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  • MCAD: Open Letter to Steve Wolfe
    Author: SeanDotson
    Subject: MCAD: Open Letter to Steve Wolfe

    Topic Replies: 0

    I recently started a discussion about an article written by Steve Wolfe. I'm met Mr. Wolfe at a number of CAD functions (mainly COFES) and for the most part I found his insight worthy of listening. All of that changed last week.

    In an article originally title "Autodesk Products: Relatively Unimportant?" (now retitled and found here) Mr. Wolfe said:

    Quote:
    Because Autodesk's products are cheap and used for relatively unimportant tasks, such as drafting, customers can get by without upgrading them or renewing their subscriptions during tough times. In contrast, the products of Dassault Systèmes and Parametric Technology are critical to newproduct development.


    In my original post I stated that has to be one of the dumbest statements I have ever heard. And I'm sure even the Solidworks and PTC guys are level headed enough to agree.

    To universally make a statement that tasks performed by one section of users (e.g. Autodesk users vs Dassault) are "relatively unimportant" is not only shortsighted but quite honestly offensive to all the engineers and designers that have put their blood sweat and tears into countless desgins and products built on Autodesk products. Some might see my use of Inventor as a sore spot in the discussion. Quite the contrary. I would feel just as strongly if the article had read that designs built with Solidworks or PTC or even Alibre were "relatively unimportant". Several of my Solidworks peers have agreed with my take.

    It's like saying that pieces of literature written by manual typewriter are "relatively unimportant" compared to those written on word processors or by hand. The tool is simply that. A tool. It's the user that mkes the products important or unimportant.

    I wrote Mr. Wolfe expressing my dislike of his article. His response was anything but apologetic and was quite frankly even more inflammatory and disrespectful than his original article. I posted my reply (not his email) in the previous thread.

    There is a pretty heated discussion going on at Deelip.com on several threads: here and here where Evan Yares has stepped in as the lone defender Mr. Wolfe. To Evan's credit he is fighting a battle that he did not create, however he made a few dumb (in my opinion) statements that has drawn him in as deep as Steve.

    The purpose of this post is to ask Mr. Wolfe to either a)defend his position or b) apologize for his comments.

    To write an incendiary piece like this and then leave it to fester with no defense form the author just reduces the credence his future works will hold, Anyone can write ... it takes a good writer to be able to defend his work.

    So what say you Mr. Wolfe? I promise to keep my and other people's comments civil. I will make every attempt to not allow name calling or personal attacks. Let's see what you have... come defend your work. Or offer your apologies.

    You must register for an account to post here. I will gladly approve your account once created. Or feel free to posts over at Deelip's blog...

    http://www.deelip.com/?p=790
    _________________
    Sean Dotson, PE, AICE
    RND Automation & Engineering

    Download a Free Trial of iPropWiz 2009


  • MCAD: Autodesk Products "Relatively Unimportant"
    Author: SeanDotson
    Subject: MCAD: Autodesk Products "Relatively Unimportant"

    Topic Replies: 18

    http://www.newslettersonline.com/user/user.fas/s=63/fp=3/tp=47?T=open_article,50033872&P=article

    Quote:
    Because Autodesk's products are cheap and used for relatively
    unimportant tasks, such as drafting, customers can get by without upgrading
    them or renewing their subscriptions during tough times. In contrast, the
    products of Dassault Systèmes and Parametric Technology are critical to newproduct development.


    That has to be one of the dumbest statements I have ever heard. And I'm sure even the Solidworks and PTC guys are level headed enough to agree.

    Relatively unimportant? Personally I take offense at the statement as should all Inventor users.
    _________________
    Sean Dotson, PE, AICE
    RND Automation & Engineering

    Download a Free Trial of iPropWiz 2009


  • INVENTOR: AU2009
    Author: iDS!
    Subject: INVENTOR: AU2009

    Topic Replies: 13

    ...just got my confirmation today!

    ...anyone else going from mCADForums?

    Nothing spectacular that I'm looking forward to except the what's new with/updates about Fusion Wink
    _________________
    Steve Robbins
    Inventor Design Solutions & !nnovations
    www.inventordesignsolutions.com

    "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"


  • Tech: Does Droid iKill?
    Author: iDS!
    Subject: Tech: Does Droid iKill?

