Novedge Pulse™ of Robin Capper

I found this video via an Aussie Tablet PC Blog, A demo showing Tekla BIMSight running on a Motion Tablet.Motion F5t Tablet – BIM Demonstration(Building Information Modelling) | Tablet PC BlogAs demonstrated in the video below, the really awesome thing about a Windows tablet (Windows 7 or Windows 8) is having a full operating system that can run full Windows programs with all of their power and complexity in a mobile form factor.The video shows the Motion F5t running Tekla BIMSight and as you’ll see the Motion F5t is built to handle the complex 3D modelling in the program with ease [more...]

I got to ‘know’ Chris Yanchar via Architectural Desktop Beta, Discussion Groups and his Autodesk “Between The Walls” ADT blog but we first met at Autodesk University 2004 (right).I don’t usually post jobs on here but this morning a rather special request arrived in my inbox. If you’re a Revit user, doing construction modelling in particular, who thinks “this could be better” the role below might be for you:We're looking for a candidate to join the Revit User Experience team with very specific experience in construction modelling. We'd be most grateful if you'd consider sharing the below message with your readers.Best, Chris Yanchar Senior Manager, Revit User Experience on behalf of the Autodesk® Revit® teamSenior User Experience Designer – Autodesk RevitPrimary Location: Waltham, MassachusettsYou are an expert in modelling for construction. You pursued this career path because you are energized by complex problems, passionate about getting the details right, and convinced that technology can shape our environment. You are a designer at heart. You are able to lead and also follow. You want to work collaboratively with a team of equally committed, talented, and driven professionals. If this is you, we'd like you to consider joining our team as a user experience designer for Revit, focused on modelling for construction. Don't worry if you've never written a line of code or designed a software application, if you are the right candidate, we can teach you what you need to know user experience design.Are you excited by this opportunity? If so, you can review the full position posting here. Please send a statement of interest and resume to chris.yanchar@autodesk.com. Want to wow us? Send us a link to some work of which you are really proud and tell us about your role in making it real [more...]

Several years ago I blogged about finding Cadman Rd in Auckland & wondered if there were any place names with BIM (Building Information Model). Google maps showed just one in New Zealand: Bims Rd in a fairly isolated part of the South Island near Nelson Lakes. By chance I had been there and even taken a photo, perhaps not a surprise given the number I shoot on holiday, of the valley while on a cycle tour. Yesterday the cycle tour I’ve just finished passed by there again so I just had to stop and get a real photo.Bims Road is a small forest access road, by coincidence, just a few kilometres from ‘Robin Road’! BIM is everywhere [more...]

It’s a busy time for Revit related events. Just a reminder of those coming up this month in addition to the usual RUGAKL Meetup on Wed 15th May.Revit Technology Conference on-line registration deadlines looming & AUGI offer:There is only about a week left for On-line Revit Technology Conference Australasia 2013 registration (available until May 10th). You can register on-site from 11th until the start date but at a slightly higher price. I have also been told there are “only a handful” of conference/accommodation package deals available if you want to stay at the venue at conference rates.Autodesk User Group International (AUGI) is a Gold Sponsor of RTC Australasia 2013 and is giving AUGI members the chance to win a conference pass and 4 nights' accommodation! If you are an AUGI member all you need to do is register by end of day Wednesday 8 May. If you are the lucky winner you will then receive the registration package complimentary (and be refunded as applicable).Event: Thursday, 16 May, 2013 - Saturday, 18 May, 2013, The Langham, AucklandDetails and register at RTC Australasia 2013 – www.rtcevents.com/rtc2013au/Info about AUGI at www.AUGI.comCADPRO Discover the Autodesk 2014 Software Portfolio (Auckland)Includes Manufacturing and AEC PresentationsTuesday 7 May, Aotea Centre, Auckland, 3:30 - 7:45pmDetails and register at www.cadpro.co.nzA2K BIM and Legal Responsibilities Breakfast PresentationWednesday 15th May, Rendezvous Grand Hotel, Auckland, 7:30am - 9:30amDetails and register at www.a2ktechnologies.co.nz [more...]

Worlds of interest collide for the next Auckland Nerd Nite. Meet, greet, listen, talk, have a drink or two as Nerd Nite talks nanotechnology, 3D printing and analog computing. I will be both there and square!Auckland.Nerdnite.comBack to it. nerdnite returns, same bat-time, same bat-channel, with a technologically orientated evening. Materials science, 3d printing and differential analysers (google them, they're awesome machines).First up, we have Shaun Hendy, visiting us all the way from Wellington. Shaun is a physicist by trade, specialising in nanotech and materials science, and will be speaking about economics, science and innovation in his talk entitled "Get Off the Grass".Our second speaker Danny Dillen is a product designer currently running his own small 3D printing, prototyping and product development company in auckland. He will be introducing us to 3D printing methods, particularly the newer filament extruder printers which have begun to dominate the consumer market, as opposed to the half million dollar+ machines used in industry.We also have William Irwin, a volunteer from MOTAT, who will be taking us through the history and restoration of the Meccano Differential Analyser No. 2, an analog computer that solves differential equations. This particular one was used to help build Benmore Hydro Dam, and design the bouncing bombs used to destroy hydro damns in the Ruhr Valley during WWII.When: Tuesday, 7 May 2013, 18:30Where: Nectar, 472 New North Road Kingsland, AucklandDetails and RSVP: facebook.com/groups/nerdniteAklnd/ (but you can just turn up [more...]

RTC is coming to Auckland, New Zealand. I’ll be there and the organisers just announced another incentive to attend. In addition to the best of Revit training, networking, fun and frolics there is a chance to win a mobile workstation:Register before 12noon on Wednesday May1 to WIN!!!!With only two weeks to go, we are offering delegates registered by 12noon (AEST) on Wednesday 1 May, the chance to win a 'Dell M6700 17" Mobile Workstation' thanks to AECOM, simply by registering as a Full Conference Delegate or Principal. This is your chance to take home more from RTC Australasia…don’t worry all of you who have already registered as a Full Conference Delegate/Principal, as you have an entry into the competition too. With presentations, labs and accommodation filling up fast, it’s time to secure your place at RTC Australasia! Register today.Details on RTC AU:RTC Australasia 2013 – www.rtcevents.com/rtc2013au/The ninth Australasian Revit Technology Conference will be held at the Langham Hotel Auckland on 16 – 18 May 2013.Learn from some of the world's top instructors and industry experts. Share ideas and insights with an international community of your peers. Explore the latest trends and technologies Network with your peers Cultivate important business and professional contacts that can benefit your company and your career. Come to learn from the experts and leave with a wealth of knowledge, practical methods, and new ideas. See how Revit and related applications drive ESD analysis and simulation. Unlock the potential of BIM to streamline the building procurement and construction process. Overview of new features Best Practice methods Tips and tricks from experts CPD formal and informal points [more...]

The good news is a bunch of Autodesk 2014 applications and suites are now available for download. The bad news, based on my experience, is getting them may not be so easy. It must be said I do live in a country at the end of the world not famed for its Internet connectivity but still…Subscription not quite ready for Windows 8The 2014 applications have been built for Windows 8 but the site where you get them isn’t. With the IE10 browser in Windows 8 the instant you start typing in the User ID or Password sign in fields the entire panel, outlined in red below, disappears. I found this is just a graphic problem and if you keep typing (use tab between fields) then hit enter the subscription site opens correctly. If you get your details wrong a new page loads with just the sign in panel and it works normally too! Once inside there everything appears to work normally. The download manager which doesn’t manageThere is an option to install a download manager. I found this to be less reliable, if maybe quicker than the browser, and lacked the one feature I expect a download manager to have. You can pause/restart downloads but if it fails, and I learnt this by experience several times, there is no recovery or resume to save downloading the entire file again.Another thing I found confusing is the website shows the compressed file size, 15.4GB for my suite, but the download manager reports the uncompressed 58GB size as it receives the file.Browser download not a pop-up free zoneBrowser download was more reliable (for me) but comes with a potential snag. The suite I was downloading is packaged as a multi-part zip file and for the first attempt I only got part 1, just 4GB of the 15GB I was expecting.It seems hard to believe given the ubiquity of pop-up blockers that the browser download relies on pop-ups but it does. I wondered if it was another Windows 8 thing but after disabling the pop-up blocker IE10 downloaded the components with none of the failures I experienced from the download manager.So after a couple of hours I finally got the package I needed and it was time to install. That is another saga I’ll save for a future post as I have a GP2 race to watch [more...]

