8 ms·

I know a chem prof who built a Lego spectrometer. https://publiclab.org/wiki/lego-spectrometer https://publiclab.org/wiki/lego-spectrometer Legos are just wond

I know a chem prof who built a Lego spectrometer. https://publiclab.org/wiki/lego-spectrometer https://publiclab.org/wiki/lego-spectrometer Legos are just wonderful. edit: I know nothing about woodworking or crafting any building materials, but I always wish I could perform those types of projects. And whenever some potential project comes up, I think to myself, "but I could build it with Legos."

Dachande663 6y ago
Please note, the plural form of LEGO is LEGO, not Legos. As per LEGO themselves[0]. [0] https://twitter.com/lego_group/status/842115345280294912?lang=en https://twitter.com/lego_group/status/842115345280294912?lan...
- fnord77 6y ago
  I don't think we should allow corporations to dictate how we use language.
- jerf 6y ago
  The Lego corporation is welcome to care about that for trademark reasons, but the rest of us don't really have a need to do so. "Legos" is clearly in common usage, failure to YELL ABOUT LEGO IN ALL CAPS and all.
  - em-bee 6y ago
    you are of course right, and people have been trying to get the word lego to be used as a common term for all lego compatible bricks, but that's dangerous as for now lego can stop anyone from publishing anything about alternative brands using the term lego. so they have to avoid doing that or will get in trouble. better to avoid the term lego altogether and just call them bricks.
    - dividedbyzero 6y ago
      I use "bricks" (or the very neat tearm "Klemmbausteine" in German) in any context where Lego legal might want to interfere, and stick to Lego/Legos otherwise. It's a common term beyond any reasonable doubt by now, and corporations really shouldn't pry their greedy tentacles that deeply into everyday life.
      - em-bee 6y ago
        right, i have a hard time avoiding the term lego at home with my kids too. the main problem for me though is that i am quite disappointed with how lego treats competitors that i just don't want to promote the lego brand anymore. btw: german seems to have developed two terms. i don't know where it originated, but bluebrixx (and i don't know who else) uses the term "noppensteine". we'll have to see which term becomes more popular. both are descriptive, but "noppen" is a rather rarely used word which feels a bit wierd when you are not used to it.
    - shoefindortz3 6y ago
      You might not really need to avoid using the term in a way that is understood by the general public. There are quite a few (United States) precedents for losing trademark if a term becomes genericized. For example: Asprin, Escalator, Flip Phone, etc. There is a wikipedia list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericize...
  - eigenket 6y ago
    Where are you from? In Britain I'm pretty sure I've never heard anyone say "Legos", it sounds very American to me.
    - tragomaskhalos 6y ago
      It seems to be a fairly clear-cut geographical divide - Americans always pluralise, Britons never do. Without knowing but based on other lexical splits, I'd expect the majority of the rest of the Anglophone world to follow British usage, with Canada going either one way or the other. Usually Americans can cite 17c usage as a precedent - not in this case !
    - jerf 6y ago
      My main point here is that you probably don't run around saying LEGO, in all caps, not singular vs plural. I understand why the LEGO corporation does it, but it's their problem, not ours, and we don't really need unpaid lego consultants running around lecturing people about the "correct" way to refer to them.
      - eigenket 6y ago
        Yeah I was just surprised by the assertion that >"Legos" is clearly in common usage Given that I don't ever hear people using it. Personally I get faintly annoyed by people saying "legos" the same as I would by people saying "sheeps" instead of sheep when referring to multiple, although I don't think I've ever corrected anyone over it.
        hprotagonist 6y ago
        i remember being galled by it in the late 80s, so this debate, at least, has been going on for some time.
        munificent 6y ago
        > Given that I don't ever hear people using it. I certainly do. The people around you are not a uniform sample of all communities on Earth.
  - retSava 6y ago
    Ugh Lego and trademarks. My wife and I had Lego threaten to sue us for trying to import "legos" of mass destruction, it seems. We ordered a lego-compatible kit, which is ok I think, since it's only the lego figure that is patented Lego, the logo and name of course trademarked to Lego, and any brand cooperation to respective rights holders (eg Star Wars). However, a kit without Lego names or logos, and without Lego-figures, and without any branding or copy of existing Lego-kit, should be ok. But no. In some way, our customs withheld the package and we had lawyers for Lego threaten to sue us if we claimed rights to the package. They attached the Lego figure patent with the threat. We said, burn it, forget it, and acknowledge that we can sleep at night again please, but they forgot the last part. It was a kit worth about 10€, and we have hundreds of €'s of Lego. Now we've stopped buying Lego. Also, less plastic crap. Not to sound bitter, but the big friggin majority of kids toys industry is shit and the world would be a better place without it. Sorry for the steam :S.
    - em-bee 6y ago
