OT: Quick Lego Survey

OT: Quick Lego Survey

[Samuel W Flint]

I understand this is kind of off topic, however, I was wondering how
many of the Emacs Developers played with Legos a lot as a kid.

Thanks,

Sam

-- 
Samuel W. Flint

Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[Eric S. Raymond]

Samuel W Flint <swflint@flintfam.org>:
> I understand this is kind of off topic, however, I was wondering how
> many of the Emacs Developers played with Legos a lot as a kid.

Me.
-- 
		<a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/">Eric S. Raymond</a>

Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[Nic Ferrier]

Samuel W Flint <swflint@flintfam.org> writes:

> I understand this is kind of off topic, however, I was wondering how
> many of the Emacs Developers played with Legos a lot as a kid.

<angry>The plural is "LEGO" NOT "Legos"</angry>

I did.

I've also worked for LEGO where they taught me to be as annoyed as they
are about people pluralizing it wrong.


Nic

Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[dhruva]

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Not an Emacs developer here but still want to share my memories.

I played with LEGO. It was unaffordable in India. It was only when someone
travelled abroad and returned, we could even hope of getting a LEGO kit as
a gift.

The first kit we got had very few pieces and we soon ran out of options.
After a many years, we got a fire engine LEGO kit with many pieces. Mixing
the 2 kits, our imagination was the limit!

Much later, LEGO partnered with an Indian toy manufacturer and it became
more affordable.

Tetris in GNU Emacs always reminds be of LEGO due to the color and shape of
falling blocks...

-dhruva


On Sat, Aug 16, 2014 at 10:00 AM, Nic Ferrier <nferrier@ferrier.me.uk>
wrote:

> Samuel W Flint <swflint@flintfam.org> writes:
>
> > I understand this is kind of off topic, however, I was wondering how
> > many of the Emacs Developers played with Legos a lot as a kid.
>
> <angry>The plural is "LEGO" NOT "Legos"</angry>
>
> I did.
>
> I've also worked for LEGO where they taught me to be as annoyed as they
> are about people pluralizing it wrong.
>
>
> Nic
>
>
>

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Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[Jan Djärv]

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Hi. 

As a child I had bags of unsorted Legopieces.   Those where the days...

    Jan D. 

> 16 aug 2014 kl. 19:39 skrev dhruva <dhruvakm+ml@gmail.com>:
> 
> Not an Emacs developer here but still want to share my memories.
> 
> I played with LEGO. It was unaffordable in India. It was only when someone travelled abroad and returned, we could even hope of getting a LEGO kit as a gift.
> 
> The first kit we got had very few pieces and we soon ran out of options. After a many years, we got a fire engine LEGO kit with many pieces. Mixing the 2 kits, our imagination was the limit!
> 
> Much later, LEGO partnered with an Indian toy manufacturer and it became more affordable.
> 
> Tetris in GNU Emacs always reminds be of LEGO due to the color and shape of falling blocks...
> 
> -dhruva
> 
> 
>> On Sat, Aug 16, 2014 at 10:00 AM, Nic Ferrier <nferrier@ferrier.me.uk> wrote:
>> Samuel W Flint <swflint@flintfam.org> writes:
>> 
>> > I understand this is kind of off topic, however, I was wondering how
>> > many of the Emacs Developers played with Legos a lot as a kid.
>> 
>> <angry>The plural is "LEGO" NOT "Legos"</angry>
>> 
>> I did.
>> 
>> I've also worked for LEGO where they taught me to be as annoyed as they
>> are about people pluralizing it wrong.
>> 
>> 
>> Nic
>> 
>> 
> 

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Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[John Yates]

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Too old to have played with Lego as a child.  My equivalents were Lincoln
Logs, Tinker Toys and especially Erector Set.

By the time I became a father Lego had appeared  Both my daughter and my
son received many Lego sets.  We had an elaborate storage system intended
for part in a workshop into which we organized the bricks as part of
project tear down.  I spent many happy hour building Lego with both
children.

