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LEGO Contraption Allows Scientists To Safely Handle Insects

sciencehabit writes Researchers have built contraption from LEGOs that can move and rotate insects every which way while keeping them stable and positioned under a microscope. The design improves on previous insect manipulators because it's cheap, customizable, and easy to build. As natural history museums work on digitizing their voluminous collections—taking high-resolution photographs of each precious beetle, bee, and dragonfly in their possession—they have to handle insects repeatedly. Now the job will be easier on the entomologists, and more insect specimens will be able to hang on to their wings—all thanks to LEGOs.

93 comments

  1. Cool, but... by s.petry · · Score: 0

    One does not, nor did they, need Legos to do this.

    Patent pending?

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:Cool, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One does not, nor did they, need Legos to do this.

      Patent pending?

      They wanted to play with Legos, so what?

    2. Re:Cool, but... by JanneM · · Score: 1

      Lego is likely quicker to use and more easily accessible than creating the same from "real" mechanical parts. So not necessary, but quicker and easier - and within the zero budget they likely had for doing this.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    3. Re:Cool, but... by CanadianRealist · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Technically, no they didn't need to use Lego to do this. But it was probably easier to build using Lego. And much easier for them to provide the plans for how to build it that anyone else can easily follow. (Which they do.)

      It would be neat if the Lego picked up the idea and put together a special set that other people could purchase to make it even easier.

    4. Re:Cool, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Assembly and parts, click the right links in the article and you'll get here.
      http://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/imp/resource/54a0c266-236d-41bf-8027-72ae03283e0f?view_id=3d66ebc2-d6e4-4101-8743-65f11f2b2fa2

    5. Re:Cool, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Given the state of science funding, they probably did.

    6. Re:Cool, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's kind of an unprofessional solution and the "easy way out". Maybe use Lego bricks for prototyping but at least do a final build with proper components. After all, this is going to museum use.

    7. Re:Cool, but... by Kkloe · · Score: 1

      Why?, its cheap and does what it is supposed to do, and building the proper components would proably take them up the same costs of the previious solution as you know making a factory that does that shits costs money.

    8. Re:Cool, but... by Kkloe · · Score: 2

      Or they can just go to lego's homepage and order the pieces they want. And for more orders they could porbably just mail it to lego and say we want 100 bags of this lego sets

    9. Re:Cool, but... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      No, they could have made it out of meccanoes.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    10. Re:Cool, but... by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 4, Informative

      Nah, for separate pieces you use BrickLink. Often far cheaper than the Lego website.

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
    11. Re:Cool, but... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      One does not, nor did they, need Legos to do this.

      I was all ready to make that same objection. I was going to say "it would have made more sense to 3d print it" or something like that. But then I RTFA (I know, I know) and discovered that you would actually be hard-pressed to improve on what they accomplished, because it is so very minimal. Lego gears are better than most of what you will wind up printing.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    12. Re:Cool, but... by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It would be neat if the Lego picked up the idea and put together a special set that other people could purchase to make it even easier.

      They seem to be relatively responsive to demand these days, you should send them a suggestion. They might well add it to their educational line.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    13. Re:Cool, but... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Rapid prototyping, faster than 3D printing.

    14. Re:Cool, but... by graphius · · Score: 2

      If it works, and it seems to work well enough, why spend the extra money and time?
      Use the saved resources for other projects...

    15. Re:Cool, but... by White+Yeti · · Score: 1

      Over the years, I've looked long and hard at Lego kits and parts. I've never found any that fit in a zero budget (thus my limited collection).

    16. Re:Cool, but... by orgelspieler · · Score: 1

      More importantly, PAB doesn't have that wide of a selection. You almost have to go to BL for something that hasn't been put into a set in the last few years.

    17. Re:Cool, but... by orgelspieler · · Score: 1

      cuusoo ftw!

  2. Subjects Are Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'll be "that guy" and point out that LEGO is its own plural.

    1. Re:Subjects Are Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think you were just successfully nerd-sniped.

    2. Re:Subjects Are Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'll be "that other guy" and point out that Lego is not an acronym.

    3. Re:Subjects Are Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ooooh, sick burn!

    4. Re:Subjects Are Stupid by by+(1706743) · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'll be "that other...other guy" and point out that LEGO is still all-caps.

