3D Printing and Air Quality

I’ve been a 3D printing hobbyist since May 2023. The ability to download or even make my own models and 3D print them into physical objects has been fascinating to me. I was so enthralled by this technology that I had only more recently started to seriously contemplate the potential health risks related to 3D printing. Unlike certain activities such as driving a car, skiing, and scuba diving where there are obvious risks for adverse health outcomes, the hidden risk of 3D printing is related to long-term exposure of aerosolized plastic byproducts of the 3D printing process.

A review article entitled “Summary and derived Risk Assessment of 3D printing emission studies” provides a summary of 50 studies related to 3D printing emissions and is the most recent comprehensive analysis I’ve seen. The following figure illustrates the particle formation process in which heating of filament results in the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and when the VOCs cool, they form small particles or condensate onto other existing particles.

What can be done to reduce health risks relate to 3D printing emissions? The following figure summarizes methods that have been studied and published and categorizes them into methods that reduce risk of emissions (on the left) and methods that are inconclusive.

The methods that have been demonstrated to reduce risk of emissions include:

• Lower print temperature
• PLA instead of ABS
• Larger room volume
• Higher air exchange rate
• Avoiding malfunctions
• Using a cover

It seems to me that the long-term health risks of 3D printing emissions are still not completely understood. The popularity of consumer 3D printing is rising, especially given the advances by 3D printer manufacturers related to ease of use, so more studies of long-term outcomes related to exposure of 3D printing emissions is warranted. Meanwhile, I think we must assume that we could be doing more to protect ourselves from emissions.

I have had 2 bedslinger 3D printers: a Creality Ender-3 V2 Neo and now a Bambu Lab A1 Combo. Neither one has an enclosure or filtration system to combat filament emissions, and I’ve used both 3D printers in my living room. I’ve always printed with PLA because of its popularity, low cost, and multiple colors available. It is merely by coincidence that it has the lowest emissions of all filament types, but that is certainly a driving force for me to stay with PLA. A few months ago, I placed an air filter next to my 3D printer (as pictured at the top of this post). My air filter has both a HEPA filter that is supposed to trap airborne particles and an activated carbon pre-filter that is supposed to trap VOCs.

As you can see, my setup is suboptimal because of the lack of an enclosure, so despite the presence of the air filter in proximity to the nozzle, it is probably only trapping a fraction of all the emissions, at least initially. Therefore, my general routine when using my 3D printer is to run the air filter on its highest air exchange rate setting while printing, open windows in the living room if outdoor weather permits, and leave the air filter running for a while after the print is completed. I’m open to suggestions related to further reducing exposure to 3D printing emissions.

Bambu Lab Warranty

Image credit: https://rasterweb.net/raster/2015/03/15/3d-printer-malfunction/

As I mentioned previously, my Bambu Lab A1 experienced a Heatbed Temperature Malfunction which resulted in me getting a replacement A1 Combo. A replacement was offered because my printer was still under warranty, and the warranty is the topic of this blog post. The current Warranty Statement is dated October 12, 2024, and there are general provisions that ask you to keep all of the documentation related to your purchase:

It also says to keep your original packaging box and materials in case you need to return your device:

There is a 14-day Return and Refund Policy which in my opinion is kind of short, but at least there is a policy.

The Replacement Policy is slightly more generous, as you have 30 days:

I was fortunate to have reported my Heatbed Temperature Malfunction to Bambu Lab Customer Support on day 29 after receipt of my A1 Combo, and therefore I was eligible for either replacement or troubleshooting support.

I shipped the defective device to Bambu Lab on 10/15/2024, and I received my replacement A1 Combo 2 weeks later on 10/29/2024. I’ve printed several models with my replacement A1 Combo, and everything seems to be working fine.

Out of curiosity, I asked Bambu Lab Customer Support if I’d get another 30 days from time of receipt of my replacement device to exchange my product if it too was defective, and the response I received was that the replacement device does not come with a new 30-day replacement window.

First of all, I hope that I don’t experience any more issues with my replacement A1 Combo. Second, if I do experience errors related to the hardware, I hope that the customer support agent who replied to my inquiry is incorrect about replacement printers not having a new replacement window. I hope I will never need to find out, but if you have any experiences to share about issues arising from your replacement Bambu Lab devices, please leave a comment. Happy 3D printing everyone!

Bambu Lab A1 Heatbed Temperature Malfunction

I’ve been enjoying my Bambu Lab A1 3D printer. Bambu Lab has done a great job of improving usability of the entire 3D printing process--this includes its MakerWorld model repository, its dedicated Bambu Studio slicer, its calibrated filaments, the Bambu Handy mobile app, and of course the speedy 3D printer itself. Everything just works the way a 3D printer SHOULD work. That is, until it doesn’t.

A couple weeks ago I started to see “Heatbed temperature malfunction” error messages as pictured above. Initially these errors would appear after successful completion of 1 print job and upon the initiation of the next print job without turning the printer off. After pressing the “Confirm” button in Bambu Studio or dismissing the error message on the touchscreen, I would see that the newly initiated print job was suspended in a paused state. After pressing the resume button on the touchscreen, the heatbed would proceed to warm up to the specified temperature (usually 65 Celsius), and a successful print would ensue. I was hoping that this error message was due to a firmware or Bambu Studio software glitch, as I had recently updated both.

