Category: News

My Track Geometry page translated to Italian

My Track Layout Geometry page has been translated into Italian!

A few days ago I received an email from Alex Cordero of ITLUG (Italian LEGO® Users Group) saying that they were interested in translating the page into Italian. He just contacted me to let me know that it was done; you can view the finished page on the ITLUG Web site (EDIT 9/15/2008: updated URL).

This is the first time something I’ve written has been translated into another language, and I’m very flattered and pleased that it was deemed worthy for this treatment.

I don’t speak a word of Italian – though I do have some Spanish – so I don’t know how accurate the translation is, but I hope that it proves useful to Italian-speaking LEGO fans everywhere!

LEGO Technic Tora no Maki

Yoshihito Isogawa, author of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT The Orange Book, has just released a new PDF book jam-packed with pictures illustrating a lot of Technic tips and techniques. It’s called LEGO Technic Tora no Maki and although the author and title are Japanese, the book itself consists almost entirely of pictures, so there’s no language or literacy barrier to use. The book is a free PDF download, but the author requests a $10 payment if you use it. I think that’s entirely reasonable, especially with the dollar as weak as it is these days!

I haven’t looked through the whole thing yet, but I glanced at a few pages and think it will be very instructive. I’ve always been pretty weak on Technic skills, so I think I can benefit a lot from this. Check it out!

LEGO Technic Tora no Maki[tags]lego,technic,pdf,book,japanese[/tags]

RIP 9V Trains

Well, LEGO has finally made up their mind on the future of trains. Steve Witt has announced that the 9V system will be discontinued, to be replaced by IR-controlled, battery-powered trains.

The only silver lining is that the new system will be based on the new Technic Power Functions system rather than the much-maligned IR trains currently being sold. LEGO is working with AFOLs to design the new system, and I am really hoping they find a way to come up with a battery-powered system that has enough power for the needs of LEGO train clubs.

In the meantime, stocking up on 9V train parts might not be a bad idea….[tags]lego,trains,9v[/tags]

A Reprieve for Brickshelf

Brickshelf.com owner Kevin Loch finally posted about the whole shutdown controversy. It seems that he has had enough people offering to donate that the shutdown of Brickshelf is, for now, not iminent. Still, I think it’s pretty clear that moving one’s pictures to a more stable place like Flickr or MOCpages (which has introduced a new feature of hosting images, in response to the Brickshelf shutdown), is a good idea.

For my part, I have all my Brickshelf photos on Flickr already, but I won’t be posting anything new on Brickshelf from now on. I might start using MOCpages though, as a lot of people tend to browse there for models apparently. What do you think is the right way to proceed? Post a comment and share your thoughts.[tags]lego,brickshelf,image hosting[/tags]

Brickshelf is back – but not for long

Brickshelf has returned, but with a prominent notice saying “Notice: Brickshelf will be shutting down on 2007/07/31. Please save your files to your computer.”

I copied all my LEGO photos to Flickr some time ago, plus I kept copies on my hard drive, so I think I’m OK for now – though I will take this opportunity to find out. I suggest everyone take advantage of this opportunity to make backups if you need to![tags]lego,image hosting,brickshelf[/tags]

No More Brickshelf!

For many years, brickshelf.com has been the primary image hosting site for the LEGO community. But sadly, if you visit it today, you get nothing but this cryptic message:

“Brickshelf has discontinued operation. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Now I’m sure it must have been a very expensive site to operate, but its sudden disappearance has been a really traumatic experience for many LEGO fans.

Read more about it on LUGNET.[tags]lego,image hosting,brickshelf[/tags]

USB Flash Drives in LEGO

Every once in a while someone comes up with a new way to modify LEGO parts to do something unexpected. The latest example is a USB flash drive by an Australian company called Zip Zip. They are taking 2×2 LEGO bricks and installing USB connectors and flash memory. For about US$50 you can have 1GB of LEGO for your very own. As much as I generally dislike modifying LEGO, I have to make an exception here, this is just too darn cool. I gotta have one! Don’t you?

Courtesy of Engaget, brought to my attention by my brother-in-law Jim.

LEGO Online Game Coming Soon

It would appear that LEGO is working on a massively multiplayer online game! At least, according to this blog entry from kotaku.com, LEGO is working with NetDevil to produce a new online game where kids can interact using virtual LEGO bricks. And if you don’t believe the blogs, try checking out the official press release from NetDevil or LEGO official Web sites…[tag]lego,game,netdevil[/tag]

The Unofficial LEGO Advanced Building Techniques Guide

Didier Enjary of FreeLUG (French LEGO users group) has compiled a great guide to advanced LEGO construction techniques. It explains in great detail the geometry of LEGO bricks, and how to fit them together to achieve some great effects. The focus is mainly on SNOT (Studs Not On Top) construction, and how to achieve various offsets of fractional brick widths. There are some very inspiring ideas which can improve anyone’s LEGO skills.

You can access the document (it’s a PDF file to be downloaded) on the FreeLUG site and/or read the thread on LUGNET.[tags]lego,snot,lugnet,freelug[/tags]

Holiday Madness

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?