    5. Re:Subjects Are Stupid by benjymouse · · Score: 1

      I'll be "that other guy" and point out that Lego is not an acronym.

      Uhm. From WhatIs.com:

      An acronym (pronounced AK-ruh-nihm, from Greek acro- in the sense of extreme or tip and onyma or name) is an abbreviation of several words in such a way that the abbreviation itself forms a pronounceable word. ...

      Abbreviations that use the first letter of each word in a phrase are sometimes referred to as initialisms.

      LEGO is an abbreviation (though not an initialism) of Leg godt, danish for "play well" - or perhaps more like "have fun (playing)"

      So it appears that it is an acronym

      --
      Reading slashdot one-liner: (irm http://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdot).rdf.item | fl title,desc*
    6. Re:Subjects Are Stupid by JanneM · · Score: 3, Informative

      LEGO is an abbreviation (though not an initialism) of Leg godt, danish for "play well" - or perhaps more like "have fun (playing)"

      So it appears that it is an acronym

      It's not, actually. It's a portmanteau.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    7. Re:Subjects Are Stupid by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      it's a simple answer: 4/pi -0.5 ohms considering that on an infinite grid there are infinite paths to oh I've just been punked..

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    8. Re:Subjects Are Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't matter, it's a company name and may have exceptions from regular grammar, it would be completely acceptable if they wanted to spell it lEGo®

    9. Re:Subjects Are Stupid by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      It's a portmanteau.

      It's a kind of hat?

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    10. Re:Subjects Are Stupid by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      Thank you anonymous 'that guy' coward. You saved me the trouble.

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
  3. Sexist Prick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I dont know about you guys, but I think Emily is a babe. Totally my thing.

    Yes yes yes, I KNOW that in this day and age, saying how I find her attractive makes me a misogynistic asshole sexist prick who deserves to die in a fire, but fuck you, I stand by my personal opinion.

    1. Re:Sexist Prick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In this day and age, saying how I find her attractive makes me a misogynistic asshole sexist prick who deserves to die in a fire

      It's perfectly fine, as long as you are attractive. Otherwise, any indication that you have a libido is RAPE.

  4. They are called LEGO not LEGOs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why are we adding an s?

    1. Re:They are called LEGO not LEGOs. by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1, Redundant

      Mr. Farrell, is that you?

    2. Re:They are called LEGO not LEGOs. by PPalmgren · · Score: 0

      When most people refer to LEGOs, they aren't referencing the company directly but the blocks used to build. Like Q-Tip, LEGO has become the go-to example of building blocks to the point where people call other brands LEGOs. In that sense, the additional S is fine and it explains why so many people reference to them as such.

    3. Re:They are called LEGO not LEGOs. by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Technically, it's probably "LEGO® building blocks", where blocks is the plural. I like the shorthand better.

    4. Re:They are called LEGO not LEGOs. by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      But it is not fine. Not all languages pluralize using an 's'. Think about it.

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
  5. For this app, K'NEX might have been better... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    Check out http://www.knex.com/. If you're basically just building frames, it might be the better toy^bol.

    1. Re:For this app, K'NEX might have been better... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      K'NEX and Meccano seem to be vector versions of the bitmap LEGO anyway.

  6. Poorly written headline by damn_registrars · · Score: 1

    The headline is written such that it left me to think at first that it was for handling dangerous live insects (say, killer bees, fire ants, etc). The headline should really specify it is for handling insect specimens - or that the device ensures the safety of the insect rather than the handler.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:Poorly written headline by damn_registrars · · Score: 1

      ... and I should really use the preview button more often. My comment on a poorly written headline ended up itself having poorly written HTML in it.

      --
      Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    2. Re:Poorly written headline by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      The headline is written such that it left me to think at first that it was for handling dangerous live insects (say, killer bees, fire ants, etc). The headline should really specify it is for handling insect specimens - or that the device ensures the safety of the insect rather than the handler.

      The insects appear to be dead, impaled on various spikes attached to the LEGO. I'd therefore say its NOT safe for the insects.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    3. Re:Poorly written headline by Hotawa+Hawk-eye · · Score: 1

      You could build a box with some transparent bricks or windshields as sides. Use some Technic blocks (the ones with holes) and pins to allow additional air in (to supplement what can get in since the blocks aren't airtight when connected) without allowing larger insects to escape. That would allow you to capture live specimens. But yes, that is not the topic of the article.