    Topic Replies: 60

    Hmm...
    http://phones.verizonwireless.com/motorola/droid/?cmp=OTC-Droid-redirect1

    http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/18/verizon-droid-is-the-real-deal/

    I'm very reluctant to switch carriers just for an iPhone Razz ...and I happen to be a Motorola, Google, and NON-touch screen QWERTY fan...so the announcement of a Nov 1st Motorola Cell running Android 2.0 on Verizon 3G is VERY enlightening Wink

    ...can't wait to go into an awesome "NEW" Verizon Wireless store....oh yeah BTW we did some design work for the NEW store front fixtures Cool ....and get my hands on one to demo Very Happy
    _________________
    Steve Robbins
    Inventor Design Solutions & !nnovations
    www.inventordesignsolutions.com

    "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"


  • Tech: Build a CAD Workstation
    Author: iDS!
    Subject: Tech: Build a CAD Workstation

    Topic Replies: 0

    Judging by these latest memory issues revealed, you may want to consider the following information before building/purchasing that next CAD workstation!

    "A two-and-a-half year study of DRAM on 10s of thousands Google servers found DIMM error rates are hundreds to thousands of times higher than thought — a mean of 3,751 correctable errors per DIMM per year. This is the world’s first large-scale study of RAM errors in the field. It looked at multiple vendors, DRAM densities and DRAM types including DDR1, DDR2 and FB-DIMM."

    "You’d think that given the several decades of semiconductor DRAM usage that this study would be old news. I did.

    Like most folks I accepted industry assurances that DRAM is reliable. My main machine today uses power-hungry fully-buffered ECC DIMMs.

    But I was surprised when I checked out my memory section of “About this Mac” and discovered that 1 of my 6 2GB DIMMs was reporting correctable memory errors. Time to see if the “lifetime” warranty means anything.

    I suspect this is another example of the industry’s code of omerta. Big system vendors have scads of data on disk drives, DRAM, network adapters, OS and filesystem based on mortality and tech support calls, but do they share this with the consuming public? Nothing to see here folks, just move along.

    Kudos to Google for doing the long-term research required for substantive results and then sharing those results with the rest of us. Data is what makes your computer YOUR computer, and it is worth protecting. Forking over a bit more for ECC mobos and DIMMs may be worth it for serious users.

    I expect ECC systems will become a lot more popular in the years ahead."


    Full story here: http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=638

    Thanks to mCADForums member "Pineapple" for this very informative article Very Happy
    _________________
    Steve Robbins
    Inventor Design Solutions & !nnovations
    www.inventordesignsolutions.com

    "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"


  • Tech: Microsoft Courier PC
    Author: iDS!
    Subject: Tech: Microsoft Courier PC

    Topic Replies: 3

    WOW! ...very impressive indeed...we are at the brink of an explosive mobile computing market Very Happy

    Hard financial times = low cost innovations!

    http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-first-details-of-microsofts-secret-tablet

    Just hope this is cheap enough, and VERY netbook-ish Very Happy

    ...hmmm I wonder if the multi-touch version of Design Review will be available from Labs at the release of these new devices? ...Autodesk? ...are you listening? ...possibly a great little give away gimmick?
    _________________
    Steve Robbins
    Inventor Design Solutions & !nnovations
    www.inventordesignsolutions.com

    "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"


  • Inventor: .ipt View Reps, Pos Reps?
    Author: iDS!
    Subject: Inventor: .ipt View Reps, Pos Reps?

    Topic Replies: 9

    Ok so everyone that Skeletal Models knows that the most frustrating part of the process is editing the master skeleton...and most likely wish that IV had View Reps or even Pos Reps in the part level to assist in not only temporally cleaning up the visual aspect of even a simple master skeleton...but increase the flexibility of our parts to include "Feature" positional representations AND include the visual control of Multi-Bodies!

    Some would say this could be IV's answer to SW's part config's Smile ...with IV's robust and intuitive use of Parameters and sketches these tools could prove to be very PRODUCTIVE!

    ...and while I'm on the subject what gives about the visibility requirement when deriving parts? ...WHO cares if the visibility of the item you want to derive is turned off in your master? ...REALLY?
    _________________
    Steve Robbins
    Inventor Design Solutions & !nnovations
    www.inventordesignsolutions.com

    "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"


  • Inventor: Skeletal Modeling - Anyone?
    Author: iDS!
    Subject: Inventor: Skeletal Modeling - Anyone?

    Topic Replies: 19

    So a fellow co-worker ask the question today "Who uses skeletal modeling?" ...according to a quick search around the web it appears that the subject is all but non-existent in recent years? ...very disturbing if I don't say so myself...surprised by this I have posted a poll to determine its popularity.

    I'd like to know more insight as to how many folks are using skeletal modeling and how often?

    There seems to be nothing buzzing around anymore about how and why to use it, or any new twist or tips or clever work flows and processes that may of been discovered with each new release of Inventor?

