World Readable: a personal blog about anything that comes to mind for anybody who cares to read it.
The Browns played a fantastic game against the Chiefs yesterday in the NFL playoffs divisional round, but just couldn’t stage the comeback they needed, losing 22-17. So close! But what a fantastic season.
Tom Brady and the Bucs, on the other hand, walked all over Drew Brees and the Saints at the Superdome, eliminating them 30-20. On to Green Bay! I hope Brady hasn’t gotten too used to our warm Florida weather now that he’s heading back to colder climes in January! Bring on the Packers! Go Bucs!
Now that I’m semi-comfortable with the 3D printing process for my Ender 3 Pro (download/create model, slice STL in Cura, save GCode to micro SD card, put micro SD card in printer, print model), I wanted to eliminate the “sneakernet” step of manually shuffling the SD card between my PC and the printer and enable some more monitoring options (eliminating another sneakernet connection: walking back into the office every now and then to check on the printer!).
Enter OctoPrint: “the snappy web interface for your 3D printer that allows you to control and monitor all aspects of your printer and print jobs, right from within any browser on your network. It runs basically everywhere, from a Raspberry Pi to your gaming rig, can be easily extended thanks to a powerful plugin system, and is Free and Open Source Software.” Specifically, I’m using the Raspberry Pi-enabled version, OctoPi.
I have a new hobby!
For Christmas, my wife and daughter surprised me with a 3D printer, the (SainSmart-branded) Creality Ender-3 Pro. It was a well-timed gift since we were stuck at home for the holidays and winter break so I had a whole week to immerse myself in a brand new area of tech, learning about new acronyms (FDM, PTFE, PLA, TPU), terminology, filaments, web sites, and, of course, printing stuff!
Where to start?
2020’s sports season continues to deliver. Both of my teams finished the regular season 11-5 and ended long playoff droughts. It’s been a long time since I got to watch my Bucs and Browns play football past early January but both of them won their wildcard games this past weekend and are advancing to the divisional round this Sunday!
The Browns last played in a playoff game in 2003 (losing to the Steelers) and before that was 1995 where, with head coach Bill Belichick, beat Bill Parcel’s Patriots (but then went on to lose to the Steelers) and last won a playoff game on the road back in 1969. So beating the Steelers two weeks in a row, in Heinz Field, eliminating them from the playoffs, despite all the COVID-19 issues, is sweet revenge (ok sure, no fans or terrible towels). The Browns now have to face the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs (another old rivalry from the Marty Schottenheimer days).
Tom Brady continued his playoff streak, guiding the Bucs to their first playoff appearance since 2007 and first playoff victory since 2002 (the year they won the Super Bowl). It was hard to believe that with an 11-5 record they had to play a road game against the 7-9 Washington Football Team (wow, the NFC East was terrible this year), but they won and will face Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
With Super Bowl LV here in Tampa on February 7, you know I’m pulling for both teams to make it, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Both teams have a tough road ahead.
Go Bucs! Go Browns!