WorldCAD Access

Why people left the workforce

Rat race status: no longer normal

 

One of the puzzles of our era is over the large numbers of people who didn't go back to work. As someone who was laid off (during a recession in 1984) and quit a regular job (to become self-employed in 1991), I find the puzzle fascinating. Of those not returning to the workforce following the Great Coronavirus Lockdown of 2020

• Why did they not go back?
• What are they doing instead?

- - -

GCL'20 was a disrupter, an event in history so significant that it dramatically changed human behavior for good: what once was normal no longer is.

The first time I experienced this was following 9/11. Until then, trips by Canadians across the US border to communities like Sumas and Blaine were casual, normal. The village of Sumas WA had the largest number of gasoline pumps per capita in the entire USA, because we Canadians would troop down there for cheap gas, cheaper milk, and lower postage costs. Often, US and Canada border guards asked us only about the purpose of the trip. 

Following 9/11, the US clamped down on border security, and trips were casual no longer. A decade later, the Canadian dollar sky-rocketed, making US products expensive. The weekly habit of "goin' down to Sumas" ground to a halt, and the village now features vast ghost plazas of dismantled gas pumps. What was normal no longer is.

One of the closed gas stations in this town of 1,500

- - -

The Great Coronavirus Lockdown of 2020 did the same. People found that what once was normal (you're 18, now get a job!) no longer was. Commuting each day to work at deadend jobs like retail sales clerk or office paper pusher wasn't the way life was meant to be. People realized life could instead be pleasant. 

Still, in this society we need money to live on, so this is what people are doing instead:

• Taking retirement early
• Not working as long after 65
• Cutting two-income families to one
• Becoming self-employed
• Doing work that's part-time and enjoyable

These changes to employment result in lower income, but it turns out that the same disruption is also allowing people to afford to live on less. By categorizing the less-working population into two groups, let's see how.

Group A. Being paid to not work

• The massive increase in equities since March 2020 has ballooned the value of retirement funds, allowing people to retire sooner.
• Governments freely handed out wage subsidies, some of which are on-going, allowing non-retirees to be paid to not work.

Group B. Reduced cost of living

• As trips to restaurants, exercise clubs, and vacation places are repeatedly curtailed by government, people don't have as much on which to spend their wages.
• No longer commuting saves repeating expenses like gasoline or transit passes, higher car insurance, workplace-specific clothing and accessories, and $4 coffees and frequent meals out.

The lockdowns caused people to realize that they could live better by earning less combined with having less to spend on.

The Great Disrupter wasn't so much due to coronavirus as governments' reaction to it; we can credit government for creating the conditions under which large chucks of people chucked it.

- - -

Being self-employed, the Great Coronavirus Lockdown of 2020 had no effect on me workwise, except in one area: travel. Since my childhood, it was normal for our family to fly across the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans to visit Europe every couple of years. (All our relatives live there.) This normal way of living carried on with my work, where my wife and I (and sometimes my children) traveled to Europe two to five times a year.

With GCL'20, travel abruptly ended. We found it was nice to no longer endure airport security and immigration lineups, sitting ten hours on aircraft, suffering from jet lag (both ways), missing train connections, and being bitten by bedbugs in hotels (just one time). We have stopped thinking about our next trip; and by no longer travelling we've saved a tonne of money. The new normal is that I can earn less because I spend less.

For people whose worklife routine was disrupted in 2020, the new normal has become very pleasant in 2022. As the lonely gas islands in Sumas attest, sometimes there is no going back.

 

 

 

When the replacement SSD won't boot

Time to panic!

 

Over the years, I've switched all our computers and laptops to solid state drives (SSD), after discovering just how fast they are compared to regular hard disk drives (HDD). The process is simple, usually:

1. Use software or hardware to clone the content of the old drive to the new one. The cloning process makes an exact copy of everything, including the operating system. You pay for cloning software or get it free, such as Macrium Reflect Free. Cloning hardware is a device that holds two drives, and clones the content from one to the other; see figure at left.

2. Swap the drives.

3. Start up the computer with the new SSD.

But when I followed this tried and true procedure on my newish Dell laptop, the result was two days of trying to figure out why the new SSD wouldn't boot. The Dell repeatedly complained "no boot drive installed." So I put in the old drive, and to my amazement (or horror, take your pick), it made the same complaint. Now I was really worried; after all, the worst case scenario was buying a new laptop.

I won't go through all the things I tried during those tense 48 hours. In the end, what worked was burning a recovery version of Macrium Reflect to a DVD (found in the menu under Other Tasks), booting the Dell off that, and then running Reflect's option to repair the boot sector. First time, it made no difference, oddly enough; later, I tried it again, and this time it worked. 

Whew!

Inside the Dell laptop

 

Other Problems

Here are some of the other problems I had during those two nail-biting days.

Samsung. I purchase Samsung SSDs, because they come with cloning software; the memory chips are made by Samsung, so no dodgy ones; and the Magician utility software lets me easily add a trim section and setup a cache to make the drive every faster. I bought the 2TB 970 EVO Plus Series M.2 NVMe SSD at a Black Friday sale for nearly half-price.

The very first headache of the two-day endurance race was that Samsung's cloning software wouldn't work, which is why I eventually got Macrium Reflect Free.

After I got the new SSD working in the Dell, I was so disappointed to find that the Magician utility software doesn't do much with the 970 EVO Plus SSD. The software won't perform benchmarks on it, won't set up a cache in RAM -- the Dell has, after all, 32GB RAM. Maybe an update might add these functions later.

NVMe. All of the SSDs I've installed either are 2.5" SATA versions that fit in desktop computers, or M.2 SATA versions that fit inside today's laptops. This means I have both kinds of adapters for cloning drives in external drive enclosures. My newish Dell laptop, however, uses the latest NVMe drives, which are much, much faster than the older SATA-interface drives.

Also, the new ones use a different physical connection. Which mean I had to buy an M.2 NVMe external drive enclosure, about $40. This was not a wasted purchase, as I later plugged the old SSD from the Dell into it, to create a portable 512GB drive for "free."

Macrium Reflect. When I finally found that I could use Macrium Reflect to repair the boot sector of the drive, this process was not straight-forward either. Initially, I used a USB thumbdrive onto which to put the recovery files. Macrium Reflect complained it could not write to track 0. So I tried another USB drive, and another. Always the same complaint. (I couldn't get the Dell to create a Windows-based recovery disk.)

Finally, I gave in and created a recovery DVD, which is mildly annoying as booting off a DVD is so much slower than from a USB drive. But at least it worked.

Dell. I worked through all kinds of workarounds suggested by Dell forums, which included things like holding down the power key for ten seconds while unplugging the power supply, then doing this and that and the other. None of it worked.

 

 

About this 80% keyboard

Clacking is the best typing

 

The IBM Selectric typewriter was the Bugatti of typewriters. It was heavy (so it wouldn't bounce around or be stolen easily by employees), it struck the paper with a single ball (so it couldn't jam; see figure at left), and the keyboard was lux. You just felt good typing on it, it attained 75% of the office typewriter market, and it became the standard for the clacky keyboard shipped with the original IBM PC.

Most computer keyboards today, however, are mushy. And so it was with great joy that a reader a few years ago recommended I buy a keyboard with Cherry Brown switches. My love of typing returned.

Germany's Cherry invented a line of keyboard switches, the MX series, on which the patent has now expired. The switch is the mechanism that sits between the keycap and the keyboard's body. It determines how far the key travels when depressed, the sound it makes, and the force needed to press it. 

Cherry switches comes in colors, and the color determines the keystroke effect:

• Black - linear, no feedback, makes noise when bottoming out; used by gamers.
• Red - like Black, but requires less force; also used by gamers.
• Silver - like Red, but with a shorter keypress; for gamers
• Blue - makes a noise when the actuation point is reached, so no need to press all the way down; used by typists.
• Green - like Blue, but with high force required and meant for spacebars
• Brown - not as noisy as Blue; used by fast typists (like me!), and similar to Logitech Romer-G and GX Brown
• Clear - like Brown, but requires more force
• Grey - like Clear, but requires even more force

 

Keychron K8

This week I got a new keyboard, ostensibly for my new M1-based Mac Mini. It is the K8 from Keychron, which is an 80% keyboard. A slightly smaller keyboard suits me, as my fingers are not particularly long.

