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I got home tonight to find my subscription update AutoCAD Architecture 2009 had arrived.
Tomorrow it’s off to Salesoft CAD Solutions Autodesk 2009 Software Launch/lunch with “Innovative NZ Guest speaker”, Barrier Breaking challenges and Segway (or Footomobile) Races!
2009 has arrived.
It’s blog’iversary time again. Four years since that first tentative post. To everyone, everywhere, thanks for visiting and subscribing!
I've added a Privacy Policy Page setting out the information gathered which may used by TypePad or 3rd party service providers such as AdSense, FeedBurner etc. Nothing has changed but it’s now a requirement for AdSense use.
This recent post on A Welsh View appealed thanks to my Paper Airplane obsession…
A Welsh View: Japanese Scientists, Origami Masters Hope to Launch Paper Airplane From Space
Shinji Suzuki, a professor at Tokyo University's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, believes that a successful flight from space by an origami plane could have far-reaching implications for the design of re-entry vehicles or space probes for upper atmospheric exploration….
And thanks to John, a reader, for the link to this site with amazing paper projects;
Yees Job - www.yeesjob.com
Yee is a Canadian Artist. His company Yee's Job is located in Montreal. He designs & handcrafts all kind of paper craft.
And here’s another:
Paper Aircraftwerks - www.paperaircraftwerks.com
Detailed paper Models from a PDF
Cost of hosting, minimal
Having a host to worry about this sort of thing, priceless.
Doc Searls Weblog · Attention WordPressers
“Take it from somebody who lost at least one whole blog entirely from the consequences not upgrading WordPress: Upgrading your installation or patch is essential”“What’s happening is: spammers are taking over blogs, posting link farm links on them, obscuring their human visibility with CSS tricks but the links are still visible to crawlers…
All wordpress users that haven’t patched or upgraded to v2.3.3 are vulnerable.”
I’ve had a profile on LinkedIn, the business focused social network site, for quite a while. It recently had a major make-over and I find the new interface much more approachable.
It also seems like it has taken off as I’ve seen much more activity recently. I’m not sure if this the new UI working, more people experimenting with business focused social networks or just because I’m using it more myself?
It has been handy to keep in contact with former colleagues, find new contacts in related industries or other areas of interest. I’ve also been able to help a few others as LinkedIn relies on a trusted referral model. Seems odd that someone in Idaho was introduced to a contact in the U.K. via a referrer in New Zealand. I knew both, but they wouldn’t have known I was a mutual contact without LinkedIn..
If you’re considering joining, or already using, LinkedIn and Outlook be sure to get their free Outlook Toolbar. In addition to adding LinkedIn integration it’s got a handy “Grab” tool, powered by anagram, which allows you to transfer contact information from an email directly into an Outlook Contact (in the correct fields).
An example of Outlook integration is this info button. It appears on emails and enables you to see if your contact uses LinkedIn, showing their chosen public profile, or invite them if they don’t!
If you’re a TypePad Blogger LinkedIn can be integrated with your side-bar using, literally, a single tick-box. They also offer a variety of HTML badges for any web page or blog post!
I haven’t spent much time working with DataCAD. In fact, probably more time getting stuff out of it, for other platforms, than creating anything in it! However, news of a new release caught my attention.
I remember going to an AutoCAD launch years ago, maybe r14?, and they mentioned a future where smart objects would replace line work enabling you to build a 3D virtual model. I also remember thinking – while they said it – don’t waste your time showing me the new widgets in AutoCAD, just give me those smart things!
The object model hinted at became a reality a short time later with the release of Architectural Desktop. At the time ArchiCAD users probably wondered what all the fuss was about…
Then along came Revit offering coherent building models capable of retaining, even responding to, design intent thanks to a database structure and parametrics. Even ArchiCAD users noticed and I suspect, maybe reluctantly, thought that was smart…
But reading this review of DataCAD 12 I thought I’d gone through a time warp;
Wow, that’s still considered new and smart in 2008?DataCAD Gets Smart - Cadalyst AEC
"So if a sliding glass door is added to the model, it will automatically cut the hole in the wall planes and add all the appropriate geometry of the sliding glass door. If the designer then decides she wants that door to be a double French door instead, she does not have to redraw anything; she just tells the program to make the door a double French door, and the wall and door geometry will automatically change."
