Mistress of the Dorkness

OT: Blackout Day

2012-01-18T07:51:00.000-06:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

http://www.cadablog.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-take-on-sopapipa.html

http://www.blog.cadnauseam.com/2012/01/18/dark-times-dark-sites/

And, of course, being as this blog focuses a lot on Autodesk software, here's a pointed statement reminding folks that, despite their appearance on crowdsourced lists, Autodesk does not, in fact, support SOPA.

http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2012/01/autodesk-does-not-support-sopa.html

2011 - Finally

2012-01-01T15:08:00.000-06:00

2011 is the year I was waiting for... looking forward to finally completing my Bachelor's degree at age 31. Not quite as soon as I would have liked to do it, but, I'm happy for the opportunity to finish what I'd started so many years ago.

I have been rather busy with my studies and wrote a couple of posts on how I was doing, earlier this year, as well as back in 2009.

If you'd like to know a bit about the coursework I went through during my time at Saint Louis University, feel free to check out this list I put together as an additional page of the blog. There were certainly some fascinating subjects, and some useful and satisfying ones.

Of course, I could not have even dreamed of this without the support of my amazing husband, Mike, and the tolerance of our sons. I also benefited from the support of my boss and coworkers and fellow working students... you are all amazing people glowing with positive energy, Thank You!!!

Announcing Inventor Fusion - it's on the Mac

2011-11-28T19:30:00.059-06:00

Although my work is multidisciplinary (MEPFP), I try to post generic tips and tricks for AutoCAD that anyone can use, but, my writing is always coming from the perspective of someone in the AEC industry. I do love manufacturing, though. At one of my earlier Autodesk Universities, I got to play with Inventor in the AUGI Playpen and fell in love. Later on, I even helped to prepare the presentation of the first Inventor Wishlist at AU2005 in Orlando. Too bad I've never needed to take a class on it, because the software is pretty darned neat and a far cry from the type of work I usually do.

So, what's the big news? The thing that made me carve out a sliver of my day to pepper Senior Product Line Manager, Kevin Schneider, with questions?

That would be the launch of Inventor Fusion.

Those of you who keep an eye on the Autodesk Labs have likely heard of Fusion, since it's been in a Beta state for a couple of years now (from January 2009 through Fall of 2011), where it has been downloaded over 150,000 times.
While Fusion can be used on it's own, it will also work with AutoCAD, Inventor, Algor, Moldflow and AliasDesign.

Schneider explains that Fusion is not intended as a replacement for Inventor, but, rather a tool that folks can pick up and use without a lot of extensive training and experience, something geared toward intuitive editing of existing models. I did not remember to ask for a list of filetypes, but, the intent is being able to use models from disparate sources, so I'd imagine the main players would be represented.

Don't get me wrong, there are model creation tools in Fusion as well, they are slightly more suited than AutoCAD for creating flexibly editable 3D shapes. This product is not intended for heavy engineering work currently done in Inventor, but, for small businesses and hobbyists and students who want to explore. There will also be some sort of simple connection 'to the cloud' for sharing.

I haven't used Fusion myself, but, I did download 123D when it was on the Labs, because I thought my 3rd grader would get a kick out of it (which he did). As Kevin was demonstrating the ease of use of Fusion, I asked him if there was a connection between the products, because I'd found 123D so simple and intuitive and they had a lot of similarities. He did say that that was the type of thing the teams were going for, sharing the ideas of usability and what was working for users and what wasn't... in the half a dozen releases of Fusion to Labs, different approaches to intuitive manipulations of models were tried and either vetted or rejected.

images Courtesy Autodesk

Do people still feel that way about technology?

2011-11-14T09:37:00.000-06:00

This post isn't cad/bim/fm specific, but, I feel the issue encompasses those fields so I'll go ahead and post my little opinion piece here.

As I've noted, I have been a student at Saint Louis University since 2008. I'd originally wanted to complete a degree in Mechanical Engineering, but, there were no engineering degrees offered through the night school. Instead I opted for a coursework in computer science and management. Half of my classes came from the computer science track, the other half have been organizational studies.

In the Organizational Studies courses I have had, I am used to helping out a little with the technology side of thing, either setting up the projector for the teacher or giving the other students advice on what tools to use and how to use them. It's sort of what I do in school, and, heck, even working in an office full of engineers, I'm called upon to do it.
Even in the Computer Science classes, the majority of students are women and the average age is probably 45.
At 28-31, I've definitely been on the younger end of the spectrum, just like I am at work and in my social group in our neighborhood. In other words, I don't have many friends my age or younger, except those that I've had for more years than I'd care to count, which should help explain my sense of shock.