K8 keybaord with key puller in lower right (Image source switchandclick.com)

But this keyboard hosts a ton of functions:

• Runs with Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS, and Android
• Works corded or cordless with a 4000mAHr battery
• Supports three Bluetooth connections
• Backlit keycaps with white light all on or off, or with patterns (which I abhor)
• USB-C port for corded connection and charging
• Toggle the top row between functions keys or multimedia keys
• Gateron (not Cherry) G switches
• Includes key puller tool and a set of alternative keys for Windows and MacOS.

The only thing missing, for me, is a roller wheel for changing the volume, like on the AZIO MGK keyboard I use with my desktop computer.

The keyboard works well, and so I am pleased with it. The one flaw is the size of the printing on the side for the switches that change between Windows/Android and MacOS/iOS modes, and between Bluetooth/Off/Cable connection. The labels are illegible. I finally figured out their meaning by their length.

Illegible switch labels (image source switchandclick.com)

 

The keyboard is US$70, and is available with Red, Blue, or Brown switches.

keychron.com/products/keychron-k8-tenkeyless-wireless-mechanical-keyboard?variant=32018252267609

 

 

The reality of homelessness in cold weather

Only as grim as the media wants to portray it

 

The CBC headline "Homeless people left to fend for themselves amid extreme-cold warning, advocates say" is not warranted by the content of the article. The writer seems to confuse people who don't/can't live inside four walls year-around, with the number of cold weather beds.

I volunteer at a cold weather shelter in our downtown, and it is never full. We have room for 30 men and women, and on the coldest nights of last week (wind chill down to -26C/-15F), we had at most about 25 places filled -- even with the local help agency and police bringing us additional clients throughout the evening.

We offer them an evening supper, washing their clothes, recharging their phones, replacement clothing, hotpocket hand warmers, and a place to sleep from 8pm to 7:30am. In the morning, clients are bused to Salvation Army for breakfast, and then they are allowed to hang out there for a time afterwards. During the day, the old tourism building is a day shelter against the cold.

Hearing the head of a local homeless advocacy group speak unfiltered by the media tells me he knows the difference: There will always be those who refuse to live inside four walls. All we can do is offer them a place when the weather is bad, and even that cannot be forced on them.

But they are never left to fend for themselves. And advocates are not saying that.

 

How to make a smartwatch last a week

Don't buy Apple. Or Google.

 

My first smartwatch was the first smartwatch to look like today's, the LiveView put out by Sony in 2010 (battery life 4 days). It was appalling, and I soon gave up on it. Next was the Nike Fuelband in 2012 (battery life also 4 days), one of the first fitness trackers -- handed out by Autodesk marketing to us members of the press for free -- whose rubberized (and unswitchable) band irritated my skin.

Then came the winner, the Pebble Steel. Its claim to fame was to use digital paper for its display, so that the watch drew very little power while displaying watch faces; digital paper consumes power only when it changes the display. The watch lasted up to ten days between charges, and when I turned off Bluetooth, it eked out two weeks. But the display was coarse, and when FitBit bought Pebble it dropped support, and finally the display went bonkers, sadly.

Watches with operating systems from Google and Apple now dominate sales, unfortunately, proudly boasting that they last up to a day, if your day is 18, instead of the standard 24 hours.

Apple calls up-to-18-hours battery duration "All-Day Battery Life"

 

The fundamental flaw with watches running WearOS and iOS is that they have big operating systems shoe-horned onto very small devices hosting tiny batteries. It's that "let's get a foothold into the market" thinking that has given us technological marvels that don't last much past bedtime.

But now some watch manufacturers are doing the hard work of writing new smartwatch operating systems from scratch. The new OSes minimize use of the CPU to prolong battery life to a week or longer. Mine, for instance, uses about 15% of the battery after 2.5 days.  

I only really want a smartwatch to make it easier to change the time between time zones and light up in the dark -- for the convenience. I really don't care for all the other features. So the battery life in my watch is extended partly because I have the display on for just five seconds and turn off every function that I can -- sports, sleep, heart, stress, et al.

Here's the thing, tho: all the manufacturers writing efficient OSes for watches are in China: Motorola, Huawei, and a third one whose name I forget. 

So as watches run out of new functions to add, the next battlefield will be longevity, and here China has the lead.

Update: Garmin also uses its own operating system in its watches to make them last a week or longer.

 

 

When your Logitech mouse won't connect

Press real hard

 

So in an earlier post I waxed eloquent about mice from Logitech that handle two (such as the M585) or three computers (the M720). In  my case, these mice are ideal as I have a Mac Mini that shares an ultrawide monitor with my Dell laptop. One mouse for two computers.

However, in the last week, I've not been able to get the mice to work with either computer -- neither with the transmitter or by Bluetooth. Lots of generic advice out there that is really unhelpful ("Try turning on Bluetooth") or downright dangerous ("Erase this file...").

TIP  You can have more than one mouse connected to your computer at a time. This is useful when debugging wireless mouse problems. Plug a wired mouse into a USB port to help you manipulate the user interface of Windows or MacOS.

 

Unifying Receiver Don't Connect

Logitech's Unifying Receiver is supposed to handle up to six devices -- mice and keyboards. But they aren't just plug'n-play nilly-willey. I have several laying around, and found that when I plugged in one, it might not be the right one.

So if your computer can't connect to your Logitech mouse through the Unifying receiver, try this steps:

• Check if your mouse's battery compartment to see if it still has its Unifying receiver embedded; take it out and use that one.
• If you have more than one receiver laying around, try the others.
• Use the Unifying program from Logitech to link a receiver to the mouse. Download it from https://download01.logi.com/web/ftp/pub/controldevices/unifying/unifying250.exe

 

Bluetooth Don't Connect

I spent two days trying to figure out why the two mice would not connect to my computers through Bluetooth. MacOS saw the mice in the Bluetooth connection panel, but would not connect. Windows just plain called them "Unknown devices." I tried a lot of things suggested by others on the great intertubes, but finally found this one cool trick that makes them work -- one that Logitech does not tell you about.

• Hold down the switching button until the LED flashes very quickly. This action forces the mouse into pairing mode, and the computer finally recognizes it.

The figure below shows the location of the switching button on each mouse. The switching button switches between linked computers. On both mice, #1 connects to the Unifying receiver; #2 and #3 connect through Bluetooth.

 

 

Working with a multi-computer mouse

One, two, and three

 

Logitech has several mice that work with more than one computer. To use the two-computer mouse, you plug the transmitter dongle into one computer, and set up the second computer with Bluetooth. Then, you press the 1-2 button on the mouse to switch between them. Button 1 relates to the dongle, button 2 to the computer with the Bluetooth connection. The Logitech M585 is a mouse like that. I was able to set it up for a Windows laptop and an M1 Mac Mini. 

Logitech M585 mouse for use with two computers

 

Another mouse handles three computers, the Logitech M720: attach the receiver to one computer, and connect the mouse with Bluetooth to two other computers. Press a button on the side of the mouse to switch between computers 1, 2 and 3. Computer 1 is the one with the dongle, computers 2 and 3 connect through Bluetooth.

Logitech M720 mouse for use with three computers

 

I recommend using the two-computer mouse if you are working with two computers, because pressing the button an extra time to skip past the unused connection gets annoying.

Logitech says these mice do not work with ChromeOS and Linux. I tested the claim and found it to be partially true. My Chromebook's Bluetooth could not find the mouse, but plugging the dongle into the Chromebook worked. So I could use the mouse with two computers -- Windows and Chromebook -- by connecting via Bluetooth on the Windows side and plugging the dongle into the Chromebook. 

TIP   Here's another reason to use a two-computer mouse: when I need all of the USB ports (both of them) on my laptop for other things, then I can connect the mouse through Bluetooth.

But Bluetooth connections are inherently slow, so when I want speedy response from the mouse, I use the dongle. Just remember to press the 1-2 button after you switch from Bluetooth to dongle mode!

You should download the Logitech Options software, which replaces the old Setpoint software. It lets you assign different functions to the buttons and set the cursor speed. Curiously, the MacOS version does not allow you to assign double-click to any mouse button through Options. There is no version of Options for Chromebook or Linux.

