Was just now looking at a thread over here (posted by Forum member Cherylad), about the upcoming Lunar Eclipse. Reminded be of the many Lunar, and a few Solar Eclipses I myself have seen. I almost always view such things a treat bestowed upon us by the Cosmos. Every since I could remember, I had always been a stargazer (and in my early childhood I had always fantasized about space colonization). Was always an addict of Star Wars and Star Trek movies - Wasn't really much else for a kid to do in the early 80s... But seeing my father's Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Popular Electronic magazines (as well as the Discover and National Geographic magazines) - Inspired me to an even greater degree. So before the age of 6, I already knew about the inner workings of the space shuttle. Well, as much as was available in the public domain anyway. at the age of 7, I went to the All Pakistan Trade Fair. Where I got to see (as well as touch) the Shahpar Rocket (meaning Royal Wings), built by SUPARCO - Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission. Shahpar Rocket ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden ) The scientist over there was very impressed to see me (a boy of around 7 years), as I really did know a lot about this stuff! This rocket by the way was the predecessor of Pakistan's long range missiles of today! Computers however were very slow in those days, but I still got to use one in school (way back in 1984). My school was actually the first one in all of Pakistan which introduced computers in the classroom. But they were more or less useless. Although everything in those times was hopelessly slow, I still had the comfort in knowing - That the future would be amazing, and exactly to my liking. I knew that all those futuristic designs I got to see in the Discover magazine - Will eventually be built when I'd reach adulthood. Be it the the flying car, the Moon base, or the new floating cities on ocean! Again, computers were too slow in those days. So I ended up designing my own spaceships on just paper. And sometimes I would build models out of LEGO too (which was extremely pleasurable). So this in a nutshell is how I became what I am today... In my early teens (in the start of the 90s), the power of commuters started to grow very fast - And so I took up 3D CAD (Computer Aided Designing, in a Virtual 3 Denominational Space). http://youtu.be/hPr-QY1qFsk But as time went by, I started to feel cheated - As what I was promised to as a child, i never got to see built in reality. The world (geo-politically speaking), had started to rot from the inside. And today thing are in such a rut, that the less I speak about it, the better... However, seeing forum member Cherylad's post about the upcoming Lunar Eclipse - Reminded me of how I myself used to look at things. Thus I just now got inspired to (for no real reason) explore something from my childhood. So I looked up to see what new type of "spaceships" are now being built from LEGO today. And to my amazement, I found this: http://ldd.lego.com/ A CAD program for LEGO... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I think we've now come full circle (at least I sure have). What I couldn't design on a computer almost 3 decades ago, I used to do it with LEGOs. So now, what I cannot build from LEGOs, I can now design inside a computer! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! As a AutoCAD user, this program for LEGO seems like a joke. But I think I'll still use it, just for old time's sake. http://youtu.be/No2NuAxEryA The future (from my point of view almost 3 decades ago), turned out to be almost exactly like it was predicted in the move called Brazil (1985). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvBF3Lxla98 http://youtu.be/9HtHEgINHO0 There really is no flying car parked in my driveway, no base on the Moon (or on Mars). No chain of floating space stations in orbit where I would go for groceries. But now, at least I get to play with LEGOs again, this time in a virtual 3D CAD environment!
That's awesome, I sent the lego link to my son. He grew up playing with the robotic legos, great learning tools for kids (and adults)! He got so interested in how things work, whenever something would break in our house (like a VCR), he'd have to dismantle it, study it, and sometimes fix it before we could get rid of it...and it all started with LEGOs.
I can remember playing with Legos... geez... must have been in the 60s. I don't recall making anything elaborate though.
Neat! I love Lego. Unfortunately my children aren't very fond of it, and I feel sort of silly doing it by myself so I pin my hopes on my grandchildren.
S-H that is a neat story. My son never really played with legos. But now my Grandson likes playing with them. You should check out the Legoland Parks that are out there for kids to visist. They are pretty neat. There is even a water park Legoland.
All I know it is that the year 2001, should have been something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU4TQ1NTo50 And the year 2010, should have been something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34MXGB83heI But here I am, still playing with LEGO - This time in a virtual CAD environment... Really have these days started to feel as if I've been cheated. Not exactly sure whether to laugh about it, or cry over it. Therefore I think I'll do both (simultaneously).
