Complex Numbers

Networking

Why is it so dang hard to get computers to talk to each other?

I have a computer, and a laptop. And a printer. The printer was attached to the computer, and nothing I did could get the laptop to recognize it.

So today, since I wasn't doing anything else, I went to the store - which was a ghost town; apparently, most people leave Charlottesville on Memorial Day weekend, or at least don't shop for office supplies - looking for a hardware solution. I found one. I brought it home and started following its directions, which, as it turned out, were obviously written by Chinese outsourcers. Hell, the directions are probably coated with lead, too. Anyway, I interpreted the Chinglish as best I could and lo! I now have a network printer server, which my computer recognizes and can print to.

Then I tried to get the laptop to recognize the network printer.

And tried again.

And again.

Still can't print from the laptop.

And people ask me why I drink.