RobiNZ CAD Blog

BIM & Lifecycle Management

Brian L. Myers has some interesting discussion on BIM and Lifecycle Management on his blog LifecycleM. It has a wide variety of topics, all worth reading, but these were of particular interest to me: What software should your company use? Who will push BIM in Residential Construction? CAD vs. BIM LifecycleM - Building knowledge of Lifecycle Management Read more →

DWF viewing without a DWF viewer - Project Freewheel: How does it work?

A few weeks ago I blogged about Autodesk Labs Project Freewheel. It allows viewing of DWF files with no viewer download/install. Scott has a post with the detail on how the magic happens. Beyond the Paper: Project Freewheel: How does it work? Read more →

Sysinternals now Microsoft!

The freeware Sysinternals utilities are really good for tracking down system/network problems. Apparently Microsoft thought they were pretty good too! Congratulations to the Sysinternals team. Mark's Sysinternals Blog: On My Way to Microsoft! I’m very pleased to announce that Microsoft has acquired Winternals Software and Sysinternals… As for Sysinternals, the site will remain for the time being while Microsoft determines the best way to integrate it into its own community efforts, and the tools will continue to be free to download. Microsoft Acquires Winternals Software - Winternals Software Press Release Company appoints operating systems kernel expert Mark Russinovich as Technical... Read more →

Print a plane...?

Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works" create a plane from 3D printed parts… New Scientist Tech - Breaking News - A plane you can print An unmanned aircraft made from "printed" parts rather than traditional machine-tooled components has been unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show, UK. Via boingboing Read more →

New Product Manager for Autodesk Building Systems

Autodesk Building Systems users, introduce yourself to Laura, have your say! ABS has a new Product Manager! - Autodesk - Discussion Groups “My name is Laura Gutwillig, though you will see me as LauraG on these discussion groups….” “I am proud to say that we have a great team of folks working on this product, many whom you talk with through these discussion groups, that are just as dedicated as me. BUT...we still need you. We need to hear from you what's working and what is just plain not! Tell us what you need, and how you would like to... Read more →

MindManager Map Explorer adds Ink

Michael has updated the MindManager Map Explorer to support ink. Jason Dorko will be happy! Mindjet Labs: Map Explorer Now Supports Ink Read more →

Sky TV (NZ) Searching with ActiveWords

When is the Formula One on? I tap “skyf1n”, the browser launches, navigates to Sky TV and returns all channel content that mentions “formula one”. If you are in New Zealand & have Sky you can save an ActiveWord to search for any content. It’s great for live events, like F1, that have variable start times. I have similar searches for Rally, MotoGp, and Indy car and one that allows any term to be entered. skyf1n uses “Navigate To” ActiveWord with this link (it’s in a scrollbox as is long!): http://www.skytv.co.nz/index.cfm?index.cfm&pageid=517&script=search&search=channel&searchtext=formula%20one&sr=1 For other Sky TV searches just create an “Navigate... Read more →

Notice of Auckland AutoCAD User Group Meeting - 24-07-2006 - "AutoCAD 2007 - A Technical Review"

The Auckland AutoCAD User Group have a meeting about AutoCAD 2007 next week if you are able to attend; Auckland AutoCAD User Group - www.aaug.org.nz Please be aware of the upcoming EVENT. The AAUG is pleased to announce that they will be hosting Omar Awny (Senior Applications Sales Engineer) from Autodesk Australia. You may remember him from the Autodesk Quiz Night earlier this year. Where: Salesoft CAD Solutions, 115 Grafton Road, just opposite the Hospital entrance on Grafton Road. When: Monday 24th July 2006. 6:00 pm for 6:30pm start. Topic: "AutoCAD 2007 - A Technical Review" This will be a... Read more →

PowerPoint + Twin Monitors = A good combination

I’ve been working on a PowerPoint presentation recently and and found the twin monitor set-up we run for CAD a huge help. Being able to run the the application on one screen, editing content/animation/timing, while having the slide-show running continuously on the other to check the results is an enormous productivity boost. It’s not an uncommon set-up for CAD/Graphics these days but I think a twin monitor set-up is probably the best productivity gain for any user given the low cost of screens. There are few tasks that require only one application, email + another at least, and as soon... Read more →

And now... Lack-lustre Australian Design?

Following on from Kathy Sierra’s “Does the US suck at design?” I wonder if the Aussie’s are suffering the same problem. The Holden VE Commodore, the biggest single product investment in the history of the Australian automotive industry, is hardly breakthrough in automotive design… RobiNZ Personal Blog: VE Commodore, why so dull? Read more →