Cadopolis AutoCAD 2008 Feeds

Horeseback riding in Scottsdale, Arizona

Fri, 16 May 2008 01:00 GMT

It's Friday - so my blog posts tend to be less technical. Each year the COFES (Congress On the Future of Engineering Software) conference is held in Scottsdale. Attendees are often taken on some type of excursion, so they can form an appreciation for the Arizona desert. Many non-Arizonans mistakenly picture pristine sand dunes with the occasional Saguaro cactus. Actually the desert looks like this:

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Some picture get their misconceptions of the desert by watching Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons. You can see that the desert is much more brushy. There are actually many Palo Verde and Mesquite trees as well as Cat's Claw and Creosote bushes. Where do you think tumbleweeds come from?

This past weekend my wife and I went horseback riding.

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My rental horse was a Golden Palamino. I was told by our guide that in days of yore only royalty would ride such horses. It was great to get out in the fresh air away from the computer.

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The Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce advertises the city as the West's "Most Western Town" in America.

AUGI CAD camp Salt Lake City 5/22/08

Thu, 15 May 2008 23:17 GMT

I am sitting waiting for my tire to be fixed and just realized the Salt Lake City Utah AUGI CAD camp (www.cadcamp.com) is just next week. I won't be presenting at the event but chances are good I will be there as I am local here in Salt Lake. AUGI CAD camps are one day learning and networking events on Autodesk products. you get top notch trainers at an extremely affordable price. I hope to see and meet you there.

-Shaan

Autodesk Developer Camps Coming in June

Thu, 15 May 2008 20:51 GMT

Partners, customers, and prospective customers with interest in developing on Autodesk software are invited to attend Autodesk DevCamps 2008! Want to deepen your relationships with your customers? Want to drive your customers to evangelize Autodesk technology within their organization and...

Autodesk Vault / Productstream 2008 Hotfix - Multiple Status’ in CAD Title Bar

Thu, 15 May 2008 19:56 GMT

Autodesk recently released (Published date: 2008-05-01) a “Hotfix” for Autodesk Vault 2008 SP1 / Autodesk Productstream 2008 SP1. The “Hotfix” applies to the following Autodesk / AutoCAD 2008 based products:

“Hotfix” download page:

Multiple Status' in CAD Title Bar - Vault/Productstream 2008

Don't forget to download and read the accompanying Readme file.

The below is taken from the Readme file. Description of the issue:

Certain vault operations will lead to multiple vault status' displayed in the title bar for a file. This hotfix corrects the status displayed in the title bar.

BIM & BEAM: 3D Printing Example from Walter P Moore

Thu, 15 May 2008 17:18 GMT

On Monday we announced STL Exporter for Revit Family 2009 Now Available. On his BIM & BEAM blog, Structural Product Line Manager, Nicolas Mangon, has two pictures of an STL file exported from Revit and printed with a 3D printer:

3D Printing Example from Walter P Moore

Check them out. Still no word if Walter P. Moore has printed with sugar yet. :-)

AutoCAD 2009 on Jay Leno's Garage website

Thu, 15 May 2008 03:51 GMT

Whoa, I just got a call from Jay Leno today telling me that the AutoCAD video was up on his website www.jaylenosgarage.com. This was a short fun web video segment we shot while myself and fellow Autodesker Marie Domingo were down in Los Angeles visiting Jay's staff at the super cool garage facility housing one of the most impressive car collections in the world. In the video segment one of Jay's master of all things Jim and myself were discussing a common use in their facility for AutoCAD to create replacement parts for the auto collection as most collection auto's replacement parts are not stock parts when Jay breaks one. ;-)
AutoCAD is a very flexible Computer Aided Design "CAD" product allowing it to be used in many different ways and industries. We also have industry specific products such as Autodesk Inventor, Revit, etc at Autodesk but for many of the parts and needs of Jay Leno's Garage AutoCAD fits perfectly. Jay and his staff were awesome and the collection of cars was absolutely amazing. Before seeing Jay's car collection I thought Stanley Steamer was only a carpet cleaning company not a turn of the century steam powered vehicle which Jay had a couple of originals.

See the video below of Jim and I discussing AutoCAD use at Jay Leno's Garage!

I have some pretty cool other things in the works after my sabbatical as well as presentations and Q&A at AUGI CAD Camp June 11th 2008 in Phoenix Arizona and San Antonio and Austin Texas User Group meetings.

