Technologies

Prusa MK4 3D Printer, Out Now, Follows Up Best in the Business

Prusa’s latest offering is said to be nearly three times faster than the excellent MK3, with better quality and accuracy. It’s available now for $1,099.

What’s happening

Prusa Research, a leading 3D printer manufacturer, has announced the MK4, the latest update to its popular Original Prusa line.

Why it matters

The original Prusa MK3 has been one of the best 3D printers for a long time. This new upgrade is supposed to make Prusa’s flagship even better.

What’s next

You can order the Prusa MK4 fully assembled for $1,099 or wait for the kit to ship for $799 in the coming weeks.

Prusa Research on Wednesday launched the Original Prusa MK4. Based on the same design as its MK3S Plus — a frequent pick as the best 3D printer on many sites — this new version has been upgraded in almost every way.

While there are few aesthetic changes to the shape of the MK4 compared to the MK3, there have been a lot of changes under the hood to bring it up to speed with the latest innovations in 3D printing. Many smaller details are quite technical, but the main points can be seen below. The upshot of these upgrades is a printer that promises accurate and detailed prints almost three times faster than the previous generation.

Faster print speeds through «input shaper and pressure advance» firmware updates
Hardware upgrades to better support speed and quality changes
Fast-swappable hot ends to let you use different size nozzles quickly
Nextruder extruder system
32-bit mainboard, which allows for Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections
Upgraded color LCD with model preview
Fully automatic bed leveling to improve your first layer
New multimaterial unit available as an add-on

Prusa has a reputation as a leader in the open-source 3D printing community. The MK4 will continue that tradition, allowing people to customize the machine how they want in the years to come. The company has also announced several upgrade kits that can upgrade your existing Prusa MK3 to variations of the MK4 — called the MK3.5 and MK3.9 — that will allow you to get almost all the MK4’s features, starting from $250.

Prusa announced the Prusa XL last year, but many of these have still not shipped. Because of this, the company has offered to switch preorders of the Prusa XL to the MK4 if you would rather pick up the smaller machine.

The Original Prusa MK4 is available now in a limited run, with more units to follow for $1,099, while the MK4 kit is due in the coming weeks. You can also order the upgrade kit for your MK3S Plus now if you want to upgrade rather than buy a new machine.

Technologies

Verizon’s Simple Mobile and Total Wireless Plans Expand International Features

If you frequently call or visit countries outside the US, these prepaid phone plan improvements could help your travel budget.

Travel patterns are changing, with more people in the US venturing outside the country and needing to stay connected. To accommodate this surge, Verizon is boosting the international options in its prepaid Simple Mobile and Total Wireless phone brands starting Aug. 28.

Most phone plans include options to call and text people in Canada and Mexico, along with some roaming options for US travelers. Depending on the plan, those options are extended to many other countries around the globe. But you often end up paying for a more expensive plan than you need in order to get the travel benefits.

Now, the Simple Mobile and Total Wireless brands are expanding their international options and increasing data allotments so you can travel using the plan you carry every day without the stress of finding local coverage.

See also: Make sure you have a good phone for traveling.

Simple Mobile changes

The Simple Mobile prepaid plans include an allotment of high-speed data before downshifting to slower unlimited data. Be sure to check the details for specific countries on the site. Here’s how they break down:

The $25 Unlimited plan includes 15GB of high-speed data (up from 3GB) and unlimited calling to more than 100 countries.
The $30 Unlimited plan includes 20GB of high-speed data (up from 5GB) and unlimited calling to more than 125 countries (up from 100 countries).
The $40 Unlimited plan includes 30GB of high-speed data (up from 15GB) and unlimited calling to more than 125 countries (up from 100 countries).
The $50 Unlimited World plan, formerly named the Truly Unlimited plan, includes unlimited high-speed data and unlimited calling to more than 200 countries (a doubling of the number of countries from before).
The $60 Unlimited World Plus plan, formerly the Truly Unlimited Plus plan, includes unlimited access to Verizon’s fastest network, 5G Ultra Wideband (where available) and unlimited high-speed data. It also doubles the number of countries with unlimited calling to over 200, and offers international roaming in more than 140 countries.

Total Wireless Plans

The top two Total Wireless plans, Total 5G Unlimited ($50 a month) and Total 5G Unlimited Plus ($60 a month), feature unlimited high-speed data, including 5G Ultra Wideband speeds.

As of Aug. 28, roaming coverage for those plans doubles to more than 30 countries and international calling to 180 countries.

The Total Base 5G Unlimited plan stays the same with unlimited high-speed data (but not 5G Ultra Wideband), international calling to more than 85 countries and texting to over 200 destinations and roaming in Canada and Mexico.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 20 #535

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Aug. 20, No. 535.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a tough one. It helps to know a little something about different currencies, but there was one on there that was completely new to me. If you need hints and answers for today’s Strands puzzle, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Mint condition

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: We’re in the money!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

GULP, GLOB, LORE, DOLL, DOLE, DOLED, ROPE, ROPER, WALL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

EURO, PESO, DOLLAR, POUND, RAND, RUPEE, KWANZA

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is GLOBALCURRENCY. To find it, look for the G that’s four letters to the right on the very top row, and wind down.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Aug. 20

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Aug. 20.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword has a few challenging clues (4-Down threw me off), but it’s mostly OK. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.