WorldCAD Access

Finding the Bottlenecks in Solidworks

Between one and multi cores Alin Vargatu of TriMech researched where the single-core bottlenecks in Solidworks are, and reported it in a Webinar at trimech.com/resources/upgrade-your-hardware-and-software-for-maximum-productivity (email required). While the purpose of the Webinar is to sell upgrades to Solidworks 2023 and new Dell hardware, it contains useful information. Let’s take a look at some of what he and Dell’s Scott Hamilton had to say at the “Upgrade Your Hardware and Software for Maximum Productivity in 2023” session. The poster benchmark reduces the time to open a large assembly from 8.75 minutes to 1.75 minutes -- 5x faster. The changes being... Read more →

I found an international debit card

Killing the exchange rate The only benefit to the EU was its original function: a single currency for many countries. Never mind that my German relatives were disgusted by stores switching DM to Euros, leaving the numbers unchanged, meaning everything doubled in price, overnight. For us non-European travelers, having a single currency is so-o-o convenient. Unless, of course, we also went to England. Or to Switzerland. Or to Sweden... Over the years, I employed a variety of ways to pay for things with our Canadian dollars in Europe: American Express travelers cheques -- remember those? Withdrawing Euro cash from European... Read more →

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... Read more →

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...").... Read more →

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... Read more →

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... Read more →

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... Read more →

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... Read more →

Seven tips for working with Substack

Hidden and not so hidden functions How to Preview Your Newsletter SubStack's process for previewing your newsletter is a bit awkward: 1. Click Settings at the bottom of the screen. 2. In the Post Settings screen, scroll down until you reach Secret Draft Link. 3. Click Copy Link. 4. Paste the link into the address bar of a Web browser. 5. To exit the Post Settings screen, click the X in the upper right corner. How To Move a Paragraph Hold down the Ctrl key and then double-click the paragraph. Notice the blue border that surrounds the paragraph. Drag the... Read more →

How to send email from overseas when your ISP blocks you

VPN to the rescue When I want to send email from outside of Canada, the outgoing email is filed to Outgoing, the purgatory mailbox. It is never sent. The problem occurs whether I want to send email from my Android phone or my Windows laptop, using a desktop client like Eudora or eM Client, or mobile app, like AquaMail. Who blocks the email, and why, I don't know. I asked my ISP's tech support. They had no clue, suggesting that I instead use their Webmail client, which is only slightly worse than Gmail's Web client. (The Webmail client is, admittedly,... Read more →

How to place dimensions in Bricsys Shape

It's not easy Shape is a new Windows CAD program from Bricsys that is meant for 3D modeling. Its inspiration was SketchUp (from Trimble) and its purpose is to do conceptual design for input to BricsCAD BIM software. However, for students, casual users, and architects doing pre-design, it stands alone. A BricsCAD drawing opened in Shape It is free, and it reads DWG files, as well as starting new models from scratch. But it does not read BIM data from existing BricsCAD BIM files. Download it from https://www.bricsys.com/en-intl/shape/ One reader wrote: I have down loaded Bricsys Shape and given it... Read more →

When a virus isn't

Not ransomware, either Last week a pair of folders appeared on my desktop computer, the workhorse that makes most of my income. The new folders had random letters, as shown below: A3fOg and X1W2J2. When I erased them, they reappeared a few minutes later with different names. Each folder contained 10 files, such as .rtf, jpg, and .docx, with unusual looking file names. See figure below. Naturally I installed and ran Malwarebytes, and it found some potential viruses that Microsoft's anti-virus utility missed. But the folders remained. Naturally I researched what might have caused the folders and odd files but... Read more →

Transitioning away from AutoCAD

Pointing to folders A reader writes: I am trying to transition the AutoCAD users [at my firm] to BricsCAD and would like to run a "mixed" environment until I am certain I can pull the plug on AutoCAD. Before I buy your books on BricsCAD, can you tell me if I can use my existing and extensive AutoCAD tool palettes? Or will I have to create them anew in the BricsCAD environment? It would appear that its not as simple as just pointing to the existing tool palette location. - D. M. You can use AutoCAD's XTP tool palette files... Read more →

