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Cheers mucker. It actually works fine on my Win 7 machine and one of our Win 8.1 machines, but only printing local documents. ie save a web based PDF to your lappie, it then prints fine.

Any web based PDF docs or online forms and it no longer prints. Maybe a co-incidence, but this happened about the same time HP removed the 4050N driver (or the all in one driver) from their support download site.

So it appears (and also prepared to be laughed out by a young techie geezer bloke) that HP have nobbled online printing support as well as removed any driver support for our old girl.

Can probably get the driver files of the win8.1 box so we can get the other 8.1 machines to print, but not being able to print online files is a faff, plus we've got a shiny new (non HP ) printer for the new boxes, so it's not really an issue for anyone else.

But I would simply like to be able to print online documents as I have done quite happily for the last 10 years, without having some vendor dictating when it's time for me to dump my printer

HP is well and truly off my Christmas card list.

After 15 years+ sterling service, 10 of those with us, our HP Laserjet 4050N (or Bessie as she is known in the office) is still proudly whirring away.

But it seems her maker has deemed her fit for enforced retirement by withdrawing all driver support and actual drivers. They seemed to disappear about a month ago. So our shiny new Windows 8.1 machines can no longer connect to Bessie, other than 1 which was configured before the driver was retired.

Also I can no longer use her for printing any online documents which is sneaky. If I save them as a PDF or local file then I can print, but if it's a PDF on a suppliers website or online document, I can no longer print

Bessie has actually outlived her original replacement, a HP Laserjet 1606 which is now in the bin, and we've just bought a Lexmark Colour Laser as a general printer. So it's just me and Bessie and a bit of local b&w printing. But she seems quite happy, still got a spare toner, so reckon I'll get another few years if its just me printing!

HP seemed to have canned their original all in one driver for older printers, so any clever peeps got any driver ideas for a 4050N? Every lead from Google ends up as a 404 or a generic HP search. Or am I destined to only print locally.

Didn't even realise they could dictate the driver you use for online forms? Assumed a driver was simply a driver, or maybe we have a corrupted driver?

Hot on the heels of the thread about the relaunch of the Magical Journey Christmas Attraction, it seems the pressure proved too much and it has closed again, this time for good

As of 16th December, the operator Magical Journeys Ltd, based at the Belfry has ceased trading.

Even sadder, anyone who bought tickets and was looking forwarding to treating the kids is now faced with having to claim ticket costs back from card providers using the Chargeback Scheme.

From the Magical Journey press release:

As money spent on tickets by the public is held by a third party service provider, we are currently unable to access this and make refunds. This is why we have asked that customers claim through the Chargeback scheme.

They have also publicly tried to remove any blame from Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s as well as the Belfry Hotel whose land the site is situated.

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s input into The Magical Journey was entirely design. He had no involvement with the production, management or running of the event, his contribution was providing design concepts for the event and he had no responsibility for it’s closure.

So what went wrong?

Officially a backer pulled out, leaving them financially crippled.

...today a key financial backer has dropped out leaving us in the lurch. We have tried desperately over the last few hours to find a replacement but to no avail.

We are very sorry to have to break the news like this but we have explored all our options, and the situation leaves us with no alternative other than close The Magical Journey.

But it appears the project was doomed after a disastrous start. The launch event was overshadowed by controversy about unfinished exhibits, Elves were allegedly seen smoking, unwrapped presents and early visitor feedback appeared to be very negative.

Due to the volume of issues complaints and torrent of negative press, it was decided to close the park the next day and re-evaluate.

From then it was a PR battle which it looks like the park lost. A facebook campaign tried to do some Magical Journey mythbusting but with the full weight of the media against them, it was a forlorn fight, which seems to have led to a major backer pulling the plug.

On paper it looked like a winner, a celebrity designer, a Christmas attraction hosted in the grounds of the Belfry Hotel and Golf Course, what could go wrong?

Outside looking in it would appear to a management failure at all levels, from executives down to project management.

No doubt more details will appear in time as inside stories start appearing and people look to distance themselves. Not really one for the Linked In profile or CV 

But there is always something we can take away and learn from. In this case it seems to be planning and execution. Also being financially reliant on outside money that can force you to fold if things go the wrong way.

Lastly it shows how fickle the media are and what a double edged sword publicity and PR can be.

There's no such thing as bad publicity? Not any more...

Did anyone go? Anyone caught out by the closure or got there own thoughts?

Very good article Tom and duly shared

Minor point, couldn't read the Rankings factor infographic, maybe have it as a clickable image that displays as a larger picture?

Only thing I'd agree to disagree on is HTTPS adoption. If you are starting a new site, then it's a no brainer to move to Googles recommendation of securing all webpages with a SSL certificate (assuming you are happy with the annual certificate cost, which knocks out most hobby and micro businesses).

