Typical HP. My year-old HP printer indicated that three of its five inkjet cartridges were empty. I shlep to Costco, pay $110 for color and black cartridges, rush home to install them and finish my urgent print job, and the printer won’t operate because of an error message. I call the company’s help desk. The rep, who by the way tells me he is overseas, asks a few qualifying questions. Anything he suggests I do I’ve either already tried with no success or it won’t work when I try it now. He’s clearly in over his head. When I question if he understands what’s going on, he pompously tells me he will have this fixed within five minutes. Ten minutes later, he advises me that the printer is broken and out-of-warranty, and tries to sell me a new unit over the phone in which he’ll “throw in free inkjet cartridges.” I ask: “You mean like the ones that come free already when I buy the same printer you’re pushing for half the price at Costco?” No, he insists, and then admits he doesn’t know what Costco is. I have a half-hour invested in this idiot, and politely hang up. I return the new cartridges to Costco where the clerk hears my story and avers “HP customer service is a joke. I would never call them.” My solution: I fill up the three empty cartridges at Costco’s photo desk for $30 and they now work fine. Guess my printer isn’t broken after all, Mr. Pompous. This is not my first or even fifth time dealing with unknowledgable HP reps, for what it’s worth.

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The internet-enabled fridge has been the butt of tradeshow bylines for years.

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The $1.5  billion Powerball drawing tonight is on everyone’s mind because frankly, it’s hard to avoid it. Either your office has a pool, your uncle is talking about his “foolproof” pick strategy, or you’re holding a ticket yourself, imagining what sort of private island you’ll buy once you win a few hours from now. Don’t feel bad, I’ve done it too.

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Shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday night, some lucky Powerball player might receive a life-changing windfall of cash. I don’t need to nag about how unlikely that lucky player is going to be you.
Still, it’s human nature to be optimistic, so I’ve been playing the Powerball nonstop. Since I don’t have the cash to fund a lavish gambling habit, I’ve found five different simulators that allow me to play the odds. I’ve spent around $100,000 of fake money, and barely made more than an imaginary four grand in return. Somebody’s got to (pretend)win, but so far it hasn’t been me.
Want to try your luck while keeping your wallet secure? Here are five different ways to play the lottery thousands of times without losing a (real) cent.

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What stops space junk from colliding with the International Space Station? This question was originally answered on Quora by Robert Frost.

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The comic book giant has two superhero shows on network TV, two on Netflix and additional programs it has greenlit for production. Forbes contributor Paul Tassi gives his insight as to how Marvel is doing in its pursuit of small screen domination.

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