Check out the stuff in the technic line recently. The traditional stud-type connectors are still there, but getting more and more scarce. The new system relies a lot on a peg system just like you describe. Check out these sets for some examples (or of course, your local toy store -- if you're in the boston area, I recommend The Construction Site). Also have a look at the "Thoughts" section of Eric Brok's Lego site.
i'm not a media lab (or even MIT) person, so i can't speak for them. But check out their web site for contact info -- I'd think you can work something out.
You're right, "lego" as a plural noun is very common, especially among the lego-geek set. I think it stems from the common warning from the lego group to not refer to the product as "Legos, but rather Lego-brand building blocks or the Lego building system". People have misinterpretted this to mean that "Lego" is okay and "Legos" is not. Really, they mean that "Lego" is an adjective, not a noun -- so both are incorrect. ('Course, day-to-day usage is a different story. *grin*)
And of course, these days, LegOS is something else.
Good point, but: two standard 2x4 bricks of the same color can be connected in 24 different ways. Three (again same color) bricks in 1,060 ways, and six in 102,981,500. (more
Ok, first, there's Lego Shop @ Home. No internet ordering, and no official web page yet, but check out this one at LUGnet. Prices are about 10% higher than retail, but shipping is included.
Yeah, it is unfortunate that the original software lego shipped is very limited. (The 1.5 version is supposed to be better, but I haven't seen it.) But it's all okay -- there's a lot of reverse-engineered alternative development environments which are all far more powerful. (And yes, a lot of them work under linux.) Check out Russell Nelson's Lego Mindstorms Internals, and of course the ultimate lego fan site, LUGnet.
As for X10 + lego, it wouldn't be hard to do at all: use one of the utils you can find at the links above + your linux x10 tools, and you're all set.
Sure. The OS doesn't reside in RAM, but rather on a ROM. In (most of) the newer palm models, the ROM is flash upgradable by the enduser. Older [palm][pilots] and the IIIe and the Visors don't have this capability -- undoubtably a cost-cutting measure.
I don't know if the springboards can upgrade the OS; my guess is probably not, as you'd really not want to do it that way.
Note that any version of PalmOS can get OS upgrade patches. It's just this whole-ROM-replacement thing that only works on some.
Good timing -- the MIT Media Lab's Mindfest is going on right now. It's basically a huge Lego event. You all should come next year.:)
Seriously, it's very cool -- almost everyone involved in the reverse engineering project is here, plus a bunch of cool Media Lab folks, plus all sorts of wonderfully creative people from all over the world. Plus actual official lego people -- hopefully they'll hear some of what we're saying.
Don't throw away the CD though, because if you want to do NQC, you need the official lego firmare. NQC is nice to use for the cases where it can handle your program's needs (most of the time, I've found) because you're able to share your code with a wider audience.
And, actually, it doesn't really fit within the original plan for.com -- Slashdot isn't a company (I don't think). Andover is the company. Under the original plan, they should be slashdot.andover.com. So it's all pretty unclear anyway.
It'd be better if we had a more complicated hierarchical structure (a la usenet) from the beginning -- slashdot.tech.news, or something. But it's probably too late for that.
"ORG" was NEVER meant to be restricted to non-commercial entities, despite the widesspread misconception. Check out RFC 1591:
ORG - This domain is intended as the miscellaneous TLD for organizations that didn't fit anywhere else. Some non-government organizations may fit here.
The Palm platform is very cool, but it doesn't take a book to make one realize that. And certainly not this book, which might be interesting for someone without an internet connection, but otherwise doesn't provide anything that isn't already out there.
Ok, that just moves the problem one step away. I don't see how it's much different for someone to intercept your Passport info and make fake Passport charges. The only "advantage" comes from the fact that fewer merchants (will) use Passport, limiting the possible damage. But that's a marginal improvement, and will obviously go away if the thing catches on.
My current credit card company has very good anti-fraud policies. What's the point of adding a second layer of cost and complexity?
Yeah, you know, having made 1/3 of the systems (and about half the CPU power) on the current Top 500 Supercomputering Sites List is a sure sign of a dying company.
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No, that's only if you have an OS monopoly and are trying to extend that to other markets via bundling.
I know this seems a bit off-topic, but really it's not. The question is: why can KDE get away with doing something MS is taking so much heat for? And yeah, the answer is: it's not what MS did, it's how and why they did it.
I think the real problem is input. Little pen pads, wrist keyboards, twiddlers, etc. are slow, clumsy, ugly, and bulky. Some sort of good subvocal input seems like the best choice (short of wiring the thing directly to your brain), but I haven't seen anything like that in the real world.
Mozilla is well on the way towards the goal of being a fast, efficient, 100% standards-compliant browser. If konqueror can do as well or better, that's great. But at best, it seems like a duplication of effort, and at worst, it seems likely to be yet another 90%-compliant browser. I'm not meaning to be inflammatory, and if it is as good as Mozilla in matching standards, I've got no problem with it.
Slashdot Mirror
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And of course, these days, LegOS is something else.
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Second, remember that you're not alone.
And finally, the Mindstorms robotics sets are labelled "12 yrs and up".
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As for X10 + lego, it wouldn't be hard to do at all: use one of the utils you can find at the links above + your linux x10 tools, and you're all set.
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I don't know if the springboards can upgrade the OS; my guess is probably not, as you'd really not want to do it that way.
Note that any version of PalmOS can get OS upgrade patches. It's just this whole-ROM-replacement thing that only works on some.
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Seriously, it's very cool -- almost everyone involved in the reverse engineering project is here, plus a bunch of cool Media Lab folks, plus all sorts of wonderfully creative people from all over the world. Plus actual official lego people -- hopefully they'll hear some of what we're saying.
And of course, there's NELUG.
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And, actually, it doesn't really fit within the original plan for
It'd be better if we had a more complicated hierarchical structure (a la usenet) from the beginning -- slashdot.tech.news, or something. But it's probably too late for that.
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"ORG" was NEVER meant to be restricted to non-commercial entities, despite the widesspread misconception. Check out RFC 1591:
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My current credit card company has very good anti-fraud policies. What's the point of adding a second layer of cost and complexity?
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I know this seems a bit off-topic, but really it's not. The question is: why can KDE get away with doing something MS is taking so much heat for? And yeah, the answer is: it's not what MS did, it's how and why they did it.
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