A light aircraft crashed in Gloucestershire after a 3D-printed plastic air-induction elbow softened from engine heat and collapsed, cutting power during final approach and causing the plane to undershoot the runway. Investigators say the part was made from "inappropriate material" and safety actions will be taken in the future regarding 3D printed parts. The BBC reports: Following an "uneventful local flight", the AAIB report said the pilot advanced the throttle on the final approach to the runway, and realized the engine had suffered a complete loss of power. "He managed to fly over a road and a line of bushes on the airfield boundary, but landed short and struck the instrument landing system before coming to rest at the side of the structure," the report read.

It was revealed the part had been installed during a modification to the fuel system and collapsed due to its 3D-printed plastic material softening when exposed to heat from the engine. The Light Aircraft Association (LAA) said it now intends to take safety actions in response to the accident, including a "LAA Alert" regarding the use of 3D-printed parts that will be sent to inspectors.

"Plasma is a popular desktop (and mobile) environment for GNU/Linux and other UNIX-like operating systems," writes longtime Slashdot reader jrepin. "Among other things, it also powers the desktop mode of the Steam Deck gaming handheld. The KDE community today announced the latest release: Plasma 6.5." From the announcement: This fresh new release is all about fine-tuning, fresh features, and a making everything smooth and sleek for everyone. The new version brings automatic light-to-dark theme switching based on the time of day. You can configure which global themes it switches between. You can also configure whether you want the wallpaper to switch between its light and dark versions based on the color scheme, the time of day, or be always light or dark.

Next up is a "Pinned clipboard items" feature, which lets you save text you use regularly into the clipboard. Breeze-themed windows will now have the same level of roundness in all four corners, even the bottom one. Flatpak Permissions page has been transformed into a general Application Permissions page, where you can configure applications' ability to do things like take screenshots and accept remote control requests. The utility that reads the level of ink or toner from your printer now informs you when it's running low or empty.

For the gamers out there, you can now see more relevant info about game controllers on System Settings' Game Controller page. Artists among you can now configure any rotary dials and touch rings on your drawing tablet. Users sensitive to color can now make use of a grayscale color filter, which desaturates or removes color systemwide.

Plasma 6.5 implements support for an experimental version of the Wayland picture-in-picture protocol that promises to allow apps like Firefox to eventually display proper PiP windows that stay above others automatically. Support for "overlay planes" was added, which can reduce CPU usage and power draw when displaying full-screen content using a compatible GPU. You can read more about these and many other new features in the Plasma 6.5 release announcement and complete changelog.

Concrete accounts for about 8% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, notes CNN. But a research team at the University of Pennsylvania just used a robotic 3D printer to construct a bridge with "complex, lattice-like patterns" that are just as strong and durable — but with materials that absorb more carbon dioxide.

Check out the photos of the "Diamanti" projects "post-tensioned concrete canopy". And CNN's report includes an animated photo showing the 3D printer in action: While most regular concrete absorbs carbon dioxide (up to 30% of its production emissions over its entire life cycle, according to some research), Diamanti's enhanced concrete mixture absorbs 142% more carbon dioxide than conventional concrete mixes. Its first design, a pedestrian bridge, uses 60% less material while retaining mechanical strength, says Masoud Akbarzadeh, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the lab that spearheaded the project.

"Through millions of years of evolution, nature has learned that you don't need material everywhere," says Akbarzadeh. "If you take a cross section of a bone, you realize that bone is quite porous, but there are certain patterns within which the load (or weight) is transferred." By mimicking the structures in certain porous bones — known as triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structures — âDiamanti also increased the surface area of the bridge, increasing the concrete mixture's carbon absorption potential by another 30%... According to Akbarzadeh, 3D printing reduces construction time, material, and energy use by 25%, and its structural system reduces the need for steel by 80%, minimizing use of another emissions-heavy material. He added that using the technique with Diamanti's concrete significantly cuts greenhouse gas emissions compared to regular construction techniques, and reduces construction costs by 25% to 30%.
"Even without the material innovation, the higher surface itself allows higher CO2 absorption," one engineering lecturer tells CNN. The project was a collaboration with chemical company Sika, funded with grants from the U.S. Energy Department, and is now preparing its first full-size prototype in France.

