www.upfrontezine.com
Autodesk Revamps Web Site
Last week Autodesk changed the look of the home page for its Web
site, emphasizing it as the i-Design site. (upFront.eZine accidentally
ran an ad from Autodesk one week too early. For those of you who
tried the http://www.autodesk.com/iDesign-internet
site, but couldn't connect, you can try it now.) The site
says:
"iDesign
A new word
A new idea"
"iDesign" is, unfortunately, not a new word. The www.idesign.com domain name
belongs to Integrated Design, which sells PC-based software that
coordinates data integration among time and attendance, payroll,
employee, manufacturing (MRP/ERP), and employee scheduling systems.
Says one industry commentator: "These days, it seems silly
to start branding a name -- especially the name of an Internet
initiative -- without first securing the dot com domain."
Autodesk's new home page says this about iDesign: "It's
Autodesk's roadmap for bringing you to the Internet." The
Internet is a priority for Autodesk, and the company is focusing
on several initiatives:
Autodesk is right now busy letting CAD-related Web resources
know that they have been added to Autodesk's new portal. Autodesk
warns, however, that "as our site grows, our resources database
will be modified to meet our customer needs and interests. As
a result, we may choose in the future to deactivate the link to
your site." [I have suggested to Autodesk that they find
a new ISP who can provide greater capacity <g>.]
One competitor wondered how Autodesk's new Internet-related moves
can be reconciled with the activities by Buzzsaw.Com.
Meanwhile, rumors abound. One is that the next AutoCAD is already
in beta, and will ship this fall. The name has not been decided
on, but candidates include AutoCAD 2000i and AutoCAD 2001. The
emphasis will be on Internet features, and the ObjectARX programming
interface will be different.
Another rumor says that Autodesk is looking to replace Architectural
Desktop's core code with a new engine. CADdesk editor Martyn
Day asked Autodesk "Is the ADT team looking at technology
developed for Inventor to include/port?" The response was:
"The ADT team is looking a new innovative technologies just
like all good development teams do."
In greater detail, Dominic Gallello commented that "the
ideal user interface system will probably involve interaction
with the drawings and models in a much more intuitive way, in
a way that relates to how designers think and work. This interaction
will consist of direct manipulation of the data, whether it's
3D, 2D, or even non-graphical. In place of dialog boxes and status
bars, the user will have the ability to simply drag, move, extrude,
cut, and effect portions of the solid model directly with specialized
tools that act much like a router or an X-acto knife. You should
be able to create a special shape by drawing a profile on a surface
and then directly shaping it into 3D without having to work your
way through a series of pop-up menus." [Sounds to me like
DaVinci's software.]
Autodesk says the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has ended its
two-year probe into the company's business practices with no enforcement
action taken.
Design-Drawing is a monthly Web-based magazine for users of 2D diagramming software, including Actrix, iGrafx, SmartSketch, and Visio. If you are interested in contributing articles, contact editor Ralph Grabowski. I am also looking for press releases for products related to these diagramming products. Deadline for the May issue is 15 April.
CADsoft
APDesign 9.2 is an AutoCAD add-on for residential and light commercial
construction, and now supports both AutoCAD 2000 and Release 14.
Other improvements include improved modeling routines, new menu
options to streamline operation, as well as drawing and reporting
enhancements for greater clarity in presentation.
CAE-Link
Visitors to CAE-Link's
Web site can download the free Layers 2000 utilities. A free
trial download of Noting 2000 (US$39) provides a toolbar and associated
features required to easily note drawings.
CollabWare
A new Web portal specifically for the product development community,
called prodeveloper.net
aggregates and distributes a collection of Web-based engineering
tools, services, and other content for professionals.
Delcam
An easier-to-use version of TriFIX, its STL file repair software,
which provides improved verification and repair of these files,
and also incorporates a new interface and more automated operation.
Unlike most other automated healing systems, TriFIX does not apply
the same tolerance throughout the model. More info from pjd@delcam.com
EPM Technology
EXPRESS Data Manager 4v.0 makes use of the latest Collaborative
Product Commerce (CPC) technology supporting ISO standards, JAVA,
and other Internet applications.
