31 August 2010
Chris Rand, Editor
TOP BLOG POSTS
From WorldCAD Access: CAD Insider: Autodesk
Takes Local User Group Off Life Support - “by Rooponder Tara, Tenlinks.com Autodesk’s headquarters are in San Rafael, CA, about 20 miles north of the Golden Gate bridge. San Rafael (pronounced san raFELL, not san RAFFYel) is in beautiful Marin County (pronounced maRIN not MARin)…”
From WorldCAD Access: ASCON plans on shipping
version 12 of KOMPAS endish-September - “Whenever I write about ASCON’s software, my fingers naturally type KOSMOS. Must be the result of growing up during the space race. ASCON today announces that it plans to ship KOSMOS KOMPAS-3D V12 in the second half of September…”
From SolidSmack.com: Paint A Rainbow On Your SolidWorks Assembly.
Multi-Colored Macro Follow-up - “A mere month ago we asked y’all how to go about slapping color across parts in SolidWorks. Unless you have a program to apply a random color to a part when you put it in an assembly, they all have the same curiously drab color…”
From WorldCAD Access: Multi-touch gestures
are just a warmup for multi-touch sentences - “It’s bad enough that Apple expect people to touch their trackpad with two fingers, because the thinking-differently company couldn’t be bothered splurging on two buttons. Three-finger swipe for this, four-fingers for that…”
From SolidSmack.com: Friday Smackdown: Crisp Nibblers - “I use to say, ‘Toast it crispy and cover it with jam!’ about everything. It got to be annoying to some. Why, one day I woke up toasted to a fine crisp, covered with jam, being nibbled on by these here links…”
From SolidSmack.com: How To Convert Your PDF To AutoCAD DWG: For
Free - “There are times in our life when we stand behind a wall, peek around the corner and snicker at someone pulling dimensions off a PDF document to sketch out a part. The tears roll down their overworked cheeks…”
From SolidSmack.com: Watch Your Appendages. Robots Will Digest and Poo
You - “It just makes sense. Robots attack humans. Robots ingest humans. Robot digest humans. Robots excrete oily human remains. Chewin’ and pooin’ is what Ecobot III is all about. However, it doesn’t actually chew…”
From SolidSmack.com: Don’t Throw-up, You Now Have Two
Options for Online CAD Stores - “I know, I know. You get so giddy thinking about shopping, you just totally lose it. Then someone mentions shopping for CAD products, and you go completely nuts and lose control of your stomach juices…”
From SolidSmack.com: Siemens Slams SolidSmack with
Questions. This is What I Said - “A couple months ago I went to Siemens PLMConx Event. It was a magical time filled with magical talk about PLM, Solid Edge, NX, curling irons, highlight techniques and ways to deal with split ends…”
From WorldCAD Access: Navigating the MacBook’s
non-standard keyboard in ARES - “For Linux and Windows users, the QWERTY part of the MacBook is the same; your fingers, however, need to think different around the edges. Some keys have different meanings or are outright missing…”
From WorldCAD Access: Ray Kurland digs up
interesting stuff about DraftSight - “Ray Kurland interviews Aaron Kelly about DraftSight, and we learn these facts: DraftSight division has 24 employees and is expected to generate a profit Annual maintenance fee is $250 per user…”
From SolidSmack.com: Norton Cycles Revs the Commando 961
Redesign. Pro/E Gets it Done - “I know you’re busy strapping a flamethrower and Gatling gun to the front of your 1958 Norton Dominator, but stop, I say. STOP! Norton motorcycles has new and wonderful things in the works…”
From SolidSmack.com: Autodesk Slams CAD on the Mac OS X. Plus
AutoCAD for iPhone and iPad - “Well, blow my everloving mind out of the water. You won’t see the PR till Tuesday, but the New York Times just scooped the whole CAD industry on the news. AutoCAD for Apple Mac is here…”
From SolidSmack.com: The FoC Gaudi Chair. How the Future
of Design and Manufacturing is Being Shaped - “Occasionally, I’ll see some Antonio Gaudi architecture, and just start draping balls of strings and chains from everything, cover it with plaster and throw some shards of glass at it…”
