Thoughts here and there...

Well, the 9v announcement was released, and while sad, it wasn't very surprising. There have been many discussions about 9v and what its future iis, and to be honest, its future lies in the community.

I firmly believe that 9v will persevere. I am very interested to see what the LEGO Group is developing for the Power Functions system that will align with train, and am excited with the possibilities that will be opened. There are some challenges that will have to be addressed, but this too will be dealt with.

From my experience with PF motors and systems, I can see the potentials an limitations so far:

Potentials:
IR remote, with different channels.
NXT integration (which could possibly mean Bluetooth)
Multiple trains on single track
true building with a train set - there are no train motor trucks - you may have to build it!
Possible integration for lighting

Limitations:
IR remote:-) - line of sight challenges
Power - batteries is a definite limitation, with weight and available power.
Motor size - the smallest size now is almost too big for 9v train bodies.

The things that need to be looked at right now (and I am assuming they are looking at it, with the AFOL group) are the production things: There has to be a wheel setthat links to the PF motors in some way - the 9v motor is in a train truck...PF will most likely have a built solution or an adapter.

What I think is neat is that the motor system is becoming  a cross platform LEGO solution, which is a very welcome thing. It's a business-smart solution that can be a great long-term solution for electronics.

So I am looking forward to seeing what happens.

On other subjects, BrickJournal has been sent to the web publisher. So it's done (for me, anyways). And I am very happy with it. There are some neat things in it and an announcement in it:-)

And congratulations to the staff of Railbricks! They launched their magazine and yes, I got a copy. It's pretty good. It's nice to see other projects start. and I wish the best to them.

Now that BrickJournal's current issue is done, I can turn my attention to BrickJournal.com - there have been new things added to the web service that I have to sit down and figure out. There are some easy things, like live chat for members, and not so easy things, like creating data pipes for feeds that are multi lingual, which can be really cool! I have to take a good look at all of this first.

And I will be at NWBrickcon! With maybe one MOC. Sorry, I have been building something else:-)

I'm also trying to figure out NXT building. I got the new MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book from No Starch Press, and am getting my way around the programming.

So new day, new things, new adventures!