I must have some misconceptions about the world today.

For my final course, I am working on an extensive group project that accounts for our grade. I suggested that we use Google Docs, for sharing efficiency and for breaking down the papers into manageable chunks, which we could divvy up amongst ourselves. I did not think it was a big deal that 3 of my 4 group-mates hadn't ever used it before, since Google Docs is so simple to use, if you've used a web browser and MS Office.
Evidently I was wrong.
I ended up bringing my laptop to class to demonstrate the use of google docs and make changes to our papers during class.
At one point, the oldest member of our group asked me if I could fix her computer. I advised her to take it to a professional since I hadn't taken apart laptops before.
Then, the youngest member of our group commented that I'm obviously one of those techy people, and how she hates it at work that all of the old people assume she understands how to use computers and software just because she's young, and went on to say that she was too busy being outside playing when she was younger to care about computers.

:-/ Really?

That's what techy people are? Adults who used to be kids who sat inside all day and didn't play outdoors?

So, the reason I am shocked here, is not because people in general have a misconception of those with technical skills, but, really, because someone around my age has those misconceptions. I mean, I can understand it from my Mother's generation a little, but, I really thought the world was more enlightened and accurate these days.
I posted about my guidance counselor back in high school advising me to put my math and logic skills to use as an accountant, but, again, she came from a different generation with the ideas of gender roles and as I had no real strong opinions myself ~shrug~. In the 10 years that the AUGI Salary Survey has been running, female participation has stayed steadily near 15%.

But, gender issues notwithstanding, I am really shocked to hear a young person imply that techy people aren't normal. I thought techy was mainstream enough these days?

But, no, computer geeks and engineers et al are evidently basement-dwelling oddballs.
~sigh~

Obviously, WE know that's not true, don't we, faithful reader?
We see the foursquare checkins from our fellow geeks at exotic locales and admire the flickr streams that show where they've been hiking, biking and boating, and follow the progress of their marathon training on facebook and google+.

We know that we're not just good with tech because we sit at home with nothing better to do, we are good with tech because it's something we're passionate about, just like all of our other fascinating hobbies.

Friday Funny: Most Powerful AutoCAD Ever!!!

2011-11-04T14:54:00.000-05:00

Just to end the week with a chuckle, please see the flyers in this image:

Finding Modified Dimensions in AutoCAD

2011-10-25T16:00:00.001-05:00

It's the dirty little secret we all know about... sometimes... people fudge their dimensions.

Today's question is... once they've been modified, how can I easily tell?

The quick and dirty way to see is to invoke the DIMREASSOC Express Tool (or DIMREASSOCIATE, if you like typing out even longer words).
You can select all of the entities in the drawing, and dimreassoc will create a selection set of only those which have been changed, allowing you to see them more easily.

There are other routines available, such as this one over at CADTempo, that will place other visual indicators.

Anybody else have any favorite ways of easily detecting rogue dimensions?

AUGI Wishlist System - Go Rank Some Wishes!

2011-10-15T13:04:00.001-05:00

The new AUGI Wishlist system is now online!

In the past, the wishlist system relied upon the validation and sorting of wishes by volunteers, which could sometimes lead to delays. The new system was created to allow wishes to move more quickly through the system. AUGI President Dave Harrington wrote an introduction to the system in October's HotNews.

The first thing you need to do is log into AUGI, then go to My Account.

Then click on Membership Details, and tick the box(es) next to the Autodesk products you use and support.

Next, click on the Wishlist Channel in the gray navigation bar.

There are 6 wishlists available (with more to be added later), but, you will only be shown the ones which correspond to the programs you selected in your profile.

Currently active product lists include:

AutoCAD
Revit
Revit MEP
Revit Structure
Inventor
Civil 3D

You will be randomly presented with one wish at a time to rank, which you do with a sliding bar.

Some older wishes still need to be processed, so there is a link to report that a suggested feature already exists in a product.

You'll be taken to another page where you can input details, if needed.

The buttons on the screen are pretty self-explanatory, if you want to discuss any of the wishes, you can do that.

It's easy to submit and edit wishes of your own, too.

So, the thing now... there is a backlog of wishes that still need to be ranked!

After the wishes are ranked, the 30 or so wishes with the highest overall ranking for each product will be put up for a vote (I believe, in the month prior to AU), where the TOP 10 will be decided!

Please log in today and help out by sharing your opinions of some of existing wishes, or add your own!!!