It might not be parametric but AutoCAD Architecture 2009 (ACA) has included a number of updates which enable Building Model Information to be managed and exchanged. By refining existing features like Classifications, Property Sets and IFC import/export ACA enables object and performance data to be managed in the Building Model and exchanged with other applications.
It’s a very BIM’like focus for an application Autodesk marketing relegates to being “AutoCAD for Architects”. If you’re looking at AutoCAD Architecture as a tool to speed up drafting there is little point loading it with performance data or considering IFC exchange. If you want an AutoCAD based Building Model which manages Information…
I was going to write a longer post on the new ACA 2009 features but over at BIMology Tomislav already has!
BIMology: Smarter and Greener BIM with ACA 2009
This article might be offensive to those that are fundamentally opposed to the idea of using ACA as a BIM supporting platform, but nevertheless I cannot withhold my enthusiasm for the improvements that have been made with this new and somewhat downplayed release of 2009…
Good news, the Inventor LT (Free) Technology Preview will be extended for another year!
It is Alive in the Lab: Sign us up for another year of LT feedback
It’s not easy being green, according to Kermit, but this resource aims to make it a little simpler for Kiwis. It’s an New Zealand specific website with green building information, specifications and products.
Greenbuild™ New Zealand - www.greenbuild.co.nz
Greenbuild.co.nz is for people who care. Architects, designers, building product manufacturers, builders, developers – anyone who wants to create more sustainably.
The leaders in the New Zealand building industry have united to make Greenbuild possible. The result? A single location for listing and assessing New Zealand’s building products, with a particular emphasis on their sustainability. It’s a simple idea. If we measure the sustainability of buildings overall, what about their component parts?
Greenbuild lists these parts (and adds more all the time), comparing their performance through independent environmental assessments.
Greenbuild is a joint venture between Building Research, Masterspec, the NZ Institute of Architects, Registered Masterbuilders and Green NZ.
Farewell Arthur:
I had this in draft form ready to post on 6 April. That would have marked the 40th anniversary of the release of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. However after today’s news it seems appropriate to post it now.
Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90
British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90. The Somerset-born author came to fame in 1968 when short story The Sentinel was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by director Stanley Kubrick.
Sir Arthur's vision of future space travel and computing captured the popular imagination… cont
Sir Arthur C Clarke: 90th Birthday Reflections:
So, on with the original post….
KiyoshiHiHiHi has posted an awesome CG exploration of the spaceship “Discovery” from the best science fiction movie ever made:
I’ve been fascinated by this movie since I first saw it as a child, about age 6 or 7. That it’s aged so gracefully is a tribute to the effort that went into making it’s technology as “real” as possible, given what they knew at the time, and highest production standards of the day. Especially when you consider it was released in 1968, when we hadn’t landed on the moon, and 2001 was still thirty three years in the future (I was two!). Even today it presents a plausible vision of the reality of long distance space travel.
Piers Bizony’s book 2001: Filming the Future
Piers credits Harry Lange, Frederick Ordway and Tony Masters for production design. Lange & Ordway had worked with NASA and there was lots of input from other Aerospace, Aviation and Computer companies, many involved in the real space programme. He says IBM were heavily involved but chose not to be named after “HAL [the mission computer] was portrayed hijacking the ship then “disconnecting” the human end users”. All the “computer graphic instrumentation” seen in the movie was actually filmed cell animations projected into screens of the space ship sets/models. Apparently there are still a few IBM logos visible in the final movie although the often quoted “HAL is one letter off IBM” was denied by both Arthur & Stanley.
This CG exploration shows Discovery’s internal layout complete with centrifuge crew quarters. That set was built as a 40 Ft diameter “hamster wheel” so the astronauts could appear to walk on the roof in artificial gravity. You can also see the flight deck and the pod bays which led to the infamous line: “Open the pod bay doors, HAL".
We’ve come a long way since 2001 was made but it’s sad that much of that future, is still in the future. I have read the recent release 2001 - A Space Odyssey [on Blu-ray]
Seth Godin asks the question:
Why bother having a resume? ~ Seth's Blog
This is controversial, but here goes: I think if you're remarkable, amazing or just plain spectacular, you probably shouldn't have a resume at all…
Although not “remarkable, amazing or just plain spectacular” I’ve often thought you could reduce mine to just one line:
A recent Outlook 2007 update has broken the MindManager/Outlook linking facility for some, including me! Mindjet have published a temporary workaround, to their Knowledge Base, while they research a permanent solution.