However, after several days of encountering intermittent “Heatbed temperature malfunction” error messages in between print jobs, I experienced this error message in the middle of an 8-hour print job, and upon dismissing the error message and resuming the print, the heatbed remained at room temperature. I was concerned about the print falling off the build plate (because warmer temperatures help the printed materials stick to the build plate) but fortunately I had excellent bed adhesion, and to my pleasant surprise, the print successfully completed anyway.

Upon reporting this issue to Bambu Lab Support, I was asked to troubleshoot the heatbed issue by following these instructions on the Bambu Lab Wiki. After purchasing a multimeter and asking ChatGPT how to use one, I was able to confirm that the resistance measurements of the temperature sensor connector and the heatbed power supply connector were both abnormal. According to the wiki, “replacing the heatbed assembly is necessary if both resistance values are abnormal.” So I thought Bambu Lab was going to ship me a new heatbed assembly and I’d have to follow these instructions to replace the heatbed.

Instead, Bambu Lab Support offered to continue troubleshooting the issue by first sending me a new AC board, which contradicts the recommendation from the wiki, or to return and replace the printer because I was (barely) within the 30-day time window after receipt of the 3D printer. Since I am not knowledgeable about electronics, I decided to return and replace the 3D printer and had to follow these instructions to pack my printer. Because I bought the A1 combo which included the AMS Lite unit, I had to return the whole set—this seemed wasteful because the AMS Lite unit was working fine. Anyway, the photos and videos were helpful, but if there was one thing I learned from the experience of packing the printer and accessories, it is that it was extremely important to have saved the original box and all of its packing materials, including the plastic bags and protective foam pads and cardboard inserts.

Bambu Lab provided a UPS shipping label and informed me that “the return process can take around 2-3 weeks, depending on the shipping conditions” and “the replacement will be arranged within 7 business days after the warehouse receives and inspects the package.”

Overall I wish it was a little easier to troubleshoot 3D printer malfunctions, but the Bambu Lab Wiki made the process as simple as it could possibly be. Perhaps a better approach to support average everyday mainstream users would be to have dedicated Bambu Lab service centers, but of course there would have to be a business model to make that happen. Because I purchased my 3D printer from the online store, I had no choice but to work through the online support process. Had I purchased the printer from an authorized reseller, I assume that I could have returned and replaced the printer in the physical store, and I wonder if I could have avoided all the troubleshooting and packing steps. Unfortunately the nearest reseller is about 50 miles away from where I live, but if you live near a reseller and are thinking of buying a Bambu Lab 3D printer, that option may make more sense.

Anyway, I hope my replacement A1 Combo will arrive soon and that there will be no malfunctions with my replacement device.

Southern California 511

When driving locally in southern California, my main concern is about traffic conditions, so I use a variety of GPS applications including Waze, Apple Maps, and others. However, when planning trips of longer distances or through mountainous areas, it can be helpful to have real-time information about road closures and other hazards to avoid unfortunate situations like this.

For decades, I’ve relied on Caltrans for highway information, and it can be accessed via phone by dialing 511. I just learned that there are now dedicated websites for different regions of California, including Bay Area, Inland Empire, Kern, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Cruz, and Southern California (http://SoCal511.com/ which redirects to https://go511.com/).

According to the website, “Southern California 511 is a free traveler information service that provides live traffic reports, transit planning, commuter service information, motorist aid, or FasTrak information in the Southern California area through a toll-free phone number, website, and mobile application. Call 511, visit Go511.com, or download the Go511 mobile app to retrieve all the information for your traveling needs. 511 will help improve your commute and keep you informed before leaving the house and while on the go.” Here is an example of the current alerts if we were to drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas:

In addition to maps for personal vehicles, Southern California 511 also provides trip planning information for public transit and bicycling. Finally, check out the Southern California 511 feed on X. Their handle is @Go511. Safe travels!

Protect Your Identity

Last month, news broke that hackers stole and sold personal records of 2.9 billion people. The records were stolen from a company called National Public Data which provides services to staffing agencies, employers, private investigators, and other organizations who perform background checks. This apparently places a vast majority of people who live in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom at greater risk for fraud and identity theft. Also, while this was perhaps the largest data breach of personal records, there are countless other data breaches that have likely resulted in your personal data being released to the dark web. To protect yourself, here’s what most experts recommend.

1. Set up accounts at all 3 major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. While all 3 credit bureaus offer security products and services, setting up an account is free. Remember to safely store your username and password information (that is perhaps the topic of another blog post).

2. Check your credit report from all 3 major credit bureaus. If you’re not accustomed to doing this, the key things to look for are the accuracy of your contact information, revolving lines of credit, and inquiries. If a criminal has attempted to open up credit cards, take out a loan, or change your home address, you should immediately spot those. In the unfortunate event that someone has tried to steal your identity, follow the steps at IdentityTheft.gov.

