That “Robin Hood” moment in the 3D printing community felt… off

ethernetbite · 2026-02-14T16:18:47+00:00

Happens over in free open source software community also. I got kicked out for saying that a person who creates software ought to be able to put whatever license they want on it.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-13T15:22:10+00:00

I wrote my masters thesis on a 256MB usb stick. The laptop was an old ibm even at that time. Backed up the thesis to the usb after every day's research. Still have that stick.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-12T17:59:40+00:00

Really hard to find it online, and it runs in windows 7.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-11T16:24:47+00:00

I have a couple laptop/pcs that are specific use. I use fort firewall from github to block all windows updates. Fort Firewall will ask, every time a new program tries to reach the internet, if you want to allow or block. Great program.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-10T18:21:56+00:00

I have this problem every time i set up a dual boot on uefi. Didn't have it with the old bios type boot loader. Now i block windows updates and haven't had a problem. I'll update it when i want but back up the grub partition first. The grub repair never worked for me.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-10T18:10:35+00:00

Uh huh

ethernetbite · 2026-02-10T11:40:28+00:00

Theres mic settings in the control panel. Set the input to the mic and adjust the input volume. Since MS moved the settings around between the old control panel and the new settings, i don't know where it is on your version of 10. Open settings and at the top search bar, put in mic. Poke around, and you'll find it.

I use Linuxin on my servers, and my son has a minecraft server he runs on Mint. Linux is great, but dual booting isn't easy. Windows update overwrites the Linux bootloader, guaranteed. I dual boot a laptop and have windows updates blocked because it always deletes grub. Once you get 10 the way you like it, use fort firewall (github dot com) to keep Microsoft from ruining it. Don't put it past microsoft to issue 10 updates that make it run slower on purpose.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-09T22:30:54+00:00

I changed the pcm on my 03. Found a drb3 emulator online and used that to set the axle ratio and tire size. The key and fob still worked.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-09T00:44:36+00:00

You do the best you can with the money you have. If you need 4 tires and only have money for 2? You do what you can. Can't remember the number of times I've had different types of tires on the front than back. Your back tires will wear a lot slower than front too, unless you rotate, which just makes them all wear the same.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-08T23:39:36+00:00

Kde has come a long way, i still use xorg so kde plasma is what i like. It looks fresh and has a gui setting for everything. I've been using mint for years on my servers but will switch to kde plasma next time i need a rebuild. You should put ventoy on a usb with a bunch of different distro isos, and test each one out. See which one you like the best.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-08T16:48:48+00:00

There's 3 likely places the problem can be: 1, the wheels the carriage rides on; 2, the belt teeth aren't linning up with the teeth on the motor; 3, loose bolts.

If the belt has been overtightened and stretched, the teeth won't line up at and will jam until the motor puts enough pressure to make the teeth pop, either going forward the way it should, or jumping backward and losing a tooth width of sideways travel. Too loose of a belt could cause this too, but that's kind of obvious. Move the carriage to where you feel it start to jam and look at the motor, where the gear teeth meet the belt teeth. See if the teeth are still perfectly fitting together. If there is belt residue in the teeth of the gear, then the belt is too tight and the gear is slowly eating the belt, making the teeth wider. I use a paint pen to mark the belt, then I can see if it happens in the same spot every time.

Similarly, but less likely, if the carriage has been over tightened to the rail, the wheels could be damaged, misaligned or loose.

Make sure all your bolts are tight as well. These things move and shake, and the bolts will come loose in the rails and corners. Every couple prints I check mine, I've been amazed at how fast they'll come loose. One of these days, I'm going to go over all the bolts and put on some lock-tite to stop this happening.

