So I got a package today, and it was a box of Batman LEGO comics.
Really.
These are for an event that I will be at this weekend in Chapel Hill, NC. Steve Witt mailed them out for distribution.
This comic is a promotional (and is 16 pages), and hasn't been seen around, so far as I know...anyone know of these?
And anyone want one? Drop me a note if you do - I'll send out 1 of them to the first ten that respond - send to admin@brickjournal.com, subject: Batman!
Thanks Steve!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
The European Bureau
With the formation of a European Bureau (thank you Melody), there have been a lot of new things that have been brought to my attention.
We now are getting reports on many more clubs and many more events - and it's exciting to see how vibrant the community is overseas. And there are going to be more builder spotlights from people who are 'under the radar' - these builders may only show at displays and only be seen on Brickshelf.
There's so much that hasn't been shown yet in the community - and it's really fun to explore what is out there. And the European community has been very happy to become an active part of BrickJournal.
On that note, I also should point out that I am beginning a layout staff - I have three people interested in helping out, and I would like to thank them: Bill Jacob, Didier Enjary, and Camille Goureau-Suignard. Thanks for stepping up to assist!
Is there more out there?
You bet there is - we just gotta look!
We now are getting reports on many more clubs and many more events - and it's exciting to see how vibrant the community is overseas. And there are going to be more builder spotlights from people who are 'under the radar' - these builders may only show at displays and only be seen on Brickshelf.
There's so much that hasn't been shown yet in the community - and it's really fun to explore what is out there. And the European community has been very happy to become an active part of BrickJournal.
On that note, I also should point out that I am beginning a layout staff - I have three people interested in helping out, and I would like to thank them: Bill Jacob, Didier Enjary, and Camille Goureau-Suignard. Thanks for stepping up to assist!
Is there more out there?
You bet there is - we just gotta look!
So I built something!
Sometimes it's good just to build something to get it out of your system....
It's the Seasprite - a fast search and retrieval vehicle for Alpha Team Mission Deep Sea. It was designed as a response to the OGEL and Sea Monkey threat - a vehicle had to be developed that was fast and maneuverable.
The Seasprite has caterpillar drive motors that can be independently pivoted, allowing for high speed and tight turns.it's also quiet, so the stealthiness of the craft is very high.
Building notes:
Took me three hours of building to make the Seasprite, and I'm very happy with the shape. Sleek is hard to do, but it worked out pretty well this time. The engines worked out well, and building the wings in front was a nice challenge.
The cockpit is a little spare (needs work), but I think I will rework this after I get done with work to make it a military version.
You can see more pics here.
It's nice to know I can build still:-)
It's the Seasprite - a fast search and retrieval vehicle for Alpha Team Mission Deep Sea. It was designed as a response to the OGEL and Sea Monkey threat - a vehicle had to be developed that was fast and maneuverable.
The Seasprite has caterpillar drive motors that can be independently pivoted, allowing for high speed and tight turns.it's also quiet, so the stealthiness of the craft is very high.
Building notes:
Took me three hours of building to make the Seasprite, and I'm very happy with the shape. Sleek is hard to do, but it worked out pretty well this time. The engines worked out well, and building the wings in front was a nice challenge.
The cockpit is a little spare (needs work), but I think I will rework this after I get done with work to make it a military version.
You can see more pics here.
It's nice to know I can build still:-)
Monday, January 29, 2007
How big is the community?
So that is a question floating on LUGNET, and there have been some interesting responses.
I don't know the size, but I can give some thoughts -
There are approximately 3000 members of LUGNET presently, and that is a growing number.
There are approximately 70,000 downloads of BrickJournal for each issue.
BZPower has about 30,000 registered users.
Conventions draw from 100 - 400 registered attendees, while public attendance is 10 times that number.
There's a lot more information that is out there, but I'm just using these for examples.
What does this mean?
The community has a lot of potential for growth. There are many people who find this hobby interesting enough to look at and even pay for displays. The trick is finding people who are interested in building. And those people are out there.
There a LOT of AFOLs that still don't know about clubs and other builders. And there are the other avenues of finding builders - FIRST LEGO League is a good example. These are middle-schoolers who use MINDSTORM sets to take on challenges - the World Festival is an amazing event where people allover meet!
The bigger question is does the community want to grow, and how this would be managed.
My position is that yes, the community should grow. It needs to provide opportunities to let things grow, by providing information on clubs and events (including showing how to do events).
The community should be looking at other places to outreach also - there are other conventions, such as science-fiction conventions (that's where House of Bricks began) and local events - cultural festivals, for example. Much of this already happening, and this is good - and this lays down a ground work for the community to grow.