The team has published their findings in the journal Advanced Functional Materials earlier this year.

A 56-year-old tech industry veteran killed his mother and himself in Old Greenwich, Connecticut on August 5 after months of interactions with ChatGPT that encouraged his paranoid delusions.

Greenwich police discovered Stein-Erik Soelberg and his 83-year-old mother Suzanne Eberson Adams dead in their home. Videos posted by Soelberg documented conversations where ChatGPT repeatedly assured him he was sane while validating his beliefs about surveillance campaigns and poisoning attempts by his mother.

The chatbot told him a Chinese food receipt contained demonic symbols and that his mother's anger over a disconnected printer indicated she was "protecting a surveillance asset." OpenAI has contacted Greenwich police and announced plans for updates to help keep users experiencing mental distress grounded in reality.

AI-powered salespeople are outperforming their human counterparts on Chinese e-commerce platforms, working around the clock without fatigue to sell products ranging from printers to wet wipes. Shanghai marketing firm PLTFRM has deployed 30 virtual avatars across Taobao and Pinduoduo using Baidu video models and DeepSeek language models. Brother's AI avatar generated $2,500 in printer sales within two hours and increased livestream revenue 30 percent. The company now checks overnight AI sales data each morning as routine.

Livestreaming drives over one-third of China's e-commerce sales, with half the population shopping via broadcast in 2024. Baidu's June livestream featuring an AI version of influencer Luo Yonghao drew 13 million views and generated $7.7 million in sales. American and European companies have expressed interest, Wired reports, after PLTFRM successfully tested English-language avatars on YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook.

Microsoft has made "Pull Print" for Universal Print generally available, letting users authenticate at any registered printer to release queued jobs and reducing the chance that confidential pages sit unattended.

The feature, also called "Universal Print Anywhere," supports two modes: direct print and secure release via QR codes that users scan with a phone camera or the Microsoft 365 app. Admins must register devices, enable secure release, and affix printed QR codes. Microsoft plans badge-based release.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Starbucks patrons in South Korea are setting up de facto offices at the coffee chain, bringing along their desktop computers and printers. The company implemented a new policy banning bulky items from store locations. In South Korea, where office space is scant, remote workers are using cafes as a cheap place to work.

Starbucks South Korea is experiencing this exact phenomenon and is now banning patrons from bringing in large pieces of work equipment, treating the cafes like their own amenity-stuffed office space. "While laptops and smaller personal devices are welcome, customers are asked to refrain from bringing desktop computers, printers, or other bulky items that may limit seating and impact the shared space," a Starbucks spokesperson told Fortune in a statement.

"General Motors claimed a new world record for EV driving on a single charge," reports the Verge, "after a Chevy Silverado EV traveled 1,059.2 miles without recharging its battery." The potentially record-breaking run took place over seven days on public roads near GM's Milford Proving Ground and Detroit's Belle Isle "using smart driving techniques" that included limiting the speed to 20-25 mph. The truck was a 2026 Chevy Silverado EV Work Truck with an EPA-estimated range of 493 miles. But by making a number of adjustments, GM's engineers were able to far surpass the vehicle's estimated range...

First of all, the test was conducted in the summer for "optimum ambient temperature for battery efficiency," GM says. They also lowered the windshield wiper blades to reduce drag, inflated the tires to the highest acceptable pressure for lower rolling resistance, removed the spare tire to lighten the load, and optimized the wheel alignment. A tonneau cover was added to the truck bed for smoother airflow, and climate control was turned off for the duration of the test.
GM isn't seeking the Guinness World Records, the article adds, with a GM spokesperson calling it "a passion project led and executed by GM engineers." (The test "started out as casual conversation among a group of GM engineers in late 2024," GM says, but "quickly turned into a challenge: How far could the Work Truck go if we optimized absolutely everything?")

After the test, reports Motor Trend, "The dead truck was hauled back to Milford, its battery was topped up, and the energy used to power a Stratasys F370 3D printer, which spent 6.5 hours printing an ABS plastic trophy to commemorate the auspicious event."

