7 ms·

TCP/IP in Lego

97 points by ldayley 13y ago

biot 13y ago
The article correctly calls it "TCP/IP in Lego(TM)". Isn't Legos a city in Nigeria or a character in Lord of the Rings? :)
- stephen_g 13y ago
  This really annoys me too - I always think of the Leggos brand of pasta sauce whenever I see that mistake.
- tfm 13y ago
  [OT] Woah, takes me back to the bad old days of a.r.k https://groups.google.com/group/alt.religion.kibology/search?q=%22lego+bricks+and+toys%22 https://groups.google.com/group/alt.religion.kibology/search... The nounal usage "Legos" just wasn't one I heard until I was exposed to this Internet. Correct en_AU usage is to deploy "Lego" as its own plural. Dialects! Back on-topic, I'm kicking myself that I didn't think of using Lego when I was tutoring TCP/IP, but ... I was also kinda hoping this article would show some sort of robot-based assembly line with motors and (of course) a bit bucket for lost packets. To the Legotorium!
- hkmurakami 13y ago
  LOR character is Legolas :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_rings#Main_characters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_rings#Main_charact...
- sjtrny 13y ago
  "Legos" makes the tiny bit of OCD in me go crazy
- brc 13y ago
  Legos - so very much a personal pet peeve. see this discussion: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/10839/legos-not-lego http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/10839/legos-not-l... Although I very much disagree with the upvoted answer which essentially says we're free to invent words and call it english. 1 Company called Lego 1 lego brick or piece 1 lego set 1 lego construction 2 lego bricks or pieces 2 lego sets To me, it's like 'sheep'. One sheep, flock of sheep - never 'sheeps'. It's not so much the problem of pluralising the word, but by pluralising it, you're saying that individual piece is a Lego, which makes no sense to me. EDIT: To prove my point. Take this story: A man walks into an Apple Store. He buys 1 Apple MacBook, 2 Apple iPods and 3 Apple iPads. He takes them home to configure and set up. His wife walks in. Does she say: a) Oh look, my husband is playing with his new Apple products b) Oh look, my husband is playing with his new Apples
  - stephen_g 13y ago
    I like how the accepted answer pretty much declares "all pluralisation in English works by adding 's' or 'es'," completely missing out on other completely normal words, like "a basket full of fish[1]"... 1. 'Fishes' can also be valid in tht circumstance - http://australianmuseum.net.au/fish-and-fishes http://australianmuseum.net.au/fish-and-fishes - but 'fish' is still a correct English plural.
    - lotsofcows 13y ago
      "Fish" is not the correct English plural as a cursory examination of any English Bible written in the last 600 years will prove. Other discussions on this site lead to the following addendum: When using the word "English" I mean English as spoken by the English in England. Not the USAian dialect.
      - phaemon 13y ago
        Ezekiel 47:9 And everything that liveth, which moveth, wheresoever the rivers shall come, shall live, and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be wholesome, and everything shall live whither the river cometh. - 1599 Geneva Bible ...and the KJV has similar. You didn't even check! :)
        lotsofcows 13y ago
        I was thinking of the parable of the fishes: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A19&version=KJV http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A19&... http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A19&version=GNV http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A19&...
  - anonymous 13y ago
    Sheep is a bug in the language and the only reason it's not fixed is because it's not used very often. Like scissors and pants, which have correctly evolved to "a scissor" and "a pant" where I live. On the subject of Lego: Lego the company - "Lego had high profit this year" A lego heap - "Put away the lego when you're done with it" A lego piece - "I'm looking for a 2x3 lego and three 2x2 block legos" It's all very understandable and natural and you should just let go.
- sc00ter 13y ago
  It's one of those wrongs that will never be righted - like brits calling Los Angeles 'Los Angelease', or those who, after all these years of hearing it pronounced correctly still insist on calling Linux 'Lynux'.
- mangamadaiyan 13y ago
  Nit pick: the Nigerian city is Lagos, and the LOTR character is Legolas.
opminion 13y ago
TCP/IP packets made with building blocks, brilliant. They could also be used as cuisenaire rods. I would be interested if anyone has used them in a nontrivial way to represent computable expressions (if you can do with alligators and eggs, you can do it with Lego) http://worrydream.com/AlligatorEggs/ http://worrydream.com/AlligatorEggs/
- unwind 13y ago
  Thanks for teaching me a new word, had no idea what http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisenaire_rods http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisenaire_rods were. :)
ultimoo 13y ago
Yay for Steven's TCP/IP Illustrated book in the background of one of the photos!
lmm 13y ago
From the title I assumed someone had built a packet-switching network out of lego, which makes the actuality slightly disappointing.
- kyrias 13y ago
  Yeah I thought so too, would've been so awesome.. Though it still is pretty neat.
tocomment 13y ago
The legos to make that cost $100? Wow.