Microsoft
IBM has joined LG Electronics, Philips and Everex in dropping
support for Windows CE. IBM will instead concentrate on the Palm
OS as part of its "Edge of Network" strategy. Meanwhile,
3Com will this summer launch a new consumer Internet appliance
described as "the sort of appliance you might enjoy having
on your kitchen counter."
Opera Software
The Opera v4.0 Web browser should be available by the end of June
for all supported platforms, and adds support for XML, HTTP 1.1
and Cascading Style Sheets 2.0; in addition, the Windows version
will support ECMAScript, JavaScript v1.3, and 128-bit encryption.
[The editor comments: Opera is the Web browser I use the most,
primarily for its MDI feature -- Web browsing is so much more
efficient being able to open multiple windows in a single browser.
Microsoft hasn't yet figured out how to do this for its Internet
Explorer.]
Safe
Software
FME 2000 data translation and spatial processing software now
allows data to be moved between 55 GIS, CAD and database formats.
New formats include S-57, SpatialWare, Tiger, SDTS, and DTED.
CAD News Headlines
-- Mar 20 --
SolidWorks
Explains Alibre Lawsuit
Crime
Scene Mapping Software in Beta
D-Cubed
Licenses Technology to Autodesk Inventor
-- Mar 21 --
AutoManager
Receives CADENCE Award
Daiken
Selects Solid Edge
SolidWorks
Conference Attracts Record Crowds
-- Mar 22 --
FARO
Revenues Up 30.9% in Q4
Mechanical
Desktop Receives STEP Certification
Dell
Drops Selected Workstation Prices 13%
Delcam
Upgrades STL File Repair Software
Diebold
Uses Micrografx E-Business For Product Specs
-- Mar 23 --
Cadence
Offers Trade-In to Accel Customers
Suppliers
Demonstrate NEMI's Virtual Factory Project
RealCADD
Available or Power Macintosh
Autodesk
Redesigns Website, Unveils iDesign
Newport
News Chooses ENOVIA
Kelon
Electrical of China Selects Unigraphics
-- Mar 24 --
think3
Raises $20 Million in Series C Funding Round
-- Mar 27 --
Tommy
Steele Joins Alibre as CEO
Bill
Kao New VP of R&D for Arcadia Design
Diebold's
Procomp Picks SolidWorks Software
Cadence
Design Launches B2B E-Services Site
Design
Automation Show Reveals Program
EDA
Industry Revenues Up 5% in 1999
ANSYS,
Microcosm Increase MEMS Tool Integration
-- Mar 28 -&SHY;
TenLinks.com
Gets Funded, Plans Expansion
Buzzsaw is buying PageMasters, which provides software for printing, scanning, and managing documents for the construction industry.
Autodesk announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share on its Common Stock payable April 21.
Think3 received US$20 million from a multinational group of investors from Japan, Europe, and USA.
http://www.seattleinsider.com/news/videos/domeangle_7.html
KIRO NEWS 7
Video footage of the 25-year-old concrete Kingdome being imploded.
http://www.crn.com/utilities/printArticle.asp?ArticleID=15148
"Can Microsoft Learn To Swat Flies?"
After slaying IBM, Lotus, WordPerfect, Software Publishing, Novell
and adapting to the Internet, here are 10 "flies" currently
annoying Microsoft.
Fri 10 Mar -
It's time to connect to the Internet. First step: get Linux to
find the modem. At first it doesn't: it is looking for an internal
modem. I guess at selecting a serial port from the dialog box,
and I guess right on my first try. Not only does Linux find the
modem, it queries the modem to find its optimal parameters --
something Windows does not do. I am able to dial up my ISP.
I am connected to my ISP, but Netscape Navigator doesn't work.
It complains it cannot locate the URLs I type in. I do some more
research and find a reference to Web browsers not connecting with
URLs. The FAQ suggests editing a certain file to place a # (comment-out
a command). Oh great. I tentatively try using the text editor;
find the file; insert the #; save the file; and try Navigator
again. It works!
With Netscape Navigator working, I cruise the Internet. Overall,
I don't find Linux faster than Windows 98. But I do find that
loading cached Web pages is much, much faster under Linux.
The last thing I try is Corel's automatic update service. When
I make the connection, a bunch of data is exchanged. Eventually,
a tree-like display shows a large red X next to several items.
After a while, I wonder if the icon is not an X, but two angle
brackets: ><. I try to find out what the >< refers
to, but fail. No update occurrs (perhaps there is none yet). This
one remains a puzzle.
