The inventor of K'Nex went to Drexel University so he donated *assloads* of K'nex to the school. I was working on K'nex design project freshman year. We made some pretty kick-ass rubber band powered guns that shot the rods. They *really* can hurt.
-=-=-=-=-=-=- This signature contains text from the worlds funniest signature.
Look for "She's finally naked, now let's go for petrified!" I think they're on (seriously) www.badassmofo.com. If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
Lego also announced the release of their RIAA and MPA boxed sets, with realistic "Cease and Desist" tiles and life-like explosive seperation when hit by Lego machine guns. Includes RIAA and MPA satanic Lawyer From Hell action figure.
Sorry, just had to write that.
-- It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
This isn't as good as it sounds.
by
Wellspring
·
· Score: 4
Great! Now I have to wait ten days before buying my lego A-Wing. Does this mean that legos have become too dangerous for anyone to have other than Approved Law Enforcement Authorities? I hope I'm not too subversive for silly putty-- I'm running out of toys which are not Bad Influences (TM).
I agree that making a machine gun out of legos is pretty cool, but it's also a bit morbid. When I was a kid we made spaceships, and little towns with little people in them. Machine guns didn't really cross my mind.
Perhaps just the idea of making a toy weapon out of legos is a bit much for me... Why couldn't you make a water gun or something?
There go my childhood memories...
-- "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
Damned American Gun Culture
by
antizeus
·
· Score: 4
I predict a flame war over guns and the right to keep and bear arms. I think I'll start it off with a little trolling.
We shouldn't be encouraging our children to glorify weapons with toys. Won't somebody please think of the children?
Studies have shown that you're 7652 times more likely to shoot yourself with a Lego machine gun than you are to shoot an intruder.
The Second Amendment of the US Constitution only grants an organized militia (i.e. the government) to have Lego machine guns.
The need for Lego machine guns is historically obsolete because the playgrounds are run by democratic coalitions of children and not mean kids like in the old days.
If the playground is taken over by mean kids, then Lego machine guns won't help the nice kids because the mean kids will have the overwhelming advantage of possessing Lego tanks and Lego nukes.
Home security system? Frag that.. my cat had better mend his ways and stop demanding to be fed at 6.30 on weekends.. already have a mindstorms chassis that would accept something like this with a few modifications..
And why shouldn't we use something creative to build a weapon? Usually it's the other way around.. if you don't keep things balanced in life you start getting an itchy feeling to get into politics..
This is pretty neat and all, but did it need to be posted in an article by it's self? Maybe it would have been better suited with CmdrTaco's quickies (man I miss those)? BRING ON THE QUICKIES I SAY! Then we could get a bunch at a time.:-)
A Lego Machine Gun! Fruit of the devil!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 2
This is very upsetting. Did anyone check to see if the 7 day waiting period was met? What about a permit? Has the gun been registered? You know someone just built it to sneak on to airplanes! What is this world coming to. It all started with that evil Doom(tm) game! Next thing you know someone will build an atomic bomb out of them. I think we should repeal the constitution NOW. Burn the bill of rights! The world would be a better place without the 1st and 2nd amendmants! Imagine no one could say anything that might offend someone. No guns - the government could enforce it's laws without fear of public outcry or backlash. No internet. No posting of that evil DeCSS code. I am going to go cry now that someone has turned a child hood toy of creation and wonderment into an evil tool of destruction - you could put out someones eye!
I find your lack of faith disturbing Darth Vader on the subject of open sourcing the death star plans
Is this the beginning of an armament race strated by the Robot Monkeys? I implore everyone to support banning Lego weapons for Robot Monkeys! If the Robotic Monkeys get Lego guns, they'll be free to force us around like sheep!
LIF
Bad Mojo
-- Bad Mojo "If you can't win by reason, go for volume." -- Calvin
I used Lego's to build a model of 'Little Boy' (implosive a-bomb) for a high-school project once. We had been asked to write an essay about a historically significant bit of technology, and have at least one example of it for illustrative purposes. Kept the model in a metal box next to the desk whilst reading the essay for effect. (The effect was a trip down to the principal's office for a discussion on 'why nukes are BAD!')