Cheers,
Shaan

Technorati Tags: AutoCAD 2009,AutoCAD,Autodesk,Jay Leno,CAD,Jay Lenos Garage,AUGI CAD Camp,Los Angeles,Phoenix,San Antonio,Austin,Auto Collection

Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 Hotfix - 2008.04.11

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:37 GMT

A couple of weeks ago (Published date: 2008-05-01), Autodesk released a Hotfix for Autodesk 3ds Max 2009….

Hotfix - Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 - 2008.04.11

Don't forget to download and read the accompanying Readme (PDF) file.

The below is taken from the download page:

The ProMaterials libraries included within Autodesk 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2009 were compiled for SSE2 compatible and newer processors. Some Athlon processors that are within the minimum system requirements for use with 3ds Max 2009 are not SSE2 compatible and the affected libraries have been fixed to work on these systems.

STL Exporter for Autodesk Revit 2009 products

Wed, 14 May 2008 20:00 GMT

A few days ago (2008-05-12) over on Autodesk Labs, Scott Sheppard announced the availability of a “STL Exporter” Add-in for Autodesk Revit 2009 based products:

Direct link to “STL Exporter” Add-in:

STL Exporter for Revit Platform 2009

The below quote is how Autodesk Labs explains “STL Exporter” for Revit 2009 products:

Create 3D Prints of your Revit 2009 models. As architects and engineers start their digital designs earlier and keep them digital for longer, they want a way to still physically interact with their designs. With the economical availability of 3D printers this has become possible. 3D printed models increasingly serve as a critical part of the design process to study design options and improve communication between project members and owners. The STL Exporter for the Revit 2009 family of products is a proof of concept project that we are working on. It is designed to take a 3D Revit building information model and create an STL file that can be used for 3D Printing.

Source: STL Exporter for Revit Family 2009 Now Available

Autodesk Labs Home Page: Application User or Captain of Industry?

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:00 GMT

On May 8, I mentioned that we were redesigning the Autodesk Labs home page in Ideas for redesigning the Autodesk labs home page. Since that time we have gotten lots of great feedback. Thanks to all those who responded.

One thing that people were keen to mention is that you are not so thrilled with our green, gray, black, and white color scheme. You sometimes find the green text hard to read. I am no colorist, so I will let people with a sense of style like Amanda Collins and Doug Look sort that out. Another thing I will mention is that Amanda would like to put my picture back on the home page. Though I would have never suggested it myself, Amanda believes it gives the site a bit of personality. So with these caveats in mind, I mocked up a minimalist version of our home page:

http://labs.blogs.com/homepage1.htm

The thinking on this page is twofold:

The Autodesk Labs site has many items available for download or try. Having them appear on the home page is the most sure fire way for people to find them. I thought I would see how many I could fit.
The items are organized by Autodesk application. I figured many Labs visitors already have an Autodesk application and want to see what "cool tool" they can get from Labs to go with it.

When I created the mock-up I noticed that the text was indeed small. Whereas we already received feedback that green on white is hard to read, this probably makes things even worse. So I tried increasing the text size a bit:

http://labs.blogs.com/homepage2.htm

This helped with readability somewhat (or does it?) but now you will probably need to scroll to see all of the page. This is normally not a good idea. The other thing we are considering is to group items by industry instead of application. Autodesk currently caters to the following industries:

Architecture, Engineering, & Construction
Automotive & Transportation
Education
Government
Manufacturing
Media & Entertainment
Utilities & Telecommunications

The last thing I did was remove the descriptive text. Though this is helpful to see if you should click the link to the tool's information page, it does crowd things a bit. So here's version 3:

http://labs.blogs.com/homepage3.htm

So how say yee? Are you an application user or a member of an industry? Do you want your AutoCAD mixed with your Revit or are you are purist? Perhaps learning about another application (that you don't currently have) related to your industry is a good thing? What do you think? Inquiring minds want to know at TheLabs@autodesk.com. Thanks in advance for the deluge of email that we will get suggesting that I keep my day job as a software development manager instead of web page designer.

3D printing from Revit - how about AutoCAD?

