Between the Lines

First Climb of the Year

The weather where I live in Utah is finally very warm, and the snow meting enough that I could make the first big hike/climb of the year just yesterday. I joined a meetup.com group “Ultimate Thrillseekers” to summit Mount Olympus which is one of the prominent peaks you see in the backdrop of Salt Lake City. It is not Mount Everest and actually 20,000 feet lower in elevation, but at just over 9000 feet it is no small hill either to break in the legs this year.

The hike is about 3.5 miles each direction and about 4500 feet elevation gain with a mix of dirt, mud, snow, scree, and a good rock scramble in the final stretch to the snow capped summit. The only mistake I may have made was racing a group of young US Marines down the mountain, and for that my legs hurt today. I am in the San Francisco office today and tomorrow, and honestly having a hard time hiding the discomfort of my legs from the first good hike/climb of the year. But all the discomfort in my legs from the good workout was well worth it. I look forward to many more this Summer. I am still down 40 pounds from a year ago and plan to keep active, and not waste a single minute.

 

 

It was an amazing day, view of the city, and new friends. I can’t stress enough how awesome meetup.com is and how many groups I have been active in like photography, social groups, and  several outdoors meetup groups. It is amazing how many new friends you can meet and the activities you can do on the free website.

Live, play, and work hard. Get off the computer and go enjoy the outdoors, live life to the fullest, you won't regret it.

What do you have planned this Summer?
-Shaan

How Do You Say DWG?

The file format of AutoCAD is DWG. Over the years I have heard it pronounced so many ways and I wanted to hear from you, and why. 

Do you say the letters D W G? (That’s what I do.)

Do you say DraWinG

Or do you say Dwig, and make me cringe when you do?

 

On a related topic of DWG, the new 2014 version of Autodesk TrueView is available free to download and you can use it to view, plot complete with plot styles, and convert DWG files in batch between DWG file versions. It is built on the same exact code as AutoCAD.

Go get DWG TrueView for free 100% Autodesk DWG viewing & plotting.

Welcome Spring

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, today was the first official day of Spring.

The vernal equinox apparently occurred (autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere) with the sun’s position, but not necessarily resulting in an instant nice weather day like the flick of a switch. Twitter was full of people complaining that the first day of Spring had snow or falling

I want to sincerely thank our friends in the Southern Hemisphere for returning Spring and soon our Summer on June 21st so that we may enjoy vacations, sunburns, BBQs, and all the outdoors activities not possible in much of the Northern Hemisphere during the Winter.

Cheers,
Shaan

Related articles

Vernal or spring equinox 2013

Are Blueprints Really Dead?

I read an online articles headline stating blueprints were dead. I would love that, but in reality I find that proclamation of blueprints being dead as a headline hard to believe at this time. This topic also started a flurry of tweets discussing if paper blueprints were really dead and discussing if hardware could survive some work environments.

First in order to avoid confusion or misunderstanding I want to clearly indicate I prefer mobile digital solutions like using AutoCAD WS, Buzzsaw or Autodesk 360 at the office or at the jobsite to review and/or markup drawings. With mobile there are also many ways to make sure that you have the latest approved drawings and information such as from a Vault server or Autodesk PLM 360. In the design workflows I think paper is all but dead as not many are designing using paper other than perhaps sketching concepts or draft planning but in the use of the design data for assembly, construction, and fabrication drawings the paper still is alive and well in certain rough environments that eat electronics like soft chewy candy.

Oscar Nominated Disney Animation "Paperman" Released on YouTube

I first saw this animated short movie being shown before a feature movie Wreck-it Ralph in November at the cinema but now Disney is releasing the Oscar nominated "Paperman" on YouTube for everyone to enjoy. It is very creative animated short which blended traditional animation and some complex computer animation methods resulting in an amazing retro style.

 

Bravo Disney for releasing this so everyone can enjoy it but perhaps February 14th would have been a great day for releasing it since it is a love story.

Paperman is nominated for Best Animated Short Film in the 2013 Oscars.

Go watch and enjoy this short 5 minute animation.
http://youtu.be/aTLySbGoMX0

Background on imdb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2388725/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Want to know more about the technical nuggets on developing the animation, see these articles.