The only challenges I see are getting Lego to produce the explosive bricks needed for the lenses,(TNT does not lend itself to modern hi-temp injection moulding!) and then getting them to produce a Lego timing module capable of signalling thousands of 1x1 Lego M1 detonator bricks. The enriched uranium bricks could probably be bought for a couple of tins of Spam on the Russian black market.. (We only need 20 kilos) Lego currently makes the 'urchin' device; it's in set 107; Jr. Atomic Scientist's Secret Lab.
-- .sig: Now legally binding!
I have a legitimate use for this
by
Lxy
·
· Score: 3
I, as a nerd, am somewhat lazy at times. I also like things that when misused turn into interesting toys. And I like PEZ. The solution? A PEZ cannon. I've been working on the concept for a few months now, and finally I have the solution. Using Mindstorms, I connect my PEZ cannon to my PC at work. Need a PEZ? How about thirty? No problem!! And with a simple keystroke (perhaps Ctrl-Alt-P) a predefined number of PEZ come screaming at my face. It's all ingenious, don't you think?
--
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda :wq
According to their creator, The Lego Company (formerly The Lego Group), they are "LEGO Bricks"; the term "Lego" is not to be used to refer to a brick nor "Legos" to multiple bricks.
Also, the word LEGO is formed from the Danish words "LEg GOdt" ("play well").
-Sjev
-- %DCL-E-OPENIN, error openingDISK$3:[Sjev]LIFE;
-RMS-E-LNF, life not found
It's an ancient word meaning "Thou shan't have my toaster waffle! Begone!"
How long 'till they are illegal?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5
First of all, the 30 round magazines are illegal. Of course, no non-military person needs such an extreme rate of fire! And don't even get me started on the fact that the plastic bits can be transported through the detectors at the airport. Heck, someone could hijack a plane by building the darned thing after they board!
I know what you're thinking, if we outlaw LEGO then only outlaws will play with LEGO. But at what price? How many stories on the next Columbine do we need to hear from Katz before we wake up to the reality of how dangerous this can be? People can't be safe what with all these robots running around, now possibly armed.
So write your Congress, the MPAA, and anyone else who can be swayed to abuse their power for no reason. Obviously this guy should be locked up since he is telling everyone how to make guns and providing the plans.
:) TGIF!
Re:How long 'till they are illegal?
by
348
·
· Score: 2
First off why did you post as AC? The post is actually pretty thoughtful. 1) ? that the plastic bits can be transported through the detectors at the airport This is true and sooner or later some dolt will try it.
2) do we need to hear from Katz before we wake up to the reality of how dangerous this can be? you let the cat out of the bag! Betcha within a week or two Katz will have an article something along the lines of "Amerika, how Lego is contributing to the socialization of society."
3) So write your Congress, This like everything else will have some muckety muck group to oppose it, led by some Hollywood activist type, I can see Steisand now, "The youth of our nation is at risk from Southpark and Lego, please members of the house subcommittee, you must put a stop to it".
4) . Obviously this guy should be locked up since he is telling everyone how to make guns and providing the plans Also Betcha this will happen.
Something so simple and yet there will be all the fuss about we need to protect ourselves from ourselves.
Never knock on Death's door:
--
More race stuff in one place,
than any one place on the net.
Expect to see more stories from the Hellmouth - Pre-schoolers bringing Lego machine guns to school and shooting everyone up! Imagine: Drive-by Lego'ings in Power Wheels! No one will be safe.
On the bright side, maybe the availibility of Lego machine guns will deter young terrorists from using actual firearms.
So, the legos are the interesting part.
by
seebs
·
· Score: 2
If a reporter were covering us (actually, one is), I wonder if it would figure in the article that, for all our interest in impassioned debate about education, the education story doesn't come back, but the legos get more coverage.
-- My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
I was expecting a Lego-sized machine gun, to fit into those little hands. It'd be perfect for playing "LMI vs. Symbolics" (for the clue-impaired amongst you, an ancestral version of "BSD vs. GPL") with my Lego set.
Anyway... does anyone remember that program that built Lego bridges using a genetic algorithm? Why not put it to use improving this machine gun? I bet in a few thousand generations it'd turn out a real weapon of mass destruction. Hell yeah!
-- To the editors: your English is as bad as your Perl. Please go back to grade school.
