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How They Make LEGO Bricks
harajukboy writes "Businessweek.com shows us how the famous LEGO bricks are made. Among the new facts I picked up was that LEGO is the largest tire manufacturer in the world, and that the process is so air tight that only 18 of 1 million pieces are considered defective." I knew I was getting old when I first realized that these kids today with their modern legos have it too easy, what with all those crazy custom pieces. Why, when I was a kid, we had to use our imagination to build stuff.
Six Sigma -- I find it hilarious. Basically, they took the work of Walter Edward Demmings, widely regarded as the driving force behind Japan's industrial turnaround, repackaged it, and called it "new". Demmings cane up with "kaizen" or the process of continual improvement. Basically, no process is complete unless it has a feedback and improving mechanism
For anyone who is an expert: What has six sigma added to this paradigm?
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Has there been any research studying the effects of playing with Legos on mental development in children? It seems intuitive to me and probably others here that there is some positive correlation if not outright causality between these types of toys and intelligence.
Why bother.
So, if you're fed up with the debate about pluralization taking over the discussion instead of the actual story, why is it that you are the first one to bring it up? Hmmm? :)
I don't know about you, but my servers run on the power of cotton candy and happy thoughts. -Anonymous Coward
"After being vacuumed up, the ABS granules are moved toward the molding machines, where they are melted at a temperature of 449.6 degrees Fahrenheit."
I'm sorry, I don't speak caveman. What's that in a real temperature?
It's also a matter of what is classified as a defect in a Lego. I've used Lego that are not 100% aligned, or that don't stay together real well all the time. My son's set falls apart when certain shapes are connected. I consider this a defect, but obviously they don't. One easy way to achieve such low defect rates is simply to redefine 'defect'.
Huh? Don't mind me, I'm just the new guy.
Oh boy, I love it when people get nitpicky about things they don't know about. Whether we call them Legos, Lego, LEGOs or LEGO, we're legally wrong (and I do it all the time). The correct answer, as Susan Williams instructed us on the back of every instruction manual from the late 70s through 1987 (?) is to call them Lego brand building blocks. "Lego", it turns out, is the brand name, not the product. They're afraid of Tyco being able to call their products "MegaBlock brand lego blocks" and diluting their trademark like so many other companies.
Personally, I have a closet loaded with Legos. When my daughter graduates from Duplos, she'll get Legos. I'm not a lawyer, and I really don't care about trademarks enough to force that kind of burden onto children. My children will be taught that copyright and intellectual property law is there only to further the progress of art and science, not for the purpose of furthering jobs or corporate profits (although in any free market economy companies will be rewarded for meaninful progress of art and science). While I lean liberal in many beliefs, I'm fully aware of how limiting the US Constitution is with regard to intellectual property; it's very precise and quite limiting.
There may be places where you need to speak apologetically about your use of LEGO. Slashdot is not one of them.
If they saw a data point that didn't support their theory, they just called it an outlier, and deleted it.
This is a fundamental failure in human thought and is pervasive at all levels of society. If something does not fit your preconceived notion of how things should be, make it fit!
Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
I am interested in this LegOS. Does it run on standard x86 hardware?
I think that Legos is the most retarded pluralisation of Lego, however incorrect just using Lego as the term is. Hell Legoes seems more correct (c.f., Hero -> Heroes). Then again the English language isn't exactly consistent, and the American variant hasn't made any leaps to improve it.
Good work on the teaching of the whys and wherefores of things to your offspring though.