RobiNZ CAD Blog

Niagara, an elegant and effective Android user interface

Having used iOS, Android I still have not found a phone UI to match Windows Phone for simplicity, flexibility and customisation. With the demise of it I ended up on Android and looked for a way around the worst aspect of iOS and Android: having to manage a grid of icons. That is something both tried to make better (but made worse) with folders. Forget managing application icons, lists or folders For me Android became tolerable when combined with 'Nokia Z Launcher' years ago (thanks Kerry) which used a simple list, with integrated search and filter by gesture. Simple in... Read more →

Windows Quick Assist to help support locked in users | COVID-19 Lock In

If you are IT supporting locked in family, friends, & colleagues with Windows newer than the August 2, 2016 Anniversary Update (build 14393) Windows Quick Assist will allow you to see and/or control their PC over the web. It makes it much easier to train or troubleshoot problems. You can give assistance to someone or receive assistance with the same Quick Assist application. Giving Assistance to a remote user From Start > Windows Accessories > Quick Assist choose the Give Assistance > Assist Another Person option. Quick assist will generate a code to give the person requesting assistance to enter... Read more →

Some design lessons to amuse the kids (of all ages) | COVID-19 Lock In

Shaan shared this resource from Disney & Kahn Academy for children of all ages: One-of-a-Kind Learning Experience from Disney Imagineers | By Shaan Hurley on Between the Lines Read more →

Ride/drive distance planning with Windows Map + Ink

Want to plan a ride/drive and just need to know a rough distance for a few options; grab the pen, Map > measure distance, scribble, scribble, scribble, done. The “Pen Directions” option does the same, with turn instructions, between each end of an inked line but tends to be too aggressive enforcing minimum distance between them to plan fun meandering rides. Read more →

Microsoft Font Maker captures your hand writing as a PC font!

Install the Microsoft Font Maker Windows 10 application from the Store. Then just write, with Windows Ink, these characters & symbols: Then these sample sentences: Adjust, if needed, a few simple sliders to fine tune: Save your writing as a True Type Font to use in any Windows application. Read more →

Next generation of Autodesk BIM 360 announced #AU2017

BIM 360 revision announced Read more →

Siemens Catchbook, now in New Zealand

Siemens Catchbook is a sketch application for iOS, Android and Windows 10. I first saw it a year or so ago and was intrigued by the way it interpreted sketch input (pen or mouse on Windows) and captured sketched relationships. Unfortunately Catchbook was not available in New Zealand at the time—something to do with aligning store arrangements across the platforms—but I recently got an email with some good news: Oh, and one more thing: Catchbook is now available in Norway and New Zealand. This should make quite a few people on the boards and emails happy. https://community.plm.automation.siemens.com And I was... Read more →

Wi-Fi may reveal more than you think–Dr Karl

With reality capture becoming an important part of CAD/BIM any advance of this technology should be of interest. Imagine a technology sensing physical geometry, human biometrics, even touch device input and speech remotely. Then imagine it doesn’t require any new hardware installation to generate this information, just to capture it… Have a listen to this BBC podcast from 04:30 through 15:00 about what researchers are finding by analysing Wi-Fi signal interference. This is not device tracking or dependent on beacons, just the ambient Wi-Fi now present in almost every building and lots of public spaces. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p046gpcv BBC 5 live's science... Read more →

Seeing with Microsoft’s Cognitive Services

It was interesting to try Microsoft Cognitive Services & Bots after seeing the keynote presentation* from the recent Build conference. I thought www.captionbot.ai did quite well with this photo of Alfie considering the mix of elements in the image. Writing a caption for a dog photo is amusingly impressive but this real application of cognitive computing is magical: About Caption Bot: * Click on the time below to launch the relevant section of the Build Day 1 Keynote video: [2:05:50] Cornelia Carapcea, Senior PM, Cognitive APIs [2:07:13] "What is in this image" demo [2:07:58] CaptionBot Read more →

Windows 10 great, thanks to 8(.1) and Windows Phone!

It took me a while to get the release Windows 10 installed on hardware which does it justice. I’d been trying the ‘insider’ builds on an old machine which only gave me a chance truly test one aspect of Microsoft’s latest operating system: how well it runs on minimal spec hardware. I thought it was impressive Windows 10 installed on a 4 year old Netbook—Atom processor, 2GB ram, 1024x600 screen—at all, let alone run acceptably! It was useful to evaluate the desktop focused user interface improvements in 10, if not their performance. Fixing Windows 8(.1) for the desktop? Although it... Read more →