Anker has indefinitely paused sales of its 3D printers, with no clear plans to resume or release new models. Despite promises of ongoing support, critical replacement parts like hotends and extruders have quietly vanished from the EufyMake site, leaving customers and the maker community in the lurch. The Verge reports: In March, charging giant Anker announced it would spin out its 3D printer business into an "independent sub-brand," stating that the new EufyMake would "continue to provide comprehensive customer service and support" for its original 3D printers the AnkerMake M5 and M5C. Now, the 3D printing community is wondering whether that was all a euphemism for exiting the 3D printer business. eufyMake is no longer selling any 3D printers and has stopped selling some of the parts it would need to provide anything close to "comprehensive support."

Anker confirms to The Verge that it has stopped selling the M5 and M5C 3D printers indefinitely. Spokesperson Brett White could not confirm that the company will resume selling them or create any future models. He says that "sales have been paused." "My understanding is that eufyMake has not ruled out creating new 3D printer models in the future. But the brand has ended sales of the M5 and M5C for the time being," White tells The Verge. The 3D printing section of EufyMake's website is currently empty of printers. The only gadget EufyMake now sells is a UV printer that creates a 3D texture atop flat materials.

Thingiverse, a popular 3D printing file repository, has agreed to remove downloadable gun designs following pressure from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who is pushing for stricter moderation and voluntary cooperation across the 3D printing industry. "However, it's unlikely to slow the proliferation of 3D printed weapons, as many other sites offer downloadable gun designs and parts," reports The Register. From the report: Earlier this year, Bragg wrote to 3D printing companies, asking them to ensure their services can't be used to create firearms. On Saturday, Bragg announced that one such company, Thingiverse, would remove working gun models from its site. The company operates a popular free library of 3D design files and had already banned weapons in its terms of use, but is now promising to improve its moderation procedures and technology. "Following discussions with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office about concerns around untraceable firearms, we are taking additional steps to improve our content moderation efforts," Thingiverse said in a statement. "As always, we encourage our users to report any content that may be harmful." [...]

At any rate, while Thingiverse may be popular among 3D printing mavens, people who like to build their own guns look to other options. [...] Bragg's approach to 3D printing sites and 3D printer manufacturers is to seek voluntary cooperation. Only Thingiverse and YouTube have taken up his call, others may or may not follow. "While law enforcement has a primary role to play in stopping the rise of 3D-printed weapons, this technology is rapidly changing and evolving, and we need the help and expertise of the private sector to aid our efforts," Bragg said. "We will continue to proactively reach out to and collaborate with others in the industry to reduce gun violence throughout Manhattan and keep everyone safe." But it seems doubtful that the sites where Aranda and other 3D gun makers get their files will be rushing to help Bragg voluntarily.

"In the battle for Ukraine, the front line is increasingly at a standstill" because of "rapid innovations in drone technology..." according to the Wall Street Journal. "Each side has hundreds of them constantly in the air across the 750-mile front line."

And drones "now bring everything from food and water to ammunition, power banks — and, in at least one case, a fire extinguisher — to the front, sparing soldiers trips through the most dangerous part of the battlefield where enemy drones might pick them off." Drones can lay mines, deliver everything from ammunition to medication and even evacuate wounded or dead soldiers. Crucially, drones spot any movement along the front line and are dispatched to strike enemy troops and vehicles. When Russia sent tank columns into Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine needed to find out where they were headed — and fast. Enter the humble "wedding drone," available in stores for about $2,000 and repurposed to scan for enemy units rather than capture nuptial panoramas. Deployed by enthusiasts acting independently or attached to army units, the drones helped Ukrainian forces, which were vastly outnumbered and outgunned, to know exactly where to deploy to counter Russian arrowheads.

Surveillance drones quickly became a necessity rather than a luxury. Often provided by charity funds, they were used to scan enemy positions for equipment, stores and headquarters.... A cheap and simple tweak made the so-called wedding drones deadly. Tech buffs realized that a simple claw-like contraption, created using a 3-D printer, could be activated from the radio controller by turning on the drone's light, causing it to release a grenade. The explosion could wound or kill a soldier or even detonate an armored vehicle if dropped through its hatch. Over time, soldiers experimented with ways to add more explosives, for example by melting down explosives garnered from Soviet-era munitions and pouring them into new, lighter plastic casings.

