Lego

Featured Freeware: Lego Digital Designer

Lego Digital Designer for Windows and Mac gives users the chance to play with Legos without paying for Legos. Loaded with features, the drawbacks are minor and this program is a lot of fun to use. The program links to the Lego online store, but there's more going on here than corporate shilling.

The graphics-intensive program seamlessly zooms in and out, rotates your point-of-view 360 degrees, connects bricks to each other, rotates them, and moves any hinges they might have so you can explore how your pieces fit together. Parts include basic bricks, model jet engines, and infrared sensors. … Read more

BrickArms supplies weapons for LEGO soldiers

If there's a problem with LEGO, it's that they simply aren't violent enough. Sure, you might get some swords or a gun or two in different sets, but not nearly enough to wage a genuine LEGO war. That puny plastic revolver and handful of tiny swords just aren't going to cut it for your army of tiny plastic soldiers.

Gadgetell has discovered BrickArms, a company that makes tiny, LEGO-sized guns for your LEGO-sized troops. BrickArms makes 22 different LEGO weapons ranging from pistols to assault rifles to rocket launchers. The company's weapon selection is surprisingly … Read more

Gadgettes 81: The I Love You Episode

Our listeners are so supercool. They do things like create Web sites based on things we talk about on Gadgettes. They make us laugh. And for that reason alone, this episode is for you, you awesome-heads. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 81

Dedicated to Dave from Denver http://jackmythingie.com/

Pandigital debuts kitchen TV with extra perks http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9893490-1.html

A digital culinary recipe for the futuristic cookware http://www.gizmodiva.com/home_improvement/ a_digital_culinary_recipe_for_the_futuristic_cookware.php

Lego-touch for iPhone and iPod Touch http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/ legotouch_for_iphone_and_ipod_touch_9199.asp

Monster felted handbag http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/12/ monster-felted-handb.html… Read more

Test-build your Lego masterpiece digitally

Do-it-yourself magazines like MAKE and basement-brewed steampunk anachronisms might be at the forefront of home engineering projects, but 50-year-old Lego is still the name builders know best. Now you can play with them on your computer in the official freeware program Lego Digital Designer, available for both Windows and Mac.

… Read more

'Lego-esque' gadgets tap into craze

Apparently the Lego-iPod mashup that surfaced last year has tapped into a demand for other brick-like products, though we can't help but wonder if trademark complaints are in the offing.

Yesterday, for example, Technabob passed along a selection of "Lego-esque media players" and matching stereo docks in various colors. And today, Akihabara News tells us of a "Lego-like USB key" that can be joined with other pieces to create a custom flash drive.

The keys have only 1GB of storage space, but don't worry: When it's full, you can still play with them … Read more

'Lego Universe,' a brick MMO, is in development

SAN FRANCISCO--On a regular basis, two of the things I most like to write about are Lego and virtual worlds. So when I first heard about Lego Universe, a Lego-themed virtual world, well, I was more than a little interested.

Lego Universe, which, sadly, is still about two years from public release, will be a full-scale MMO (massively multiplayer online game) aimed at Lego's core audience, kids ages 8 to 12. But in keeping with the company's awareness of the millions of adults who are utterly devoted to the iconic toys, there is expected to be something for … Read more

Lego promoted do-it-yourself in 1971

With Web 2.0 in full ascent and the widely accepted view that do-it-yourself, or DIY, is the way to get users or audiences engaged these days, we tend to forget that it's a relatively new phenomenon, at least from the corporate perspective.

For every Second Life or YouTube that exists today, that encourages users to create their own content and to potentially do so without spending any money on their corporate parents' products, there are endless examples of companies going out of their way in the past to make sure you do anything but that.

But way back … Read more

Lego bricks turn 50

If you happen to have seen my work in the past, you may have noticed that I am a big fan of all things Lego.

Over the years, I've covered two national master Lego model builder competitions, visited Microsoft headquarters for a demonstration of Lego robots, written about the communities behind Lego robotics, and much more. Oh, and played with the bricks a lot myself, though certainly not nearly as much as some of the people I've met while writing about this wonderful toy.

I even have a friend whose car is covered in the colored bricks.

So … Read more

Gadgettes 74: The What the Hell? Episode

… Read more