not that it's big news, but it's a relatively new piece of info.
Can't say anything until later though. Take a look at BrickJournal.com
Friday, October 19, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
So what's been going on?
I haven't been able to post about Day 3 of Brickcon, as I have been pretty busy.
I had a really fun time at the convention, and I would like to congratulate Wayne Hussey and staff for having a fun event! It wasn't long enough for me to spend the time I wanted with friends old and new, butI will be back next year...and they already have a venue set up.
There are many ways to do an event, and Brickcon is a great example of how a convention can be appealing to both the AFOLs and public.
I have pics on my Flickr account and video will be showing up on teh BrickJournal website and Youtube.
On another subject, BrickJournal is going to print.
There have been a lot of comments about the Journal because of the printing and change in model of BrickJournal to a business model. It's been a bit frustrating to see the negative remarks, as most are by people who haven't seen what has to be done to get to this point.
BrickJournal cannot be kept free and be printed. And unless there is a benefactor who is willing to drop a sizable amount of money with no strings attached for printing, it's not going to happen. Getting a small number of issues will always be expensive - take a look at Lulu's printing for issue, and you'll see things pretty clearly.
The only way to get a decent price would be to get a large print quantity. Not dozens, or hundreds, but thousands. And this has to be at one printer - one 10,000 print run will be more expensive than two 5,000 print runs.
Why is that? It's because setup on a press is the expensive part of printing. Placing the printing plates takes time and money. Turning on the press and running it is cheap. So the idea is to maximize time running the press and get as many issues as possible. Lulu has a different, much more expensive mode of printing because it literally prints to demand. Magazines print to anticipated demand based on orders and then projecting.
Shipping is an issue because of the many different places worldwide - but most shipping is governed by countries. I am working on other ways to take care of this, but until I get some definite information, I cannot say anything at this time.
The comments about charging for previously free material are also a bit misinformed. Here's a question: If you had a choice of free material and material that you have to pay for, what would you go for?
Here's another question: If you knew that something on sale was going to become free, would you buy it?
Here's another question: If you could purchase a printed magazine or download a copy for free, what would you do?
And one final question: If you needed to fund your magazine, including contributors and staff, how would you support them if you cannot sell anything?
These are the questions I had to answer. And some answers I didn't like but had to follow.
Everything that is going on is going toward making BrickJournal a sustainable enterprise. The mailing list being created at TwoMorrows is one that is AFOLs and other interested people - it is a unique listing and one that can help the Journal in determining where to get issues sent to. revenues from download will be used to subsidize printed compendiums of back issues.
Ultimately, BrickJournal will increase awareness of the hobby everywhere. And that will help all of us.
I had a really fun time at the convention, and I would like to congratulate Wayne Hussey and staff for having a fun event! It wasn't long enough for me to spend the time I wanted with friends old and new, butI will be back next year...and they already have a venue set up.
There are many ways to do an event, and Brickcon is a great example of how a convention can be appealing to both the AFOLs and public.
I have pics on my Flickr account and video will be showing up on teh BrickJournal website and Youtube.
On another subject, BrickJournal is going to print.
There have been a lot of comments about the Journal because of the printing and change in model of BrickJournal to a business model. It's been a bit frustrating to see the negative remarks, as most are by people who haven't seen what has to be done to get to this point.
BrickJournal cannot be kept free and be printed. And unless there is a benefactor who is willing to drop a sizable amount of money with no strings attached for printing, it's not going to happen. Getting a small number of issues will always be expensive - take a look at Lulu's printing for issue, and you'll see things pretty clearly.
The only way to get a decent price would be to get a large print quantity. Not dozens, or hundreds, but thousands. And this has to be at one printer - one 10,000 print run will be more expensive than two 5,000 print runs.
Why is that? It's because setup on a press is the expensive part of printing. Placing the printing plates takes time and money. Turning on the press and running it is cheap. So the idea is to maximize time running the press and get as many issues as possible. Lulu has a different, much more expensive mode of printing because it literally prints to demand. Magazines print to anticipated demand based on orders and then projecting.