Getting more disk space for free

Just a little bit more With 3TB hard drives normal these days, computer makers are turning to SSD [solid state drives] to improve performance and increase prices. Problem is that they are still expensive. So 128GB and 256GB are the normal sizes in an age when we are used to 1TB drives in laptop computers. IMPORTANT TIP: Never, never buy a Windows or Mac laptop or tablet with just a 128GB solid state drive. There's two reasons why: Because of the internal design, 128GB SSDs are inherently 2x slower than 256GB drives. The operating system takes up so much room... Read more →

Microsoft doesn't want you printing folders; we show you how

DOS Redirection From 1983 One of the top requests for Windows 10 is that Microsoft allow printing of directory listings -- getting a print out of all the files in a folder. But Microsoft so far is maintaining a stance of deafness towards its customers and so it is up to me to show you how. Now, I know that readers will tell me that such-and-such utility does this, and that's great. Here is the method I use, and it goes back to 1983 when PC-DOS v2 was released. The trick is to use redirection, which still works today in... Read more →

Tip: Placing text along an arc path

A reader writes Q: I am being taught AutoCAD 2009 here in Federal Prison. I bought one of your books, Using AutoCAD 2009, and I saw an address to write with questions. Is there a way in AutoCAD to create text that will run along an arc? If so, what command do I enter. My teachers don't think there is a possible way to do this, so I thought I would turn to the experts! Please see the example below. - D. K. A: It is possible to place text along an arc in AutoCAD and workalikes. The command you... Read more →

Windows keyboard shortcuts I find useful

Faster than the ribbon The fastest way to get things done on computer is through keyboard shortcuts, and these are the ones I use often. (Depending on the software, certain ones might not work.) Ctrl+W to close the current window; I press Ctrl+W repeatedly to close all windows in the current program; when there are no windows left open, then the final Ctrl+W closes the program. Alt+Tab to switch to the next program; I use Alt+Tab to quickly switch between two programs I am using at the same time. Ctrl+Tab to switch to the next window inside the current program... Read more →

When the cursor gets erratic, it's the mouse's nano-receiver at fault

It's common nowadays for wireless mice to be packaged with a nano-receiver, a tiny receiver the size of a small finger nail, that plugs into a USB port. On two systems, I've experienced erratic cursor behavior as I move the mouse. The cursor jumps or sometimes doesn't react at all. The problem is due to the receiver being too close to the USB port. It picks up electronic noise generated by the computer's parts, interfering with the signals passing from the mouse. In addition, I found the problem specific to Logitech's Unifying receiver, which handles up to six devices. I... Read more →

Update: Some other methods I use to speed up slow computers

I neglected to mention a few other tasks I do to maintain computers: Open up the computer as much as possible, and then use a can of compressed air to blow out dust, especially around the cooling and venting areas. Do the same for the keyboard, to blow away the crud. It can help to turn a keyboard upside down and shake vigorously <-- don't do this to a laptop! Do this for at least a minute and you'll be grossed out by what falls out. As my dad said, "But I don't eat at the computer!" Yah, well... As... Read more →

Some other methods I use to speed up slow computers

My neighbour across the street complained to me that his wife's computer ran really slow, and that Outlook crashed a lot. Well, I don't use Outlook, but unfortunates who do, tell me that it crashes when it has too many messages and too many attachments. I offered to have a look. After he brought over the computer, I promptly felt an uncomfortable feeling: this really was a personal computer, with pics of the kids, Skype running, links to favorite Web sites. I tried as much as possible to avoid looking at the personal stuff. Anyhoo, here's some of the things... Read more →

