World's Marvels: Lego

World’s Marvels

LEGO

History

•    The Lego Company was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen, it all began on his workshop in 1932, he began making wooden toys initially for his sons, after that a new business line started when family and neighbors showed interest on his designs. The name “LEGO” initially appeared on 1934, it comes from a Danish phrase “leg godt”, which means “play well”.

•   After WWII, access to wood decreased on Europe, for that reason, the company started to use plastic which the base foundation of what we know today.  

 

Influence

•   Lego has been the perfect mate in the childhood of millions around the world; many engineers, architects, designers and professionals in several areas have found the first steps of their careers back in the playground playing with Lego building blocks.

Design

•      It is also remarkable the serious commitment the company has with their customers; prove of it is that the basic block design hasn’t changed since 1958, and it is possible to interlock units from that time with those manufactured in present times.

•     The main idea of Ole kirk was developing a toy that could be enhanced and improved along the years as the child using it grows just by adding new pieces to the previously owned kit.      

 

Market Placement

•Beyond the toys itself, Lego has developed a market strategy that allows them to satisfy almost every customer in the world, they have created alliances with popular franchises for releasing thematic sets such as Star Wars, Indiana Johns, Batman and more recently The Avengers.

More attractions

•The business has also reached video games, and theme parks known as “Legoland” located on Denmark, United States, Germany, England and Malaysia.      

 

Higlights

•It is undeniable the big stimulation it has over the creativity of children, allowing them to start creating their own designs from an initial play set.

•The range of ages starts from 3 years and has no limit; it is Ole Kirk’s legacy of allowing the toy to grow with his owner.

•Education experts recommend the use of it as a learning tool; a product line named “Mindstorm” is an aid on robotics and programming laboratories all over the world.

•I’m still having my first Lego set, it was a Heliport.        

 

References

•http://www.lego.com/en-us/

•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego

Homework #3

Albert Einstein (March 14 th 1879 – April 18th 1955)



Known as the father of modern physics, Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Kingdom of Wurttemberg



in the German Empire. Even when many rumors claimed that he had severe communication issues



during his early childhood, studies of his academic history demonstrated that Albert began showing his



intellectual talent at the age of five when joined a Catholic elementary school in his hometown.



He postulated the “world’s most famous equation” known as the mass-energy equivalence (E=mC^2);



and even when his most renamed discovery was the “Theory of Relativity”, he won the Nobel Prize in



Physics in 1921 for his discovery of the “Photoelectric Effect”. Thanks to the mathematical fundamentals



of this law, nowadays we can enjoy DVD and Blue-Ray movies using LASER lectors as well as being



able to produce electricity out of solar panels. Modern physicists have mentioned that the “Theory of



Relativity” was completely beyond the understanding of the scientists of that era and they were not



ready to assimilate such discovery.



The Einstein family members were not-observant Jews, for that reason, he decided to stay in the United



States in 1933 when the Nazi party, ruled by Adolf Hitler, took the power in Germany. Later on that year,



he discovered that his name was listed on a German magazine as an enemy of the Nazi party, included



as a pending assessination target with a $5000 bounty on his head.



In October of 1933, he took up a position at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University,



and after two years of considering offers from other prestigious universities in Europe, he decided to



permanently stay at Princeton; indeed, he figured affiliated to the Institute for Advanced Studies until



his death in 1955.



During his entire life Einstein published more than 300 scientific papers and around 150 non-scientific



works.



Some of his most famous phrases are:



“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”



“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”



“We cannot solve our problems with same thinking we used when we created them.”

Five Things you didn’t know about… Luis Diego Soto



1.Even when I’m the son of a farmer and most of my studies were financed thanks to the coffee



plantations of my family, I don’t drink coffee and actually when I try to drink it, my stomach simply can’t



stand it.



2. It is almost written on the genetic code of people from Costa Rica, but surprisingly I don’t like tamales,



specially the dough; luckily it saves me some extra kilos on Christmas time.



3. Inherited from my university student’s days, I’m able to stay up until 4 AM without any regret and still



being able of waking up at 7 AM fully charged.  On the other hand, no matter how early I go to sleep, it



is almost impossible to get me out of bed at 4 AM.



4. Growing up in a farm could be a charming experience, and in my case it was; even though, my price



to pay was pain; I’m extremely allergic to bugs’ bites and even the tiniest one would cause me a big



reaction. Every visit to the farm still represents to me an itchy experience.



5. My dream is someday being able to alternate my career as an engineer with the farm life, and trying



to keep the family business as coffee growers and cattle breeders.

Homework assignment: Paragraphs about my workgroup classmates



Student: Luis Diego Soto



Karla, mother of two; it strongly calls my attention her passion to handcrafting, specially because I



consider myself a handcrafter as well, even when we are in different areas of the field, the feeling of



creating something with your own hands is the inspiration that moves us. The way she talks about her



duties at work reveals the commitment and dedication she puts on the things she does, not only as



a professional, but also in all the areas of her life. Being a mother is definitely something I do respect



about her, mainly because it is noticeable the love she has for her kids just  by listening to the way she



talks about them. Her friendly voice and humble smile are signs of a person who anyone would like to



have as a friend.



Katia, an accountant; her vocation to numbers and the fact that we went to the same university really



makes me feel I’m in front of a very capable person. It is also remarkable the true desire of improvement



that brought her to the course. Even when she gets a little nervous during English conversations, she



does really good and you can tell that she is pushing forward to do it even better each time. The shyest



on our group, maybe because smart people spends more time analyzing things and less time talking. She



moved from her hometown to Heredia in order to avoid traffic jams; I hope she is really spending less



time behind the wheel because nowadays our streets are a complete mess.



Alberto, a plastic artist; plastic arts are by far one of the most distinctive signs of human evolution above



other species, and according to Karla, Alberto is a very good exponent on this field. As every single



artist, he seems like a full of life person willing to translate all that energy to the canvas, turning crude



materials into something beautiful. Also, it is remarkable that part of that energy is spent partying which



is also another classic sign of good artists. I admire his commitment to his career and even with the



burden of his duties at work, he finds out how to spent time daily to his artwork. It is really sad having



such a good artist splitting his time into other activities for paying bills instead of dedicating full time to



his career. I would like to think that our country someday would become a place that fully respects all



artistic expressions as it is done in other countries around the world.



In the end, it is such a learning experience having the opportunity of sharing my time at class with



people so talented, even more when I realize that I’m not only improving my English skills, but also I’m



improving as a human being.