RobiNZ CAD Blog

Seek and ye old PC shall die, only to be born again

I've been working from home (WFH) for 9± weeks using my old desktop PC to Remote Connect to a CAD workstation in the office with no problems. I purchased it in December 2009, and it has been used for intermittent CAD, gaming and general home computing ever since. I got a big (for the day) 1.5 Terabyte hard drive as it's my 'download everything' local backup for 800GB of OneDrive cloud stored documents, photos etc. On my mobile machines I just have the OneDrive folders I need set to off-line to reduce storage & sync data. It's an old PB... Read more →

2019 Blogging Highlights

Another year has flown by and it is nearly 2020. Time to look back at 2019 from a bloggy/social media (not just CAD blog) perspective: Best social media related event(s): It wasn’t really a social media event but a podcast took me somewhere I didn’t think I would ever go. Dr Karl’s Podcast is a regular on my playlist. Finding out he was leading an expedition cruise to Antarctica this year made it a ‘must go’. After being back a few weeks I have only just sorted out the photos worth keeping (2800) and still have much to write about... Read more →

2018 Blogging Highlights

Another year has flown by and it is nearly 2019. Time to look back at 2018 from a bloggy/social media (not just CAD blog) perspective: Best social media related event(s): The best event I attended last year I only got to thanks to social media. It was an honour to cover BiLT ANZ 2018 for Autodesk User Group International (AUGI). It was my first visit to Brisbane and my first BiLT since the name change from RTC. A fantastic event, networking, learning, and socialising covered in these posts on the AUGI Blog: BiLT ANZ, the biggest ever! | BLAUGI BiLT... Read more →

2017 Blogging Highlights

Another year has flown by and it is nearly 2018. Time to look back at 2017 from a bloggy/social media (not just CAD blog) perspective: Best social media related event(s): First has to be Autodesk University 2017. Great to catch up with lots of friends at the first AU I’ve been to since 2011. In addition to that there were some significant announcements and lots of learning. I have more blog posts to write about the event itself, and related travels to Seattle & Hawaii. Another highlight was meeting, if not quite managing to ride with, Around the World in... Read more →

2016 Blogging Highlights

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... Read more →

Vale Dame Zaha Hadid – BBC Desert Island Discs

I first heard this when it was uploaded in February 2016 but it’s timely to share given the recent news of her death. I was familiar with Dame Zaha Hadid’s work but Desert Island Discs gives some insight into Zaha Hadid, the person. Due to copyright restrictions her chosen eight music tracks are trimmed to 10 second clips but that just leaves a fascinating interview. Vale Dame Zaha Hadid, who leaves a remarkable legacy. BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Dame Zaha Hadid - 2016-02 Kirsty Young's castaway is the architect, Dame Zaha Hadid. The first woman to be... Read more →

2015 Blogging Highlights

Another year has flown by and it is 2016. Time to look back at 2015 from a bloggy (but not just CAD blog) perspective: Best Blog Event: I didn’t get to any physical blog specific events this year but had some great on-line calls and sessions with several vendors. One of the best was this one on point clouds and BIM by SSOE Group, part of a Reality Computing Webinar Series. Best Comment: A comment from Earl Mardle, after I noted how trees I remember being planted — in a park I played in as a kid and hadn’t visited... Read more →

BIMThoughts, a podcast about BIM

I love podcasts and just found this one about Building Information Modelling technology and techniques. Bill Debevc, Aubrey Frederick and Carla Edwards have already posted six episodes covering software, collaboration and interviews with BIM’Stars like Jim Balding, Marcello Sgambelluri and Phil Read. You can listen on the site or search for BIMThoughts in your favourite podcast player and subscribe. BIMThoughts - bimthoughts.com BIMThoughts is podcast about BIM technology and techniques. Read more →

2014 Blogging Highlights

Another year has flown by and it is 2015. Time to look back at 2014 from a bloggy (not just CAD) perspective: Best Blog Event: It was great to meet fellow AutoCAD bloggers in March for an introduction to AutoCAD 2015 and a look behind the scenes of how it was created. Best Comment(s): I like it when people comment on a post that has helped them. To be honest I post these fixes to save me having to remember them! Even old posts on Outlook HTML formatting of URLs and Live Writer (how to change the local post location)... Read more →

StarTalk Podcast and CAD, Computer Aided Dimensions?

Not sure how I missed it but I’ve been busy catching up with the awesome StarTalk podcast back catalogue. It is where, to quote their own tagline: “Science, pop culture & comedy collide on StarTalk w/ astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, comic co-hosts, celebrities & scientists.” It earns this CAD blog mention thanks to a funny moment in “StarTalk: Live at the Bell House, Part 2”. It’s a live show featuring Neil, co-host Eugene Mirman and guests Alan Alda, Kristen Schaal and Scott Adsit. At about 0:21:00 the discussion is about Non-Euclidean Geometry and at 0:22:20 there... Read more →