Tue, 13 May 2008 18:12 GMT

The other day Autodesk Labs posted a “proof of concept” for exporting STL files from the Autodesk Revit 2009 family of products. STL files have typically been used in the manufacturing space to make physical prototypes of parts using 3D printers. We want to see how this technology applies to the architectural, electrical, and construction space. I wrote a blog article on It's Alive in the Lab:

STL Exporter for Revit Family 2009 Now Available

We encouraged Revit users to send us feedback at labs.revit.stl@autodesk.com on how this works (or does not work) for them. So what about our AutoCAD users? Would this be a good thing for AutoCAD? What types of drawings would you print with a 3D printer? I await your feedback at that same email address.

EECast 5-21-2008: The Next Generation of Feature Lines

Tue, 13 May 2008 17:38 GMT

The EECast for 5-21-2008 is The Next Generation of Feature Lines: Using Dynamic Feature Lines in Civil 3D 2009 for Corridor Targets.

Please see click the link on the left sidebar or below for more information and to register.

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/304167450

Enjoy!

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AUGI would like to announce a change in leadership

Tue, 13 May 2008 17:08 GMT

Recently, 2008 President, Chris Lindner, made the difficult decision to resign from his position as President for personal reasons. Chris will remain on the Board and complete his term.

Chris states:

AUGI is enjoying exciting growth and opportunities at this time. I have been unable to commit the focused time and leadership that I feel the Board and the organization needs at this time. For this reason, I have chosen to step aside.

The Board, acting under the leadership of Sr. VP Richard Binning, responded quickly to the news holding an emergency board meeting to elect a new President to ensure continuity of current projects underway. The new slate of officers for the remainder of 2008 is listed below:

President: Mark W. Kiker
Sr. Vice President: Richard Binning
Vice President: Bill Adams
Secretary: Larry Swinea
Treasurer: John Morgan

The AUGI Board of Directors continues to be committed to AUGI as “one vibrant global community that fosters collaboration to empower members and enriches knowledge of Autodesk solutions, advancing productivity and effectiveness, at a justifiable cost”.

DevCamps 2008 - Customization and Application Development Conferences

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:50 GMT

Last year we held our first DevCamps for AEC and Manufacturing customers & partners. Following on from their success, this year's events are fast approaching: this year we've added Geospatial into the mix, and are holding DevCamps through the month...

Autodesk Inventor 2008 Service Pack 2 Hotfix - ID: DL11225652

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:06 GMT

A couple of weeks ago (Published date: 2008-04-30) Autodesk released a new Hotfix for Autodesk Inventor 2008 SP2 and Autodesk Inventor (Professional or Suite) 2008 SP2...

Hotfix - Drawings or sketches containing OLE objects may make Inventor unstable

Don't forget to download and read the accompanying Readme file.

The below is taken from the download page:

A hotfix has been developed for Autodesk Inventor to address an issue when working with drawings or sketches containing OLE objects which may cause Inventor to become unstable.

Autodesk Inventor 11 Service Pack 3 Hotfix - ID: DL11225743

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:00 GMT

Just over a couple of weeks ago (Published date: 2008-04-29) Autodesk released a new Hotfix for Autodesk Inventor (Professional or Series) 11 SP3…

Hotfix - Inventor Vault Browser Refresh & LOD

Don't forget to download and read the accompanying Readme file.

The below is taken from the download page:

This hotfix addresses an issue within Autodesk Inventor 11 and Autodesk Inventor 11 DWF Extension where the Inventor Vault browser is not populated when users attempt to retrieve a large assembly from the workspace using the retrieve by LOD option.

FAQ: Is the utility on Autodesk Labs compatible with the 2009 version of my Autodesk application?

Tue, 13 May 2008 13:00 GMT

At Autodesk Labs, we appreciate feedback. Of all the email we receive, one of the frequently asked questions is "Is the utility on Autodesk Labs compatible with the 2009 version of my Autodesk application?" For the most part, the answer is overwhelmingly yes. For a few, based on demand as evidenced by user feedback (labs.maya.dwg@autodesk.com, labs.acad.drawing.cleanup@autodesk.com, and labs.iv.xvl@autodesk.com), we can consider updating them in a future release. For some utilities, the utility has even been included in the 2009 release. The table below provides the specifics:

Product	Labs Item	Compatible
AutoCAD 2009	Command Complete Bonus Tool for AutoCAD
	3D/2D ShareNow Add-in for AutoCAD	[1]
	Google Earth Extension for AutoCAD
	DWG Export for Maya
	Drawing Cleanup for AutoCAD
Inventor 2009	Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009	[2]
	Sustainable Materials Assistant
	JT Translator for Inventor
	AliasStudio Direct Reader for Inventor
	XVL Translator Add-in for Inventor
	Frame Generator Customization Tool for Inventor	[3]
	3D/2D ShareNow Add-in for Inventor, Inventor LT
	Translator Add-ins for Inventor	[3]
	2D to 3D Tool for Inventor	[4]
	Feature Recognition for Inventor
Revit Utility	3D/2D ShareNow Add-in for Revit

In addition to vanilla AutoCAD, the 3D/2D ShareNow Add-in is also compatible with the 2009 English versions of: AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Electrical, AutoCAD Land Desktop, AutoCAD MEP, AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD Mechanical, and AutoCAD P&ID.
The data files from the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 are compatible with Autodesk Inventor 2009; however, the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 cannot be installed on a system where Autodesk Inventor 2009 has already been installed.
The Frame Generator Customization Tool and Translator Add-ins for Autodesk Inventor have been included with the Autodesk Inventor 2009 32-bit release. You do not need to download and install them separately. Support for 64-bit can be considered for a future release.
The 2D to 3D Tool for Autodesk Inventor is compatible with the 32-bit versions of Autodesk Inventor.

Spelling out the compatibility between Labs utilities and our newest Autodesk applications ins alive in the lab.

DP Technology Discovered

Tue, 13 May 2008 04:27 GMT

May 12, 2008, DENVER, CO (ESPRIT World Conference 2008) Walking into ESPRIT's user conference, I feel like Christopher Columbus, having discovered a new land --never mind all the natives who seem to have preceded me. The natives number 325 at this annual event, by DP Technology estimates, and that includes resellers and DP employees.

Did you know that was a metal shaving in the ESPRIT logo? Duh.

The DP in DP Technologies stands for Dan and Paul, a kind of homey start for what is now a multi million dollar software giant that vies with CNC Software (of Mastercam fame) for the lead in US CAM market. (Gibbs is the other home grown product, but as it has been bought by an Israel's Cimatron, we can conveniently not count it).

"It's a fractured market," explains Chuck Mathews, DP's VP of Marketing and R&D. Chuck sees ESPRIT as a leader among independant CAM vendors. The CAM market is split 3 ways: independent CAM vendors (like DP), integrated CAD/CM vendors (PTC, Siemens, Dassault) and strict NC adherents who program directly into their CNC machines. Who is leading depends how you slice and dice the data. Though one research firm does claim to sort out the billion dollar CAM market, (CIMdata) with an annual ranking, Chuck doesn't see their numbers as gospel as their rankings are based on unaudited data. What about Missler? Not much US penetration, says Chuck. Delcam? Big into molds, still not much US penetration -- except what they have done with acquisition.

I was hoping to bring back some news about ESPRIT 2009 but that won't be released til Q4 of this year. But a glimpse of it promised it to be an absolute whiz at 5 axis machining. In fact, Dan Frayssinet, CEO (the D in DP) says it made him fall in love with CAM software all over again, despite a 5 year absence of hands on practice.

I am now far better educated in CAM and DP Technology than before, with several misconceptions of ESPRIT now put to rest. I had thought this was a French company, first of all but it had been founded in US, headquartered in Camarillo, CA. The founders were French, hence the name ESPRIT (French for liveliness and spiritedness, as in esprit de corps).

Slab Edge Hidden Lines Display

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:14 GMT

Back in February/March 2008, during our Revit Structure 2008 Beta testing period, there was a discussion among our Beta testers (from different countries) about the slab edge hidden line display. In fact, the standard or culture of displaying slab edge...

My Status Update

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:09 GMT

Alright, I've been a little busy lately.

Okay, a lot busy.

Since it's new product time, I'd finished up my work for Ellen on the 2009 AutoCAD and LT Bible, then started on a couple of articles for AUGI HotNews TipNique's column (April and May 2008).

I returned to college as a student of St. Louis University's School of Professional Studies to resume my Bachelor's degree.

Then my husband and I found out that we were expecting offspring #2... so I've been having to spend an awful lot of time napping because I'm EXHAUSTED.

Also, the Gateway AUG had their Spring Quarterly meeting. I presented on AutoCAD 2009 and Haden Smith presented on workflow with BIM. It was a pretty good meeting with a lot of great commentary by the members in attendance. We do apologize for going out of character and gathering on a Friday night rather than during the middle of the week, but, we had multiple scheduling conflicts that necessitated our departure from that norm.

