Mistress of the Dorkness

Performance Optimizer from Dell

2013-04-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a bit spotty about what press releases I pass on here on my blog, mostly because I don't find many of them very interesting (sorry, no offense to the vendors who have taken the time to share such valuable information with me, but, I've got a terribly short attention span).

But! I couldn't resist scheduling a meeting with Dell about their new performance optimizer. I remember the days when I first started using AutoCAD professionally, and picked up advice on the AUGI Guilds and Forums and elsewhere about how to tweak paging files and memory allotments, because standard Windows configurations just weren't made with more powerful programs in mind and neither our IT department nor my department's programmer had any idea about how Autodesk software worked.
Of course, software for engineering and analysis and animation has only gotten more complex since then, so I can imagine that there are many people out there who could benefit from some more packaged settings adjustments for their workstations.

Enter the Dell Precision Performance Optimizer.
The PPO has three different basic functions:

Performance Optimization
Maintenance
Analytics

Performance Optimization allows for the automatic loading of 'profiles' based on the application you run. These profiles will adjust the CPU, memory, storage, graphics and operating system settings when you load a program.
I specify the loading because, if you work as I do, with multiple applications loaded all day, you could be calling into play conflicting profiles. The ideal situation, if you're working with one of the more resource intensive programs out there (like Maya, PTC or Solidworks), would be to only have one of these applications loaded at a time. I don't tend to run more than one memory-intensive program at a time, but, as I have many other applications running simultaneously, I figured I should ask. This has been taken into account with the PPO. If you've got multiple profiles loading with your apps, then the user is prompted to decide which of the conflicted settings to utilize.

Maintenance function enables "automated or manual updates for new drivers, BIOS, application software, firmware and other vital components", which can save a user from forgetting about searching for them.

Tracking and Reporting. This was a fun addition to the Performance Optimizer that I wasn't expecting. With this component, you can see "how much free memory is available, processor utilization, thermal sensor data, battery state and more. Detailed reports can be scheduled to run and analyze system utilization at any time."
The application that came immediately to mind for me is justification for system upgrades. I have had to request a few deviations from IT standards over the years (first for my graphics card, then my mouse, then my CPU and OS) and the requests that went through the most easily were the ones where I had independent verification of my need.
This can be used to check out work loads for various tasks and applications. Obviously, I'm a huge fan of benchmarking and analytics and know that once you've got some data in your hands, you'll find many ways to use it.

The press release from Dell said that their benchmarks indicated that the performance optimization with these profiles can increase system performance by up to 57%. If you end up adding this tool to your arsenal, run some tracking and reporting on your current setup, then compare once you start using some of the profiles for your favorite heavy duty programs.

Oh, and, just because I asked, the PPO isn't a central management console, it's really meant for use by an individual, but it will, of course, work into your current IT administration systems and can be scripted or remotely accessed on the client side, etc as other tools.

The performance optimizer is free and can be downloaded here:
[oops, sorry, they said the link isn't working, I'll post an update when I get it]
and it will come "pre-installed on Dell Precision T1650, T3600, T5600, T7600, M4700 and M6700 workstations with Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit) and Windows 8 (64 bit) operating systems."

There should be an in-depth video available here. And a blog post.

Many thanks to Karl Paetzel (Marketing Director, Dell Precision) and Alex Shows (Sr. Systems Engineer for Precision Performance Engineering) for taking the time to explain the PPO to me and answer my questions.

2013 Tips and Tricks Contest!

2013-03-27T19:24:00.002-05:00

What could be better than a free book?
Five free books, a training video dvd and a 3D Mouse, of course!

It has been awhile since my first Tips and Tricks Contest:
Tips and Tricks Contest: Win a Great Book!
Mastering Civil 3D Winner Tips and Tricks
AutoCAD and LT Bible Winner Tips and Tricks
Check out those awesome tips readers shared!