    Maybe its time to start a few NEW tutorials on the latest release (IV2010) utilizing the multi-bodies approach. I would suspect the multi-body workflow will all but change the way we skeletal model...what do you think?
    _________________
    Steve Robbins
    Inventor Design Solutions & !nnovations
    www.inventordesignsolutions.com

    "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"


  • MCAD: Alibre Design Standard now $99
    Author: SeanDotson
    Subject: MCAD: Alibre Design Standard now $99

    Topic Replies: 4

    Quote:
    This is a limited time offer on Alibre Design Standard, which normally retails for $999. Alibre Design Standard is our core technology platform, and it provides a complete parametric toolset for unlimited 3D part and assembly design and 2D drafting. Capable of creating complex mechanical designs with thousands of components, full assembly motion, automatic 2D drawing updates, and many other benefits.


    http://alibre.typepad.com/alibre_ceo_blog/2009/08/alibre-challenges-cad-industry-to-beat-99-price-offer.html
    _________________
    Sean Dotson, PE, AICE
    RND Automation & Engineering

    Download a Free Trial of iPropWiz 2009


  • ADD-IN: Help make us the Plug-In of the Month
    Author: SeanDotson
    Subject: ADD-IN: Help make us the Plug-In of the Month

    Topic Replies: 2

    Not sure why they are using the term "plug-in" vs "add-in" but anyway... Autodesk Labs is going to start a new feature that nominates a user written addin every month.

    If you would, maybe go on over to the Autodesk Blog and suggest a certain iProperty related addin to be the next Plug-In of the month...

    http://through-the-interface.typepad.com/through_the_interface/2009/07/coming-soon-to-autodesk-labs-plugin-of-the-month.html

    It would be appreciated...
    _________________
    Sean Dotson, PE, AICE
    RND Automation & Engineering

    Download a Free Trial of iPropWiz 2009


  • INVENTOR: Running on a Mac!
    Author: iDS!
    Subject: INVENTOR: Running on a Mac!

    Topic Replies: 12

    Well sort of Razz ...I think some of us know this by now (i.e. AU2008), however Autodesk officially announced its support yesterday on its website...

    Apple® Boot Camp Support for Autodesk® Inventor®
    _________________
    Steve Robbins
    Inventor Design Solutions & !nnovations
    www.inventordesignsolutions.com

    "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"


  • Tech: Google Operating System
    Author: iDS!
    Subject: Tech: Google Operating System

    Topic Replies: 6

    http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

    "Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks."

    Wow what a shake up to the OS market! ...this will indeed be interesting to see how this pans out!
    _________________
    Steve Robbins
    Inventor Design Solutions & !nnovations
    www.inventordesignsolutions.com

    "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"


  • Inventor: iCopy
    Author: iDS!
    Subject: Inventor: iCopy

    Topic Replies: 10

    Autodesk Labs has just released a new tool to try...this one looks to be promising with regards to copying assemblies incrementally (dynamic patterning) whist re-sizing each occurrence relative to a path(s), which is a major headache to do currently...

    I think Squeezer has been looking for this functionality recently.

    http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/inventor_icopy/

    One draw back for some folks is the fact you will need to create a robust skeletal or adaptive assembly to make this work...
    _________________
    Steve Robbins
    Inventor Design Solutions & !nnovations
    www.inventordesignsolutions.com

    "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"


  • MCAD: The Fake Autodesk Blog?
    Author: SeanDotson
    Subject: MCAD: The Fake Autodesk Blog?

    Topic Replies: 34

    So I get an email today about a new blog from Autodesk...I see it's a blog by an Autodesk Inventor user and his experiences with Inventor. Neat, it's always good to have more blogs out there.

    http://www.lonelyengineer.com/

    The I saw the very bottom of the page.

    Not an actual consumer endorsement. Sponsorship paid for by Autodesk®.

    The funniest part is the links ot the right. One of them goes to Matt Lombard's blog. As most of you know Matt is a huge proponent and user of Solidworks.
    _________________
    Sean Dotson, PE, AICE
    RND Automation & Engineering

    Download a Free Trial of iPropWiz 2009


  • Add-in: on_save (Updates timestamp when drawing is saved)
    Author: fredake
    Subject: Add-in: on_save (Updates timestamp when drawing is saved)

    Topic Replies: 0

    This add-in updates the custom iproperties SaveDate and SaveTime in a drawing when performing save.
    I used the same custom ipropery name as the more comprehensive iProperty collection since I used that earlier. This add-in only runs when drawings are saved, all other documents are just saved as usual.

    I used Converting VBA Auto Macros to an Add-In as template.

    Copy the .dll file and .bat files to a directory and run the install script to register the add-in. Hopefully it works.

    Attaching the code if you like to compile on your own.

