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The Amazing Lego DAT Tape Changer
lizardboy writes: "This is for the Lego loving computer geek with large backup needs. The Lego DAT Tape changer. It can be interfaced with any platform supporting Lego mindstorms. I have used it with OSX and Linux using dump and NQC with some custom shell scripts. It also works under a Mac OS 9 using Retrospect and RCX."
... the lego Rubik's cube solver : that thing was so cool !
Can it be setup to hit the reboot key on the Lego Webserver?
:)
That'd be mighty spiffy.
Anybody else remember those old computerized Lego sets for the AppleIIs? I wonder if those could be interfaced to the mind storms, I know of a school that has quite a few of those lying around, it is just that all of their AppleII interface boards died.
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I wonder how many boxes of legos would be required to emulate the 300+ cartridge loaded in one of the data centers at work.
At least replacement parts would be inexpensive!
// Agent Green (Ian / IU7 / KB1JQO)
// IEEE 802.3: All 10base Are Belong To Us
Where are the little Lego people? This is cool, but it seems a more effective presentation would include the little lego figures into this contraption. Put some on the lift, some with construction gear, some at the base with the control unit in lab coats working on mini control panels. Some at the local coffee machine or guiding a tour, etc.
:P
Still a very cool way of setting up a changer, but it would be more fun to add some realism to it
I don't know why I would think of this, but at where I currently work, there is a very large area between where all of the computers are, and if there is something that could make the tape backup process even more automated, it would be better. Time could be spent on better things, like figuring out how to slowly learn how to not use microsoft products, or actually fixing computers. imagine, this could save 5 minutes at least whenever a tape backup is needed, that really adds up with incrimental backups, or especially if there are regular full backups, more tapes to be changed.
The color scheme is something no marketing department will ever agree to. He should have used more beige blocks.
I also think that it should have some of the littel lego men standing around looking at the thing. Also needs more flashing lights.
From the looks of this thing it also loads a DAT tape of the inventor snoring, and waves a fake arm around in the bed, if his Mom turns his bedroom door handle when he's taking a day off...
...Oh god how many Matthew Broderick references can slashdot handle in a single day!
:)
Yeah, but that one is a DDS-2 and it is limited to a 4 tape cartridge. His is scalable as far as he wishes to go with it. He can change the tape drive (go for a DDS3)or number of tape drives without any concern for the size of a cartridge for tapes, or the type of tape that it takes given it is 4mm and can be hooked the way he's grabbing tapes.
That said, I know some idiot will probably trip over his autoloader one day and he'll have to answer for the downtime to put the lego system back together. That will be one impressive interoffice memo (yes, our data recovery system is crippled until we can bring in some third graders to reassemble it...).
bbh
Wouldnt it be cool if lego made actual tools that werent marketed towards kids. Such that they would be designed to do things of this nature, all purpose reusable engineering kits. Not that I'm too cool for lego's or anything...
http://drew.corrupt.net/lp/series1.html
The Loader
From the right
Load and unload slides
Tape being unloaded
Arm loader from the rear
system to eject tape
Back of loader
Lifting system
Ahh....but does it sport a six nines availability rating? From the looks of it, more like 4,5 tops. Maybe it just needs a little hot glue...
--an unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys--
I want to build a lego robot that does nothing but hit refresh in my web browser and check slashdot for new stories, and then submits first post! w00t
-I'll Bash you in the forhead.
Lizard Boy
Very true, and what if the cleaning lady came in one morning and sucked up half the autoloader! All that ingenuity (and lego pieces) gone, and I'm not sure insurance would even cover it.
bbh
Lego is obviously good for prototyping these sorts of products, but it would be cool if there was a Lego compiler that would scan the completed model and produce parts by eliminating all but the minimum number of inter-connections required for efficient assembly, and replacing the Lego connectors with more permanent ones.
So, this would mean that now I have actual justification to submit a purchase order for Lego. :)
Superb
Party-Optimizer uses such thing
Except their not latin. Lego is danish (I belive it translate's as "play well"). Don't know about Duplo, could be danish as well. There is no plural of Lego:
I play with Lego.
He plays with Lego.
Look at all that Lego.
Look at all those Lego bricks.
Eeek! There's a load of Lego in my server room!
---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"
When I was a kid, I was proud to make something looked kinda sorta like an airplane.
It sure as hell didn't fly or do anything spectacular.
Well, it did come apart if I dropped it.
I grew up with erector sets -- the older part of my set (from the 1950's) was pretty strong, but very heavy. The later stuff had "beams" stamped from the thinnest possible metal, you had to bolt 4 of them together in a box beam to get any strength. Legos were a little pricy for my family. (Plastic resins are expensive by the pound, although forming them into intricate shapes is cheap. Carbon steel is amazingly cheap in bulk, but making something out of it can get pretty expensive. Erector set pieces, except the screws and nuts, were made by rolling and stamping, which is as cheap as metal-forming gets if the quantities are large enough.)
I think Legos would be as strong or stronger than the later Erector sets if you glued the bricks together. One brick is pretty strong. Trouble is, if you used a strong glue, the pieces are no longer re-usable...