Between the Lines

I had a great time in Seattle last week!

February 22nd and 23rd, 2006

I presented to 62 members of the Puget Sound Autodesk Users Group http://www.psaug.org on Wednesday night and then presented to about 180 people at the Seattle AUGI CAD Camp Thursday on the future of AutoCAD. I always like getting back up there as I lived for many years in Portland.

I gave away 4 AutoCAD 2006 products. I did mention that for future AutoCAD we might place a fog and rain calculator in the products for Seattle.

The back of the events shirts were funny
“Faster, Smarter, More Attractive
…and you should see my CAD designs”

Winners of AutoCAD 2006

Adem Delalic of Burien WA
John Dahlseng of Seattle WA

Larry Kuntze of Everett WA
Mike Salgado of Wenatchee WA

Congratulations to the AUGI Seattle CAD Camp Top DAUG Competition winner Walter Shearn who won his choice of any Autodesk product.

Thank you to Jamie Thomas of PSAUG, “Wicked Cool” Matt Murphy the ultimate Red Sox fan, Robert Bell, Alex Lepeska, Davea, Robert Green, Teri Reutebuch of Solid Vapor and so many more that made the 2 events a success.

Cheers,
Shaan

What flavor of AutoCAD do you have?

Knowing if you have AutoCAD or a vertical product can make a world of difference in troubleshooting or support such as what service pack it requires.

Is it really AutoCAD or Autodesk Architectural Desktop . Vertical products all make changes and additions that make it completely separate from plain AutoCAD. It is common and an understandable confusion but under the hood to hear someone says they are using AutoCAD but are really using Architectural Desktop. So please when discussing the product you use in discussion forums, support calls, or with other people, please make sure to mention exactly what product you are using.

AutoCAD vertical based products:
Autodesk Architectural Desktop
Autodesk Building Systems
Autodesk Civil 3D
AutoCAD Electrical
Autodesk Land Desktop
Autodesk Map 3D
AutoCAD Mechanical

AutoCAD CAD Manager Control Features

The CAD Manager Control has been around for a few AutoCAD releases now but perhaps you may not have noticed this in the AutoCAD installation interface. It allows you to change some options of how AutoCAD is set on the local machine or in a network deployment.

You can disable the web access features of AutoCAD such as Communication Center, DesignCenter Online, and Subscription account access in the CAD Mgr Control or from your CD.

You install the CAD Manager Control utility from the Network Deployment tab of the CD Browser or run from the CD at \support\CADManagerControl\ You can even export a .reg registry file to push out using a group policy or other method to existing users in your network.

Cheers,
Shaan

Thank you for all the Birthday Wishes

I have received several hundred perhaps over a thousand email Happy Birthday emailed wishes. The birthday wishes were all really nice. Thank you.

Here is one example from the many including poems.

"Happy birthday, Shaan.
Thanks for all you hard work on the blog and beta site.
You make it easy to forget that autodesk is such a large company. It's nice to feel a part of a community."

This is all thanks to my boss and also Lynn Allen's blog post...For some of the doctored photos posted publicly well as in the private Autodesk beta forums there will be consequences. :-)

I thought a nice photo of my boss Shawn Gilmour while we were recently in Japan might be well received. Did I mention it is employee review time and I have the best boss?

IMAGE REMOVED by request of boss.... :-(

AutoCAD testing team is looking for Engineers to test new versions of AutoCAD

This position opening is for San Rafael California. You will find the actual job requisition calling for Architects only to apply, but we are also looking for any engineers, not just architects.

