November
25, 2003
Issue
#365
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- - - C
O N T E N T S PTC
Countersues RAND - - - - - - - - - Below
the Radar - - - Donate Write - - - (ADVERTISMENT) Updated and Expanded for AutoCAD 2004! Tailoring AutoCAD 2004 is the first book for AutoCAD 2004. Download as a 204-page e-book in PDF format (US$24.95) or on CD ($29.95). Covers all areas of customization, from changing the user interface to writing toolbar macros and LISP routines. Click here to sample preview pages and place your order.
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PTC Countersues RAND After RAND Worldwide launched its US$100 million lawsuit against Parametric Technologies in May, PTC retaliated last week by counter-suing for:
Ouch! At one time, Rand was PTC's largest reseller, but PTC last year amended the distribution agreement, reducing Rand's right to sell in specific territories, and shortening the agreement by nearly two years -- to the end of this year. Shortly thereafter, money-losing Rand sued PTC for big bucks. Rand did not want to comment on the new lawsuit, beyond a perfunctory "Their charges are unfounded, and we stand behind our complaint." PTC was more forthcoming. Joe Gavaghan, director of pr, told me some of the reasons behind the suit by PTC: Over breach of contract: "We negotiated the shortened contract, which Rand agreed to." Over unfair competition: "The contract stipulated how we do business with each other, like exclusive sales areas, customer lists, and access to customers." I asked about Dassault Systems' investment in Rand. A good thing, Mr Gavaghan responded, for PTC had been subsidizing Rand. PTC recommended that Rand look for investment, partly to pay of the debts Rand owed PTC. Timeline May 2003: Rand sues PTC for fraud, breach of contract, misappropriation of confidential information, and much more. July: PTC asks the judge to dismiss the suit. October: Judge dismisses the request, but asks Rand to be more specific. November: PTC files its response to Rand's allegations, as well as the counter suit. No amount is mentioned. - - - Intel Appeals Intergraph In other court news, Intergraph is squaring off against Intel's appeal that has already earned the venerable CAD company US$150 million. MicroStation v8.5 Preview Thank you to Randall Newton and his 'MSM Insider' e-newsletter for letting us in on the feature set for the next release of MicroStation:
Subscription members can download the MicroStation "Work In Progress" from SELECTservices Online (choose Downloads | Web Downloads, and then Beta and Work in Progress Application Group). Bentley Systems is encouraging discussion of v8.5 in its newsgroup at selectservices.bentley.com/discussion/index.htm - - - In related news, Randall Newton is no longer editor of the aforementioned newsletter, having taken over the 'A/E/C Automation News' newsletter. DataCAD Returns to Visibility On rare occasions, DataCAD users berate me for not covering their favorite CAD software. Last week p.r. rep Becky Stevens called me to report that my complaint (not hearing from the company) made its way to the very highest levels. "At long last, DataCAD 11 hits the streets," she told me. "According to ceo Mark Madura, this release solves issues that were a barrier to larger firms adopting DataCAD, such as network awareness, file locking/sharing, and auto backup and recovery." I recall first trying out DataCAD in the late 1980s, when it achieved the remarkable designation of official CAD software of the AIA [American Institute of Architects] -- or something like that. That may explain why it calls itself "the second most widely used CADD software" among AIA member firms. In the 15 years since, it was absorbed into the CADKEY corporation, then later spun out. It is one of (what I call) the "niche CAD products" that serves a happy 250,000 customers. Privately-owned, it spends more time worrying about making the software work for interested customers than making money for disinterested shareholders. Other new features include: double-precision database, up to ten backup copies, symbol browser and reporting, drop symbols on polygons, TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network) surface modeler, 3D knife, UI skins, multi-view viewports, and export in PDF or DWF. More details at www.datacad.com/products/Whats_New.htm Below the Radar A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that I find interesting: The domain www.autocad2005.com is for sale by Ko Guen Yun of Korea. The v6.0.01 update to Adobe Acrobat Pro supports AutoCAD 2004. It, however, failed to install for me. Carlson Software is interested in writing Windows-based programs to run with General CADD Pro in civil engineering, surveying, COGO, and so on. To gauge interest, potential customers are encourage to contact Mark Floan at mfloan @ carlsonsw.com @Last Software receives a patent for their 3D design software, SketchUp. Technically, US Patent #6,628,279 