How I make all my computers run faster

Computers are my tools for getting work done. As the Nth Graphics ads famously stated already back in the late-1980s, if you have to wait for more than two seconds, you are waiting too long -- or words to this effect. 25 years later, and waiting for a computer's split-second hesitation is too long for me. The answer is RAM. RAM, and more RAM. Fortunately, the price of memory today has become so cheap that it doesn't make much to max out the memory in our computers, which is the key to running a fast one. (Now, I am assuming... Read more →

How to erase Windows from a reused hard drive

I wrecked the motherboard of my previous desktop computer, but the 500GB hard drive was perfectly good; plus, it contained all my files. So I installed it into my current desktop computer. It still had Windows and some Windows-oriented folders, which contained system-protected files that I could not erase -- even though Windows no longer uses any files on this second hard drive. I knew I could get Linux to erase the folders and files, but I didn't want to turn my desktop computer into a dual-boot machine. I tried running Linux in a virtual machine using Oracle VM VirtualBox... Read more →

Where is there a multi-body SAT viewer for free?

A reader asks, Can you recommend a “free” SAT (ACIS) file viewer that can view the files. Viewers like Spatial’s RADF Viewer only seem to see the one object or feature. For now, I am importing them into AutoCAD to verify the content but that’s rather clunky. I hope all is well on the wet coast. - H. M. I believe that the "see one object" was a limitation of older versions of the SAT file format. It used to be that when you exported to SAT, you could select only one "body." What you are looking for is a... Read more →

How to get rid of that "Are you sure" question when erasing files in Windows

It irritates me that Windows asked every time I delete a file, "Are you sure?" A silly question, because even Microsoft's smart programmers know that the file is not being deleted; it gets moved to the Recycle folder, from whence accidently erased files can be recovered. Only very large files and folders are erased immediately, ones that are too large for Recycle -- although I have no idea why any would be too large for Recycle on today's 1TB and 2TB drives. Last week by chance I found how to remove the irritating dialog box: 1. Right-click Recycle icon on... Read more →

TIP: Getting the full list of + commands in AutoCAD 2012

AutoCAD has a number of commands that begin with the + character. These are usually commands that open multi-tabbed dialog boxes. By prefixing the command name with the +, AutoCAD then prompts you for the tab number, which begins with 0 for the first tab. These are primarily meant for macros and LISP routines. For example: Command: +options Tab index <0>: (Enter an integer.) AutoCAD 2012's new command interface lists all commands starting with the same letter. Normally, I find this a pain, since it will tend to list a closing command before an opening one. For instance, it lists... Read more →

Attn all AutoCAD 2012 users: redefine ScreenMenu cmd

Thanks to Mark M, who pointed me to this item at Autodesk's support site: The SCREENMENU command was undefined by default in AutoCAD 2012 so that CIP data could be gathered indicating how many customers redefined the command and how many never noticed it was missing. The command is still supported, tested, and functional, but it must be manually redefined. This means we should all redefine ScreenMenu -- as well as the other undefined commands, BlipMode, Trace, and DsViewer. Redefining ScreenMenu nevertheless leaves it missing from CUI. Problem is that some/many users turn off CIP [customer involvement program, where Autodesk... Read more →

AutoCAD 2012 Tips: by Ignacio Arrúe Matilla

Ignacio Arrúe Matilla is an architect at OpenCartis in Spain, and he sent me some details of AutroCAD 2012: I can access "removed" system variables -- BlipMode, ScreenMenu, and so on -- through AutoLISP: (setvar "blipmode" 1) and (setvar "screenmenu" 1). This last ones displays screen menu, even though I can't see it in the .cuix file. The new associative array object acts like a block, and so the Clip command and the new NCopy command work on it. Very useful! Chamfer and Fillet commands now preview the chamfers and fillets when the cursor passes over the second object or... Read more →

TIP: How to force AutoCAD to save AutoSave time

Architect K.M. writes: We have a persistent problem with AutoSave turning itself off. My hope was that we could somehow add it to the ACAD2010doc.lsp to force it to be turned on when AutoCAD is launched. We tried adding this string (setvar 'savetime>5) with no luck – what would the correct line be? Have you heard of this problem, and do you know a fix? I have never heard of this problem. I would check to make sure the location where AutoCAD saves its .bak backup files and its .cfg configuration file is valid. You may want to check support.autodesk.com... Read more →