I’m interested in your views regarding next weeks Revit User Group Auckland Meeting topic:Revit that isn't BIM? : You know, when people draft stuff that should be modelled. It's often done for a reason: ignorance, no access to the right tools (like rooms in structure), deadline pressure, Revit output not matching legacy drafting expectations.Is there a way to avoid or handle the non-BIM'ness that Revit allows?We are looking for good and bad examples, reasons to un-BIM Revit or ways to prevent it. If you’re in Auckland next week come along but if that’s not possible feel free to share your thoughts via a comment on this post or Email Me. Would love to have more real world examples to quote, anonymously if you wish.Meeting Details and RSVP at Meetup:April Meeting - Revit that isn't BIM, the good & badWednesday, April 17, 2013 5:30 PM @ Jasma [more...]

A week or so back Microsoft released an update for the Windows 8 People, Mail, Calendar, Messenger application.The updates introduce some useful refinements to the rather basic, to be kind, first generation application. I say application, rather than applications, as these four Start Menu Tiles are just different aspects of a single Windows Store app. I have Outlook, hooked up to Outlook.com for personal email, but often just use the Windows 8 apps and their live tile reminders for quick updates! I don’t use Messenger at all but find Calendar, Mail and, most of all, People applications useful.Why People?If you link social services like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google & Skype to your Microsoft Account People will aggregate contact details and create a combined contact. You can also manually link contacts to see a persons Outlook (or Outlook.com), Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Skype and Google profile info as one contact. It is a nice way to aggregate work, social and personal contacts. View Profile also gives one click access to their full profile on the service providing the information.People is SocialPeople aggregates social interactions from all your contacts:Social shows notifications from Facebook & Twitter which mention you. What’s New shows recent posts from your contacts on Facebook and Twitter. Although basic, having this sort of access on any Windows 8 machine (when you log in with Microsoft account) is nice. Being able to respond without logging into separate services is also handy, especially if you can avoid that awful Facebook website!Lonely People - My update to less?Unfortunately the March update crippled this integration as only a few linked accounts showed in People. It offered to reconnect the missing services, even confirmed that had worked via an email, but still nothing. If I manually added the service it appeared to connect but no information appeared.Compare the Social and What’s New panels below with those above right and the lack of Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype or Twitter accounts.What to fix, account or application?When I looked at my Microsoft Account on-line the services were linked and all appeared fine. I even removed and re-added a service to reset the application permissions. I also tried removing and reinstalling the People application. When this didn’t help I gave up and looked to the Microsoft Community Support forums for an answer. A problem shared, a problem solved!I found I wasn’t alone but none of the suggested fixes worked for me. This included removing/re-installing the app, a Windows 8 App Trouble-shooter and System Files Check. I didn’t go as far as a complete Windows reset as that seemed a rather extreme step for one misbehaving application component (Calendar and Mail were fine).However this process triggered a thought and I discovered a fix which did work. The clue was this happened on both my Windows 8 machines so not install/profile specific. As the mail and calendar were working I suspected my Microsoft Account was also ok.My desktop is a Windows 7 to 8 upgrade, the Samsung a new Windows 8 Machine. Both had one application which wasn’t present when the original People application was installed/configured and that turned out to be the culprit:As posted to Microsoft Community Support:Thanks for your help. The above didn't solve it but did set me thinking. The install was done with my Anti-virus, ZoneAlarm, running. I tried these steps and it worked;Shut down ZoneAlarm (right click on desktop tray icon shutdown) Right click uninstall People App Reboot machine Shutdown ZoneAlarm (restarts on reboot) Install the People App from Windows Store Start the People App, all the accounts establish and begin syncing Close it and restart machineResult is fully functioning People app with ZoneAlarm running.It appears People will work fine with the antivirus active but something gets blocked if running during the install and initial set-up. Whilst common for desktop applications to require AV to be disabled during install I haven’t seen this with any other Windows Store applications. This fix worked on both machines so now I have happy smiley People everywhere [more...]

March 31st means it is blog’iversary time again. I find it hard to believe nine years have flown by since that first tentative post. To everyone, everywhere, thanks for visiting, reading and subscribing!Statistics:Last year broke the million visit mark and in spite of reduced posting from me this year, this is a hobby!, visits held up.Visits & Subscribers:The weekly “blog beat” is fairly constant apart from a blip caused by over 300 visits to one post, of only two I made, in April.In spite of RSS and feed technology not being talked about much and, soon, Google actively discouraging readers subscriptions are still steadily growing. Location:As usual the US dominates but nice to see Australasia third behind Northern Europe in the regional list.Browser & Operating System:It’s interesting to watch this over the years even if it doesn’t really mean much. Compared to 2012 IE lost 4% and Firefox was also down 5%. iOS Safari also rose to 2.2% from 0.68% last year.The winner was Chrome up 6% and, for the first time on my blog, overtaking IE. Windows 8 arrived in my platform/browser stats and, perhaps more surprising, someone out there is still using Windows 98!Thanks for reading, see you in year ten [more...]

Autodesk have unveiled a new look Autodesk.com and announced their 2014 product updates. The new look Autodesk, hinted at earlier this month, comes with updates to existing products, new applications, revised industry specific Design Suites and Autodesk 360 Cloud Services. Check out the announcement below and details at http://www.autodesk.com/I’ve had a peak a some of the 2014 line-up and will be posting about the release product when they are available [more...]

Techsmith have posted a useful guide on using Snagit 11 with Windows 8. Although it is a desktop app (no RT version yet) you can capture the Start Screen and Modern UI applications with the use of hotkeys. There’s also a guide to adding Snagit to the Start Screen & Taskbar for quick access. Using Snagit 11 on Windows 8 - www.techsmith.co [more...]

I love that something which began with a pencil scribble on paper and bit of sticky tape could be the solution to mobile power compromises. It is a long way from lab to shop floor but this looks promising.The Graphene-Based Super Capacitor - Next at Microsoft - TechNet Blogs“Meanwhile, two scientists at UCLA have made a graphene discovery of their own that could charge an electric vehicle in a matter of minutes or a cellphone in mere seconds. As the video says, this could be a very big deal” [more...]

Google are killing Reader, their RSS feed aggregator:Official Blog: A second spring of cleaning“We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader.”Who cares about RSS? I do!Google cite declining Reader use and I wonder if Twitter and Facebook have killed RSS? While I use both, tolerating Facebook and loving Twitter, I still use RSS in the way I used to use newspapers!I don’t read all the content of all 1200+ feeds I subscribe to but use them to get information about a subject when I need it.Today the Formula 1 season begins so I’ll review the bunch of Formula 1 site feeds I follow for the the first time in months. I was a work when Samsung launched the Galaxy S4 but reviewing my mobile IT feeds is the most efficient way to catch up with that.While Twitter can tell you a post is there and is awesome for near live interaction there is no way it can compete with RSS as a knowledge aggregator. Tweets just disappear too fast. Facebook only tells you what others are interested in via a crappy web interface!Looking for an Alternative?Although I had imported my feeds into Google Reader — primarily for travel access — on the PC I use an off-line reader. The demise of Google’s Reader doesn’t really worry me but I am looking for an alternative to RSS Bandit. It began as a .net demo project from some Microsoft Employees and was then made open source. Development has stalled — last updated in 2009 — so I’m on the search for a good Windows 7 (work), 8 (home) and Phone RSS reader. Ironic that I was seriously considering converting to full on use of Google Reader!I was hoping to find a good Windows 8 Modern reader but the few that I’ve tried haven’t impressed. Many, like iPhone/iPad, apps rely on Google Reader API and just present the info it provides or they just collapse in a heap when my 1200+ feeds are imported.Feedburner lives… on death-watch?I was somewhat surprised this Google ‘spring clean’ spared the Feedburner feed service. I’m glad as my own TypePad feeds use FeedBurner for a few reasons:It detached the feed from the blog platform. The prime reason for that is you could change platforms without requiring readers to re-subscribe. Ironic I am still very happy with TypePad and FeedBurner is the service in doubt!It added useful extras like serving the post headlines and excerpts which are seen on my index page. It also provided feed use stats, of dubious value recently, which TypePad does not report at all.FeedBurner was a great company, innovative and responsive to user feedback. Then Google took over and I thought it would develop further. How wrong that was! Apart from porting the reporting to their ‘Google Analytics look’ Google have pretty much ignored it since acquisition. I regard FeedBurner as being on death-watch as Google have killed their FeedBurner blog, Twitter account and Adsense for [RSS] Feeds. Seems like RSS is dead for Google. FeedBurner has also become unreliable with quite frequent ‘0 report days’ Google don’t seem to give a damn about fixing.Reader goes, readers gone?One thing the demise of Reader may reveal is the worth of Google’s feed statistics. According to Feedburner the vast majority of my 9000’ish feed ‘subscriptions’ are from Google Feedfetcher. I have often wondered about the validity of this number, even tested it. When Reader goes will they disappear too?* Google Feedfetcher: Feedfetcher is how Google grabs RSS or Atom feeds when users subscribe to them in Google Reader or iGoogle [more...]