Logitech's Options software for customizing the buttons of their mice

 

Flowing Between Computers

Both of these mice offer Flow, which lets you copy and paste between two computers. Both must be on the same WiFi network. Make the connection with the Flow tab in the Options software. I tried several combinations of computers, but could not get it to work:

• Windows 10 laptop with M1 Mac Mini -- no flow connection. Could the problem lay with the incompatibilities inherent in Apple's new M1 CPU?
• Windows 10 laptop with Chromebook -- no flow connection, because the Options software is not available for ChromeOS
• Windows 10 laptop with Windows 7 desktop -- no flow connection. In this case, the problem lies with the desktop computer, which connects to the network with an ethernet cable; it has no WiFi, over which Flow communicates.
• Windows 10 laptop with Windows 10 laptop -- also did not work.

That Flow did not work was disappointing , as I would have interested in testing it out. One solution suggested by Logitech tech support is to disable the Hyper-X Virtual Adapter from networking in Control Panel's Device Manager. I did that but it did not cause Flow to work. 

 

Using your iPad as a portable second monitor for Windows

Luna does it

 

The folks at AstroPad figured out how to make an iPad a second monitor for Macs, wirelessly, with the Luna dongle. Then Apple did a nasty by integrating the tech into MacOS, leaving AstroPad scrambling. What Apple taketh away, Microsoft giveth.

Luna still works with Macs and iPads (such as a display for a Mac Mini), and now works with Windows computers and iPads. I bought one of the magenta-colored dongles at the launch sale price of $100 -- the USB-C model. Probably expensive, but I figured I was supporting a scrappy developer done bad by Apple. The Luna page is here: astropad.com/product/lunadisplay.

Now, I have been disappointed before by wireless, second device connections, but that was quite a few years ago. Would Luna work?

I am pleased to say it does, following the kind of setup you would expect:

1. Download the Luna software for the Windows computer
2. On the iPad, download the Luna app.
3. Run both, and follow the steps to get them to connect.
4. Then select the options. In my case, I position the iPad to the left of the laptop. I tried Retina Resolution mode, but it just seemed to make things slower.
   
   
   
   
5. With the connection in place, you can drag programs from the Windows screen to the iPad screen. As well, the iPad's touch screen works.

TIP  In my case, the two did not find each other initially. The problem is that my place has four WiFi SSIDs. Both computers have to be on the same one, ie, the SSID with the same name. 

If that still does not work, you can connect the iPad to the Windows computer with a USB cable.

There are drawbacks to the system. The iPads operates at a low screen resolution, 1024x768, in my case. Retina mode would run an iPad at a higher resolution. Perhaps Android tablets -- and even Chromebooks -- could be supported next. The next new thing Luna is working on is making the iPad a drawing tablet. 

When you go to buy Luna, you are faced with the difficulty of having three dongles to choose between: USB-C (works on Windows, and the one I bought), HDMI (for Windows only), or miniDisplayPort (for Mac only). Luna cautions that the dongle does not work through adapters, like port replicators. I wonder how it would work with the M1 Mac Mini, which has a full-size DisplayPort connector, and so would need an adapter.

I tried the USB-C dongle on my new M1 Mac Mini, but while the Luna software tried hard, it could  not connect to the iPad. The detailed details are here: help.astropad.com/article/223-luna-and-adapters.

By the way, Windows is fully cognizant of the "display," as you can see in the screen grab below.

And of course I can add a third display to my Dell, which isn't possible with the M1-based Mac Mini.

 

 

How much does a mouse cost?

$40, or $487 (with free shipping)

 

Of all the hardware I use in my job as a freelance writer, it's the mouse that gets worn out the most often. I thought I'd stock up on some spare ones, and came across an intriguing model from Logitech on the Best Buy Canada Web site.

The M720 is both wireless (using the Logitech dongle) and Bluetooth. I liked that, because I prefer using the dongle for speed, and Bluetooth is there for when the laptop runs out of available USB ports (happens to me sometimes).

In addition, it works with up to three computers in turn, handy for one of my workstations where I have the Windows laptop and the Mac Mini that share a large monitor.

As a triple bonus, the mouse was on sale for $90 (all prices in Canadian dollars, rounded to the nearest dollar), instead of $130. Cool! I was saving $40! Here I want to note that it was not sold by Best Buy Canada, but listed by a third-party vendor. 

Before clicking Add to Cart, I wanted to know the purpose of that button below the roller wheel. I checked out the Logitech Canada site, and -- to my chagrin -- learned that the suggested retail price of this mouse is $70. Quelle supris. Saved another $10.

Curiously, Logitech's official documentation does not explain the purpose of the mystery button, located between 5 and 6 in the image below. I suspect the button toggles the roller wheel between clicking and smooth scrolling, a function I appreciate on the Logitech Performance MX mouse I use with my desktop computer.

Well, if Logitech says the mouse is only $70, then what price does Amazon attach to it? There, I found it for $40. Be still my beating heart: I saved another $30! I clicked Add to Cart. 

Since then, the price from this particular vendor has risen to $60.

Now I was intrigued. Using Bing to search out other prices for this mouse, I see that we can pay whatever we want for it. At time of writing, NewEgg lists the M720 for the following prices from itself and 18 third-party vendors:

• $66
• $60 + $10 shipping
• $70
• $72
• $74
• $82
• $90
• $103 + $15 shipping
• $129
• $132
• $140
• $144
• $116 + $30 shipping
• $154
• $174
• $187
• $191
• $193
• $487

There is a lot of talk about monster retailers like Amazon undercutting smaller sellers by monitoring prices. (I wonder if that's why I was presented by the $40 price.) But what about the opposite end of the sales tunnel: smaller sellers overcutting customers by listing prices higher than the one suggested by the manufacturer, then representing them as a savings on the "regular price," as I found at the start of my hunt.

Well, I suppose the lesson here is to not trust a red "on sale" price tag, and to take advantage of the Internet to do price checking. In Best Buy Canada's defense, I have purchased a bunch of electronic gear in the past few months from them precisely because they were significantly cheaper than Amazon.

 

Why you might want to make that next CD an MP3

LP CDs

 

These days I purchase most of my music from iTunes. I don't like rewarding Apple with 30% of the musician's pay, but... When we here in Canada want to be legit in our music acquisition and reward musicians for their hard work, we have little choice when it comes to downloading tunes.

After downloading a new album, I burn it to a CD. To do this in iTunes, you need to make a playlist of the downloaded music, right-click the playlist name, and then choose Burn to CD.

I burn new albums to CDs because of the visceral interaction missing from files. Music files on computers and our phones are hidden from view. I want to see and hold the musician's handiwork in my hands, insert it into the player, and then sit back in a darkened room to enjoy the aural experience that is the album.

While I adore the 12" magnificence of vinyl records, the 20-minute playing time is annoying. To get around this short duration during the vinyl era, I always recorded newly purchased records to TDK SA C-90 cassette tapes.

Recently, I bought a DVD player from a local thrift store. It was $12. It even included the remote control. (I could've saved 10% had I shopped a day earlier during Senior's Day.) The Onkyo DVD player, around $50 on eBay, looks handsome, but more importantly, plays back regular CDs and CDs burned as data CDs with MP3 files.

DVD players often do not explicitly state that they handle CDs, so I took a semi-gamble here. This particularly thrift store allows returns of electronic goods within two days.

 

(image source elektroonika24)

 

Here's why this is great: a CD burned with MP3 files holds about 10 regular music CDs (which tend to be about an hour long) and about 15 records (which tend to be about 40 minutes long). The exact duration depends on the bitrate of the songs: higher quality, fewer songs.

The problem is this: how to burn a CD of MP3s from songs downloaded from  iTunes. The short answer: you can't, because Apple adds anti-copying code to its music AAC files (which are in M4P format.). iTunes won't let you. 

The good news: there is a workaround. 

TIP   Check the manual that came with your DVD/CD player. You might be surprised at the formats it supports.

In the case of this Onkyo unit, it plays back AAC-format M4A files, which is the format that iTunes uses. I can have iTunes burn long playlists to a CD or a DVD disc, and then play the music without going thru the steps I list below.

Android devices play AAC/M4A files directly.

 

How to MP3-ize iTunes Tunes

1. Use iTunes to burn a playlist of the music to a CD. This action strips away the copy protection, and gives you a CD you can play in any CD player.

2. Use AnyBurn (or another utility) to convert the music on the CD to MP3 files on your computer.

3. Use Microsoft Media Player to burn the MP3 files to a new CD as a data disc.

Enjoy up to ten hours of music with your new long-playing CD or 24 hours with the DVD disc!