How to see the same CAD drawing twice, on two monitors

A.L. writes: I’m using AutoCAD 2011, and I have a large monitor for my drafting use. Is there a way to have a smaller monitor to show the same file to see the overall view (e.g. – floor plan). Then I could zoom into the view on the large monitor to do my detailed drafting. I think this should work: start a second session of AutoCAD (you can have more than one copy of AutoCAD running at a time), and then open the drawing file. (This file will open as read-only, but that is fine for your purposes.) Drag the... Read more →

Here is how I back up data from my computer

The best backups are those that (1) back up files to a different hard drive and (2) make restoring files easy to understand. It's probably not well known that AutoCAD has the first feature: In the Options dialog box, click Files tab, change the path for Automatic Save File Location to another drive. On my computer, that's to an external 500GB portable drive. As for the second feature, well, I don't use any backup softare, because I don't trust the restore process. In the panic that follows data loss, you don't have the luxury of learning now how to restore.... Read more →

What consumes memory in drawings

The Bricscad update log has an entry I found interesting: A user-provided drawing required more than 1.5GB of memory to load and display, due to dense dashed linetype patterns used for long entities. The threshold to switch to displaying such entities using continuous line type was lowered, resulting in reducing the memory need by 1.1GB. Read more →

How come text looks so good in AutoCAD?

As I work with DWG-compatible CAD systems, I notice that text on their screens looks dreadful, whereas text looks smooth in AutoCAD. I took a close look to find out why. Here is what text looks like in non-AutoCAD software (enlarged 10x): It gets worse when I turn on lineweights: In contrast, here is how text looks in AutoCAD 2010: Notice that Autodeks uses anti-aliasing to smooth out the edges of the text. When lineweights are turned on, text is unaffected. I noticed a change in AutoCAD 2011: Autodesk now uses color anti-aliasing. To my eyes, however, text looks no... Read more →

Undocumented options in AutoCAD 2011's Hatch command

The Hatch command was massively overhauled by Autodesk in AutoCAD 2011, making it very interactive via the ribbon. Some like it the instant results; some don't care for the sometimes unpredictable results. (You can always switch back to the AutoCAD 2010 mode through the HpDlgMode system variable. Autodesk is usually pretty good at maintaining old features.) As I update my Using AutoCAD 2011 book, I am finding that the new Hatch command has a number of hidden options. So far I have uncovered the following: MA - Match Properties -- makes the properties of the new pattern match those of... Read more →

Owen Wengerd explains why memory-wimpy 32-bit AutoCAD must be installed on your 64-bit 64GB fire breathing computer

In Owen Wengerd's Outside The Box blog ("Random thoughts about AutoCAD, ObjectARX, and the meaning of life"), we learn why some users are forced to install 32-bit AutoCAD on 64-bit computers: because some third-party apps are only compatible with the 32-bit version of AutoCAD -- even (shock, horror!) some written by Autodesk itself, says Mr Wengerd. One commenter writes: Eagle Point has refused to port their product to 64-bit, and now that they are closing the doors on their civil software for vanilla CAD, I don't expect them to. Our office was forced to install 32-bit Windows just because of... Read more →

Ribbons and Tool Palettes

A reader asks: I bought your ebook "Tailoring AutoCAD 2010 CUI." Great information and very clear. I am using AutoCAD Architecture 2010. I have some custom tool palettes with tools that I would like to get into the Ribbon. I can't seem to find a way to link the tools from the host drawing into the Ribbon. Do you know of a way to do this? - JSB I am unfamiliar with Architecture, but your question fascinated me. I had never thought of this situation. I tried it out in AutoCAD 2010, and found it is not possible. Tools from... Read more →