No innovation has had a bigger impact on the war in Ukraine than first-person-view, or FPV, drones. With explosives strapped to them, FPVs fly directly into their targets, turning them into low-cost suicide bombers. Though FPVs don't deliver as much explosive punch as rockets, they are far more accurate — and the sheer volume that Ukraine has manufactured means they can be deployed to similar effect... Sitting in a bunker several miles behind the front, a drone pilot slips on FPV goggles to see the view from the drone's camera and fly it into an enemy position or asset. The Russians have since adopted FPVs en masse. Their abundance has played a central role in slowing down the movement of the front line. Anything within around 12 miles of the contact line can now become a target for FPVs. They are so cheap to make that both sides can expend them on any target — even a single infantryman.

Because they are so small and fast, FPVs are difficult to shoot down. The main defense against them has been electronic jamming systems, which disrupt the communication between the drone and the pilot. Though most drone innovations in the war have come from the Ukrainian side, the Russians pioneered the most important adaptation for FPV drones — the addition of a fiber-optic cable connecting the drone to the pilot that can overcome jamming.
Benjamin Franklin once predicted flying machines might "convince sovereigns of the folly of war... since it will be impracticable for the most potent of them to guard his dominions..."

BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: In a move that feels straight out of a different era, Xerox has officially acquired Lexmark for $1.5 billion. The deal includes net debt and assumed liabilities, and it pulls Lexmark out of the hands of Chinese ownership and into a freshly restructured Xerox. That's a lot of money for a company best known for making machines that spit out paper.

According to Xerox, this is all part of a "Reinvention" strategy. The company now claims it will be one of the top five players in every major print category and the leader in managed print services. [...] Xerox says the new leadership team will include executives from both sides, and the combined business will now support over 200,000 clients in more than 170 countries. They'll also be running 125 manufacturing and distribution centers in 16 countries.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from SecurityWeek: Hundreds of printer models from Brother and other vendors are impacted by potentially serious vulnerabilities discovered by researchers at Rapid7. The cybersecurity firm revealed on Wednesday that its researchers identified eight vulnerabilities affecting multifunction printers made by Brother. The security holes have been found to impact 689 printer, scanner and label maker models from Brother, and some or all of the flaws also affect 46 Fujifilm Business Innovation, five Ricoh, six Konica Minolta, and two Toshiba printers. Overall, millions of enterprise and home printers are believed to be exposed to hacker attacks due to these vulnerabilities.

The most serious of the flaws, tracked as CVE-2024-51978 and with a severity rating of 'critical', can allow a remote and unauthenticated attacker to bypass authentication by obtaining the device's default administrator password. CVE-2024-51978 can be chained with an information disclosure vulnerability tracked as CVE-2024-51977, which can be exploited to obtain a device's serial number. This serial number is needed to generate the default admin password. "This is due to the discovery of the default password generation procedure used by Brother devices," Rapid7 explained. "This procedure transforms a serial number into a default password. Affected devices have their default password set, based on each device's unique serial number, during the manufacturing process."

Having the admin password enables an attacker to reconfigure the device or abuse functionality intended for authenticated users. The remaining vulnerabilities, which have severity ratings of 'medium' and 'high', can be exploited for DoS attacks, forcing the printer to open a TCP connection, obtain the password of a configured external service, trigger a stack overflow, and perform arbitrary HTTP requests. Six of the eight vulnerabilities found by Rapid7 can be exploited without authentication. Brother has patched most of the flaws, but CVE-2024-51978 requires a new manufacturing process to fully resolve, which will apply only to future devices.

jalvarez13 writes: My venerable HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus is showing its age and it has become expensive to operate due to the cost of the original cartridges. I tried some alternative cartridges but the printer rejects them.

Now that schools still require kids to print stuff at home (mine are in 2nd and 4th grade), and my wife also needs to use the printer, I think it may be wise to invest in a good-quality printer that has a lower cost per page (maybe laser?).

