Between the Lines

Happy New Year 2013!

I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year except  politicians in DC getting a raise in their own salaries while taxing us even more. May this year be better than the past and everyone prosper and find bountiful happiness. I have spent the past week with my family and hiking in Southern Utah getting my mind clear for 2013 and all it’s potential awesomeness.

To start 2013 clean and fresh here are a few computer system tips to get/keep your system top performing and your data safe for the new year.

• Backup your system and also make sure you have regular data back ups planned so you can get your data back should something occur such as hardware failure, virus, or other event. I personally use multiple external hard drives including 1 that has a built-in network connection so everyone here at home can backup to the same drive.
• Review and delete files and directories from the Temp folder (%TEMP% from Windows Explorer) for the Windows user accounts on the machine
• Clean your Internet browser's temp files cache
• Clean up unused applications by uninstalling them
• Clean up old files and archive them to a backup CD/DVD, external drive or cloud storage service.
• Run Check Disk and Defragment of your hard drive from Start > All Programs > Accessories> System Tools
• Perform a full virus and trojan scan and make sure you keep your anti virus up to date. There are some free anti virus and firewall software out there so price is no excuse for your data being at risk.
• Check out some free diagnostics online from http://safety.live.com/
• Perhaps defragment your page file with the free PageDefrag from www.sysinternals.com

Remember don’t use the “I haven't done this or that the all year” on New Years Day as that is so 2012. Get started practicing to write the year as 2013 as that normally takes me about 3 months to get used to.

I hope to see you in 2013, if not you know you can find me right here.

Sincerely,
Shaan

Happy Holidays!

Most of us at Autodesk “deskers” are spending time with our families and friends for the annual Autodesk week of rest and the holidays.

This is the time of year I format my computer and backup and rebuild it after all the software install and uninstall abuse the past year. It is so very nice to start the new year with a fast and stable laptop.

Thank you so very much for reading this Between the Lines blog. I sincerely appreciate every single reader. I have a few blog posts in process and will be posting them around the beginning of the new year. One of the posts is my annual year in review which will be a doozey with all the crazy events, travel to Africa, blog growth, and my life changes such as losing 50 pounds in 2012.

No matter where you are, or what you celebrate, please have a good safe one and a very happy new year 2013. That reminds me, I need to go purchase a new Mayan calendar as mine ran out last week.

Cheers!
Shaan

Animated Autodesk Organization Chart

This wicked cool data visualization of the evolving and ever changing Autodesk org chart was created by the  Autodesk Research team member Justin Matejka.

 

The OrgOrgChart (Organic Organization Chart) project looks at the evolution of a company's structure over time. A snapshot of the Autodesk organizational hierarchy was taken each day between May 2007 and June 2011, a span of 1498 days.

Each day the entire hierarchy of the company is constructed as a tree with each employee represented by a circle, and a line connecting each employee with his or her manager. Larger circles represent managers with more employees working under them. The tree is then laid out using a force-directed layout algorithm.

From day to day, there are three types of changes that are possible:

• Employees join the company
• Employees leave the company
• Employees change managers

Instead of recomputing the full layout each day, we animate the transitions from one day to the next. In this version of the video, each second corresponds to approximately one week of activity.

 

Spot my node in the visualization, good luck as it is harder than where's Waldo but trust me I am in there.

http://bit.ly/WmntbI

Cheers,
Shaan

Related articles

OrgOrgChart: The Dynamic Organization of an Organization

Animated growth of an organization

Autodesk 123D Catch Created 3D Christmas Card

Today I received a 3D Christmas video card on Facebook from Mark Flayer. The video was created with the free Autodesk 123D Catch and Autodesk Showcase by a colleague of his Rusty Belcher. How awesome is that!

Check out the video and prepare to have your mind blown when you think all it took was a common digital camera and the free 123D Catch software to capture the Christmas Village in 3D,

Merry Christmas Card created with Autodesk 123D Catch and Showcase - Great job by my company's very own Rusty Belcher http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAt0eBqIlrA&feature=youtu.be

AutoCAD WS v1.6 Released

AutoCAD WS is a free AutoCAD DWG viewing and editing application for mobile, cloud, and desktops. The AutoCAD WS team today released a new version 1.6 of AutoCAD WS mobile.

Announcement on the AutoCAD WS blog

Meet AutoCAD WS 1.6: Mobile Drawing and Editing Simplified

“For this release we focused on improving the experience of drawing and editing with the mobile app. At the heart of AutoCAD WS 1.6 are new gesture-based editing features, allowing grips and handles to be used to move, scale, and rotate objects. We’ve also made modifications to some of the drawing tools, providing a faster, more accurate design experience on mobile devices. AutoCAD WS 1.6 also adds support for Apple iPhone 5, and delivers improved performance across the board.

