CP5670

Yes, that is the model I was referring to. The whole "program card" concept is quite brilliant and something I had never thought of before. How do the 4.5V motors compare to the 9V ones? I don't have any of those but have plenty of the ungeared 9V ones, so I will probably just substitute them into these models. Cool, I didn't notice this earlier from the pictures. The switching mechanism is similar to what is done on the 8094 crane. This would make a nice basis for a minifig/System model. I couldn't tell what that one was supposed to be. It may be a little clumsy to use since it has the control center affixed to the model itself.

I don't really get gifts as such. I just buy stuff whenever I feel like it, and this holiday shopping period is always a good time to buy.

Has anyone here built the models from these books? There were four of them (8888, 8889, 8890 and 8891), and they are all available on Peeron and Brickfactory. I had skimmed through these scans a long time ago but looked over them more closely today, and noticed several models I hadn't seen before. I definitely want to try building some of them now. The original book, 8888, is probably the best of them. The last two models in it are particularly interesting, and it took me a minute to figure out what they do from the pictures. They use a very clever idea of accepting code cards made up of rows of 1x4 gear plates, which allow you to program the models in a purely mechanical way. There is also a wind-up clock and an excavator with 3 degrees of freedom. Technic (or Expert Builder, rather) was really in its infancy back then, and it's quite impressive how much they managed to achieve with the very limited selection of Technic pieces available at the time. 8891 also has some good concepts. There is a plane "simulator" (similar to the 8485 helicopter), a walker with pneumatic arms and hands, and a rodeo guy on a bull. I especially like the pictures for that last one. (update: pictures and comments appear below) Rodeo A simple but very fun model. One motor makes the bull jump up and down, and the other one makes it rotate. If you use both functions at once, the speed of the jumping changes noticeably depending on the direction the turntable is moving in, so if the guy won't fall off, you can speed it up. Walker Great concept. I often tried to build things like this as a kid. It moves fairly slowly and does wobble a bit while walking, but still remains surprisingly stable even with unbalanced arm positions. I changed a few pieces on the hands to make their grip stronger. As you would expect, it benefits a lot from a compressor and there is probably enough unused room inside to build one into the model itself, although I just ran it off an external one. The cockpit can be opened to put the figure in. Here is a walking video. Programmable crane I love the concept behind this model, but its operation is kind of unreliable in practice. I removed the crate that the model normally lifts, which is too heavy and doesn't let the winch stay up. The turntable mechanism is unusual and tends to lock up, and the model would definitely benefit from a modern turntable. It's impressive to watch otherwise though. Each of the six rows on the "code card" corresponds to a function: turning the crane left and right, raising and lowering the winch, moving the tracks (they can only move forward), and moving the card itself. As Blakbird mentioned, the model has heavy gear reduction and it takes around 3 minutes for the card to fully run through the model. I think this model might also hold a record for the number of 8-tooth gears used. I counted 24. Excavator This one is probably my favorite among the models I've built so far. It's pretty small and compact, but it has 3 degrees of freedom like a real excavator. It's interesting that TLG managed to achieve this in 1980 with very basic Technic parts, but couldn't do it recently with 8294. The original model uses a rubber band in one spot to keep the boom up, which doesn't work reliably and causes friction in one of the geartrains, so I removed that and added in manual latches on the cranks as seen in the first picture. Plane simulator This is a great idea with a somewhat flawed design, but it can be fixed easily. The motors aren't geared down enough and some rubber belts in the geartrain tend to slip easily, so the plane moves with fast, jerky movements and can't hold its position well. I removed the belts and added an extra 1:3 stage of gear reduction on each motor, which improves the functions a lot. I also enlarged and motorized the propellor and added a few supporting plates on the wings, which are otherwise prone to falling off. After these changes, I think I like this model better than the 8485 helicopter, as it has similar functionality in a much smaller size. I took a short video of it as well. Dinosaur Another walking model, this time with 4 legs. It moves fairly fast but not quite as smoothly as the 2-legged walker discussed earlier, and it actually moves better backwards than forwards. The legs tend to slide on a hard surface, so I added some wheels on them for traction. They look a little weird but they do the job. Clock Like the crane, this is another very unique concept that unfortunately doesn't work that well in practice. The pendulum has two bushes on top that touch a 40t gear. The gear moves by one tooth each time the pendulum swings from one side to the other, which makes the clock hand move just a little bit. The entire thing is powered by several rubber bands on a wind-up axle, and the 24t gear in the back is used to wind it up. The gearing is quite clever and is designed so that it can be wound up easily, but still keeps going on a single "charge" for a while. However, the pendulum does not swing reliably, and also has a slight deadzone that causes the gear to slip every now and then. I added a few weight bricks to it, which improves it but it's still not that reliable. There is also a cut-out clock face given in the book, for which I just used a substitute. Cable car Another cool and unique model. The cable car has a forward/reverse transmission that gets flipped when it hits a wall, automatically reversing its direction. The string it runs on needs to have quite a bit of tension in it, or the wheel doesn't grip the cable tightly enough and the car will not move. It took me some time to figure this out, but the model is fun to watch in action once it has been set up correctly. Dog This model uses a symmetric mechanism for the front and hind legs, unlike the dinosaur. It actually walks very slowly, but is reasonably stable. The head bobs up and down as it walks forward, and it also has a bone in its mouth. Here is a walking video.