In that context, I'd love to have unbiased information about brand quality, printing technology, cost efficiency, and other factors that I might have missed. Any thoughts?

The company behind Applebee's and IHOP plans to use AI in its restaurants and behind the scenes to streamline operations and encourage repeat customers. From a report: Dine Brands is adding AI-infused tech support for all of its franchisees, as well as an AI-powered "personalization engine" that helps restaurants offer customized deals to diners, said Chief Information Officer Justin Skelton. The Pasadena, Calif.-based company, which also owns Fuzzy's Taco Shop and has over 3,500 restaurants across its brands, is taking a "practical" approach to AI by focusing on areas that can drive sales, Skelton said.

Streamlining tech support for Dine Brands' more than 300 franchisees is important because issues like a broken printer take valuable time away from actually managing restaurants, Skelton said. Dine Brands' AI tool, which was built with Amazon's Q generative AI assistant, allows the company's field technology services staff to query its knowledge base for tech help using plain English, rather than needing to manually search for answers.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Tuesday, classic computer collector Joe Strosnider announced the availability of a new 3D-printer filament that replicates the iconic "Platinum" color scheme used in classic Macintosh computers from the late 1980s through the 1990s. The PLA filament (PLA is short for polylactic acid) allows hobbyists to 3D-print nostalgic novelties, replacement parts, and accessories that match the original color of vintage Apple computers. Hobbyists commonly feed this type of filament into commercial desktop 3D printers, which heat the plastic and extrude it in a computer-controlled way to fabricate new plastic parts.

The Platinum color, which Apple used in its desktop and portable computer lines starting with the Apple IIgs in 1986, has become synonymous with a distinctive era of classic Macintosh aesthetic. Over time, original Macintosh plastics have become brittle and discolored with age, so matching the "original" color can be a somewhat challenging and subjective experience. Strosnider said he paid approximately $900 to develop the color. "Rather than keeping the formulation proprietary, he arranged for Polar Filament to make the color publicly available [for $21.99 per kilogram]," adds Ars.

The BBC visits "the strange, stubborn world of obsolete Windows machines." Even if you're a diehard Apple user, you're probably interacting with Windows systems on a regular basis. When you're pulling cash out, for example, chances are you're using a computer that's downright geriatric by technology standards. (Microsoft declined to comment for this article.) "Many ATMs still operate on legacy Windows systems, including Windows XP and even Windows NT," which launched in 1993, says Elvis Montiero, an ATM field technician based in Newark, New Jersey in the US. "The challenge with upgrading these machines lies in the high costs associated with hardware compatibility, regulatory compliance and the need to rewrite proprietary ATM software," he says. Microsoft ended official support for Windows XP in 2014, but Montiero says many ATMs still rely on these primordial systems thanks to their reliability, stability and integration with banking infrastructure.
And a job listing for an IT systems administrator for Germany's railway service "were expected to have expertise with Windows 3.11 and MS-DOS — systems released 32 and 44 years ago, respectively. In certain parts of Germany, commuting depends on operating systems that are older than many passengers." It's not just German transit, either. The trains in San Francisco's Muni Metro light railway, for example, won't start up in the morning until someone sticks a floppy disk into the computer that loads DOS software on the railway's Automatic Train Control System (ATCS). Last year, the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority (SFMTA) announced its plans to retire this system over the coming decade, but today the floppy disks live on.
Apple is "really aggressive about deprecating old products," M. Scott Ford, a software developer who specialises in updating legacy systems, tells the BBC. "But Microsoft took the approach of letting organisations leverage the hardware they already have and chasing them for software licenses instead. They also tend to have a really long window for supporting that software."

And so you get things like two enormous LightJet printers in San Diego powered by servers running Windows 2000, says photographic printer John Watts: Long out of production, the few remaining LightJets rely on the Windows operating systems that were around when these printers were sold. "A while back we looked into upgrading one of the computers to Windows Vista. By the time we added up the money it would take to buy new licenses for all the software it was going to cost $50,000 or $60,000 [£38,000 to £45,000]," Watts says. "I can't stand Windows machines," he says, "but I'm stuck with them...."