is awarded for an environment that allows users to draw outlines of objects in a 2D manner, and then be pushed and pulled by editing tools to model 3D volumes. www.skethup.com Encad's new T200+ (US$3,495) large-format inkjet printer switches from full-color graphics to four-color or monochrome CAD output. I wasn't able to figure out what size of media the printer handles, but it looks like about D-size. www.encad.com/Printers/CADJET-T200/index.asp Softree Technical Systems has a beta of their RoadEng Civil Assistant software for interactive road design. It uses LandXML to exchange data with other civil software, such as Land Desktop and Eagle Point. Call Craig Speirs at +1-866-519-6222 if you're interested in beta testing. www.softree.com Cad Publisher v1.9.028c (US$90 and up) outputs Gerber RS-274X and Excellon drill files for PCB (printed circuit board) output directly from your CAD software. www.gasmain.com/documentation/overview_chapter.html Raindrop Geomagic releases Cadmus Fashion, their reverse engineering software that produces trimmed NURBS models from polygon models or 3D point-cloud data from physical parts. The software is based on technology from Cadmus Consulting acquired by Raindrop Geomagic in October. www.geomagic.com Inter-CAD releases AxisVM v7, their finite element analysis software tool for civil engineers. Versions are available in German, English, Dutch, Italian, Hungarian, Spanish, and Romanian. Demo versions at ww.axisvm.com/demos_dwnlds.htm ESI Group announces PAM-MEDYSA 2G for virtual prototyping of design optimization for complex mechanical systems -- like cars. www.esi-group.com And VX is providing free to its customers of v8 a set of workflow management tools -- "without the complexity or overhead of full-bore PDM/PLM solutions." More at www.vx.com People/Companies on the Move think3 appoints Rob Burgess to its board of directions. Mr Burgess is the chairman and CEO of Macromedia. One day before Americans traditionally leave their jobs to travel home for Thanksgiving Thursday, Autodesk announced plans to eliminate 1 job in 6 -- a move that will affect between 550 and 650 employees, primarily in marketing and administrative. In addition, several offices will be closed. The entire exercise will cost Autodesk an estimated US$34 million. WorthWhile Web www.pcworld.com/news/article
Letters to the Editor Re: EDS Selling Minority Position in UGS PLM Solutions "I am not an expert in the reporting requirements of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, but I think the correct statement would be, 'If an American company owns 80% or more of a division, the financial activity (not just earnings) of the division MUST be included on the balance sheet of the parent company.' It is not optional, as far as I know. "And if I am not mistaken, the tipping point after which a consolidated balance sheet is required is 50%, not 80%, though between 50% and 80% it may be that only the parent company's relative share of the division must be reported. "The logic behind this requirement is that because the parent company carries such a large share of the risk for the division's profit/loss, the financial status of the division should be fully transparent to the shareholders of the parent company. On the other hand, I believe a consolidated balance sheet IS optional if the parent company owns less than a majority interest. If my understanding of SEC regulations is correct, then the supposition that EDS might sell less than a 20% share of UGS in order to 'help EDS look better financially' is unsupported. EDS could still avail itself of the consolidated balance sheet option if it sold more than 20%; it does not have the option if it sells less. "It
was the failure to properly show on its balance sheet the risk that
it carried for its many 'divisions' that ultimately caused ENRON
to implode."
Re: Tailoring Visio eBook "I've been trying to USE Visio since about 1998, and the program is so d**ned complicated and obtuse I have NEVER gotten comfortable with it. "And the tutorial books I've purchased never provide examples that apply to what I am trying to do, which is build block diagrams of digital cable TV settop boxes and network diagrams that describe digital TV broadcast services. "So
I would have NO INTEREST in a book that helps me 'customize' the
look and feel of this ridiculously complicated and un-usable program." - - - "Please keep up the great reporting in upFront. Press releases and magazine hype do little to provide useful information. "I enjoy your frank appraisals of the
industry and concise evaluations of the changes in the CAD market
and CAD companies. I look forward to reading it as soon as it arrives." Notable Quotable "The difference between an op-ed [opinion
editorial] and biased 'straight reporting' is that the opinion writer
says what he thinks while the reporter scrounges up others willing
to support his position." |
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