• The Making of Paperman by It’s Art Mag
• Inside Disney’s New Animated Short Paperman by Animation World
• The inside story behind Disney's Paperman by fxguide
• Disney’s Paperman Is a Perfect Short Film  by Wired
• http://youtu.be/-36xCSOFNOA
• Disney's Oscar-nominated Paperman ... - 3D World
• A Little More About Disney’s “Paperman” by cartoonbrew.com
• Computer-Assisted Animation of Line and Paint in Disney’s Paperman (pdf) by: Brian Whited, Eric Daniels, Michael Kaschalk ,Patrick Osborne, Kyle Odermatt, Walt Disney Animation Studios

Cheers,
Shaan

Computer Reboot and Tech-xersism

Not a normal reboot by any means but actually a new drive and starting from the fresh Operating System and rebuilding as well a performing a tech-xersism to rid the machine of evil bits and bytes. I had to reinstall everything to get back to where I was before my drive and OS decided to get sick or possessed by ancient evil spirited code for the past two weeks seriously hobbling my ability to work between crashes, lockups and blue screens. I am very rough on hardware due to all the unreleased technology I install and uninstall or the crazy things I research and try as well as travel incidents like last year in remote Northern Turkana basin Kenya and having to place my laptop on blocks of ice due to the 115+ degree heat, and then AU 2011 where static electricity built up from all the walking and then I touched my laptop while it was running and the motherboard fried.

One of the biggest challenges when rebuilding your machine is knowing what your hardware is, what is installed, and what are you registration keys for the installed application. You can do it manually but that could seriously take forever and I found a free tool from a company that sells enterprise tools that give a tool for individuals to use to create a report of more details of your computer than you could ever do manually. From all your hardware details, OS and updates, driver versions, software and keys, to a list of the installed software you are not using frequently.I looked very closely into the tool to make sure it was not a scam tool or transmitted my data to their servers which it did not and was amazing to document my laptop hardware and software.

How do I know what is installed on my machine?
The Belarc Advisor http://belarc.com/free_download.html

 

One other thing I did when rebuilding my laptop is that I went with a Solid State Drive “SSD” instead of a standard drive. My bootup time of Windows from the power being off to logged in and ready to rock went from about 90 seconds to around 14 seconds with the same software installed. A SSD drive has no mechanical parts and is essentially flash memory like your cameras, iPads, and smartphones use. I am blown away at how fast a laptop can be running completely on a SSD drive.

Now I hopefully can get back to work with a healthy PC.

Cheers,
Shaan

Related articles

Whoa. I should have upgraded to an SSD last year

Three mistakes I made with my last laptop

Security Tip on USB Thumb Drives

I know many of my friends are in Vegas this week for CES and thought I would point out one of the biggest threats to your computer and network, thumb drives. You see them at most trade shows or even just laying around in public like the one I found at the gym yesterday.

Many of the largest network compromises including governments, top secure military facilities, and even nuclear reactors have occurred because the bad guys have figured out people will grab these thumb drives (“sweet, free hardware”) and stick them into their machines without even a thought about it. The problem is some of the amazing free found USB thumb drives contain trojan software code that gets installed on your machine once inserted. After inserting a malicious USB thumb drive your machine and the security rights it has are provided to the malicious trojan thus the criminals or data stealing or damaging code can spread to your corporate and other networks.

You can even have a network breach/compromise without a target computer even connected to the web or network in a secure DMZ area by one person inserting that malicious thumb drive into a machine in that secure environment. I have seen at military bases where the USB ports on computers were actually epoxy glue filled so that nobody could insert any USB device.

Your USB port and Wi-Fi are two most insecure highways onto your computer besides executing unknown free software from the web.

Save yourself the potential problems and spend $15 for a thumb drive at the store, and always format before use. So just think when you see a free USB thumb drive sitting on a chair or on a table in public, it could be a big trap.

Be secure out there,

Shaan

Update: @Kitestyle_twit on Twitter pointed out one more good tip for mitigating the USB threat and that is disabling the autoplay setting on your computer. But the malicious USB could be placed in almost any computer, and not all will have autoplay disabled. Microsoft should disable it by default in a service pack.

 

USB Flash Drive Security from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive_security

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

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

Goal Zero and a Hero

Goal Zero Solar and their Goal Zero Nation is actively helping assist those affected by the East Coast storm “Sandy”, and those who continue to try to recover their lives and get needed power and fuel. Goal Zero Solar just this weekend have driven a truck full of Goal Zero Solar equipment to the East Coast to give away. They are also contributing one of each product for each purchased this month to help even more.