Sat 11 Mar -
I finally have the sound card working. Via OSS (open source sound)
drivers, Linux is supposed to support most sound cards. I have
read, however, that one class of sound cards will never be supported.
At first, I wondered if I have one of those. Checking the Corel
Linux KnowledgeBase, I read that I need to use the ModConf
command since many sound cards are not automatically detected.
I am dubious that the ESS Sonic 1 PCI sound card is supported.
To my surprise, it is! The sound is finally working, not that
I particularly care about sound (I usually have all sound effects
turned off in Windows).
According to the documentation, Corel Linux is set to access
a maximum of 64MB RAM; my computer has 192MB RAM. The documentation
states that I need to add a parameter to a file to increase the
limit from 64MB to 192MB. I never got around to doing that, which
is just as well, since a utility shows that Linux is indeed accessing
all the installed RAM.
I can't get Linux to recognize any printers connected to my computer.
After thinking about it, I understand why: the Epson color printer
is connected via USB (not supported by Linux, yet); the Lexmark
laser printer is connected to the network (and I haven't checked
the Lexmark Web site for Linux network printer drivers yet). I
add a parallel cable to the Epson, and I am able to configure
Linux for the printer. Problem, though: the Linux driver for Epson
supports a maximum resolution of 360x360dpi; my Photo 750 is capable
of 1440x720 dpi.
"OpenDWG Alliance Responds to Lack of Lawsuits; Popular
Non-Profit Standards Company Dismayed by Lack of Frivolous Lawsuits
"PHOENIX, Arizona, March 20 -- The OpenDWG Alliance, a non-profit
corporation dedicated to providing open-standards tools for reading
and writing DWG format files, today announced that it has not
been sued by anybody.
"According to Evan Yares, President and Executive Director
of the OpenDWG Alliance, 'I've been waiting to be sued, but nobody
can find anything to get upset about.' Added Yares, `As it is,
our member companies seem quite happy with us. Even Autodesk,
which originally developed the DWG file format, seems to get along
pretty well with us. Just last week, I talked to a number of Autodesk
top managers, and none of them even hinted at suing us. They did,
however, discuss their plans for developing a standards-based
framework to support their future products -- something I thought
was more interesting anyway.'"
- Evan Yares
"We really don't have a lot to add on this, other than
to say that we have not had access to any confidential or proprietary
information of SolidWorks', so we are confident of a positive
outcome."
- Greg Milliken, Alibre.Com
Re: Windows 2000 Install
"I have gotten information about a bug that the boot manager
of Windows 2000 is overwriting the boot sector every time it is
started.
"The dissolving menus are time consuming but I find them
friendlier than the scroll down ones in Windows 98. Those actually
took time, because one had to wait for the menu to totally unfold
before all the choices could be scanned. I'm not sure whether
I'm pleased about the automatic selective menu item hiding.
"One of the things that I found interesting is that the
new style of icons (such as in Office 2000, but also the bootscreen
of Windows 2000) is less fancy. This is a deviation from the 'evolution'
of icons as it has occurred over the last years."
- Tom Eugelink
"I couldn't agree more with your assessment of Window
2000's new feature as a time-wasting gimmick. I promptly turned
mine off: Go to the display dialog in the Control Panel and select
the Effects tab. There will be a check-box there to turn it off."
- Geoff Vandegrift
Re: LT Toolkit
"I have played aroung with the LT Toolkit from drcauto. It
works surprisingly well. I can run almost any LISP program written
for AutoCAD in LT 2000. This includes newer LISP additions introduced
through Visual LISP, like vl-remove. My AnnotationTranslator application
worked in LT immediately without changing a single line of code.
"LISP functions you cannot use in LT (yet) are those that
make use of AutoCAD's ActiveX Automation interface, e.g. all the
primitives that start with vla-. Another drawback is that LT Toolkit
requires you to run LISP in source code. Programs compiled into
FAS or VLX files cannot be used in LT currently."
- Dietmar Rudolph
"I've often wondered when the salespeople say, 'Users
asked for this/that feature/upgrade' whether it's truly that the
users asked for it, or if developers decided to make the market
for that/this upgrade/feature. Code it and they will pay?"
- Richard Weiner