Do I see a convention that woudl have 1000 attendees? I do, but it would take around 5 years to reach that number. It would also require the help of the LEGO Group on a scale not seen before. Such a convention would be a longer event also, with some really neat possibilities for seminars and activities.
The danger presently is believing that 'we' are the community. The community is a lot bigger, but lurking.
I don't know the size, but I can give some thoughts -
There are approximately 3000 members of LUGNET presently, and that is a growing number.
There are approximately 70,000 downloads of BrickJournal for each issue.
BZPower has about 30,000 registered users.
Conventions draw from 100 - 400 registered attendees, while public attendance is 10 times that number.
There's a lot more information that is out there, but I'm just using these for examples.
What does this mean?
The community has a lot of potential for growth. There are many people who find this hobby interesting enough to look at and even pay for displays. The trick is finding people who are interested in building. And those people are out there.
There a LOT of AFOLs that still don't know about clubs and other builders. And there are the other avenues of finding builders - FIRST LEGO League is a good example. These are middle-schoolers who use MINDSTORM sets to take on challenges - the World Festival is an amazing event where people allover meet!
The bigger question is does the community want to grow, and how this would be managed.
My position is that yes, the community should grow. It needs to provide opportunities to let things grow, by providing information on clubs and events (including showing how to do events).
The community should be looking at other places to outreach also - there are other conventions, such as science-fiction conventions (that's where House of Bricks began) and local events - cultural festivals, for example. Much of this already happening, and this is good - and this lays down a ground work for the community to grow.
Do I see a convention that woudl have 1000 attendees? I do, but it would take around 5 years to reach that number. It would also require the help of the LEGO Group on a scale not seen before. Such a convention would be a longer event also, with some really neat possibilities for seminars and activities.
The danger presently is believing that 'we' are the community. The community is a lot bigger, but lurking.
Enthusiasm...
BrickJournal is turning a corner.
There have been some responses to my calls for layout people, and so there are at least two people who will be helping out me with design and layout.
What this really means is that the magazine can be completed faster. And I am very happy about that.
And now the European Bureau is constantly surprising me with article ideas and articles - there are now over 40 article ideas that have been submitted into the pool - and that's great news!
I am also delighted with the enthusiasm that came with the European Bureau. THings are definitely going up a level - or two!
There have been some responses to my calls for layout people, and so there are at least two people who will be helping out me with design and layout.
What this really means is that the magazine can be completed faster. And I am very happy about that.
And now the European Bureau is constantly surprising me with article ideas and articles - there are now over 40 article ideas that have been submitted into the pool - and that's great news!
I am also delighted with the enthusiasm that came with the European Bureau. THings are definitely going up a level - or two!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
NXT Books...(minor rant)
So I went to Barnes and Noble and out of curiousity, I looked for books about the NXT. I know some are coming out, but haven't seen what actually is out.
Well, it took some looking - NXT is under robotics which is under technology, etc...bt I found two books:
LEGO Mindstorms NXT: The Mayan Adventure, by Jim Kelley (with help from Brian Davis)
and
LEGO Mindstorms NXT: Hacker's Guide, by Dave Prochnow
Now, I will preface this by a blog entry that is in the NXT Step last month about the books - turns out that there was a dismissive remark by Prochnow referring to Kelly's book trying to show how the Hacker's is better.
Well, after browsing, I determined that the Hacker's Guide wasn't all that impressive. For a book that was 450+ pages, it was surprising that any mention of the NXT doesn't happen until about page 80. The hacking I saw was making custom wires with phone jacks - um, I know about that from Philo's website and that's FREE!
There is mention of an in-depth guide to the NXT programming language, but all I found was a listing of the commands with basic information on each command - no depth.
But that's the running story of this book - if this was billed as an overall look at the LEGO product, maybe it has some worth. But honestly, I was turned off by it, or maybe hacked off. That was probably because of the Mega-Bloks reference in the book - as a resource. Um, nothing like not knowing enough of your readership to say something completely out of line.
On the other hand, the Mayan Adventure is not bad at all - unlike the Hacker's Guide, it doesn't use cool and fluffy copy that has nothing to do with the subject. What it does do is create a story with a hook to get readers interested - a problem is presented, and then the solution presented in an engaging manner. The process is discussed in programming and building, and through this approach, a reader gets an understanding of the NXT. That's what I want.
So what do I recommend? As a person, I recommend the Mayan Adventure. As an AFOL, I recommend the Mayan Adventure.