Take AutoCAD WS 1.6 for a spin and experience a faster, more accurate way to work with AutoCAD drawings using your mobile device.”

New features:

• New gesture-based editing features allow grips and handles to be used to move, scale, and rotate objects
• Modifications to drawing tools provide a faster, more accurate design experience on mobile devices
• Support for Apple iPhone 5 and improved performance

Download AutoCAD WS for iOS in the iTunes App Store here.
Download AutoCAD WS for Android in Google Play here.

Related articles

Have you heard of AutoCAD WS? It is a wonderful way to collaborate design work

AutoCAD WS is now supporting AutoCAD Civil 3D Object Model

"Bioprinting has the Potential to Change the World"

This was a quote from our Autodesk Chief Technology Officer Jeff Kowalski on the partnership with medical research firm Organovo.

While the ability to print yourself a new liver after a tough New Years Eve party may not be possible this year, the research and technology is definitely headed towards the ability to 3D print print real functioning human tissue and organs in the future will be reality.

Read more in the Wired.com article:

”Autodesk Developing CAD Software to Design, 3-D Print Living Tissue”

http://www.wired.com/design/2012/12/autodesk-3-d-print-tissue/

Take it easy on your body this holiday season as you cannot 3D print replacement parts, yet…

Cheers,
Shaan

Related articles

3D Printing - The Future is Coming to a Print Shop Store Near You

Biotech startup targeting liver, cardiac and kidney research with 3D bioprinter

Thank you Schuyler "Sledgehammer" St.Leger

Capturing the Exploratorium in San Francisco

The San Francisco Exploratorium has long been a place for kids and adults alike to explore science and technology, but it is moving. The Exploratorium is moving to the historic Embarcadero waterfront at pier 15 in 2013 and closing the current location in the Palace of Fine Arts in a couple weeks.

One of the people that the Exploratorium helped get interested in science and technology was Autodesk’s very own Brian Mathews who is now the Group CTO for the IPG group. Brian mentioned it made such an impact on him that he wanted to help document the existing Exploratorium in 3D using Reality Capture methods such as laser scanning and photogrammetry for historic preservation.

Laser scanning is where stationary laser scanning equipment such as the FARO Focus 3D projects a laser beam and captures the x,y,z coordinates and other attributes at a very high speed. The highly accurate points captures create a 3D point cloud that can be used as a digital reference of the objects and space.

Photogrammetry is where you take a series of photos and then software creates a 3D textured model. Autodesk currently has a free photogrammetry software for computers as well as the mobile iPhone and the iPad named 123D Catch where you can take photos of an object and create a 3D model. Brian is using an advanced unreleased version of the technology we are working on.

Having the Exploratorium captured forever in 3D will preserve not only how it was configured to help with planning exhibits at the new location, but also preserve it for historical record purposes long after the old location is gone. One could even later print the objects in 3D physical models.

Check out the video that includes Brian and the Reality Capture from ABC 7 KGO in San Francisco (you do have to bear through a commercial first grrr)

Exploratorium preserving past, preparing for future
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=8924014

Cheers,
-Shaan

Now That's a Wrench! Largest 3D Printed Wrench

The Largest Ever 3D Printed Wrench! (Video)

The largest  3D printed wrench by the new Stratasys Objet1000 printer. It is an example of the new wide format 3D printers ability to create larger objects in ABS plastic. The build size for this 3D printer is a whopping 1000 x 800 x 500 mm.

The one thing I think of when seeing this wrench, where is the scary big King Kong like guy that can use this 1.2 meter wrench.
Run Sam!

Cheers,
Shaan

Related articles

3D Printing - The Future is Coming to a Print Shop Store Near You

Thank you Schuyler "Sledgehammer" St.Leger

You Get, Autodesk Gives

Team up with Autodesk and Engineers Without Borders USA to improve the lives of people around the world. When you sign up for a free Autodesk® 360 account, Autodesk will give US$1 to Engineers Without Borders USA.

You get.  We give.  Everyone wins!

You get Autodesk 360—a cloud-based platform that gives you access to storage, a collaboration workspace, and cloud services to help you dramatically improve the way you design, visualize, simulate, and share your work with others anytime, anywhere.

Sign-up Now:  http://youget-wegive.com/?var=var-028

Autodesk gives to Engineers Without Borders USA –a non-profit humanitarian organization dedicated to partnering with developing communities around the world. Engineers Without Borders USA works to build a world in which all communities have the capacity to meet their basic human needs, addressing challenges including water purifications and delivery, sanitation, transportation and infrastructure projects, and sustainable and renewable energy systems.

