Between the Lines

Autodesk University 2003 Packing Day

Well, I am finally packing up for my Monday morning flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas and Autodesk University 2003. I get to escape Thanksgiving turkey leftovers no matter how creative they were . I am bringing: My cell phone of course. 3 computers (1 IBM laptop and 2 TabletPCs) My digital camera Potentially my digital camcorder More cables for every purpose than most space shuttles. 250Gig External USB/Firewire hard drive. Contest Giveaways including some full licenses of my... Read more →

Plot Style Trick for Dimensions

I have had the same dimension request a few times and even needed something similar when I was designing before coming to Autodesk in 1998. People ask for a different extension linetype then the dimension baseline. Every since AutoCAD 2000 this has been possible. I have shown this to a few in the public Autodesk discussion groups as well as at user group meetings. The way I used to do this in R14 and prior was by making all of... Read more →

Autodesk University is only 3 days away!

I am starting packing as I fly out Monday to Las Vegas to attend AU. I am also trying to make some sense of my schedule as I have so many meetings, classes, events, and people to visit. It will be a great event as there are over 3000 customers planned to attend the week long event. You can keep a tab on AU here in this blog and starting Monday the picture gallery will start to get some AU... Read more →

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Today is a holiday in the United States. It is Thanksgiving and most of us eat too much turkey, drink too much wine or beer causing us to watch football games and sleep today. Cheers, -Shaan Read more →

Autodesk University 2003 is next week.

I have been very busy preparing for Autodesk University next week and trying to figure out my schedule. If you would like to get together and chat about AutoCAD look me up as I will be all over the place including the AutoCAD booth, Autodesk subscription booth, Intel/Microsoft booth, and many classes. I will also be found many times meeting with people at the formerly named Betty Boop lounge in the MGM Grand main casino floor. This is the gathering... Read more →

Autodesk Subscription Customers Get Support

Many subscription customers have been migrated to the new subscription content site and others will get this when they renew. One of the great benefits available on this new site is the option to submit support issues direct to Autodesk support. You get the initial response to your issue in under 4 hours but there may be a little longer wait for the final resolution depending on the specific issue submitted. You can enter your problem details into an online... Read more →

More info on the next TabletPC Operating System "Lonestar"

The following link has some really nice screen shots of the new OS for the TabletPC. I have used this myself and love the recognition improvements and the TIP. http://kstati.com/tabula/posts/794.aspx Great TabletPC blog and posting all of the latest from COMDEX 2003. http://www.kstati.com/default.aspx See me at Autodesk University 2003 with my Tablets all running AutoCAD 2004. I will also be doing a small presentation with Microsoft at Autodesk University on the TabletPC. One of the devices I will have at... Read more →

Microsoft Announces the Next Version of the Tablet PC Operating System Code Named "Lonestar"

Finally....the next TabletPC OS update code named Lonestar is announced publicly by Microsoft at COMDEX. It will be a free update in mid 2004 and has recognition changed and advanced and is really something to use. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/nov03/11-17LonestarPR.asp "Key features of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2004 include the following: Enhanced "ink to text" experience throughout Windows and in any Windows application, makes the pen a mainstream input device. Inserting text is easier with the new Tablet PC Input Panel (TIP),... Read more →

RSS Feed of this Blog

RSS What is it? From Content Syndication with RSS By Ben Hammersley Pub Date : March 2003 http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html "There are probably over one million RSS feeds published daily on the Internet, if you include all the webloggers, news sites, Slash sites, and custom channels from crazed content management systems. Add the RSS feeds made by ad hoc searches, collections of live data, and randomly generated MP3 streams, and we're suddenly talking about the sort of information overload that RSS feeds... Read more →

Tablet PC One Year Anniversary

The TabletPC is now 1 year old and some consider them a glimpse at the future of computing as they get more powerful and cheaper. The new machines called the second generation devices are just now hitting the market now are in some cases equally as powerful as current laptop and desktop systems. Microsoft also has some real surprises coming up for these devices and after COMDEX I will be able to discuss this a little further in detail. I... Read more →

Sad Day in Marin County, California and for all Fire Fighters

Memorial Page Link Today right next to my office a very large gathering of police and fire fighters gathered to remember the Novato California fire fighter who was killed while fighting fires in Southern California. This was a very humbling and somber event for me. There was worldwide press, many dignitaries including the current California Governor Grey Davis and the Governor Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger and literally thousands of emergency crews from all over the world with their equipment and in... Read more →

Autodesk Web Sites From the Past!