This company is amazing and only a few minutes from me and donated equipment for a U of U research team and my research project in remote Northern Kenya. They started based on African philanthropy projects and philanthropy is a core part of their company DNA as well as being a great group of fun people.

Here are some photos:
A Wal-Mart empty in Allentown Pennsylvania as the Goal Zero team was preparing to get provisions before driving into the worst affected storm areas.

Some of the latest photos of the areas affected by the storm and Goal Zero giving out equipment. Imagine all those cell phones & computers low on power freaking out all the geeks and of course more important things like refrigeration and lighting or medical equipment that is now being powered  by solar until the electrical grid is repaired.

 

Here are the latest updates from the team:

From James:

Today was the best day thus far. We got a few hours of sleep then drove the 2 hours to Brooklyn to rendezvous at the Brooklyn Boulders. Jeramy, and Dave were able to get all the products from Allentown to Brooklyn today, which was a huge feat in itself. We were then immediately overwhelmed with the huge job that was in store for us 3 average sized humans to do with getting all of the products organized and out of the truck.

Dave, Royce, Sarah and I headed over to the Rockaways which was hit really hard. This is the first time we saw the devastation of sandy and it was sad. I cannot even explain in words how heart breaking it was to see these neighborhoods with 6 feet high piles of sand 5 blocks in from the water and we even saw a dock that was 8 blocks away from the beach! All the houses in this area were slammed with the storm surge and completely flooded. This was a huge eye opener for us since we have never seen destruction like this before. Its crazy that the water just rose up and carried cars away! We meet up with Team Rubicon Division 2 and started to distribute power and lights. The community was ecstatic to be able to have some lighting and some power to turn on their phones and laptops so they had something to do after it got dark, because when it got dark, it got DARK! The only thing you could see is the light of the city that had power in the distance 15-20 miles away.

Dave and Royce helped a few elderly folks carry the Escape 150 and lights to their houses and were able to really hear some stories of how the locals have been dealing with this very unfortunate event. We ended up giving out around a 60 guide 10 kits with Chubby's and rock outs and also 45 Escape 150 kits with a LAL. Also we were able to give out 3 boxes of the Light house Lanterns, which people love! When we finished up handing out the last products we hung out with 4 local fireman outside one of their houses, that was slammed by the surge. We were hanging in his what used to be front yard crowded around 1 lighthouse Lantern. They were telling us how crazy it was in their long island accents,  and hearing what they have been going through the last week with no power, no gas and no lights. One of the guys was telling us how him, wife and his kid were up in the second story kind of freaked out because the surge was carrying cars down the street, winds were blowing bad and their house had 4 feet high of water in it. But they made it through and were extremely grateful to receive some lights so they could see.

In my blog post yesterday I said we could use 20 more people, well change that to 20,000 more people. This neighborhood won't get back to normal for years! Its great to see the whole community coming together and a lot of volunteers coming in from the city to help out, shovel sand, clean out all the ruined furniture and help any elderly people in need. It gives you a hope for humanity, the world may not be as bad as you may think, there are a lot of really good people out there. Thank you everyone in the GOAL ZERO NATION (#GZnation) for helping out those affected by this devastating storm. With all of your help they can start to put their life's back together and maintain the positive attitudes they all have! We appreciate each and everyone of you.

Here is the blog that updates with their latest information. http://www.goalzero.com/blog/

Huge kudos to my big hearted friends over at Goal Zero for setting a great example to other businesses to help, not try to profit from a disaster.

Cheers,
Shaan

More Active = Less Shaan

Autodesk has some of the most comprehensive health and wellness programs of any employer to encourage employees to get healthy using a carrot instead of a whip. Autodesk employees recently participated in the Global Corporate Challenge to walk, be more active and compete on an online community with fellow employees, teams, and companies. In the 90 days I walked and ran over 560 miles and it tracked my progress on a virtual tour of locations.

The GCC 2012 Wrap Video http://shar.es/cI45h

The Autodesk health and wellness program also provides a discount on FitBit equipment such as the FitBit Ultra, One, and Zip and the FitBit Aria Wi-Fi weight scale.