Contest Rules:

1. Post a cool tip using the comments area below or by sending me an email.
2. Tell me which prize you'd like to win.
3. Provide your email as outlined below, so that, if you win, I may contact you for your mailing address.
4. Contest is open until April 30th, 2013.

After the contest ends, I'll take all of the tips and blindly draw a winner for each prize.
The winner will be notified, then I will share all of the great tips users submitted.

Use the following as a guide to submit your tip:

Name: Melanie Perry
Email address: mistressofthedorkness@gmail.com
Prize: AutoCAD Bible
*Attribution*: "Mistress of the Dorkness"
*Software Tip Applies To*: AutoCAD
*Tip*: Use the Express Tool "SYSVDLG" to access your system variables, and even save them as an SVF file to preserve or share your current settings.

*I'll only be publicly posting those fields marked with an asterisk, and of course, I'll only be using the email address you provide to contact you if you're the winner. If you submit your tips using the comments are below, those will not be posted, they're caught in my spam filter so I can see them, but, no one else can.

You can post tips and tricks for your favorite Autodesk software (any flavor) or, if you've got tips about other applications or hardware that make your workday easier, I'd be happy to share those, too.

Thank you to the companies and authors who have donated the prizes for this giveaway!

A. The AutoCAD and LT 2012 Bible by Ellen Finkelstein
B. Aubin Academy: Revit MEP 2013 by Paul Aubin, Darryl McClelland, Martin Schmid & Gregg Stanley
C. AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 Essentials by Eric Chappell
D. AutoCAD 2010 - 2D Basico (Portuguese) by Luciana Klein
E. AutoCAD 2010 - 3D Basico (Portuguese) by Luciana Klein
F. Revit Architecture 2013 Essential Training DVD with Paul Aubin
G. 3DConnexion SpaceExplorer from Logitech
H. Revit Structure 2013 Essential Training DVD with Brian Myers

A list of BIM Standards

2013-03-22T09:49:00.001-05:00

I wrote this post, Revit Standards - Getting Started Guides, back in 2009 when I incorporated Revit into my CAD Standards here at the hospital.

There is A LOT more information out there these days. I have been collecting things in a reference folder on my hard drive whenever I've come across them, but, I hadn't gone so far as to list them and share them with you.

Luckily, today I was looking for an answer to another question on the AUGI forums and ran across this post, BIM Standard and Example Sharing.

In that post, Marti shared this great table:
http://www.cad-addict.com/2013/02/list-of-existing-bim-standards.html

I have been continuing to collect this data myself since I still need to expand my Revit Standards (I don't control the process, but, I do need to control the documentation through the lifecycle, so it is not a BIM Standard for me so much as a long-term QC checklist of deliverables).
As only about 10% of my campus is currently modeled, I am still evaluating which things about existing models I can live with and which I'd like to change, that will be further affected by our current CMMS upgrade. We're currently undergoing a massive campus overhaul, tearing down buildings and putting new ones up, and they will all be turned over to us as models. I've been really impressed with our design team so far and am looking forward to making this big leap ahead which doesn't happen often in a Facility. We tend to move fairly slow, due to the massive scale of any initiative I choose to take on.

Enjoy the resources and feel free to share more, or your experiences and caveats.

Siemens Shape-based Searching

2013-02-05T14:04:00.001-06:00

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN CADdigest, January 7th, 2013

Geolus Shape-Based Searching for Reusing CAD Parts

“Reuse” is a popular focus in initiatives across PLM today. It is an area where efficiency is improved by not repeating work and by making derivative products from existing ones, rather than starting from scratch.
It is one of the most basic benefits of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE). The more we leverage existing parts, the easier it is to maintain internal standards, freeing resources for innovation. Another incredibly important byproduct of reuse is that each time we reuse rather than re-invent, we slow the increase in complexity of our inventory.
Every part that is needlessly invented creates a ripple of waste throughout the product management lifecycle (PLM). There is no such thing as a cheap part.