From WorldCAD Access: Avatech likes reverse mergers - “Avatecvh Solutions has taken over Rand Worldwide to create the world’s largest AutoCAD dealer. Avatech originally became a public company by doing a reverse merger of PlanetCAD…”
From SolidSmack.com: SolidWorks 2011 Launch. 6 Day, 8 Hours, 3
Minutes and 30 seconds - “If you look at the image to the left (and the larger version after the jump) you’ll see a bunch of tiny people mulling about the large appendage like structure in front of them…”
From SolidSmack.com: Friday Smackdown: Buckle Your Bread - “Once you’re able to buckle the bread ends down sufficiently, it’s all a matter of how you apply the jelly. In this case, you’ll need a shovel, a big one, and these links…”
From the Eat Your CAD blog: Rationalising Rasters - “Raster files are often essential to producing project designs. They can, unless you are prepared, eat way more system resources than you might expect, reducing performance and in some cases, causing errors or crashes…”
From the CAD Insider blog: Autodesk Takes Local User Group Off Life Support - “Autodesk’s headquarters are in San Rafael, CA, about 20 miles north of the Golden Gate bridge. San Rafael (pronounced san raFELL, not san RAFFYel) is in beautiful Marin County (pronounced maRIN not MARin)…”
From the Solidworks Legion blog: News: SolidWorks Job Network is back! - “‘Where can I find SolidWorks specific job listings?’ There was a time when one of the only answers to that question was SolidWorks Job NetWork. Many companies have posted jobs on this site over the year…”
From the Solidworks Legion blog: Hotels on KAYAK for San Antonio, TX SolidWorks World 2011 - “There’s a funny commercial from Priceline.com where William Shatner plays his own evil twin who tries to talk someone into booking through a website that is offering a sale by declaring, ‘it’s a sa-ell…”
From the Solidworks Legion blog: Book Review: Creating Animations with SolidWorks - “Creating animations with SolidWorks can be both fun and challenging. With the capabilities and options that SolidWorks now supports, making animations of models can fell like walking through a maze…”
From the Solidworks Legion blog: The launch of SolidWorks 2011 is only days away - “The launch of SolidWorks 2011 is only days away. SolidWorks Corp even made this countdown website to celebrate the impending release. It isn’t obvious what will happen when the countdown is done…”
From WorldCAD Access: Twenty years on, Autodesk
rediscovers that Apple thing (Updated) - “Miguel Helft of The New York Times is reporting this evening what was pretty much an open secret. It was just the timing we weren’t sure about…”
From the CADDmanager blog: Managing from Two Steps Back - “CAD Managers have to work from a distance. They are not the ones creating and editing files and models. Others do that and the CAD Manager is removed from the direct process…”
From WorldCAD Access: Practicing FEA Without a License - “by Roopinder Tara, Tenlinks.com CAD companies are eager to put analysis in the hands of designers. It’s scaring me to death…”
From WorldCAD Access: First add-ons for ARES, Windows
now, Linux and Mac “soon” - “SYCODE is releasing its translators for Graebert’s new ARES CAD program - the first add-ons for ARES, as far as I know…”
From SolidSmack.com: ARES Commander. First 2D CAD on the Mac
Released. DraftSight Next? - “Deep outta the heart of Berlin, Germany comes news for the user who enjoys the planar bliss of X and Y coordinates…”
From the Eat Your CAD blog: ClipX helps the Civil Guys - “Hello from Florida, I check regularly with your site and find it has been helpful on a number of fronts. I work in the Civil discipline, roadways plans to be exact…”
From WorldCAD Access: Google is promoting cloud
computing to power mobile phones - “At a press conference this morning, Google described its plans to hook up mobile phones to cloud computing…”
From the Eat Your CAD blog: Trusting Bentley Structural Quantities - “If you are having problems generating quantity reports inside of Bentley Structural, you may need to check Excel is allowing the spreadsheet macros to run…”
From the Solidworks Legion blog: Social Media Aided CAD - “Companies like Saleforce.com are changing the very nature of business communications by embedding social media technology within their products (Chatter)…”
