Between the Lines

Cool AutoCAD Session Today at AU

I will be participating in a special General Design Industry Session at 3:30PM to 5PM titled "General Design Industry Session: Inside the Sausage Factory". If you really want to see what goes on behind the scenes and some glimpses of the future, be sure to attend this session today (Tuesday Nov. 30 2004) in rooms 113 and 114. Cheers, -Shaan Read more →

Monday at AU 2004

Monday was primarily for ADN members and ATC so it was not the official first customer AU day. Today will be the first of many big days, and if the registration is any indicator it will be huge. I am very grateful the keynotes are no longer at 9AM and instead moved to 1PM it works well for those walking a long distance from another hotel or those that stayed out a little too late. So far in two days... Read more →

Viva Autodesk University

I arrived in Las Vegas yesterday and met a bunch of AU attendees. The weather is really cold here right now in the 40s and with a heavy wind. With 4200+ attendees this will be a great event. I was registered in the New York New York due to the MGM Grand being full but I got a 31st floor room overlooking the Las Vegas strip for the same price. It means I have a longer walk to the AU... Read more →

The Autodesk Discussion Groups - Great Peer to Peer Support

The Autodesk discussion groups are getting a great boost with a promotion on the main page of http://www.autodesk.com. If you have questions on Autodesk products, give the Autodesk discussion groups a try as there are some of the most knowledgable users of Autodesk products out there assisting fellow users. Join one now Read more →

15 Autodesk University Survival Tips

Make sure if you use a public wireless connection at AU this year to make sure you have updated antivirus enabled. Using any public WiFi connection can be risky and can easily allow infection of your machine if not protected. You can even use a free antivirus program like AVG from www.grisoft.com. Make sure if using the public wireless connection to have a firewall enabled to prevent someone from messing with your machine or gathering data. You can use the... Read more →

New Autodesk Blog - Lynn Allen!

We moved the Autodesk Inventor blog to a new URL and then launched the new Lynn Allen blog. It is truly exciting to see a pet project grow and grow and also the amount of people reading the blogs and providing feedback. The Between the Lines blog is blowing past 200,000 and has apparently spurred many others into the blogging world. I have to give credit to the many that have been crucial to all of this happening like Bill... Read more →

New Zealand Customer Robin Capper Visits

I gave Robin a tour of the San Rafael Civic Center offices and had a good visit with him. I then ran him to the ferry terminal to catch a ferry ride to San Francisco. What was funny is that I remarked when the ferry docked and was unloading "Hey Robin, look at those people running for dear life". What I did not realize immediately was that they were all running to get to their cars and escape the parking... Read more →

Free Intro VBA Guide for AutoCAD

Lee Ambrosius has posted links on his blog to the mini AutoCAD VBA training he wrote. Beyond the UI blog posting Mini Guide for Intro to VBA for AutoCAD "A new version has been created that is a total of 17 Chapters and 169 pages. Typically people want to see a copy of it before buying it which is understandable. So What I have decided to do instead was publish a Mini Guide which contains certain sections of the full... Read more →

Contest for AU Attendees

Come test drive the next version of AutoCAD and you may win a Canon Powershot SD10 4 megapixel digital camera! It's easy... Just drop into Room 104 (Lab) on Monday between 7:00-9:00PM or Wednesday between 7:00-9:00PM and try out some of the new AutoCAD features. For each module you complete (task plus feedback form), you earn one entry for the drawing. The more tasks you complete, the more entries in the drawing you earn. If you participate in one of... Read more →

Robin Capper is in San Francisco

One of my favorite New Zealanders is in the Bay Area and headed for Autodesk University. I believe he even plans on stopping by my office. Hopefully he calls or visits tomorrow as I will be out of the office Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday and then to Autodesk University on Sunday. Of course if he shows up, he will get the special behind the scenes San Rafael Civic Center Autodesk tour where AutoCAD is developed. If he... Read more →

Rendering Contest at Autodesk University

For those attending Autodesk University, there will be a rendering contest sponsored by Avatech Solutions. Link to Article on VizDepot.com Read more →

What does product retirement mean?

After January 15, 2005, Autodesk will no longer sell upgrades or cross grades from any AutoCAD 2000i-based products or Autodesk Inventor Series 6. Additionally, Autodesk will no longer provide technical support, apart from existing maintenance patches that are downloadable from www.autodesk.com. What retirements really mean: You will be able to continue to use your product. If you want to move to the latest product release after the Jan 15, 2005 date you can do so using our legacy program. The... Read more →

Web Based AutoCAD System Variable Map

New Online System Variable Reference post Beyond the UI blog "Just like the previous online resource that I just mentioned, the System Variable resource has been around for many years in the form of a PDF file only. This format works great for printing, but requires additional software though. This is what has driven me to redo some sections of my website. So I am happy to announce that the new System Variable map is on the HyperPics website." Link... Read more →

New and Helpful Online AutoCAD Command Map

Lee Ambrosius has now launched his web based Command Map for AutoCAD commands from release 12 to release 2005. Now you can view the command list history online as well as download a PDF of the command list. New Online Command Reference post Beyond the UI blog "After many years in the making and some research recently; I am pleased to announce the new online Command Reference section of the HyperPics website." Link to the online AutoCAD Command Map: http://www.hyperpics.com/commands Read more →

