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Issue #414 : January 19, 2005 |
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C o n t e n t s [Say it's not true!] NThe Need For XML Featuer Models - ReadersRespond, Part II - The Need for Binary XML Should Trade be Linked to Human
Rights? |
Write the Editor. Donate to upFront.eZine with Paypal. Access nearly-daily CAD commentary at our blog: WorldCAD Access.
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Did John Walker Write First Virus? CNET reports Autodesk co-founder John Walker may have written the first virus-like code to help a game propagate from computer to computer -- so he wouldn't need to copy the game onto tapes and mail them. "In January 1975, Walker created another program, Pervade, which would hitch a ride with a new version of Animal. Any time someone played the Animal game, Pervade would also start running to check directories, duplicate itself in any directory that didn't already have a copy, and overwrite any older versions. "Within a week, UNIVAC administrators at another corporate office started reporting that Animal had suddenly appeared on their system. Weeks later, other companies discovered the program on their systems as well. ... The Pervade program stopped working when UNIVAC released a new version of the operating system that changed its directory structure." Read the original article at http://news.com.com/A+20-year+plague/2009-7349_3-5111410.html?tag=nl The Need for XML Feature Models Readers Respond, Part 2 The guest editorial by John Burrill brought added reaction from our readers: - - - "Having sold and supported numerous CAD applications over the past eighteen years, I am particularly sensitive to data transportability. To move from one application to another, without losing design intelligence along the way, is the 'holy grail' I have longed for. "The criteria I use when selecting the products is not much different than from my customers: ease of learning and use, product features, efficiency gains, cost, technical resources, vendor history and policies, etc. Selecting vendors for any product should be based on value vs. investment. "The artificial barrier imposed by proprietary data formats increases the cost of designing and manufacturing for virtually every product. In they early stages of development in the CAD/CAM/CAE industry, I could understand these barriers. Given the current level of maturity in the industry, it seems appropriate that consumers should have the right to unlock their data. "The ultimate solution would be a comprehensive vendor-neutral data format that contains a complete description of objects. While the various STEP AP formats might ultimately mature enough to provide this level of capability, they seem to be developing at a slow pace. "Without regulatory intervention, or a serious revolt from
the CAD user community, I doubt that software developers will ever
take this initiative seriously. The hook provided by proprietary
data formats is just too intoxicating for most software vendors
to give it up. I hope I'm wrong!" - - - "I totally disagree with the example of LandXML. My experience has been that the DOTs [US departments of transportation] are more stringent on getting the data exactly as they want it, and more particular on software, setup, usage of the DOT's particular customizations, formats, and other information. "Many DOTs are making it harder NOT to use their particular
brand of design software vs. translated files. LandXML still isn't
100% perfect. Constructors, who are get the final data, are asking
for XML format for heavy equipment guidance/movement (running a
bulldozer based on XML data from the design)." - - - The Need for Binary XML An article at CNET notes that XML suffers from sluggish performance due to its bloated text-only format <news.com.com/Putting+XML+in+the+fast+lane/2100-7345_3-5534249.html>. One solution is to create a binary version of XML for the smaller file size (quicker transmission) and faster processing. Writing to that, one upFront.eZine reader comments: "Text transmission in HTTP [hyper text transport protocol] can already be binary. For example Apache can be configured to default to GZip transmission. Gunzip is handled behind the scenes in the client browser. "The SVG/XML spec includes SVGZ (gzip) compression as well as JPEG and PNG10 for HRef image links. This means that rendering engines for SVG/XML at least have to handle the binary objects in the conformance spec -- so I guess binary has already crept into XML even without binary XML. "Text has too many advantages, however, for the W3C to endorse
a fully binary XML, which would end up with self-describing tags
in the binary stream. Binary tags get fairly complex to handle length,
endian, byte size, word boundary issues, etc. necessary for true
cross-platform access. I wonder how many savings would be realized
over gzipping for most XML situations." Should Trade be Linked to Human Rights? A recent online Globe&Mail poll asks, "Do you think Canada's trade with China should be linked to human-rights issues?" The story behind the question: the prime minister of Canada [how many of you know his name?] is on tour in Southeast Asia. The Chinese embassy initially approved visas for the media hoard tagging along. [We bet you didn't know there were enuf media in Canada to constitute a hoard.] Yesterday, one day before the tour leaves, the embassy asks for the passports back, and removes visas for two journalists from a Chinese-language media company banned from China. The prime minister's office (PMO) is outraged over the freedom-of-speech/media issue. (In some ways, the story is a red herring. Media was censored in China before these two visas were revoked. And here in Canada, the Human Rights Tribunal also rules against free speech.) We'd normally answer "Yes" to the poll. But then we realized that "Canada" does not trade with "China": It's business people in Canada trading with business people in China, as permitted by both governments. Of course, upFront.eZine has a stake in the issue:
Do we rationalize being pro-trade to make more money -- to the exclusion of other considerations? BTW, the poll result was 72% in favor. See http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.Page/document/polls/pollResults?id=30776&pollid=30776 A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that we found interesting: Intergraph ships SmartSketch 5.0, perhpas the best parametric 2D CAD software that nodoby knows about. New features include line style editor; expanded interoperability; Image Integrator enhancements; and companion to the SmartPlant software suite currently under attack from Hewlett-Packard lawsuits. The press release borrows a phrase from Bentley Systems: "A cost-effective, alternative solution for companies dealing with forced retirement of Autodesk products..." /www.SmartSketch.com General CADD Products releases General CADD Pro v3.1 (US$599) with sixty new commands and features. Free demo download from www.generalcadd.com/downloads.htm GPS2CAD v3.5, from AMC, brings GPS points into CAD drawings. www.GPS2CAD.com An Australian company is looking for beta testers to evaluate Best, the name for a new estimating program for AutoCAD. Email mmauthne @ bigpond . net . au for more info. @Last Software will be shipping Component Libraries -- free! -- for its SketchUp software: film and stage; landscape architecture; interior design; architecture and mechanical design. www.sketchup.com/downloads/plugins.php UGS adds to ParaSolid v16.1: embossing with local controls and tapering; advanced surfacing with locked-profile sweeping and B-spline surface extensions; curve extension, approximation and editing; limiting, configuring and ordering blends; facet density and refinement. Also available: support for 64-bit Linux systems. www.ugs.com/products/open/parasolid - - - Additional news items at our WorldCAD Access blog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/>:
People/Companies on the Move Graphisoft appoints László Drajkó as director of international sales.GoEngineer, calling itself the largest SolidWorks value-added reseller in North America, acquires Pacific Automation, another SolidWorks VAR. Purchase price not revealed. Design & Drafting acquires AutoBlock2000 from
MSZDesign. WorthWhile Web /www.folklore.org/index.py
Letters to the Editor Re: Next Release of AutoCAD: What Readers Want "'How many people have to draw separate arrowhead
for cutting plane lines?' I'd say not that many. We usually do it
once, make a block from it, and then insert it when needed, at the
appropriate scale/rotation."
"There's at least two more things that need to be done.
One is a fix on what they broke in AutoCAD 2000. The other is a
long-standing issue:
"Noun-verb is great, except when off-screen highlighted
entities are erased. I am sure when people tell me AutoCAD did not
save their changes, its because they unknowingly erased highlighted
entities that were not showing on the screen."
"1. To use MicroStation for both DWG and DGN."
"'What Readers Want' was very funny, as I too am a big fan of the sly sardonic humor that this inclusion represents. You've revealed to your readers a tiny sound bite of the cacophonic din that Autodesk must filter through in deciding what modifications they make with each release of AutoCAD. However, it might be useful to point out a couple of things: "Autodesk does have a formal forum through which requests can be made via the Wish Lists in their discussion groups, as well as through AUGI chapters. This of course serves as a high-level filter for Autodesk, so that only the most popular requests get through, which is really the only way to make it manageable. "The other point to be considered is that, to some degree, Autodesk brought much of this on themselves, because they market their release cycle so heavily with constant promises of, 'Oh, that feature will be in the next upgrade!' "A better model for users might be for Autodesk to release new versions only every two or three years, and in that time distill out the only the top twenty most requested improvements, then write them into AutoCAD (and make sure the software works). "Of course, that is not such a good model for the revenue stream demanded by shareholders, and so we live with the current model, where we have a new release (with a concomitant learning curve) every year, accompanied by heavy pressure from Autodesk to 'Upgrade, or get left behind!' Anything to keep the shareholders at bay. "Thanks again for maintaining such a high level of quality
in your publication."
Re: Advice from Sweden "Came back from Italy a week ago, and still wonder why. It must be the lack of money which forced me back to work. Imagine a snowy hill, 2300m up to the sun, a slope 12km empty and inviting. A pair of new skis on my feet, and NO PHONE in sight. Why did I come back?" "If the item appears, never stop smoking! I did this a year
ago and have been sick since. They all tell me it will become better,
but until now I am waiting for the promises to fall in. The last
year I´ve had about every sickness a man can get. I'll save you
the list." - - - "Best regards, and thanks for a fine newsletter." "Carry on the good work, wish there was something like this
for ArchiCAD." "Many thanks for a great service."
Notable Quotable "'Studies show' is another great journalistic cliche that,
once deployed, absolves the user of any obligation to offer anything
further in the way of serious argument."
Copyright 2005 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide All
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