Many DVD and CD player support MP3 on data CDs, but not all. My 2009 car CD player does; my more recent Denon mini stereo system does not; my $12 Onkyo DVD player does. You'll just need to test out your music systems, for the cost of a CD.

 

 

 

Sandboxing: How to test unfamiliar software securely

Sandboxing Windows

 

Sometimes I need to test new software or I am looking for a utility program to handle a task, say, converting the formats of audio  files. Reviews are no longer reliable, so it is a matter of downloading a bunch and try them out.

How unreliable are reviews? On Amazon, reviews can appear from customers who were paid $10 by the seller to write a positive one. Software companies buy up review sites to maintain a facade of neutrality, or else write blogs that mention no negatives of their own products. Product descriptions themselves can be misleading, such as stating they are free to use when (surprise!) they are time- or duration-limited.

The good thing today is that we can effortlessly download 3 or 4 or 5 products to test out free. The bad thing today is that we can effortlessly download 3 or 4 or 5 products to test out. 

Of the ones I download, I might end up keeping one -- or none. The others now clutter up my computer's hard drive with files and folders, or might have stealth-installed nag software, or might have added stuff to my Web browser, or just generally act like a bad flu.

The good news is that the solution is to test software a sandbox. The bad news is that sandboxing is available only in the Professional version of Windows. For me, it was worthwhile paying $130 (Canadian) to get that peace of mind.

A sandbox runs a second copy of Windows in isolation. When you close the sandbox window, everything you've done disappears. In my case, the utilities I installed to try out disappear from my computer. This is secure, because Intel CPUs have long had the ability to run processes independently of each other. 

Otherwise, the sandbox acts like normal Windows. It uses your computer's display, network connection, mouse and keyboard, and you can even copy and paste between regular Windows and sandbox Windows.

TIP  Windows Sandbox includes the Edge browser, which you can use to visit dodgy Web sites. 

 

How To Install Software in Isolation

In this tutorial, I am trying out a utility for converting WAV files to MP3 files. By using it as an example, I am not disparaging the software vendor.

1. Purchase and install Windows Professional.

2. Download the software you want to try out.

3. Start Sandbox. (Click the Windows taskbar logo and start typing s a n d...). Notice that the Windows Sandbox windows opens.

4.    In the download folder, right-click the downloaded software, and choose Copy.

5. In the Sandbox window, right-click and choose Paste. (You cannot drag and drop the file.)

6. To install the downloaded software, double-click its icon and then follow the steps of the setup program.

7. Run the software.

8. When done testing it, just close the Sandbox window. Click OK in the warning dialog box.

In this particular case, I found that this audio converter program did not read CDs, and so I could eliminate it from consideration. Later, I found that software I already had on my computer, AnyBurn, does the job exactly as I wanted.

 

 

 

How to get Eudora running on Windows 10 real quick

Copy'n paste

 

I had been hanging onto my 11-year-old Windows 7 desktop, because I couldn't get one of my most important programs -- Eudora -- running on Windows 8 and so assumed it wouldn't work on Windows 10. But then I heard from people that Eudora does work on Windows 10.

Yesterday, I made it work, and it was laughably easy. But keep in mind, it involves this prep work:

• Make sure that Eurdora is running on your older computer with the latest patches, as I describe in How to make Eudora 7 work with Gmail servers at https://www.worldcadaccess.com/blog/2020/12/making-eudora-7-work-with-gmail-servers.html
  
  

Here are the two steps to install Eudora on Windows 10:

1. Install Eudora 7 on your Windows 10 computer. Here is the crucial part: when the setup program asks where to install the program and where to install the data, specify a new folder for them, such as \Qualcomm\Eudora. 
   
   (I show the step-by-step procedure for changing folders below, for those who need the details.)
   
   The key to disaster, I have learned, occurs when you accept the default folders, such as  \Program Files (x86). The grief is caused by a change Microsoft made between Windows 7 and 8 (and so 10) in the way that Program Files folders are handled.
   
   
2. Back on your old computer, close Eudora, and then copy the entire Eudora folder to a USB drive. (For me, that was 4GB of data.)
   Then, on your Windows 10 computer, copy the folder from the USB drive into the one you created during setup.
   
   This works, because Eudora is old enough that it uses .ini files to store settings, instead of the Windows Registry. By using .ini files, Eudora is portable.

When you now launch Eudora on Windows 10, you'll find (a) it works correctly and (b) everything is in place, including your preferred settings, mailbox structure and content, and email account info.

The only catch is that Windows 10 will complain that a registry entry is missing each time you launch Eudora.

You can ignore the warning by clicking OK, and if you keep Eudora running all the time, as I do, then you only encounter the dialog box after a reboot.

 

Step by Step Folder Renaming

When Eudora's Setup program asks where to install Eudora, click Browse.

Enter the name of a different folder, such as \Qualcomm\Eudora, and then click OK.

Confirm the name of the new folder by clicking Yes. 

Choose Custom Data Folder, and then click Next.

Notice the summary of folder names in which Eudora and its data will be installed. If you made a typo, this is the time to click Back. Otherwise, click Next and finish the installation.

 

 

 

Online Conference Burnout

The more we get the less we want

 

Attending CAD conferences in-person is a costly affair. There is the $$$-cost, which can amount to thousands of dollars for something lasting just a couple of days; and there is the time-cost of being away from productive work. Never mind the cost to the body from jet lag (twice, once each way!), food poisoning (happened to me at a hotel in Disney World), trudging for miles from hotel room to conference center, whether within a Las Vegas monster hotel or in new city, losing a laptop (in Stockholm), waiting days on lost luggage (by Lufthansa and twice by Air Canada), or ending up with a bad cold partway through (in Rome).

I do love the travel, so don’t get me wrong. I’ve been so excited arriving at places I never would have  gotten to in my life, ever!, from Novosibirsk in the far east, Beijing to the furthest west (just a multi-hour airport stopover), and to Christchurch to the farthest south -- never mind going multiple times to city favorites like Ghent, Prague, Boston, and Leiden. Free travel is, for me as a free-lance writer, the only benefit I get with the job. 

So it was with some relief that conferences went online due to coronavirus. I could attend in the comfort of my housecoat, replay parts, and take in conferences that I would otherwise never have been invited to. All for free.

Solidworks ceo Gian Paolo Bassi on the virtual stage

 

Too Much Cake

But some weeks, there can be four online conferences in three days. Others end up being utter wastes of time; I am, after all, looking for new information, not being told how awesome the now-old software is. It’s unhelpful when online conferences make signing up unusually difficult, and when finding specific events is even more difficult.

On the plus side, production quality has improved since last year, as CAD vendors move from setting up temporary quarters to thinking that perhaps this is the new new. The best ones spend a bit extra to add captioning. In any case, getting away from the physical saves CAD firms a heck of a lot of money, as most in-person conferences (as I understand it) are big-time money losers.

It’s been long two years since I last flew to an in-person conference in a faraway city (Graebert's in Berlin, as it happens). And now I am getting online conference burnout.

I haven’t gotten around to watching the keynotes from Autodesk University 2021, and I still want to make time for the AllPlan launch from last week, but so far no go.

Users might be agreeing with me, judging from this snippet I found at CIMdata:

"...with free registration to AU’s virtual live content and streaming sessions they expected over 100,000 global participants. According to Autodesk, the first three days attendees watched more than 51,000 hours of content."

That expected hundred thousand-plus is a number Autodesk also used for last year’s event. But this year only 51,000 hours were watched during the conference’s three days; the switch in statistic is in itself interesting. The key is the average number of hours an attendee watches:

• If it’s 1 hour a day, then 17,000 were online
• If Autodesk had the full 100,000, then each watched just 10.2 minutes each conference day

In some ways, having tutorial sessions during an online conference are, in my mind, an artifact, a relic, really, from the in-person events where users sat at computers in a conference banquet room and got in-person help. There is nothing in online conference tutorials that can’t be duplicated by uploads to YouTube. 

Open Design Alliance recording its online conference

 

What We Want and What You Can Skip

So here is in my mind what an online conference needs:

1. Keynote address during which the CEO talks a bit (please, only a bit!) about the last year, and then introduces plans for the future
2. Demos of the newest software release(s)
3. Reports from customers who solved actual problems with the software
4. L-o-n-g Q and A from the audience
5. It runs for just an hour or two hour, or an hour a day over a couple of days

What online conferences don’t need:

• Long speeches extolling the company; we are already watching, we don’t need to be convinced
• Virtue signaling. For instance, just the fact you are holding a conference shows you don’t care about the environment, no matter how many green lasers light up your virtual stage
• Tutorials. They continue to take place only at online conferences with "we've always done it this way" thinking
• Lasting all day for several days. If you can't say all of it in a couple of hours, you need to hire new script writers

Live or canned? Half and half, I suggest: pre-recorded presentations with live Q&A. One vendor went too far, with a prerecorded Q&A worded to sound like it was live.