From WorldCAD Access: Autodesk cutting prices early - “It’s not even Q4 and Autodesk is already cutting the price of its software through mail-in refunds…”
From the CADDmanager blog: Managing from One Step Back - “CAD Managers work in an environment where they can get their work done by taking a hands on approach. They do the actual work themselves…”
From WorldCAD Access: foto of the sunday: sf in bw - “On one of my trips to San Francisco, I set my camera’s mode to black-white…”
From the CADDmanager blog: The Mac is Back - AutoCAD on the Mac - “Autodesk has been working behind the scenes to create something that has not been around for some time… AutoCAD on a Mac…”
From WorldCAD Access: foto of the sunday: whooping it up - “My daughter and her friends jumping for joy at summer freedom…”
From WorldCAD Access: foto of the sunday: tiring train travel - “Photographed in Antwerp train station, Belgium, June 2009…”
From the CAD Insider blog: Practicing FEA Without a License - “CAD companies are eager to put analysis in the hands of designers. It’s scaring me to death…”
From SolidSmack.com: Friday Smackdown: The Nillies - “That, my friend, is a mighty fine curd…”
From the Eat Your CAD blog: Where are the default mouse button assignments? - “QUESTION We have a user who is constantly resetting his mouse button assignment…”
TOP NEWS STORIES
From Engineeringtalk: AST Bearings utilises CDS Catalog and Modelserver - “AST Bearings has launched its latest website incorporating products from Catalog Data Solutions (CDS) to present and aid online selection of products and CAD model downloads…”
From Engineeringtalk: Adept unveils Mathtype 6.7 for Windows - “Adept Scientific is offering Mathtype 6.7 for Windows from Design Science for use by educators, scientists and engineers to create papers and presentations with textbook-quality equations…”
From Engineeringtalk: Ansys resolves pre-prototype product design issues - “Ansys incorporates the fatigue capabilities of HBM’s nCode Designlife durability software, enabling mechanical engineers to address product life and durability issues before a prototype is built…”
From Engineeringtalk: CAD software helps increase clothing production - “Tukatech, a provider of apparel industry software solutions, has announced a software implementation as part of a partnership with US garment manufacturer and retailer American Apparel…”
From Engineeringtalk: EDA launches CAD software with DWG file format - “EDA Systems has launched the ZWCAD software, which is targeted at 2D/3D designers within the architecture, engineering and construction sectors who need full DWG native file format compatibility…”
From Engineeringtalk: Ignition SDK allows users to become module authors - “The Ignition Module Software Development Kit (SDK), which is available for free via Inductive Automation’s website, enables users of the company’s Ignition product to write their own modules…”
From Engineeringtalk: Lanner software enables mobile licence booking - “Lanner has included Reprise Licensing Manager as standard within its latest release of Witness Power with Ease 2.01, allowing licences to be booked out from a network licence onto a portable computer…”
From Engineeringtalk: NI releases Diadem software for data management - “National Instruments (NI) has announced the 2010 release of its data-management software for managing, analysing and reporting during data acquisition or when generating data through simulations…”
From Engineeringtalk: RMS allows quality control for reservoir modelling - “Emerson has released Roxar RMS 2010.1, which is said to add powerful seismic visualisation for improved decision making and quality control within Emerson’s reservoir modelling solution…”
From Engineeringtalk: Software preview enables product design simulation - “Autodesk has announced that Inventor Optimization is available for download from is website as a free technology preview, enabling users to perform digital simulation on their product designs…”
From Engineeringtalk: Software used to develop astronaut strength tester - “Spanish company NTE-Sener has used Solidworks software to develop a sophisticated system that tests the strength of astronauts in space in order to help combat muscle atrophy…”