Since I’ve been a customer I can only remember a couple of changes in Autodesk branding. They recently they announced a new logo so it is goodbye to the old:Hello to the new:Autodesk, autodesk, Autodesk, AUTODESK?I like the new logo but wonder about the uppercase text. There was a brief flirtation with lowercase in the early part of this century (see photo below) but now ‘Autodesk’ has become, the little bit shouty, ‘AUTODESK’. I’m glad this seems to be confined to the logo unlike some brands which carry their case sensitivity into normal text use. I’m thinking about you Mini, mini, I mean MINI. That said AUTODESK would have been a trivial change to one ActiveWord for me. I just type, or scrawl on a tablet pc, ‘adesk’ and ActiveWords does the rest!Not my Father’s Autodesk?The title of this post, by Chris Bradshaw, introducing the new look made me smile:Not Your Father’s Autodesk - In The Foldby Chris Bradshaw, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, AutodeskOur new brand made its public debut today at this year’s TED held in Long Beach, Calif., where thinkers from around the world gathered to brainstorm and spread ideas. We could not think of a better place to unveil Autodesk’s new look than the premier conference about technology, entertainment and design…My, can I say here?, 70+some year old my Dad is a — supposed to be retired but keeps on working — Printing Engineer with an interest in CNC machining, a PC and an iPad. He is a ‘maker’, mostly machine parts & stuff for his yacht, but his fabrication is physical rather than digital. I didn’t inherit this ability as can create things in the computer, but am hopeless at real world making. He can build anything with precision in the real world but consults me about computer stuff! Perhaps easy to use consumer focused digital design solutions like 123Dapp.com means it really is more My Father’s Autodesk!A rebrand closer to homeAs I write Autodesk.com is still showing the old logo. I’m not surprised as a change like this is a huge transition. My employer The Warehouse is in the midst of a pretty subtle rebranding exercise; the second in its 30 year history. In 2005 the original 1980s logo was modernised: The current change is removal of yellow from logo and, where it has much more impact, customer level signage, ticketing etc. for a much cleaner simpler look. Amazing to see how even a subtle change impacts perception — customers do notice — but also how much work is involved.Time update my ‘Autodesk Sign photo’?Back in 2004 when I visited, first met other than virtually, Shaan Hurley at Autodesk he took this photo. The logo, and both of us, have changed a bit since then! Perhaps its time for another trip to San Francisco (my favourite US city of the few I’ve visited) for a reshoot [more...]

I’ve been using Windows Live Writer to create drafts for this blog for several years. The, recently decommissioned, Mesh/Live Mesh sync service to enabled me to blog from my PC or Netbook. When I fired up Windows Live Writer all the post drafts, images and other resources would be identical.SkyDrive, nearly but not quite MeshMicrosoft SkyDrive is the Mesh replacement. It is nicely integrated in Windows 8/Office 13 but it has one (for me) crucial missing feature. Mesh allowed you to sync any folder, anywhere, to any chosen location on the other machine. I could use Mesh to clone C:\Users\RobinCapper\My Documents\My Weblog Posts to say C:\Users\RCNetbook\My Documents\My Weblog Posts and all the contents sync'd. With SkyDrive Microsoft chose to follow the Dropbox model and forces you to build a Sync folder hierarchy under the hardcoded User/SkyDrive Folder. Unfortunately Windows Live Writer is hard coded to save drafts in User\My Documents\My Weblog Posts which SkyDrive does not sync. It was one reason I much preferred Mesh to Dropbox.Redirect Live Writer hackThis hack from LEHSYS allows you to redirect the Live Writer folders, so I can use SkyDrive!How to change the Drafts and Recent Posts folder in Windows Live Writer 2011 | LEHSYSWindows Live Writer is a fantastic offline blogging tool with a WYSIWYG editor. It interfaces with just about any blog service [Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress, etc.] If you’re a blogger you’ll find this tool incredibly helpful- and it’s refreshingly free from Microsoft. One of the things that’s a hindrance to the application; it doesn’t let you choose where you want to put your drafts and recent posts. But ah-ha! Seems after years of asking, there’s a registry hack for Windows Live Writer that’ll allow you to save your Drafts and Recent posts anywhere you’d like…Their post has full details and, if you’re not comfortable editing the registry, a utility to do the change for you but these are the basic steps:Open up regedit (in Win7, just type “regedit” into the start menu) Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live\Writer Right click on the “Writer” folder in the left pane and choose New > String Value Name the value PostsDirectory and then double-click on it to edit You can try pointing it to your documents folder, which is normally “C:\Users\\Documents\” in Win7 Or point it somewhere else. Note that Writer will create two child folders wherever you point it: Drafts and Recent Posts This works on the Windows 7/Essentials 11 and Windows 8/Essentials 12 [more...]

After a couple of weeks with my Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro I have returned it. I hope to get it, or another, back but am currently waiting for ‘the verdict’. After a couple of weeks home use this is how I found life with a Windows 8 hybrid tablet/ultra-book.What’s right – The ATIV as a TabletThe ATIV, and the Windows 8 Modern User Interface (formerly Metro ), worked beautifully as a tablet. Start-up from sleep took only a few seconds (thanks to SSD + i5 I suspect). Windows 8 picture password means you can logon without encountering even an onscreen keyboard (although that option was there too). User accounts allow a tablet to be more than ‘your tablet’.The powerful hardware (i5) made touch gestures, typing, inking and sketching input very responsive. For “consumption” (aka the iPad role) I found Modern UI/Windows Store applications to do nearly all I wanted. In fact Tweetro+ is the most elegant Twitter application I’ve used on any platform. In this mode the only thing I didn’t find was a good RSS feed reader which could handle the 1200+ feeds I currently have. At this stage the flexibility of an x86 based system came to the fore as I installed my faithful old RSS Bandit desktop application. I also installed Windows Essentials (mainly for Live Writer), CorelDraw and Office desktop applications for blogging and other work.The 1980 x 1080 HD widescreen was great for media and allows two Modern apps to be used in split mode. Windows Modern UI handles screen scaling seamlessly but I had to bump up the Windows Desktop font scaling to 150% to see the small text. It also prompted me to actually get to an optometrist appointment I put off last year. I didn’t factor new glasses into the computer purchase budget but do need them. Strangely it is because my eyes have improved a little. If this trend continues if I live to about 150 I won’t need corrective glasses at all!The legacy desktop is useable, if not pleasant, in tablet mode but shows why Microsoft HAD to reinvent a touch based UI. The Windows 8 gestures, swiping to flip between apps and bring up the ‘Charms’ menu, soon seem so natural. The context nature of charms in Modern apps — like search/share applying to the app you search from and new ‘send to device’ for print — does take some getting used to but soon become second nature.Pen input was lovely. The supplied dock-able pen is a little short but inking and sketching was fine. Windows 8 text recognition works really well, either as you input or just for hand writing background search.I did not miss the Start Button/Menu at all. The Start Screen is far more powerful, in my opinion more useable, with tiles bringing the applications to life. In fact Samsung bundle a “launcher” which seems to be there for Start button devotes, but I turned it off.I’ve spent some time on an iPad since getting this and in comparison it just felt a bit ‘old’. The iPad might have a massive lead in the app store — and some better bundled apps — but I think it is now far behind in terms of user interaction. What’s right – The ATIV as an ultra-bookSlap the ATIV Tablet into its keyboard dock and you have an acceptable mid range ultra-book. Mechanical (island style) keys are far better than any onscreen keyboard for serious typing. The touchpad does take some getting used to as has the left/right click as part of its surface rather than separate buttons. I had a few miss clicks before turning down the sensitivity a bit. I questioned the usefulness of a touchpad when you have a touch screen but preferred it for precision tasks in laptop mode. I found myself flipping pages, pinch zooming and changing applications on the touch screen but found precise cursor positioning or drag n drop editing was easier with the touchpad. It was nice to have the choice.The dock also adds a couple more USB ports although they are 2.0 vs the single 3.0 USB on the tablet. It is pretty solid, but only just balances the 880 gram screen which contains all the hardware and battery. It is a pity they didn’t put extra battery in the keyboard rather than just dead weight. One advantage of having all the hardware (therefore heat) in the screen is you can actually use this unit on your lap without cooking, even warming, it…Image from Samsung ATIVWhat’s wrong – It’s a matter of power, or notI found the battery life pretty good. I didn’t do any timed runs but found the ATIV would easily last a evening of tweeting, blog reading, writing and web browsing. Running heavy apps would drain the battery more rapidly but 5-7 hours mixed use was realistic.However ‘range anxiety’, to steal an electric car term, isn’t helped by both the Windows 8 Modern UI and ATIV hardware hindering easy monitoring of battery charge/state. When running swiping the charms displays a basic battery charge indicator but it lacks an accurate %’age or estimated time remaining. Bizarrely hovering over the charge indicator on the desktop taskbar reveals this info so the OS knows what the Modern UI doesn’t reveal.The tablet component of the ATIV has a dedicated micro-plug to connect to the the power supply. As it runs an i5 chip and has pretty hefty battery to charge this requires mains power from a small plug-pack, similar to netbooks, rather than the USB chargers less power hungry tablets use.The ATIV has a blue LED to indicate it is running but when sleeping gives no indication it is charging or charged. That seems odd especially when my old $400 Samsung Netbook, less than 1/4 the ATIV cost, has a bi-colour red/green charge indicator. You can press the Windows Logo key, the only button on the tablet face, to see a brief indication of the battery state & charge on the display but that’s all.Returned due to lack of powerWhat makes this charge monitoring worse is the keyboard dock had a problem. When docked the Tablet power input is covered by the hinge/dock. There is another power input on the keyboard which feeds to the tablet via a small multi-pin connector. As there is no battery in the keyboard (a missed opportunity) this connection is vital to run/charge the unit when docked. On the ATIV this docking is locked by two cam-latches and requires a push button to release.Even when properly docked, and latched, my ATIV proved to be very sensitive and the power randomly disconnected. This was seen as the power plug appears/disappears and when the charge got low you got constant ‘plug in soon’ warnings. Even the vibration from typing, when used on my lap, was enough to cause this.It appears to be a manufacturing tolerance or design fault as the actual performance of the keyboard and touchpad was fine even as the power disconnected. You can, just, see the mains plug disappearing in this clip I shot before returning the unit. The lack of charge indication (when not running) meant you could not be sure if the docked unit was charging. Touching the screen to display the charge info was likely to disconnect it!ATIV Keyboard Dock Power problems, common or not?I have found a few references to “keyboard disconnect” on the web, even on the Samsung (US)Website reviews. It appears most related to early production models and seemed to be a total keyboard disconnect rather than just the wobbly power I experienced.What happens next?One thing I must praise is the retailer service. Although I work for a retailer that sells some Samsung product they don’t stock the Smart PC Pro. In fact the stock at those who did was limited, it seems they sell as soon as arrive. I purchased from a specialist computer store, with no mention of the blog or working for a partial competitor, so this is a typical customer experience. PB Tech were great. They acknowledged the problem, advised that the ‘fix’ might be replacement and I should back up any vital data before returning the unit (also offering to do that for me) and then dealt with Samsung service. They also provided a very clear indication of the assessment process and likely timescale.I happen to work next door to Samsung New Zealand and did go over to see them before returning the unit. They have only recently moved in and I wondered if the service facility was there. Although it is only a sales/admin office I was a little disappointed nobody, beyond the receptionist who did attempt to find someone for me, was prepared to talk about a product quality question. I can understand not dealing with technical problems but thought someone taking the time to politely ask about a potential fault might get more response.Anyway, as I write (back on my Samsung Netbook!) I await the verdict. I really liked the ATIV so am hoping it was a problem unit rather than fundamental design fault. I want it back [more...]