BrickJournal hasn't done book reviews yet...maybe that's a good thing:-)
Well, it took some looking - NXT is under robotics which is under technology, etc...bt I found two books:
LEGO Mindstorms NXT: The Mayan Adventure, by Jim Kelley (with help from Brian Davis)
and
LEGO Mindstorms NXT: Hacker's Guide, by Dave Prochnow
Now, I will preface this by a blog entry that is in the NXT Step last month about the books - turns out that there was a dismissive remark by Prochnow referring to Kelly's book trying to show how the Hacker's is better.
Well, after browsing, I determined that the Hacker's Guide wasn't all that impressive. For a book that was 450+ pages, it was surprising that any mention of the NXT doesn't happen until about page 80. The hacking I saw was making custom wires with phone jacks - um, I know about that from Philo's website and that's FREE!
There is mention of an in-depth guide to the NXT programming language, but all I found was a listing of the commands with basic information on each command - no depth.
But that's the running story of this book - if this was billed as an overall look at the LEGO product, maybe it has some worth. But honestly, I was turned off by it, or maybe hacked off. That was probably because of the Mega-Bloks reference in the book - as a resource. Um, nothing like not knowing enough of your readership to say something completely out of line.
On the other hand, the Mayan Adventure is not bad at all - unlike the Hacker's Guide, it doesn't use cool and fluffy copy that has nothing to do with the subject. What it does do is create a story with a hook to get readers interested - a problem is presented, and then the solution presented in an engaging manner. The process is discussed in programming and building, and through this approach, a reader gets an understanding of the NXT. That's what I want.
So what do I recommend? As a person, I recommend the Mayan Adventure. As an AFOL, I recommend the Mayan Adventure.
BrickJournal hasn't done book reviews yet...maybe that's a good thing:-)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Geez, writing is TOUGH!
This issue of BrickJournal is going along, but needs some articles.
From me. I've had writer's block. It's really frustrating to sit at my computer and stare at a blank screen for an hour - I could be doing something, well, constructive!
Sometimes the challenge is coming up with a new twist on a format - a new event report, for example. Sometimes it's trying to come up withthe right way to depict a subject. And sometimes it's trying to demystify a subject to a readable level.
That was the challenge for the article I just wrote for Serious Play, which is basically a workshop using LEGO building in a professional setting.
The problem to crack on this is to make a lot of really deep stuff distill to something readable - there's a lot of theory and a lot of studies that work withthis, but while i could make a long article, it wouldn't be readable to many.
It took me over a month to figure out an angle, and it was really simple. I was given a demonstration on a workshop, and while I wa going to talk about what it did, it dawned on me that I actually acted on what I discovered on the demonstration. So I created a testimonial of sorts.
It was a nice surprise to suddenly burst into writing last night because I knew where I was going.
And for you, try this little demo from Serious Play:
You will need at least one other person, and a secltion of the following parts:
some bricks (all colors), 2x, 1x,
a couple of axle connectors
some axles
some wheels
three minifigs with a smiley, a skull, and one more face.
random specialty parts.
and a stopwatch
No more than 30 parts altogether.
Now here's the test: In five minutes build a model of yourself. That's right, with the parts make a depiction of yourself.
When the time is up, tell your partner about what you built. ANd thenn let him/her to ask questions about your model. Then let the partner do the same.
You'll be surprised by what you build and what you learn.
From me. I've had writer's block. It's really frustrating to sit at my computer and stare at a blank screen for an hour - I could be doing something, well, constructive!
Sometimes the challenge is coming up with a new twist on a format - a new event report, for example. Sometimes it's trying to come up withthe right way to depict a subject. And sometimes it's trying to demystify a subject to a readable level.
That was the challenge for the article I just wrote for Serious Play, which is basically a workshop using LEGO building in a professional setting.
The problem to crack on this is to make a lot of really deep stuff distill to something readable - there's a lot of theory and a lot of studies that work withthis, but while i could make a long article, it wouldn't be readable to many.
It took me over a month to figure out an angle, and it was really simple. I was given a demonstration on a workshop, and while I wa going to talk about what it did, it dawned on me that I actually acted on what I discovered on the demonstration. So I created a testimonial of sorts.
It was a nice surprise to suddenly burst into writing last night because I knew where I was going.
And for you, try this little demo from Serious Play:
You will need at least one other person, and a secltion of the following parts:
some bricks (all colors), 2x, 1x,
a couple of axle connectors
some axles
some wheels
three minifigs with a smiley, a skull, and one more face.
random specialty parts.
and a stopwatch
No more than 30 parts altogether.
Now here's the test: In five minutes build a model of yourself. That's right, with the parts make a depiction of yourself.
When the time is up, tell your partner about what you built. ANd thenn let him/her to ask questions about your model. Then let the partner do the same.
You'll be surprised by what you build and what you learn.
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