From Engineeringtalk: Tools enable SAT file import for rapid prototyping - “Power Body Object Toolkit is a set of complimentary tools designed to improve workflow for customers importing SAT files into Autodesk’s 3ds Max for rendering, animation, or rapid prototyping…”
From Engineeringtalk: Virtalis - latest company news - “20 August 2010 - Virtalis has announced that it joined the Dassault Systemes Software Partner Community to gain access to Component Application Architecture Version 5…”
From Engineeringtalk: Visual communication tool targets aerospace sector - “Actify’s Spinfire 9.0, which will begin shipping in September, is an advanced visual communication tool for the automotive, aerospace, industrial automation and discrete manufacturing industries…”
From Engineeringtalk: ZWmech enables CAD design for engineering - “ASVIC has released ZWmech, an integrated engineering add-on for ZWCAD, which is said to provide CAD designers across a range of engineering sectors with an easy and efficient way of modelling…”
From Manufacturingtalk’s IT for Manufacturing channel: Ansys resolves pre-prototype product design issues - “Ansys incorporates the fatigue capabilities of HBM’s nCode Designlife durability software, enabling mechanical engineers to address product life and durability issues before a prototype is built…”
From Manufacturingtalk’s IT for Manufacturing channel: CGTech to show Vericut software at aerospace event - “CGTech will demonstrate the 2010 Vericut Virtual Machining Gallery at this year’s Aero Engineering event, which is scheduled to be held at the NEC in Birmingham on 29-30 September…”
From Manufacturingtalk’s IT for Manufacturing channel: IDC barcode reader helps minimise maintenance - “IDC’s ZB111 wireless barcode reader is helping to minimise maintenance downtime and costs at the distribution centre of a global retailer that the company has recently automated…”
From Manufacturingtalk’s IT for Engineering channel: NI makes improvements to data management software - “National Instruments (NI) has announced the 2010 release of its data management software for managing, analysing and reporting during data acquisition or when generating data through simulations…”
From Manufacturingtalk’s IT for Manufacturing channel: Stheno/Pro 5.0 for Pro/Engineer-centric companies - “CAD Schroer has released Version 5.0 of Stheno/Pro, targeted at any Pro/Engineer-centric company needing to integrate, edit, generate or maintain 2D drawings…”
From Manufacturingtalk’s IT for Manufacturing channel: Virtual-reality system installed at CNH facility - “Agricultural and construction equipment company CNH is using an Activewall HD immersive visualisation suite from Virtalis at its facility in Zedelgem, Belgium, to conduct collaborative design reviews…”
MORE FROM THE BLOGGERS
Autodesk 3ds Max keyboard shortcuts from CAD Forum Tips
CAD formats directly supported in Inventor 2011 (import/export) from CAD Forum Tips
DWG to PDF problem in an arabic font from CAD Forum Tips
How to add blocks to line endpoints? from CAD Forum Tips
How to save Civil 3D objects to an older version? from CAD Forum Tips
How to skip steps in the UNDO/REDO history? from CAD Forum Tips
How to switch off hatch previews in AutoCAD 2011? from CAD Forum Tips
Inventor Publisher for publishing CAD data in other formats from CAD Forum Tips
Publishing DWF/DWFx files from any Windows application from CAD Forum Tips
VBA support in Autodesk CAD software applications from CAD Forum Tips
Deadlines, what would we do without them? from the CAD-a-Blog
Practical Jokes in AutoCAD from the CAD-a-Blog
Quick Tip - Delete Layer from the CAD-a-Blog
Project Technology Manager Wanted - BDP from the Eat Your CAD blog
ALSO IN THE NEWS
CAM Industry Leader DP Technology Corp., Maker of ESPRIT, Forms Partnership with ASCON, Maker of CAD Solution KOMPAS-3D from MCADCafe
CimatronE 10.0 Will be Previewed at IMTS from MCADCafe
HP Board Authorizes Additional $10 Billion for Share Repurchases from MCADCafe
Omnify Software Announces 2010 International PLM Customer Conference from MCADCafe
PartMaker to Unveil Dedicated Programming for Bar Fed Mills at IMTS 2010 from MCADCafe