Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!olivea!orc!inews!iwarp.intel.com!gargoyle!chinet!les From: les@chinet.chi.il.us (Leslie Mikesell) Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc Subject: Re: Charging for laser printer use. Message-ID: <1991Feb08.200227.29572@chinet.chi.il.us> Date: 8 Feb 91 20:02:27 GMT References: <9287@uwm.edu> <9383@uwm.edu> Organization: Chinet - Chicago Public Access UNIX Lines: 21 In article <9383@uwm.edu> shaub@vacs.uwp.wisc.edu (Jeffery Shaub) writes: >>printer like DEC LPS-20. It would be nice to have a some kind of >>"smart card" -system to look whose print job is in turn.. But LPS-20 >>_has_ a two-way connection, (if I am correct) so it would be quite >>easy to do this?? >The problem with the vendacard system is that the only info on >the cards magnetic strip is how much credit the user has, so >there is no way for the print queue to know who's card is in >the Vendacard unit. Why do you care who's card is in the unit any more than you would care whose cash you have? All you need is a handy way to stop between jobs from different users and display who should put their card in next. This would probably require some sort of control terminal on another port, though, unless you can detect the card change and want to print the name on paper. Hmm, some printers let you access their LCD displays with some contortions... Les Mikesell les@chinet.chi.il.us