Lego test replaced SATS at some schools, remember?
by
Pariah
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· Score: 3
Boy, this guy's a shoo-in at any of the schools which are using LEGO projects as admission criteria now. I can see it now:
"Okay, uh, your Lego project doesn't really look much like it's supposed to, frankly we're a little disappointed in... Hey! Put that down! OK! You're in! You're in!"
Bill Clinton today annouced a bill that he will send to Congress requiring a 3 way waiting period and background check for the sale of LEGO's sets, and require that all LEGO's be sold with a locking case.
In addition to the LEGO machine gun design posted on the web, Clinton cited the possible use of LEGO Mindstorm sets to plant terrorist devices.
When pressed as to how a LEGO machine gun could pose a theat to American society, Clinton responded, "You could put an eye out with those things. We must protect the children!"
Meanwhile, Al Gore, campaigning at a daycare in South Carolina, told kids that he "invented LEGOs."
Whilst in college, an EE/ME friend and I tried to develop a project we called the "BeerMaster" -- a range-finding, direction-finding tabletop device, with a gravity-fed magazine of beer cans, and a compressed air launching mechanism.
The basic idea was that if you'd shout "Beer Me!", the device would recognize your call, turn to face you, estimate distance, and launch a beer at you (which you'd naturally grab out of the air).
We had a couple problems that made us give up development:
our targetting was poor. The device was able to direction-find pretty accurately, but the rangefinding wasn't very good -- it would frequently target the wall six feet behind you, or the like.
the launching mechanism required a fair bit of power, that made the device relatively unfeasible for normal home use. For example, we had to attach two cylinders of compressed air, and that didn't last long.
in order to get a clean launch, each can had to be placed in a "non-discarding sabot" -- a jacket that fit over each beer and provided a better fit against the launch mechanism. We only had one such jacket, 'cause it was a pain to make. Cans aren't terribly ballistic, as-is.
since we used compressed air, and we weren't really good at metering it, our launches were of irregular force. It was nearly impossible to get the can flying at exactly the right speed.
In retrospect, we perhaps shouldn't have given up so easily, but when you've had a few too many cans shot at your head, you start to get spooked easily. Plus the cans were able to dent sheetrock, and therefore messed up our walls pretty badly.
Anyone want to take up the effort? It'd be a cool party trick, but don't blame me if you kill someone.
O, "LEGO bricks" is plural.
by
Speare
·
· Score: 3
Other useless trivia from LEGO.com's website:
The international LEGO Group was established in 1932 and is one of the worlds largest toy manufactorers, employing about 10,000 people in 50 companies in 30 countries. Did you know...
4.9152 cm3 is the volume of an 8-stud LEGO brick. It measures 9.6 x 32 x 16 mm.
Thousands of a mm - that's the tolerance of accuracy at the LEGO mould factories.
102,981,500 are how many different ways there are to combine six 8-stud bricks of the same colour. If you haven't that much time, you can take three 8-stud bricks - same colour - and fit them together in 1,060 ways. Two 8-stud bricks - still the same colour - can be put together in 24 ways.
203,000,000,000 (203 billion) LEGO elements or thereabouts - were moulded between 1949 and the end of 1998. Of these, 6.5 billion are eight-stud bricks. And 2.3 billion Mini figures have been moulded, decorated and assembled since 1978.
("O, 'LEGO bricks' is plural" =anagram> "Erg, I'll use 'pair o' blocks'.")
If I knew how, I'd create a LEGO BFG for Quake III or UT. Now that's fragalicious!
--
_______
I just wish I could c:\format Internet
NOT entirely LEGOs! Uses Rubber Band for Power!
by
Cy+Guy
·
· Score: 2
This entire article is a fraud!
It's powered by a rubber band, not LEGOs. (Though I guess if you strached one of the little rubber tires on a LEGO car set, you might be able to make it work)
Since the power source is a rubber band, the premise of the story is false, in that I could make a real gun out of LEGO's as long as I am willing to use black powder as my power source. (or in the case mentioned in another thread, plutonium for a LEGO A-bomb, though it is MUCH harder to get than rubber bands)
Re:NOT entirely LEGOs! Uses Rubber Band for Power!
by
slothdog
·
· Score: 3
Actually, I bought a LEGO Technic set *cough* for my son *cough* the other day, and it came with several rubber bands for use in the steering mechanism. Sure, they're not bricks, but they *did* come with a LEGO set.
