In case the authors are here, the first sentence contains the bytes e2 80 94 which would be UTF-8 for an em dash, but it has been reinterpreted as 3 bytes using https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows-1252#Code_page_layout and shown on the page as —. Further down, there's a lot of similar errors such as a single right quote (U+2019) in K'nex. Firefox seems to have first removed their encoding configuration menu in version 89, then introduced a new button in version 91, and that one is disabled now as well so there's no fixing this user-side it seems :/

Edit: ah the page is from 2012-03-19, from the <meta property="article:published_time"> tag

These kits can have extraordinary longevity. I was playing with Lincoln Logs in 1967. Turns out they got started in 1918. Lego bricks have been around since 1945. The moat created by seriously delighting your customers at a young age is large.

Any zometool aficionados here

https://www.georgehart.com/virtual-polyhedra/zometool.html

Very cool. Do two copyright infringements (one on each side of the adapter) cancel each other out? I really like it!

This thing is from 2012. It's a set of printable models for toy parts that allow interconnecting with a bunch of different construction toys, like Lego and K'nex.

I remember thinking this was pretty subversive and cool back then. My own experience in 3D printing since that time has taught me that there is no way that these parts can ever be printed accurately enough to actually work. It didn't get much traction on the Thingiverse files either.

Super cool, lock-in is very real. We are overflowing with Duplo and Lego sets because I just don't want to deal with another system. There are, of course, other models on Thingiverse, Printables, etc., but knowing these are properly designed to fit and work is a huge plus. Cudos to the team!

No Construx? I built everything out of those as a kid.

(2012)

The idea send wild, it reminds me of the katamari video game where you roll up assorted stuff.

Neat idea, but as an adult who builds little machines out of Lego Technic for fun sometimes, the adapter selection seems very limited. In order to make this idea "practical" you would need adapters with a variety of sizes, shapes, and orientations. I guess I'm not the target audience - I can definitely see this being cool for children.

I did not expect to wake up to se fffffat on hn. God i miss them all so much.

Wow, Tinkertoys, I still remember how the wood smelled and the big drum it came in.

When I was a kid I used to rate my uncles and aunts based off who got me Legos or Megablocks.

Idk how I’d feel if they got me this.

That's an awesome project. I'm sure there are many kids that have been gifted LEGO knockoffs that are not compatible with legos from adults that didn't know any better. A similar "interop" project for those would be great

I feel like the only way to summon the corporate lawyers faster would be to put a Mickey mouse on the box.

> Note: all units are in inches.

Not so universal as I'd hoped, but I love the concept and the organization behind it, Free Art and Technology Lab.

I'm disappointed this wasn't a joke about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_property

I’m disappointed that VEX IQ didn’t make the list of connections. For a System they have a lot of well thought out parts, they need help on the decoration side and smaller gear patterns.

Tell your kids about FUCK, the most fun way to play with them bricks...

FUCK yeah.

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swank and deboner.