TIP: Acad 2010 Alt-Shortcuts

A lot of Windows software has Alt-key shortcuts to access items on dropdown menus. For example, you can hold down the Alt key, and then press F and S to save a document (File menu, Save item). AutoCAD 2010 turns off the menu bar, but today I noticed that Alt sequences still work, but in different areas from menu bars. Press the Alt key, and tooltips appear near buttons in the Quick Access toolbar and tabs in the ribbon, as shown below: Press key(s) to access the items, such as 1 for New Drawing and R for the Render tab.... Read more →

Antz on Your AutoCAD 2010 Screen

One of AutoCAD 2010 undocumented commands is named after the movie "Antz" (In unrelated news, Autodesk's Maya software was the secondary computer graphics app used for the movie Antz.) The Antz command controls some aspects of the ViewCube and SteeringWheel -- user interface elements that Autodesk also has in Maya. After loading gstest.Arx with AppLoad, enter the following command: Command: antz [ViewCube/SteeringWheel/Refresh]: ViewCube Click on ViewCube part or [?]: Enter in an integer; this causes the ViewCube to rotate to that position, such as Top and BackTopRight -- kind of like a command-line interface to controlling the ViewCube and standard... Read more →

Linking Google Earth with AutoCAD

Scott Sheppard has a well written tutorial on Working with large models and the Google Earth Extension for AutoCAD in his It's Alive in the Lab blog. It turns out that models can be too big to publish to Earth, as described by the blog entry. His entry also has a link to the user guide that teaches you how to: Import Google Earth images into AutoCAD. Publish 3D AutoCAD models to Google Earth. Drape Google Earth images onto AutoCAD 3D meshes. Attach time span information to models. Read more →

Reading Your CEO's Lips

How can you tell if you might be a victim of the economic climate change we are experiencing these days? Nicholas Carlson tells us phrases CEOs are using these days to gloss over the damage suffered from losing one's job: "We are living in a time of unprecedented economic challenges." "Our best chance of getting through this rough time." "I made the decision to go very deep, very quickly so we won't have to do it again." "We are making aggressive moves to strengthen our leadership positions in [insert name of industry niche here] to competitively position our company for... Read more →

TIP: Open "Any" File with Acrobat Pro Ext 9

In working with the beta of Adobe's updated Acrobat 9 Pro Extended (nee Acobat 3D) I found that it can import many kinds of supported files -- even though it doesn't look like it can. Here's how: 1. From the File menu, choose Open. 2. In the "Files of Type" droplist, the only file types available are PDF and All Files. Choose All Files. 3. Navigate to a folder that holds CAD files, such as STEP, PRT, or DWG. Select one and click Open. Acrobat converts and opens the file. Using this method, I was able to view the Pro/E... Read more →

# of Ways to Quit AutoCAD

After Visa balloned the number of ways to shut down the operating system, I wondered how many ways there were to end AutoCAD -- especially after seeing the new Exit AutoCAD button in the new menu browser. 1. Quit command. 2. Exit alias. 3. Press Ctrl+Q. 4. Press Alt+F4. 5. From the menu browser, choose File | Exit. 6. From the menu browser, click the Exit AutoCAD button. 7. From the menu bar, choose File | Exit. 8. On the title bar, click the X button. 9. Right-click the title bar, and then choose Close from the shortcut menu. Read more →

TIP: Use Memory Cleaner with AutoCAD 2009

Working with AutoCAD 2009 the other day, it suddenly complained of a lack of memory. The Vista computer upon which I am running it has 2GB RAM and 92GB free disk space. Earlier, I found a memory cleaner that frees up memory that's being hogged by applications. When I ran it, it reduced the amount of used RAM from around 1500MB down to the normal 1000MB. After that, AutoCAD was happy again. I now run Memory Cleaner just about every day after using AutoCAD 2009. You can get a copy of the utility from www.vasileios.gr/freesoft. (Strictly speaking, it is a... Read more →