Reuse is not limited to parts, but also extends to processes. If we can recognize a situation where a particular manufacturing process or CAE strategy can be applied to rather than reinivented, savings can be recognized.

This is great, in theory. The difficulty comes when trying to locate those existing parts for reuse. If a search for a desired part turns up nothing promising, then I suspect most of us would decide to just start recreating the design of the "missing" parts from scratch.

We tend to find information through text-based searches, putting data such as part number into a search field; this data is known as metadata or attributes. However, looking for existing items using metadata can fail for a number of reasons, including:

The part might not have been filed with the correct attributes.
The company might have grown through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) which means there will be a cultural mix of attribute names.
Using suppliers' terminology will help communication with them, but it does introduce new cultures, just like M&A. This is compounded when dealing with multiple suppliers of the same part.
Design shops may span continents, introducing local language issues.
Spelling errors and irregular adoption of terminology and abbreviation will also be common.

If the expected metadata is not associated with the part in the first place, the search fails even when the needed parts are in the database. The only possible resolution in cases like this, discounting manual review of every file, is shape-bases searching.

A Solution Through Shape Searching

One shape-based solution is Geolus, from Siemens PLM Software. Geolus has the ability to digitize “shapes.” It captured the essence of shapes as a digital index. It has the ability to compare indices and determine if a part is similar to other parts in the enterprise. Two good analogies are fingerprints and DNA. People’s fingerprints or DNA do not change when they change their hair, clothes, or names. Similarly, the Geolus index of a part is the same, no matter which keywords are associated with it. The index is unaffected by a part’s position or orientation. This is important when browsing assemblies for parts.

Geolus is a search engine that returns results in order of shape similarity and additionally reports the comparison of the size of the search part and the resultant part as a percentage. It can return exact matches as well as parts that are merely similar.

For example, if production is halted because there are no more parts in Bin A, a search might find a source of alternate identical parts that enabled production to continue. A similarity search is appropriate if there is an initiative to identify parts on which production can standardize.

Searches can begin with a simple 3D sketch or an existing part, perhaps paired with some attribute(s). When a search returns a result, it reports a weighted list in order of similarity, along with identifying information, a report on the size compared with the original part, and a preview of each part. This image shows a set of search results on an existing part, as launched from a Web browser.

Example of a ‘seed’ image, used to search, and the associated results

(image provided by Siemens)

Notice that the parts are ordered by shape similarity and that, in this case, the defining attributes are also included in the results. The attributes are chosen by the customer and can include items such as release status, release date, owning engineer, project, supplier, cost, and so on. This collation, of non-geometric information through geometric means, facilitates queries such as “Which supplier has this part for the best price?”

How Geolus is used

Geolus is designed as a plug-in. It is accessed through your Web browser. It could also be integrated into existing software from Siemens PLM; such as Teamcenter, NX or Solid Edge. It is also available in aClass, a product from a Siemens partner, BCT.

The geometry that Geolus processes can be any one of the following formats: Siemens' own JT, VRML or STL. Attribute data can be in CSV, XML, or PLMXML formats. For example, I could sketch a bracket shape, and then specify that I am searching for one made of stainless steel and/or designed in a specified year and/or having a certain price.

JT, VRML and STL are all neutral file formats. Geolus can read a mix of these file formats into the same data depository. It does not matter if the originating CAD systems are varied, which makes it a powerful tool in a multi-CAD environment.

JT just became an ISO International Standard for 3D visualization, and is a lightweight format that can range from data-rich to very basic. Parasolid is the 3D modeling kernel used by MCAD and architectural software like SolidWorks, Solid Edge, and Vectorworks. D-Cubed is the library of software components licensed by Siemens PLM, and is used with many CAM/CAE applications, such as NX and Solid Edge.