But for an established business there all sorts of things to consider behind the headlines, for such a small potential advantage. A ranking signal bonus over https can be countered if it impacts your site speed, which is arguably a larger ranking signal.

If you are an adsense publisher, then you will only be allowed to serve ad's from https sources, rather than http and https, which could dramatically hinder earnings.

The big thing people flag is being able to see referral traffic in your analytics. If you are https enabled, you will see where referral traffic came from when getting traffic from http and https sites. Otherwise you won't be able to track any https referral data. Lets be honest, how many small business owners regularly analyse their analytics!

But until most websites do upgrade, then this isn't really a problem.

I can see some major websites upgrading over the next 6 months, but a lot will hold off for complexity reasons, with hassle versus reward equations.

I reckon your average small business website will remain http for the forseeable imho, unless webdesigners get savvy and do it by default. But then they have to sell the idea of an annual £100 certificate cost, which on top of a simple £500 website, is it worth it?

We use https on the sensitive parts of the site like login pages, but I can't see us taking the plunge within the next 12 - 18 months.

Obviously this post will come back and haunt me when we follow suit like sheep with everyone else!

Originally Posted by Kempres

“Talking 'to' your phone, talking 'into' your phone, all the same isn't it

 ”

lol now have a mental image of mad people just randomly talking to their phones!

It's a tough one. The normal response would be do nothing, act responsibly and professionally and clients will respect this. Anyone berating your company or services are just hot air, don't worry and move on.

In reality its bloody frustrating and can undermine years of hardwork and positive reputation building. 

We've had websites trying to copy us, making a poor version of our logo and taking copy straight off our page, which I normally hit with a cease and desist, and if that doesn't work normally a public response work with the company name and SCAM next to it. That's worked a couple of times

I love the fact that you have booked his services at your office, if he actually turns up today can you video it for us?  Would love to see his reaction!

Great story in the Telegraph. They've got hold of a private strategy document warning party members not to get involved in debates about immigration as it could lose the party votes, and obviously it's available from the Telegraph website.

The document has been produced as an answer to complaints that Labour MP's are worried about support for UKIP, and how to counter it. Obviously having the Telegraph publish it may upset the apple cart and give a bit of a heads up to UKIP.

I suspect there may be now a new brain storming session...

Here's a couple a tasters from the document:

Does it all sound a bit desperate, or do you think there is a similar Tory document we just haven't seen yet? 

I see the poor old Air Traffic centre at Swanwick, Hampshire has been making headlines again. This time a computer glitch which restricted UK air space for about 60 minutes on Friday, but led to disrupted flights across the weekend as schedules got messed up.

I remember all the fuss when it was built in the 1990's and it 6 years to sort all the problems out with it before it actually became serviceable and replaced the previous system which was creaking at the seams. Apparently the software was designed originally by an American company which went under so new software engineers had to step in and finish it, which is why it took so long and went over budget.

To be fair we only hear about it when it goes wrong, which is quite rare when you think how much air traffic volume they handle. But the system itself will no doubt be due for replacement in 10 - 15 years, so with the current track record maybe they should start building it now?

I was reading on the BBC site a story about the finances of jihad, and how terror groups raise money and it made me think how quickly ISIS or Islamic State or whatever they call themselves have burst onto the scene and dominated the headlines.

When was the last time anyone heard al-Qaeda mentioned in the news? So I wondered where on earth did they come from?

Or is just a rebranding thing and in fact these terrorists turn out to be shrewd marketeers?

So did some digging and found a great article on the Political History of Islamic State.

I'll take the liberty of summarising the good bits and adding my own 5 pence worth, but it's well worth a read if your interested.

The Beginning of ISIS

So it started with a Jordanian bloke called Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Sounds like he was a bit of a ruthless bloke. Wanted to fight the Russians in Afghanistan but got there too late. Went home doing his jihad thing, playing the fringe circuit. Met Osama Bin Laden in '99 but decided not to join al-Qaeda. 

After the West went into Iraq in 2003, he set up the Party of Monotheism and Jihad, which was the forerunner of IS. Interestingly his politics were similar to Bin Laden, but his tactics were to target Muslims, particularly Iraq’s majority Shia population who Bin Laden and Zarqawi considered heretics. Islam is pretty much divided between Shia's and Sunnis and responsible for plenty of tension and conflicts over the years.

Iraq was split between Shia's and Sunnis, but Sunnis were the ruling class under Saddam and Shias assumed power after his downfall.

Zarqawi and his band of Sunnis fed on general Sunni resentment of Shia power and started a campaign of suicide bombings across Iraq which was the insurgency we remember on the Telly after politicians told us the war was over.

Merging with then falling out with al-Qaeda

Building on his growing fame in jihadi circles, Zarqawi aligned his group with Bin Laden, rebranding as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

But (and this is where it gets bizarre), al-Qaeda bosses were unhappy with his tactics of targeting civilians and sent him a stern letter!