RTC is coming to Auckland, New Zealand. I’ve just registered and look forward to meeting you there.RTC Australasia 2013 – www.rtcevents.com/rtc2013au/The ninth Australasian Revit Technology Conference will be held at the Langham Hotel Auckland on 16 – 18 May 2013.Learn from some of the world's top instructors and industry experts. Share ideas and insights with an international community of your peers. Explore the latest trends and technologies Network with your peers Cultivate important business and professional contacts that can benefit your company and your career. Come to learn from the experts and leave with a wealth of knowledge, practical methods, and new ideas. See how Revit and related applications drive ESD analysis and simulation. Unlock the potential of BIM to streamline the building procurement and construction process. Overview of new features Best Practice methods Tips and tricks from experts CPD formal and informal points [more...]

Back in 2009 I wrote a post, which also spawned a new category “My Perfect PC”, prompted by the desire for a truly mobile design/drawing/documentation tool:My perfect computer - Part 1 - It comes out of the closet?Recently I was clearing out a closet and found what was, a long time ago, my design tool box:++ +An A3 board, mechanical/architectural templates plus a handful of drawing instruments meant I could draw pretty much anything...Later in the article I set out a spec for that device:Based on technology that's available today, or nearly here, I'd like:Powerful processor, memory, disk spec for CAD, BIM, Engineering Modelling.High quality separate graphics Touch, tablet like pen and voice interface. Full size keyboard with number pad, touch pad and stick. Power for decent mobile use (i.e 8 hours real work) Not too compact - 17" screen minimum Maybe even Windows 7Except they'll likely struggle with this requirement, unless lots of people buy them:Not too expensive...So I got a netbook?There was nothing really close at the time, and an iPad didn’t cut it for me, so as a gap filler I got a Samsung NetBook. Yes, a netbook.Many mock them but for blogging and mobile use, given the price, it really was quite OK. Windows 7 Starter meant it could run all the Windows apps I use for mail, blogging and RSS feed reading.256GB storage allowed photo/media storage and the keyboard, if not quite full-size, was fine for bashing out a blog post, email or whatever. I was surprised it even coped with some fairly heavy duty photo editing like stitching 6 x 15 megapixel images into a panorama and running Office applications.What it lacked was performance and screen size. pen, touch and the ability to run CAD to any degree due to limited processor, memory (2GB) and screen resolution.Why iOS didn’t cut it:The iPad transformed mobile computing in a way Microsoft’s Tablet OS failed to do but for me iOS has a couple of fatal flaws:Limited memory (RAM, not storage) meant even iOS optimised design data apps struggle with complex filesNo integrated handwriting recognition, aka “ink”. If you’ve never used ink (handwriting recognition) on a Tablet PC you might wonder why I think it essential. The direct input/convert to text is almost irrelevant as the power of ink is background conversion. Making written notes searchable is a powerful ability.Besides I had a hunch something better suited to my needs was coming along…Enter Windows 8 and the hybrid UltraTabBookWindows 8 brings iOS’like simplicity to touch operation with a massively powerful desktop application which happens to be what was once known as Windows. It really is two operating systems in one, something many find confusing.The mix of mobile (8 metro) and PC (8 desktop) is best leveraged with a hybrid hardware capable of touch, keyboard/mouse or pen input. You (well I) can’t type much with an onscreen keyboard, precision pointing with a finger is not realistic, either is sketching with a finger or mouse. There are times when typing is the best input, others when writing on a flat tablet is more appropriate.Break off the tablet and you have something which can replace an iPad (the big one), slap it in a dock and you have an ultra-book of sorts with SD storage, USB connectivity and HDMI output.Image from Samsung ATIVBut which hybrid?I checked out several but it came down to two options for me: Microsoft Surface Pro or Samsung ATIV Pro. The prime reason was other convertibles either run netbook type chips or are more like notebooks which split, spin or turn. The Surface & ATIV are more like an iPad with superior keyboard dock and a real operating system. They have almost identical spec but you can’t get any official Microsoft Surface in NZ, even the RT, so that leaves the ATIV. Lets look back at that wish list from a couple of years ago and what the ATIV Smart PC offers:Powerful processor ~i5 PentiumMemory ~ 4GB system memory Disk spec for CAD, BIM, Engineering Modelling ~ 128GB SSD, SD slot for up to 64GB more and a USB 3 port for up to (if you can afford it) another terabyte or so. High quality separate graphics ~ High quality (HD) 1980 x 1080 yes but not separate. Maybe not such a big deal as on-board graphics have improved since i wrote that.Touch, tablet like pen and voice interface ~ Touch Yes, Pen yes, and in app voice if you want. I hardly ever use as find both Apple & Microsoft voice input doesn’t cope well with my Kiwi akccint. Full size keyboard with number pad, touch pad and stick ~ The hardware keyboard lacks a number keypad, touch screen almost makes the touch pad irrelevant and no need for a track stick Power for decent mobile use (i.e 8 hours real work) ~ Samsung claim 5 – 8 hours for the ATIV. To date I’ve found nearer 6 than 8 for general use. Not too compact - 17" screen minimum ~ Ok, so 11” isn’t exactly 17” but the resolution makes the smaller screen more tolerable. The main desire fro larger was a digital equivalent to that old A3 board, the ATIV is more akin to an A4 one.Maybe even Windows 7 ~ When I wrote that there was speculation Microsoft might match iOS with a cut down OS based on Windows Phone. It turns out Windows 8 more like a new operating system with a Windows Desktop compatibility app for all those old programs! So that was near enough me to plonk down the credit card…First impressions of the ATIVThe Samsung unbox first impression doesn’t exactly match Apple. You get a fairly plain white box, same, with the hardware packed to keep it safe. Under the screen and keyboard was a box with power cord, transformer (nice & small) and a cleaning cloth. Documentation is a Quick Start Guide, Introduction to Windows 8 and Samsung Applications and consumer guarantee info. A bit surprising was a slip-sheet advising running software update before using the keyboard dock (with instructions on how to do that). There are no other adaptors, no mini-HDMI lead or a slip cover.The packaging doesn’t match Apple and to be honest either does the first impression of build quality (or to be fair the price). The screen unit, which contains all the PC hardware, is plastic —rather than alloy—and sports the obligatory tacky Intel Inside & Windows 8 logo stickers. It is 304 x 190 x 12mm but tapered to about 5mm at the edges so appears thinner. The screen is 1920 x 1080 HD and has ten point touch sensitivity. The back has four surface vents (intake) and one small edge exhaust revealling it runs a chipset which needs cooling.It is also quite heavy, Samsung quote 888 grams, but again that reflects all the hardware stuffed in there. You need not carry the keyboard if you don’t need it as Windows 8 offers two onscreen keyboards, std & split thumb layouts, and pen input without the dock.It does get warm, not hot, but the internals are arranged to put the heat generation and exhaust away from where you typically hold it. The lower half is, according to a help diagram, mostly battery and the intakes are placed above where you hold the tablet. There is a bit of fan noise, not annoying though, when the chip is working hard but typical browsing is almost silent. A couple of subtle grilles, about 3mm wide, on each side of the screen bezel hide stereo speakers capable of pretty decent output. Around the perimeter are ports for power/keyboard dock, USB 3, Mini HDMI, SD/MicroSD Card, Headphone & external mic and slim push button controls for power, screen rotation lock and volume. Also, hidden in a dock, is a pen with button erase for the Wacom tablet input. The tablet has built in mic and 2 megapixel front, 5 megapixel rear cameras.Image from Samsung ATIVThe keyboard dock has real keys, with mechanical action, and a multi-touch trackpad which allows you to work in true notebook mode if preferred. It has a nice action, familiar layout (from my netbook) and a mechanical latching dock hinge for the screen. One advantage of the ‘all in screen’ hardware is you can comfortably use it on your lap as there is no heat output from the base. Although stable you can tell there is a fair amount of mass in the screen making the balance, say when picking it up, different from a normal ultrabook. I think Samsung missed an opportunity not putting an extra battery in the dock, something one Acer model has done. Perhaps they should consider that as a future offer.The set-up was fairly painless but nearly all the Windows ‘Metro” and Samsung OEM Apps updated. Signing into my existing Microsoft account meant my settings, contacts, accounts and Windows Store apps appeared after a bit of streaming. One thing I discovered is once the SkyDrive Desktop app is installed you can copy the folder content from your other PC to speed the initial sync. This really used to upset Live Mesh but SkyDrive just acknowledged the files were there and synced changes from then on.Image from Samsung ATIVWhat 128GB SSD Storage means on an ATIV:A recent blog storm on Microsoft Surface storage (or supposed lack of) questioned the space requirements for Windows 8. It was nicely debunked by Ed Bott but had me wondering about the ATIV.I don’t remember what I started with but have installed:Windows 8 64Microsoft Office Professional 2010Microsoft Flight Simulator. This is my favourite ‘game’ and also a pretty good processor/graphics workout.Autodesk Design Review. Holding off on installing my Building Design Suite until Autodesk acknowledge ready for Windows 8.About 30nWindows Store apps including;Facebook Touch, Tweetro+ & SkypeNZ Herald, Stuff & BBC NewsTunein Radio & PodcastsYouTube, Vimeo and TED VideoBing & Google SearchFlightRadarSketchbook Express & Fresh PaintThe result after that space is reported as disk size 116.32 GB, 57.89 GB free and I still have the Samsung Recovery Drive data there. You can clone that off to a USB Drive to free up more storage.A slight concern about power:For now I’m settling in and the only real concern is a slightly flaky power connection when docked. As a tablet you can plug power directly into the screen but when docked that connector is hidden. The dock has its own power input but the link to the screen (and therefore battery recharge) seems a bit sensitive and occasionally the power comes & goes. What is odd is there seems to be only one connector and the keyboard command link seems really solid.Life with ATIV:From now on most of what you see here will be authored on the ATIV. Will report back on life with “My (nearly) perfect PC” as I learn more [more...]

