This photo is from 2017. The dome got a cleaning in 2021. I wonder what that does to the surface of the marbel over time.

The US isn’t #1, but our placement on this list still sad

Late to the party, but to add on:

• the glamor shots of finished prints that you’ll see in photos and videos are super misleading. Shine a harsh light at most prints at a steep angle and you’ll see a fairly rough exterior finish in the z-axis
• Ellis’s tuning guide is a good thing to run through. It’s pretty straightforward and will give you a feel for what to tweak and when to tweak it
• I’ve been printing for something like 8-10 years and have never bothered with a filament dryer. I tend to buy 3 kg spools and some of them sit open for quite some time as I work through them. They live in my basement, which does have a dehumidifier in it but is usually around 55% humidity
• keep in mind that FDM printers are basically a CNC hot glue gun and keep your expectations in line
• 45° print orientation can be a cheat code if you have crazy overhangs
• watch the first layer. If you get a good first layer odds are your print will be fine
• different filaments have different physical properties and will print differently. This is true across polymers (ie PLA, PETG, ASA, ABS, TPU, etc), but can also be true across brands, colors, and blends (PLA vs PLA+, etc)
• don’t get hung up on things like acceleration or velocity. Speed is all about flow and the best way to bump that up is bigger nozzles, thicker layers, and wider extrusions

For real advice: get a pair of calipers and print some radius gauges. Then jump into CAD, even if it means learning it. The real magic of 3D printing is in making custom designs. I’m personally a huge fan of functional prints. Once you start seeing opportunities to print replacement parts, make jigs and fixtures, and make your own designs for things you’ll find tons of opportunities.

The level of precision that goes into every day items is truly amazing.

I’m sorry to hear that friend! I’m happy that you’re still finding outlets to engage with.

Macro photography might be worth a quick glance at depending how mobile you are. Life in miniature can look otherworldly.

Odds are very strong that you have a phone in your pocket with a camera in it. The best camera in the world is the one you have with you, so you’re off to a good start.

What you’re describing is another good application for stacking/compositing. You can totally take multiple photos, put them into layers, and selectively remove content from each photo. There might even be automated tools that can do this vs doing it by hand. The more steady you can keep the thing taking the pictures the better off you’ll be.

The only real hurdle would be things like parked cars, or very high traffic areas where you never get a clear shot of a specific portion of the frame, but if you choose the right spot this could lead to some very surreal looking photos.

Great success! I made a post to share.

Completely agree. A decent amount of the clutter is aspirational. The kids will totally want to play my old consoles and not spend all their time on our PS5! That hasn’t really panned out and I’m coming to terms with reality.

On the good news side, we’re going to have to get everything out of our basement to replace the floor. We’re going to be very choosey regarding what goes back down.

We’re just barely over 40 and are taking stock over the massive quantity of things we’ve built up. We have a ton of stuff from previous times in our lives that still work, but we haven’t used in 5, or even 10, years. Some examples are easier, like college text books. Others are a bit more fraught like my original PlayStation, Dreamcast, and Xbox that all still work, but just aren’t getting used.

Sounds like an interesting after work test! You’ve got me very curious. If I’m doing this hand held there will likely be some wind, so things are going to move a tiny bit naturally. That and most of my lenses exhibiting focus breathing, so even if the camera were stationary the perspective would change slightly.

I’ll hopefully follow up soon.

Nice shot! Thanks for sharing the technique.

I’m pretty sure my body doesn’t support in-body bracketing, but it does have a fast burst rate. I wonder if a slight front to back rock would be enough to get the shots needed for focus stacking.

Stacking any quantity photos of a flower like this would be maddening, at least to me. They love to move in even the slightest breeze

When you frame it that way you make it sound like slavery was not the most pressing factor on everyone’s mind.

If this was unintentional, go read either speeches from the time or the declarations of succession from the southern states.

Our new government is founded upon . . . its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery – subordination to the superior race – is his natural and normal condition.

• Alexander H. Stephens, VP

An increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution. The States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, have enacted laws which either nullify the Acts of Congress or render useless any attempt to execute them. In many of these States the fugitive is discharged from service or labor claimed, and in none of them has the State Government complied with the stipulation made in the Constitution … For twenty-five years this agitation has been steadily increasing, until it has now secured to its aid the power of the common Government. Observing the forms of the Constitution, a sectional party has found within that Article establishing the Executive Department, the means of subverting the Constitution itself. A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. He is to be entrusted with the administration of the common Government, because he has declared that that “Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free,” and that the public mind must rest in the belief that slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction.

• South Carolina’s declaration of succession

I totally get printing and/or sourcing parts as another barrier on entry. I was able to print my own parts with my wanhao i3 plus under a very large cardboard box. Vorons are popular enough that you can buy pre-printed and/or CNC parts now, but their print it forward program has been around for years. But all of those come with some form of cost.

Build a Voron!

• rabbid Voron owner

Dig through my comment history and you’ll see pros and cons of choosing to do so. If you like building and modding it’s hard to beat. The build is pretty long, but you’ll learn a lot.

I have not played BL4, but I recently replayed 1-3. 2 is by far the best IMO, but man does leveling break midway through the game if you’re doing side quests and/or DLC. You wind up super overpowered.

In the OG Grand Turismo I somehow wound up with a red GTO. I was able to upgrade the thing to something silly like 940 horsepower. It was… great.

In very broad brushes, cars seem to be getting both more boring and higher performance. The Evo, Celica, Camaro (again), Sky/Solstice, S2000, MR2, STI (the new one doesn’t really count), etc are all gone. On the other hand, most budget EVs will give the performance cars of yesterday year a good run for their money.

Isn’t Mitsubishi still around and kicking? I have no idea how that brand solders on with such low volume and price points.

I generally agree with activite communities being a self reinforcing feedback loop. That said, one of the challenges federation creates is fragmentation for “the same” community across multiple instances. As a result, each community appears relatively inactive as they’re all vying for engagement with each other.

Oh man, I hadn’t thought about that game in at least a decade. Thanks.