Had a good weekend, got a lot done. But didn’t get everything done. Such is the way of things that need to be done, I suppose.
Of the things that did get done, I got my new Brother laser printer set up and working. As I said, and as Nilay Patel from The Verge said, I just want it to work and I don’t want to think about it. I had to do a little bit of thinking about it, because Windows wanted it to be a USB printer but I wanted it to be a WiFi printer, so we had a fight about it and I won. I like winning!
I bought an Intel NUC that I plan on using to make a reverse proxy for my home network. Got it at Free Geek, which had a pop-up shop set up in their parking lot, which was awesome. I’ve missed their storefront, which closed when the pandemic hit. The sales person said this was their first weekend trying this, and it seemed popular, so they’ll probably keep doing it. Yay! I got this NUC for twenty bucks. It didn’t come with a power brick, so I got one off Amazon for another thirty bucks. Still an awesome deal.
One thing I did not do was trying some 3D printing. Did I mention my co-worker lent me his printer? I got the 3D printer in place. I chatted about 3D printing with my friends. I harassed my friends for notes on how to do a 3D print and did get those notes. Did not read those notes, though, because I’m intimidated by this whole process. The way my brain works, I prefer to know what every step of a process is before I ever start doing it. It makes doing new things difficult unless someone has laid out a step-by-step that satisfies my neurodivergent brain.
My friends gave me a list of supplies I should have before I start, including 90% alcohol, Simple Green, lots of gloves to prevent contamination from the resin, lunch trays and silcone mats for the prints because they need to dry and cure. Y’know, basic stuff. I should also probably have a respirator and eye protection, y’know, just in case. Got all that ordered from Amazon and it showed up today. In theory, I am ready to start printing.
Oh, wait, I’m missing one more thing! I don’t have any files to print. I don’t know why 3D printer files are called STL files; I haven’t googled it. Wait, here, I’ll google it. “STL is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems. STL is also known as Standard Tessellation Language.” That’s from Abbreviations dot com. I have a few minis I designed in HeroForge; I can start there. I bought the STL files for my sorcerer elf and my human bladelock, but apparently they take “processing” and were not available immediately for download. I’m waiting for that.
I downloaded the slicer program, which is what they call the program people use to 3D print. It’s all ready to go…
It’s already after 8 PM, though, and a print takes several hours, so I’ll wait and start it tomorrow after work. There still seems like so much to learn first. How does one slice, for example? I don’t know and don’t have the executive function points right now to learn. Tune in tomorrow-ish.