Daily Archives: April 1, 2008

News: Leaked video of electromagnetic device for NXT

Someone apparently snuck into LEGO R&D and managed to smuggle out video footage of a forthcoming electromagnetic device for the MINDSTORMS NXT. This is some pretty unbelievable footage:

We asked LEGO Community Team member Jan Beyer if this was for real, and he said, “We are not happy about this leak, and cannot confirm the authenticity of this video…”

Update (April 2): April Fools! (This one courtesy of The LEGO Company itself.)

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Halo!

We probably don’t showcase Halo works here on The Brothers Brick often enough, but this one was crying out for attention. The moment I laid eyes on this masterpiece, I knew what it was.

If you don’t recognize it, you must have been living in a cave somewhere.

Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Reach for the sky!

There is something truly breath-taking about a tower. Perhaps it’s the struggle with gravity or maybe it’s just the ego-smashing experience of being dwarfed by something that stretches into the infinite reaches of the sky. Whatever the reason, towers are fun. This one is no exception.

Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Flying high, into the wild blue yonder...

Check out this nifty little steampunk triplane.

Talk about swooshable!

Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

The Brothers Brick goes Brick and Mortar!

When I registered Brothers-Brick.com back in 2006, I was mildly dismayed that BrothersBrick.com was already taken by a construction supply company in Florida named Brothers Brick Pavers and Sealing, Inc.

I was tired of waiting for the BrothersBrick.com domain to expire so we could purchase it, so I recently approached the owners to see if they were interested in selling the domain to us.

To make a long story short, due to a paperwork error, we find ourselves at the tail end of a complex fiscal and legal process that will bring The Brothers Brick and Brothers Brick Paving into the same umbrella organization (pending SEC and stockholder approval, of course).

Naturally, there will be a few changes to both existing organizations.

  • Here on Brothers-Brick.com, we’ve already replaced our LEGO Shop affiliate banner with an opportunity to purchase bricks, pavers, sealant and other high-quality construction supplies from our new subsidiary.
  • The offices of Brothers Brick Pavers will be renovated to highlight recreations of each item we highlight on Brothers-Brick.com, with Internet kiosks for browsing the blog, and 10×20-foot screens displaying the live RSS feed.
  • We will be relocating all administrative positions and the IT infrastructure to our new branch office in Madagascar, where taxes are lower and lemur labor is essentially free.

Brothers-Brick.com Webmaster I believe TBB and BBP share an important set of core values — a commitment to high-quality bricks, no matter what the form. The synergy between two such strong organizations is undeniable, and will result in tangible improvements for both LEGO fans worldwide and construction supply customers in the greater Tampa area.

However, readers outside Madagascar may experience slower load times due to the 28.8 kbps connection between the new server farm and the rest of the world.

Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Minimalism

You have to love it when builders go against the flow. This builder definitely nailed it with this minimalistic creation.

Not only is it very simple, but the use of matching colors just blew me away.

Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

It’s worthy of Lloyd Frank Wright.

This outstanding piece of architecture belongs in a museum! The use of color and total disregard for conventional walls really gives this piece that extra special flair. I love it! 5/5!

Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

We’re going to Hollywood!

After several months of arduous negotiation, The Brothers Brick has signed its first movie deal. Early in 2009, TriStar Pictures will begin filming a feature length movie portraying the history of The Brothers Brick.

According to TriStar spokesman F. Elam Noir:

The time has come to document the rise of this ground-breaking institution that has done so much to promote discord and harmony throughout the world!

Casting has not been confirmed, as yet, but there are rumors that Sean Connery, Lindsey Lohan, and Robby the Robot have signed contracts. There has been no word on the director, but Steven Spielberg was seen scouting locations in Madagascar.

Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Mother Goose

As a practicing poet, I hold Mother Goose in the highest possible regard. I recently attended a reading by her, and the whole crowd of onlookers in the children’s section of the Barnes & Noble clapped when she read new pieces featuring familiar characters like Little Bo Peep and the lady who lived in a shoe.

I was overjoyed to see this amazing rendition of America’s greatest living poet on Brickshelf:

I love the nose, and the red hair is spot-on! I hope the Nobel Prize committee gets their act together and gives Goose the award she deserves for a lifetime of commitment to breaking new ground in contemporary poetry.

Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

News: LEGO bricks found to contain addictive additives

German chemist Wolfgang Blauhardt recently claimed in a a paper that LEGO bricks contain a powerful “cocktail” of addictive substances. The possibility of illegal drugs in the product was first leaked last January by an anonymous copyeditor working for the medical journal in which Dr. Blauhardt’s paper is forthcoming.

The paper alleges that the corporate LEGO labs have compiled a veritable cocktail of controlled substances that is designed to create a lifelong addict out of anyone who touches the plastic toy. The LEGO Company was unavailable for comment at the time of this blog post’s publication.

Well, this explains a lot. No wonder I can’t put the danged things down.
Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

The Wall

As soon as I saw this, I fell in love with its straight lines, not to mention the myriad of colors.

What beauty! What surrealism!

That one brown brick just makes you think. Wow!

Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Take a cruise...see the world.

We didn’t cover LEGO’s cruise ship contest all that well and we apologize for that. But better late than never, we always say! This is one entry that definitely got overlooked:

There is so much detail in this creation but that yellow mast really stands out for me.

Update (April 2): April Fools!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.