The FitBit unit logs the number of steps, stairs, and calories burned in a day as well as you can log food and water intake from you mobile phone onto your online Fitbit dashboard tracking your progress and even set goals for weight and calculates your caloric intake based on your activity levels and provides a date when you might reach your goal.

The Aria weight scale updates your FitBit dashboard page and provides weight and body fat%. I have now lost 45 pounds in 3 months.

 

On the Fitbit dashboard you earn badges to help keep you motivated and have fun.

The FitBit dashboard also provides humorous equivalent heights for your daily logged stair counts.

And you log your food and water and it will tell you how you are doing on your goal and summary of your diet.

FitBit Info:
http://www.fitbit.com/store

http://www.fitbit.com/one

http://www.fitbit.com/product/aria

FitBit suggestion: Get a 3rd party Fitbit tether strap from Amazon.com to secure it should it fall off as you don’t want to lose your Fitbit as I have done in the past.

The Global Corporate Challenge and FitBit equipment was the catalyst for my increasing physical activity, shedding weight and becoming far more healthy.

I have been running 5k events including last weekends Zombie Chase with my oldest son where the 5k included an obstacle course and zombies chasing us, but we exacted revenge by shooting them with paintball guns. I am also at the gym more than 4 times a week and can’t live without my Fitbit unit to track everything and motivate me to walk or run farther and to take the stairs instead of an escalator or elevator. I have dropped 5 inches from my waist and 2 shirt sizes, but have gained back another 15 pounds due to building dense lean muscle instead of fat and went from 23% body fat to a much more healthy and lean 16.9% and from a BMI of 32 down to 24.6.

I feel 100 times better being active and lighter so prepare to not recognize me at Autodesk University this year or see less of me at the event in only 28 days.

If you find the 45 pounds I lost, please do not return them to me.

Cheers,
Shaan

Cancer Sucks

Busy Week and Another Shoulder Surgery

The week started out in San Francisco with  some meetings then accompanying Dr. Louise Leakey of the Turkana Basin Institute and AfricanFossils.org speaking at Singularity University at the NASA Ames facility. I met many of the brightest young minds looking to change the lives of a billion people, as well as Ray Kurzweil and many other Silicon Valley icons including Autodesk’s own Jonathan Knowles.

Early today I head for the airport to Salt Lake City and another shoulder surgery in the morning, this time my left shoulder after having the right shoulder worked on in June.

 Then I am taking some well needed personal time off.

Cheers,
Shaan

My Doppelgänger Found

A doppelgänger is a copy or twin of you in other words a person that looks like you. Well my friend and colleague at Autodesk Guillermo Melantoni Cortabarria apparently found mine.

So is this a photo of me?

No it is not me, it is Gonzalo Frasca of Montevideo, Uruguay.

On the right is me in Northern Kenya recently after a nice dip in a lake full of crocodiles and hippos and a cold Tusker beer. On the left is me at Autodesk University.

So we are pretty close looking twins, and in every case showing people the photo of Gonzalo they swear it is me.

Shaan

Its Raining! Hopefully the Fires Get Extinguished

Rain in Utah and the Southwest United States is so needed, and luckily it is just now staring to rain from the monsoon rains coming up from the Southwest and Gulf of Mexico to extinguish the wildfires. It has been in the high 90’s and in the 100’s for days and combined with all the long grass from last years 300% rain and snow pack has combined to a dangerous situation. We need rain due to all the fires in which I have had two friends almost lose their homes, one lost a barn. Even one of my favorite Autodesk colleagues has a fire now behind her brand new home she just moved into. Amy Fietkau lives up to a beautiful mountain range near me in the Greater Salt Lake valley.

Photos from Amy’s Facebook page showing the Quail Fire and one can only imagine the panic to grab your family and a few belongings and evacuate. She has luckily been allowed back in her home.

Utah wildfires burn hundreds of thousands of acres via KSL News

Time-lapse of the Quail Fire near Alpine Utah July 3 2012 - YouTube

The causes have for the most part not been fireworks but construction crews, a person parking a car over long dry grass, target shooting, and dry lightning strikes.

Thank you to all the hard working fire crews and National Guard and others risking their lives to fight the wildfires raging in Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. My heart goes out to those affected by the fires and I hope no more of my friends come under the threat of wildfires.

Hoping we get less heat, and winds, but more rain!