Outlook 2007 crashes when loading MindManager Outlook add-in - Mindjet Knowledge Base
After downloading a recent Microsoft Office 2007 update, some users are no longer able to open up Outlook 2007 with the Export to Mindjet MindManager add-in enabled.
The behaviour is that Outlook 2007 will hang upon loading the add-in and requires shutting it down manually with the task manager. When launching again, an error message will display… cont.
AutoCAD 2004 introduced colour books for managing custom colours. Since then, Resene Paints (New Zealand) have created AutoCAD Colour books for their entire paint range. There are now over three thousand colours, including the latest “The Range 2008”, which work fine with all versions of AutoCAD from 2004 - 2009 (and verticals). Via Kate’s LT Blog I discovered AutoCAD LT 2009 will also support True Colour, Colour Books and Fields.
This allows you to specify Resene colours anywhere AutoCAD allows colour selection (Layers, Objects, Hatches etc) without having to enter RGB values. The full colour name and code are displayed and can also be used for annotation.
If you insert an object field in annotation (Insert a Field > Object Field > Select the Object > Colour) if/when you alter the object colour the annotation updates automatically. No more typing in colours and codes or printing then realising you’ve not updated a colour swatch name!
The example (click thumbnail right) shows leader text and colour swatch text labels referencing hatch objects & (below) the AutoCAD 2009 Layer Palette & Colour Book Selector.
Colour Books For AutoCAD software From Resene Paints
Resene have created Colour Books suitable for Autodesk AutoCAD 2004 to 2009 (including AutoCAD based products). These allow you to specify Resene colours anywhere AutoCAD allows colour selection (Layers, Objects, and Hatch fills etc).
It’s the year of the Ribbon, but why?
Jensen Harris, of the Microsoft Office User Experience Team, has posted a recording (and PowerPoint) of his awesome presentation at MIX. He tells the story of the Office UI development from version 1.0 to 2007. It’s a compelling explanation of why Microsoft ditched Menus & Toolbars for the task based “Fluent interface” with it’s Ribbon, Contextual Tabs, the Mini Toolbar, and Galleries.
Given the impact of this change I recommend it to anyone deploying, training or even just using Office 2007 (or other Fluent based applications). Dealing with, or selling, change is much easier when you can answer the inevitable “Why?” questions with facts rather than speculation!
Jensen Harris: An Office User Interface Blog : The Story of the Ribbon
Last week, I presented a session at MIX called "The Story of the Ribbon." I talked a bit about the general design process we used to come up with the Office 2007 user interface, to iterate on it, and to evaluate it. As part of the discussion, I showed for the first time some of the early prototypes we worked on (and abandoned or refined) along the way…(Jensen Harris has links for live & download video + the PowerPoint used for the presentation).
Living with the Office Ribbon:
I use Office 2007 at home and found the Fluent UI a dramatic change, for the better. “Ribbon Shock” has worn off and I prefer it to toolbars, especially combined with the Galleries and live formatting preview (seen in Jensen’s video).Unfortunately, I’m able to do a direct comparison every day as still use Office 2003 at work. Once you get past the “where is it” stage I find the ribbon generally supports a more logical work-flow. There is one “feature” of toolbars I’ll never miss. I usually have 2 rows of toolbars in 2003 except when the applications spontaneously start up like this 
With the Ribbon, with no toolbars, at least there is no random toolbar scramble. 
Other Ribbon related posts:
Where’s the Dynamite? Has Explode gone?
While many CAD Managers may prefer it was gone, Explode is still there in 2009. What’s missing is that iconic, umm, icon! For as long as I can remember, to create havoc in an AutoCAD file you just clicked on the Dynamite.
In AutoCAD 2009 it’s been replaced with an icon showing a collection of faces “flying away” from each other. It kind of represents a real world explosion but for AutoCAD it’s a little misleading. When you explode something in AutoCAD, it breaks into components but they don’t go anywhere!
I’m not sure why it was changed. Maybe, like the 3D Viewcube/Wheels, it’s shared by other products and is part of Autodesk’s drive for a more unified interface? Perhaps the “dyna’mighty redness” of the old icon was just too bright for the rather monotone 2009 colour scheme? Or maybe it just didn’t work? If you “2009’ify” the old icon it does look more like a bug on the windshield!
