RobiNZ CAD Blog

Antarctic memories in QGIS

I was doing some QGIS training, testing, experimenting and the dataset provided was Antarctica. Had to spend a few minutes mapping where I've been! See; Antarctic memories in QGIS - RobiNZ Personal Blog (typepad.com) Landings and activities plotted Read more →

2022 Blogging Highlights

Happy New Year! I usually begin this post with "Another year has flown by..." but 2022 was a strange mix of COVID-19 impacted lockdown time dilation—where it both flew and dragged simultaneously—and a (temporary) change of lifestyle for me. I spent most of it—January to August—travelling New Zealand and then started a new job (still design software related) in a different industry! Time to look back from a bloggy/social media (not just CAD blog) perspective at year: Best social media related event(s): While riding I've been contributing, in a small way, to a few episodes of Walk The Pod podcast.... Read more →

ActiveWords time codes for video notes 0:00:00!

I'm not at Autodesk University, but I am watching the on-line content. I've long added time codes to notes for video, but only today used ActiveWords for the blindingly obvious. Decided 10-minute blocks were enough, changing one digit makes it minute accurate, so made a bunch of "time code" ActiveWords. Now when I type tc0 I get "0:00:00 | ". tc10 0:10:00 | , tc20 0:20:00 | etc. Why didn't I do this before now? Read more →

Autodesk testing my sanity...

Thought was going mad for a while, but it was just Autodesk playing with my mind... At The Warehouse Group distributed Tool Palettes (in AutoCAD Architecture/MEP) using Content Browser. Tick ‘Link when added to workspace’ on the catalog, drop palettes to users, when they are changed/updated tell the users to refresh, sorted. That's worked seamlessly since the Content Browser/Palette system turned up in... 2004? Now I need to share Civil 3D palettes that will be dynamic as we develop new/updated content. Yay, C3D uses the same system but… Create a Catalog (1), set it to Link items…. (2) all good... Read more →

upFront.eZine CAD industry legend Ralph Grabowski retires

The final upFront.eZine #1.138 This email, the final upFront.eZine #1,138, marks a significant event in the history of the CAD industry and media. I don't remember when I first read Ralph Grabowski's eZine but it long pre-dates meeting him in 2003. He presented at a CAD Productivity Conference in Auckland NZ and I have stayed connected, as a reader/commenter and meeting occasionally at US cad conferences, ever since. Ralph's in-depth coverage and straight talk about the CAD industry, often deep into the core technologies sitting under the end user products we know so well, is second to none. I was... Read more →

Alas Windows Phone, gone but not forgotten

I still miss Windows Phone, Niagara Launcher on Android is my current next best, and this is a great look back at most of what went wrong. What I find most annoying is Microsoft had the answer to the fatal 'app gap' with their Android Bridge, which allowed Android apps to run on Windows Phone, but chose not to use it. Ironic that today Windows desktop allows just that...? Read more →

Windows Quick Assist is now a Store App

If you use Windows Quick Assist to support remote users, they will now have to install an app for it from the Windows Store. Once done it behaves the same but will update etc just like other store apps. Not a big deal until you need to support a remote user through that initial store install. Below shows the old app and the new store app (right) once installed. The Open Microsoft Store button on the old app opens the install page in the store. Clicking Get downloads and starts the installer but it requests Administrator permissions to install. Read more →

2021 Blogging Highlights

Happy New Year! I usually begin this post with "Another year has flown by..." but 2021 was a strange mix of COVID-19 impacted lockdown time dilation—where it both flew and dragged simultaneously—and a (temporary) change of lifestyle for me. Time to look back from a bloggy/social media (not just CAD blog) perspective at another strange year: Best social media related event(s): With so much going on-line this year, including work for about 3 months, it is hard to single out one event but these come to mind: Richard Herring's RHLSTP video live recordings | For a modest fee, which supports... Read more →

Mindmanager for project planning

Not a CAD/BIM project but a demonstration of how MindManager can be used to plan, schedule and track costs on a complex 'project'. Behind the map lurks comprehensive timeline created as you assign date, resource, relationships, and costs to topics. See this post for how it was created. MindManager Map View Gantt view of that Map Read more →

Wish granted! | Revit 2022.1 'Snap to Middle of Two Points'