 

What CAD Editors Think

When I expressed my burnout to other CAD editors, they responded like this.

- - -

Editor 1: I sign up for them, but only for the access to replay, if I find out they said something I actually need to know about.

- - -

Editor 2: I find myself accessing the replay most of the time, because I can skip the self-congratulatory talks and irrelevant parts.

The reality is, I only have so many hours in a day to write, interview people, and produce articles so I can't endure hour-long virtual meetings to find 10 to 15 mins of newsworthy bits.

- - -

Editor 3: There’s lots of verbiage. The skill is finding people with something interesting to say. AU this year was quite bad for finding anything of interest.

- - -

Editor 4: IMHO, online conferences are pointless. It was something companies needed to do to stay in the news, and for people to tell their bosses that they were doing something worthwhile when working from home. Not anymore.

The quality of leads you get is pathetic. Anyone can show up. People don’t need to take the trouble of actually setting their work aside, travel to a place, and spend the time productively so as to make the trouble worth it.

- - -

Editor 5: I agree with the consensus, I much prefer to catch the replay so I can start, stop, return, etc. I'm often embarrassed at how long it takes me to get to it, though.

I wouldn't say that I'm burned out on virtual conferences. Companies had to cut to the meat, and I have the choice to choose which sessions I attend, with no pressure or guilt.

I honestly can't imagine companies used to ask us to give up days of our time for what information could be delivered in a few hour-long meetings (1 hour-long meeting is often the case).

I do miss the additional insight that comes from meeting colleagues, talking to different people than those who may have been scheduled, etc. And, of course, finding companies on the show floor. I plan to accept fewer in-person meeting invitations in the future.

- - -

In conclusion, let me emphasize: My favorites are always the small conferences, whether in-person or online.

 

Updated: Solved: Why the new Mac Mini Won't Work With an Ultrawide Monitor

...and how to fix the problem

This article has been updated with corrections and new information, thanks to readers ZinZ and infeeee.

Second update: An article in The Register explains the reason these computers have resolution problems is because of a shortcut Apple took to rush out its new hardware: "ARM-based Macs use graphics driver code based on iOS and iPad OS, which do not need to support that many displays." Read the full article here: theregister.com/2021/12/03/apple_m1_drivers/

A few weeks ago, I got the CB3 ultrawide monitor from Acer. It is gloriously 32" wide and makes my video tutorials (of CAD software) easier to edit. The resolution is 3440 x 1440, which in shorthand is 5K 3.5K. 

My newish Dell laptop runs with the new monitor, no problem: just connect any HDMI cable between the two. Here's a pic of the Dell running Camtasia video editing software on the ultrawide.

Last week I got the new X-based Mac Mini. I need it mostly only when I write about CAD software that runs on MacOS.

The computer had a problem right out of the box, when it didn't really understand it was connected to an ordinary 1920x1080 monitor. The image was too big, so that I could not access the menu bar. After a while, I was able to reach the menu bar blindly, and after a few reboots the Mac finally displayed correctly. Not a pleasant out-of-the-box experience

Next, I hooked it up to the Acer ultrawide monitor, but no joy. The monitor stayed blank, sometimes complaining "No cable attached." You might be able to imagine the time I wasted trying to get it to work. I have an ultrawide monitor and that Mac would work with it, darn it!

1. I tried Apple tech support where two techies tackled my trouble. In the end, the final advice from Apple was, "Ask Acer tech support."
2. I tried Acer tech support, and in the end the final advice from Acer was, "Ask Apple tech support."

I did some more mucking about, and on the second day finally got the ultrawide to work, but at the wrong resolution. Here are the resolutions listed by the Mac for the Acer monitor: none match the monitor's native resolution of 3440 x 1440 (click image for larger image).

Update 2: Reader infeeee suggested holding down the Option key while clicking Scaled. (Hold down the Alt key, when you have a Windows keyboard hooked up to a Mac.) It worked! The action forces MacOS to list all resolutions available, including the native resolution of 3440x1440:

And here is the the Mac Mini's output correctly displayed on the Acer ultrawide monitor:

As Management Speak (@managerspeak) so eloquently put it this morning, "The problem is that you are running the latest technology."

---

In my efforts to fix this problem, I came across important details at Apple's Mac Mini tech specs page, written confusingly. (Note that my Dell laptop supports three displays at once.)

• The HDMI port on the newest Mac Mini handles only 4K resolution. This is why the ultrawide monitor worked, but at lower resolution.
• The Thunderbolt port handles 8K. But I had no cable for this spec.

The Mac considers the HDMI port to be the primary display; one Thunderbolt port is used to provide the secondary display.

So, the new Mac with its X processor cannot handle what my year-old Dell laptop can: outputting more than 4K resolution out of its HDMI port the correct resolution for the monitor automatically. This makes me appreciate my Windows- and AMD-based Dell laptop even more.  A reader suggested that a higher quality cable might help, which I have ordered.

Then I found that 8K cables are rare. I finally found an 8K cable that handles Thunderport at one end with DisplayPort at the other. (The monitor has two HDMI and one DisplayPort ports.) I ordered it and await its arrival. 

In Which I Explain Media’s Confusion Re: Facebook

Not vis a vis

 

The tech media is salivating over Facebook's latest public relations disaster, and has much to say on the matter. Some are, however, puzzled by Facebook's machinations, and so to them I offer explanations.

- - -

Matthew Yglesias asks, “It is a little odd that Facebook would bother to research whether or not their product is harmful given that the answer obviously isn't going to alter their decision-making. What was the point?”

Me: It is a tactic to get ahead of the critics. If Facebook knows the flaws of in its product (as tobacco companies did), it can have answers ready when critics uncover the flaws.

In this case, however, its usual “We Are Facebook! Who Are You?” response has not worked as well as during earlier pr scandals.

- - -

Kara Swisher wonders, “These verbal gymnastics illuminate nothing, which is why I would love to have @nickclegg on for a substantive full hour discussion on Sway at this important moment. Unfortunately, we get persistent declines from FB, even as they book on press with less experience in this arena.”

Me:  It is a tactic to spar with media who are not expert in the subject at hand. A Brian Stelter and his staff aren’t going to know where to direct the dissection knife. Experienced tech journalists are to be avoided, at least until after Facebook has made sure that its messaging has suffocated competing narratives. Facebook will then use narrative-suffocation as proof there is no longer a scandal.

We see the same problem committed when country governments call on Facebook to explain itself.  In most case, neither the politicians nor their staff have much of an understanding of the world of technology.

- - -

Allow me to close with a commentator who gets it -- that most of the media doesn’t get it. Yael Eisenstat writes,

A plea before the whistleblower speaks tonight: don't fall for Facebook's playbook of changing the conversation to be about her, instead of about the documents she exposed. Any journalist/commentator who allows this to happen is doing a disservice. Speaking out is hard. Full stop.

Remember: Tobacco companies used endorsements from doctors to sell cigarettes as a solution to solve throat problems (a.k.a. the T-zone) caused by smoking. Facebook is no different.

Using Asynchronous Communication in CAD

Guest editorial by Cedric Desbordes

 

More than any other DWG vendor, Graebert of Germany has done more to connect the primary design platforms with one another -- desktop/laptop on Linux/Mac/Windows; tablet/phone on Android/iOS; and Web browsers. The name of the company may not be familiar to you, as they tend to sell white label CAD. Companies like Corel, Dassault Systems, and Onshape use Graebert's "ARES" code for their DWG editors.

Here, business development manager Cedric Desbordes describes how this trifecta of CAD platforms is useful for today's WFH environment. Asynchronous communication means that all parties don't have to be online at the same time -- this like sending an email, instead of placing a phone call, which is synchronous communication. 

- - -

With so many professionals forced out of office environments by the pandemic, even the most hesitant companies have had to reorganize their workflows to accommodate remote workers. During the first lockdowns, I was surprised to see large organizations using older and very expensive techniques like virtualization or VPNs [virtual private networks]. I remember too how the press was skeptical about our offer to make ARES Kudo [Graebert's browser-based CAD viewer and editor] free of charge for a period of time.
 