In 2006 his promoted himself, moving from commander to spiritual leader and began to subject everyone to the strictest interpretation of sharia law. If you argue, then off with your head.

Then the cavalry arrived in the shape of the US Airforce who bombed his hideout killing him, leaving the organisation leaderless and many AQI fighters melted away.

The West tries to Unite Shia and Sunni

The US Military strategy (and assume with co-coalition agreement) decided to capitalise. Any Iraqi Sunni/Shia tribesmen who were willing to fight AQI regardless of any previous loyalty (including anti West) were refereed to as "the sons of Iraq". They believed aligning themselves with the coalition would give them a share of power and contracts after the Troops from the West left.

In theory it sounded like a great plan to unite the communities, bring peace and let the troops leave.

But in reality the Iraqi PM, Nouri Al-Maliki a Shia, allegedly didn't agree with this and prominent positions were filled with Shia's from government to Police. Tensions grew again between Sunni and Shia communities allowing AQI to grow again.

Terrorist Militia to Semi Organised Army

In 2011 AQI was run by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a local Iraqi and most members were Iraqi. As coalition troops had now left, previous members of the "Sons of Iraq" now switched allegiance and joined AQI. This led to another rebrand, Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).

Baghdadi followed Zarqawi tactics of suicide bombers but became more brazen, attacking military buildings and checkpoints, as well as Shia civilians, or anyone else who got in the way.

By absorbing former enemies "the sons of Iraq", they had actually included lots of former Iraqi Army Commanders and troops who all got laid off after the Coalition toppled Saddam. A lot of these commanders had extensive experience of the 10 year Iran/Iraq conflict, plus more recent first hand experience of Western military capability.

So this allowed a military style organisation to develop. 

So why Syria?

ISI now had a substantial Army and Syria was starting to slide into it's own secular civil war. Syrian President Assad is a Shia so Baghdadi decided to fight on 2 fronts, Iraq and Syria in a bid to gain territory for his fledgling Islamic State.

It makes Syria an odd situation as Assad is no friend of the West, but Baghdadi's troops appear to be more effective than Assads, meaning US Airpower is now needed to help fight off ISI and in affect prop up Assad.

Final Rebrand - Islamic State

Baghdadi has now renamed his group again to Islamic State (IS). His intention appears to be conquer the region and subject it to strict shia rule. Although his beef appears to be with the Shia community, the rest of us are lumped into the non believer group.

It seems local commanders can exercise there own jurisdiction for non believers, from taxing, forcibly converting to Islam or death.

Financing

With so much territory under it's belt, the BBC is reporting that IS now make $800 million a year in oil sales, tolls and taxes.

The Taliban seem to be good donors, of up to $400 million of drug sales. Then there is an unknown amount generated from kidnap, ransoms etc.

The Future?

Well in 12 months they have certainly burst onto the headlines, but as you can see they've actually been around a while.

We have the RAF and US Airforce providing air support in Iraq, and the US in Syria. The Kurds in Iraq seem to be the frontline ground forces while the rest of the world seems to struggle with how to respond.

After two recent bloody conflicts in the region, with a large loss of life, public anger and our military shown to be dangerously overstretched and ill equipped, the UK isn't over keen to commit. Plus with more military cuts on the horizon, it's difficult to see what else the UK will do other than token gestures?

This leaves the lion share of the problem to the UN or in reality the USA. But the complexities of MiddleEast politics and tribal differences normally escalate when Western Troops appear, so this leaves the Arab nations.

How likely I wonder will it be for a United Arab led and organised coalition to resolve the problem?

I think 2015 is going to be a turbulent and dangerous year for the MiddleEast, and maybe the rest of the world as IS continues to grow. Or maybe it will be a chance for Arab and Western Countries to unite under a common cause.

Sources:

qz.com - roots of evil

BBC.co.uk - Finances of jihad

I don't suppose it's the best advert for a Courier firm, having to suspend collections as it's distribution centres are overwhelmed, especially when it is partnered with the likes of Amazon and Argos.

According to the Beeb, Amazon is unaffected as they use multiple couriers, or at least they are playing down any impact, while Argos admit it could affect any returns over the next few days.

Apparently the cause is a surge in Black Friday purchases followed by "cyber" Monday leading to a delay of up to 72 hours. Freezing collections will let them get back ontrack:

"By Monday we expect to resume our normal service. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our clients and their customers."

Be interesting how this impacts the firm moving forward, especially contract negotiations.

So is this just growing pains, combined with a busy time of the year and a couple of consumer shopping spikes? Or is it poor management that hasn't anticipated the busiest time of the year adequately and built in enough contingency planning?

At least it will give the PR department some damage limitation experience