-Shaan

Books - Electronic and Paper

I recently had the opportunity to think about books and the forms they come in especially after going to Africa. The fact is that much of the world does not have access to an electronic book (e-book) reader or smartphone or the Internet, but can get access to a book even offline or without power, and can have a book donated to them easily. Personally I love reading books on my iPad but in much of the world they use the traditional paperback books as that is all there is and may be the only access they may have to the knowledge and enjoyment of reading. I do have to confess when I am offline or in some locations I prefer a paperback for a few reason, but still my main choice on my iPad or mobile device whenever possible.

One may argue that paperback books are not as healthy for the environment but also too consider the electricity required for e-Book readers as they take power from sources like coal fired power plants and not as recyclable as a paper book.

So while electronic books are great and convenient, we must also consider the importance of paper books. You can share, donate, and give a paper book to a child or adult in any country and they can read it and enjoy it and educate themselves or escape through the adventures in books, send them an e-book and it may be the value of handing the a dull rock.

Just something to consider as e-book formats become more commonplace that some due to cost,access to readers,and lack of Internet may not be able to enjoy a book which is an unfortunate thing.

I am torn between two worlds, what are your thoughts? Post in the comments.

Shoulder Work Ahead

I am not sure how it really happened but perhaps one of my falls while rock and slot canyon climbing were the reason or one of the various travel mishaps on a plane with luggage, but in any case both of my shoulders are requiring surgery. It started last year when I noticed I could not raise my arms above my shoulders or throw thing (I love to throw things.) It got worse over time to the point the pain was really bad and I would almost pass out if I moved my arm wrong. My doctors said it was most likely inflation from all my hiking with overstuffed packs or lugging all my computers from airport to airport, and that it would go away taking 2400mg of ibuprofen a day.

It did not go away, but got worse (much worse) right before I had to go to Kenya with a lot of gear on my back. So 3 days before my trip they sent me down a loud tube otherwise known as a MRI for 2 hours and then determined that I have actually both shoulders with torn rotator cuffs. So I took prednisone to tie me over the Kenya trip but now I must get the surgery to repair the torn rotator cuffs and damaged bursa pads.

Being stubborn, I thought well it is a day surgery doing on one arm first then the second a few months later so I will just take the afternoon off and then get back online that night. I then learned that this is no simple surgery and that I will not be able to lift over 5 pounds for 6 months and that I will be down for a minimum of 2 days unable to do much other than moan.

Has anyone else had this surgery to repair a rotator cuff and bursa, any tips and advise?

So I will be offline Wednesday and Thursday with high hopes to be back online Friday.

-Shaan

Never Sleep Near a Hyrax

Recently while in Kenya I found out what a Hyrax is, and why they are evil and not to be slept near. A Hyrax is a small rodent looking thing that is actually related to the elephant with little small tusks.

Now here is why I call these cute unique animals evil, they have a tendency to scream at about 160 decibels from 10pm to 5am sounding like someone is being murdered. I did not get any sleep the two nights I had one near where I was sleeping. These critters were more alarming than lions roaring, hyenas evil laughing or jackals barking in Kenya at night.

So I present for your listening displeasure my iPhone recording of the Hyrax at 2am. I wanted to make him into a nice spicy little stew.
Hyrax in Kenya at 2am.mp3

(photo credit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyrax)

Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

I am once again considering shaving my head. One of the most obvious reasons is because my hairline is rapidly heading that direction anyways. When I shaved my head for charity at Autodesk University 2009, I got compliments on my cranial shape and it also made for some fun in Photoshop. I did maintain the shaved head for almost a year but gave up as it really does take a great deal of maintenance.

So I want to get my readers and social media friends input on the possible fate of my cranial hair cover. The poll below closes on February 29th leap day.

  

OR
    

So should it stay or should it go?

Cheers,
Shaan

14 Years – 98 in Dog Years

Today marks my 14th year with Autodesk. I really never thought when joining Autodesk back in 1998 I would be here 14 years later. I thought I would jump back out into the design and fabrication world again after a couple years. I was actually really surprised when I hit 3 years at Autodesk as that was my normal move to another company timeframe. The challenges, products, and the people at Autodesk and the great customers kept me at the same company for 14 years and broke my jumping off for new opportunities every 3 years habit.

In my decade+4 I have been in management of beta programs for the whole company, R&D projects, product management, product marketing, and as technology evangelist. When I look back at all the things I accomplished, I have to just smile and look forward to the future. I have came close to jumping a couple of times but always stepped back from the edge, and am really happy I stayed.