A hefty chunk of the Aussie/NZ CAD ‘reseller’ space has changed with this announcement:AEC Systems, Karelcad, and ADA CADPartners merge business operations - A2K Technologies - www.a2ktechnologies.com.auAEC Systems, KarelCAD, and ADA CADPartners today announced they have merged their individual business operations. The new company, A2K Technologies, will commence trading on the 1st February, 2013… [more [more...]

I’ve been using this app for a while and find it really does help get things done. NeatSreets combines smartphone geo-location, photos and social reporting to make it really easy to report community hazards. Categories include Litter, Graffiti, Flood Damage, Footpath, Parking, Potholes, Signage, Traffic & Street Lights, Trolleys & more.For example: I noticed the summer heat had caused this bike path near my place to expand, crack & raise up. It is now about 100mm high and could be quite a hazard.On the phone fire up NeatStreets, take a photo, geo-location pinpoints the spot (near enough or drag the pin on the map to refine), pick the type of report, add a bit of descriptive text, Send. All that takes a minute or two at most.NeatStreets direct the report to the correct authority/organisation for the location & type of report. The recipients like it as get a detailed report, to send the correct response, and often have the NeatStreets response automated as part of their own incident management system.You can see the reply and report status (fixed/not) on your phone or the NeatStreets website.Reported, Sorted!NeatStreets Australia and New ZealandYou can use it to report local defects in your neighbourhood - anything from broken footpaths and faulty streetlights to abandoned shopping trolleys. The service automatically keeps you informed of progress until the issue gets fixed.The app is free for iPhone, Android, and WindowsPhone7/8 users. Your reports will also be accessible at: NeatStreets(AU) - www.neatstreets.com.auNeatStreets(NZ) - www.neatstreets.co.n [more...]

If, like me, you weren't able to get to Autodesk University 2012 it is now coming to you as all the recorded sessions are on-line. If you want to make the on-line experience a little more like being there cut some silhouettes out and stick them to your monitor (right).Autodesk University 2012 Classes Now Online FreeIf you want to learn from some of the best in the industry on Autodesk products and technologies then Autodesk University “AU” is the center of the universe. If you attended AU 2012 but were unable to attend some classes or didn’t attend, you can now get the great Autodesk University 2012 classes online and free now...via autodesk.blogs.co [more...]

