The Inner Harbor of Baltimore
has been redeveloped for the tourist
Some trips go well; others are a disaster. Last week's trip to Baltimore was nearly as bad as my worst business trip ever -- ten years ago to Autodesk's CAD Camp. The flight I booked was Abbotsford (British Columbia) - Calgary (Alberta) - Toronto - Baltimore and then Baltimore - Chicago - Calgary - Abbotsford. My daughter Heidi came along.
The badness began right at the start of the trip. Going through the metal detector at Abbotsford Airport, I forgot about the keys (and attached penknife). The second trip through the detector reminded me I had also forgotten the Sony Clie in my shirt pocket. And the X-ray scane of my carry-on lugguage revealed the nail cissors I had forgotten.
To gain an extra day in Baltimore, I had decided on the red-eye from Calgary to Toronto. I'll never do that again! No sleep, but then the flight was only 3.5 hours. Air Canada decided to serve supper at 1am (!?).
Toronto airport was giving away $5-off coupons for buying anything worth at least $5, so we got a cheap breakfast. I saw no one wearing anti-SARS masks.
We flew a Dash-7 (small propeller plane) from Toronto to Baltimore, and I had to give up my roller suitbase at the foot of the airplane's steps. During two-hour the flight to Baltimore, the steward kept serving us food non-stop. Felt like business class, except that he had no spoons on board, so we couldn't eat the yoghurt.
When we arrived in Baltimore, my suitcase was not there! Air Canada staff with southern drawls searched the cargo hold, inside and outside the airplane.
A driver was to meet up at the Air Canada baggage pickup for the drive into Baltimore. H was too smart, however. He figured that since our airplane came from Toronto, that he should wait for us at Customs, not realizing that travelers from Canada clear US customs in Canada. After waiting a half-hour, I called the transportation company, and they tracked him down.
Arriving at the Hyatt Regency hotel at 10am, we were too early for a room, which I expected. They did register us, and then told me the room rate was not pre-paid. Later I found out that the Hyatt made the same mistake with several others; even at check-out, the problem had not been resolved, but later received the message that the charges had been reversed.
I spent two days in Balitmore with just the clothes on my back. (My daughter thought her "It's Not Easy Being a Princess" t-shirt would probably not fit me.) I wasn't much worried about the clothes (those are replaceable), but the missing chargers for my digital camera, Sony Clie, and CD player meant they would be useless after 2-3 days of use.
The suitcase arrived Sunday nite, 36 hours late. I called back Air Canada to find out why the suitcase had not moved the 20 feet from the airplane's stair to its luggage compartment, but they had no idea.
Baltimore is not the first place that comes to mind when we think of "tourist destinations," especially with the domineering Washinton DC just 30 miles (50km) away. To the city's credit, they've turned the Inner Habour area into a very tourist-friendly neighbourhood. In fact, it reminds me very much of Sydney's Darling Harbour -- perhaps one was modelled after the other.
One of several historical ships docked in the harbor, the Chesapeake is a former lighthouse ship.
Saturday, Heidi and I wandered around the Inner Harbour; I had to ask four security guards before I found Bentley's very quiet registration area in the mamothly confusing Convention Center.
Sunday we slept in until 10:30, and then went to the Science Museum. Since some exhibits were being rennovated, the admission price was 50% off (US$6 each). For lunch, I had "crab cakes" a local delicacy, which I didn't care much for: they're like a hamburger made with crab meat, as well as lemon juice, mayo, etc. We had supper at Uno, where I found a long, thick, black hair in my vegetables, so they took $5 off the bill.
My daughter Heidi on the escalator up to the rain forest exhibit at the National Aquarium.
One afternoon, we went to the National Aquarium, saw the dolphin show, and then had supper at The Cheesecake Factory, which has a 22-page menu.
While checking out of the Hyatt, the overly-cheerful employee asked where we were headed today. I replied, "Abbotsford." She replied, "Is that in New Jersey? I don't recognize Abbotsville."
BUIC Conference
The Bentley International User Conference is the annual get-together of MicroStation users; some of the CAD media tag along to provide reportage. Much is said during a five-day event; for me, the three most important announcements were:
Miscellaneous items:
Next Releases of MicroStation
MicroStation V8.2 will add feature modelling, sheet composition enhancmenets, PDF creation, and enhancements to text styles, visualization, and dimensioning -- as well as DWG 2004 read/write. It is due to go into beta this October, and to ship next January.
The release after V8.2, code-named Mozart, emphasizes changes to the CAD software's internal systems. For example, it will use the .Net programming environment, further locking Bentley into Microsoft's vision of how computers should run.
MicroStation users will probably get excited over right-click menus, edit handles, customization of the keyboard and mouse buttons, property panes, transparency, real-time zoom, and redraw cleanup. Problem is that arch-competitor AutoCAD will have had these features for several years by the time Mozart ships in 2005.
In support of design files, Bentley promizes Mozart will handle parametric relationships, shared files (where more than one user can edit the same file at the same time), ProjectWise enhancements, and unspecified productivity improvements.