Boom, Boom, to edit AutoCAD Architecture Multiview Block components.*
We use AutoCAD Architecture Multiview Blocks extensively so Explode is actually a handy tool for updating library parts. The nested blocks in MV Blocks can’t be edited directly. You could insert the correct block (then refedit it) but that gets tedious, especially in a standards or project file with hundreds of blocks. An quick alternative is to use explode to expose it;
* Blame watching too much Basil Brush as a kid for this line.
The next Revit User Group of New Zealand meeting will be on 19th March at the Jasmax Auckland Office.
Agenda:
Full details & RSVP at http://www.rugnz.co.nz/
From the creator of “The Bible”:
Ellen Finkelstein, Author of AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008 Bible
, has “burst into blog” with a tour of the AutoCAD 2009 complete with per feature “Conclusions”. I bet the AutoCAD Team are checking how their features rate as you read this
AutoCAD 2009 New Features - www.ellenfinkelstein.com
It's that time of year again when I summarize the new features of the latest release and give you my opinion…
The Mistress reveals her Pastafarianism (phew!):
Mistress of the Dorkness: Some AutoCAD 2009 thoughts
“OH MY FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER!
There's a new interface!”
Steve Johnson now has more “Prequels” than George Lucas!
AutoCAD 2009 - www.blog.cadnauseam.com
The Prequel Part 13 - ViewCube: For many 3D users of AutoCAD, the ViewCube is likely to be the most useful new thing in AutoCAD 2009. There are a couple of problems with it, at least in the Release Candidate: It does not work in 2D wireframe…One of these is Steve Johnson at AU 2006, the other is the Author/Owner of cad nauseam
Its older than computer aided drafting. So what does Cad really mean?
Weird Words: Cad ~ World Wide Words
Its history is as weird as one might like…
If you visit the site, rather than the feed, you many have noticed I’ve been tweaking the design a little. This is the first stage of a whole site make-over but it’s going take a while. I spent about 45 minutes just mucking around with link colours! * Sounds like a trivial thing, but what UX should a link provide?
Looking around I found all sorts of combinations. I thought I had it sorted until I looked at the colours on an LCD screen, vs monitor, and started again. Currently all the links are Bold & Blue, when visited they go Grey, all turn Red when you hover and are not (changed that last night) underlined. Is this readable, does it make sense?
The other debate is “Open in new tab/window” vs the same tab. I have generally have links opening in the same window as it gives the user the option to Right Click > New if they choose. Is this what you’d expect/prefer?
Pity the poor souls who have application UX’s to finesse. I’m glad I didn’t have to make a Ribbon 
* RobiNZ Blogging Tip: Have a little test blog for this sort of thing. I have one with enough content to get a feel for layout/UI changes but doesn’t require a 1200+ page re-publish every time you change something!
What is former Apple Evangelist, Venture Capitalist and “Democratizer of information” Guy Kawasaki doing at Mix?
Armed with a MacBook Air, he’s talking to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, about Yahoo!, Vista, Google and more. It’s an interesting informal “chat”, at one point Steve even gives out his email address. Guy, seemingly surprised, then asks if he answers his own mail, which he does.
A couple of years ago I watched another video of Steve speaking, I think at UTC, and towards the end he doubted anyone was still watching, giving his email address for follow-up. I sent a short email saying at least one person had seen it to the end and got a reply within a few hours. At the time I thought it was probably from a PA, maybe it wasn’t!
How to Change the World: Mano-a-Mano with Steve Ballmer
In one of the more unusual appearances that I've been a part of, here is a "fireside chat" with Steve Ballmer at Mix 2008…
Fiat have gone a bit web 2.0 crazy for the Geneva motor show including a Blog, Flickr & YouTube. Among the car shots, and motor show eye candy, you can see the design model and cad drawings for their “Giant 500 Stand”. It wasn’t me who left a comment about this being the US version of the little 500, but I did think it 
Fiat Ginevra 2008 Blog - www.ginevra2008.fiat.it
Fiat on– including cad images of their “Giant 500” Stand – www.flickr.com/photos/fiat/
Fiat on– http://www.youtube.com/ginevra2008
“UX is an acronym for User experience" but many of the principles discussed in this ChangeOrder post apply to all design projects, especially the tips about design presentations.