    Code:

            Private Sub m_appEvents_OnSaveDocument(ByVal DocumentObject As Inventor._Document, ByVal BeforeOrAfter As Inventor.EventTimingEnum, ByVal Context As Inventor.NameValueMap, ByRef HandlingCode As Inventor.HandlingCodeEnum) Handles m_appEvents.OnSaveDocument
                ' on_save
                ' updates SaveDate and SaveTime for drawings

                ' Only run before save
                If (BeforeOrAfter = Inventor.EventTimingEnum.kBefore) Then

                    ' Only run if drawing
                    If m_inventorApplication.ActiveDocumentType = DocumentTypeEnum.kDrawingDocumentObject Then
                        m_inventorApplication.StatusBarText = "Updates SaveDate and SaveTime..."

                        Dim oPropSet = m_inventorApplication.ActiveDocument.PropertySets("{D5CDD505-2E9C-101B-9397-08002B2CF9AE}")
                        'Update custom property "SaveDate" with system date
                        'Create SaveDate if it does not exist
                        Try
                            oPropSet.Item("SaveDate").Value = Date.Now
                        Catch ex As Exception
                            Call oPropSet.Add(Date.Now, "SaveDate")
                        End Try

                        'Update custom property "SaveTime" with system time
                        'Create SaveTime if it does not exist
                        Try
                            oPropSet.Item("SaveTime").Value = Format(Now, "t")
                        Catch ex As Exception
                            Call oPropSet.Add(Format(Now, "t"), "SaveTime")
                        End Try

                    End If

                End If

            End Sub
        End Class

    End Namespace



  • INVENTOR: Inventor 2010 Demo Videos
    Author: SeanDotson
    Subject: INVENTOR: Inventor 2010 Demo Videos

    Topic Replies: 0

    http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FB61F87E7D0D2DB4
    _________________
    Sean Dotson, PE, AICE
    RND Automation & Engineering

    Download a Free Trial of iPropWiz 2009


  • INVENTOR: Inventor 2010 User Interface
    Author: SeanDotson
    Subject: INVENTOR: Inventor 2010 User Interface

    Topic Replies: 22

    I think most of you know that I think the ribbon bar is a complete failure. The first reaction is usually "Oh Sean you old timer, get with the 2000s. Adopt the new interface." That's a BS cop-out excuse.

    The interface changed. This means people will have to spend time (and for us that = $) to learn the new interface to become AS productive as they used to be on the old interface.

    So in theory with any upgrade (or new piece of equipment) there is an ROI (return on investment). The theory is that you spend time (i.e. $) when getting the new feature/equipment but after that initial outlay you become MORE productive and recoup this investment. After a period of time you actually begin to make more $ because you are more productive.

    The problem is this UI is NOT going to be more productive unless it undergoes some major changes. It has been illustrated (where is Troy's click chart?) that the new UI takes MORE clicks to produce the same results as the classic UI. Add to that the inability to 100% customize the UI and this further detracts from the productivity levels.

    I have asked the questions numerous times: Why did you switch to this UI. No one has ever been able to answer that. I believe that it's a case of following MS's lead. (On a side note I have been using Office 2007 for almost 2 years now and I STILL have to look in help to find some commands).

    I would like to see some hard data (not holding my breath) that quantifies the "productivity" enhancements of this new UI.

    I'm not saying the old one was perfect however this one is a step in the wrong direction. I think the correct approach would be to take a step back and look at what will offer the BEST solution for future releases. The ribbon bar *might* be the answer but it needs more work.

    I'm glad (after much complaining) that Autodesk left in the classic UI as an option. The day they choose to offer the ribbon bar ONLY will be the day we stop upgrading.
    _________________
    Sean Dotson, PE, AICE
    RND Automation & Engineering

    Download a Free Trial of iPropWiz 2009


  • INVENTOR: iPropWiz 2009 Update 4.04
    Author: Neil
    Subject: INVENTOR: iPropWiz 2009 Update 4.04

    Topic Replies: 3

    New update available.

    Russian language support.
    Minor bug fixes.

    See www.ipropwiz.com/updates.html for updates to current installations.


  • TECH: UPDATED NVIDIA DRIVERS Feb 2009
    Author: iDS!
    Subject: TECH: UPDATED NVIDIA DRIVERS Feb 2009

    Topic Replies: 1

    NVIDIA has recently updated their drivers! ...I have found the new NVIDIA driver selection interface to be very interesting with regards to the labeling of driver types such as "performance"???

    http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

    Here is a link to the QuadroFX series (released Feb 26th 2009)
    http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_182.08.html
    _________________
    Steve Robbins
    Inventor Design Solutions & !nnovations
    www.inventordesignsolutions.com

    "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"


  • TECH: Dell Outlet now Offering Free Shipping
    Author: SeanDotson
    Subject: TECH: Dell Outlet now Offering Free Shipping

    Topic Replies: 7

    So go pick up that refurb Mini or M6400...
    _________________
    Sean Dotson, PE, AICE
    RND Automation & Engineering

    Download a Free Trial of iPropWiz 2009