3. Place a fraud alert on all 3 major credit bureaus. This will make it harder for a criminal to obtain credit in your name because businesses must verify your identity before issuing credit in your name—note that this is why it is important to verify your contact information in item 2 above. All 3 credit bureaus offer fraud alerts for free, and it lasts a year, after which you can renew it (also free). If you were a victim of identity theft and have a police report, you can place an extended fraud alert which will last for 7 years.

4. Place a credit freeze on all 3 major credit bureaus. This provides even greater security than a fraud alert because when your credit is frozen, nobody will be able to access your credit report or open a new credit account until your account with the specific credit reporting bureau is unfrozen (or “thawed”). Like all the other steps above, credit freezes are also free, and they remain in place until you thaw your account. Note that when you thaw your account, you do not necessarily need to thaw all 3 credit bureaus. Let’s say you want to buy a car, and the dealer wants to check your credit before issuing you a loan—if you know which credit bureau they use, you can temporarily thaw that one and then freeze it again after you complete your transaction. Also visit this FTC site to read about differences between fraud alerts and credit freezes.

5. Optionally place a credit lock on all 3 major credit bureaus. I say this is optional becuase the differences between freezing and locking your credit are minor. According to NerdWallet, freezing your credit usually occur within 1 business day and thawing occurs within 1 hour if done online, while locking and unlocking occur instantaneously. Although Equifax offers locking/unlocking for free, Experian and TransUnion charge a fee for this service. If you value the convenience of instant locking/unlocking and are willing to pay the fees (if any), then this may be a desirable option. Otherwise with just a little bit of planning, you can skip this step and achieve all 4 prior steps for free.

One last word on Equifax credit locks. As I mentioned above, Equifax offers credit locks for free, and this is done through its Lock & Alert service. Just note that if you sign up for Lock & Alert, you will need to register with another account that is separate from your “regular” Equifax account where you check your credit report, place fraud alerts, and freeze/thaw your account. I don’t know why they don’t just combine them together, but just note when storing your account information that these are 2 separate accounts. If you’re an Apple user like me and use iCloud to store your passwords, note that there seems to be a limitation where iCloud tries to be helpful by merging these 2 accounts because they have similar domain names. Do NOT overwrite your “regular” Equifax username/password with your Equifax Lock & Alert username/password or you will lose one of them. Hopefully Apple will come up with a solution for this scenario soon.

Wildfire Maps

In California, the fire season generally starts in June or July and runs through October or November. Currently there are many fires burning in California and in many other parts of the United States (and all over the world for that matter). If you’d like to visualize wildfires on a map, you have several options.

CAL FIRE displays current wildfire information in the state of California. There are options to display recent perimeters, active air assets, and other options.

Google Maps can display wildfire information if you click on Layers > More > Wildfires.

MSN Weather Map also has a map with a dedicated Fire Information layer.

All screenshots were taken within the last hour, so you can compare and contrast the available information and visual presentation. Be safe out there!

Bambu Lab A1 Timelapse Videos

I recorded a timelapse video while printing an object with my Bambu Lab A1. While printing from the micro SD card, I noticed that after selecting my print file, there was a “Timelapse” button on the touch screen that could be toggled on/off prior to starting a print. I turned it on and started the print. A timelapse video was then saved to the micro SD card which I transferred to my computer upon completion.

I learned afterward about the Bambu Studio slicer options for timelapse recordings. You can choose between Traditional model and Smooth mode. Because filament can leak while the print head moves out of the way for the camera to take a snapshot, this can result in imperfections in your print. In Smooth mode, a prime tower is added to your print so that the excess filament can be ejected into the prime tower, resulting in preservation of print quality. So basically you’ll need to choose between compromising print quality or wasting filament in your purge tower. Refer to the Bambu Lab Wiki for more information about Timelapse Functionality.

The timelapse video is in 1536x1080 resolution and is saved to the micro SD card is a .avi file that is encoded with a MJPG codec which is basically a video that is composed of a series of JPG images all compressed into 1 video. The problem I encountered is that many macOS applications cannot decode this format. QuickTime chokes entirely, while VLC displays a “Broken or missing index” error but then eventually allows me to view the video. Final Cut Pro is unable to import the .avi file at all. Fortunately, HandBrake is an open source video transcoder that easily converts the .avi file to .mp4 which is more or less universally compatible with everything nowadays.

Besides the filament leakage issue that I discussed above, another disadvantage of recording timelapse videos is that it adds several seconds of print time to every layer. I won’t be regularly recording timelapse videos of my 3D prints due to the tradeoffs, but it’s great to know that the Bambu Lab A1 has this capability.