97 points by ldayley 13y ago

biot 13y ago

The article correctly calls it "TCP/IP in Lego(TM)". Isn't Legos a city in Nigeria or a character in Lord of the Rings? :)

stephen_g 13y ago
This really annoys me too - I always think of the Leggos brand of pasta sauce whenever I see that mistake.
tfm 13y ago
[OT] Woah, takes me back to the bad old days of a.r.k https://groups.google.com/group/alt.religion.kibology/search?q=%22lego+bricks+and+toys%22 https://groups.google.com/group/alt.religion.kibology/search... The nounal usage "Legos" just wasn't one I heard until I was exposed to this Internet. Correct en_AU usage is to deploy "Lego" as its own plural. Dialects! Back on-topic, I'm kicking myself that I didn't think of using Lego when I was tutoring TCP/IP, but ... I was also kinda hoping this article would show some sort of robot-based assembly line with motors and (of course) a bit bucket for lost packets. To the Legotorium!
hkmurakami 13y ago
LOR character is Legolas :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_rings#Main_characters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_rings#Main_charact...
sjtrny 13y ago
"Legos" makes the tiny bit of OCD in me go crazy
brc 13y ago
Legos - so very much a personal pet peeve. see this discussion: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/10839/legos-not-lego http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/10839/legos-not-l... Although I very much disagree with the upvoted answer which essentially says we're free to invent words and call it english. 1 Company called Lego 1 lego brick or piece 1 lego set 1 lego construction 2 lego bricks or pieces 2 lego sets To me, it's like 'sheep'. One sheep, flock of sheep - never 'sheeps'. It's not so much the problem of pluralising the word, but by pluralising it, you're saying that individual piece is a Lego, which makes no sense to me. EDIT: To prove my point. Take this story: A man walks into an Apple Store. He buys 1 Apple MacBook, 2 Apple iPods and 3 Apple iPads. He takes them home to configure and set up. His wife walks in. Does she say: a) Oh look, my husband is playing with his new Apple products b) Oh look, my husband is playing with his new Apples
- stephen_g 13y ago
  I like how the accepted answer pretty much declares "all pluralisation in English works by adding 's' or 'es'," completely missing out on other completely normal words, like "a basket full of fish[1]"... 1. 'Fishes' can also be valid in tht circumstance - http://australianmuseum.net.au/fish-and-fishes http://australianmuseum.net.au/fish-and-fishes - but 'fish' is still a correct English plural.
  - lotsofcows 13y ago
    "Fish" is not the correct English plural as a cursory examination of any English Bible written in the last 600 years will prove. Other discussions on this site lead to the following addendum: When using the word "English" I mean English as spoken by the English in England. Not the USAian dialect.
    - phaemon 13y ago
      Ezekiel 47:9 And everything that liveth, which moveth, wheresoever the rivers shall come, shall live, and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be wholesome, and everything shall live whither the river cometh. - 1599 Geneva Bible ...and the KJV has similar. You didn't even check! :)
      - lotsofcows 13y ago
        I was thinking of the parable of the fishes: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A19&version=KJV http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A19&... http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A19&version=GNV http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A19&...
- anonymous 13y ago
  Sheep is a bug in the language and the only reason it's not fixed is because it's not used very often. Like scissors and pants, which have correctly evolved to "a scissor" and "a pant" where I live. On the subject of Lego: Lego the company - "Lego had high profit this year" A lego heap - "Put away the lego when you're done with it" A lego piece - "I'm looking for a 2x3 lego and three 2x2 block legos" It's all very understandable and natural and you should just let go.
sc00ter 13y ago
It's one of those wrongs that will never be righted - like brits calling Los Angeles 'Los Angelease', or those who, after all these years of hearing it pronounced correctly still insist on calling Linux 'Lynux'.
mangamadaiyan 13y ago
Nit pick: the Nigerian city is Lagos, and the LOTR character is Legolas.

opminion 13y ago

TCP/IP packets made with building blocks, brilliant. They could also be used as cuisenaire rods. I would be interested if anyone has used them in a nontrivial way to represent computable expressions (if you can do with alligators and eggs, you can do it with Lego) http://worrydream.com/AlligatorEggs/ http://worrydream.com/AlligatorEggs/

unwind 13y ago
Thanks for teaching me a new word, had no idea what http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisenaire_rods http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisenaire_rods were. :)

ultimoo 13y ago

Yay for Steven's TCP/IP Illustrated book in the background of one of the photos!

lmm 13y ago

From the title I assumed someone had built a packet-switching network out of lego, which makes the actuality slightly disappointing.

kyrias 13y ago
Yeah I thought so too, would've been so awesome.. Though it still is pretty neat.

tocomment 13y ago

The legos to make that cost $100? Wow.