This is my Windows 8 upgrade experience on an old’ish (2009) home PB Tech i5 PC. It had run Windows 7 64 from new with a mix of Autodesk Building Design Suite, Microsoft Office, CorelDRAW and a few simulator type games (Flightsim, F1, WRC and America’s Cup yachting). This is what I tried, what worked and what I recommend avoiding when switching to Windows 8. A change I do think worthwhile.Why bother with Windows 8 on an old non-touch desktop?The common opinion regarding Windows 8 is that it’s for touch enabled and new hardware. While it is designed for touch Windows is, was, well is, a desktop OS. I tend not to upgrade OS, or upgrade hardware that often, and my current home PC arrived not long after Windows 7.Although I’m considering new mobile hardware (currently that’s an iPhone & Netbook) I doubt I will upgrade my home desktop anytime soon. Upgrading the OS will keep it alive a few more years as still find it useful for CAD/image/video editing and data archive/server for more mobile machines.Also, I just want to try Windows 8 and $50 upgrade is a cheap way to do that. I had tried the consumer previews on virtual machines but found it was no way to judge the UI interaction. Windows 8 is very dependent on mouse/screen interaction and I found things like finding screen corners/edges unreliable on a virtual install.It was also a chance to evaluate Windows 8 before I get asked by my family PC support ‘clients’ if it is worthwhile, or to support their installs. So, credit card in hand it was time to try an online upgrade!Preparation:Unlike some, even experienced IT folks, I did do some preparation before proceeding:Backup: I did a full image backup with the Windows 7 Backup AND backed up user profiles with SyncBack. The idea was I could easily restore the full image if it all turned bad. SyncBack was set to just copy files, no compression etc, to a USB hard drive for easy access to any documents or settings without needing a full restore. Ran the Windows Upgrade Advisor: It precedes an upgrade install. You can run the advisor without doing the upgrade and save the results (as HTML file) to review before you go ahead. The Advisor suggested I needed to do several things before & after the upgrade: ZoneAlarm: It suggested checking with ZoneAlarm who had a free application upgrade waiting. I had to remove the existing ZoneAlarm before doing the Windows upgrade. Camtasia 7: Suggested a reinstall would be required after the upgrade. Suggested free & paid updates for a few utilities which were not vital to me. Install:I live tweeted my upgrade live, if nothing else, to give an idea of the process & time. The trail is reproduced in the extended post following this. Before hitting Twitter at 21:00 I had started the process with Compatibly Check, removing ZoneAlarm and completed the 2GB download and kicked off the actual install at 22:00.I used my machine admin account (with Administrator privileges) for the upgrade but the machine also had 3 user accounts with standard privileges.What to upgrade?Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant offers a clean install or allows you to retain existing data depending on your current Windows version:Windows XP: You can not migrate any settings or programs but can keep the data files from your personal profile Windows Vista: You can keep files and settings, but not installed programs. Windows 7: Being the closest to 8 you can choose whether you want to migrate files, settings & installed programs, just files, or nothing I was curious to see how well the Windows 7 ‘migrate’ option worked so chose Files, Settings & Programs.Installing!Once through the typical “Accept” dialogs it was hands off and watch it all happen. There were several reboots, through “getting ready”, preparing and installing. The Tweet trail in the extended post gives an idea of the process but I can confirm you get to know the new Windows 8 progress spinner, a circle of dots, rather well!The install completed about 23:55 (just under two hours).First run:First run was into the local admin account I had used for the upgrade. It picked up most settings fine but the Microsoft keyboard was not set to US, discovered when shift+2 did not result in an @! That was easily fixed in the settings, found from Start by typing “Keyboard” and selecting settings to filter the results.First logon & Microsoft account link:Any existing user accounts are migrated as “local” accounts. With Windows 8 you have the option, and it is not required, to link a local account to your Microsoft Account. It you’ve ever used for Windows Passport, Live, Hotmail/Live Mail/Outlook email, SkyDrive that login should work.This essentially gives a single sign on to most, if not quite all, Microsoft services and also allows you to sync settings with other Windows 8 PCs. Sign in and they adopt ‘your’ settings and personalisation. It was easy to link the account and add my Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yahoo Mail (used by my ISP) and Google accounts to the Windows 8 People, Mail and Calendar services.Initially it appeared this did little other than add some icons indicating connected services but there was an advisory notice about preparing data. It wasn’t until several hours later, for me at logon the next day, that all the apps populated with data and contact details. Once there is really is nice having a single view of people across linked services even if the current Windows 8 apps are quite basic. It would be even nicer if my Office Outlook contacts appeared there too…Post install:Once up & running there were only a few more chores:Install ZoneAlarm 11: This was painless, even picked up my previous ZoneAlarm license no! Upgrade Live Essentials 2011 to Essentials 2012: I was surprised Microsoft didn’t offer to do this as part of Windows upgrade. Reinstall Camtasia 7: As recommended before the upgrade. Update Skype and merge Messenger/Facebook contacts: I did this to match my Windows 7 netbook which had done this already. I also installed a few Windows Store apps to see how that went and there were no problems.Welcome to Windows 8!What worked?It appeared all the software I had installed at least launched and ran ok. Even some applications which I had doubts about, like an old Quicken 2010, appeared ok. The Autodesk design apps appeared to run fine but I must admit haven’t done any serious work with them yet. The Windows Store and its apps appeared to work well.What didn’t, and why I don’t recommend the migrate Software & Settings option: I found a few things a bit buggy. IE 10 Metro sometimes refused to connect to Facebook, say when you clicked on a People app Facebook notification. I purchased & installed a few Windows Store apps. A couple of them have since updated ok but that is only part of the Windows 8 update story. It really is almost two operating systems and the old desktop side has it’s own traditional Windows Update (per Vista/7). By default it is set to run automatically but I noticed it hadn’t done so and manually forcing an update gave a Windows update error 80242005. This means since installing Windows 8 only the Windows Store apps have been updating, not the OS itself. I found a few Microsoft Community posts regarding this error and none of the suggested fixes, some extensive, have worked for me.Windows update error 80242005 - answers.microsoft.com/windows_8I’m not suggesting everyone will get this error but it is a real concern for 7-8 upgrade machines. Windows gave no indication it wasn’t getting any core updates in the desktop or metro User Interface. I wonder how many upgraded Windows 8 machines out there are like this?It seems to be related to the upgrade as several have found clean installs on the same hardware/web connection work fine.Where from here?I’m going to try the clean reset install and report back. For now I can say I do like Windows 8 — with some reservations — but can not recommend the “easy” way to get from Windows 7 to 8. Oh well, if nothing else its a chance to try the reset options it offers as a way to quickly refresh your PC!Tweet TrailI live tweeted my upgrade to give an idea of the process & time. Before you consider doing this it did result in a few comments from non-geek friends! Before hitting Twitter at 21:00 I had started the process with Compatibly Check, removing ZoneAlarm and completed the 2GB download and kicked off the actual install at 22:00Installing Windows 8 (on desktop machine). Will it work? News at 10:00 + install time #Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 201344% Complete #Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 201360% Complete#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013'Your PC will Restart in a few moments' it says...#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013And it did restart, and I see the new logo and progress o twirling#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013Preparing 50, 75%#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013And another restart#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013and lots of progress o twirling, getting devices ready 1,2,3,4,5,6, 50 70.%... done#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013Getting Ready#Win8 (for what!) — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013Still lots of progress o twirling in this Getting ready bit (and disk churning)#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013Still 'Getting ready'#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013Saw it in the preview but like how the progress spinner o dots seem to fight gravity to get over the top#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013This 'Getting ready' bit seems to take a while #Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013Oh, 'Preparing" now#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013So it was 'Getting ready' to start "Preparing' I guess#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013Installing#Win8 on desktop, commenting on netbook, banking on @asbbank iPhone app Cross platform/form factor or what! — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013'Preparing 20%" now #Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013'Preparing 53%" now #Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013'Preparing 60%" now #Win8 While it is preparing I'm @bbc_topgear 'ing (via endless repeat on BBC Knowledge) — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013'Preparing 90%" now #Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013And another reboot to "Moving your settings... %'#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013@jackyan I wonder how many followers, facebook friends this will clear out... or gain... — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013Ha "Get more followers" spam tweet arrives in less than a minute — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013Personalise (with an s even) #Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013'Hi'#Win8 ( it runs the into to gestures etc) ' We getting your PC ready' — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013And it is done, and the desktop looks fine (once thru the start menu). Now to try my user account — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013All looks ok, so far...Bed time#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013@martynday It is 1:00 am : ) — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 9, 2013The only thing which didn't work immediately after #Win8 upgrade was social connection content in Microsoft account. Now it's all here : ) — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 10, 2013@cadnotes Yep, have run all the @autodesk Building Design Suite Premium apps and they launched OK. Not tried any serious work though#Win8 — Robin Capper (@robincapper) January 10, 201 [more...]

Ok, so 1.2 kg isn’t going to make it an iPad competitor but I don’t want an iPad. So far this is the closest I have seen to my “My Perfect Computer”. You’re not going to do full on design on the road but an i7, decent SSD and the versatile configuration (with digital ink) means it sure looks like a nice mobile design/presentation device.ASUS TAICHI - http://taichi.asus.comThe Incredible Fusion of Notebook and TabletThis video shows the potential with design media. I’m the dude with the tube… [more...]

