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Issue #232: 17 January, 2001

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Inside this Issue

• Features New to MicroStation 8
• Kaon Activates
• Installing a Wireless LAN & Router
• Below the Radar, and other regular departments

• Currently in beta; tentative ship date is mid-2001.
• Dynamic Area automatically determines the hatch area; as you click areas, they are filled, without needing to reinvoke the hatching command.
• New rendering technology called Particle Tracing.
• Version 8 supports multi-threaded operations.
• Supports TrueType fonts without conversion, as well as AutoCAD SHX and HTML text formatting; character-level formatting of text.
• Unlimited named levels (layers).
• Increased number for vertices for line strings, curve strings, fences, and clip masks.
• Engineering Configurations will have to be updated for v8 due to the changes in the file format; MDL apps will have to be recompiled.
• Raster Manager will combine Raster Reference and Image Manager.
• MicroStation v8 will run on Microsoft operating systems only.
• Still limited to opening a single drawing at a time; reason given is so that other users are not locked out of many drawings.
• Will export design files to earlier versions, with the loss of new functionality.
• Native support for DWG, with "future changes to DWG dealt with accordingly."

I recently added a wireless network and a router to my network of five computers and three printers. The AirConnect Starter Kit came from 3Com via their Web promotion last summer: try it free for 30 days, then return it or be billed for the discounted price of US$1,500 (or so).

When the package arrives four months later, the invoice is for US$995 because 3Com has sent a reconditioned unit -- roughly half the original price. The large box contains three PC Card wireless network cards with their stubby antennae, the base station, some miscellaneous hardware, and CD-ROMs. There is no network card for desktop computers, which I need since it is too difficult to run cabling to one of my computers. I search the Internet, and find Ascend's (a.k.a. Lucnet) WaveLAN IEEE Adapter board for US$60 (part #848072559).

3Com kept its printed manual so thin that half of the pages consist of FCC warnings. The manual talks about having to hook up the base station to a computer via the included serial cable, running HyperTerminal, and setting parameters. I can't believe it! I give it a half-hearted attempt, which fails. I wonder if that HyperTerminal stuff is actually necessary, and plug the base station into my network hub. I push one of the PC Cards into the notebook computer's slot, install the drivers, and reboot. The notebook connects wirelessly to the rest of the network; no programming of the base station is necessary.

The courier delivers the WaveLAN adapter, and I install it in the desktop computer. It is simply a PC Card adapter for desktop computers, allowing me to plug in one of the 3Com wireless network cards. The point of frustration comes when Windows doesn't recognize the adapter card, unless I switch to a different device driver after each time after Windows reboots. Finally, I find that changing the card's I/O range makes it work correctly -- that's an installation step I haven't had to do for many years.

The wireless network is rated for 11Kbps. I decide to test its throughput by copying 200 JPEG files. The 76.3MB of data is transmitted in six minutes, which represents a speed of 12MB per minute -- not bad at all! The wireless network has a range of up to 300 feet, a distance that I haven't tested. Whenever the wireless connection fails, briefly unplugging the power from the base station makes it work again.

The Router

With all computers connected to the local network, my next step is to connect them all to the Internet. I had tried a couple of software solutions, none of which worked for me. One of the disasters I tried was Microsoft's HomeClick "solution," which is included free with 3Com's HomeConnect hub (Microsoft's software kept insisting the network card wasn't installed).

Cruising the Internet for a solution, I find that a hardware router does the same thing, but painlessly (and more expensively). I decide on the Linksys Ethernet Cable/DSL router (US$130), which combines a router, a 4-port hub, and a firewall into one small blue/black box. To the Internet, the router appears like a single connection; for my local network, the router allows up to 253 computers to simultaneously access the Internet. I have a lot of trouble getting the router to work, although I never figure out the problem. I plug and unplug cables, relocate hubs, repeatedly reboot the router, and try a variety of configurations -- then suddenly it all works, and I have no idea why.

To test the hardware firewall, I go to http://www.grc.com and run ShieldsUp: sure enough, my network of five computers are invisible to the Internet. But then I try Gibson's new LeakTest, and it shows the hardware firewall isn't good enough; so I reinstall the ZoneAlarm software firewall, and everything's airtight again.
http://www.zonealarm.com/

MapCAD PlanSet Manager works inside AutoCAD to track all master and plan set drawings associated with a project. You can evaluate PlanSet Manager by downloading it from http://www.mapcad.com

Microsoft will be adding "product activation" anti-piracy code to Visio 10, due out this summer. Product Activation mean you cannot run the software until you obtain a random installation ID number (based on the product key and the PC hardware) from a Microsoft-run clearinghouse. If the PC is modified, such as reformatting the hard disk, you need to obtain a new activation code. Industry observers see as Microsoft's attempt to increase revenues by cutting down on casual copying. - CNET

SoftCAD International has added ArchiTECH.PC's complete parametric drafting tool set to APC.Draft v3.0 (US$249). http://www.softcad.com

Autodesk signed a license agreement for worldwide deployment of Macrovision/ Globetrotter's FLEXlm electronic licensing technology. http://www.globetrotter.com

Dassault Systemes signed a Component Application Architecture development agreement that allows the integration of Océ printing applications in the CATIA v5 environment. http://www.dsweb.com

An online database of over a hundred tips for AutoCAD, LT, MDT, and HP DesignJet plotters available from http://www.cadstudio.cz/tips . The free service is from CAD Studio, a Czech-based Autodesk Systems Center.