V8.2 and Mozart were, unfortunately, kept at a distance from the crowds. Martyn Day, another jounalist at BIUC, said he only got to see Mozart after complaining to Bentley about the "inaudible, invisible demo" in the crowded reception hall. "I think MicroStation's interface will be closer to Inventor than AutoCAD's evolutionary GUI pace. Old-school users will be able to keep the old one if they should so wish," he reports.
While the audience cheered at support for DWG 2004, it won't be available until V8.2 ships -- nearly a year after AutoCAD 2004 beta came into wide circulation. Co-cto Keith Bentley pointedly remarked that Autodesk went to great lenghts to make DWG more difficult to read without help, and they won't give any help. He went on to show how Autodesk's own Volo View 2002 and Express View cannot display DWG 2004 files, but that a modified verison of MicroStation V8.1 can, as could the free MicroStation View. This is a victory for Bentley, because Autodesk is not providing a free DWG viewer that handles 2004 files.
He also scoffed at password protection in DWG 2004, because it allows another user to save the drawing without a password -- a much weaker approach than MicroStation V8.1's digital rights management. Mr Bentley emphasized that his DGN format changes once every 15 years {I don't know about that], as opposed to DWG changing every couple of years.
Keith Bentley began his keynote address listing some of the things he's learned over the last 15 years in CAD:
ESRI and Bentley Get Tighter
I don't normally cover GIS, because Adena Schutzberg does the best job in her 'GIS Monitor' e-newsletter. But I found Bentley's pronouncements on the company's involvement with GIS fascinating, and perhaps a model for other incompatible systems to relate to each other. Incompatible, because CAD works with (1) what is meant to be built and (2) static drawings, whereas GIS works with (1) what is already in place and (2) databases (drawings are generated on the fly). Namely:
Read up Ms Schutzberg's BIUC report at http://www.gismonitor.com/news/newsletter/archive/052203.php
Other News
During BIUC, Bentley employees used the word "lifecycle" a lot, but without the "product" prefix and "management" suffix. Their version is "Design Build Operate". Bentley has finally decided to concentrate on four verticals: building, civil, geospatial, and plant. They were pleased to be #1 in conceptual plan design, the fist time Bentley has been able to say that they are #1 in anything, ceo Greg Bentley remarked wryly. Also, they are #2 in the AECO market (AEC & operations).
During his keynote, Greg Bentley said he hoped that this is the bottom of the economic cycle, and that with last week's announcement of deflation, that we've seen everything. As for Bentley's planned IPO [inital public offering of shares], he said the company has waited 17 years, and can afford to wait longer.
He reported a set of financial numbers that managed to confuse me. Last year's revenues, according to GAAP [generally-accepted accounting procudures] were US$230 million. The company had 6% growth before acquistions, 0% growth afer acquisitions. The company made six acquisitions in the last 12 months, with more to come.
For a second year, he showed a graph showing Autodesk's gross revenues decling, while Bentley's keep increasing -- calling this "Our Millennium."
Booth Visitation
While Bentley's financial picture is glowing, the number of exhibits was -- well, small. The third-party booths seemed all the tinier by the overwhelming presence of Bentley's mamoth area.
Matrox has two new graphics boards, but I had to get Ron Berty to explain how they differ. Essentially the 64MB P-series are lower-priced versions of the top-end Parhelia (US$399 and up). The P650 (US$169) handles two displays; the P750 (US$235) handles three displays and tv output. I was interested to see that LCD monitors now have thinner bezels (the frame around the display), making side-by-side LCD displays more practical.
I asked Mr Berty about Matrox's place in the graphics board market, what with ATI and nVidia fighting it out. Privately-owned Matrox decided on niche markets: CAD/CAM, medical imaging, digital video, multi-monitor displays. http://www.matroxcad.com
FileNet is a company whose name I thought was a holdover from the frantic dot.com days. But no, Ron Beck explained to me, they've been around for 15 years. Last year, they thought of changing the name, but customers preferred they keep Filenet. Quite frankly, I had a hard time understanding the company's service -- at first.
In essence, FileNet consolidates multiple repositories of information into a single database. They work with other vendors, such as Spicer, Cimmetry, Bentley Systems, SAP, and ESRI to make any kind of document available to all employees. Their system also streamlines document creation and workflow. FileNet has a "connector" that accesses data stored in Bentley's ProjectWise database. http://www.filenet.com
During Mr Beck's presentation, the fire alarm went off -- an impressive combination of braying alarm, flashing strobe lights, and automated voice announcement. Attendees looked around, then went back to their conversations. No one was going to embass himself by being the first wimp to leave. When the braying-flashing-announcements weren't going to stop, the crowd psychology changed and people began to exit. Later we found that a booth at the neighbourig signage conference was emitting smoke, setting off the alarm.
From the Adobe booth, I learned that Acrobat 6 ships end of this month. http://www.adobe.com
The old Bank of America building peeks out between modern highrises.
The hundred-year-old power plant converted into a bookstore and restaurants.
Inside the bookstore section of the PowerPlant, the old smokestacks.
"Believe" banners decorate several buildings, advertising an anti-drug campaign.