Only One Week Until Autodesk University

In one week from today, I will be in Las Vegas attending the number one CAD event Autodesk University (http://www.autodesk.com/au). I will be posting pictures from AU again this year and I hope to see you there. Look me up as I will be all over the event and you can call me on my cell phone at (415)328-6747 to find out where I am at. I have always gathered informal groups to chat and also head out on the... Read more →

Lee Ambrosius Updates his AutoCAD Tips and Tricks Website

Lee has updated his great repository of AutoCAD tips and tricks. There is a ton of great tips and tricks that can help any AutoCAD user. He even has some Quick Guide documentation on commands and system variables available there for download. Lee is one of my most respected AutoCAD users and he knows more about the inner workings of AutoCAD than most outside of Autodesk. He is a great wealth of info and assistance and well worth a website... Read more →

New CAD Blog by Beth Powell

Another CAD blog is born. I recently visited with Beth while in Jacksonville Florida at the AUGI CADcamp. "Beth Powell's Blog for Autodesk products used in the architectural realm - AutoCAD, Architectural Desktop, Building Systems, Revit, Viz. Also anything of personal interest...hey, it is MY Blog!" Beth's CAD Blog "I frequently visit the Autodesk blogs of Shaan Hurley http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/ and Chris Yanchar http://adt_blog.typepad.com/ . I've also noticed more and more blogs popping up in the CAD world. Being the packrat... Read more →

Autodesk University 2005, Where?

Autodesk University is the premier and most widely attended, highest rated, and successful CAD event in the world. After this years AU 2004 in Las Vegas in just about 2 weeks, the next location AU will be held will not be Las Vegas. Don’t get me wrong the past few years of holding AU in Vegas was fun and was reasonably priced for flights and a wide variety of entertainment but change is good. We used to hold AU in... Read more →

Request from a coworker working on his MBA

The below request is from a coworker who is working on his MBA. This is not a request for Autodesk research, but for his thesis. If you are interested, send Partha an email or call him direct. Cheers, -Shaan My name is Partha Mitra. I work for Autodesk and I am doing my MBA from San Francisco State University. And as a part of my curriculum, I need to write a thesis project. I’ve chosen the project related to the... Read more →

Interested in the future of AutoCAD?

Look inside the crystal ball and glimpse the future of AutoCAD at Autodesk University 2004! Now's your chance to join Eric Stover, the Product Manager for AutoCAD 2002/2004/2005 and hear about our future directions. We'll demonstrate new technology and discuss the direction of design. Be ready to participate in validating new AutoCAD features before the rest of the public gets a chance to see them. This session is for everyone interested in the future of Autodesk’s flagship CAD software. Topics... Read more →

AutoCAD Team Listens

There was a press release today "Autodesk's Flagship Product AutoCAD Receives Accolades From Around the World". This press release mentions the worldwide acceptance of AutoCAD 2005. "CADalyst magazine featured AutoCAD 2005 among its "2004 All-Stars" (http://www.cadalyst.com/cadalyst/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=101698). The publication's editor highlighted the software's powerful file management tools based on the sheet set paradigm that is common among design firms, as well as support for setting and enforcing drawing standards." I can speak for the AutoCAD and Viz teams in saying we... Read more →

Opportunities to Speak with AutoCAD Product Design at AU

Every year at AU (http://www.autodesk.com/au) there are many opportunities to be heard by the product teams. Here is an opportunity to schedule these events in advance so you will be sure not to miss out on them at AU. If you are interested in any of these events please email [email protected] with your name and contact information as well as the event name and time. Event Details: Monday November 29th, 2004 Usability Study -Customization & Migration 5- 6:30 p.m 1... Read more →

Using my BlackBerry 7100t as a modem!

A coworker of mine emailed me a link from BlackBerryForums.com. At first I was skeptical, as so many said the BlackBerry does not support and could not be configured as a laptop modem. Thanks to the detailed research and documentation of those in the BlackBerryForums.com it actually worked. I was able to get a 115Kbps connection from my laptop to the Internet using my new and awesome BlackBerry 7100t phone through tMobile. HOWTO: BlackBerry As Modem For Laptop Yes I... Read more →

Jimmy Bergmark Launches an AutoCAD related Blog now!

Welcome to the blogging world Jimmy. JTB World Software engineering/architecture/development, CAD, AutoCAD, ADT, VB.NET, VBA, AutoLISP, Access, SQL Server and more http://jtbworld.blogspot.com/ Jimmy is a power AutoCAD user that appears to never sleep. His new blog will no doubt become a great resource for many. Shaan Read more →

Today at CADcamp in Jacksonville FLA "JAX"

I had a great day at CADcamp except for not having a Internet connection. There were over 250 in attendance and I heard numbers beyond 300 as well. The classes were great and full. I attended the classes taught by Lynn Allen, Matt Murphy, Richard Binning, Dawna Kinsel, and Mark Couture. It was really nice to hear the crowd clapping and the oohs and aahs as they saw new features in AutoCAD 2005 they were not aware of even though... Read more →