printer

The LP was invented in 1948, and judging by the sales surge over the past few years, LPs won't be going away anytime soon. Amanda Ghassaei's "3D Printed Record" project demonstrated vinyl's continuing relevance in the 21st century. Years ago when I saw an early demonstration of 3D printing, I knew the technology would eventually lead to printing LPs, but now it's a little closer to becoming a reality. First, however, there are major sound-quality issues to overcome with 3D printed LPs (though they can play tunes with fidelity that's far below MP3 … Read more

As of a day ago, MakerBot's Thingiverse Web site hosted the plans for a key component of an AR15 semi automatic rifle. Anyone could download Michael "HaveBlue" Guslick's design for the lower receiver, and if you had a 3D printer you make one yourself.

Those plans, and plans for other firearm components have now been removed from Thingiverse. You can access Guslick's old listing, and you can also find it on the Pirate Bay and elsewhere, but the printable STL files have been removed from Thingiverse, and the listing no longer turns up when you … Read more

There are plenty of services that can turn your photos -- whether taken with a phone or camera or downloaded from Facebook or Instagram -- into canvas prints. One of those services, SnapBox, is worth highlighting not just for the quality of the product, but for its affordable pricing and ease of use.

Ordering a print just requires you to e-mail a photo, which is quickly replied to with a proof of what it will look like. A 5x5 or 5x7 print is currently less than $10 and shipping is free if you're willing to pick the print up … Read more

I'm so in love with today's deal, I want to bring it home to meet my parents.

Wow, was that terrible. I was going to go with the slightly raunchier, much funnier version of that line, but then I remembered this is a family blog. No Chris Rock-style material here; the best I can give you is Bob Saget.

Anyway, for a limited time, and while supplies last, GearXS.com has the Canon Pixma MG4220 wireless multifunction printer for $49.99, plus $12.99 for shipping. That's after applying coupon code CNET-40 at checkout (click Apply Discount … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Instagram photos disappear from Twitter feeds.

- You can use IFTTT to post Instagram photos to Twitter cards.

- Twitter vs. Instagram in a knock-down, drag-out filters fight.

- Head-to-head: Twitter vs. Instagram filters.

- Sony putting an end to production of handheld cassette recorders.

- "Modern Seinfeld" Twitter account imagines Jerry and Co. in the Digital Age.

- Check out the CNET 100 of 2012.… Read more

3D printing has a way to go before it becomes a mainstream consumer activity. If it ever does cross over from its hobbyist and commercial roots, MakerBot and its CEO Bre Pettis can claim a decent share of the credit.

The MakerBot Replicator and newer Replicator 2 3D printers are fine products, but the company's marketing know-how is also a significant factor in its success. MakerBot's Thingiverse Web site hosts plans for more than 26,000 printable objects, all free for anyone to download and print. Pettis' media-friendly demeanor has landed his company's name on the digital … Read more

Virtual PDF Printer is an app that lets you create PDF files on your iPad or iPhone. Available through iTunes for $19.99, Virtual PDF Printer installs easily.

Creating PDFs from files on your iPad or iPhone often means saving documents in a common file format, then opening another app to convert the file to PDF. With Virtual PDF Printer, you tell your iDevice to print to the virtual printer instead, which creates a PDF file directly from your office productivity or other app. For many people, this shortcuts the process and leads to a PDF file more quickly, and … Read more

If Made In USA is a feature, Hewlett-Packard's got Apple beat.

In effect, that's what HP said today. "Lots of noise...about Apple moving Mac production back to the U.S.... [We] wanted to offer HP's story," said an HP representative via e-mail Friday.

Part of that story was provided by way of a blog post.

"HP PCs have been assembled in the U.S. since the beginning," the post begins. "HP workstations and commercial desktop PCs are manufactured in Indianapolis, and HP servers are manufactured in Houston. These manufacturing facilities employ … Read more

Moon Software's Font Xplorer is a freeware font manager that makes it easy to view, print, sample, and handle the many fonts installed on your PC -- and take it from us, there are more fonts in your system than you might realize. Font Xplorer's text compare mode makes it easy to pick just the right font, and it can also search your system to find duplicate fonts that you can remove to reclaim disk space and keep your Windows waistline trim. This tool can load, unload, install, and uninstall fonts by folder, search for uninstalled fonts, show … Read more