During the meeting, I announced to the group that because of my schooling and impending bundle of joy, I would be resigning as President and would be replaced by Nicholas Iyadurai.
I'll still be serving on the board as a Member at Large, promoting and attending the meetings, probably presenting on occasion as needed. But, I'll no longer perform emailing or treasurer duties, as I have since the group's inception.
So, since then, past-President Brian Myers and I have been meeting with Nicholas and Chris VonFeldt about procedures, history and the new website revisions (Chris has been working hard to tidy up our site, lots more to come!). Also thanks to members Elle and Rich for their review of the site and additional ideas and to Rudy for helping to arrange our meeting space.
Our members are why we can do what we do.

As for why I asked Nicholas to step into my shoes... well, his company does a lot of work for mine, and I've always been pleased with his professionalism, enthusiasm and skills, and he was ready and willing. So, many thanks to him for agreeing to take on this laborious yet rewarding task!

Last week I had my final for my first college course in over five years. Whew! That's a lot of pressure. But, I read and studied the book and lecture notes and paid attention to the comments my classmates made in our online arena (which was hard in a night class considering I've given up almost all caffeine)... and surprisingly did really well and feel a lot better now than I did at the beginning of the class. So, I'm off for a couple of weeks before my next class starts.

I was a bit disappointed that the Industry Advisory Board for Vatterott's CAD program was scheduled for the same time as my final, as I do normally enjoy those quite a bit. I did ask my husband to go in my stead and he really thought it was a pleasant and productive evening as well.

AS IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH! Last week I also had a BIG presentation to give at work. As I've mentioned, I've been piloting the FMDesktop CAFM suite over about the past year. I've been trying to get enough support for a CAFM implementation campus-wide for almost as long as I've been here. FMD was finally cheap enough for me to push through a test, thanks to the support of my Manager and Director.

Every year we (the Engineering group) host an Education and Planning conference for our hospital, but, we also invite the pertinent corporate overlords, as well as FM leaders from some of the health system's smaller hospitals. We all present on various projects we've completed or would like to tackle, and it's a great time to get feedback, garner support and share our opinions with one another.

Well, since I'm the only nerd left in the department, I had the distinct pleasure of arranging the setup of the presentations and the A/V needs. I don't know just how many ways there are to break or choke up a Powerpoint file, but, I'll bet that I saw at least a half a dozen different methods early last week (although the deadline for submissions was the previous week).

So, everything ran smoothly technically as the two day conference went along, and last Friday I had made my presentation to the group (next to last, THAT really helped my nerves).

It was really very well received. I think we're getting to the point where we're willing to embrace technologies out of our traditional MEP engineering realm. There were some GREAT questions from the other Managers and the Supervisors. My boss and the director told me that it came off really well and they thought I'd done great.

I only hope that I did the possibilities the justice that they deserve. There's so much we could do better. We're already good at what we do, but, we can always improve things.
Wish me luck.

I'll be starting my next class soon, and I'm in the process of making my annual revisions to the AUGI CAD/Design Salary Survey. YES! You heard that right, ALREADY! We're going to run it in the summer so that we can publish it in the fall in time for year-end reviews. I don't know why we didn't think of this sooner.

Whew. Now I remember why I'm so tired.

Oh, and my office move that was scheduled for the 8th of May has been pushed back until the end of the month. Boy, oh boy. I can't wait. (rolling eyes)

Is Autodesk Outfoxing the ITC?

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:54 GMT

The article about Autodesk's patents in today's upFront.eZine got my attention. Take a look at the following patents related to sheet sets:
Automatic view creation in a sheet set manager for a graphics program
Sheet set fields of a sheet set manager for a graphics program
Sheet set manager for a graphics program
Sheet set publishing in a sheet set manager for a graphics program
Transmittal and archive tool in a sheet set manager for a graphics program
User interface elements of a sheet set manager for a graphics program

I think I know who these patents are designed for - the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium.

Obviously Autodesk is fed up of the ITC cloning their software and relieving them of their customers. So now they are patenting the new features so that the ITC cannot copy them. And if they do, Autodesk can sue the hell out of them. Judging by the way Autodesk has been shopping around for companies of late, I guess they have kept aside a fat bundle for legal expenses.