  7. At first I read Lego contraception by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now how cool would that be?

    1. Re:At first I read Lego contraception by stoborrobots · · Score: 2

      LEGO is contraception in its own right - just play with LEGO and you can guarantee that you're never having any kids.

    2. Re:At first I read Lego contraception by rossdee · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not needed, if you're playing with LEGO you're not going to get laid anyway.

  8. Lego? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those are lego now? When I was a kid, they were k'nex.

    1. Re:Lego? by redback · · Score: 1

      No, they are nothing like k'nex.

      They are axles and joiners from lego technic

  9. clicsboard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have you heard about the Belgian building blocks Clics?
    http://t.ziobrowski.org/post/108858777510/clicsboard

  10. Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by ihtoit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    LEGO is a trademark, you do not pluralise trademarks. The correct plural form of LEGO is LEGO or LEGO bricks.

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    1. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LEGO is a trademark, you do not pluralise trademarks. The correct plural form of LEGO is LEGO or LEGO bricks.

      Indeed, only sheeps say legos.

    2. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I am not owned by corporate America. I can say bandaids, kleenexes, and legos if I want.

    3. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

      Sand and dust aren't trademarks, but you don't pluralise those either.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    4. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by ihtoit · · Score: 2

      neither is LEGO, it's a Danish company.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    5. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      say that to the cartographers who named White Sands and the CCOHS who talk in great detail about various dusts.

      Try again.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    6. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      By the way, Band Aid is a genericised trademark (meaning they can't really sue you for using it, fallout from Johnson & Johnson vs. Geldof et. al which set precedent in that names that have fallen into everyday vernacular aren't really defensible - LEGO is very specific and describes precisely ONE product), Kleenex is still a trademark which Kimberly-Clark aggressively defend, and yeah, like I already said about LEGO.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    7. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hardly. The language is not defined by trademark attorneys. You're the ignorant one.

    8. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Try again?" Are you seriously denying the existence of mass nouns?

    9. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Ginger+Unicorn · · Score: 1

      To be fair, genericised trademarks get pluralised a lot in the UK at least, hoovers for example, and it doesn't sound bad. The reason to not say "LEGOs" is it makes you sound like Ralph Wiggum.

      --
      (1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
    10. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by dave420 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Irrelevant - the company themselves say the bricks are called "LEGO", and never "LEGOs". Writing LEGO as Lego is acceptable, however, according to many style guides, but never Legos. That's just sick.

    11. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In English, it's LEGOs.

    12. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by cdrudge · · Score: 1

      By the way, Band Aid is a genericised trademark (meaning they can't really sue you for using it, fallout from Johnson & Johnson vs. Geldof et. al which set precedent in that names that have fallen into everyday vernacular aren't really defensible

      Do you have anything that supports that position?

      Trademarks have always applied to a particular field. McDonalds Heating and Air Conditioning isn't going to cross over into McDonalds the fast food restaurant's turf and it's very unlikely the two would be confused for one another. Band-aids are often used generically, but the trademark hasn't been legally genericized like aspirin, heroin, or cellophane have.

      It's in the same category as Kleenex, Xerox, and Popsicle that are still legally held trademarks and will be defended if someone in that field attempts to use that name, but get used in common culture as if they were generic.

    13. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by rizole · · Score: 1

      You might also want to consider using sheeps, informations, foots and tooths while you're at it.

    14. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Himmy32 · · Score: 1

      The relevance completely depends on if you are a prescriptivist or a descriptivist.

    15. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      Sheeple!

    16. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Says the marketing department, thanks to legal's insistence not to allow their trademark to be genericized. That's nothing to do with the fluidity of language and convenient shorthand.

    17. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      datas, shrimps, deers are all bad. However: 'legos', is perfectly fine when referring to the building blocks (noun).

      If you want ALL the red ones, are you going to say:

      "Hand me the red LEGO ®", or
      "Hand me the red legos" ?

    18. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Man I had a cold so I used a lot of Kleenexes, after I got better I went to the mall and got lost so I had to ride a lot of the Escalators to find the home and garden store, where I was able to get a few Weed Eaters one for me and another for my neighbor.