On Siemens' Youtube channel, I watched the sketch of a part in NX, a high-end 3D CAD system from Siemens PLM. The selection of the desired part and the call for the Geolus search did not take long and previews of similar parts popped up quickly. From the results screen, I could see additional information reached by clicking on the 3D preview of each part presented. Through the search screen, I could even see how to replace the sketched part with one of the designed components. This appears to be a simple and easy way to swap out a "napkin sketch" for an established component.

When Geolus is used interactively it is typically used to search for matches to a single part. This answers the question “What did I do last time I had an item like this one?” When Geolus reporting is used, every part is compared with every other part and the results are exported to a spreadsheet, the manager’s tool of choice. This provides a finger on the pulse across the enterprise.

How Geolus Works

Geolus indexes parts and stores them in a database. A Geolus index contains:

the digital representation of the shape
metadata as specified by the user
thumbnail images for presenting visual feedback to the user

About Indexing

The Geolus Indexer is a small utility that is located with the data. (It is worth noting that you are never asked to move your data outside your firewall.) The Geolus Index is tiny compared with the original geometry. It does not contain enough information to reverse engineer the geometry. This could have been a security concern for multisite customers who choose to have a central Geolus server and so export the Geolus indices.

Strategic Uses

There are also other, more strategic, uses for the capabilities of Geolus to tackle in addition to Engineering and lifecycle management. Procurement, business analysis, and digital validation can also benefit from quick and easy access to shaped-based information.

Spreadsheets could be created to compare every item in the enterprise with every other item. This would allow bidding on the manufacture of groups of similar parts. These reports could conceivably make it simpler to detect which characteristics of parts are best used to identify units in catalogs and design specifications.

The ease of searching could help estimators to put together more accurate bids from available historic data, rather than depending on the memories of engineering staff.

Siemens PLM suggests that tracking reliability and maintainability of previously used parts could be another application of this system.

Make Full Use of the Technology

When I first took on the role of managing the archives for my hospital, dating back nearly 90 years at the time, I was continually frustrated by the misspelling of terms, and the renaming of buildings over the decades. Had I been able to sketch out the layout of a building or division for easy location, I could have found and distributed all of the available information quickly, rather than having to field verify or flip through thousands of drawings.

An ability to search by shape is something that I found fascinating about Geolus. Knowing that one could still make use of their company’s intellectual property, even if predecessors did not name or describe a part by the same standards we would use today, is quite empowering. As with any technology, implementation teams would need to ensure that the design staff are taking the time to perform the search and making the best use of all available resources.

If you would like to see this search in action, there are videos available on the Geolus channel on Siemens’ website. You can also find a couple on YouTube, they all appear to be from Siemens, such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCBg272eyRw For additional information: http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/geolus

Melanie Perry is a facilities management CAD coordinator as well as a technical editor. She writes for the Mistress of Dorkness blog about CAFM and BIM. More...

How to approach BIM for Renovations?

2012-12-24T10:26:00.001-06:00

I just saw this post "Useful Approaches to BIM for Renovations" by Jose Oliveira.

He talks about the approach to modeling a project in an existing building (by using existing documentation, CAD or hardcopy, and filling in the blanks with laser scanning), as well as the benefits of doing so.

Obviously, coming from the owner side, my approach is different for projects. If we have a model (RVT), and we make a small change in-house, or notice an inaccuracy, I update that. If we only have CAD and need to make a small change, I update that. If we only have blueprint documentation of a specific area, I'll draw it up on our CAD plans, using a PDF underlay as a reference.
We don't create these DWGs or RVTs from scratch in-house, they are all done as a part of construction projects. We have budgets for new construction, but, we do not have budgets for documenting existing spaces, so we often have to wait a long while to get updated electronic files.

As appalled as most on the design side are, that I say we're still about 12 years out from completing our CAD to BIM transition, I have to point out that things do not happen fast in Facilities this big. It took us 15 years to get the majority transitioned from paper to CAD.

Our spaces are renovated an average of every 15 years (with revenue-generating spaces being reno'd more often, and support spaces being renovated much less often).

