Latest reviews

2 stars
Dissapointing

Assembly

i3 mk3 kit (Own work. License: CC-BY-SA.)


Kit arrives in box with several smaller boxes inside for the sub assemblies. Everything is well organized and labeled. The kit comes with tools for assembly, 1 kg of PLA and gummy bears. Assembly of the kit took around 12 hours and can be tedious. Be prepared to spend much more time than that if you aren’t experienced with this kind of work. Assembly instructions were generally good but, use the online version so you can see comments where people had trouble or the instructions were confusing. The tuning once the printer was assembled takes patience and is a bit unsettling. It has you do a pre-programmed print and adjust the z axis down while printing to calibrate extruder to print bed relation.

The belt tightening on the x axis is bad. Pull as hard as you can or you’ll find the belt is too loose even with the tension adjust and have to take the back off the x carriage again. Be careful, the tension adjustment will crack the mount with no notice! Also, high belt numbers mean loose belt, low numbers mean tight belt so if you’re above 280 go back and tighten your belts.

Assembled i3 mk3 (Own work. License: CC-BY-SA.)

Software

I use Slic3r Prusa edition to create gcode for the machine. The integration is very well done with the defaults for the printer being loaded in automatically. Default settings have been turning out quality prints. PrintRun(pronterface) had no issue connecting to the machine and running prints.

Printing

PLA

Printing parts in pla on the default 0.2mm fast profile with 20% to 80% infill. First layer is consistently good without a brim or raft. Some features have had small issues on the first layer where there’s sharp corners or tight radii, but they rarely cause issues with the overall print. Prints pop off the PEI sheet easily and if you have trouble the entire sheet can be removed and bent.

PETG

The first spool of prints went well with default 0.2mm fast profile and 20 to 50% infill. Consistently good first layer without adjusting live z from PLA setting. Bed adhesion is good if bed is clean, dust or oil from your finger will mess up the first layer. Print will pop off with a bend of the sheet when cold. Stringing is there but easily pulled off. The next 2 spools have not printed well, but I narrowed that down to bad material.
Material since then has been printing fairly well assuming live z is set well and nozzle is clean.

Updates

The printed printer parts, software and firmware are all getting continuous updates from Prusa Research. This made me confident the machine will be well supported throughout its useful life. After a few months of ownership, it’s clear that the updates can often be beta quality with new features being disabled in the next up date, then reenabled a few updates later.

Smart Features

The filament sensor has been OK. It came disabled by default which was suprising and caused me to lose a print. It worked fine to autoload filament the few times I used it. Currently, it isn’t being recoginized by firmware. The crash detect feature has been a dissapointment as well. I have never had it recover from a crash without a layer shift of at least 0.6mm. Power panic has been tested once and failed to recover from a ~3 second power loss when the power strip was accidentally switched off. PINDA probe came with temperature compensation switched off. This means mesh bed leveling will not be correct if PINDA is hot(typically 35 C or higher). Go to Settings>Temp Cal to turn on. Then run temp calibration to set the temp compensation. You may want to manually set it using manual temp calibration since the automatic calibration isn’t very good.

Long Term Update

After a couple months with the printer, issues are starting to come up.

Bed

The steel sheet will develop bubbles underneath the PEI from prints. The bubbles have been deemed normal by Prusa Research and tend to come and go. They will not go away if you print the same part in the same spot meaning you can’t print the same parts without moving them around the bed. PEI is likely to get damaged over time if printing PETG. A well adhered print ripped off a piece of PEI after 3ish months.

Bed is now up to .25mm out of level with no mechanical adjustment available.

Power Supply

Power supply died after approximately 3 months with approximately 1 month inside enclosure. This was indicated by the input fuse blowing loudly.

PINDA

The bed leveling/ first layer issues I had were partially created due to faulty PINDA probe(outside of its lack of temperature compensation). After replacing the probe with a BLTOUCH, its clear the probe was defective and part the issues I was having.

Z Axis Sync

After getting my printer working again with the BLTOUCH, the Z axis is losing sync. I tracked the issue to a failed lead screw nut.

Verdict

Decent machine that can produce good prints until the hardware breaks down. This printer packs a lot of features in for the price but the company is not doing a good job of integrating new features and the hardware is unlikely to last. It’s clear Prusa Research relies heavily on feedback from the community to test products so you should avoid buying new models until community has had time to point out flaws and the company has time to reintegrate those changes.


3 stars
Reliable but needs polishing

Printrun is print control software that allows printer control from a connected computer. I’m reviewing based on my experience on linux.

Installation

The instructions were mediocre and somewhat misleading for Debian stable and Debian Testing. For Debian stable I had to install python3-dev and had to upgrade the wheel package using pip in addition to following the provided instructions. Debian testing instruction were good once I figured out the that proper instruction for testing were 2 sections below the standard installation section.