Here is a photo from my office in San Rafael California when I started in 1998.

 

 

 

 

 

And now a much wiser and well aged Shaan in 2011.

Nobody really knows what the future holds, you just make it. I will continue to do what I am happy doing and thank everyone that has been a part of my 14 great years at Autodesk! I learned so very much but still have a hard time keeping my mouth shut.

Now onto another exciting year at Autodesk!

Cheers,
Shaan

Happy New Year 2012

I have been spending my annual holiday week off with the family, cleaning my office and computers, as well as dipping deeper into the Maker movement with 3D printing. I finally received a MakerBot 3D printer yesterday and got to learning the tips and tricks to this open source hardware. The MakerBot 3D printer typically comes in a kit you assemble in a day or two, or you could find some pre-assembled. Mine was received with a few build issues and I had to dissemble and re assemble to trouble shoot some wiring and mechanical build issues, but that is part of the fun and experience.

A wild New Years Eve. OK not really all too wild just geeky as I spent the evening working on a new MakerBot 3D Printer and printed “2012” in ABS plastic.

What do I have planned for 2012 on this Blog?
I will continue to the same path to cover Autodesk technologies and products from A to Z like AutoCAD, Autodesk Labs projects, 3ds Max, Revit, Inventor, 123D, 123D Catch, reality capture, 3D printing, to general technology topics and of course my wandering off topic fun, warped humor, and photography related posts. My focus is to have a broad spectrum view on all industries and nooks and crannies where technology is used by students, Makers and DIY’ers, to the professionals. This blog was started several years ago with the sole purpose to share information and knowledge. I sincerely appreciate each and every single reader of this blog and feed, and thank you for another great year. If there is a topic you want to know more about, you have something to share with a wide audience of ~25k daily subscribers, or have some comments and feedback please feel free to Email Me.

I am planning for a year better than any previous and hope you have an amazing new year as well. Forget about those crazy end of the world prophecies 2012 as it will be what you make of it, so make it great!

Time to get back to some 3D printed eggs on the MakerBot to test thin walled vs solid prints, materials and feed rates, and G-code settings. I am finding some of the cheap ABS filament is not really a bargain due to diameter and quality issues. The side benefit of 3D print testing is that I am able to re-purpose my test output as a 3D Angry Bird kit for my 10 year old daughter to have some fun.

Cheers,
Shaan

Holiday Ornaments and More Printed in 3D

I have been really excited to be getting deeper in the Maker movement. Recently I asked on Twitter who were 3D printing their own 3D printed ornaments this year and received several responses. It was amazing to see what people were creating.

Look at these great 3D printed ornaments Z Corporation has been creating from their high-end professional 3D printers and posting to Twitter @zcorporation as well as their Flickr photo stream. http://www.flickr.com/photos/32406038@N02/with/6506716133/

Solidoodle (@Solidoodle3D), a consumer 3D printer manufacturer made their employees a 3D printer ornament.

Beau Turner (@beauturner) has used his consumer model MakerBot 3D printer to create everything from a headphone organizer, boat curtain hangers, to Christmas ornaments. If there are levels from 1 to 10 for a Maker, Beau is rapidly approaching level eleven.Beau said he has become active in a local Hackerspace which are popping up all over the place (http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Hackerspaces).

I have been doing a large amount of work with my local hackerspace ( www.757labs.org) and for anyone with interest in getting started or doing more these are a great resource to seek out and find individuals with various levels of knowledge and high levels of enthusiasm that are passionate about sharing this with others. My last couple projects could not have been completed without the talents of individuals involved and the willingness to share that knowledge. From software, hardware, fabrication and sewing to everything in between hackerspaces offer a great environment to learn and expand your own skill levels.

I am joining a local hackerspace in Salt Lake City MakeSLC and perhaps someday will have the ultimate in hackerspace, a TechShop located near me.

Beau told me about a boat he was restoring and the need for some curtain clips he could no longer find commercially available, so he designed and printed his own in ABS plastic. Imagine having a part list of appliances or other consumer products and being able to print some of the replacement parts without all the time waiting and the transportation energy and costs from the factory around the world.

Here is Beau proudly showing his own designed and 3D printed headphone storage organizer. The 3D printer makes you a mini manufacturing plant.