A space being renovated today is prepared in the Revit family, and will be used with Maximo for CMMS (and the existing conditions were turned over to the design team on CAD).

The last time this space was renovated, it was done with AutoCAD, and was used with MP2 for CMMS (and the existing conditions were turned over to the design team on paper).

The preceding 70 years? All on paper.

It does make one curious to know what technology we'll be transitioning to in another 15 years.

Guest Post: Greenwashing

2012-12-18T14:39:00.004-06:00

I haven't had a guest post in awhile, so, I am pleased to share a writeup from one of my tweeps, Andrew Michler. He has provided the content and images in today's post.
Long-time readers of my blog might have noticed that I rarely post negative or critical commentary here. I am a firm believer that we bring about positive things by having a positive attitude, and I hope that my offbeat critiques about software and events are well couched in the positive light in which I tend to view them. I know this lack of overt negativity has occasionally earned me the somewhat derisive term of 'fangirl' from some readers (which bemused me enough to include in my blog's description -> ).
However, you will notice that today's topic is more overtly critical. I prefer to think of it as 'critical thinking' and 'questioning a status quo' rather than a complete condemnation, and I hope you do, too.

BIMwashing is a term I have had to introduce my management team to in recent years, because they (as facility owners) have been promised the moon... and received a telescope. Greenwashing can easily fall into the same trap of 'good enough' and 'at least we tried.'

Do you have a story you'd like to share about BIMwashing or challenging the status quo? If so, please contact me to be a guest poster.

Postcard from Ft Collins: Winds of Architecture Greenwash

The quaint City of Fort Collins, a university town an hour north of Denver, curled up under the great peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park, is the quintessential American environmentally friendly place to grow your roots. They have the greenest beer and the greenest University and a downtown that Disney’s Main Street is modeled on. Just a block up from the bicycle bars and free range restaurants is perhaps the city’s most singularly impressive contribution to sustainability.

Formally known as the Colorado State University Engine & Energy Conversion Lab, the now rebranded (that seems to happen a lot around these parts) Powerhouse Energy Institute claims some of the great innovations of energy conservation and technology to come to market. Ironically, yet fittingly, housed in a long defunct coal plant’s steel and brick shell are enormous natural gas engines. The lab first got their feet wet by developing a state-of-the-art retrofitted fuel injection system and a laser ignition. They shrunk the tech to make fuel injection conversion kits for the filthy 2 stroke motorcycles popular in the streets of smoggy Manila. Envirofit, the most successful rocket stove in production was ignited under this roof. The largest-of-its-kind electrical smart grid simulation was developed here, as well as Solix’s state of the art algae fuel technology. Basically, this is the home of really smart people who are pushing the limits of what is attainable into a very busy and complex marketplace.

When the plans to expand the research center were announced, things started to fall down. I first saw this rendering when visiting the winning firm that just happens to be located in the same town. The fact that they were chosen to both design and build the project looks, at first blush, to have a nepotistic feel. But, my mind was quickly diverted by a poster of the proposal as I was walking out. It had four Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) where the old smokestacks once belched their black fog. My second thought was, “Cute, I get it, you’re saying that renewables are the new standard.” My last thought, as the poster left my field of vision was, “No way will those VAWTs stay in the renderings for long, haven’t we seen enough of this greenwashing by now?”

Urban VAWTs were the darling technology ten years ago. For a variety of technical and economic reasons, they have never proven to work as promised. Witness comments of HOK’s Chicago wind powered parking lot or the demise of Helix Wind. I have made it a rule not to write about a building which has one, an exception I am making in this case. Writing about sustainable architecture, I am happy to report I rarely see them stuck on roofs anymore, especially as an ‘architectural statement’.