Sounds like a good plan, if you ask me. What do you think?

Sampling to the ROW

Mon, 12 May 2008 15:49 GMT

A post popped up in the Adesk Discussion Groups about how to adjust the sampling widths of sections to match a variable width ROW. If you've ever needed to adjust your sections, read on for more information.

I've created a drawing with a CL alignment, then a left and right ROW alignment. These alignments are crucial to variable width sections. If you don't have them already, you need them.

This drawing also has a corridor already completed, but turned off. Trust me on this one. It's there, but I wanted it off for the purposes of clarity.

Cut your sections using the range of stations option shown here. This will display the dialog for swath widths etc.

In the dialog, there is an option on each side to snap to an alignment. This is the important part! Set your alignments as the target and rock on.

Click OK and close the Sample Line Group toolbar. Notice how my section lines follow the Right ROW alignment in the following picture.

A few things of note. Once you've sampled, there is no link between the ROW alignment and the sample line. Move the ROW, the sample will not update! Also, if you've already sampled, there's no easy way to set the widths to match the alignment. Unfortunately, you need to erase your sample lines, and reprocess them.

Maybe someone has a solution to that last bit? If so, throw it in a comment below!

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Earth Day: Looking for a Halo Effect

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:00 GMT

Autodesk Labs Marketing Manager, Amanda Collins, filed this report.

At Autodesk’s recent Earth Day celebration, Autodesk Labs presented its work with “Architecture for Humanity” (AFH), an international non-profit organization. AFH unites volunteer architects throughout the world to design sustainable housing for communities devastated by disaster.

The Labs team discussed AFH projects in Africa, India, Colombia, and Mississippi; answered questions from interested attendees; and explained how Autodesk is working with AFH and others to provide technology for sharing design information globally.

Project Halo
AFH volunteers currently collaborate over the Web via an open-source community called the Open Architecture Network. They post images and share files with other community members. According to its website, the network grew out of a “collective frustration in sharing ideas and trying to work together to address shelter needs after disaster, in informal settlements and in our own communities”. The vision was “a truly collaborative online community and gathering place for those dedicated to improving the built environment”.

What volunteers need now is the ability to display CAD data directly over the Open Architecture Network. That’s where we hope to help.

sustainable child center in Africa

As part of “Project Halo,” Autodesk Labs is mashing up Project Draw, Project Freewheel, and Autodesk Design Review so that AFH volunteers can view designs and share actual CAD files. Our goal is to enable volunteers a level of virtual collaboration that is platform independent. Without having to download any software, designers across the world will be able to use the Internet to contribute ideas, offer comments, make annotations, and mark up actual drawings -- so that building, and rebuilding, can get off the ground faster.

Note to readers: The recent cyclone in Myanmar means that, once again, communities will face the difficult task of reconstruction. Architecture for Humanity offers support and technical expertise to rebuild clinics, schools, community centers, and other critical infrastructure, as well as housing. They are currently raising funds for work in Myanmar.

We very much hope that the outpouring of initial contributions will have a halo effect. If you are interested in getting involved, contact:

volunteers@architectureforhumanity.org or http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/donate.

Thanks Amanda!

Synchronous Technology -- Explained by Al

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:52 GMT

Great article by Al Dean explaining the new Synchronous Technology from Siemens PLM Solutions: http://www.x3dmedia.com/2008/05/synchronous-technology-part-ii.html (If you use the Opera Web browser, click the Author Mode button to make the Web page easier to read.)

Stunning street animation

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:15 GMT

This is off-topic but I couldn't resist sharing it. Blu's streetscape based animation is amazing.

via DRAWN!

A Close Encounter with Mumbai Pirates

Sun, 11 May 2008 20:55 GMT

Everytime I visit Mumbai, I try and find time to visit the street which is notoriously famous for selling pirated software. Not to buy some for myself. Thanks to my partners, I get all my software for free or next to nothing. I wander this street to get a sense of how bad the situation is. I see changes every time I visit this street - changes for the worse.

Some years ago, I had to follow someone into a dark alley, up the staircase of a dilapidated building and into a room where I was shown a bunch a CDs, each at a fixed price of Rs. 100 ($2.5), irrespective of the software. I found it funny that I could purchase IntelliCAD and AutoCAD at the same price.