Shipping is an issue because of the many different places worldwide - but most shipping is governed by countries. I am working on other ways to take care of this, but until I get some definite information, I cannot say anything at this time.
The comments about charging for previously free material are also a bit misinformed. Here's a question: If you had a choice of free material and material that you have to pay for, what would you go for?
Here's another question: If you knew that something on sale was going to become free, would you buy it?
Here's another question: If you could purchase a printed magazine or download a copy for free, what would you do?
And one final question: If you needed to fund your magazine, including contributors and staff, how would you support them if you cannot sell anything?
These are the questions I had to answer. And some answers I didn't like but had to follow.
Everything that is going on is going toward making BrickJournal a sustainable enterprise. The mailing list being created at TwoMorrows is one that is AFOLs and other interested people - it is a unique listing and one that can help the Journal in determining where to get issues sent to. revenues from download will be used to subsidize printed compendiums of back issues.
Ultimately, BrickJournal will increase awareness of the hobby everywhere. And that will help all of us.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
NWBC Day 2
The second day pf the convention was a pretty busy one - this was a public day and at 11 am, the place was opened for everyone to see.
Some neat things were around to see:
The Crate Contraption - Gus Janssen built a course for a bunch of robots to move crates of soccer balls around, including a crane, and a few vehicles.
FIRST LEGO League - The Gothic Lawn Gnomes team was working on their robot for this year's challenge!
Mecha Godzilla - (there were two of them!)
Moonbase - some modules and construction areas - and more than a few space craft,
Train/Town - Nice buildings and skyscrapers.
And yacking with everyone is a lot of fun.
Afterward, saw Transformers the Movie at the IMAX. Wow.
Some neat things were around to see:
The Crate Contraption - Gus Janssen built a course for a bunch of robots to move crates of soccer balls around, including a crane, and a few vehicles.
FIRST LEGO League - The Gothic Lawn Gnomes team was working on their robot for this year's challenge!
Mecha Godzilla - (there were two of them!)
Moonbase - some modules and construction areas - and more than a few space craft,
Train/Town - Nice buildings and skyscrapers.
And yacking with everyone is a lot of fun.
Afterward, saw Transformers the Movie at the IMAX. Wow.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
NWBC Day 1
Wow, what a day...
Got in in the morning and took pics all day. Also talked quite a few people, like Steve DeCraemer, who built a hearse in Model Team scale. And Keith Goldman, Ryan Rubino, and Mike Rutherford, who got together and built a simple astounding layout. I was able to ge my micro stuff out too.
I also ended up being timekeeper to the Millennium Falcon Speed Build. THe previous record was 2 hours 53 minutes, and...this team got 2 hours 49 minutes! I ended up getting pics of the build and a timelapse of most of the build. The battery died on the camera, and so there is a 15-20 minute gap while batteries were found and replaced. The LEGO Group had a camera setup that was much more impressive that filmed the build.
There also was some information on the upcoming trains - pretty positive news actually. Since I was watching over the speed build, the other Joe went to it ad got information. I will be getting more info about this for the Journal.
Opening ceremonies were pretty laid back - some info the upcoming activities and prize drawings. It's much more relaxed in NWBC than in other cons.
So some fun stuff (and nice eateries, too)! And I met anc chatted with:
Keith Goldman
Mike Rutherford
Ryan Rubino
Wayne Hussey
Thomas Rafert
Phil Eudy
Steve Witt
Roger Cameron
Steve Gerling
Gus Janssen
and many many others...
Now, to Saturday!
Got in in the morning and took pics all day. Also talked quite a few people, like Steve DeCraemer, who built a hearse in Model Team scale. And Keith Goldman, Ryan Rubino, and Mike Rutherford, who got together and built a simple astounding layout. I was able to ge my micro stuff out too.
I also ended up being timekeeper to the Millennium Falcon Speed Build. THe previous record was 2 hours 53 minutes, and...this team got 2 hours 49 minutes! I ended up getting pics of the build and a timelapse of most of the build. The battery died on the camera, and so there is a 15-20 minute gap while batteries were found and replaced. The LEGO Group had a camera setup that was much more impressive that filmed the build.