When this all started, people thought the virus would be a problem for only a couple of months, so the priority was to keep all systems in place and avoid stressing users, even if this meant a very slow AutoCAD streamed to your computer from virtual machines. So, during the first wave, IT teams acted more like firefighters: they weren't trying to implement new products or substantially reshape workflows.
 
Today, organizations understand that the virus-induced crisis is not acute, but chronic. It will continue to affect us for a long time. New waves or variants may come, resulting in further lockdowns. More importantly, working with remote team members has became the new normal. Previously, your co-workers sat next to you and worked the same office hours as you. Now you see them reorganizing their work hours, and working from different places, at different times, and even from other countries.

Recently, I watched a Webinar from Onshape. The guest speaker was a customer we have in common, Kichler Lighting in the USA. They use our ARES Trinity together with Onshape. Kichler has suppliers in China and adds new ones frequently. In the lighting industry, trends change rapidly, and so they need to react quickly with new products. Reducing time-to-market with suppliers in China that they have potentially never met is a challenge. Part of the challenge is to secure remote access and to synchronize drawings; another aspect is collaboration by sharing ideas, commenting on issues, and getting design changes validated.
 
One key takeaway from the Kichler story is that communication was significantly improved through online collaboration. No one was afraid to interrupt other users with questions or comments. It was a smooth, asynchronous flow of communication. As a consequence, time-to-market was reduced.
 
This is where communication tools like online meetings or email or chat fall short. Users need to be able to collaborate in-place (inside drawings and documents) and do so asynchronously.
 
One clear example of asynchronous communication is how people use Google Docs:

• Manage and revoke user rights by determining who can only view, and who can comment and/or edit
• Comments help to organize the work and extend the collaboration to more people, without altering the document
• Document history that goes back in time to show what has changed, and who changed it
•  People working together as a team, but without needing to work at the same time
• Notifications to stay updated (without needing to open documents) and to react faster when help is needed.

What we are achieving with our Trinity workflow is very similar for DWG drawings (files in the cloud, user rights, view-only links, markups and comments, email notifications), but with additional advantages:

Do it your way. For each project, users can decide whether to keep working with local files or to access files from the cloud. Also, it is not required to switch to cloud-based ARES Kudo to benefit from collaboration features, as they are also found in desktop ARES Commander. Users in organizations can go at their pace — there is no abrupt/disruptive transition to new tools or workflows.
 
Your cloud. In contrast to Google Docs, ARES does not force users to place files on our servers. We recognize that many companies have already made the decision on which cloud storage provider(s) to use. There is no reason to isolate DWG files from other files, so it is just common sense to for ARES to connect to a large number of existing cloud services, as well as provide the WebDAV protocol to connect easily to any other service.

In addition, we partner with AWS for those customers asking for a dedicated infrastructure, as well as to offer some storage with ARES Kudo Drive for users who have nothing in place and so want first to experiment with a few projects on our servers.
 
Highly secure. Files stay on the servers customers are already using, and ARES is used only to edit them. Our infrastructure is reviewed by the AWS team for security.

I think another key difference with Google Docs is that our industry has a strong need to improve the workflow between the users who are producing drawings at the office (or in home offices) with others in the field needing that technical information while working at a construction site, who are on customer visits, or work at a facility or factory.

Efficient interaction between the two groups requires software with the following capabilities for workers in the field:

• Access any drawing without planning ahead of time which files to take with them
• Always view the latest version of the drawing to avoid mistakes, which cost
• Enrich the project with useful feedback collected in the field to help the users editing drawings to reduce time-to-market
• Email notifications to that allow every user to follow the project updates, and jump into the file promptly when needed

From my perspective, view-only links are the most appealing feature to get new users started with cloud-based workflows. As we offer some free storage with the ARES Kudo Drive, it becomes possible for ARES Commander users to upload one of their files, create a view-only link, and send it to a colleague or customer who can view — and comment or markup — for free.

The best reactions to Facebook's new surveillance sunglasses

All Your Face Are Belong to Facebook

 

I once met the head of a design firm for lunch. As we headed out, he showed me what had just arrived in the mail for him. He was pretty excited about the pen with its built-in camera. He took it with us as we walked to the restaurant, looking around for what to photograph. I think he began to realize that pointing a pen repeatedly at people was a bit weird-looking. During lunch, the pen rested awkwardly between us.

Google Glasses failed. Snapshat Spectacles failed. And now Facebook has its surveillance technology built into Ray-Ban brand sunglasses. "Miniaturization is so crazy. These glasses have two cameras, a battery, three microphones, two speakers and bluetooth, and weigh *five grams* more than a regular pair of Ray-Bans," reports Tom Gara (@tomgara).

Here are the best reactions to the new product, which, it seems to me, is destined to become as popular as 3D TV.

- - -

Steve Kovach (@stevekovach): Facebook loves to copy everything Snapchat does. This time it's glasses, 5 years after Snap did it.

Katie Notopoulos (BuzzFeed News): Facebook Is Making Camera Glasses, Ha Ha Oh No.

They have an LED warning light so that bystanders know you are taking a video. I taped it over. A FB exec told me this is a violation of the terms of service of the glasses (oops).

Sebastiaan de With (@sdw): I am shocked, absolutely shocked that such a privacy-respecting company culture like Facebook's would produce a wearable camera product that feels like an almost dystopian-creepy invasion of privacy.

Joshua Benton (@jbenton): I don't get why Facebook wouldn't brand these as either Instagram or Oculus glasses, both brands that lack most of FB's brand baggage around privacy and everything icky.

@rmac18: So the privacy expert that Facebook is having defend its new Wearable Glasses works for an organization that is funded by Facebook.

Facebook sent reporters covering their glasses launch a list of supposed “third-party” privacy and consumer groups that it consulted for the product. So I did some digging. FB funds at least 4 of the 5 groups. Future of Privacy Forum is one. It also shows the breadth of Facebook's influence over nonprofits that rely on donations.

Yves Adele Fartlow (@vogon): It's very silly to me that people think that the audience for the facebook ray-bans is going to be the same as the audience for google glass, like nah it's going to be an entirely different group of people with no respect for other people's boundaries

Andrew Losowsky (@losowsky): Remember that whole thing where Google Street View cars were passively scraping everyone's wifi information? Imagine that but Facebook with all of our faces and locations.

@pinboard: I'm guessing they've got Scoble duct taped to the floor of a Facebook van somewhere, so you can't say this product is 100% bad.

James Vincent (@jjvincent): There's been some comment on how basic the functionality of Facebook's glasses are — no AR, no assistant, etc. But that's on purpose, because the main feature of these things is getting the public used to the idea of everyone constantly wearing cameras.

Alex Kantrowitz (@kantrowitz): My review of the Facebook Glasses: Nope

 

 

My 137 ebooks & 233 training videos

The List, part ii

 

These are the 137 ebooks I worked on beginning in 2002 and going through to 2020, an average of seven per year. Many of these can be purchased from https://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/ebooksonline/. When added to my 108 print books, that represents 245 books in 31 years. 

The advantage of ebooks over print books is that I eliminate the publisher and make 97% of the cover price of a book. The publisher typically handles editing, printing, distribution, and marketing -- in exchange for paying me an average of 7% of the cover price. 

 

How I Began in eBooks

I had written a series of customizing tutorials (Tailoring AutoCAD) for a tabloid AutoCAD magazine, whose editor permitted me to republish my work after three months. I posted the series to my Web site, and a reader wondered if I could collect them into a single PDF file for ease of downloading. That became my first ebook -- Tailoring AutoCAD for AutoCAD 2000, released in December 2002.

Each year, I added more to the ebook, until by the AutoCAD 2006 edition it had tripled in size. I realized it suffered from two problems: parts of the book never needed updating (like LISP and linetypes), and at 420 pages the ebook was getting fat.

At this point, I spun off parts of the book so that I needed to update only the parts that changed. And so we have titles like Tailoring Dynamic Blocks 2009 and Tailoring Dynamic Blocks 2010 -- and no new editions afterwards, as Autodesk no longer updated dynamic blocks with new functions. By AutoCAD 2015, I stopped writing about AutoCAD entirely, as Autodesk fell to adding only a few new functions each year.