      the patent for the lego figure is expired too. they still have a 3d design mark on the figure which bluebrixx is working now to overturn. you tried to privately import a single box? i can understand lego going against commercial importers, but private shipments of individuals who don't have any resources to defend themselves, that's just ridiculous. However, a kit without Lego names or logos, and without Lego-figures, and without any branding or copy of existing Lego-kit, should be ok. and they are. but you have to make the effort to defend yourself against the accusations, which a commercial importer can do, but it's totally unfair to put that on individuals for a single set. which set exactly did you try to import? there are a few large importers in germany, you may consider those. avoids the hassle...
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - jacquesm 6y ago
      You're right to be bitter, especially so because Lego has a pretty sordid history in this respect, the only reason they exist is because the founder copied someone else's IP and made a bundle of money on it. At the root of every great fortune there is a great crime. Oh, and the original inventor committed suicide. Those little details.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- throwaway287391 6y ago
  Even you're misconstruing their recommendation. "LEGO is always an adjective" implies there is no plural form, because there is no noun to begin with. You're supposed to say "LEGO brick(s)", apparently...
- incanus77 6y ago
  Jesus, I’m gonna stop reading comments on LEGO posts here since every time there is a grammar war. I and everyone I know has been calling them LEGOs since I was a kid in the 70s; that’s good enough for me.
jonplackett 6y ago
Would be great if Lego jumped on board projects like both of these and released them as kits. They'd only need create a few 'scientific' bricks to make them work. Not that different from Mindstorms.
- adolph 6y ago
  Lastly will be the precision Lego 3D printer in which one may print Lego compatible parts including the Lego 3D printer.
  - em-bee 6y ago
    oh, i am soo waiting for that. you can already print compatible bricks now, but the results are not quite there yet, but that's totally the future. instead of buying sets in a shop i'd lofe to just print out the parts at home. one nice thing is that, since the parts are so small, it's much easier to deal with print failures, because reprinting a broken part is much easier than reprinting a whole model.
tzs 6y ago
> edit: I know nothing about woodworking or crafting any building materials, but I always wish I could perform those types of projects. And whenever some potential project comes up, I think to myself, "but I could build it with Legos." I bought a case for the Raspberry Pi camera that has a LEGO-compatible back and a small LEGO set (10692) specifically for making things to hold the camera where I want it. It has worked great. Question for LEGO geeks: my set only has one L-bracket, and it is quite small. Looking at other sets at local stores, they also only have one or two small L-brackets. Is there some way other than L-brackets that people use when they want some LEGO assembly to connect perpendicularly to some other assembly? Or should I just order an assortment of brackets from a third-party LEGO brick marketplace site, like this [1]. [1] https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catType=P&catString=4 https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catType=P&catStrin...
- pbhjpbhj 6y ago
  You can put a flat Lego piece perpendicular between two rows of studs. I don't think it's quite as secure as having an L-bracket though.
  - em-bee 6y ago
    it also stretches the studs apart a tad to much, so it's not recommended.
  - tzs 6y ago
    That's almost what I ended up doing, except rather than putting the flat piece between two rows of studs, I put it on top of the studs and had adjacent stacks to stabilize it. Two flat pieces back to back are very very close to the width between the sides of two rows of bricks separated by one row of empty studs. Here is a photo [1]. Here it is with the three top braces and the cable holder removed so you can see everything [2]. This the LEGO compatible case I'm using for the camera [3]. [1] https://imgur.com/a/ggNe5uM https://imgur.com/a/ggNe5uM [2] https://imgur.com/a/jz525N7 https://imgur.com/a/jz525N7 [3] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F19WI0O/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F19WI0O/
sombremesa 6y ago
> Legos are just wonderful. One of the most fascinating things about HN is how people will come out in droves to bash the environmental impact of mining cryptocurrency, but legos are just wonderful - nevermind the plastic waste. There must be a name for this phenomenon. Obviously this post will get downvoted with no real rebuttal - more idiosyncracies of the quality platform that is HN.
- cbsks 6y ago
  Waste?? I still have my legos from my childhood. No plastic wasted here!
  - sombremesa 6y ago
    That plastic will outlast you, though. When considering environmental impact it's prudent to look beyond a couple hundred years - which I admit we suck at as humans.
    - em-bee 6y ago
      and it will be handed to my kids and grandkids, and they will pass it on. most bricks will hopefully not end up in a landfill.
- sephlietz 6y ago
  I don't think you need to search for a psychological explanation. I think it is probable that many people think the benefits of Lego far outweigh the benefits of cryptocurrency mining.
- escape_goat 6y ago
  I prefer it when the commentary on Hacker News does not extend to hot takes. I am sure there are many hypocrisies to be observed on HN, but you are drawing a patently false equivalence between the carbon footprint of cryptocurrency, which if it produces value, certainly does not do so directly, and the impact of the plastic pollution caused by lego pieces, one of the most heavily conserved categories of plastic object in the world.
Ygg2 6y ago
People at CERN: Hold my particle accelerator. Lego: Ok. https://home.cern/news/news/experiments/using-lego-study-building-blocks-universe https://home.cern/news/news/experiments/using-lego-study-bui...