      Often a trademark becomes a noun too. Especially if such trademark represents a particular product.

      Or in other words, get over yourself, and enjoy live it isn't worth it to have a fit about useless stuff like this.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    19. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      no I'm seriously decrying the raping of proper English.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    20. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Trademarks have always applied to a particular field. McDonalds Heating and Air Conditioning isn't going to cross over into McDonalds the fast food restaurant's turf and it's very unlikely the two would be confused for one another.

      Unless you are Apple Music which sued Apple Computer and won, then lost their own trademark later when Apple Computer branched into music.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    21. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Did you pull a Band-Aid out of the box of band-aids when you got a boo boo too?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    22. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      I am going to say 'may I please have all of the red logo". It doesn't hurt to be polite and correct at the same time.

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
    23. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      I would say "hand me the red Lego". Possibly following it up with "all the red Lego" if they only give me some of it, which I could understand. If they gave me just one piece I'd think they were being a smart-ass. That's also how I would write it in general unless I had a legal reason to recognise the registered trademark.

      I've only ever seen people say "Legos" on the Internet, starting with that Penny-Arcade comic. I've never actually heard somebody say that in person. Same with "Lego bricks", except I think I may have heard that on the Lego movie or written on a Lego box. I have used "Lego pieces" and "piece of Lego", which seems more accurate since they aren't all brick-like.

      I've come to understand that there seem to be enclaves of people that treat Lego like it refers to an individual piece, but to me that's a weird synecdoche. It's like calling a single noodle spaghetti so a meal of those noodles would be spaghettis. I know spaghetti is an Italian plural already, but I suspect most people who have said the word "spaghetti" is not aware of that fact, in the same way most Lego consumers don't know it's a Danish abbreviation (I didn't know that before this thread), but we all know the meal is spaghetti and not spaghettis.

    24. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      Xerox managed to prevent genericisation of its trademark by encouraging people to use "photocopy" instead of "Xerox". LEGO tried the same thing but it didn't work as well. That's not to say it was a failure, Tyco doesn't call its construction bricks "LEGO" anywhere in its literature. They called them "Blocks and "Super Blocks". Champagnes made and bottled anywhere but the Champagne region of France will quickly find themselves the subject of lawsuits concerning protected regional trademarks - a California Brut isn't a champagne, it's expensive sparkling white wine. Another example of such protectionism is the successful suit against Walmart/ASDA UK by the Parma region of Italy in the 1990s which prevented ASDA from selling cut-price wafer ham which was not prepared in Parma - meaning ASDA had to label their product using the generic name, prosciutto (or wafer ham - it depends what week it is). ASDA got hit by Cheddar (cheese manufacturers based in the Cheddar Gorge region of Somerset) as well, the town of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire (for pork pies prepared in a certain way as well as their source), own brand minted sugar cakes (which ASDA originally called Kendal Mint Cake but which were actually not made anywhere near the town on the Southern edge of the Lake District, but were in fact made in a backroom of a factory in Worksop, Nottinghamshire - now ASDA sell Kendal branded Kendal mint cakes), Pontefract (cakes not made in Pontefract, W. Yorkshire)... The scale of distinctiveness of a trademark (hence of availability of protection) is a sliding one.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    25. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      Apple have always called their music subsidiary/operation "iTunes" as far as I know... unless you can show me different, in which case I'll stand corrected.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    26. Re:Plural of LEGO is NOT LEGOs! by radarskiy · · Score: 1

      Counterexample: Realtors

  11. They're not claiming Lego is necessary... by NickFortune · · Score: 1

    One does not, nor did they, need Legos to do this.

    Quite right. In fact they pretty much imply that in TFS/TFA:

    The design improves on previous insect manipulators because it's cheap, customizable, and easy to build.

    So the point is not so much that they used Lego to do something that could not be otherwise achieved, but rather that the Lego solution was cheaper, simpler and more flexible.

    But yeah. It could absolutely be done, and presumably has been, without the use of Lego.

    --
    Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton!
  12. It's a mammal, therefore it's a pig by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Why do you think acronym and abbreviation are synonyms?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  13. ihtoit == corporate whore by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    When I was a kid, I and all the other kids called them LEGOS. And today, I call them LEGOS. And if you don't like it, you can suck my NUTSACK. (In case you don't know, that's what I call my BALL BAG. I mean scrotum.)