I put together a few ebooks for CAD running on Macintosh computers, but sales were dismal enough for me to give up on them.

 

Tutorial Videos

Since 2014 I've produced 233 training videos, typically 4-5 minutes long:

• Bricsys: 161 videos
• C3D Labs: 2 videos
• Nanosoft: 70 videos

 

History of Training

My time in writing about CAD shows the changes in technology prevalent for training:

1. 1990-2014: print books
2. 2002-2020: ebooks
3. 2014-date: videos

 

Other Writing

In addition to books, ebooks, and videos, I've participated in the following:

• Co-launched new magazines for Microstation, Visio, and AutoCAD
• Launched these newsletters: The CAD Market, CAD++, upFront.eZine, and Visions.eZine
• Wrote magazine articles for CADalyst, Cadence, Architecture, InfoWorld, Design Engineering, Jon Peddie Associates, CAD lab, CAD infinitum, CADinfo.net, Federal Government News, MicroStation Manager, Visio Smartpages, Technical Design Solutions, IMAGINiT Technologies, Vancouver AutoCAD User Society, and PC Magazine.
• Whitepapers for various clients.

 

The eBook List

* Book titles with an asterisk are ebook versions made from materials first produced for a print edition

All CAD Systems

1.   CAD Manager's Guidebook* - Apr 01

2.   The Russian MCAD Market - Jan 10

3.   CAD & BIM: Is There a Free Pass? - Nov 10

4.   MobileCAD is Reaching Maturity - Oct 15

5.   Best CAD Practices - Nov 17

 

AutoCAD

6.   AutoCAD 2013 Reference Guide Rough Edition* - Apr 13

7.   Inside AutoCAD’s Multilines and Splines* - Aug 2008

 

8.   Tailoring AutoCAD 2000 - Dec 02 (my first ebook)

9.   Tailoring AutoCAD 2004 - Apr 03

10. Tailoring AutoCAD 2004, Workbook Edition - Nov 03

11. Tailoring AutoCAD 2005 - Mar 04

12. Tailoring AutoCAD 2006 - Jun 05

13. Tailoring AutoCAD 2007 - Dec 05

14. Tailoring AutoCAD 2008 - March 07

15. Tailoring AutoCAD 2009 - Sept 08

16. Tailoring AutoCAD 2010 - Aug 09

17. Tailoring AutoCAD 2011/12 - Jun 11

18. Tailoring AutoCAD 2012 for Mac & Windows - Sep 11

19. Tailoring AutoCAD 2013 - Jun 12

20. Tailoring Animation - Jan 07

21. Tailoring Animation 2012 - Jul 12

22. Tailoring AutoLisp Diesel & DCL - Dec 06

23. Tailoring CUI - Sep 05

24. Tailoring CUI 2009 - Dec 08

25. Tailoring CUI 2010 - Jul 09

26. Tailoring CUI 2011-12 - Junl 11

27. Tailoring CUI 2013 - May 12

28. Tailoring Dynamic Blocks - Aug 05

29. Tailoring Dynamic Blocks 2009 - Dec 08

30. Tailoring Dynamic Blocks 2010 - Oct 09 (my best selling ebook)

31. Tailoring QuickCalc - Sep 05

32. Tailoring Render - Oct 06

33. Tailoring Render 2012 - May 11

34. Tailoring Visual Styles - Apr 06

 

35. What's Inside? AutoCAD 2005 - Jan 04

36. What's Inside? AutoCAD 2006 - Jan 05

37. What's Inside? AutoCAD LT 2006 - Jan 05

38. What's Inside? AutoCAD 2007 - Mar 06

39. What's Inside? AutoCAD 2008 - Feb 07

40. What's Inside? AutoCAD 2009 - Feb 08

41. What's Inside? AutoCAD 2010 - Jan 09

42. What's Inside? AutoCAD for Mac - Aug 10

43. What's Inside? AutoCAD 2011 - Jan 10

44. What's Inside? AutoCAD 2012 - Feb 11

45. What's Inside? AutoCAD 2013 - Feb 12

46. What's Inside? AutoCAD 2014 - Mar 13

 

AutoCAD LT

47. Inside AutoCAD LT Volume 1: 2D Drafting* - Nov 07

48. Inside AutoCAD LT Volume 2: Management and Customization* - Nov 07

 

BricsCAD

Bricsys originally based BricsCAD on IntelliCAD, and then with version 8 switched to its own code

49. BricsCAD 9 for AutoCAD Users

50. BricsCAD 10 for AutoCAD Users - Sep 09

51. BricsCAD 11 for AutoCAD Users - Dec 10

52. BricsCAD 12 for AutoCAD Users - Nov 11

53. BricsCAD 13 for AutoCAD Users - Nov 12

54. BricsCAD 14 for AutoCAD Users - Dec 13

55. BricsCAD 15 for AutoCAD Users - Dec 14

56. BricsCAD 16 for AutoCAD Users - Dec 15

57. BricsCAD 17 for AutoCAD Users - Nov 16

58. BricsCAD 18 for AutoCAD Users - Nov 17

59. BricsCAD 19 for AutoCAD Users - Nov 18

60. BricsCAD 20 for AutoCAD Users - Oct 19

 

61. Customizing BricsCAD 4 - Apr 03

62. Customizing BricsCAD 5 - Oct 04

63. Customizing BricsCAD 8 - Sept 07

64. Customizing BricsCAD 9 - Mar 09

65. Customizing BricsCAD 10 - Jan 10

66. Customizing BricsCAD 11 - Dec 10

67. Customizing BricsCAD 12 - Dec 11

68. Customizing BricsCAD 13 - Feb 13

69. Customizing BricsCAD 15 - Mar 15

70. Customizing BricsCAD 16 - May 16

71. Customizing BricsCAD 17 - Nov 16

72. Customizing BricsCAD 18 - Dec 17

73. Customizing BricsCAD 19 - Jan 19

74. Customizing BricsCAD 20 - Dec 19

 

75. Learn BricsCAD 8 In a Day - Dec 07

76. Learn BricsCAD 9 In a Day - Mar 09

77. Learn BricsCAD 10 In a Day - Dec 09

78. Learn BricsCAD 11 In a Day - Jan 11

79. Learn BricsCAD 12 In a Day - Oct 12

80. Learn BricsCAD 13 In a Day - Feb 13

81. Inside BricsCAD 14 - Mar 14 (the title changed from “Learn in a Day” to “Inside”)

82. Inside BricsCAD 15 - Feb 15

83. Inside BricsCAD 16 - Apr 16

84. Inside BricsCAD 17 - Dec 16

85. Inside BricsCAD 18 - Dec 18

86. Inside BricsCAD 19 - Nov 18

87. Inside BricsCAD 20 - Nov 19

 

A+ CAD, CADopia, DWG Editor, IntelliCAD, progeCAD 

IntelliCAD Technical Consortium programs IntelliCAD, which is distributed by other companies

88. Customizing CADopia 4 - Apr 03

89. Customizing CADopia 5 - Oct 04

90. Customizing CADopia 6 - Sep 05

91. Inside CADopia 5

92. Inside CADopia 6 - Sep 05

 

93. Inside A+CAD 6 - Jul 07

94. Inside A+CAD 2010 - Sept 09

 

95. Inside IntelliCAD 5 - Nov 04

96. Inside IntelliCAD 6 - Oct 05

97. Tailoring IntelliCAD - Jan 03

98. Tailoring IntelliCAD 4 - Apr 03

99. Tailoring IntelliCAD 5 - Oct 04

100.           Tailoring IntelliCAD 6 - Oct 05

 

101.           IntelliCAD, The Un-AutoCAD - Nov 05

 

102.           SolidProfessor DWGEditor - Jul 07

 

103.           Inside progeCAD 2009 - Dec 08

104.           Inside progeCAD 2017 - May 16

105.           Tailoring progeCAD 2009 - Feb 09

 

ARES, DraftSight, CorelCAD

Graebert GmbH programs ARES for itself, DraftSight for Dassault Systemes, and CorelCAD for Corel

106.           Ares for AutoCAD Users

107.           Ares 2 for AutoCAD Users

108.           Ares 2014 for AutoCAD Users

109.           Ares 2015 for AutoCAD Users

 