Dachande663 6y ago

Please note, the plural form of LEGO is LEGO, not Legos. As per LEGO themselves[0]. [0] https://twitter.com/lego_group/status/842115345280294912?lang=en https://twitter.com/lego_group/status/842115345280294912?lan...

fnord77 6y ago
I don't think we should allow corporations to dictate how we use language.
jerf 6y ago
The Lego corporation is welcome to care about that for trademark reasons, but the rest of us don't really have a need to do so. "Legos" is clearly in common usage, failure to YELL ABOUT LEGO IN ALL CAPS and all.
- em-bee 6y ago
  you are of course right, and people have been trying to get the word lego to be used as a common term for all lego compatible bricks, but that's dangerous as for now lego can stop anyone from publishing anything about alternative brands using the term lego. so they have to avoid doing that or will get in trouble. better to avoid the term lego altogether and just call them bricks.
  - dividedbyzero 6y ago
    I use "bricks" (or the very neat tearm "Klemmbausteine" in German) in any context where Lego legal might want to interfere, and stick to Lego/Legos otherwise. It's a common term beyond any reasonable doubt by now, and corporations really shouldn't pry their greedy tentacles that deeply into everyday life.
    - em-bee 6y ago
      right, i have a hard time avoiding the term lego at home with my kids too. the main problem for me though is that i am quite disappointed with how lego treats competitors that i just don't want to promote the lego brand anymore. btw: german seems to have developed two terms. i don't know where it originated, but bluebrixx (and i don't know who else) uses the term "noppensteine". we'll have to see which term becomes more popular. both are descriptive, but "noppen" is a rather rarely used word which feels a bit wierd when you are not used to it.
  - shoefindortz3 6y ago
    You might not really need to avoid using the term in a way that is understood by the general public. There are quite a few (United States) precedents for losing trademark if a term becomes genericized. For example: Asprin, Escalator, Flip Phone, etc. There is a wikipedia list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericize...
- eigenket 6y ago
  Where are you from? In Britain I'm pretty sure I've never heard anyone say "Legos", it sounds very American to me.
  - tragomaskhalos 6y ago
    It seems to be a fairly clear-cut geographical divide - Americans always pluralise, Britons never do. Without knowing but based on other lexical splits, I'd expect the majority of the rest of the Anglophone world to follow British usage, with Canada going either one way or the other. Usually Americans can cite 17c usage as a precedent - not in this case !
  - jerf 6y ago
    My main point here is that you probably don't run around saying LEGO, in all caps, not singular vs plural. I understand why the LEGO corporation does it, but it's their problem, not ours, and we don't really need unpaid lego consultants running around lecturing people about the "correct" way to refer to them.
    - eigenket 6y ago
      Yeah I was just surprised by the assertion that >"Legos" is clearly in common usage Given that I don't ever hear people using it. Personally I get faintly annoyed by people saying "legos" the same as I would by people saying "sheeps" instead of sheep when referring to multiple, although I don't think I've ever corrected anyone over it.
      - hprotagonist 6y ago
        i remember being galled by it in the late 80s, so this debate, at least, has been going on for some time.
      - munificent 6y ago
        > Given that I don't ever hear people using it. I certainly do. The people around you are not a uniform sample of all communities on Earth.
- retSava 6y ago
  Ugh Lego and trademarks. My wife and I had Lego threaten to sue us for trying to import "legos" of mass destruction, it seems. We ordered a lego-compatible kit, which is ok I think, since it's only the lego figure that is patented Lego, the logo and name of course trademarked to Lego, and any brand cooperation to respective rights holders (eg Star Wars). However, a kit without Lego names or logos, and without Lego-figures, and without any branding or copy of existing Lego-kit, should be ok. But no. In some way, our customs withheld the package and we had lawyers for Lego threaten to sue us if we claimed rights to the package. They attached the Lego figure patent with the threat. We said, burn it, forget it, and acknowledge that we can sleep at night again please, but they forgot the last part. It was a kit worth about 10€, and we have hundreds of €'s of Lego. Now we've stopped buying Lego. Also, less plastic crap. Not to sound bitter, but the big friggin majority of kids toys industry is shit and the world would be a better place without it. Sorry for the steam :S.
  - em-bee 6y ago
    the patent for the lego figure is expired too. they still have a 3d design mark on the figure which bluebrixx is working now to overturn. you tried to privately import a single box? i can understand lego going against commercial importers, but private shipments of individuals who don't have any resources to defend themselves, that's just ridiculous. However, a kit without Lego names or logos, and without Lego-figures, and without any branding or copy of existing Lego-kit, should be ok. and they are. but you have to make the effort to defend yourself against the accusations, which a commercial importer can do, but it's totally unfair to put that on individuals for a single set. which set exactly did you try to import? there are a few large importers in germany, you may consider those. avoids the hassle...
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - jacquesm 6y ago
    You're right to be bitter, especially so because Lego has a pretty sordid history in this respect, the only reason they exist is because the founder copied someone else's IP and made a bundle of money on it. At the root of every great fortune there is a great crime. Oh, and the original inventor committed suicide. Those little details.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
throwaway287391 6y ago
Even you're misconstruing their recommendation. "LEGO is always an adjective" implies there is no plural form, because there is no noun to begin with. You're supposed to say "LEGO brick(s)", apparently...
incanus77 6y ago
Jesus, I’m gonna stop reading comments on LEGO posts here since every time there is a grammar war. I and everyone I know has been calling them LEGOs since I was a kid in the 70s; that’s good enough for me.

