Will Comic Books Survive Coronavirus?

As Marvel cuts staff and publishers stop selling new titles, artists, shop owners and writers worry for the future of an industry worth billions. From a report: There are no new comic books. Steve Geppi, head of Diamond Comic Distributors, which distributes nearly every comic sold in the anglophone world (or used to), announced this on 23 March, though senior industry…

As Raspberry Pi Sales Skyrocket, Eben Upton Applauds Efforts of Open Hardware Community

“Sales of Raspberry Pi’s single-board computers hit 640,000 in March, the second-biggest month for sales since they started selling,” reports TechRepublic, “as consumers flocked to inexpensive ways to work and learn from home.”
But that’s not all, Eben Upton tells them:
With the pandemic having highlighted shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE), 3D-printing manufacturers and hobbyists have been building face shields printed on…

Open-Source Electronics Maker Adafruit Switches To Producing Face Shields, Other PPE

Slashdot reader and managing director of Adafruit, Phillip Torrone, a.k.a. ptorrone, writes: Tom’s Hardware talked to Adafruit about what it’s like to switch from selling tech to selling protective gear, and when hobbyists can expect things to return to normal. In March of 2020, Adafruit was deemed an essential service and business for critical manufacturing in NYC by executive order 202.6,…

Scientists Create ‘Xenobots’ — Virtual Creatures Brought to Life

“If the last few decades of progress in artificial intelligence and in molecular biology hooked up, their love child — a class of life unlike anything that has ever lived — might resemble the dark specks doing lazy laps around a petri dish in a laboratory at Tufts University.” The New York Times reports on a mind-boggling living machine that’s programmable…

Mobilizing 3D Printers Around the World Against the Coronovirus

“From face-shields to respirator valves, 3-D printer owners pitch in to the efforts to provide PPE to Australian hospitals,” writes davecb (Slashdot reader #6,526). It’s not only happening in Australia. But the Guardian talked to Mat Bowtell, a former Toyota engineer in Australia who’s using fourteen 3D printers to manufacture thousands of face shields for healthcare workers. And citing 3D printing,…

Hospitals Turn To Crowdsourcing and 3D Printing Amid Equipment Shortages

With medical supplies strained by the coronavirus outbreak, health care professionals and technologists are coming together online to crowdsource repairs and supplies of critical hospital equipment. From a report: Doctors, hospital technicians and 3D-printing specialists are also using Google Docs, WhatsApp groups and online databases to trade tips for building, fixing and modifying machines like ventilators to help treat the rising…

More essential coronavirus links: March 17-23

A roundup of information from physicians, scientists and journalists. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/more-essential-coronavirus-links-march-17-23…

Microsoft Patches SMBv3 Wormable Bug That Leaked Earlier this Week

Microsoft today released a patch for a vulnerability in the SMBv3 protocol that accidentally leaked online earlier this week during the March 2020 Patch Tuesday preamble. From a report: The fix is available as KB4551762, an update for Windows 10, versions 1903 and 1909, and Windows Server 2019, versions 1903 and 1909. The update fixes CVE-2020-0796, a vulnerability in Server Message…

Chrome OS To Get Native App For Printing and Scanning Documents

According to 9to5Google, Google is working on a native Chrome OS app for printing and scanning documents. From the report: While there are many ways to start printing on Chrome OS, there’s no real way to see what you’ve currently got queued to print, when not using Cloud Print [which is shutting down at the end of the year]. This is…

Windows Has a New Wormable Vulnerability With No Patch Available

A vulnerability in version 3.1.1 of the Server Message Block (SMB) — the service that’s used to share files, printers, and other resources on local networks and over the internet — can allow attacks to execute code of their choice on both servers and end-user computers that use the vulnerable protocol, Microsoft said in an advisory. Ars Technica reports: The flaw,…