YouTube Video Short URL: http://autode.sk/U8A7Jm

Cheers,
Shaan

A Look Inside One of Santa's Warehouses

photo credit Gizmodo

A fascinating look at Amazon.com by Gizmodo.com
”Santa's Real Warehouse” http://bit.ly/TMGeCo 

-Shaan

AUGI Wish List 2012 Results for 8 Autodesk Products

Every year at Autodesk University Autodesk Users Group International “AUGI” present their members nominated and voted product wish lists to Autodesk at their annual meeting which precedes the infamous beer bust. This year was the most products covered in wish lists with:

• AutoCAD
• AutoCAD Architecture
• AutoCAD Civil 3D
• Inventor
• Navisworks
• Revit Architecture
• Revit MEP
• Revit Structure

I want to sincerely thank every AUGI member that participated in the process. Get ready for one really long blog post.

Stats provided to me by AUGI:

4,700 Wishes
+70,000 Rankings
+42,000 Votes

<drumroll>
Here are the top wishes for 2012!

Exercise Your Brain and Learn More About Autodesk

Robert Scoble recently visited the Autodesk Gallery & interviewed Autodesk Group CTO Information Modeling and Platform Brian Mathews. From infinite computing, bio/nano technology, rip mod fab, to reality capture including capturing Robert’s own head in 3D. This video will give you a really great overview of Autodesk and technology. In Robert's words, “mind blowing” and "If you are interested in the future of the world, this is a must watch."

http://bit.ly/X9qu2q

Robert Scoble aka the Scobleizer is a social media and technology titan whom I have known for several years as we both shared a common bond of blogging for large software companies. I have also met his cameraman Rocky several times most recently at the final launch of Space Shuttle Discovery NASA Tweetup.  If you want to know about technology, then Robert is the go to guy with a very clear opinion that he is never afraid to share.

Brian Mathews is our resident Autodesk expert on technology “uber geek” currently in the position of Group CTO Information Modeling and Platform Group. Previously at Autodesk, he has held positions Vice President of Autodesk Labs, software architect and engineering management positions for design collaboration solutions, data publishing, and the computer graphics engines used in AutoCAD and Autodesk 3ds Max software, and multiple CAD viewers. He was the chief architect at buzzsaw.com as well as being the guy behind the Autodesk Design Web Format “DWF” format. Brian has also held technical positions at Sun Microsystems and Ithaca Software.

Brian holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Cornell University. He holds a variety of patents covering data compression, computer graphics, software as a service, and design collaboration. He is also an avid Ham radio operator.

I have been lucky enough to work closely with Brian for several years including having him as my manager and VP in Autodesk Labs. He has always blown my mind on what he knows, thinks of emerging technologies, and their possible application in design. I always came away after a discussion with Brian with every available brain cell and neuron firing at 110%.

Thank you Robert for visiting us at Autodesk!

Cheers &
73s (ham radio speak)
Shaan

3D Printing - The Future is Coming to a Print Shop Store Near You

Many people including myself have been predicting some mainstream print center would adopt 3D printing and bring it locally to millions of consumers. Quite frankly I thought it would be FedEx Kinkos first, but it looks like Staples beat them in announcing their intensions for 3D printing.

Staples Fires Warning Flare To 3D Printing Market - Seeking Alpha tinyurl.com/d7hzdz7

I have been talking about this for the past two years including at Autodesk University as it really is a no brainer when you consider the 3D printing and possibilities for consumers without a 3D printer in their home and need a part immediately.

It made perfect sense to me after I had to reverse engineer a plastic part for my clothes dryer and even discussed this on NPR last Spring “New Projects Help 3-D Printing Materialize on NPR.” I thought for small non-critical components it would be nice to have manufacturers provide a STL source file for free or a small charge and save warehouse space, transportation costs, energy, and satisfy customers with an immediate solution instead of waiting for a shipment. I know the lawyers would certainly want a customer agreement that the part produced from the STL was not under their control or liability, and that would be perfectly fine.

If the manufacturers don't embrace this and get in front and lead, people will surely resort to doing it themselves then posting source files online for others on a site like thingiverse.com. If they force the consumer to do it themselves, they will lose all control and the opportunity to be innovative in part supply and personalization of their products as well as make some very happy customers.

Imagine you need a small replacement part for your vacuum or want a custom accessory for your vacuum like a spoiler for your fast Roomba vacuum, a new custom mount for your GoPro camera, or perhaps a personalized smartphone case. Now imagine you simply go to the manufacture and select an option to 3D print the part and have the option to go pick up the 3D part from a local place like Staples 1.8 miles away in x hours for x$ that very same day.

That would, and Will be awesome someday.