I'm thinking you take a few of the machine-gun guy's LEGO Toy Canyons, one of his guns, and this six-legged walker... pick a battlefield, and go forth and conquer.:)
Which brings up the question: is there a way to get some Crusoe chips into these, set up TCP/IP, and have the battles remotely via webcams?
--
-- I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
You only scratched the surface
by
348
·
· Score: 3
You guys didn''t take it far enough. Just having some little imaginary battles is only the beginning. Sort of like the difference between playing with a few matchbox cars and SimCity 2K, I took it a little further and created a Lego society. Below is just a sampling of our Lego Bill of Rights.
Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a Lego gun, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of Lego firearms, or of Lego Copying; or the right of the little Lego people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the Lego people to keep and bear Lego Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III No Lego-armed Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and Lego, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or Lego to be seized.
Amendment V No person shall be held to answer for a Lego, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the Lego land or Lego naval forces, or in the Lego Militia, when in actual service in time of Lego War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in Lego jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of Lego, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private Lego property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI In all criminal Lego prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial Lego jury of the State and district wherein the Lego crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Lego Counsel for his defense.
Amendment VII In suits at common Lego law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by Lego jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a Lego jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Lego Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the Lego common law.
Amendment VIII Excessive Lego bail shall not be required, nor excessive Lego fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual Lego punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX The enumeration in the Lego Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the Lego people.
Amendment X The powers not delegated to the Lego States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the Lego States respectively, or to the Lego people.
Never knock on Death's door:
--
More race stuff in one place,
than any one place on the net.
After a recent article on Slashdot regarding Lego Machine Guns, there has been a proliferation of violence connected with small plastic blocks in our society. Indeed, the Anarchist's Cookbook has added several chapters on Lego Weaponry, including a simple example of how to create a critical mass of certain Legos with intent to create cold fusion as a power source for a Lego rail-gun. There are record numbers of children in our schools that have been impaled with these ordinarily "fun" toys since this last report.
Several ofthe most extreme cases involve a preschool and an airplane. Little Private Burrito (an unfortunate name) went to preschool one day, with great expectations of play time, only to be struck repeatedly with high-speed Legos from his (former) friend Humis' Lego gun. Several other children were bloodied, and almost 90% of the class wet their pants during this event. We cannot continue to allow such things in the hands of babes...
But in the hands of adults, Legos are even more dangerous. Jaques Strappe recently hijacked an airliner, with over 75 people on board, using a modified rapid-fire semi-automatic Lego Gun. Though no passengers were hurt, several first class travelers were apparently shouting such things as "Golly!" and "Lordy, Lordy!". After he was apprehended, Strappe claimed to have found the plans for his weapon on the Internet. No lawsuits have been filed against Lego or Slashdot/Andover/VA as of yet, but you can be sure that there are many to come...
--
"It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
Lego stock is going down...
by
kill+-9+$$
·
· Score: 2
This is not good! Now Lego's are going to be on the top ten list of dangerous toys for Christmas from here on out...
Now all we need to do is manufacture Lego's out of C4 and then the fun will really begin.
Imagine the Lego howitzer, mortar launcher, or Tank cannon....
The possibilities are endless. Couple it with that really cool Lego mindstorm stuff and we've just given playtime a whole new definition of fun.
--
-- A computer without COBOL and Fortran is like a piece of chocolate cake without ketchup and mustard
Ok, Now my Robot AI script will be for IRC, Quake, File Filtering, and An Unyholy Army of Legos.
Now think on this: Might this be just how the Matrix "AI" was born? This is what sparked the War! Soon people will discover how to make rapid-fire 1x1 unstopable Lego Bricks make from depleted uranium! These things will fire faster than the speed of sound!