I promptly took the opportunity to make an [expletive removed] of myself last year by cornering the Institute’s Director with this rant. It is funny that we ran into each other again at Greenbuild this year, at an outdoor window shading manufacturer’s booth. CSU also has a terrific wind lab, and a quick survey and wind rose from those good folks would probably show that, not only is it hard to VAWTs to perform well, they don’t work at all in a river valley adjacent to very big cottonwood trees. That conversation was apparently forgotten, as when the design build firm recently contacted me to write on the project, they sent the pretty picture with the VAWTs still spinless-ly crowning the newly rebranded plant. I couldn’t help but wonder how this feature survived the design rounds?

Adjacent to the site is a new pseudo-retro office building whose only visual nod to this century is a ring of overhangs for shade. The addition is, amazingly, less contemporary than the original plant. My response to them follows: “A nod to contemporary sensibilities would have shown the EECL to be a real player in 21st century technology, but instead, the design is a soft generalization of the original building telling me that good enough is the lay of the land.” That’s me pretending to be an architecture critic.I also stated my anti VAWT-on-buildings policy and got the reply that the turbines are for student research. Which begs the question, why four of the same? And, are they researching how VAWTs don’t work well next to trees in river valleys? If I were asked, my advice is to blow the budget by installing the outdoor window louvers and kibosh the pricy hood ornaments.

There is some great stuff happening here, with an evaporative cooling system night chilling the floor and LEDs using the building as a heatsink. There is bit of confusion about the R-value and U-value of the windows and how they are measured (center of glass vs whole unit) but I am sure they are pretty good. Sadly, these attributes are obscured by a design that is like a kid who is dressing for church in hand-me-downs.

Architecture, for better or worse, is very much about messaging so we get ‘it’. Cue the success of firms like BIG who go bold just about every chance they get, whether in the end it turns out to be a good idea or not. They take risks via innovation. This particular project belittles the mission of the client by running away from risk and into the arms of mediocrity, handing the community and owners a collective sigh… “It’s good enough, but at $200 a square foot, at least it’s cheap”.

Innovation is about not about pointless tech or even seeking LEED Platinum certification. After all, you only get a few points for innovation in their rating system. Innovation is about identifying and pushing the limits of what we know and pursuing the perfection of low impact design. Then use that design to announce we are building for a better century. Our buildings, quite simply, are the largest contributor to global warming so ‘good enough’ signals premature life on Earth failure. A community who imagines themselves as green and pats each other on the back for ‘good enough’, rather than pushing each other forward, will struggle to become a vital place for the necessary architecture of this century.

Andrew Michler is currently working on the book

[ours] Hyper-Localization of Sustainable Architecture

CAD Management and Analytics Webcasts

2012-11-21T11:05:00.002-06:00

If you've spent any time with me, you might notice that I geek out a bit over data. Yes, I know that randomly spouting applicable statistics in the middle of a conversation might not get me invited to many parties, but, that won't stop me from doing it.
The beautiful thing about all of the discussions on 'big data' recently, is that they are bringing to light how valuable tracking and analyzing data on a wide scale can be. There are countless ways to use collected information, even in our industry.

If you follow my profile link in the sidebar, you'll see my Google+ profile. That has really been my social media platform of choice recently. It's quick and easy and there are a ton of design geeks there sharing interesting content.
I've known Patrick Hughes for a good few years now, and we keep in touch mostly through G+ now. That's also where we met Ben Jones. Ben suggested that we get together and discuss how analytics can be applied in the design industry, and, really, who could say no to that!?!

September 24th, we kicked off the group discussion with a good talk on the Importance of Benchmarking in Analytics.

We got together in October for a general discussion on Analytics in CAD Management.

Our last discussion in November was a bigger group with a broader topic of cloud computing and cloud data access. A little bit of a branch off from our typical data-centric talks, but, still pretty interesting to chat about the different perspectives from each of our companies and personal preferences.
And, yes, I totally managed to work in (yet again), results from the AUGI Annual Survey 2012.

These hangouts are broadcast live on Google+, but, you can find the recordings uploaded later to BenSJones' Youtube Channel.