Philo's site has a lot of nice articles on Technic and Mindstorms. The motor comparison page is especially useful.

At least all the English language material I've seen from Europe is like this. I regularly come across math and EE papers by European and Russian authors (my thesis advisor is from Belgium, in fact), and I have never seen a comma used for a decimal separator in any of them. Maybe this is something that varies with the field. Looking over this article, there is no global consensus on it. SI accepts both conventions to be valid, and Wikipedia says the dot should be used in its own articles. The dot used for multiplication is positioned in the middle, not at the bottom. In fact, mathematicians often don't write anything at all for multiplication, and two things written next to each other are interpreted to mean some form of multiplication.

Since you have already bought the PF pack, I would recommend 8265 at $80. This is easily the best Technic set currently available, and it also benefits a lot from the PF pack. If you want a studded Technic set, you'll have to look for things from the 1990s on ebay and BL. The big flagship sets of the past command large premiums these days, but the midrange ones are a lot more affordable, especially if you are willing to buy used. 8292 may be a bit hard to find now. It was taken off the US S@H site quite some time ago. He already has the PF pack in any case, so it would make more sense to get something that can combine with it.

Yeah, it's pretty obvious in that picture. The thing is that green was not a color that had problems in the past, as far as I know. This is still a great set though, especially for the $10 price. I'll certainly get at least one.

For generic types of pieces, I always buy more than I need. I don't necessary have a second MOC in mind, but if the pieces are basic, common ones then I know I'll need them somewhere sooner or later. When it comes to more specialized and expensive pieces like PF motors, I typically only buy as many as I need at a time, except when the piece/condition is rare and hard to come by. My BL orders tend to be either under $30 or over $100, with not much in between. For the big bulk orders, I stick to 4 or 5 specific sellers who I know have good prices across the board and handle big orders efficiently. I can spend as much as needed on any one order, but I think my most expensive one was $180 for around 2000 parts. I don't plan out MLCad models before building and ordering the parts. I sometimes make a very basic framework for large models, just to visualize what I want the overall shape to be like, but that's about it.

No harm in asking. At the worst, he'll say no or ignore you, and you will still have the option of just paying the normal price.

It's interesting that these bootleg sets actually have a good amount of printing. The original Lego sets have almost no printing at all. It's a sad day when these illegal brands actually have better quality than Lego in any respect.

It's worth noting that there may be reasons to make instructions other than sharing your MOC with others. I used to make instructions for my own purposes more than anything else. I wanted to be able to disassemble my MOCs and put them back together later on. I used the instructions like this once, when I was rebuilding a MOC from the ground up to update some things in it. Cool, I'm a math grad student myself.

Look in your user profile folder (inside Users on Vista and 7, and Documents and Settings on XP). Most games store their custom maps, savegames, profiles, etc. either in their own folder in AppData, or in the My Documents folder. I haven't used any AV program in around 15 years either. I often wonder how exactly people manage to pick up all these viruses.

There was a model at Brickfest a few years ago that had a smokestack emitting smoke. I'm not sure what they used for it, but the effect looked great.

I've been kind of lucky and never had to deal with this issue. I commuted from home as an undergrad and now have an apartment as a grad student. In fact, my Lego collection was something that factored into both decisions. How large is your collection? You may be able to allocate a bookshelf or two for displays. As for organizing pieces, the Stack-on containers discussed in the storage and sorting thread are very space-efficient, and you can probably fit a few of them at the back of your desk.

You don't need to format the drive, unless you suspect a virus took over a lot of stuff other than the OS. 4GB should be enough unless you have some specific, non-gaming use for more. I don't know of any game that uses more than 2GB by itself. As for widescreen support, it depends on the game, but almost all games from the last 3 or 4 years will support it properly (i.e. having the image fill up the screen without any stretching, and with an appropriate FOV).