Later, the pirated CDs started appearing on the street, but under cover. The pirates would set up a small table on the street and pretend to sell blank CDs. If you asked them for "software" they would reach down into a plastic bag and hand you a bunch of CDs to choose from.

I believe I saw the worst when, on a subsequent visit, the blank CDs dissappeared and the pirated CDs were arranged neatly across the tables, in broad daylight. They started openly running promotions, like buy 2 get 1 free. They actually followed you down the street, with pirated CD's in hand, and pestered you if you left without buying anything. It looked like they were doing everything that a CAD vendor would want their resellers to do. It was that bad.

So imagine my surprise this time around, when the cabbie dropped me off at the street, I found nobody. The pirates were all gone. I asked a roadside vendor selling old books on the sidewalk, where the pirates were. He told me that one fine day some officials from the muncipality came by, trashed their things and took some of the pirates away, and possibly trashed those who could not bribe their way out. But he added that there may still be some operating under cover. I decided to find out.

I walked the street asking roadside vendors for "software". I got a standard reply in Hindi, which translated to, "It's all stopped now". I never thought that I would see this day in my lifetime.

Then something weird happenned. A shady looking character started following me. After a while I turned around and looked at him questioningly. He gave me a big smile which had the words "I have software" splashed all over it. He asked me to follow him into a lonely alley, which I did. And then into another lonely alley, and then one more. As I walked I realised that one of two things was going to happen. I was either going to see some pirated software or I was going to get mugged. I hoped it was the former.

We finally stopped in the middle of an alley. I couldn't see any sign of pirated CDs, just some broken furniture and trash lying around. I began to get worried when he started to make idle talk. He asked me where I was from and how long I was going to be in Mumbai. Mustering all the bravado I could, I told him sternly that I didn't have the time for idle talk and that if he had software, now was the time to show it. He immediately lost the macho man mask and rushed to apologize. As it turns out, he was trying to guage whether I was an "authentic" buyer or some cop trying to entrap him.

He then asked me to stay where I was and proceeded towards the dead end of the alley. He reach behind a pile of old, broken furniture and fished out a plastic bag. While he was doing that I fished out my camera phone and took a picture.

He came back with a handful of CDs. I don't know why he didn't take me to his treasure chest instead. Maybe he was selling something more than just pirated CD's back there.

I started "browsing" the CDs and began to lay them on a wooden crate neadby. I wanted to take a picture of them as well, but the pirate wasn't in the mood of leaving my side. I have absolutely no idea why I did what I did next, but I am pretty sure I will never do it again. With the pirate by my side, I fished out my camera phone and pretended to dial a number. While he thought I was looking down at my phone and keying in a number, I actually clicked a picture of the CDs on the crate.

I always turn off my phone's camera sounds. I do this because I often click pictures of my six month old son while he sleeps like an angel, and the shutter-like sound on my camera phone is so loud that it sometimes wakes him up. So the pirate had no way of knowing that I was actually taking a picture.

So after clicking the picture, I realised that I was supposed to speak to the person I had just "dialed". I put the phone to my ear and pretended to speak to a friend, and asked him whether he wanted Pro/E. Looking back, I now wonder what would have happened if my phone had rung while I was "speaking" to this friend. After I "disconnected" I let the pirate know that the version of Pro/E that he had did not match what I wanted and proceeded to thank him for his time. But surely the pirate didn't take all this trouble for nothing. He then did something which left me speechless.

He started making the case that Inventor was far better than Pro/E and that I should buy Inventor instead. He began running figures, saying that a majority of his "customers" chose Inventor over Pro/E. He even stated that Inventor was far more easier to use than Pro/E. I tried my best to maintain a straight face and stood there in silence as he made his sales pitch. The more he spoke the more I realised how he would make an excellent sales executive at any CAD reseller. Although most of what he said was utter crap (he said that Inventor can also edit images like PhotoShop), I was amazed by the way he said it. This guy badly wanted to make a sale, and it showed.

When I realized that I couldn't take it anymore, I reached for my wallet, paid for the Inventor CD and put it in my backpack. He tried to sell me more, but I told him that I was in a hurry and had to leave. I found my way back to the street and hitched a cab. As I paid the cabbie I gave him the Inventor CD and told him to give his kids a new "shining toy".

I am definately going to visit this street again the next time I visit Mumbai. And if I manage to keep my life and limb intact, you are definately going to read about it here.

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A Close Encounter with Mumbai Pirates

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