-Shaan

Thank you Schuyler “Sledgehammer” St.Leger

Some may have attended or seen the fun Cage Match on “3D Printing is a Toy” with 12 year old prodigy Schuyler St.Leger last week. I even wore the Nacho Libre mask and cape in an unsuccessful attempt to intimidate Schuyler. This was really a no win debate for my position that 3D printing is a toy.
First: he is a cute and well spoken 12 year old kid that is passionate about 3D printing rating on enthusiasm meter of a scale 1-10 he pegs it at 99, and he really is smarter than most 30 year olds with a degree.
Second: 3D Printing is here to stay and will only get better and used in many more ways to benefit everyone.
My only point to be made during the entertaining fun event was that while I do fully believe in 3D printing, currently for most it is just printing small plastic toys with some limited exceptions.

Cage Match Video at Autodesk University 2012 Shaan :Electric Boogaloo” Hurley "3D Printers are Toys?" and Schuyler “Sledgehammer” St.Leger http://bit.ly/TBR2qC 

He hit me with not only great debate points but LED bombs and a hammer names the “Hurley Hammer” and then called me Aardvark as that animal has two “a”s in it’s name like me.

Here are two photos from the match taken by Mike Burke shared in the AU2012 Flickr Photo Pool
http://www.flickr.com/groups/au2012/pool/

 

He received a really cool steampunk styled trophy.

 

 

 

 

Check out Schuyler’s keynote presentation at Autodesk University: "Why I'm a Designer & a Maker"  http://bit.ly/schuylerAU2012

Personally I don’t see in the near future anyone printing critical components for bridges, nuclear equipment, or submarines that I used to design several years ago. It will take some great advancements in the future to be able to reliably, scale, and economically replace current materials and manufacturing methods, but I think we will get there someday. We are currently in the infancy and exciting research stages in my opinion especially for consumer 3D printing, but the technology is rapidly evolving. I have to laugh at articles like the one on thedailymash where they poke fun of where we are now with 3D printing with a bit too much sarcasm perhaps to troll readers. I have seen other online blogs where they call 3D printing a fad, but in time they will be proven wrong.

I share the optimism of Schuyler on 3D printing, and their significance in the future of manufacturing and science. I commend him on all that he does to promote 3D printing and Makers. He is one amazing and smart kid. It will be amazing to see what he does in the future as he may be that one person that comes up with the way to make 3D printing as common in manufacturing as a CNC milling or casting process.

 

Thank You Schuyler!!!

The Future is So Bright I Got to Wear 3D Printed Shades!

-Shaan

Autodesk University 2012 is Over – See you at AU 2013

It was a great Autodesk University ending in what can only be described as an “EPIC” party that will go down as possibly the best I have attended in all 15 years of attending AU. I want to sincerely thank the Autodesk University Team for pulling off this excellent 20th year AU in grand style ending with the grand finale of all AU parties. The party’s food and drinks including Jell-O shots were excellent and the entertainment awesome with several large rooms each with different types of music and activities. I did finally get found by my crazy Australian & New Zealand friends who dragged me out until the wee hours of the morning. Don’t believe any of the stories you hear such as me Irish clogging.

  

 

My only future AU hopes are that it is not at Mandalay Bay again. I have heard though a little bird we might be looking at AU 2013 at the Hard Rock (may not be correct and instead be at the Venetian) which would be AWESOME and is where the AU 2012 epic party was held. I also heard a few attendees and non-attendees asking for a non Las Vegas AU option again in the future perhaps held in a place like San Diego, San Francisco California or Austin Texas so that some that had employers not willing to send employees to Las Vegas. Also it would be nice to get less competition for valuable and scarce time between classes and the Innovation Forums. Perhaps an optional day with Innovation Forums as they are amazing, but hard to attend with classes at the same time.

See the AU 2012 Photos and post some yourself for free:http://www.flickr.com/groups/au2012/. If you have photos of me especially the cage match or my classes  please feel free to email me or upload them free to Flickr at. A few of the people that post the best photos will receive a Snagit and Camtasia license courtesy of Techsmith.

 

I enjoyed seeing everyone and wish everyone safe travels and can’t wait to see you all again.

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk University 2012 – Thursday Highlights

Thursday was the final day of Autodesk University 2012 and filled with a busy day of great classes and then the BIG party held at the Hard Rock Hotel.

I was speaker in two classes:

AC2231 - Capture Objects in 3D and Replicate Them Like the Star Trek® Crew Does

BO2042 - Autodesk, the Social Web, and You along with the main speaker Dan Zucker of Autodesk

A sincere “Thank You” for all who attended these classes.

The rest of the day I visited the industry lounges and the Creative Studio then had meetings, a gym visit, and then preparing for the big party.

 

Cheers,
Shaan