"Alright, this is Blacktron 7843, We're ready with the new Beam Cannon"
"Roger that 7843, You are Authorized"
[Cannon Fires a Stream of Lego Bricks, The Base security Shatters, The Base Shatters, The Platform the base was on shatters, The Plane that was on splits in half and flies off in both directions, The Floor gets driven through and it kills your sister who was working on the computer downstairs at the time. Because You had a Lego Mindstorm AI controlling the Cannon, It re-targets and blows apart the walls, sending the roof crashing down, But it's not over yet- this rocked, you used glue, little bricks start breaking windows and splitting trees, A stray one catches the air and knocks out a plane's engine, The plane crashes about a mile away, And your gun- It's still firing, The whol area is in devestation or chaos, with your dying breath you manage to say, "7843: successful"]
Mwuahahahah. Yes, I can dream. And you cant stop me. Dont even bother trying.
-- -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
This page is taking a while to load due to slashdotting, so I figured I'd be nice and put up a mirror.
Just so you know, I changed it to an ASP file. This is only so I could add a counter script that I wrote to it. And yes, this means this mirror is being hosted on an NT box. Take that however you will.
--
"I personal[ly] think Unix is "superior" because on LSD it tastes like Blue." -- jbarnett
Bah, counter doesn't work.
by
CrayDrygu
·
· Score: 2
Darnit...my counter script doesn't work on this server. Shoulda tested that first, eh? Anyway, I'll be replacing it with a crappy LinkExchange counter shortly.
--
--
"I personal[ly] think Unix is "superior" because on LSD it tastes like Blue." -- jbarnett
Re:OFFTOPIC, just a question about a .sig
by
anonymous+cowerd
·
· Score: 2
G.W. Junior ("Shrub") said that in reference to gwbush.com, a satirical web site that broadly made fun of "Shrub's" vapidity, rumors about his "youthful" cocaine use, etc. "Shrub" doesn't believe that the First Amendment covers making fun of him on a web site. He feels political commentary is going too far. What an airhead.
Slashdot Mirror
Now this is what I call a point'n'click-interface!
We made some pretty kick-ass rubber band powered guns that shot the rods. They *really* can hurt.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
This signature contains text from the worlds funniest signature.
Heh, now I can program my 'bots to defend/attack at will. Join me and my army now or I will crush you all smaller than a 1x1 flat brick!
Do really dense people warp space more than others?
I can think of lots of uses for this:
- Bring to court and bop MPAA lawyers with legos. Won't do much harm but if you get em in the right place they'll look like they have acne.
- Give to Richard Stallman so he can enforce the GPL. "Stop or I'll Lego". Poetic geek justice.
- Equip all the Jon Katz flamers with one and set up a shooting range. Maybe they'll get it out of their system.
- Build a scale model of the MPAA building out of balsa wood and shoot it down with a hundred lego guns at point-blank range. Fun for the whole family!
- Build a statue of Natalie Portman naked. Maybe then the trolls would finally shut up. You may use the recent Sun photos as a template.
These are just a few uses for arguably the most important invention of the 21st century to-date!Thank you. I now return you to your regularly scheduled trolling, hot grits, natalie portman naked and petrified, etc.
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
For linux tips: http://www.linuxtipsblog.com
Sorry, just had to write that.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Great! Now I have to wait ten days before buying my lego A-Wing. Does this mean that legos have become too dangerous for anyone to have other than Approved Law Enforcement Authorities? I hope I'm not too subversive for silly putty-- I'm running out of toys which are not Bad Influences (TM).
Knowing the U.S. Government, this will be classified as a class III weapon by the BATF, causing LEGOs to be banned for importatoin, sale or use! ;-)
I agree that making a machine gun out of legos is pretty cool, but it's also a bit morbid. When I was a kid we made spaceships, and little towns with little people in them. Machine guns didn't really cross my mind.
Perhaps just the idea of making a toy weapon out of legos is a bit much for me... Why couldn't you make a water gun or something?
There go my childhood memories...
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
- We shouldn't be encouraging our children to glorify weapons with toys. Won't somebody please think of the children?
- Studies have shown that you're 7652 times more likely to shoot yourself with a Lego machine gun than you are to shoot an intruder.
- The Second Amendment of the US Constitution only grants an organized militia (i.e. the government) to have Lego machine guns.
- The need for Lego machine guns is historically obsolete because the playgrounds are run by democratic coalitions of children and not mean kids like in the old days.
- If the playground is taken over by mean kids, then Lego machine guns won't help the nice kids because the mean kids will have the overwhelming advantage of possessing Lego tanks and Lego nukes.