GUI

The UI shows you everything need but is ugly and a bit awkward to use. The underlying software seems to be solid though as it imported gcode from prusa slic3r that repetier was misinterpreting.

There is the option to setup macros that are mapped to custom buttons along with the ability to work with the console which should give many options for automating tasks.

Untested

  • pronsole(CLI for printrun)

  • printcore(library for controlling all printrun actions using python)

Verdict

Solid software that needs a lot of polishing in the GUI and installation. If you want a pretty GUI there are better options. This will likely become my go to program since it has powerful scripting capability.


74th International Youth Congress of Esperanto
5 stars
Mirinda IJK sub hispana suno  eo

Ĵus finiĝis la 74-a Internacia Junulara Kongreso, kaj ŝajnas, ke ĉiuj partoprenantoj bedaŭras, ke ĝi ne pli longe daŭris. Estis bonega etoso kun multaj jamaj kaj novaj amikoj, kaj diversaj tre interesaj programeroj.

Pri la loko:
Badajoz estas iom malfacile atingebla, sed la retpaĝo bone informis pri la vojaĝebloj. Almenaŭ estis proksime bushaltejo kaj granda vendejaro. La kongresejo estis sufiĉe granda por ne senti sin premita, sed ĉiuj ĉiam sin renkonti en la centra lokoj ĉirkaŭ la trinkejo. La ĝardeno kaj la naĝejo estis grandaj plusoj.

Pri la organizado:
La akceptejo bone funkciis, manĝoj okazis ĝustatempe, programeroj ofte iom malfruis, sed ne tro. Mi lasis mian ŝlosilon en la ĉambro unufoje, kaj ne estis problemo akiri helpon de la loka ne-esperantista teamo. Ilia nekono de Esperanto estis nur apenaŭ rimarkebla ĝeno. Mankis klare legebla programtabulo.

Pri la vespera programo:
Estis bonaj koncertoj kaj bona variado. Iom mankis danciga muziko, sed tion kompensis la diskejo. Kiam finfine post kelkaj tagoj funkciis diskejo, ĉiu nokto estis bona nokto. Mi tro malmulte vizitis la gufujon por pritaksi ĝin.

Pri taga programo:
Mi ne multe spertis la tagan programon pro komitatkunsidoj. Mi tamen ne aŭdis multajn plendojn, krom la kutimaj malfruoj, kaj unu seksisma prelego de Granda Filozofo.

Fine mi volas doni specialan laŭdon al la ĉeforganizanto Carlos Pesquera, kiu sole faris amason da laboro kaj inspiradis la reston de la teamo.


4 stars
Conventional but joyful exploration of classical myths in art

Flying Too Close to the Sun is a large format art-book from Phaidon that examines the influence of classical (Greco-Roman) myths on artistic expression since ancient Greece, for example:

  • the story of Daedalus and Icarus, which inspired the book’s title;

  • the story of Apollo and Daphne: Daphne escapes the lovestruck Apollo by begging a river god to transform her into a tree;

  • the story of the minotaur and of his slayer, Theseus, the founding hero of Athens.

The book features direct artistic references to these stories, from Greek vases to Renaissance paintings and contemporary sculptures. It also includes some modern art that may or may not intentionally reference classical mythology, but that shows some parallels in theme or expression.


Book cover (partial view). The "flares” of the sun include references to the myths explored in the book. (Credit: Phaidon Press. Fair use.)

At 250 x 290 mm (11 3/8 x 9 7/8 in), the book’s format gives these works of art the space they deserve. The captions are clear and often briefly retell the myth that is being discussed. That makes for some repetition in a single reading, but it also makes it easy to open the book at any page without requiring additional context.

As with any art book like this one, it’s possible to quibble about the works that were chosen or overlooked. For example, it will probably take another generation until editors choose to include art from games like Apotheon, a gorgeous indie platformer that brings the artistic style of ancient Greek pottery to life—to say nothing of the ubiquitous references to mythology in big-budget entertainment like God of War.


Apollo and Daphne (1622-25, Bernini) side-by-side with Jean Arp’s Daphné (1955). (Credit: Phaidon Press. Fair use.)

To me, this speaks to the still austere relationship we have with classical myths. In fact, ancient art was colorful, often lewd, and a form of mass entertainment. It provided common reference points in everyday life, it served propaganda purposes, it blended belief with pure pleasure.

While Flying Too Close to the Sun only hints at this, it is a joy to page through the high quality reproductions and photographs, to explore the content of complex paintings with helpful captions, and to become more familiar with the details of these myths. Recommended.


5 stars
Great encyclopedic museum

The museum shows art from all times, places and genres. One can spend several days in it. In that case the annual membership might be an at least less expensive way to get in.