I have no problem with this, especially if Crowkillers has agreed to it. I can appreciate the amount of work it takes to assemble such instructions, as I used to make them myself once but haven't done so in years. I hardly find time to build the actual MOCs these days, never mind the instructions. Technic models are especially time consuming to make in MLCad because it frequently doesn't align Technic connections properly and you have to do it manually, although we now have SR3D and it's a big improvement here. That being said, I probably wouldn't pay for this particular model's instructions. The appearance is fantastic, but the functionality is fairly basic especially for its size.

I've had the Lifelites units on my mind for some time now, but haven't gotten around to buying anything yet. As you say, the "basic" pack seems to be the most cost effective. The original RCX 1.0, the control center (newer type) and the control lab interface all allow AC input, but those are going to be far more expensive than a speed regulator. It's actually easier to run 9V stuff off AC than PF. As far as I know, the only 100% Lego way to run PF elements off wall power without mods is to use a 9V source with the conversion cable. Another option is to use mods. You can rig up a 9V transformer to a battery box. If you're like me and don't want to make permanent changes to the battery boxes (i.e. soldering wires directly onto them), then the best solution is what Philo did with fake batteries here, but it may take some work to build that. I would actually buy such batteries if they were a commercial product, but I was never able to find anything like them. I run a first version control center this way, but the battery contacts on it happen to have a very convenient shape and I can connect wires to it tightly without soldering or gluing anything at all. Radio Shack sells a 1A transformer with adjustable voltages and a bare leads adapter for it, which is what I use, but there may be cheaper options. That looks great.

I have wondered about this too. Most of the Lego electric parts have always been extremely expensive. I think the worst example of this was the 9V train speed regulator, which is essentially a variable resistor with only one output and lacking even a power switch, but it was always $45. It's a good thing you used to be able to get them for under $10 on ebay and BL. Actually, the standard PF parts (motors, switch, lights, etc.) are priced a lot cheaper than most of the corresponding 9V ones were. Although they do have a lower quality feel in some ways than the 9V stuff, particularly in terms of the plastic used. Does the existing NXT battery output the full 9V? I wonder if there is any cost-effective way (without using an NXT) to hook it up to PF elements.

I used to have a room for Lego. Now I have my entire apartment for it. I used to have several of the old Mania magazine posters on the walls back then, but haven't done any wall decorations here. As for display shelves, I use several packs of these (there is also a 24" deep version) and put cardboard poster boards over them to cover up the holes. This solution is far from perfect, but I have yet to find anything else that provides this much space for the price.

Yeah, it's especially odd how currently available sets regularly go for more than their MSRP prices. The only explanation I can think of is that the sets aren't available in some countries and people want to import them. I can't really tell if ebay prices on the whole are higher than they used to be, although there was a time when they were always cheaper than BL, which is not the case anymore. The prices can be very erratic, and sometimes the same seller sells two identical sets a few weeks apart for $100+ price differences. I got most of the things I wanted 7 or 8 years ago, back when ebay was less popular. It was also easier to snipe back then, since few people did it with the non-real time interface and slower internet connections back then. You're right that the European convention on this is different, but I have never seen it done that way in scientific contexts, regardless of the country. The points are always used as decimal separators there.

I always wanted a black version of this. The Blacktron II guys would have looked much better wearing these jetpacks if they had been in black.

I can think of a few uses for that E motor, especially related to Zblj's CVT design discussed on TechnicBricks recently. The other things don't seem to be much more than novelties though, especially since they will probably be quite expensive. On the other hand, the pneumatic pressure gauge falls into the same category, but I've found that to be a lot of fun to play around with.

You probably haven't set the resizing options correctly. I use Irfanview's Lanczos filter and follow it up with the sharpen filter on all my photos, which I find produces very good results in practice. I hope they get their issues fixed soon, as it's basically unusable in that state for viewing instructions. It does feel like it's hosted on a home connection.

He actually started a forum on the Brickshelf site in 2006 and posted there, but inexplicably took down the whole place after two weeks. In one of the posts there, he said it costs "thousands of dollars a month" to run the site, but that the ad revenue covers all the expenses. That was back then, though.

Good advice, but at the same time, they're probably on an American server and it could simply have been a routine server problem that took longer than usual to fix because everyone at the host company was off work for the Thanksgiving weekend. Notice that it was fixed today (Monday) morning. I'm going to stay with Brickshelf for the moment. I have plenty of space on my ISP and university accounts as well as some gaming websites, but as I said earlier I like the exposure that pictures get on Brickshelf. If the site goes down again, I would have all my stuff backed up anyway and can easily put it up somewhere else.