMT, sez:

I hate it when I answer posts like these with unimaginative literality, but when you buy cheapo to be given out at 2 day courses pens, you get pens with just a little bit of ink in them. Not real (full) pens. That's why they're cheap.

(sigh)

Why this is seen as good marketing I can't explain.....

'secretGeek' on Thu, 15 Jul 2004 20:37:55 GMT, sez:

cheers, Kip -- giving a practical answer is quite forgiveable.

And i think you've hit the nail on the head.

Although i did say (above) "it doesn't seem to be out of ink" -- actually i can't tell because the ink barrel is opaque. But based on its behaviour i think that what has happened is what you said - it's run out of ink, because they put a miniscule amount in there to begin with.

cheap, nasty fools -- i'd love to name them and shame them, to start a campaign against their insincere trickery, their gutless low-rent tight-fisted scroogery.

but it's just a pen, y'know.

..leon

'Richard Callaby' on Mon, 19 Jul 2004 13:05:13 GMT, sez:

It's a secret. You of all people should understand this. By the way your secret is out Mr. SecretGeek <G>

'secretGeek' on Tue, 20 Jul 2004 20:29:53 GMT, sez:

so richard... what's my secret then, mr smart pants?

'Angus Logan' on Fri, 20 Aug 2004 12:52:58 GMT, sez:

I was on the same course as you (infact you were my date) and my pen is still working! - a bit chewed but still working.

'http://' on Sat, 25 Dec 2004 07:12:58 GMT, sez:

they probably have someone test how long one of their lectures take and how much ink gets used in order to save .001 cent

name


website (optional)


enter the word:
 

comment (HTML not allowed)

All viewpoints welcome. But the right to delete any post for any reason is reserved. Don't make me do it. Aim for constructiveness. Comments may be republished, emailed to your loved ones or printed and used as toilet paper. Also, I get particularly nasty on comment spam. It's not worth even trying to post comment spam here -- your html is escaped, and your links are given a rel='nofollow'. By attempting to post a comment, you understand that if the comment is considered spam, at my absolute discretion, your IP address may be used as the target of a prolonged distributed denial of service attack. Your electricity might suddenly stop working. Your car tyres will go mysteriously flat. You will suffer permanent hairloss. Your dreams will be filled with terrifying monsters. And in any case I reserve the right to record and publish your IP address.

 

TimeSnapper_{Know thyself!}

TimeSnapper is a life analysis system that stores and plays-back your computer use. It makes timesheet recording a breeze, helps you recover lost work and shows you how to sharpen your act.

 

NimbleText is a Powerful FREE Tool

Use it for:

• extracting data from text
• manipulating text
• generating code

It makes you look awesome. Use it right now! Go on! Hurry! Don't walk, run!