Daddy’s New Toy (Bambu Lab A1)

In May 2023, I purchased my first 3D printer, a Creality Ender-3 V2 Neo. For the past 16 months, I have enjoyed learning about 3D printing, model design, model slicing techniques, and getting the end result of having a physical object in my hands. My 3D prints were often for entertainment, although many of them were also gifts or even serving a functional purpose (e.g., repairing and/or upgrading household items). For this, my Ender-3 V2 Neo served me well. On several occasions I’ve had to replace various parts such as 2 hot end fans on separate occasions (which unfortunately required me to disassemble and reassemble all the wires connected to the main circuit board), nozzles, and PTFE tube pneumatic couplers. I also upgraded my heat sink to lessen the chance of filament clogging. Last month I started to experience a higher rate of print failures, particularly on more complex objects. I noticed that my nozzle temperature was no longer holding steady but rather bouncing above and below my set temperature by 1 degree Celsius. To me, that was a harbinger of dreaded additional repairs. Had it not been for the high rate of maintenance work, I probably would have kept my Ender-3 V2 Neo a lot longer.

Earlier this month, I upgraded to a Bambu Lab A1 3D Printer. In addition to much faster print speeds and a larger build plate, the Bambu lab A1 has the ability to print in multiple colors using its AMS or AMS Lite systems. Additionally, the Bambu Lab philosophy seems to be aimed at making 3D printers easier to use and less prone to failure. For example, the A1 is programmed to perform automatic bed leveling, vibration detection, and filament flow calibration by default (most of these can be disabled) prior to each print. The Bambu Studio slicer is similar to Cura and other open source slicers, although there are some nice features that I’ve appreciated seeing in Bambu Studio such as the ability to define filament-specific profiles where nozzle and bed temperatures can be defined for different filaments, rather than defining them per model in Cura. Bambu Studio is also integrated with Maker World which is an online repository of 3D models that also allows users to upload Bambu Studio print profiles—this lets Bambu Lab 3D printer owners to print directly from Maker World to their 3D printer.

I’ve done some test prints just to get familiar with the hardware and software, and I’m impressed so far. In the near future, I will be experimenting with multi-color prints through my AMS Lite system, timelapse videos, and other new features.

Factors Affecting 3D Printed Object Strength

Steven from 3D Printer Academy released a video to his YouTube channel in early 2024 to discuss how wall line counts and infill contribute to the strength of 3D prints. The full video is here:



Bonus: the precursor to this video is here.

Strength tests were performed on 3D printed beams with grid infill and showed some interesting results. All of the following images are screenshots from the video above.

With increasing wall line count…

• Strength increases linearly
• Strength to weight ratio increases but with diminishing returns

With increasing infill percentage…

• Strength increases
• Strength to weight ratio decreases

The optimal strength/weight ratio is around 20% infill and 3 walls.

Regarding the relative strength/weight ratio of infill types, lightning infill had the highest value, and the author believes that due to the nature of lightning infill, the object is very light, so most of the strength may be coming from the walls. I agree and would also add that because lightning infill is not uniformly distributed throughout the object, the findings related to this infill type should be interpreted in that context. The infill types with the next highest strength/weight ratios were gyroid and 3D honeycomb.

Note that if you use Cura as your slicer, it does not currently come with 3D honeycomb or honeycomb infill. You can get honeycomb infill for Cura, but if you want 3D honeycomb infill, you will need to use another slicer.

Personally I like cubic and gyroid because they are “airtight” in all 3 axes and presumably could withstand forces equally in all directions. Does this information influence how you will slice your next 3D model?

How to Watch the 2024 Olympics

Did you know that there are many ways to watch the 2024 Paris Olympics? One obvious method is to watch on TV, as the Olympics have been televised on NBC for as long as I can remember. However, given that there are 39 separate sports, each with several rounds of competition leading up to the medal rounds, there is far too much live action to broadcast on a single TV channel.

For more coverage, check out the NBC Olympics website where you can watch the opening and closing ceremonies as well as selected events. The website provides a full schedule of live events as well as links to watch events live or to inform you of other streaming services where events will be broadcasted.

I am personally interested in table tennis, but that is not one of the more popular sports, so I think my only option to watch the live matches is through Peacock. Through Peacock, you can watch every competition across all 39 sports. Similar to other streaming services, you can access Peacock through most electronic devices where the Peacock app is available including Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, and Macintosh computers. You can also watch on any modern browser.

Happy viewing!

Resetting iPhone Face ID

Yesterday my iPhone 12 Pro Max stopped recognizing my face, and I had to use my passcode to access my phone. While not a huge nuisance to enter the passcode, it did remind me how convenient it is for my phone to simply recognize my face. I thought that since I have been getting older, maybe my facial features have changed enough that I needed to re-configure Face ID. Therefore, I went to Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Reset Face ID. Although I was able to clear my current Face ID settings, I had a lot of difficulty configuring a new appearance.

As you can see from the 3 photos above, the Face ID setup asked me to position my face within the frame, and despite my compliance with the request, it kept asking me to move my iPhone a little lower. I dutifully pointed the iPhone lower and lower until my face was completely out of the frame.

On a couple of occasions, Face ID accepted my face despite my face being out of frame, but Face ID logins obviously did not work. Also, when trying to turn on the “Face ID with a Mask” feature, it would attempt to verify my face and fail to do so, stating “Your face must match the existing Face ID appearance.”