There also was some information on the upcoming trains - pretty positive news actually. Since I was watching over the speed build, the other Joe went to it ad got information. I will be getting more info about this for the Journal.
Opening ceremonies were pretty laid back - some info the upcoming activities and prize drawings. It's much more relaxed in NWBC than in other cons.
So some fun stuff (and nice eateries, too)! And I met anc chatted with:
Keith Goldman
Mike Rutherford
Ryan Rubino
Wayne Hussey
Thomas Rafert
Phil Eudy
Steve Witt
Roger Cameron
Steve Gerling
Gus Janssen
and many many others...
Now, to Saturday!
Friday, October 5, 2007
Pulling into NWBrickcon...
And after 7 hours and two airliners later, I am in Seattle.
I am rooming up with Joe Evangelista at the Best Western Executive Inn(I think). It's about a ten minute walk to the event, and a pretty nice room for a hotel, Wireless is free too, which is reallly nice!
The location of the convention is a really different location compared to other conventions that I have been to before Unlike the others, NWBC is in a place that is really close to other attractions.
How close? I have to walk PAST the Seattle Space Needle to get to the venue. A science fiction museum is just down the way, and there's IMAX theatre just as close. There's also more than a few eateries and places to munch at, so the location is very nice.
The venue space is not bad either. It's 13,000 sq ft, and split into two rooms. One room is sale stuff it appears, and the other is display. Since it's Thursday (now Friday) the early birds have come in...and wow, there are some astounding models showing up. How astounding? Go to my Flickr gallery!
However, not all was great. I brought a shoebox of micro in, and by the time it got to Seattle, it was pretty badly destroyed. Joe E's stuff wasn't much better. But things are being rebuilt.
I also got to meet Wayne Hussey, the coordinator of NWBC, and found out he's a great person to talk to. His planning is good too. So things are falling into place as this event begins.
Highlights already:
Godzilla (okay, Mecha Godzilla)! At about 4 foot tall!
Titanic Titanic (at over ten feet in length)
Totem Pole
KeithLUG's layout!
War of the Worlds tripod
...and that's just a starter....
I am rooming up with Joe Evangelista at the Best Western Executive Inn(I think). It's about a ten minute walk to the event, and a pretty nice room for a hotel, Wireless is free too, which is reallly nice!
The location of the convention is a really different location compared to other conventions that I have been to before Unlike the others, NWBC is in a place that is really close to other attractions.
How close? I have to walk PAST the Seattle Space Needle to get to the venue. A science fiction museum is just down the way, and there's IMAX theatre just as close. There's also more than a few eateries and places to munch at, so the location is very nice.
The venue space is not bad either. It's 13,000 sq ft, and split into two rooms. One room is sale stuff it appears, and the other is display. Since it's Thursday (now Friday) the early birds have come in...and wow, there are some astounding models showing up. How astounding? Go to my Flickr gallery!
However, not all was great. I brought a shoebox of micro in, and by the time it got to Seattle, it was pretty badly destroyed. Joe E's stuff wasn't much better. But things are being rebuilt.
I also got to meet Wayne Hussey, the coordinator of NWBC, and found out he's a great person to talk to. His planning is good too. So things are falling into place as this event begins.
Highlights already:
Godzilla (okay, Mecha Godzilla)! At about 4 foot tall!
Titanic Titanic (at over ten feet in length)
Totem Pole
KeithLUG's layout!
War of the Worlds tripod
...and that's just a starter....
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
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!
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!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
BrickJournal 9 is....
big: 148 pages
diverse: Articles come from Europe, the US and Asia
fun: with LOTs of instructions
inspiring: with a story on FIRST LEGO League and a story on a person setting up MINDSTORMS classes in Jamaica.
The issue is in final proof, with release set for this week.
Woo hoo!
diverse: Articles come from Europe, the US and Asia
fun: with LOTs of instructions
inspiring: with a story on FIRST LEGO League and a story on a person setting up MINDSTORMS classes in Jamaica.
The issue is in final proof, with release set for this week.
Woo hoo!
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