Wow, where did 2012 go? Months flew past like weeks and now it’s nearly is 2013*. Time to look back at the past year from a (not just CAD) blog perspective:Best Blog Event:Usually it is Autodesk University but I didn’t get there this year. However, I did see some of it on-line. It was a bit strange to watch the keynote, on the netbook, in bed at about 05:00am NZ time! I enjoyed the virtual event, enhanced by the live Twitter stream which accompanied it, but it wasn’t quite like being there!Although I haven’t blogged about it much I think a new Meetup group also deserves a mention. EPIC is a local initiative to create a true cross platform, multi discipline forum for model based design collaboration. The impetus for EPIC was improving how 3D design data is created, used and shared between all the participants of a project. Although it grew out of experience, OK maybe frustration, with AEC industry projects that is not the only audience. EPIC events to date have seen participation from the design, fabrication, construction and education disciplines.Effective Prototyping, Interoperability & Communication Grp. (Auckland) – MeetupThis group was started to fill the void left by marketing between software platforms for 3D design, fabrication, construction and operations.We get together to see actual demonstrations of how software interacts, and have real discussions about the pros and cons. All findings are publicly available, and everyone involved in this industry is welcome to participate.Also see EPIC on LinkedInBest Comment(s): A post about Mindjet’s lousy handling of a change to its business model attracted the most comment this year. It was good to see Mindjet reacted (not because of my post I must add) with a revised offer a few weeks later. I’m not sure if part of that was due to the power of social media but one comment on my personal blog demonstrated this and was my favourite. Back in February I heard a podcast interview from Radio Australia with Fairlight synthesizer inventor Peter Vogel (and Thomas Dolby). I wrote a post reminiscing how I first learnt about the Fairlight, and heard it on demo cassette, via an 80s Aussie science/fiction magazine. I was amazed when Peter found my post and commented on it offering links to the audio I had first heard decades before.An old media memory made a new media connection.Best Podcast: I suspect my US readers know of Radiolab already but I was introduced to it by ‘Capt. Toast’ from Skeptics in the Pub. I love both the content and its unique presentation. Visit the website for subscription info or have a listen to the latest episode below.www.radiolab.orgRadiolab is a show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience.              Blog Surprise?I doubt Lynn Allen would have ever known I existed without this whole bloggie thing. Back in May I was delighted to get an invitation to dine with her in Auckland.I was amused, given she was in NZ for the Autodesk 2013 and 360 Cloud launch, to see Berries with Vanilla Cloud on the dessert menu! It was part of their regular offer, not something Lynn had conjured up!Having spent the day working on “cloud” presentations she decided it was just one cloud too many but I had to try it. The verdict, Heavenly!Busiest Month:As seems usual March was busiest on the CAD Blog. It used to be annual Autodesk launch posts which drove this but for me that spread over several months. I was on holiday (cycling in Northland) so missed the international launch in March and the the NZ launches were in May.  February was busiest on the Personal Blog, for some reason, due to an old Fiat X1/9 post. Blog Concern:Work and personal commitments meant fewer posts from me this year (~10/month vs. ~14 last year on both blogs). I have plenty of drafts and topics to cover in 2013 so just have to find the time!Best Blog Tool:I didn’t really change how I blog, hardware or software wise, this year so no radical new tools. One utility which was useful is VirtualBox from Oracle. Its a free virtual machine which allowed me, with some great tips from Ralph Grabowski, to try the previews of Windows 8 without needing a spare machine. Odd that it could do this better than Microsoft’s own virtual machine platform.I have reserved my verdict on Windows 8 until I try it on real hardware and am contemplating upgrading my home PC over the New Year break. There is a discount, currently, offered till Jan 31 for on-line upgrades so it is worth considering before then.“Doh!” of the year:Nothing dramatic other than getting quite excited about two products only to find they would not be available in New Zealand. Hopefully this will change in 2013!Revit LT: First got my attention when Autodesk Labs Project Spark arrived. New Zealand has a large AutoCAD LT user base and it seemed Spark offered a path to BIM for AEC focused LT users. Although disregarded by many “full Revit” users I think it offered most the tools a lonely BIM’er needed to join the Revit’lution. When Spark launched as Revit LT it was not offered in APAC! This is quite common for new Autodesk platforms, we rarely see V1 of anything, but LT is hardly that being based on the established Revit platform.  Microsoft Surface: Although the RT version has got mixed reviews I think the Pro Surface and similar tablet/ultrabook combos will be the new default mobile computer form factor for those needing more than ARM processors. Microsoft NZ have yet to launch Surface here although a few ‘parallel import’ units have been seen. They are not alone as the established Wintel hardware manufacturers have been slow off the mark too. Finding touch enabled Windows 8 hardware, of any form factor, at retail has been a bit of a challenge. Happy New Year!Thanks for visiting, reading and coming back. Lets see what 2013 brings!* OK, so it took a few hours longer than I expected to get this on-line!Boring Blog Stats (for me!)TypePad Community: 78 [74] Following | 157 [153] Followers          [ ] = 2011 figuresTwitter: 13,678 Tweets | 451 [356] Following* | 1,135 [981] Followers |  [93] Listed * I’m also following another 1,200 or so just using lists.RobiNZ CAD Blog Posts: 1,961 [1,899] | Comments: 1,604 [1,515] | Pages: 8 [8]Page Views: Total: 1,199,610  [1,043,433] | Average Per Day: 375.94 [369.36]FeedBurnerSubscribers: 8,973[6,567] Most Popular Post from 2012:I broke my Snagit, then I fixed it – A Snagit tip posted in May 2012.Most visited post of 2012 was from 2007: Align, the forgotten AutoCAD hero – Seems AutoCAD still generates lots of blog visitsRobiNZ Personal BlogPosts: 1,932 [1,858] | Comments: 994 [965]Page Views: Total: 384,392 [340,827] | Average Per Day: 134.59 [136.99]FeedBurner Subscribers: 59 [109]Most Popular Post from 2012: Flashback? The 1984 Sony D50 Discman after 28 years – An old concept car sale and my old school project got a few views.Most visited post of 2012: Auckland City for Microsoft Flight Simulator - Real New Zealand – Same as last year. Lots of Flightsim fans out there still [more...]

I’m not there so have been following AU virtually this year. John Evans & Ralph Grabowski have already blogged about the media day:Autodesk University 2012 Media Day Highlights | Design & MotionLiveBlogging: Autodesk Press Day 2012 - WorldCAD AccessLive blogging goes overtime: FormIt - WorldCAD AccessThe Keynote is a few hours away (as I write) & I’ll be attending on-line assuming my alarm clock works. While it might be a struggle for some live attendees to make it for Tues, Nov 27, 8:00am in Las Vegas it is both later and earlier in New Zealand. Does seeing it live at 5:00am on Wed, 28 Nov (NZDT) mean we get to experience the keynote before or after it happens?From Monday AU 2012 Highlights - Between the Lines - Shaan HurleyFor those not able to attend in person AU Virtual 2012 starts tomorrow with live streaming of the main stage Keynote Live from Tues, Nov 27, 8:00am PST. http://au.autodesk.com/auvShare your AU experience. You can post your photos to the AU 2012 Photo Group Pool http://www.flickr.com/groups/au2012/pool/ for everyone to see and Flickr is free [more...]

Mindjet have announced a revised structure for their “Mindjet” subscription packages which meet with a very mixed reaction when first announced.In addition to the full “Business” ($30/month) subscription there is now an “Individual” option. This appears to add the Mindjet desktop application, formerly known as MindManager, to the previous web only $15/month package:A New Option for Individual Consumers - blog.mindjet.com“Mindjet for Individuals includes our desktop versions for Windows and Mac, along with use of the Mindjet web app for personal file storage and task management.Mindjet for Individuals License includes:Fully functioning Mindjet for Windows and Mac desktop versions Mindjet Web with personal file storage Mindjet Tasks to help users manage personal items and “to do” listsThe price is $15 (USD) per month with a multi-year purchase option and is available in English, French and German.”While the new pricing is more expensive than the old software assurance it adds some web services to the desktop package. It is a much more acceptable offer for those who don’t need the full team/social mapping features in the business package, but more than the old web only subscription offered. Its great to see this response from Mindjet but I wonder about the process which developed the initial packages. I hope it is not too late as know, via comment and email response to this post, that previously loyal users have been motivated to investigate alternative products. Probably not quite the reaction Mindjet were aiming for with their re-launch.For the details on Mindjet for Individuals or other Mindjet products go to www.mindjet.co [more...]

I have a double dose of Autodesk University sadness to report:My favourite AU bag has worn out! I have used my Autodesk University 2005 roller backpack almost daily since collecting it in Orlando. All those kilometres, including several further AU trips, finally took their toll and the base stitching & fabric gave way. For the first time in years it won’t be accompanying me on the trek back to Autodesk University, for another reason.I won't be attending Autodesk University 2012 : (A shortage of (primarily) time and money made the trip impossible for me this year. Even with assistance it costs several thousand dollars and requires at least a week to attend AU from New Zealand. I think it is worth the investment but just couldn’t manage it this year.For those attending:Shaan has posted some brilliant advice in his “Survival Buffet” post. Also, even if you’re only taking a simple camera (or phone!) I recommend reviewing Tris Hussey's conference photo tips via this old post on my blog. One of my favourite AU photos (right) was taken hand held, no flash, on a compact IXUS camera.10 Tips for Autodesk University photographs ~ RobiNZ CAD Blog (2008)Have fun at Autodesk University. I know it is full on once there but if you get a chance remember to post plenty of content for those of us not attending to follow. Autodesk University Survival Buffet - Shaan Hurley - Between the Lines[Robin’s comment: “I resemble one of these leapers"]After attending every Las Vegas based Autodesk University, I have compiled a long list of tips for not only surviving but making the most of Autodesk University which will be held this year at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas November 27-29, 2012Think of this post as a Las Vegas style food buffet of Autodesk University tips [more...]

The elderly (work) HP 2710p Convertible Tablet PC got a bit fatter today.It’s about 5 years old and had a slim extra battery pack which clipped on the bottom extending battery life from a couple of hours to about eight. I picked it up from the desktop dock and it felt a bit thicker than usual. Then I noticed the battery had expanded, nobody near it noticed any smell or sound so it didn’t ‘explode’. Fortunately the machine and desktop dock it was sitting in are both ok. I wonder what would have happened if it was left for longer?Seems this is how lithium-ion rechargeable batteries die. They either fade away, offering shorter discharge cycles, or swell to destruction [more...]

I bet this is sorted in Camtasia Studio 8 but I found a patch which makes more memory available to the older Camtasia Studio 7 running on Windows Vista or 7. I ran into problems producing a 1920x1200 production getting an “E_OUT_OF_MEMORY error message”. After applying the patch it produced just fine.Camtasia Studio: E_OUT_OF_MEMORY error message - techsmith.custhelp.comMore Information for Camtasia Studio 7 on Windows 7 and Vista Only:We now have a patch available that lets Camtasia Studio 7.1.1 use more memory that is available on the machine.On a 64bit machine we can go from using 2GB to 4GB of RAM. On a 32bit machine we can go from using 2GB to 3GB of RAM.To install, follow these steps exactly… (Post links to new exe & install instructions [more...]