Naturally my first attempt to resolve the issue was to reboot my phone. Normally I do this by simultaneously pressing the volume up and side (power) buttons, and then using the “slide to power off” slider. Then I wait a little while, press and hold the power button to restart my phone. Unfortunately the Face ID setup was still misbehaving. My next attempt to resolve the issue was to ask the internet if they have had similar problems. I found an Apple Support page called If Face ID isn't working on your iPhone or iPad Pro and did everything it suggested, but none of the recommendations solved my problem.

In some discussion forums, users reported success with erasing all content on their devices to fix the Face ID issue, but I didn’t want to resort to that until I had exhausted all other options. Finally I found a discussion thread in Apple Support Community called Face ID stopped working on my iPhone after iOS 17 update in which Allensmith98 suggested restarting my iPhone in a different way: Settings > General > Shut Down. After powering up my iPhone, I was finally able to successfully configure Face ID.

I don’t know for sure if that is the definitive way to “reset” Face ID, as some users reported success with rebooting their phones using the volume and side buttons. In any case, it appears that the TrueDepth camera that powers Apple’s Face ID technology just needed a kick in the pants.

Simplifying 3D Models

Have you ever used an application to generate a 3D model and ended up with an enormous .stl file? When I use HueForge, the resultant .stl files are usually around 125 MB. When I use TouchTerrain, I also end up with large 3D models. However, unnecessarily large models require more time for slicing and more storage space. Furthermore, if you plan to share your models on Thingiverse or other 3D model repositories, it may not be necessary to propagate such large models. Finally, what’s most important to me is that sometimes I want to edit models in Tinkercad, but 3D model imports are limited to files with 300,000 triangles or less. This is where mesh simplification comes in handy.

Mesh simplification, also known as mesh decimation or polygon reduction, is the process of reducing the number of polygons in a 3D model while maintaining as much of the original shape, appearance, and important features of the model as possible. This is similar in concept to compressing images and audio files where the intent is to reduce file size while preserving as much of the image or audio quality as possible. Mesh simplification is a feature of Blender, Meshmixer, MeshLab, SolidWorks, and other 3D modeling applications. But what if you don’t have any of these applications? While some of them are free to use, I haven’t wanted to install an application for the sole purpose of using its mesh simplification feature.

Fortunately I discovered 2 potential solutions that are both free and can run straight from your web browser. The first is 3DLess.com where you simply choose your file, specify the target number of vertices, and save your file. If you are concerned about privacy, a big benefit is that the processing happens locally on your web browser, meaning that your file is not uploaded. In my limited experience, this has not successfully reduced polygon counts or file sizes on the large .stl files that I’ve been trying to simplify. I assume I’m doing something wrong, so I mention this website in case others find success with it.

My preferred option is Fast Quadric Mesh Simplification. Simply choose your file, specify a % reduction, and click the “Simplify” button. I’ve found that it simplifies 125 MB HueForge files in a matter of seconds, and despite reducing polygons to 10% of its original size, I cannot visually tell the difference between the original and simplified models. Most importantly, this website has reduced models to the point where I can import them into Tinkercad and make simple modifications.

If you are looking for a free and easy solution to simplify your 3D models, I hope you are able to get great results with one of the above options. If you are aware other other websites that do something similar, let me know!

3D Modeling Earth’s Surface

Have you ever wanted to create a 3D model of a specific section of earth’s surface? I heard that it could be done using topographic data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). So I asked ChatGPT to tell me step by step how to convert USGS topographic data into a 3D model in .stl format (see thread here). In response, ChatGPT told me that I need to:

1. Download USGS topographic data
2. Preprocess the data using GDAL to convert to ASCII Grid
3. Convert ASCII Grid to a 3D mesh using QGIS and the DEMto3D plugin
4. Optionally refine the 3D model in MeshLab
5. Save the final model in STL format

That sounded complex to me, as it involves applications and file formats that I have not previously worked with. Fortunately, I discovered that there is a much easier and faster way to get 3D models in .stl format. Simply use a website that provides this specific service. Here are 2 options:

Terrain2STL is a website that allows you to create .stl models of the surface of Earth. Its interface is pretty straightforward. You can zoom/drag to a location using Google Maps which defaults to Terrain View. You can also enter GPS coordinates (refer to this post for a refresher). Next, enter details about the width, height, and other details related to the dimensions of your desired model. Then adjust settings related to water and base height and finally export your model in .stl format. Terrain2STL has the advantage of its simplicity, but its main disadvantage is its resolution which is limited to 90 meters. Here is a screenshot of Terrain2STL (click to enlarge):

TouchTerrain is another website that allows you to create 3D printable terrain models. Similar to Terrain2STL, TouchTerrain allows you to zoom/drag to a location using Google Maps, but TouchTerrain also allows you to search for a place by its name, address, or GPS coordinates which can be very useful. TouchTerrain also allows you to choose from 3 different elevation data sources, each of which has varying resolution ranging from 10 to 2000 meters, depending on its purpose. For me the default USGS data source with 10 meter resolution produced a model with the level of detail that I was looking for. It also has inputs for 3D printer settings such as your build plate dimensions to help you determine the maximum size of your model. After inputting the relevant settings, generate and download your .stl model. Here is a screenshot of TouchTerrain (click to enlarge):

After you get your desired model from either Terrain2STL, TouchTerrain, or another method, you’ll be ready to slice and 3D print your model.