OK, that ought to get us started.-- $SIGNATURE
Seriously, it is interesting to see legos, a toy for building creativity, used as weaponry!
"You ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're dreaming or awake?"
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
This is pretty neat and all, but did it need to be posted in an article by it's self? Maybe it would have been better suited with CmdrTaco's quickies (man I miss those)? :-)
BRING ON THE QUICKIES I SAY!
Then we could get a bunch at a time.
I find your lack of faith disturbing Darth Vader on the subject of open sourcing the death star plans
Is this the beginning of an armament race strated by the Robot Monkeys? I implore everyone to support banning Lego weapons for Robot Monkeys! If the Robotic Monkeys get Lego guns, they'll be free to force us around like sheep!
LIF
Bad Mojo
Bad Mojo
"If you can't win by reason, go for volume." -- Calvin
I'd like to see you do that!
That would be an extremely interesting (and probably impossible) engineering challenge. Wonder if we can make lead-lined lego bricks...
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
For linux tips: http://www.linuxtipsblog.com
I, as a nerd, am somewhat lazy at times. I also like things that when misused turn into interesting toys. And I like PEZ. The solution? A PEZ cannon. I've been working on the concept for a few months now, and finally I have the solution. Using Mindstorms, I connect my PEZ cannon to my PC at work. Need a PEZ? How about thirty? No problem!! And with a simple keystroke (perhaps Ctrl-Alt-P) a predefined number of PEZ come screaming at my face. It's all ingenious, don't you think?
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
did this lego gun get the guy into college so he wouldn't have to take the SAT?
just a couple of questions that have niggled at me for a while..
Why do some people call a pile of LEGO bricks, LEGO and others say LEGOs? What is the correct terminology?
Does LEGO stand for anything?
ok so its not facts vital to mankind but this is the kind of stuff i think about when i have insomnia....
First of all, the 30 round magazines are illegal. Of course, no non-military person needs such an extreme rate of fire! And don't even get me started on the fact that the plastic bits can be transported through the detectors at the airport. Heck, someone could hijack a plane by building the darned thing after they board!
I know what you're thinking, if we outlaw LEGO then only outlaws will play with LEGO. But at what price? How many stories on the next Columbine do we need to hear from Katz before we wake up to the reality of how dangerous this can be? People can't be safe what with all these robots running around, now possibly armed.
So write your Congress, the MPAA, and anyone else who can be swayed to abuse their power for no reason. Obviously this guy should be locked up since he is telling everyone how to make guns and providing the plans.
:) TGIF!
Expect to see more stories from the Hellmouth - Pre-schoolers bringing Lego machine guns to school and shooting everyone up! Imagine: Drive-by Lego'ings in Power Wheels! No one will be safe.
On the bright side, maybe the availibility of Lego machine guns will deter young terrorists from using actual firearms.
If a reporter were covering us (actually, one is), I wonder if it would figure in the article that, for all our interest in impassioned debate about education, the education story doesn't come back, but the legos get more coverage.
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
I was expecting a Lego-sized machine gun, to fit into those little hands. It'd be perfect for playing "LMI vs. Symbolics" (for the clue-impaired amongst you, an ancestral version of "BSD vs. GPL") with my Lego set.
Anyway... does anyone remember that program that built Lego bridges using a genetic algorithm? Why not put it to use improving this machine gun? I bet in a few thousand generations it'd turn out a real weapon of mass destruction. Hell yeah!
To the editors: your English is as bad as your Perl. Please go back to grade school.
Boy, this guy's a shoo-in at any of the schools which are using LEGO projects as admission criteria now. I can see it now:
"Okay, uh, your Lego project doesn't really look much like it's supposed to, frankly we're a little disappointed in... Hey! Put that down! OK! You're in! You're in!"
In addition to the LEGO machine gun design posted on the web, Clinton cited the possible use of LEGO Mindstorm sets to plant terrorist devices.
When pressed as to how a LEGO machine gun could pose a theat to American society, Clinton responded, "You could put an eye out with those things. We must protect the children!"
Meanwhile, Al Gore, campaigning at a daycare in South Carolina, told kids that he "invented LEGOs."
--
Intelligence is definitely a recessive trait.
The basic idea was that if you'd shout "Beer Me!", the device would recognize your call, turn to face you, estimate distance, and launch a beer at you (which you'd naturally grab out of the air).