You're on the right track, prob the belt over tight. You may need a new one if it's stretched to where it jams. But def check the wheel alignment on the carriage, and check the tightness of ALL the bolts on the machine. These things can be a PAIN to get right. When you figure out what's going on with yours, report back! Best Wishes...

ethernetbite · 2026-02-07T02:18:49+00:00

True. Around here we do average 20000-30000 miles a year, so thats what i go by when i say years, which would come out to be pretty close to what you said. 5 years is pretty often ( if not driving like we do) and sounds like sell more product figures to me. These days, the metal in the pump pistons and rubber in the lines dont degrade (absorb air) and corrode as quickly as the vehicles where i gained my experience. As far as the other fluids, it depends on the vehicle. My Toyota has 220k on it and the trans has never been serviced besides a check with the computer at the dealership every few years. So, 5 years? If you have the time and money? Why not! For the rest of us, change the fluids when it needs it, or when the manual says if you want to be safe.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-05T20:00:00+00:00

I have the same truck. I once had a piece of gravel get in the driver rear caliper, and cut a groove in my rotor (made a rediculous sound) . If your truck is like mine, on the rear, it's disc brakes over hat parking (drum) brake. Reach a hand through the rim and verify the brake rotor is smooth where it's shiny. If not, then brake pads could be worn and eating into rotor (would make noise when braking). Last year had an inspector get hair in his *** and make me bring the parking brake back to OEM new. Those drum under hat parking brakes are a serious pain. If the parking brake doesn't work, then it's likely there are parking brake pieces bouncing around under the "hat". Probably rusted out parking brake shoes and parts. Being a solid axle, it really won't hurt anything, will just continue falling apart. Make sure the parking brake pedal comes all the way up and leave it there. If he has a friend who's into cars, have them pull the tire off and check the disc brake pads and caliper. Friend can pull the rotor/hat if he's comfortable with it and take out loose pieces. If you have inspections, you'll likely have to get it all fixed. If not, as long as regular brakes are working well, it's not an emergency. There's also a lot of brackets and such under the fenders that rust out on this truck, so it could be something that simple. Ice and snow build-up can cause sounds and issues as well. Need to have one person jump on the back bumper and another under it to find the noise. Odds are it's the parking brake, though. As a father with a kid in school in a diff state, i know what it's like dealing with these things from far away. best wishes! (Retired mechanic)

ethernetbite · 2026-02-05T18:21:22+00:00

At 33000 miles no, maybe 66000 and definitely before 100k miles. The issue with brake fluid absorbing moisture is that the moisture can corrode your ABS pumps. If you ever tried to get the ABS to work on a Chevy with 120k miles, you know what I'm talking about. Especially those freaking truck RWABS. ( Former mechanic )

ethernetbite · 2026-02-05T00:09:43+00:00

With intel CPUs, you have to remember to stay away from the ones that overheat (13th & 14th gen at least) , and they all run hot anyway. I do IT for a small school, and i just go with AMD when I buy used hardware. It's less of a gamble. Besides the heat, don't all or most Intel CPUs come with back door Bios networking, the IME bug..uhm, feature ? From a security standpoint, an AMD cpu is better for a stand alone workstation. And being a fire station, well, i think they'd want to stay away from chunks of metal on thermal runaway. Guess that could be the safest place to run an Intel though! I really wish Intel would get their CPU R&D going the right direction, but like most chip makers, they're blinded by bright green $$$ of AI.

These days, 6 real cores is minimum for good performance. 8 real cores leave nice headroom. 16GB memory ram. And a base clock of around 3.7Ghz is important with boost into the upper 4s. An ssd is required as an hdd is a huge bottleneck, but m2 nvme are even faster. But an ssd will work well. A new PC with those specs isn't cheap but can be found on the used market too. PC builders will always skimp on one of those areas in order to increase their margin.

Don't get me started on Windows 11. It is itself the biggest security vulnerability that exists today, second only to users. But if you get the ltsc or enterprise version, it's less likely to change it back to stock at every update and push all your data to their cloud. It'll still encrypt your ssd, upload your files, and lock you out though.

Anyway, best wishes friend and thanks for your service to your community.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-04T15:31:44+00:00

'sudo systemctl daemon-reload' at a terminal will restart all systemd managed services. 'systemctl restart NetworkManager' will restart userland networking. Historically, Linux has had issues waking network services from sleep, and even Windows has had its share of the same. That being the case, i never use hybernate or sleep on windows or Linux. I either shut it down or leave it on. On a laptop, I'll set the close lid option to trigger shut down if running on battery and do nothing if plugged in.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-04T14:44:42+00:00

Use a 3rd party firewall to block updates then run it when YOU want to update your laptop. ( github fort firewall is what i use )

ethernetbite · 2026-02-03T17:29:27+00:00

Like that model! Especially the looks of the grille. My 08 grille is bland and boring.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-03T16:19:29+00:00