    I'll call Lego whatever I want, and I may just go photoshop some images with The Gimp too

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  14. Arrrrrrrgh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Repeat after me: The plural of Lego is Lego. The plural of Lego is LEGO!
    If you want to say Lego bricks than fine, but this madness of pluralising an already plural word has to end.

    1. Re:Arrrrrrrgh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "than fine" is a typo, before you get on my case.

    2. Re:Arrrrrrrgh! by azav · · Score: 1

      then* fine

      Also, Lego is not an acronym like NASA. The OP and you should not capitalize all the letters in it.

      --
      - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
    3. Re:Arrrrrrrgh! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      It however is a trademark, which the company has chosen should be all caps.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  15. Lego does not need our help with their trademarks! by Theovon · · Score: 1

    My wife and I build things out of legos together all the time. Also, we let the kids participate. If anything is interfering with sex, it's the kids, not the legos.

    And yes, I did say "legos" and not "LEGO bricks." I'm going to be contrarian on this point, because we don't need a bunch of pedantic slashdotters helping LEGO preserve their trademark. They can do that very well on their own, thanks. The rest of us have genericized it. Duplo blocks are legos. Megablocks are legos. Interlocking bricks that people make houses out of are legos. Sorry if for some reason you're a shill for the corporations and therefore don't like this.

    Big corporations are not altruistic. They are sociopathic money-making machines. This includes Lego. And Apple. They don't need our love or support. If you like their products, buy them, but buyer always beware. These companies are not your friends.

  16. Re:Lego does not need our help with their trademar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I dont like it, not because Im a shill but because lego is mostly used as an adjective. I point to a piece of duplo and say please pass me that giant lego brick. I would never say can I have that lego it just sounds ridiculous to me. And legos sounds even sillier.

    Maybe its because Im not an american.

  17. Yeah - but by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1
    It's all fun and games, until you do the dreaded midnight stomp on a Lego.

    Pain unlike any other.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    1. Re:Yeah - but by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Those 1x1 blocks are evil, they slip into the carpet and always seem to catch you right on the heel.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  18. Re:Lego does not need our help with their trademar by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Maybe its because Im not an american.

    Probably. I was just musing about the difference between American and British (and other) treatment of corporations' names. When we refer to them in the USA, we call a corporation a singular thing. When you refer to them in most other countries, you refer to a single corporation as multiple things, presumably in recognition that a corporation is actually made up of multiple people. But wait, that's not true at all! A corporation is a legal fiction. It's one thing, a piece of paper. When I say "IBM is blah blah blah" obviously what is happening is that some people at IBM are doing blah blah blah. But it is just plain wrong to say "IBM are blah blah blah" because IBM is a singular thing. It's a way of pretending to recognize that actual people are involved while still giving the credit to the corporation. The right way to say it would be to say "such and such people at IBM are" et cetera, which in fact is how we say it in American english.

    The thing is, what actually makes sense is to either say "pass me that lego" or "pass me that brick", not "pass me that lego brick". You might reasonably use the latter form because there are no other bricks that you might be asking for, or the former because what you're asking for is clearly a brick d'lego. But "pass me that lego brick" is just redundant unless it's right next to a tire or a winch or something.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  19. Oh! Just read the title wrong. Whew! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I read it as "LEGO Contraception Allows Scientists To Safely Handle Incest".

  20. Please grammar check these posts by azav · · Score: 1

    Researchers have built **a** contraption from **Legos** that

    You use an article before a noun.

    Legos is not an acronym. You do not capitalize all the letters in it.

    Argh. Please. Proofread before you post.

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    - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
    1. Re:Please grammar check these posts by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      LEGO is a trademark, and it is an all capital trademark. LEGO corporation however prefers people not pluralize LEGO, and instead type it as LEGO style bricks.

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      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  21. Re:Lego does not need our help with their trademar by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

    So, why then do you buy Lego? Or to you just liberate it (steal) from the evil megacorp?

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    http://www.acetonestudio.com
  22. Re:Lego does not need our help with their trademar by Theovon · · Score: 1

    I buy them because I like them. I just don't feel I should have to go out of their way to protect their trademark.