We had a couple problems that made us give up development:
- our targetting was poor. The device was able to direction-find pretty accurately, but the rangefinding wasn't very good -- it would frequently target the wall six feet behind you, or the like.
- the launching mechanism required a fair bit of power, that made the device relatively unfeasible for normal home use. For example, we had to attach two cylinders of compressed air, and that didn't last long.
- in order to get a clean launch, each can had to be placed in a "non-discarding sabot" -- a jacket that fit over each beer and provided a better fit against the launch mechanism. We only had one such jacket, 'cause it was a pain to make. Cans aren't terribly ballistic, as-is.
- since we used compressed air, and we weren't really good at metering it, our launches were of irregular force. It was nearly impossible to get the can flying at exactly the right speed.
In retrospect, we perhaps shouldn't have given up so easily, but when you've had a few too many cans shot at your head, you start to get spooked easily. Plus the cans were able to dent sheetrock, and therefore messed up our walls pretty badly.Anyone want to take up the effort? It'd be a cool party trick, but don't blame me if you kill someone.
I have no
...seems perfectly natural to me. But then again, I _did_ build a Lego trebuchet when I was a kid. It'd throw marbles about forty feet...
Ah, the memories.... :)
--WhiskeyJack
Now I have something to aim towards my Microsoft Certified Professional action figures....
--The Groove
WE HAVE DETECTED A MOMENT OF CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION, CEASE AND DESIST ALL MERRY-MAKING AND RETURN TO OFFICIALLY APPROVED FUNTIMES.
+&x
Other useless trivia from LEGO.com's website:
- The international LEGO Group was established in 1932 and is one of the worlds largest toy manufactorers, employing about 10,000 people in 50 companies in 30 countries. Did you know...
("O, 'LEGO bricks' is plural" =anagram> "Erg, I'll use 'pair o' blocks'.")4.9152 cm3 is the volume of an 8-stud LEGO brick. It measures 9.6 x 32 x 16 mm.
Thousands of a mm - that's the tolerance of accuracy at the LEGO mould factories.
102,981,500 are how many different ways there are to combine six 8-stud bricks of the same colour. If you haven't that much time, you can take three 8-stud bricks - same colour - and fit them together in 1,060 ways. Two 8-stud bricks - still the same colour - can be put together in 24 ways.
203,000,000,000 (203 billion) LEGO elements or thereabouts - were moulded between 1949 and the end of 1998. Of these, 6.5 billion are eight-stud bricks. And 2.3 billion Mini figures have been moulded, decorated and assembled since 1978.
[
If I knew how, I'd create a LEGO BFG for Quake III or UT. Now that's fragalicious!
_______
I just wish I could c:\format Internet
This entire article is a fraud!
It's powered by a rubber band, not LEGOs. (Though I guess if you strached one of the little rubber tires on a LEGO car set, you might be able to make it work)
Since the power source is a rubber band, the premise of the story is false, in that I could make a real gun out of LEGO's as long as I am willing to use black powder as my power source. (or in the case mentioned in another thread, plutonium for a LEGO A-bomb, though it is MUCH harder to get than rubber bands)
Work for Change & GET PAID!
Moderation Totals:Lawsuit Bait=1, Insightful=1, Geekvalue=5 Total=7.
Never knock on Death's door:
More race stuff in one place,
than any one place on the net.
I'm thinking you take a few of the machine-gun guy's LEGO Toy Canyons, one of his guns, and this six-legged walker ... pick a battlefield, and go forth and conquer. :)
Which brings up the question: is there a way to get some Crusoe chips into these, set up TCP/IP, and have the battles remotely via webcams?
--
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a Lego gun, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of Lego firearms, or of Lego Copying; or the right of the little Lego people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the Lego people to keep and bear Lego Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Lego-armed Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and Lego, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or Lego to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a Lego, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the Lego land or Lego naval forces, or in the Lego Militia, when in actual service in time of Lego War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in Lego jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of Lego, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private Lego property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal Lego prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial Lego jury of the State and district wherein the Lego crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Lego Counsel for his defense.