Revit, finally, got this feature I missed from AutoCAD days. Yes, you could always use dimensions to constrain 'EQ' between two references to place something midway but often that was just a hassle. Midpoint snap just places it, no dim, no delete dim, no unnecessary (if you don't need) constraints to fight later on! More at: What’s New in Revit 2022.1 | blogs.autodesk.com Read more →

Well, that's saved me a fortune! | Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

As a Surface Book 2 (SB2) owner I watched the launch of its replacement, the Surface Laptop Studio (SLS), this morning with some interest. Although the specification mostly impressed* the new form factor doesn't really appeal. It looses the iconic Surface Book hinge and ability to detach the display that is, for me, a great feature of the current design. Detaching the display means the SB2 loses access to its graphics card, left in the base with secondary battery, but becomes a light weight high powered large tablet as the i7 chip, integrated Intel Graphics and storage are all in... Read more →

Autodesk rebranding

I put a post on the work CAD Support chat about Autodesk rebranding today. It was just to advise the web asset colours and logos will probably change at some stage and not to think it is a ‘hack’. The new logo is bolder, simpler, than the previous and with a, rather Kiwi looking it must be said, black & white scheme. A colleague, upon seeing the merchandise section, replied “Oh my, you could get a whole Autodesk outfit!” My response: “Their Merchandise is pretty durable”. Read more →

Enthusiasts can upgrade non-compliant older PCs to Windows 11?

Update: Mary Jo Foley reports: Microsoft leaves a loophole for those wanting to run Windows 11 on 'unsupported' hardware An "unsupported state," in this case, means your PC won't be entitled to receive updates via Windows Update. These may (or may not) include security and driver updates... It seems Microsoft are relaxing their security hardware requirements for Windows 11 a little: Microsoft Keeps Windows 11 Hardware Requirements, But Will Placate Enthusiasts | www.thurrott.com Microsoft said that it will not step back from its stringent Windows 11 hardware requirements, but it will make concessions to enthusiasts…. Behind the scenes, Microsoft will... Read more →

March 2021 - 17th Anniversary!

March 31st means it is blog’iversary time. Seveneen years since that first tentative post! I really appreciate the connections blogging, and more recently Twitter & Facebook, have enabled. While the other platforms have taken over much of the day-to-day activity, I still prefer having the content I really value, in terms of wanting to retain, on my ‘own’ platform. It has been a quiet year, especially for the CAD Blog, but that's OK. To everyone, everywhere, thanks for visiting, reading, and subscribing both here and the other platforms! Statistics follow in the extended post but are for me, you don’t... Read more →

2020 Blogging Highlights

I usually begin this post with "Another year has flown by..." but 2020 was a strange mix of COVID-19 impacted time dilation where it both flew and dragged simultaneously. Time to look back from a bloggy/social media (not just CAD blog) perspective at a very strange year: Best social media related event(s): With so much going on-line this year, including work for about 3 months, it is hard to single out one event. These come to mind: Antarctic on-line meetings | Trip reunion Zoom meeting and speaking to the Auckland Antarctic Meet-up on-line (with help from Dr Karl) Autodesk University... Read more →

Revit User Group Auckland awarded for most RSVPs in Autodesk Group Network

It was a pleasant surprise to see this award, for the Revit User Group Auckland, presented at Autodesk University last week. It was for the most RSVP's for groups in the Autodesk Group Network, but I suspect New Zealand's COVID status gave us an unfair advantage. Our 2020 kicked off in February, as normal due to summer holidays taking priority in January, but then COVID-19 Intervened as New Zealand locked down. We cancelled the March meeting then met on-line in April and May. Our meetings are hosted in an office (thanks Jasmax) we didn't want to compromise their workspace even... Read more →

When tech is 'good enough' and why I have an 'old' phone

Waking up at 01:00 Monday morning is a price you pay to watch (most) Formula 1 live in New Zealand. For me it means an early night, waking again and ten minutes on phone to review of social media, while making a coffee, before settling in for the 01:10 start. A recently that routine was interrupted by awaking to a phone stuck in a never-ending restart loop. This wasn't a problem, it just meant I had to follow F1 Twitter on my Surface Book while Googling how to get a Samsung out of a boot loop. That turned out to... Read more →