A good day for a Big Brother rant.

Not a day to be out so I set about a bit of printing.  I only want greyscale but the printer will not allow this if the yellow cartridge is empty.  But the yellow cartridge isn't empty, it is half full.  But the printer believes it to be empty and so refuses to cooperate.  The problem is the chip which apparently counts how many pages you have printed, guesses that you have an empty cartridge then prompts you to put in a new one.  

This is Brother's crafty way of extorting money from customers.  Printer ink is the most expensive liquid around - far more than petrol, 30 year old malt or the finest champagne.  

There is one last possibility - I have sent off for a chip resetter which I'm hoping delivers a big kick up the arse of the cartridge and makes it useable again.

It's not just the cost, its the dictatorial and uncooperative attitude of the printer interface and the vast amount of plastic that I'm supposed to throw away once I've used a piddling amount of ink.