Gmail Plus Addressing and Dot Addressing

If you have a Gmail account, you can take advantage of a feature known as plus addressing. Plus addressing, as the name implies, allows you to append a plus sign, followed by any series of letters and/or numbers, to your email address. This can come in handy if you want to determine who is sharing your email address or if you want to create special rules to route emails to different folders in your inbox.

For example, if your email address is JohnSmith@gmail.com and you are signing up for an account at Company123, instead of providing your regular email address, you can provide JohnSmith+Company123@gmail.com. All emails with plus addressing will still be sent to JohnSmith@gmail.com. However, if you later receive spam emails with that plus address, it will be obvious that Company123 shared your email address with them.

As another example, you can use plus addressing along with Gmail filters to automatically apply labels or to categories your emails. Let’s say that you want to add your name to the email distribution list for your child’s elementary school. You could submit JohnSmith+Elementary@gmail.com as your email address and then create a filter (or category) as shown in the next 2 images.

Perhaps a lesser known but related feature is dot addressing in which you have the option to add periods anywhere in your email address. Periods in Gmail addresses are simply ignored, so you can add any permutation of periods such as John.Smith@gmail.com or J.o.h.n.S.m.i.t.h@gmail.com. The same filters and categories can be applied to your dot addresses.

Read more in this Gmail blog. Have you found other uses for Gmail plus addressing or dot addressing? If so, let me know how you’ve taken advantage of these features.

Eleven Table Tennis Player Statistics

Did you know that you can track your Eleven Table Tennis (ETT) player statistics online? The statistic that is likely of most interest to most ETT players is their Elo rating. Other statistics of interest may be their historical match results and recent wins and losses. While you can view these stats in the VR game itself, there are also 2 websites that I know of where you can browse these stats.

The first is the official Eleven VR website where you can view the global leaderboard and individual user profiles. Here’s my Eleven user profile: https://elevenvr.net/eleven/903406.

The second is 11ClubHouse which has most of the features of the official Eleven VR website but also features the ability for the community to comment on each player in terms of friendliness (via the Fair-play-o-meter) and a guestbook where players can leave feedback on other players. Here’s my 11ClubHouse user profile: https://11clubhouse.com/903406/.

As you can see, after seemingly hitting a plateau, a few days ago I just reached an Elo of 2100 for the first time ever. I don’t know if I just had some fluke victories or if I’m really improving, but to me the wins and losses and Elo ratings are less important than just playing and having fun. Hope to see you in ETT!

Capturing a Total Solar Eclipse

I was fortunate enough to experience the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse from Carmel, Indiana. While I was able to view the eclipse through my eclipse glasses, I also brought various recording devices to capture my surroundings from multiple perspectives. This blog entry provides some information about my setup.

Location, Location, Location. The first consideration, aside from being in the path of totality, was to determine the exact location from where I’d view the eclipse. I decided that in addition to directly recording the sun itself, it would be interesting to record the office building where I work—right before, during, and right after totality. From the parking lot (pictured above), I was able to get a good angle of the building, free from obstruction, as well as an unobstructed view of the sun.

Timing. For most people, an approximate time for the start and end or totality would suffice. Most eclipse viewers simply need to arrive before totality and might snap a few photos and videos to commemorate the event. I was slightly more constrained because I needed to ensure that I had sufficient storage space on my memory cards as well as battery life to capture my intended footage. To determine the precise start and end of the partial and total eclipse, I used the US Navy Solar Eclipse Computer. I grabbed GPS coordinates from Google Maps and entered them into the Solar Eclipse Computer but had to truncate them after 4 decimal places. I made sure to arrive shortly after the beginning of the partial eclipse which would give me an hour to get situated, look around, and set up all my equipment to prepare for totality.

GoPro. One of my recording devices was my GoPro HERO7 Black which I simply affixed to a 3D printed mount and placed on the hood of my rental car since it was one of the only objects above ground level. The purpose of the GoPro was to record a video of the office building and produce a timelapse video immediately before, during, and immediately after the 3.5 minutes of totality. I wasn’t able to attach the mount to anything, and despite there being a slight breeze, I was fairly confident that it would not move around during recording. Given my familiarity with my GoPro’s battery life, I began recording about 10 minutes before the onset of totality, as I was confident that I’d have more than enough RAM and battery life to capture all of totality and several minutes afterward.

Drone. My 2nd recording device was a DJI Mavic Mini. Its purpose was also to obtain a timelapse of the building but from a higher perspective. Approximately 7 or 8 minutes before totality, I flew the drone to 18 meters (59 feet) altitude, according to the flight data, and started recording. I simply allowed the drone to hover for the entire duration. While the drone stayed put for the most part, the 10x timelapse shows what looks like noticeable movement of the drone in all 3 axes which gave the building a “rubbery” appearance. I don’t know how much of this movement was due to the wind. In any case, I was happy with my timing, as the battery lasted through totality and plenty of time thereafter.

