Anet A8 Fire Risk and Marlin Upgrade Video #SaveTheSexyCyborg

https://youtu.be/Z9hDMkFWE_0

Upgrade your firmware. Make sure Thermal Runaway Protection is on. Be safe.

This video was honestly a little rushed. I felt a bit behind the 8 ball with so many A8s catching fire in so short a time. Had I unlimited resources the illustrated description of the thermal runaway problem would have taken a different form, but as it is I hope you enjoy by hastily scribbled drawings. Maybe I'll do that again in the future.

It's been a turbulent week. A week of upsets. A week of triumphs. And a week of losses.

For those who don't know, while the community was putting market pressure on Creality to convince them to release their source code changes in the form of a boycott, Naomi Wu, aka @RealSexyCyborg, was employing her connections with the Creality CEO to advocate for us, translate our demands and the consequences thereof in a way that could be understood and accepted, and turn what could have been a disaster into the best possible outcome. Without a doubt, without Naomi's influence we would likely not have the source code from Creality that we wanted.

Meanwhile, Naomi was having a trial of a different sort. It's been documented more completely elsewhere (recommended reading), but the short version of the story goes like this:

• A news agency of the loosest sense, called Vice, wants to interview Naomi Wu.
• Naomi agrees, with the stipulation that they avoid details about her personal life as that could put her at risk in China where personal freedoms are different.
• Vice puts personal information in the interview anyways. Information that could put her at risk.
• Naomi felt threatened and, in a video explaining the situation, revealed personal information about the reporter who interviewed her. Information that could have been found with a google search by anyone.
• Vice leveraged her doxxing of them to lead a legal attack to cut off her financial options, getting YouTube to remove her videos and getting Patreon to cancel her account.
• Naomi, without a legal team of her own, is basically left without recourse. 

While I acknowledge the legal complexities of the situation, I side with Naomi on this one. Vice wasn't trying to make the world a better place. They were stirring a sensational pot that was started on 4Chan by nerds who couldn't stand the idea of a girl playing in their sandbox.

Vice's goal was seeing if the theory, that Naomi isn't the genuine article, was true. Users on 4Chan believe that behind the fashion centered maker there is a white man calling the shots and using her for his own gain. It's a ludicrous theory that only appeals to the sorts of stereotypical nerds who are, quite frankly, making us all look bad. That Vice gets their sources from 4Chan should have been a clue about the sort of journalism one can expect from them. 

However, in China, a claim like this would make her high profile on social media unacceptable. The accusation of "Western controlled" in one often associated with detention and this has happened to much less vocal and lower profile women.

I've written about Naomi in the past. You only need to watch one of her videos to realize that any claims like this about her intents are completely false. I believe she's the genuine article. But even if the 4Chan claim is true, what does it matter? Who cares if she's doing this of her own accord (which I believe she is) or if she's got someone behind her telling her what to do (which I highly doubt), the influence on the community is the same. If one girl decides that being a girl and being a maker does not need to be at odds with each other, I consider that a win for us all, regardless of the motive behind it. Not only that, she can now add "GLP advocate" to her resume. 

For this Naomi has been targeted by a sensational news organisation who put her at risk for a story, and then shut down her livelihood for turning their treatment back on them because she feared for her safety. In my opinion, Vice does not deserve the protection of the law and Naomi does not deserve to be railroaded. We need Naomi way more than we need Vice. 

I'll admit, some of her videos were a little uncomfortable for me to watch. But while I don't always agree with what she does, but I will defend her to the end for her right to do it.

So what's to be done? Do we have any hope of facing Vice and their lawyers on their field of battle? Is there another front this can be fought on? Is there any way we can get Naomi back into the game? I'm open to suggestion, because I want to #SaveTheSexyCyborg.