> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Lego Hacks, Tricks, and Minimalism
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/lego-hacks-tricks-and-minimalism/
- Published: 2013-09-18T01:58:43.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:17:50.000Z
- Description: OAKLAND, Calif. — Legos have come a long way and they continue to evolve and adapt.
- Author: AX Mina
- Tags: News, F.A.T. Lab, LEGO, Legos, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 06:59 (2012, 2013, part 2)

![drmrobot](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2013/09/drmrobot.png)

OAKLAND, Calif. — DRM, or [digital rights management,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital%5Frights%5Fmanagement?ref=hyperallergic.com) is typically understand as a software issue. The ability to copy and access music files or documents is tied down by software specifications, ensuring — at least in theory — that only the person who bought them and/or owns the rights can open and use them.

A [report in AllThingsD](http://allthingsd.com/20130906/how-a-man-in-austria-used-legos-to-hack-amazons-kindle-e-book-security/?ref=hyperallergic.com) recently noted that a professor in Austria figured out a way to use hardware to bypass a software limitation. Employing the Mindstorms robotics kit for Lego and an iSight camera for Mac, Peter Purgathofer set up a simple way for a machine to automatically click through a Kindle and copy what it sees. Once the data is captured, optical character recognition software then extracts the text thanks to the iSight’s high resolution and — *voila* — problem solved.

“It ended being a reflection on the loss of long-established rights when you buy an e-book,” said Purgathofer to AllThingsD. “You make a copy of that book, but at eye-level, so that the result is not a stack of paper, but another e-book.”

Legos have been seeing a bit of a resurgence as of late amongst makers and hackers. Last year, F.A.T. Lab created “[Free Universal Construction Kit](http://fffff.at/free-universal-construction-kit/?ref=hyperallergic.com),” which allows you to connect lego with nine other popular construction toys.

![F.A.T. Lab's construction kit hack brings together four different systems in this images, including Lego. (image via fffff.at)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2013/09/kit_4327_connecting_50q-640.jpg)

F.A.T. Lab’s “Free Universal Construction Kit” brings together four different systems in this image, including Lego. (image via fffff.at)

Another video that made the rounds recently was a prosthetic leg made entirely of legos. Christina Stephens, producer and star of the popular [Amputee OT YouTube channel](http://www.youtube.com/user/AmputeeOT?ref=hyperallergic.com), posted video of herself piecing together blocks around her leg for a snug fit. The project started as a jocular dare that she took seriously. “The joke’s on you,” she told the joker, “I went home and did it.”

And then of course there are the [Lego architectural studio toys](http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Studio-21050?ref=hyperallergic.com#shopxlink), which famously come with no manual. Obviously priced for grown-ups with disposable income, the minimalist set of clear and white blocks is like the simple minimal palette of foamcore or other modeling materials that architects use.

[![Screen Shot 2013-09-17 at 9.56.59 PM](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2013/09/screen-shot-2013-09-17-at-9-56-59-pm.png)](http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Studio-21050?ref=hyperallergic.com#shopxlink)

Now all we need is an actual tower made of Legos, and … there we have it, [113 feet and 11 stories later](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/08/21/11-story-lego-tower-is-officially-the-worlds-tallest/?ref=hyperallergic.com).