No explosions necessary

What is it that makes Columbia students so obsessed with printing? Maybe it’s the excessively long lines right before class, those excruciating warm-up times, the thrill of guessing between printer A or printer B (only to discover that the one you chose has a printer jam)—or maybe it’s just the fact that printing at Columbia is simply not an enjoyable experience.

When you’re printing, you just want no nonsense, straight to the point: enough sheets of warm ink-laden paper to deforest the Amazon. What more could you ask for in a web tool than a single screen, intuitive interface that allows you to print from any Internet device to any NINJa printer? Print@CU is your remedy: It doesn’t do much more, but it does do that singular task exceedingly well.

The simple interface allows you to select the building and printer number to which you desire your magnum opus ferried, then all you have to do is trample on over to that printer, enter your UNI, and then, right before your eyes, the magic of modern technology will transform your painstakingly composed characters into a crisp collection of freshly printed sheets. We recommend using it in conjunction with OwlPrinters for maximum efficiency. The site even offers options to collate, double-side, and print multiple copies of your document. As an added bonus, when Print@CU files your print request to NINJa, it does so under a random celebrity pseudonym like Larry the Cable Guy or Kristen Stewart.

Print@CU is the brainchild of Sam Aarons (SEAS ’14). Sam wrote the entire site in just 16 hours (!!!) to alleviate the printing perils of the NINJa system. He developed the site using documentation available for free on the Internet from CUIT, which just goes to show: RTFM, kids!

Contact Sam at sia2111@columbia.edu with comments, feedback, or eternal gratitude for Print@CU.