Props to Ben for herding us all together and leading the discussions, as well as to everyone who has participated (Chris, Patrick, Curt, Jonathan, Jeff, Steve and Marv).
The discussions so far have been fun, and if you've got some resources regarding analytics as applied to the design industry, or more webcast discussion topic ideas, please share them!

Calling all Coders at AU2012

2012-11-12T13:40:00.004-06:00

Sweet prizes, too bad I'm such a noob when it comes to programming...

from Autodesk:

APPHACK Entries are due Nov 14!

Time is running out to submit your idea for a chance to earn a $5000 prize!

APPHACK @ AU is a virtual code-fest to produce apps/plugins for AutoCAD using the ObjectARX and/or .NET APIs, and it's open to any ADN member who can produce a working app/plugin for AutoCAD. The event culminates in a live demo at Autodesk University in Las Vegas on November 26, 2012. Simply submit your app and a demo video and you're in the running for some nice prizes. But hurry - the deadline for submissions is 11:59pm Pacific on Wednesday, 14 November, 2012.

Submit something you already have or write something new. Just do it soon so you're in the running for one of the great prizes! The theme for the event is Connecting AutoCAD to the Cloud - entries that most closely adhere to the theme will earn advanced placement. Check out Autodesk Exchange Apps for examples.

Prizes:
1^st Prize: US$5000
2^nd Prize: US$2000
3^rd Prize: US$1000

Ten finalists will be awarded iPad Minis.

In order to win, you must be present to perform a live demo of your app in Las Vegas on November 26. You do not need to be registered for AU to compete.

For full details, visit the registration site

Play a Game, Learn Some Software, Win a Workstation?

2012-11-08T08:49:00.002-06:00

We're competitive.

We may say we're not, but, let's face it, we like to have motivation. Anyone who is familiar with Khan Academy can see how successful this method of learning is.

Autodesk is running a contest right now, for folks who download a trial version of The AutoCAD Design Suite and play a game to win a prize pack consisting of a standalone license (it is upgradeable, not NFR) of AutoCAD Design Suite Standard 2013, a Lenovo S30 workstation and an iPad® worth over $6,500.
The suite includes AutoCAD®, AutoCAD® Raster Design, Autodesk® Sketchbook® Designer, Autodesk® Showcase® and Autodesk® Mudbox®

You can see Shaan Hurley's writeup on the contest here:
http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2012/11/the-apocalypse-trigger-the-gamification-of-the-autodesk-software-trial-experience.html

And you can sign up to participate here:
http://proc.autodesk.com/apocalypsetrigger/
(this is not in any way tied to your Autodesk login, it's a separate site)

Personally, I'm downloading the trial right now, and I will be giving it a try. I have not reviewed any of the missions ahead of time, and I'm only familiar with two of the five software packages in this suite... so, it should be amusing to see how poorly I will do. Let's see who can beat my scores. I'll tweet my scores later, once I've run a couple of 'missions.'

You've been using Navisworks Too Long When...

2012-11-05T08:53:00.002-06:00

You know you've been using Navisworks too long when...

... you organize your kitchen into selection sets. Spices, baking goods, plates, glasses, silverware, sauces.

... you're driving down the road on a rainy night, can hardly see in front of you and you wish you could adjust your clipping planes to see what's further up the road.

... you see someone talking on the cellaphone while driving and think "There should be a rule against that!" and then you start figuring out the selection sets in your head to make the rules.

... you have 13,300+ clashes in your model, you create a rule that narrows down one process pipe and the insulation on it that's causing 5,100 clashes and when you get excited about your results, you can't find anyone that understands you.

... you've ever been to a New Balance shoe store and asked the attendant if they have one with a Green N on the side.

... you've just read through this list and at least 3 of them apply to you.

Thanks to Paul Jordan for sharing these with me. Anyone else have anything to add to Paul's list?

Looking for some more laughs?

You know you've been using AutoCAD too long when...

You might be a Redneck CAD Tech if...

You might be a Design Diva if...

If Poe did CAD...