I haven't heard of this command...

2011-10-04T21:42:00.001-05:00

I don't think this dialog box exists in AutoCAD, but, based on some deliverables I've gotten, it wouldn't really surprise me...

(for anyone who is curious, this is a spoof of the Cleanup Tools available in MAP and Civil3D)

2011 AUGI Salary Survey - Additional Salary Resources

2011-09-22T16:00:00.005-05:00

It's that time again... the AUGI Annual Salary Survey.

2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the survey!

If you would like to see how much drafters, designers, architects, engineers, project managers, bim managers, cad managers and more earn, check out pages 6-13 of the September 2011 issue of AUGIWorld Magazine.

Additionally, some of you might want to check out the Revit API column in this month's issue. Elizabeth Connor did some research and conducted interviews to put together some insightful commentary on how BIM has affected job prospects and pay in the architectural field in her article "Up Next: Your Architecture Career, 3.0."

Additional resources:

As always, I encourage everyone to use multiple resources when determining their professional worth. What is a good hourly wage? What is a respectable salary? How does the pay vary between industries, locations, job levels, company sizes and other factors? No one single source is going to give you all of the answers you're looking for, and a single source might not convince your superiors during review time, so, go in well armed with plenty of information.

Just for CAD/BIM types:
AUGI Salary Survey - trade organization polls it's members annually on their current pay and other factors

CAD Manager's Survey - annual survey of CAD Managers conducted by Robert Green and published by CADalyst magazine

General Salary Information:
Indeed - job posting search engine estimates salaries based upon current job advertisements

NACE Salary Calculator - Uses filtering technologies, based on information from the US government sources such as the DOL, BLS, Census, etc.

PayScale Cost of Living Calculator - that one is pretty self-explanatory

Salary.com - I don't tend to like the job titles offered for comparison to my search terms, but, it is a well-known site

CareerBliss - user-submitted salary results by company and job title

Wolfram Alpha - a computational engine that has an answer for just about anything

Seek - "the Great Australian Paycheck Report"

Industry-specific:
EETimes Global Salary and Opinion Survey - annual poll of electronics design engineers, design managers, technologists and business leaders

Architect Annual Salary Survey - magazine of the AIA

Facility Management Salary Database - FacilitiesNet salary filtering for CAFM-related professions

Do you have some industry-specific sources of salary information? Please share them...

AGC's St. Louis BIM Expo

2011-09-15T08:20:00.000-05:00

The AGC hosted a BIM Expo at SIUE last week (I found out about it through the STCCC.).

Pretty good time, I thought. There was an exhibit hall with over a dozen software and hardware vendors. Some folks I had used, some folks I hadn't heard of. (I appreciate all of the vendors, since this was a great seminar, which was offered for free to the approximately 140 attendees, and the food was decent as well.)

I only attended 3 of the 4 sessions I'd intended to, because I'd gotten caught up talking with a lot of interesting people in the exhibit hall.

I saw Tad Fry give a talk 'From the Owner's Perspective' on his experiences with BIM overall, but, as applied at A-B-InBev (this guy was just a really engaging speaker, too, expertise notwithstanding, fantastic.).

I missed Jim Scott (GHG), Donovan Olliff (HOK) and John Limbaugh (Jacobs) discuss legal perspectives surrounding BIM.

Then there were two panel discussions in the afternoon that were quite good, covering many viewpoints:

BIM in the Real World:
Tad Fry - Owner
Mike Hartmann - Engineer
Kevin Cook - Subcontractor
Brok Howard - Architect
Scott Green - Contractor
Chris Gordon - Educator

Future Trends of BIM:
Jason Steele - Autodesk
Andy Dickey - Tekla
Rob Riley - Bentley
John Rodolico - Graphisoft

I did tweet from the event using the hashtag #BIMExpo , but, of course, my ancient phone's battery couldn't make it through to the end of the day.

We were out in the middle of nowhere, so there weren't too many people hanging around chatting afterward.

I've heard they're planning on holding another event next year, and I asked that it be in a more convenient location to allow for an early evening mixer, giving more of a chance for folks to network. I really would have loved to hear more about what people are doing these days with their technology.

(There was also a lot of talk by various attendees about the draw of the RTC - http://www.revitconference.com.au/ )

It was really great to see a lot of folks I hadn't worked with in awhile, and to reconnect with a few folks from GAUG.

If anyone else attended, feel free to share your thoughts, please (here or in the GAUG forum)! I'd love to hear about the session I missed