ChangeOrder: Secrets of UX Design Productivity from Google
Last Thursday, I attended a free session organized by SIGCHI, Puget Sound region at Google Seattle HQ. Jake Knapp, a very well-spoken user interface designer, entertained a packed house with a speech on 17 tactics that he uses for creating strong UX work in "the flood" of projects that pour through his UX department from month to month…
- Have Strong Project Foundations
- Let the Code Be the Mockup
- Be Smart About (Re)using Research
- Designers Need to Create Memorable Presentations
- Have a singular goal for your presentation.
- Start on paper, and see the big-picture story
- Make horizontal and vertical storyboards
- 3 words or less per slide
- Follow the 10/20/30 rule, per Guy Kawasaki.
- Be careful how you present mockups
- Drawings invite people to participate – Keeping the design work rough cues everyone to know it's a work in progress -- and treat it as such in discussions.
As a Google user, isn’t everyone on the net?, I have pondered one aspect of their Homepage (it’s even seen in the ChangeOrder Post!). While I understand their drive for simplicity it would be nice if the menu could sense, and cope with, a wider screen. Flying out a menu when there’s ample space for it’s contents doesn’t enhance my Google UX!
New Zealand's small population and geographic spread presents a problem for launching products, even software. This has resulted in some varied approaches.
A couple of years ago Salesoft team toured the country in a specially equipped bus to show the nation Revit 9 & Robobat.
For a couple of years Autodesk NZ ran a session which combined dealer/customer sessions with a, CAD related, “Design Masters” Quiz night based on the new releases. It was a great attempt to get beyond the dreaded, now passé, PowerPoint + Demo which was the accepted format for software launches.
Last month Microsoft’s Darryl Burling tagged along with Chris Auld and Jeremy Boyd as they presented Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 from Auckland to Bluff (well nearly Bluff).
I think it’s great that this sort of info is seen beyond the usual main centre locations and believe the traditional “big demo launch” is dead. Since you can learn all about, sometimes even use, the software months before it’s “launched” there seems little need for a new feature demo.
The question is how/what to replace it with? Hit the road and meet the community on their turf or bring them together, but for what?
I’ve got no firm idea but think it’s more about the “real world” application of the new technology. Perhaps a little AU where you get a look at the current applications, a peek at tomorrows and “the vision”, but where the real benefit is meeting, and learning from, other users. Is that what you’d want from a launch? I’d be interested to hear what you think.
2008 Summer Road trip | Darryl Burling @ Work
Today we are in Invercargill. Today is the last day of our Road Trip. Today is kind of a sad day. We've had a great time driving around the country presenting on Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008…
If you’re accused of being a geek, might as well find out how much of a geek you are. Click on the 
badge to get your rating
What is a Building Information Model? My interpretation is simply an information model of a building. It’s not a technology, it’s not a way of working, it’s the expression of a building as data. To the architect it’s a design and, hopefully, construction model, to the engineer it’s an analysis & fabrication model, to the owner it may include the economic model used to justify it’s creation and the operating model that will determine and manage it’s life-cycle.
Whatever your definition there’s a common factor in all these models. Whether digital or analog, they are all forms of information.
But what is information? The rather surprising answer is, “everything”, even you! Quirks & Quarks have a podcast (posted in Jan 08) of a forum discussion which takes the meaning of “Information” about as far as it’s possible to go. Its not really about Building Information Modelling but it does make you think. We are all information models, creating information models!
The Physics of Information: What the Universe Doesn't Want You to Know | CBC Radio | Quirks & Quarks
Physicists are not like you and me. That’s because they don't see the world the same way we do.
Take information, for instance. When you have a question or an interest in some topic, and you want more information about it, chances are you look for answers by reading a book, searching the Internet, or even listening to a radio program. But that's not how physicists view information. They want to know what it's actually made of. And that idea leads to a whole lot of weird and quirky views of how the universe works...
This is what made Robert Scoble cry and Buzz Bruggeman, CEO of ActiveWords, called "the best thing he’s seen in years from Microsoft" a couple of weeks ago.
Science educator Roy Gould and Microsoft's Curtis Wong introduce the Worldwide Telescope at TED:
From: The Worldwide Telescope - www.worldwidetelescope.org/
"The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a rich visualization environment that functions as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space telescopes in the world for a seamless, guided exploration of the universe"
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