Quotte interesting that there is a web archive organization (http://web.archive.org/) that archives the major websites now totalling over 11 billion pages. You can even search for text on their web site. All autodesk archives: http://web.archive.org/web/*/autodesk.com Or highlights: Autodesk.com October 1996 Circa AutoCAD R13 Autodesk.com June 1997 Circa AutoCAD R14 Autodesk.com March 1999 Circa AutoCAD 2000 Autodesk.com July 2000 Circa AutoCAD 2000i Autodesk.com June 2001 Circa AutoCAD 2002 And of course the current http://www.autodesk.com Even my very own http://betaprograms.autodesk.com is partially... Read more →

AMD64 Machines Hitting Retail Stores

After doing some initial testing for the AMD64 and seeing some really amazing benchmarks I have began looking for one myself for my home office. There are rumors that Costco had one for $1200 but I have been unable to find that. This morning I found that even the mainstream retailer Sears is now selling them for around $1700 loaded. I will continue to look around and see if the Xmas season brings some lower pricing or hope that Santa... Read more →

Autodesk University 2003!

I will be posting to this blog live from AU in Las Vegas this year. I will also have some special surprises planned. More details will be posted as we get closer to AU. For more information on Autodesk University http://www.autodesk.com/au I hope to see you all there and hopefully meet you. Cheers, -Shaan Read more →

My Unofficial AU Page

In case you have not seen it, I have been keeping an unofficial Autodesk University page for a few years now. Click Here This years AU is going to be great! Perhaps we could take a ride on the new projectXsky... Cheers, -Shaan Read more →

AU 2003 Online Photo Gallery Link

I am creating an online photo gallery for Autodesk University this year. Direct Link: http://autodesk.blogs.com/photos/autodesk_university_2003/ Cheers, -Shaan Read more →

Viva Las Vegas!

I have now booked my air travel to Autodesk University. I fly in on Monday morning and fly out Friday late afternoon. I hope to see you there and meet you. I will be posting to this blog almost hourly at times with photos and details on the AU events and evening get togethers. I will be providing more specific information on plans in the upcoming days and hopefully organizing some fun activities that you can join in on. Cheers,... Read more →

Autodesk® Express Viewer 4 Press Release

Click Here With the latest version of Autodesk Express Viewer 4, customers can take advantage of the following enhancements: Easier Navigation The latest Express Viewer improves the navigation of multi-sheet drawing sets. New features include thumbnail images, an index list of the sheets and bookmarks to make it easier to find information in a clear and efficient structure. Hyperlinks can be utilized to further enrich any drawing by linking to related information in the drawing set or on the Internet.... Read more →

This blog Between the Lines

This Between the Lines web log (blog) is currently available to all who know the URL or select the link on their subscription main page. Currently without any real promotion I have a loyal few hundred following which is great. In the future this blog may be only available to those on subscription. Please feel free to spread the word on this blog and its direct URL of: http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/ If you have any feedback or topics you would like to... Read more →

Your Customer Error Reports Are Very Important

Maybe you have seen the dialog that pops up most times when you crash AutoCAD 2004 (see images below). This is titled the AutoCAD Error Report and we call it the Customer Error Report (CER). The report when sent contains: * Operating System name and version * Product name and version * ARX applications that were loaded when the error occurred * Active command when the error occurred I hope that when you get one presented to you that you... Read more →

Feedback Comment on my Active Beta Site Quest

The following came from a reader down under in New Zealand in response to my active beta site solicitation who correctly points out a great benefit to being a beta site as you get to learn quite a bit and look down the road for your internal CAD plans. "Not mentioned in your request for beta participation was the benefit that seeing a little bit into the future gives to the site. I’ve seen some comment that beta testing is... Read more →

Cadalyst buys Cadence magazine

http://www.cadalyst.com/news/ The two big CAD magazines have merged. Cadalyst has now purchased Cadence magazine. Cheers, -Shaan Read more →