jonplackett 6y ago

Would be great if Lego jumped on board projects like both of these and released them as kits. They'd only need create a few 'scientific' bricks to make them work. Not that different from Mindstorms.

adolph 6y ago
Lastly will be the precision Lego 3D printer in which one may print Lego compatible parts including the Lego 3D printer.
- em-bee 6y ago
  oh, i am soo waiting for that. you can already print compatible bricks now, but the results are not quite there yet, but that's totally the future. instead of buying sets in a shop i'd lofe to just print out the parts at home. one nice thing is that, since the parts are so small, it's much easier to deal with print failures, because reprinting a broken part is much easier than reprinting a whole model.

tzs 6y ago

> edit: I know nothing about woodworking or crafting any building materials, but I always wish I could perform those types of projects. And whenever some potential project comes up, I think to myself, "but I could build it with Legos." I bought a case for the Raspberry Pi camera that has a LEGO-compatible back and a small LEGO set (10692) specifically for making things to hold the camera where I want it. It has worked great. Question for LEGO geeks: my set only has one L-bracket, and it is quite small. Looking at other sets at local stores, they also only have one or two small L-brackets. Is there some way other than L-brackets that people use when they want some LEGO assembly to connect perpendicularly to some other assembly? Or should I just order an assortment of brackets from a third-party LEGO brick marketplace site, like this [1]. [1] https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catType=P&catString=4 https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catType=P&catStrin...

pbhjpbhj 6y ago
You can put a flat Lego piece perpendicular between two rows of studs. I don't think it's quite as secure as having an L-bracket though.
- em-bee 6y ago
  it also stretches the studs apart a tad to much, so it's not recommended.
- tzs 6y ago
  That's almost what I ended up doing, except rather than putting the flat piece between two rows of studs, I put it on top of the studs and had adjacent stacks to stabilize it. Two flat pieces back to back are very very close to the width between the sides of two rows of bricks separated by one row of empty studs. Here is a photo [1]. Here it is with the three top braces and the cable holder removed so you can see everything [2]. This the LEGO compatible case I'm using for the camera [3]. [1] https://imgur.com/a/ggNe5uM https://imgur.com/a/ggNe5uM [2] https://imgur.com/a/jz525N7 https://imgur.com/a/jz525N7 [3] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F19WI0O/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F19WI0O/

sombremesa 6y ago

> Legos are just wonderful. One of the most fascinating things about HN is how people will come out in droves to bash the environmental impact of mining cryptocurrency, but legos are just wonderful - nevermind the plastic waste. There must be a name for this phenomenon. Obviously this post will get downvoted with no real rebuttal - more idiosyncracies of the quality platform that is HN.

cbsks 6y ago
Waste?? I still have my legos from my childhood. No plastic wasted here!
- sombremesa 6y ago
  That plastic will outlast you, though. When considering environmental impact it's prudent to look beyond a couple hundred years - which I admit we suck at as humans.
  - em-bee 6y ago
    and it will be handed to my kids and grandkids, and they will pass it on. most bricks will hopefully not end up in a landfill.
sephlietz 6y ago
I don't think you need to search for a psychological explanation. I think it is probable that many people think the benefits of Lego far outweigh the benefits of cryptocurrency mining.
escape_goat 6y ago
I prefer it when the commentary on Hacker News does not extend to hot takes. I am sure there are many hypocrisies to be observed on HN, but you are drawing a patently false equivalence between the carbon footprint of cryptocurrency, which if it produces value, certainly does not do so directly, and the impact of the plastic pollution caused by lego pieces, one of the most heavily conserved categories of plastic object in the world.

Ygg2 6y ago

People at CERN: Hold my particle accelerator. Lego: Ok. https://home.cern/news/news/experiments/using-lego-study-building-blocks-universe https://home.cern/news/news/experiments/using-lego-study-bui...