RobiNZ CAD Blog

End of an era, as Autodesk leaves Shaan Hurley

On Tuesday 30 March 2004, I posted this on TypePad: Getting Started This is the first post to see how it all works. Read other weblogs, thought I'd have a go myself. RobiNZ CAD Blog The reason I chose TypePad, then a new'ish (public launch October 2003) hosted platform, is one of the most influential 'other weblogs' was Shaan Hurley's Between The Lines ~ AutoCAD Blog. I'd been thinking about blogging but had no interest in coding or self-hosting. When Shaan told me his pioneering CAD Blog was hosted, authored, on TypePad it was enough to spur me into action,... 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 →

Autodesk gets a new look

Since I’ve been a customer I can only remember a couple of changes in Autodesk branding. They recently they announced a new logo so it is goodbye to the old: Hello to the new: Autodesk, autodesk, Autodesk, AUTODESK? I like the new logo but wonder about the uppercase text. There was a brief flirtation with lowercase in the early part of this century (see photo below) but now ‘Autodesk’ has become, the little bit shouty, ‘AUTODESK’. I’m glad this seems to be confined to the logo unlike some brands which carry their case sensitivity into normal text use. I’m thinking... Read more →

Bring your own computer to work? Would you?

One of the most memorable aspects of my first day at TWL was finding the CAD computer wasn’t ready, going home and bringing my in own. It was only for a day or two and, coming from life as a contractor, supplying a computer wasn’t a big deal. That was more than a decade ago, and TWL IT is now rather more organised than it was back then, but a recent news article brought it to mind. Kraft Foods adds new support for employees choosing Macs It seems to be a trend that started with cars. I remember contracting for... Read more →

Ponoko, made in the USA!

Kiwi based "personal factory" Ponoko now have a San Francisco manufacturing centre meaning your creations can be made, shipped, to US customers without crossing the Pacific. Ponoko takes the make/sell hassle out of getting your designs to your customers by providing web based manufacturing, costing and shopping for your creations. Big news from Ponoko By the end of the day today (Friday June 5th, Pacific time) our existing making hub in Wellington, New Zealand will be joined by a new hub in San Francisco, United States – and our online making system will be updated to reflect this big change. Read more →

Lets get together!

Wow, a couple of days away from the net and look what happens: The Autodesk + Bentley deal was a bit of a surprise and is big news for those collaborating with dwg/dgn, However, I haven’t seen a... Read more →

Doodling for thinking

Hugh MacLeod’s Microsoft Blue Monster is featured in a Businessweek article on “doodling” as a tool for business. There is more to business than Word and PowerPoint! gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn o... Read more →

Warehouse tussle heads to court...

Let the games begin, again… Supermarket tussle starts in court - NZ Herald Supermarket giants Foodstuffs and Woolworths will today go head to head with the Commerce Commission in the High Court... Read more →

A logo on your PowerPoint slides is not branding

Imagine you worked for a company that had re-branded, including redesigned corporate templates. Maybe this included a PowerPoint template that ignored every bit of advice you’ve read recently about better PowerPoint design. It might use overwhelming bright colours and a huge logo on every slide overpowering a tiny area for the most important bit – the content. Of course you could just use it or you could create a presentation that massaged that template into something more modern. Maybe slightly tone down the colour so it doesn’t shout, perhaps ignore the “approved content area” (a letter-box slot between the “branding”)... Read more →

Quicken 2006 Review

Money matters… RobiNZ Personal Blog: Quicken 2006 Review Devon has produced a nice review of Quicken 2006 comparing it with his previous experience with Microsoft Money…. Read more →