Unfortunately, it takes quite a while to get to the objects. The museum isn’t in the city center and once arrived at the site the security check, the way through the entrance and the vast area take their time. This and the high entrance fee make the museum less suitable for one-hour evening strolls than the big state museums of London, Paris, Berlin or New York.


5 stars
Splendid small museum!

The museum gives a very interesting insight into Bethlehemite living in past centuries and its material culture. I’ve been twice to the museum and both times I got a tour through the museum by an old native of Bethlehem who could tell a lot also beyond the exposed objects and showed how they were used.

The museum isn’t very big, it is possible to go through all rooms in much less than an hour. If you ask a lot it can easily take longer.


4 stars
Great idea

This map works pretty well and, if combined with a lib.reviews backend, for instance, could be a viable libre alternative to HappyCow. The developer is active and open to fixing bugs and listening to suggestions on GitHub, which is great too.

The main drawback is the lack of vegan and vegetarian restaurants on the map, but that’s a problem with OpenStreetMap, and one that can be fixed by all of us.


5 stars
An uncontrollable machine of global annihilation must be dismantled

Before Ed Snowden and Chelsea Manning, there was Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers to 19 newspapers in order to inform the American public about the true nature of the Vietnam war. Ellsberg became a committed anti-war activist, but early in his career he was a devoted Cold Warrior. As a strategic analyst for the RAND Corporation, he reviewed and helped shape America’s policy for thermonuclear warfare.

The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner are Ellsberg’s recollections of this work, combined with a summary of what’s become known about the highly secretive nuclear war plans of the United States and the Soviet Union since then—and how those plans fared in reality during times of crisis. He argues that we have created a Strangelovian doomsday machine which remains on hair-trigger alert, and that the primary goal of nuclear policy at this point should be to dismantle that machine.

Ellsberg documents how close humanity came to self-destruction during the Cold War, and also shows convincingly how the threat of first use remains a key element of US foreign policy, with enemies old and new. This barbaric idea—that it is perfectly reasonable to threaten first use of nuclear warfare as an “option on the table”—must surely die before true progress toward global nuclear disarmament can be made.

How and why did rational people who loved their families and wanted peace for their children participate in planning for global annihilation? Ellsberg provides a brief history lesson on how war planners during World War II embraced with increasing enthusiasm the idea of “strategic bombing”, a euphemism for murdering and maiming large numbers of civilians—men, women and children—in order to “demoralize” an enemy, culminating in the firebombing of Tokyo.


“My Child” by Miyamoto Kenzo, a survivor of the firebombing of Tokyo (Credit: Miyamoto Kenzo. Fair use.)

“It was an ocean of fire. My mother held my hand as we entered the chaotic stream of refugees and headed for the Arakawa embankment. This painting is of something I saw on the way and have never been able to forget. A pregnant woman was standing there like a ghost; at her feet was a child of perhaps three or four years. The child wasn’t moving at all. The way they were lit up by the flames around them—it was a sight I saw at twelve that was so horrifying I’ll never be able to forget it.” — Miyamoto Kenzo, who was 12 at the time of the Tokyo raid. (Source)


This mass murder was rationalized in simple terms: it was said to shorten the war and minimize American casualties. In this context, the idea of using atom bombs was seen as mainly a step up in efficiency, not a fundamental shift in policy. And individuals like Curtis LeMay, who led the firebombing campaign—far from facing charges—would be put in charge of key military and civilian functions as America built up its nuclear arsenal.

The Verdict

Ellsberg’s book is lucid, personal and informative, and his warnings are timely in an America led by a self-described madman who threatens nuclear annihilation of North Korea one day, then brokers theatrical peace talks the next. Some readers will be put off by the heavy use of military acronyms—they’re enumerated in a bare-bones glossary, but often get in the way while reading. There are no photographs, tables or illustrations, but Ellsberg cites his sources extensively, many of which are online.

Countless books have been written about the folly of nuclear weapons, and about the imminent threat to human existence that they continue to pose. Some are more emotionally persuasive than The Doomsday Machine, others provide more complete historical context. Certainly Ellsberg’s level of access during his time as a military analyst gives him an unusual and compelling vantage point. But what this book does exceptionally well is to demonstrate that the dangers of nuclear warfare are not contingent on monstrous individuals being in charge.

Even with better leaders than the ones we have today, these weapons should not exist because they cannot be controlled. With the leaders we have, eliminating them is a moral emergency.

Disclosure: I work for Freedom of the Press Foundation, where Ellsberg is a Board member.


5 stars
great vegan food
  • extremely nice staff

  • 100% plant based

  • reasonable prices

  • tasty, healthy food

  • plenty of options


5 stars
OpenVegeMap to find vegetarian and vegan food

This website is now discontinued.

This website uses information from OpenStreetMap to show vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants on a map. I really like the fact that when I tag a restaurant with the key diet:vegetarian or diet:vegan in OpenStreetMap that it shows up on OpenVegeMap nearly instantly.