Here are some of Beau’s 3D printed ornaments designed using both AutoCAD or the free Autodesk 123D and then printed in ABS plastic on the 3D printing MakerBot.

Beau also created a 3D printed ornament using Autodesk’s 123D Catch to create a 3D model from photographs then printed it on his MakerBot.

I too would be 3D printing holiday ornaments and other cool stuff  like a abominable snowman or backcountry.com goat cookie cutters, iPhone case, and more but it was not meant to be. I had ordered a MakerBot from RobotShop assembled to be delivered yesterday.

What I received a day late was only a few parts like a wrench, consumable ABS, a circuit board, and no instructions at all.  There are not even enough parts to build a MakerBot. On the bright side I get to spend more time with my family on my holiday week off instead of hiding in the office designing and 3D printing things.

Not everyone needs a 3D printer to create 3D ornaments, creations, or sculptures.
You can use the free Autodesk 123D Make to create patterns in cardboard, wood or plastic that can be assembled into a 3D sculpture.

We took our 3D models created using 123D Catch of fossilized hominid skulls into 3D models then using 123D Make create a cardboard 3D sculpture. The 3D skulls were created by photographing the skulls in Kenya by world renowned paleontologist Louise Leakey (@louiseleakey). The skulls were used to create a a 3D animated video walkthrough of a digital laboratory and start an online educational site http://africanfossils.org/. Not everyone can get to Kenya to see the real million year old skulls but sharing them and their research online provides most everyone access.

A life sized 6’3” 3D cardboard sculpture of Autodesk CEO Carl Bass affectionately named “Carl’board”.

Autodesk also created a 123D holiday ornament kit for kids to assemble at a holiday party and they also sent a couple kits to me for my 10 year old daughter to assemble.

The 3D star ornament designed in the 123D then imported into the free 123D Make to generate the slice pattern file. 123D software are currently free to download from http://www.123dapp.com/.

The cardboard with the printed pattern all numbered so you know how to assemble it. 123D Make can also provide an animated assembly view so you know how to assemble it.

My 10 year old daughter assembling, gluing, and painting the ornaments.
Yes child labor was used in the creation of my ornaments.

The Maker movement where anyone can design and create real things is gaining momentum and a real game changing event in design, innovation, manufacturing, creativity, and personalization. By taking powerful software and tools and placing it within reach of almost anyone worldwide it really does change everything. The person with a great idea no longer needs to get a pile of money and find a company or factory to prototype their idea, they can do it themselves and even build a business as many have on http://www.kickstarter.com/. This is really amazing and I knew it was going to be big when I attended MakerFaire last year as did almost a half million other people.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas or the holiday you celebrate as we speed towards the new year 2012. Be safe as I want all my readers to be there in the new year.

Ho Ho Ho, Have a Very Merry 3D Christmas Everyone!
Shaan

Autodesk's Clever Way to Encourage Employee Activity

Last week while attending Autodesk University in Las Vegas I witnessed a very clever way to encourage employees to be live a more active lifestyle with the goal of healthier employees mean lower healthcare costs. What I saw was several Autodesk employees competing on who was the most active and recorded steps using a Fitbit unit.

At Autodesk University this team I spoke with were logging several miles a day. In the past I had seen health surveys and emails encouraging a healthy lifestyle for employees but they were done at the computer. Autodesk does have some nice gym membership and other health related benefits for the individual employees but the Fitbit was the most innovative I had seen. Autodesk had a limited time benefit for a Fitbit unit but unfortunately I did not get that email or missed it in the hundreds of emails I receive daily.

The idea of people competing on a fitness recording platform is clever and perhaps one that Autodesk had not considered as it more aimed to encourage the individual to be more healthy but the team discovered among themselves to compete daily for fun and to encourage each other to meet their goals. Seeing the fun the team was having competing and comparing statistics multiple times made me really want one and participate. Perhaps I can encourage my team into a contest on who is the most active. A healthier team is not only a cheaper and potentially longer lived team, but also a very happy team. Even an internal page showing the uploaded activity leaders would be motivating.

I wonder if groups of people who know each other could start a challenge among ourselves as Fitbit tribes. I love to hike and climb but having a group of people competing would encourage me much more than just my self motivation. Would you be interested in a Between the Lines Fitbit challenge for the new year?

Get off the web and onto the trail!