/john


On Sat, Aug 16, 2014 at 4:15 PM, Jan Djärv <jan.h.d@swipnet.se> wrote:

> Hi.
>
> As a child I had bags of unsorted Legopieces.   Those where the days...
>
>     Jan D.
>
> 16 aug 2014 kl. 19:39 skrev dhruva <dhruvakm+ml@gmail.com>:
>
> Not an Emacs developer here but still want to share my memories.
>
> I played with LEGO. It was unaffordable in India. It was only when someone
> travelled abroad and returned, we could even hope of getting a LEGO kit as
> a gift.
>
> The first kit we got had very few pieces and we soon ran out of options.
> After a many years, we got a fire engine LEGO kit with many pieces. Mixing
> the 2 kits, our imagination was the limit!
>
> Much later, LEGO partnered with an Indian toy manufacturer and it became
> more affordable.
>
> Tetris in GNU Emacs always reminds be of LEGO due to the color and shape
> of falling blocks...
>
> -dhruva
>
>
> On Sat, Aug 16, 2014 at 10:00 AM, Nic Ferrier <nferrier@ferrier.me.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> Samuel W Flint <swflint@flintfam.org> writes:
>>
>> > I understand this is kind of off topic, however, I was wondering how
>> > many of the Emacs Developers played with Legos a lot as a kid.
>>
>> <angry>The plural is "LEGO" NOT "Legos"</angry>
>>
>> I did.
>>
>> I've also worked for LEGO where they taught me to be as annoyed as they
>> are about people pluralizing it wrong.
>>
>>
>> Nic
>>
>>
>>
>

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Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[Rüdiger Sonderfeld]

On Saturday 16 August 2014 09:13:28 Samuel W Flint wrote:
> I understand this is kind of off topic, however, I was wondering how
> many of the Emacs Developers played with Legos a lot as a kid.

+1.  I loved Lego.

Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[Lennart Borgman]

On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 3:23 PM, Rüdiger Sonderfeld
<ruediger@c-plusplus.de> wrote:
> On Saturday 16 August 2014 09:13:28 Samuel W Flint wrote:
>> I understand this is kind of off topic, however, I was wondering how
>> many of the Emacs Developers played with Legos a lot as a kid.
>
> +1.  I loved Lego.

Oh, yes. But the fun with Emacs (and programming) is that you can
build big things even if your mum and dad dit not have money to buy
much Lego.

Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[John Yates]

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On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 12:49 PM, Lennart Borgman <lennart.borgman@gmail.com
> wrote:

> ... even if your mum and dad dit not have money to buy much Lego.
>

I mentioned earlier that my childhood predated Lego and that instead I
played with AC Gilbert Erector Set
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erector_Set>.   Like Lego, Erector Set came
in kits of various sizes with all the part to build a project pictured on
the box.  And like Lego the price was an obstacle to acquiring a sufficient
supply to undertake truly large projects.  Mine was a family that
definitely could not afford Erector Set.  I do not recall ever receiving
even the smallest amount of Erector Set in its original AC Gilbert
packaging.  I do remember being taken by my grandmother sometime in the
late 1950's into New York City and visiting the legendary FAO Schwartz toy
store <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAO_Schwarz>. That was probably the one
time I saw Erector Set in its glossy packaging.  Still my wonderful mother
(due to turn 90 shortly) understood fully the virtue of Erector Set
abundance.  She scoured yards sales on a regular basis until she had
supplied me with a large steamer trunk full.

Thanks Mum and Happy Birthday.

/john

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Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[Tassilo Horn]

John Yates <john@yates-sheets.org> writes:

>> ... even if your mum and dad dit not have money to buy much Lego.
>
> I mentioned earlier that my childhood predated Lego and that instead I
> played with AC Gilbert Erector Set
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erector_Set>.

Haha, "Boys today, /men tomorrow/"!  (Reads if there was a parental
advisory on the back mentioning "Don't give to girls!").

Back to the original question: yes, I've played with LEGO (and LEGO
Technic later).  But at least here in Germany that's probably the most
common toy after teddy bears, so I wouldn't look for some correlation
between playing LEGO and becoming a hacker or engineer.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[Eric S. Raymond]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org>:
> Back to the original question: yes, I've played with LEGO (and LEGO
> Technic later).  But at least here in Germany that's probably the most
> common toy after teddy bears, so I wouldn't look for some correlation
> between playing LEGO and becoming a hacker or engineer.