110.           Inside Ares

111.           Inside Ares for Linux

112.           Inside Ares for Mac

113.           Inside Ares 2013

114.           Inside Ares 2014

115.           Inside Ares 2015

116.           Inside Ares 2016

117.           Inside Ares 2017

118.           Inside Ares 2018

119.           Inside Ares 2019 (at 650 pages, my largest ebook)

Inside Ares 2020 was split into three titles with a combined length of 770 pages:

120.           Book i: Starting Computer-Aided Design With Ares Commander 2020

121.           Book ii: Modern Editing and Collaboration On Mobile and Cloud

122.           Book iii: Advanced CAD With Ares Commander

 

123.           Inside CorelCAD

124.           Inside CorelCAD 2013

125.           Inside CorelCAD 2014

126.           Inside CorelCAD 2015

127.           Inside CorelCAD 2016

128.           Inside CorelCAD for Mac

 

129.           Inside DraftSight

130.           Inside DraftSight 2

131.           Inside DraftSight 3

132.           Inside DraftSight 2015

133.           Inside DraftSight 2016

 

Generic CADD, General CADD

After Autodesk bought and shut down DOS-based Generic CADD, General CADD Products resurrected it as a Windows program

134.           Inside Generic CADD 6* - Dec 02

135.           Inside General CADD Pro - Nov 02

 

Visio

136.           Inside Visio 2002* - Dec 03

137.           Tailoring Visio 2002* - Nov 03

 

 

 

My 108 Books in Print

The List, part i

 

These are the 108 print books I worked on, beginning in the summer 1990. I worked on most of these between the years 1991 and 2014, an average of five books a year. Many thanks to Colleen McColghlin, who as my agent found contacts publishers and encouraged me in my desire to become a book author. Then in 2003. I started producing ebooks and in 2015 began producing training videos. These are lists for another day.

 

Author *

*) I wrote these books from scratch, or else updated the book for new versions of software.

1.          The AutoCAD Technical Reference (my first book!)

2.          AutoCAD for Windows

3.          AutoCAD 2004 Family of Products

4.          AutoCAD 2010: Update Guide

5.          Successful CAD Managers Handbook

6.          CAD Manager's Guidebook

7.          Illustrated AutoCAD R12 Quick Reference

8.          Illustrated AutoCAD R13 for DOS Quick Reference

9.          Illustrated AutoCAD R13 for Windows Quick Reference

10.        Illustrated AutoCAD R14 Quick Reference

11.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2000 Quick Reference

12.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2002 Quick Reference

13.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2004 Quick Reference

14.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2005 Quick Reference

15.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2006 Quick Reference

16.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2007 Quick Reference

17.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2008 Quick Reference

18.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2009 Quick Reference

19.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2010 Quick Reference

20.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2011 Quick Reference

21.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2012 Quick Reference

22.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2013 Quick Reference

23.        Illustrated AutoCAD 2014 Quick Reference Update

24.        Illustrated AutoCAD LT2 Quick Reference

25.        Illustrated AutoCAD R13 Programming Quick Reference

26.        ArchiCAD for AutoCAD Users

27.        FelixCAD for AutoCAD Users (incomplete)

28.        IntelliCAD 98 for AutoCAD Users

29.        TurboCAD 5 for AutoCAD Users

30.        TurboCAD 12 for AutoCAD Users

31.        VDraft for AutoCAD Users

32.        Learn AutoCAD LT in a Day

33.        Learn AutoCAD LT 2 in a Day

34.        Learn AutoCAD LT 3 in a Day

35.        Learn AutoCAD LT 97 in a Day

36.        Learn AutoCAD LT 98

37.        Learn AutoCAD LT 2000

38.        Learn AutoCAD LT 2000i

39.        Learn AutoCAD LT 2002

40.        AutoCAD LT 2006: The Definitive Guide

41.        Learn GeneriCADD in a Day

42.        Learning Autodesk Inventor 2008

43.        Reviewer’s Guide to IntelliCAD 98

44.        Using AutoCAD 2004 Basics

45.        Using AutoCAD 2004 Basics - Instructor Guide

46.        Using AutoCAD 2004 Advanced

47.        Using AutoCAD 2004 Advanced - Instructor Guide

48.        Using AutoCAD 2005 Basics

49.        Using AutoCAD 2005 Basics - Instructor Guide

50.        Using AutoCAD 2005 Advanced

51.        Using AutoCAD 2005 Advanced - Instructor Guide

52.        Using AutoCAD 2006 Basics

53.        Using AutoCAD 2006 Basics - Instructor Guide

54.        Using AutoCAD 2006 Advanced

55.        Using AutoCAD 2006 Advanced - Instructor Guide

56.        Using AutoCAD 2007

57.        Using AutoCAD 2007 - Instructor Guide

58.        Using AutoCAD 2008

59.        Using AutoCAD 2008 - Instructor Guide

60.        Using AutoCAD 2009

61.        Using AutoCAD 2009 - Instructor Guide

62.        Using AutoCAD 2010

63.        Using AutoCAD 2010 - Instructor Guide

64.        Using AutoCAD 2011

65.        Using AutoCAD 2011- Instructor Guide

66.        Visio 4 for Everyone

67.        Learn Visio 5

68.        Learn Visio 2000

69.        Learn Visio 2002

70.        Learn to Diagram Visio 2000

71.        Learn to Diagram with Visio 2002

72.        Advanced Visio 5

73.        Advanced Visio 2000

74.        Advanced Visio 2002

75.        Web Developer's Quick Reference

 

Re-author *

*) I took over writing these books, which originally were written by another author

76.        AutoCAD 2023 for Dummies

77.        Basics of A+CAD

78.        Fundamentals of Modern Drafting Workbook

79.        LTI Instructor Guide

80.        LTI Workbook

81.        OLCAD 106 - Civil

82.        OLCAD 103 - Arch

83.        OLCAD 208 - GDT

84.        Using AutoCAD, 3rd Edition (Que)

85.        Using AutoCAD R13 for DOS (Delmar)

86.        Using AutoCAD R13 for Windows

87.        Using AutoCAD R13 for Windows - Instructor Guide

88.        Using AutoCAD R14 for DOS

89.        Using AutoCAD R14 - Instructor Guide

90.        Using AutoCAD R14 for Windows

91.        Using AutoCAD 2000

92.        Using AutoCAD 2002

93.        VisualSeries - Basic AutoCAD 2D

94.        VisualSeries - Advanced AutoCAD 2D

 

Co-author*

*) Another author and I worked on these books at the same time

95.        MicroStation 4 for AutoCAD R11 Users, first edition

96.        MicroStation for AutoCAD Users, never published

97.        MicroStation 95 for AutoCAD R13 Users

98.        MicroStation for AutoCAD Users, never published

99.        MicroStation SE for AutoCAD R14 Users (Delmar)

 

Contributor*

*) I contributed material to these books

 100.      Architectural - Chapter 7

101.      AutoCAD: A Problem Solving Approach R14

102.      Harnessing AutoCAD R12 for Windows

 

Technical Editor*

*) I edited these books for technical accuracy

103.      3D Printing with Autodesk

104.      3D Modern Printing with TinkerCAD

105.      AutoCAD 2013 for Dummies

106.      AutoCAD 2014 for Dummies

107.      AutoCAD 2017 for Dummies

108.      AutoCAD 2020 for Dummies

 

Copy Editor*

*) I edited the text of this book

109.      Devil Bush by David Waynes (never published)

 

Envisioned

In addition to the books listed here, there were writing projects that publishers proposed to me, but that never got off the ground. These include books about Corel Draw and Front Page.

 

 

 

Bands at the 9th Annual Musical Walkalong

Galiano Island, Canada

 

Each year the Galiano Conservancy Association puts on an afternoon of hiking, music, and art. The fundraiser subsidizes 1,500 children to come to Galiano Island to live in nature, which they might otherwise not experience. The last number I heard was $23,ooo raised at this year's event, which did yet not include the amount made from the silent auction.

The walk goes through the forested trails and rocky cliffs of Galiano Island, on the Pacific coast side of Canada. Here are photos I took of some of the performers at this year's event.

 

Kurt Ward-Theiss playing Irish tunes on the mandola

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Catriona Day on cello, with Saltspring Island in the background

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Emma, Dustin, Greg, and Connor folk ensemble at Trincomali lookout

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Dan Gaucher on drums, James Merger on upright bass playing freeform jazz

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Orla Scott on accordion (at left) along Appleby trail

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Stefan Brunoff painting with water colors by Chrystal Cove

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www.galianoconservancy.ca