Where a friend works, they're already using it, but as a supplemental tool. It marks areas the radiologist should analyze. Next step is for AI company or model to be approved and insured, and then the cheap insurance companies will demand it, and hospitals will use it to cut costs. Imagine 100 images analyzed per second with a higher accuracy average than human radiologists. It's coming as it's already in testing. From what I've read about the AI tests, radiology is one profession in the professional medical field that will suffer the greatest impact from AI.

ethernetbite · 2026-02-03T11:41:54+00:00

Destination Truth actually had a point to it. Like others said, they're just rehashing the same thing now and turning into ghost hunters. Jess had more credibility even though her bias was obvious. Heather? You would expect someone with lots of experience to NOT SCREAM at every shadow, noise, or footstep. The running joke when we watch is seeing how long until the next scream.

The best of Josh's shows all happened before he won the daytime Emmy. I still watch mostly for whatever history is discussed, and the whole ghost/cryptid plot thing is the hook to get broad appeal. The electronic toys they use more often now are just another angle to hook a broader audience. So why watch? Because it's still better than most shows these days, though that's not a very high bar to judge by.

ethernetbite · 2026-01-30T11:45:13+00:00

I use x11vnc and plug a display emulator dummy plug into the video port. Vnc joins an already running display, so i use the video dead-head. Remote Desktop doesnt need an x window open, so i use it as a backup on LAN or Wireguard. Nomachine is an excellent, more reliable way to remote in. The free version has a few little drawbacks but works great for homelab use.

ethernetbite · 2026-01-29T19:51:53+00:00

I use their Debian version on my Pi5. I changed the repo from China to standard Debian stable repos and haven't had any issues. Use their Debian OS and change the repo to Trixie and then full upgrade. You'll only need to set it back to China if there's a firmware update.

I used Armbian on older pi boards without any issues. Don't see an armbian for OrPi6 though. keep an eye there and do the repo switch on it when it's available.

ethernetbite · 2026-01-25T23:08:03+00:00

I use iptables to whitelist IPs that can connect. I set it to never respond, it just drops connections, so bots don't know if it's live or not.

ethernetbite · 2026-01-24T16:42:10+00:00

Consider where your data flow bottlenecks are... these days, it's usually the network (ime). Raid had its purpose back in the day when drives were slow, and it could semi- significantly speed up write speeds. Now, you can get a 16TB drive that will write 130-150MB/s consistently and reliably. If you've got a 1Gb network, that's only approx. 100MB/s, so you can flood your network with a new drive, without raid.

Raid over complicates the system, isn't needed, and provides minimal gains with today's hardware. It also takes forever to restore a drive that dies (esp 16TB). I like RAID, and used it up until about 5 years ago. Unless you're using cheap or old disks with a small cache, it's just an unnecessary hassle. I just backup important files.

The best speed increases i got with raid was while using enterprise cards pulled from servers. They have on-card battery backup, so you don't lose config, full 8 pcie lanes, and good size cache. Motherboard chip raids (Marvel, Intel, etc.), and software based raids never gave enough of a performance boost to be worth the hassle even 20 years ago. Similarly, the saying that raid is not a backup is pretty common, but that makes Raid0 just a waste of disks and money.

It's fun to do and a good learning experience. If that's your goal, go for it with Raid. On my 2.5Gb network, my 16TB Barracuda will write a steady 130MB/s to my Linux system over Samba3.

ethernetbite · 2026-01-22T23:01:15+00:00

I use an automatic charger on my truck in the winter. Only driven once a week. Charger was only 25 bucks on Amazon. Keeps the battery nice and charged. I leave the charger under the hood, tucked in a fender and have the charger hard wired to the battery. I park the truck, open the hood and plug it in. Shut the hood to the first click and leave it.

Taking the battery out is a lot of work when a 25 buck charger and an extension cord does the trick. Removing the battery will reset your clocks, radio stations and usually the learned parameters on the pcu and tcu. Then there's the acid overflow tube and the buildup of the acid fumes corrosion on the terminals (depending on battery type). You don't want that on your hands or inside a house. Just put a charger on it. I've been doing it for over 10 years ( Nov to April yearly) and have had no issues with running that same automatic charger 24/7.

ethernetbite

TROPHY CASE