Amendment VII
In suits at common Lego law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by Lego jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a Lego jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Lego Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the Lego common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive Lego bail shall not be required, nor excessive Lego fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual Lego punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Lego Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the Lego people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the Lego States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the Lego States respectively, or to the Lego people.
Never knock on Death's door:
More race stuff in one place,
than any one place on the net.
(another special from Jon Dogz)
After a recent article on Slashdot regarding Lego Machine Guns, there has been a proliferation of violence connected with small plastic blocks in our society. Indeed, the Anarchist's Cookbook has added several chapters on Lego Weaponry, including a simple example of how to create a critical mass of certain Legos with intent to create cold fusion as a power source for a Lego rail-gun. There are record numbers of children in our schools that have been impaled with these ordinarily "fun" toys since this last report.
Several ofthe most extreme cases involve a preschool and an airplane. Little Private Burrito (an unfortunate name) went to preschool one day, with great expectations of play time, only to be struck repeatedly with high-speed Legos from his (former) friend Humis' Lego gun. Several other children were bloodied, and almost 90% of the class wet their pants during this event. We cannot continue to allow such things in the hands of babes...
But in the hands of adults, Legos are even more dangerous. Jaques Strappe recently hijacked an airliner, with over 75 people on board, using a modified rapid-fire semi-automatic Lego Gun. Though no passengers were hurt, several first class travelers were apparently shouting such things as "Golly!" and "Lordy, Lordy!". After he was apprehended, Strappe claimed to have found the plans for his weapon on the Internet. No lawsuits have been filed against Lego or Slashdot/Andover/VA as of yet, but you can be sure that there are many to come...
"It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
Now all we need to do is manufacture Lego's out of C4 and then the fun will really begin.
Imagine the Lego howitzer, mortar launcher, or Tank cannon....
The possibilities are endless. Couple it with that really cool Lego mindstorm stuff and we've just given playtime a whole new definition of fun.
-- A computer without COBOL and Fortran is like a piece of chocolate cake without ketchup and mustard
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
-Albert Einstein
It will obviously be fought with Legos...
Ok, Now my Robot AI script will be for IRC, Quake, File Filtering, and An Unyholy Army of Legos.
Now think on this: Might this be just how the Matrix "AI" was born? This is what sparked the War! Soon people will discover how to make rapid-fire 1x1 unstopable Lego Bricks make from depleted uranium!
These things will fire faster than the speed of sound!
"Alright, this is Blacktron 7843, We're ready with the new Beam Cannon"
"Roger that 7843, You are Authorized"
[Cannon Fires a Stream of Lego Bricks, The Base security Shatters, The Base Shatters, The Platform the base was on shatters, The Plane that was on splits in half and flies off in both directions, The Floor gets driven through and it kills your sister who was working on the computer downstairs at the time. Because You had a Lego Mindstorm AI controlling the Cannon, It re-targets and blows apart the walls, sending the roof crashing down, But it's not over yet- this rocked, you used glue, little bricks start breaking windows and splitting trees, A stray one catches the air and knocks out a plane's engine, The plane crashes about a mile away, And your gun- It's still firing, The whol area is in devestation or chaos, with your dying breath you manage to say, "7843: successful"]
Mwuahahahah.
Yes, I can dream. And you cant stop me. Dont even bother trying.
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
This page is taking a while to load due to slashdotting, so I figured I'd be nice and put up a mirror.
Just so you know, I changed it to an ASP file. This is only so I could add a counter script that I wrote to it. And yes, this means this mirror is being hosted on an NT box. Take that however you will.
Anyway, the mirror is at http://silverlight.org/cray/lego/
--
"I personal[ly] think Unix is "superior" because on LSD it tastes like Blue." -- jbarnett
Darnit...my counter script doesn't work on this server. Shoulda tested that first, eh? Anyway, I'll be replacing it with a crappy LinkExchange counter shortly.
--
"I personal[ly] think Unix is "superior" because on LSD it tastes like Blue." -- jbarnett
G.W. Junior ("Shrub") said that in reference to gwbush.com, a satirical web site that broadly made fun of "Shrub's" vapidity, rumors about his "youthful" cocaine use, etc. "Shrub" doesn't believe that the First Amendment covers making fun of him on a web site. He feels political commentary is going too far. What an airhead.
Yours WDK - WKiernan@concentric.net