Sorry for the long gap in posting. Like many people, I find my life gets all turned around and upside-down at some point in mid-December each year, only to finally sort itself out sometime in January. Between holiday activities and sickness, I just haven’t had a chance to blog in weeks. But I’ll try to do a better job in the new year.
I haven’t built anything original in way too long. Right now the room where the LEGO is kept (which is supposed to be an office) has turned into a kind of closet where everything in the house that was otherwise in the way has been crammed. And the chair I used to use for building broke, and needs to be replaced. But hopefully I’ll dig myself a big enough hole among the mess to start work again soon. This was a good Christmas for LEGO though.
I bought myself a Mindstorms NXT kit, which surprisingly, I find intimidating. I’ve been programming computers since I was 10 and obviously working with LEGO even longer, but somehow combining the two is a challenge. I built the basic robot according to the directions, and now I need to start experimenting with the programming side. I’ve always taken the attitude with new LEGO sets that you have to build it once according to LEGO’s instructions, and only after you’ve done that is it OK to design one’s own creations using that set. I’m going to apply that same rule to Mindstorms, and though I’d like to experiment with programming using NQC or BrickOS or whatever alternative environment works with the NXT, I think I should play with the software it comes with for a while first to get the hang of the basics. What do you think?
I also got some LEGO sets from my mom. Every year she asks me what to get me for my birthday and Christmas, and every time I answer the same. Luckily she usually believes me, as you may have seen when my birthday came through in August. She got me 4895 Motion Power (which she also got me for my birthday, but that’s OK because it’s just more good parts for my collection) and 4896 Roaring Roadsters (which I had also recently purchased for myself, but again, twice the goodness!). Both excellent sets, and gifts that I totally appreciate!!
Oh, and I also took apart the Garden Gnome and washed the bricks. I also made an MLCAD version, in case I want to bulid it again (or maybe even sell it as a kit? I keep toying with that idea).
I was thinking I need something new and dramatic to bring into work and put on my desk. Maybe something Space. Any suggestions?
This year was no exception. The exhibit ran from December 16 through January 14. I didn’t actively participate in this show, though, as I was busy with holiday madness and illness. But the show went on without me, and I managed to go there last Thursday, when the museum played host to a reception for the local Yale alumni club. While I was there I took some pictures using my new phone (I got a Treo 700P recently) and I just now posted them on Flickr.