Interesting.  Legos aren't quite that common in th the U.S., and
*are* commonly thought to be something you give your kid if you want 
to encourage engineering tendencies.
-- 
		<a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/">Eric S. Raymond</a>

Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[David Kastrup]

"Eric S. Raymond" <esr@thyrsus.com> writes:

> Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org>:
>> Back to the original question: yes, I've played with LEGO (and LEGO
>> Technic later).  But at least here in Germany that's probably the most
>> common toy after teddy bears, so I wouldn't look for some correlation
>> between playing LEGO and becoming a hacker or engineer.
>
> Interesting.  Legos aren't quite that common in th the U.S., and
> *are* commonly thought to be something you give your kid if you want 
> to encourage engineering tendencies.


<URL:http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Bricks-First-Princess-10656/dp/B00A88EPQE/>

LEGO Bricks & More My First Princess 10656
by LEGO

    Includes a princess minifigure.
    Features castle, horse, carriage, grooming station, carrot and pieces in hard-to-find light pink and blue colors.
    Castle section measures over 3" (10cm) high, 2" (6cm) wide and 1" (3cm) deep.
    Includes easy-to-follow building instructions with inspirational ideas.
    Makes a great gift!


You think the princess is bait-and-switch for the building blocks?
I have to admit that chin, stature and facial expression of the
"princess" very much suggest "drag queen" but I'm not sure how to get to
engineering from there.

-- 
David Kastrup

Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[Bill Wohler]

Samuel W Flint <swflint@flintfam.org> writes:

> I understand this is kind of off topic, however, I was wondering how
> many of the Emacs Developers played with Legos a lot as a kid.

Of course. And in the 60s and early 70s, we didn't have any sets--with
instructions--that you see today, just big boxes of glorious bricks,
with which you could build anything and everything. Lincoln Logs and
Tinker Toys also come to mind. Never had an Erector Set, although I knew
about it.

-- 
Bill Wohler <wohler@newt.com> aka <Bill.Wohler@nasa.gov>
http://www.newt.com/wohler/
GnuPG ID:610BD9AD

Re: OT: Quick Lego Survey

[Tim Chambers]

> From: John Yates <john@yates-sheets.org>
> Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 21:24:28 -0400
> In-Reply-To: <043EC533-79C5-4C55-9CD1-C5FE9A6CB075@swipnet.se>
> Message-ID: <CAJnXXoioB8XUkK5tn0h7hUwsA=7JDpPWeCzRqTzsppryp71moA@mail.gmail.com>

> Too old to have played with Lego as a child.  My equivalents were Lincoln
> Logs, Tinker Toys and especially Erector Set.

I had Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, Erector Sets, *and* LEGOs growing up in
the 70's. Also had LEGO gears.

> By the time I became a father Lego had appeared[.] Both my daughter and my
> son received many Lego sets.

My neighbors had more than me, so I vowed when I had kids that there would
be no such thing as "too many LEGOs."

> From: "Eric S. Raymond" <esr@thyrsus.com>
> Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 04:40:12 -0400
> In-Reply-To: <87tx5ackpk.fsf@thinkpad-t440p.tsdh.org>
> Message-ID: <20140818084012.GA21644@thyrsus.com>

> Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org>:
>> ... here in Germany that's probably the most  common toy after teddy
>> bears, so I wouldn't look for some correlation between playing LEGO and
>> becoming a hacker or engineer.
>
> Interesting.  Legos aren't quite that common in th the U.S., and
> *are* commonly thought to be something you give your kid if you want
> to encourage engineering tendencies.

And hacking. My first exposure to programming at MIT was a student
mini-course on Lisp. Many LEGO metaphors were proferred.

I have two sons. They had oodles of LEGOs. Both went to MIT. I'm convinced
LEGOs helped. #1 son studied Aero-Astro, focused on UAS auto-pilot
software and is a Java hacker in Cambridge now. #2 is in his senior year
studying MechE.