Link to job requisition

Posted 02/23/2006
58562-SQA Engineer   
Location:   3950 Civic, SRF      


Position Summary

This position is for an Engineer to test Autodesk product Compatibility and Interoperability. Position requires the tester to work with a large, functionally diverse Interoperability team consisting of software architects, developers, customers, and managers, to analyze and solve key customer interoperability issues. Develop positive, productive relationships with customers and members of the Interoperability team to define core issues, and help drive solutions to successful resolution. Track customer Interoperability issues and expose customer risk analysis to the team. Take responsibility for testing multiple Autodesk products for drawing and object compatibility between products, as well as testing for Autodesk product interoperability, in a side-by-side install scenario.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute detailed test plans and designs for compatibility and interoperability testing of Autodesk products
• Work closely with key customers, diverse product teams, and management to solve complex interoperability issues
• Detect and advise on current and future trends in customer interoperability requirements
• Maintain technology expertise, research and apply state-of-the-art software testing tools
• Design and implement new automations to test product interoperability for multiple Autodesk products
• Provide technical analysis of proposed solutions, identifying associated risks and benefits
• Plan, schedule and coordinate testing tasks
• Create and present detailed reports assessing testing progress

Requirements

• BS or Masters degree in Computer Science, Architecture, Engineering or equivalent experience
• Or 5+ years CAD design/drafting experience with Autodesk products
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skills
• Excellent customer communication and customer contact skills
• Strong customer focus, elevated desire to solve customer interoperability challenges
• Strong teamwork and leadership ability
• Highly organized, self-motivated, and flexible
• Professional and cooperative attitude
• Network management and software configuration expertise
• CAD Management experience
• Experience with software test automation tools is desirable
• Knowledge of competitive design software products a plus

New Autodesk Geospatial blog

Geoff Zeiss has started a new Autodesk blog: “Between the Poles”  http://blogs.autodesk.com/between_the_poles

Seattle CAD Camp Today

I attended the Puget Sound Autodesk Users Group meeting last night here in Seattle and had a great time. There were 40 pizzas and 62 members in attendance. Matt Murphy gave an awesome presentation which was a hard act to follow. Matt gave me a Boston Red Sox World Series Champions hat!

Today is the Seattle CAD Camp with over 200 attendees and I present on the future of AutoCAD later today.

I have been taking some photos and will post them later.

Cheers,
Shaan

Puget Sound Autodesk User Group February Meeting

I will be presenting at the AUGI CAD Camp in Seattle next week and was just made aware of the local user groups meeting and will RSVP and show up there and crash their party. :-)

6:30 pm Renton Technical College, Room C-101
Renton, WA
February 22, 2006
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

"This month's meeting is going to be great as we will have Matt Murphy bringing one of his most popular classes to our User Group meeting. The class will be The 12 Hidden Secrets of AutoCAD Productivity Revealed! It will be a class with a humorous, entertaining and educational content on AutoCAD Productivity! If you want to learn more, please see the course description provided below, but better yet, come and see it for yourself. I promise you will not be disappointed."

From their flier "pizza and networking from 6:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Bring your business cards, make some friends, find work, share ideas, tell jokes, whatever. Just be there!

Sincerely,
Jamie Thomas, User Group President"

Jamie, what is with not mentioning beer? You cannot have a beer bust or pizza without beer. Maybe they are having Seattle style salmon pizza served with a hot espresso....

I am not sure if the User Group is an open meeting but to RSVP go to this Link
Cheers,
Shaan

Two Simple Solutions to Fix Many System Problems

1. A simple solution that fixes literally thousands of Windows system issues:
   Delete all files and directories from the User Temp folder. Use %TEMP% from Windows Explorer or go to C:\Documents and Settings\UserAccountName\Local Settings\Temp\ for the Windows user accounts on the machine. I have seen this solve strange application crashes, strange things on a machine, or even causing installation problems. Strange but true. So be sure to try this before you resort to using ten pound sledge hammer on the machine or pull your hair out.
2. Clean your Internet browser's temp files cache.
   Internet Explorer
   On the Internet Explorer Tools menu, click Internet Options. The Internet Options box should open to the General tab.
   On the General tab, in the Temporary Internet Files section, click the Delete Files button. This will delete all the files that are currently stored in your cache.
   
