Another year has flown by and it is 2017 already. Time to look back at 2016 from a bloggy (but not just CAD blog) perspective:
Best blog related event(s):
I didn’t get to any of the big international CAD/BIM events (AU or RTC) but there were some great local RUGAKL and BIM AK meetings. Good venues to meet the local CAD/BIM community!
Earlier in the year it was great to meet Elisha (from the U.K.) after following her epic NZ by Bicycle tour on Facebook, Twitter and the (not yet finished) blog! Love her logo based on a design by Elisha’s school pupils.
I recently attended the NZ Skeptics conference in Queenstown (well, Frankton) and it was great to catch up with friends from that community and meet some new ones. A longer post about that is on my 2017 to do list.
Best blog comment response:
I no longer get many comments on the blog itself (like a whole three this year) but the social media links to Twitter and Facebook often generate comment there. Probably the best response was from the Motu Trail folks after I posted about riding there. Not only was there some great feedback on the links but I got emails from both them & DOC (and a phone call) about repair work done to remove a fallen tree I reported via the trail feedback site. Awesome!
Best podcast:
I listen to a lot of podcasts but two stood out in 2016:
Poorly Summarized
I discovered Michael Smith and Justin Scott’s Poorly Summarized this year and it is (in their words) “The podcast that fills you in on what you missed on social media this week”.
P.S. is a funny mix of news, comment and social (media) analysis with some regular format segments including “Stupid Shit (my friends post)” and “Eye Candy”: a visual design/art/architecture topic which is challenging to present on an audio only podcast!
They started a temporary segment running up to the election; “Trumped Up”. You had to guess which was the fake Trump quote of four quoted. It was supposed to end in November but is still running…
The FAQ page gives an idea of the tone but just listen, and a laugh, because ‘Poorly’ is brilliant.
Image from poorlysummarized.com
Jessie Vs Cancer
I first heard Jessie on the Probably Science Podcast but (horrific) circumstances led to him having his own as his “About” statement explains:
“In 2013, he [Jessie] joined the cast of the Probably Science Podcast as a co-host.
That year, he also got sick. Really sick. In the ass area. And it never went away.
2 years later he was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer, and at 29, had to move back in with his parents for treatment.
This podcast is sort of about that. It's about a lot of other stuff, too. The outcome is unknown, but either way, he's going to record it. There will be dick jokes.”
Since mid 2015 Jessie has podcast weekly throughout his diagnosis, treatment and (bloody awesome spoiler alert) thus far successful journey. It is a brutally honest, at times alarming, endearing and amazing record with touching, shocking and hilarious moments. Even better, Jessie is supporting other cancer sufferers via donations to the podcast.
Image from jessevscancer.com
Blog surprises?
Nothing of note specific to the blog but quite a few changes related to the software and tools I use. I really wasn’t expecting these two mergers but look forward to what they bring:
- CADPRO Systems Ltd acquires Salesoft CAD Solutions Ltd (two New Zealand Autodesk resellers become one)
- Corel acquires Mindmanager (makers of MindManager mind mapping software)
Best new blog tool:
This year it is Feedly but mainly because I am not composing this post on a Surface Studio or Book*!
I find Feedly the best way to read RSS feeds, still the best way to review lots of websites. I have tried a lot of other apps but few could handle the 1,800 or so feeds that the old desktop RSS Bandit app reader I used before easily managed. It was no longer being developed and I was looking for a more cross platform solution.
Feedly has a good website for browser use and their own iOS/Android apps. On Windows 10 I use the NextGen Universal app (Desktop, Tablet and Mobile). It works really well with Feedly so all the feeds and read articles are in sync no matter where they are consumed.
To be clear I don’t read all the content of all those feeds but have collections for various topics to easily review. For example I have maybe 40 international news feeds including sources that are plainly biased left/right or from opposing sides. If something happens I can get a wide range of views of that event in a few minutes. Although I use social media I still find having direct news feeds across a wide variety of sources gives a much more balanced view. One attempt to see outside the social media bubble.
* I nearly, so nearly, got a Surface Book for home but decided to hold off until the next generation is released, expected Autumn 2017. Main reason is will be using it for years and would like at least some USB C ports for future proofing.
Happy New Year!
Thanks for visiting, reading and following wherever you do. In spite of my somewhat erratic posting the CAD blog finally got over the 1.5 million (total lifetime) page views milestone this year. Lets see what 2017 brings!
Boring Blog Stats (for me!)
[ ] = 2015 figures
TypePad Community: 74 [74] Following | 117 [95] Followers
Twitter: 25,009 [22,831] Tweets | 4661 [2,000] Following* | 2341 [1,677] Followers | 3,957 [3,013] Likes
* Following increased as I moved away from reliance on lists as a way to follow lots of people. Mainly because Twitter seem to be depreciating lists in their app.
- Posts: 2083 [2,053] | Comments: 1781 [1,780] | Pages: 8 [8]
- Page Views: Total: 1,502,081 [1,463,716] | Average Per Day: 322.68 [341.35]
- FeedBurner Subscribers: 351 [395]
- Most Popular Post from 2016: Why I’m sad not to be at Autodesk University 2016
- Most visited post of 2016 was from 2007: Align, the forgotten AutoCAD hero – Seems AutoCAD still generates lots of blog visits
- Posts: 2170 [2,107] | Comments: 1025 [1023]
- Page Views: Total: 434,286 [426,551] | Average Per Day: 100.58 [107.96]
- FeedBurner Subscribers: 26 [30]
- Most Popular Post from 2016: NZ Herald, the zero research newspaper
- Most visited post of 2016 was from 2007: Is the "Agel phenomenon" a scam?