Unfortunately I’m just an interested observer of the Microsoft Surface/Windows RT release. Microsoft chose to omit New Zealand from the initial launch which is mildly annoying. It would have been more so I hadn’t already decided to postpone any purchase until seeing the full Surface Pro due (hopefully in NZ too) in a few months.Of the many Surface RT reviews I’ve read this one by Hal Berenson, a former Microsoft/DEC engineer, has me intrigued. His ‘sort of review’ has an interesting view of why Surface RT differs from current tablets and the influence of its versatile form factor:Understanding the Microsoft Surface (a sort of Review) | Hal's (Im)Perfect VisionThis is a review of the Microsoft Surface, though it won’t be like most other reviews you read. I’m going to focus my effort on positioning the Surface in today’s so-called “post-PC” era. You want unboxing, descriptions of buttons and connectors, spec comparisons, etc. then this isn’t the review for you. You want real world insights, then stay tuned.“What really makes the Surface difference. In your hands it is, at worst, yet another tablet. Prop it up on a table or other flat surface and something magical happens.” Surface photos by Microsof [more...]

Recently MindManager, the premium mind mapping application from Mindjet, has seen some radical changes. It’s not the typical application centred change — like new feature set, controversial new interface or file format — but rather a transformation in how the application and services are offered to the user. Even if you’re not a MindManager user this post may be of interest as it highlights the user impact of a software developer reacting to technology and workspace change.Goodbye MindManager, hello Mindjet!Like all desktop software companies Mindjet are facing up to the evolution of mobile and cloud. How you migrate your existing desktop customer base to ‘the cloud’ seems to be the number one challenge for many companies. Over the previous few years Mindjet have made acquisitions in the cloud and social ‘space’, launched their own collaboration portal and created mobile versions of their premium desktop application MindManager. They embraced the change by offering a portfolio of solutions to choose from.They recently revealed a new business model based on cloud/mobile/desktop packages with subscription only options. I’m a MindManager fanatic but the new Mindjet has me wondering about the future of the application, the company and its regard for current users.My MindManager, a retrospectiveI first purchased & downloaded MindManager X5 from the Mindjet website way back in 2004. Over the years I have upgraded* it to (as I wrote this) MindManager 2012 with a “Mindjet Software Assurance and Support agreement (MSA)” to cover annual updates. My purchases were done via the Mindjet website, my last update to 2012 supplied direct from Mindjet as part of MSA.* Some incremental updates were received as reward for beta participation as detailed on the disclosure pageStumbling into the future of MindjetWhat follows is how I learnt of “the new Mindjet”. Given a main component of their business focuses on communication of ideas I think they, thanks in part to a trigger happy partner, got this process spectacularly wrong.Early September: The first misfire…It started on 4 September 2012 with a rather abrupt email from an Australian based Mindjet partner. I had never, knowingly, dealt with them and the content was so bizarre I actually wondered if it was some sort of phishing attempt targeting MindManager users.“At the end of September 2012, Mindjet MindManager will be changing. It will effect how the 2 million plus users access Mindjet products and services. Are you ready for the change?There are multiple offers on the go. If you plan to buy any new licenses or upgrades in the next 12 months we recommend getting in now while all these discounts apply. You only have a few weeks to act, so be quick because the deadline is fast approaching!”As a MindManager user, owner, this was rather a surprise.Would Mindjet.com clarify things?Surfing over to http://www.mindjet.com was no help. When I visited, and even several days later (as seen in the screenshot below), it appeared to be to be business as usual. The application was being sold as a desktop application, with optional support assistance/subscription, and no sign of the radical changes coming in a few weeks.A second email makes it clear, if not particularly palatable.On 5 September 2012 an email arrived from a NZ Mindjet Partner I know but again hadn’t dealt with for my direct web Mindjet purchases. They addressed the confusion created by the previous correspondence and detailed the changes planned by Mindjet. This included the new product offer, business model and five upgrade/promotional offers depending on your current status.Bizarrely there was still nothing (I could find at least) on the Mindjet web site. The screenshot below is actually Mindjet.com captured several days later on 09-09-2012 21:34 NZ time as I wrote this part of the post…And, finally, an email from MindjetFinally on 6 September an email (right) arrived direct from Mindjet. MindManager owners without MSA had only a couple of weeks to consider an upgrade offer ~$190 before the price jumped up ~35%. From late September to December there is another offer with all upgrades withdrawn after that.http://www.mindjet.com/shop/upgrade/If you were on MSA the new Mindjet 11 application is part of that with a “special upgrade offer” to get the additional services for a year. Personally I had no need to panic, MSA assured my upgrade but not the services, but if not on that would have been rather annoyed by the “deals” and timelines presented.Out with MindManager, in with Mindjet!Although the desktop application lives on ‘MindManager’, the name, is history. Seems a bit odd to walk away from a name with so much heritage as a mind map pioneer. However if Google Trends is any guide Mindjet seems to be matching awareness, if only due to MindManager’s decline!Source google.com/trends/Mindjet,MindManagerA new look, a new Mindjet!There is also a new Mindjet logo and black/grey/red corporate brand. The new product range will simply be known as “Mindjet” + application/service: Mindjet Desktop, Mindjet Web, Mindjet Mobile etc. They will only be available as a subscription bundle which is a rather radical change from the previous application + service plan model. The full Mindjet bundle includes the formerly separate web services for map sharing/edit/collaboration (Connect Vision) and task management (Connect Action). There is a lesser web only based package but it would not be of interest to a serious MindManager user.My current MindManager investmentMindManager was never “cheap”, but for me it was always good value. It cost about half what a I paid for Microsoft Office Pro. At (2012 prices) us$400 you could have MindManager desktop for life with about us$80/year upgrade assurance keeping it current.If I had paid for all upgrades from X5 to today (a couple of upgrades were gifted in return for beta activity) I would have spent about nz$1500 over nine years to maintain current copy of MindManager.Given MindManager is my primary document generator and also replaces Microsoft Project for my Gantt needs I think nz$166/year was good value.Mindjet: more than MindManager but at a priceThe Mindjet ‘packages’ are subscription only. You get everything desktop and web for us$30/month or a web only version for us$15/month.Mindjet justify the premium version by including services which once were separate. You get the full desktop app and cloud based storage, task/project/activity management and the mobile applications.Mindjet Web looks very limited in comparison with the MindManager strengths of Office integration, multiple view modes (outline/gantt/presentation) missing entirely. Click the capture (right) for details.This is fine but it appears most, if not all, the additional features are aimed at what I will term social mappers. Teams who collaborate on a map, locally or in the cloud. I’m mostly a lonely mapper using MindManager as an authoring tool and generally only share office format exports (no other MindManager users at work). Apart from the convenience web storage for mobile use, and I found that’s limited by roaming data costs when travelling, there is no value in the additional social services for my workflow. It will cost us$360, more than four times the current MSA annual cost, for access to the Mindjet capability I enjoyed with MindManager to date.Mindjet’s worth? Good value becomes expensive.If you consider the Mindjet package useful is it good value? Perhaps using Microsoft Office as a yardstick is still a viable. I was happy to pay about half Office desktop cost to get MindManager Desktop. If you compare the MindManager Web offer with Office Web the cost/benefit ratio tips the other way.At us$30/user/month Mindjet is 1/3 more than a Microsoft Office 365 Plan. I think the fairest comparison is 365 Plan P with the addition of a desktop Office Pro subscription at us$21/month. Remember that offers the full Office suite (5+ applications) and a bunch of on-line services vs. Mindjet’s one platform and service offer.I’m not opposed to subscription software but you have to justify the cost/benefit of the services you are paying for. If that means paying a significant sum for functions/services you don’t actually need or ever use that’s pretty hard to do.Where from here?I’ve got Mindjet 11 desktop and won’t be taking up the subscription ‘offer’ this year. For now I can say that unless Mindjet consider adding more flexible packages with more reasonable pricing options I suspect Mindjet 11 will be the last version I buy. As someone who has used it for nearly a decade and loves it that makes me pretty sad [more...]

Remember that line about the Internet being "a series of tubes"? Some amazing photos of a place that is Google:Google reveals photos of its data centres - www.dezeen.co [more...]

I like Paul Thurrott's take on Windows 8:Windows 8, Metro, and Mobile Apps - www.winsupersite.com“Windows 8 is a new mobile operating system and not an evolution of the previous Windows codebase. Yes, an evolution of that previous codebase is present, complete with an improved desktop environment.”“This is the single biggest change that’s ever happened to Windows -- and yes, I’m including NT in that assessment [more...]