Did you survive the Y2K crisis? I spent all day New Year's Eve with my family watching 1 Jan 2000 arrive on tv around the world. After watching spectacular New Year's festivities from New Zealand, through Asia, Africa, and Europe, it seemed a let down when we here on the West Coast of North American were the 4th last time zone to welcome the new year/decade/century/millennium.
After midnight, I checked our computers. The only one with a problem was the oldest, a 486 notebook: it showed the date of 4 Jan 1980. I changed the date to 1 Jan 2000, rebooted, and the date stayed correct. This is the computer I use for synchronizing my Palm III -- a process that is date-sensitive. I was a bit nervous the first time I sync’ed the Palm in 2000, but no data was lost. Whew! As CNET put it, “World moves safely into new year.” Indeed, the only difficulty I experienced was not being able to access my.yahoo.com on Monday.
That's a far cry from a postcard I received in mid-December. "Urgent Warning!" it screamed in large, bold-italicized, red print. "Our records show that your accounting system is NOT Year 2000 compliant." It was true: Simply Accounting for Windows v3.0 software is non-Y2K compliant. OTOH, I hadn't used the software in over three years -- I found it too hard to use -- and it wasn't even on any of my computers. (I use Excel to keep track of income, then pay my accountant to do the bookkeeping.) What surprised me was that ACCPAC waited so late to alert its registered users -- and then tried to charge us for the fix.
Over the Christmas break, I was browsing through old copies of CADalyst magazine. In the 80s, I was the magazine's Technical Editor, and I can boast of a complete collection of CADalyst newsletters and magazines -- from Vol.1 No.1 to date, taking up 2-1/2 feet of shelf space. I found several items of interest in the Oct/Nov '87 issue, which featured a preview of AutoCAD Release 9:
As for New Year's resolutions, I intend to check out the upcoming release of Corel Linux with WordPerfect Office and Netscape Navigator, and experiment with it -- to see if I can free myself from the productivity-killing crashes imposed by Windows flimsy architecture.
"From the books I have read, most talk about CAD from a positive point of view, and tend not to mention the disadvantages. I have being using CAD since Sept '97. During this time, I have learned about 2D drafting, 3D modeling, and rendering using AutoCAD R14.
"I wonder whether any of your readers could help define some disadvantages, which I could research. I would welcome any response at jamie.wilkes@connectfree.co.uk.
The editor replies: "Off the top of my head, problems include:
Matra says CAS.CADE "offers functionality similar to the ACIS and Parasolid kernels." The next upgrade will be available at the end of January. Open CASCADE code and development information are at www.opencascade.org/ . The Open CASCADE Object Libraries are reusable C++ object libraries for producing all types of domain-specific graphic modeling applications. The Open CASCADE Application Framework is included with Open CASCADE 3.0. It is a Rapid Application Development framework that organizes and specifies your application data and architecture, structuring applications that are associative by definition, managing modification history and automatically assigning storable attributes to objects.
Typical Open CASCADE developments include domain-specific CAD, manufacturing or analysis applications, simulation applications, and illustration tools.
AOL will use MapQuest to deliver maps and directions to smart phones,
Palm Pilots, and other non-PC devices. MapQuest will provide AOL users
with real-time traffic updates and regional services. MapQuest already
has relationships with the wireless divisions of Sprint, Nokia, and 3Com's
Palm. Future services could be available as early as this summer.
- www.pcworld.com
The first two readers sending a donation of US$25 and request the CBT, will receive the title of their choice direct from Eagle Point Software.
CADKEY National User Group Meetings at National Design Engineering Show at 5 pm, March 14 and 15, in Room N227B, at McCormick Place North, Chicago IL USA.
IGUG, Intergraph Graphics Users Group, 2000 international conference, May 7-11 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville AL.