Revit Architectural software sales soared by 70%. [Problem is, hard numbers are missing from the press release. When I asked, Revit wouldn't say 70% of what.]

Linius Technologies is shipping EMbassy v3 wire harness design software. The software allows electromechanical engineers to design and document wire harness and cable systems using a 3D model. http://www.linius.com

For readers who want the CAD headlines delivered to their desktop on a daily basis, you can subscribe at http://www.tenlinks.com/News/subscribe.htm. And if you prefer to bookmark a live page, go to http://www.tenlinks.com/news/cad_news.htm

Congress on the Future of Engineering Software, April 26-28 in Scottsdale AZ USA. http://www.cofes.com/

AEC Systems 2001, June 18-21, in McCormick Place, Chicago IL USA. www.aecsystems.com

SDRC appointed Ralph Genesi as vp of industry and channel sales, worldwide operations. Mr. Genesi comes from Spectris Technologies, where he was responsible for the Americas' channel distribution operations.

CollabWare announced that William Floyd has joined the company as vp of product development. Mr Floyd was previously the program manager and principal architect at SDRC.

Coming on the heels of the news that revenue and earnings for its fourth quarter will be below expectations, Iomega's new Peerless drive system uses 5GB, 10GB, or 20GB removable disks in a modular package. The drive with interface module is US$249; disks are $129 (5GB), $159 (10GB), or $199 (20GB). FireWire and USB 1.1 to be available at launch; USB 2.0 and SCSI available later. http://www.iomega.com./peerless/index.html [I hope thisbrings down the price of Iomega's overpriced Jaz cartridges.]

'The Microprocessor Report' reports that the 1.2GHz AMD Athlon with standard memory is 12% faster than the 1.5GHz Intel Pentium 4 with Rambus memory. http://www.mdronline.com [So much for more GHz and Rambus memory making a computer faster; it's all in how the code is tweaked.]

Opera's Web browser -- [the browser I use the most] -- had been downloaded two million times. [Of course, that does not mean there are two million users; I've downloaded versions of Opera a half-dozen times myself.]

Microsoft's official policy is only to support two generations of OS at a time, but if the company decides Whistler constitutes a new OS, this would mean the end of NT 4.0 and Win95 in the second half of this year. A recent Gartner report points up the tensions between the company's objectives and those of its customers, and urges enterprises to pressure Microsoft to put the brakes on its OS obsolescence program. [Autodesk makes its software obsolete with the third release; if there are no more "big-R" releases, as ceo Carol Bartz has stated, then what?] -- The Register
Microsoft is scheduled to discuss its Windows 2000 sales on Jan. 18. [Microsoft has denied Windows 2000 sales are poor, yet failed to release figures so far.]

Apple hopes to start selling Mac OS X for US$129 on March 24.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/zd/20010109/tc/save_us_from_more_lousy_code_1.html
"Save Us From More Lousy Code"
Taking sides: Where 'technologists' and journalists divide.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/15915.html
"Bumlickycrawlie PC Mag Fawns Over PC World"
Computer magazine changes negative story after advertiser makes a phone call.

http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/os-graphs.html
"Defacements by Operating System"
Microsoft Windows is the winner.

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1014-201-4437748-0.html?tag=st.ne.1002.tgif.sf
CNET
Interview with Red Hat CTO

The editor replies: "Or maybe it will be the other way round. Check out http://www.ugeek.com/pdageek/pdamain.htm "

"I have a Palm IIIc and was wondering if you were going to put out a Palm-friendly ezine that I can sync with my Palm?"
- Pablo Solis

The editor replies: "I have no plans because I get so few requests -- about one a year. And there is this problem: Which Palm text format should I use? Since I send out the newsletter in ASCII format, you could (as I do with the digital camera newsletter I get) hotsync the text file to QuickWord or similar Palm app that reads DOC and TXT files."

"Is there any talk of porting AutoCAD to Linux? Talk more on that, pleez."
- T D Gordon

The editor replies: "None, other than those Linux-based CAD systems that claim to be compatible with AutoCAD. I could, however, see some rogue programmers inside Autodesk doing that as a hobby. There are indications that AutoCAD might be ported to the Mac. Some copies of AutoCAD have a Mac installation folder -- it's empty, but why else would it be there?"

"I really enjoyed the trashing of the Pentium 4 at http://www.emulators.com/pentium4.htm. This confirmed and explained a lot of what I'd seen and suspected regarding P4's at double the clock speed accomplishing the same amount of work as a P3."
- Jay Pellam

The editor replies: "Since then, The Microprocessor Report also found the Pentium 4 unimpressive. While many people praise Intel, I have been suspicious of them since the late 1980s when their EMS memory card caused me grief; I found out that Intel didn't bother following the LIM standard, which they helped write. I seem to recall that it used a 64KB memory window, instead of the 32KB that the LIM (Lotus Intel Microsoft) spec called for."

"It's refreshing and informative to hear some opinions from outside the US. I'm canceling my other CAD ezines. Your reporting is more timely and more complete."
- Steve Harper

"I greatly appreciate the work that you put together in developing this multi-partisan (AutoCAD, Visio, Dassault, Bentley, and others) newsletter."
- Bill Holloway

"Your newsletter is great; I look forward to reading it at my new company."
- Andrew Edge, Bentley Systems

"Really like your eZine, keep up the good work."
- Robert Shreve, Centaur Tool

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All contents copyright 2001 by XYZ Publishing, Ltd. Inc., and all rights are reserved. No material may be reproduced electronically or in print without written permission from XYZ Publishing, 34486 Donlyn Avenue Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada, unless otherwise noted.