Cheers,
Shaan

Airline Humor – A Good Thing?

I thought I would share a travel related experience from this week.

In addition to being late for a flight, hungry, and creating the first Airline Stew, I had opportunities to hear multiple airline announcement styles.

First I know you are just dying to hear what this “Airline Stew” was. Well being hungry I pondered what would be the most filling free beverage to mix with the complimentary peanuts and pretzels. I decided to use virgin bloody mary mix which is essentially tomato juice with hot spices and mix that with the peanuts and pretzels into a pseudo stew. It was surprisingly filling and tasty.
As a traveler you have to be resourceful and MacGyver-like.

If you have flown on an airline you have no doubt heard (or ignored) the pre-flight safety announcements and demonstrations from the crew. The language is extremely important but usually the same content over and over. This week I had flown on multiple airlines. One airline followed the standard text while the other was relaxed and almost goofy perhaps to use humor to get your attention, make you relax, or just ad some fun. Lets call them Airline A and Airline B.

Airline A takes the standard just the facts safety demonstration and announcements. Sometimes these announcements are played on video like on Delta. Delta's In-flight Safety Video

The FAA required language is listed on Wikipedia Pre-flight safety demonstration

Now here is Airline B and their live safety demonstration and announcements.

“If you have an iPhone, iPod, and iPad we are impressed, but you must still turn them off now. That is spelled O F F - look it up in the dictionary, but don't Google it now.

If you do not turn off you phone and continue to text and talk we may have to return to the gate where the FAA will personally fine you $25,000 dollars. If you have that kind if money to spend you would have flown Delta.

In the event this flight becomes a cruise, please grab the flotation vest located under your butts.

If the cabin were to un-expectantly depressurize oxygen masks would drop from above. I said unexpected otherwise we would have called in sick today.

If the cabin fills with smoke, make your way to the nearest designated exit following the lighting on the floor. If a crew member approaches you naked please just ignore them.

The cabin lights are being dimmed, should you require light simply press the button with the light to turn it on. Pressing the button next to it with the picture of a flight attendant will not turn the flight attendant on.

Welcome to Salt Lake for those that Salt Lake is your final destination we welcome you, for those transferring to another airline - we don't care.

The aircraft has come to a stop at the gate - Now get out of here.”

Myself and many of the passengers were laughing but it had me thinking, was that the right tone for something so serious as safety, was it professional, did I pay more attention to the safety information. Perhaps some not used to humor or those that English is not their first language might be alarmed, insulted, or confused.

The adding of humor to these pre-flight safety instructions is not limited to US carriers.
Cebu Pacific FAs dancing
WestJet Funny Attendant & this one from WestJet

What do you think, should the business of safety instructions be a serious just the facts presentation or can it be made more relaxed and funny?

-Shaan

Quickie Update with Zombies and What a Way to Start the Day

I had a great time in Seattle speaking at the AUGI CAD Camp on Monday in Seattle (next Tuesday in Minneapolis). In addition to showing Project Photofly live and other great Autodesk Labs technologies I also showed a live demo of the new Project Geppetto in 3ds Max 2012.

Project Geppetto is an early technology preview available free from Autodesk Labs that allows you to create animated people in 3ds Max 2012 and 3ds Max Design 2012 either following paths or idle and look different and have different actions.  This technology answers the need for moving characters in your animations instead of just frozen people of the same character used over and over in a scene. The best part is that some of the idle people appear to have zombie characteristics.

I can almost hear this character moaning “brains…”

You can even have the zombies chase your bosses head created using Project Photofly.

Here are images linked to animated GIFs so they play on all browsers.

Project Geppetto created crowd of people.

Download Geppetto 1.gif (1881.2K)

A close up of one of the people that appears to me to have been a zombie acting like they are reading an invisible book or answering a phone, while they stalk you.  Brains… brains… brains!

Download geppetto2.gif (14875.4K)

To be fair this is an early preview and where this is most likely headed is nothing less than amazing with textured people, object avoidance, and more.

See what a professional can do with Project Geppetto
HNTB Geppetto Test

Not a way to start the day today.

What's worse than spilling coffee on your keyboard, sneezing with a mouthful of oatmeal...what a mess. Its like a nuclear bomb of oatmeal went off. Racing to find all of it before it dries to concrete globs...

Definitely not the way to start a busy day.

Cheers,
Shaan