TIPS: New in AutoCAD 2009

I downloaded the 30-day eval version of the AutoCAD 2009 shipping version, and found three more new items: * SkyStatus - new sysvar. * LayerDlgMode - toggles which layer UI is displayed by the Layer command: dlg box or palette. * Text Find -- new toolbar. Read more →

TIPS: Adorable Toolbars

The redesigned toolbars in AutoCAD 2009 are just adorable -- cute and tiny. Just one problem: how to get them to show up when the ribbon is the user interface. In the past, the usual shortcut manner of accessing toolbars was to right-click a toolbar. This worked well, because there were usually a couple toolbars open. With AutoCAD 2009, zero toolbars are open by default. The new workaround is to right-click the Quick Access toolbar (found on the title bar), and then choose Toolbars | AutoCAD. (There is another method that should work, but doesn't: when I choose View |... Read more →

Tips: AutoCAD 2009 Shortcut Keystrokes

AutoCAD 2009 has a couple of new shortcut keystrokes, and moves around a couple of others. New CTRL+SHIFT+H -- Toggle HidePalettes command, turns on and off the visibility of all palettes at once. CTRL+SHIFT+P -- Toggles Quick Properties; can also use the undocumented QuickProperties command. Changed CTRL+D -- Toggle dynamic UCS (also available through F6). CTRL+I -- Cycle through coordinate displays (used to be Ctrl+D). Read more →

Other Font Formats - They Exist

I knew about TTF and PostScript Type 1 fonts, but learned of another format that's actually supported natively by Windows. My youngest daughter is becoming a designer. She asked how to install a font she downloaded from an online source, such as DaFont. I told her to put it into the \Windows\Fonts folder. But she got stalled, because the download was a ZIP file. I opened the ZIP file for her, and found an OTF file. "Wha?" I wondered. A google search quickly informed me that (1) OTF files are open text fonts, and (2) are supported by Windows. Sure... Read more →

Pump Up the Saturation

I've finally figured out how some photographs look simply fabulous, like the ones by pro photographers that always win Canadian Geographics’ annual photo contest. They pump up the saturation. Saturation is the intensity of colors. More saturation and the colors are more intense; less, and the photograph begins to look like a black-white photo. Your camera might have a saturation settings. On my Canon S1is, it is found in the Func. menu. Move down to Custom Effect, press Set, and then change Saturation. This camera offers only three settings: more, normal, or less. My other camera, the Samsung NV3, handles... Read more →

Getting Photos Back into Cameras

My dad asked if I could solve a problem for a friend: "At church a lady asked me how to transfer pictures from the computer back to the camera." It is possible. It might be that the software that comes with your camera allows this. If not, then follow these steps: 1. Take out the camera's memory card. 2. Insert it into a card reader, which is attached to your computer. Some computers now include card readers; if not, you may need to buy one. 3. The computer will recognize the card reader and the memory card as another disk... Read more →

What Needs to be Fixedin AutoCAD

With AutoCAD 2009 shipping in a half-year, it's time to begin ranting on how the top-seller needs to be improved. Not how it could be improved, but needs to be. #1 on the list of emails I get is frustration with linetypes, a technology essentially unchanged in nearly 25 years. It's disappointing that Autodesk didn't fix linetypes with AutoCAD 2008, which it had touted as the "annotation" release. Linetypes not a form of annotation? Tear up my engineering degree! Blog reader shachar_k asks avery sensible question: I have trouble to create a linetype with a attributed blocks. I want that... Read more →

When A Full Battery Looks Empty to the Camera

My daughter was leaving on a four-day trip and asked me for a new set of batteries for her Samsung digital camera. I always have four NiMH batteries "simmering" in a trickle charger, so that there is always a set fully charged and ready to go. She thanked me, took them, and returned minutes later. "I hate my camera!" Turning it on, the battery meter showed three bars: fully charged. "Wait a couple of minutes," she instructed me. Sure enough, the battery meter suddenly turned red (the sign of empty batteries) and the camera shut itself down. I tried different... Read more →