In some cases, however, old computers are a labour of love. In the US, Dene Grigar, director of the Electronic Literature Lab at Washington State University, Vancouver, spends her days in a room full of vintage (and fully functional) computers dating back to 1977... She's not just interested in early, experimental e-books. Her laboratory collects everything from video games to Instagram zines.... Grigar's Electronic Literature Lab maintains 61 computers to showcase the hundreds of electronic works and thousands of files in the collection, which she keeps in pristine condition.
Grigar says they're still looking for a PC that reads five-and-a-quarter-inch floppy disks.

What can you build with a 3D printer? Starbucks just printed itself a new store — a drive-through location in the southern tip of Texas.

Fast Company says it's a store that "looks more like the future of construction than your average café." Built with layers of concrete piped out by a giant robotic printer, the 1,400-square-foot structure is part of the company's ongoing effort to modernize operations and trim costs... Peri-3D, a German company, used a giant 3D printer to pump out layers of concrete mixture to create the structure. According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the cost for building the small scale coffee shop was about $1.2 million...

Of course, the new method is a first for the brand. And builders say, the more they use the technology, the more efficient they are at it. In Georgetown, Texas, an entire community of 100 homes was recently built using 3D-printing. The company who built the community, Lennar, says they're seeing costs drop with each build. Stuart Miller, chairman and co-CEO of Lennar, told CNBC earlier this year that the construction company says their costs and cycle time go down "by half" by adopting 3D-printing. "This is significant improvement in evolving a housing market that has the ability to change over time and being more adaptable and more functional in providing affordable and attainable housing for a broader swath of the market," said Miller...

3D-printing is also much faster, meaning that projects can be completed in a fraction of the time, potentially drastically cutting labor costs. According to the World Economic Forum, 3D-printing can cost just 30% of what building structures the old-fashioned way costs.
The article offers more examples of 3D-printed buildings. ("in Japan, a 3D-printed train station was just erected. And Peri-3D, itself, has completed at least 15 construction projects, including residential buildings in Europe and Germany.")

3D-printing has even been incorporated into some restaurants for customizing food, the article notes, "but building restaurants with the technology is a brand-new development."

Although not everyone seems convinced. Instagram comments on a picture of Starbucks' new 3D-printed drive-through characterized its aesthetic as "dirty", "fugly", "violently hideous", and "like hot garbage".

A United States District Court judge has approved a settlement between HP and customers who sued the company for firmware updates that prevented printers from working with non-HP ink cartridges.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in December 2020, alleged HP "wrongfully compels users" to buy only HP ink by issuing updates that block competitors' cartridges. Under the settlement, HP admits no wrongdoing and won't pay monetary damages to affected customers, though it will pay $5,000 each to the three plaintiffs and $725,000 in attorneys' fees.

HP has agreed to allow users of specific printer models impacted by the November 2020 update to decline firmware updates containing "Dynamic Security" features -- HP's term for technology that blocks cartridges using non-HP chips. The settlement applies only to 21 specific printer models, leaving numerous other HP printers subject to Dynamic Security restrictions. HP has previously paid millions in similar cases in Europe, Australia, and California related to printer bricking.

Microsoft says that some USB printers will start printing random text after installing Windows updates released since late January 2025. From a report: The known issue affects Windows 10 (version 22H2) and Windows 11 (versions 22H2 and 23H2), but according to an update to the Windows release health dashboard, the latest Windows 11 24H2 is not impacted.

"After installing the January 2025 Windows preview update (KB5050092), released January 29, 2025, or later updates, you might observe issues with USB connected dual-mode printers that support both USB Print and IPP Over USB protocols," Redmond explains. "You might observe that the printer unexpectedly prints random text and data, including network commands and unusual characters."

On affected systems, users will often see erroneously printed text that begins with the header "POST /ipp/print HTTP/1.1," followed by other IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) related issues headers. These printing issues are more frequent when the printer is turned on or reconnected after being disconnected. Affected users will observe the printer unexpectedly printing when the print spooler sends IPP protocol messages to the printer and the printer driver is installed on the Windows device.