DataCAD Canada has taken charge of the distribution of DataCAD software in Canada. Walid Hadid is the president; contact him at info@datacadcanada.com or visit www.datacadcanada.com
Abvent International
Art*lantis Render v3.5, recently announced by Abvent, can now save
rendered images in Epix file format. Epix is the native format of the Piranesi
product from Informatix, which provides image post-processing and non-photorealistic
effects.
Bricsnet
Japan-based Nihon Unisys will offer
a Japanese language version of Bricsnet's ProjectCenter extranet service
for the Japanese building industry.
CADKEY
CADKEY Parametrics (US$1,195) integrates parametric definition and
editing of dimension-driven solid models into CADKEY software. It has hybrid
combinations of feature-based solid modeling and CADKEY’s freeform hybrid
solid modeling for product design and manufacturing applications.
Diehl Graphsoft
Objects Online will market
individual VectorWorks' objects as well as symbol libraries in addition
to its range of object offerings from other CAD developers. Objects Online
was the first site dedicated to intelligent 3D objects used in CAD files.
Eagle Point Software
EZ-Builder (US$495) is a home
design package targeted to the residential home design market for floor
plan and model creation. The software includes automatic routines for framing
and auto dimensioning, along with estimation tools such as area/linear
takeoffs, lumber cutlists, rendering, and automatic roof generation. SolidBuilder
is meant for the high-end of the market; EZ-Builder targets the low-end,
and provides an upgrade path to SolidBuilder.
Graphisoft
Cymap, a UK-based supplier of design software for heating, ventilation
and air-conditioning (HVAC) and electrical building services, is being
acquired by Graphisoft, who will merge Cymap's technology with its Virtual
Building concept.
McNeel & Associates
EasySite runs inside AutoCAD and makes 3D modeling of sites, roads,
and landscaping. Free demo version at www.mcneel.com/products/easysite.html
SoftCAD
SoftCAD.3D Lite v1.5 (US$199) is the upgrade from v1.16, of which 50,000
copies were downloaded free from www.softcad.com
over nine months. New features include: support for OpenGL, 3D text tool,
import of terrain coordinates, global sun settings, and VRML export.
Wind2
Financial Management System v4.0 provides online view of financial
and project information; links to Outlook, Ceridian and Paylink, and Word's
spell checker; plus new third-party add-ons.
At the close of market Monday, some share prices were:
Symbol
Price Company
52-week Range
ADSK 33 3/8 AUTODESK INC
17 49 7/16
CDN 22 1/16 CADENCE DESIGN
9 3/16 34 1/8
DASTY 67 3/4 DASSAULT ADR
30 1/16 65
DIEG
7 DIEHL GRAPHSOFT 2 11/16
8 1/4
EGPT 5 1/4 EAGLE PT SOFT
4 1/2 9 1/2
IMSIC 1 7/8 INTL MICRO SFWR
1 3/8 17
INGR 4 11/16 INTERGRAPH CP
3 3/16 10 1/4
PMTC 25 1/8 PARAMETRIC
11 11/16 35 15/16
SDRC 12 1/2 STRUCT DYNAMICS
8 13/16 23 7/16
STY 4 7/8 SPATIAL
TECH 2 9/16
5 7/8
UGS 26 7/8 UNIGRAPHICS
13 3/8 36 7/16
VSIO
47 VISIO CORP
21 7/8 48 11/16
http://www.imasolid.iwarp.com/
The lighter side of Solid Modelling.
"Came across this site a while ago, in case you have not seen it yet,
I though you might like it."
- Steve Vickers
To purchase online, click the link: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/078212562/XyzpublishingA/
The editor replies: "Both assumptions are correct."
Re: Autodesk Prices to Increase 6% on 1 Feburary
"FYI, your info on Autodesk's future pricing and territories is a little
off. Happy Holidays! And keep up the excellent job -- I really enjoy the
read!"
- Patrick Schutte, VAR channel manager,
Autodesk
The editor replies: "Since the information was given to me by AutoCAD dealers, I guess the dealers are getting wrong info from Autodesk.”