   Mozilla Firefox
   On the Firefox Tools menu, click Options.
   In the Privacy section of Options,  click the Clear  button. This will delete all the files that are currently stored in your cache.

New Autodesk Blog - Beyond the Paper

http://dwf.blogs.com/

Scott Sheppard is a longtime DWF powerhouse and fellow desker. If there is anything you ever wanted to know about the DWF format, Scott is your man. Scott used to post content on this blog but now has a blog to call his own.

Welcome to CAD Blogging Scott!

Seattle Washington CAD Camp

   I will be presenting at the event next week February 23rd 2006 and perhaps performing my famous Irish Riverdance rendition. www.cadcamp.com

Anyone want to have a dinner or breakfast CAD Geekfest one of the evenings or mornings?
Let me know if you are interested in this idea on my Seattle CAD Geekfest Survey
You don't have to attend the event just be up for some deep geek speak about CAD, Autodesk products, gadgets, and then some fish tales. Maybe a quick run to Pikes Market to throw a salmon around and suck down some Hood River mussels and a real strong espresso. I do miss living in the Northwest and heading up to Seattle on some weekends for fishing and fun.

Hope to see you there.

Cheers,
Shaan

New AutoCAD Tips Blog by Ellen Finkelstein

This new AutoCAD Tips blog by Ellen Finkelstein is definitely something to subscribe to with your RSS feed reader or check frequently. Ellen is the author of the popular AutoCAD 2006 and AutoCAD LT 2006 Bible.

http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/autocad_tips_blog.html

Eight Hundredth Post

This is my 800th post to this blog since starting this blog back in 2003.You can use the search box on the left side menu to search through the posts.

Get ready for post 801!

Shaan's 3rd Annual Between the Lines Annual Holiday Product Donation to Students Shipping

I will begin shipping my third annual donated products to those that nominated a person that met the criteria. I will also email the nominator of the status by Tuesday 2/7/2006.

http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2005/12/shaans_3rd_annu.html

<update 2.11.06> I will email notifications on Monday February 13th and packages will ship the same day.

Regards,
Shaan

Autodesk University 2005 Video

Helge Brettschneider has produced another great Autodesk University video from photos and video footage taken at this years awesome event in Orlando Florida. Last years Autodesk University 2004 video was a huge hit with people and now Helge has released a Autodesk University 2005 version. So turn on the speakers and sit back enjoy this years video creation.

Produced by: Helge Brettschneider
e-Mail: Helge.br@MCD-BR.DE
Web: WWW.MCDCAD.DE

Link to 14MB Video

Just For Laughs - You Know You Are Living In 2006 When...

Just received this today and got a good laugh so I wanted to share.

1.    You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2.     You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3.    You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
4.    You email the person who works at the desk next to you.
5.    Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have email addresses.
6.    You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7.    Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.
8.    Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10.    You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.
11.    You start tilting your head sideways to smile. :)
12.    You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13.    Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
14.    You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15.    You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

AutoCAD 2005 Tips & Tricks Video

Animesh Kundu from Kolkata India sent me a tips and tricks video on AutoCAD 2005 to share with everyone. I like when someone shares tips and tricks and videos so keep them coming and share the knowledge.

Thank you Animesh.

Link to 1.3Mb .wmv video

Go Vote On Your Favorite AutoCAD Wish List Nomination

The new AUGI AutoCAD Wish List is now starting the balloting/voting process on the last 3 months of nominated AutoCAD wish list items. You need to be a AUGI member but membership is free and the benefits are plenty.

Go to http://www.augi.com/autocad/ballot.asp
You expand the features to see the nomination for it then vote for 10 with number 1 being your highest priority. There are about 300 nominated wish list items this time.

Details about the AUGI AutoCAD Wish List are available without logging in at http://www.augi.com/wishlist

Now go vote for your top ten then spread the word to fellow AutoCAD users to get involved in AUGI and voting on the wish list.