Camcorder. My 3rd recording device was a Canon VIXIA HF M301 camcorder with 15x optical zoom capabilities. Along with my eclipse glasses came a camera filter which was probably intended to be used with mobile phones, but the diameter of the filter was sufficient to cover the entirety of the camcorder lens. I used 2 pieces of clear tape to attach the filter to the camcorder so that it fully covered lens. I mounted the camcorder to a portable tripod and placed the tripod on a folding chair, mainly for the purpose of elevating it off the pavement of the parking lot so it was easier for me to make adjustments. Given that I had zoomed all the way to 15x, I discovered that I was only able to capture the sun for a few minutes at a time before it moved off frame. Therefore, I had to keep repositioning the camcorder before, during, and after totality. This meant that I was unable to capture a continuous uninterrupted video of the eclipse. Maybe next time I’ll consider investing in a solar photography tracking mount, but I was mostly satisfied with the results that I got without one. I noticed that when the sun was closer to the edges of the frame, the camcorder had difficulty auto-focusing on the sun, but that was not surprising.

The one obvious missing recording device was my Canon R6 full frame mirrorless camera which I alluded to here. I expected to have my hands full with all the recording devices above, and the addition of my R6 camera and another tripod would have added significantly to my luggage. Therefore, I made the difficult but practical decision to leave it at home. Maybe I’ll bring my “big” camera to a future solar eclipse. Overall, I was happy with the amount of planning that I put into this momentous occasion, and I was blessed with fairly clear skies and good weather, all of which amounted to an unforgettable event. You can enjoy my eclipse video here and below:

My Tesla Tried To Kill Me

This is NOT an April Fool’s joke, although I admit that the title is a bit tongue in cheek. You see, about a month or two ago, following a Tesla software update for our Model Y, I was stopped at a red light. I was the first vehicle lined up at the intersection (i.e., no cars between me and the traffic light). While my traffic light remained red, the traffic light in the next intersection ahead of me turned from red to green, and that’s when my Tesla’s Green Traffic Light Chime (Autopilot settings pictured above) kicked in. The “ding” is supposed to alert you to the traffic light turning green, and at the time I remember wondering if my car would have proceeded to run the red light into cross-traffic if Full Self-Driving mode was turned on.

I can understand why my vehicle made the mistake since the 2 intersections were not far apart from one another. However, I also know that Teslas have the ability to judge relative distances, so it should have known that the traffic light that was closer to me was still red. Perhaps it failed to see one of the 2 traffic lights which is equally concerning. Tesla began replacing its ultrasonic sensors with Tesla Vision in 2021, so our 2023 Model Y (purchased in December 2022) should have been equipped with the newer technology.

I’ve experienced many other false alarms when the Forward Collision Warning alarms (also in the Autopilot settings pictured above) would scream at me on narrow winding roads near the UCLA campus, thinking that I was going to collide with either parked cars on the side of the road or with oncoming traffic. Note that even with Forward Collision Warning set to “Late” I have still been experiencing lots of false alarms. I assume that the artificial intelligence that powers the collision warnings was trained in scenarios where the roads were not quite so narrow and curvy. At a minimum, this erodes my trust in the Full Self-Driving feature. I also feel that these false alarms are startling and can be potential distractions or even safety hazards.

We were notified a few days ago that we were granted a 30-day free trial of Full Self-Driving (Supervised).

Notice that it explicitly states “You and anyone you authorize must use additional caution and remain attentive. It does not make your vehicle autonomous. Do not become complacent.” I might experiment with Full Self-Driving, but at this point I am not sure if I will rely on it routinely, as I have witnessed far too many instances where the car has mistakenly interpreted driving situations. Even if it makes the correct decision 99.99% of the time, that is 1 mistake in 1,000 (these are hypothetical numbers, as I do not know the actual accuracy rates), and any individual trip may involve hundreds, thousands, or more decisions. I think my views will change as the technology improves, so stay tuned...

World Backup Day

It’s that time of year again—it’s World Backup Day. Have you backed up your important files? I use 2 external storage devices to backup my files, although they are both at home so are vulnerable to theft and disasters. What method(s) are you using, if any at all?

View some of my other posts related to backups to understand why it’s a good idea to back up your files.

Safely Viewing the Total Solar Eclipse

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will pass over portions of Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. While a path of totality that traverses San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Little Rock, Indianapolis, Buffalo, most locations in the U.S. will feature at least a 50% eclipse of the sun. That means a lot of Americans will be trying to experience the eclipse, whether it be by viewing it directly and/or taking photos or videos of the eclipse as I did in August 2017.

The main focus of eclipse viewing is to do it safely. In short, you should never look directly at the sun because it can damage your eyes. However, with the right eclipse glasses and the proper use of them, you can safely watch the eclipse. Read Safe Viewing of Solar Eclipses and Watching a Solar Eclipse Without the Right Filters Can Cause Eye Damage for additional information.

