It’s run by Bambu Labs, a Chinese state-subsidised company that’s notorious for nudging users globally to let Internet-connected 3D printers map their home LANs and upload that info, plus name, address & other billing details, plus all their 3D models, to Chinese “cloud” servers where the CCP can siphon off any models useful for advancing Chinese industry.

They’re also notorious for letting Makerworld users rip off each others’ designs in flagrant violation of the design licenses. Look on Reddit or 3D printing forums and you’ll see tons of people complaining about this.

Bambu Labs also recently egregiously violated the AGPL by threatening a lawsuit against Pavel Jarczak, a hobbyist who found a perfectly legal workaround to reduce BL control over people’s printers. This was a big deal: the Software Freedom Conservancy, Louis Rossmann, and Gamers Nexus all pledged action.

Bambu Labs and Makerworld stand for dictatorship, authoritarianism, and kleptocracy.

If you support FOSS, user rights, and democracy, you really ought to boycott them.

https://sfconservancy.org/news/2026/may/18/bambu-studio-3d-printer-agpl-violation-response/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLLVn6XT7v0

How ironic that it’s hosted at Makerworld, which is effectively a CCP platform for widespread surveillance and IP theft.

Thanks, I’ll try that.

The issue has happening on an increasing number of websites, though: Ecosia, ScienceDirect, TrainSplit (which thankfully has a fallback to hCaptcha), Indeed, and more.

Holy moly, you’re not wrong. 😳

Look at this nonsense from the World Economic Forum.

Thanks! Fediverse FTW!

Found a German store that ships them internationally.

Apparently, Stalux is a sub-brand of a German company called Eulit. AFAICT, Stalux specialises in stainless straps, whereas Eulit-branded straps tend to be other materials and made in Germany.

I haven’t yet found confirmation that Stalux straps specifically are German-made but please post a link if you have one. The product listings for that store say the Stalux straps are made in Germany. Great!

Hopefully I’ll find a UK seller, to avoid the Brexit surcharges.

I fear so, but I hope at least some are made in a democracy. Taiwan, for example.

Thanks. What’s your source for that list? I think you’re right that those measurements are factors in the final “bot score”, but I expect there are many other measurements also factored in.

If you look at my OP, though, you’ll see my browser passed the checks but was still blocked, which Cloudflare said shouldn’t happen.

It pops up on which page?

I can’t see it on either of the pages mentioned in my OP:

• https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-challenges/troubleshooting/challenge-solve-issues/
• https://browser-compat.turnstile.workers.dev/

I’m getting this issue in Chromium.

Like you, I’ve encountered it especially often in the last 3 weeks or so. Thanks for confirming it’s not just me!

Do you have a link to that feedback form, by any chance?

I eventually managed to find contact details for the webmaster for the site on which I most recently encountered this. Hopefully they’ll fix it in their Cloudflare configuration.

Failing that, I’ll try User-Agent spoofing. Failing that, another ISP, or VPN.

Cloudflare is already wrongly flagging this Linux box as a bot when it connects from an ordinary domestic ISP.

Surely it would be more likely to flag it if it was connecting from a VPN exit node.

No VPN present in this particular case.

The difference is no-one said crypto mining would solve climate change.

Some tech bros are saying AI will solve climate change. As this article shows, they’re wrong.

Thank you, I stand corrected.

I’m willing to be corrected if I’m wrong.

However, if you run a high current through a coiled mains extension cord, you create a fire hazard because it heats up due to induction. No ferrous metals involved, just the copper or aluminium conductors in the cable. Don’t induction hobs work on a similar principle?

“They”?

Gosh, you’ve posted this misinformation twice under the same OP. It’s just not true.

only if a magnet sticks

That’s simply untrue.

Many stainless pans have an aluminium core. Aluminium isn’t magnetic, but is very inductive.

Some stainless pans are made of 316 stainless steel. It is inductive, but not magnetic.

Ikea 365+ stainless is good value, induction-compatible, and IME lasts for decades despite abuse from careless housemates.

A good stainless steel weld is VERY unlikely to ever break or need repair. My welded stainless pans are decades old.