If you have concluded that you will buy solar eclipse glasses, and if you’ve paid attention to the references above, you know not to trust just any pair of eclipse glasses. The American Astronomical Society has a list of vetted suppliers. Make your your eclipse glasses are made by a supplier on this list.

Navigating National Parks

If you’ve visited a U.S. national park and hiked any of its spectacular trails, you may have been given advice to wear weather-appropriate attire, use activity-appropriate footwear, bring sufficient food and water, travel in groups (or let someone know your plan if hiking alone), and various other helpful recommendations. However, we sometimes overlook one of the most important aspects of visiting national parks: getting there.

Although most people have cell phones with map applications (e.g., Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze), we may be lulled into a false sense of security that those mobile map applications will get us to our destinations. In the absence of cellular service, those map applications may fail to work. That is why I recommend bringing a dedicated GPS device. I’ve used a trusty Garmin nüvi 650 for decades, and because it relies of line-of-sight communication with GPS satellites, it always works—even when my phone has lost cellular service.

Additionally, whether you use a phone-based or dedicated GPS, I recommend verifying ahead of time that named locations on your GPS device accurately represent your intended destination. For example, depending on the application you are using, if you select “XYZ National Park” it might pinpoint the geographic center of the national park which might be in the middle of the wilderness, or it might pinpoint one of several park entrances which may or may not be the entrance that you had planned to use. While visitor centers may often have named locations that are geographically accurate, campgrounds, trailheads, and parking lots may be less likely to have named locations.

If there are no named locations that match your desired destination, then I recommend finding its GPS coordinates. Some National Park Service websites like this one and that one will provide you with GPS coordinates for common destinations. If you are not given GPS coordinates, then I recommend using Google Maps to locate your destination on a map and grabbing its GPS coordinates. On a desktop or laptop browser, simply single-click on a location on the map, and Google Maps will tell you its GPS coordinates.

Tip: if you are given GPS coordinates in degrees/minutes/seconds, it may be helpful to convert them to decimal degrees for ease of entry into your GPS. Read my blog post about converting GPS coordinates for more info.

Finally, if you found GPS coordinates, don’t stop there. In addition to writing them down and bringing them with you on your trip, enter them into your GPS ahead of time and verify that it is really your intended destination. Don’t wait until you are actually driving to try to figure out how to enter coordinates into your GPS device. Plus, once you’ve entered the GPS coordinates, it is likely that they will remain in your “recently used” list which might make them more easily accessible when you actually need them.

So in summary, when navigating your way to and within national parks, I recommend 3 things to increase your chances of successfully navigating to your destination:

1. Bring a dedicated GPS device
2. Obtain GPS coordinates if named locations are unavailable
3. Enter and verify destinations in your GPS

With these tips in mind, hopefully you will spend less time getting to your destination and more time exploring our protected lands.

Understanding and Converting GPS Coordinates

If you’ve used a global position system (GPS) device or an online map application, you may have noticed that geographic locations on earth can be precisely described using latitude and longitude values. Latitudes range from -90 to +90 degrees, where -90 degrees is the South Pole, 0 degrees is the equator, and +90 degrees is the North Pole. Longitudes range from -180 to +180 degrees, where 0 degrees longitude is the Prime Meridian on which the Royal Observatory sits in Greenwich, England.

You may have also noticed that there are 2 main systems for the communication of latitude and longitude: degrees/minutes/seconds (DMS, a.k.a. “sexagesimal degrees”) and decimal degrees (DD). In DMS notation, each degree is divided into 60 minutes, and each minute is divided into 60 seconds, just like a clock. Fractions of sections can be represented by decimals. In DD notation, the latitude and longitude coordinates are simply expressed as decimals, with a greater number of decimal places conferring greater geographic precision.

To complicate matters, in both DMS and DD notations, locations relative to the equator and Prime Meridian can be expressed using either positive/negative values or north (N), east (E), south (S), and west (W) designations. Positive latitudes are N of the equator, while negative latitudes are S of the equator. Positive longitudes are E of the Prime Meridian, while negative longitudes are W of the Prime Meridian.

There may be times when you may need to interconvert between DMS and DD notations. For example, if you need to navigate to a certain location and are provided with DMS coordinates, it may be easier (or possibly your only option) to enter DD coordinates into your GPS device. A free DMS-DD converter is provided by the Federal Communications Commission, and there are numerous other free options available.

Deepfake Audio

For decades, it has been confusing for people to know if they should trust what they see. From the moment that Photoshop became a verb, it had been well known that pictures could be “doctored” to alter one’s perception of reality. In the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) could be applied to alter videos as well.

Recently deepfake audio was in the news because of a fake robocall in which Joe Biden’s voice was digitally impersonated in an attempt to suppress New Hampshire democrats from voting. Do you think you can tell the difference between an authentic audio clip and one that has been digitally created through AI? Fortunately there is ongoing research that uses AI to help detect AI-powered voice cloning.