blads blog

Continuing on from my last post on this issue way back in December 2015, my cancer commonly known as the "lazy cancer", officially titled Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) , is generally considered to be a indolent cancer type has decided once again to have a "rebellious teenager-like outburst". This time, it has occurred in the mediastinum region - which is the area located between the lungs which contains the heart, esophagus, trachea, cardiac nerves, and other juicy bits...  My lymphona is currently squeezing/compressing my esophagus, making swallowing food extremely difficult at times. I'm scheduled to get another 3 location tattoos, to enable easier targeting for the radiation therapy treatment planned over approximately four weeks. Staying positive... it'll be back to normal soon enough...

For those who know me, it’s common knowledge that I love red wine - Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, alternatives like, Montepulciano, Tannat, Saperavi, Nebbiolo to name a few.   Do you have an all time favourite. Ok, I know that’s difficult for most red wine affectionados but I fell in love with this wine variety early 2000s. So what is it you ask??? Durif... those who know me will be well aware of this amazing wine.   This red wine grape from the Rhone Valley wasn’t highly regarded in its native France.   Durif is actually a cross between the noble grape Syrah and the less well-known Peloursin. It was created at the University of Montpellier in the 1880s by a gentleman named Dr. Durif - a nurseryman who was looking to develop a grape variety resistant to downy mildew, one of many scourges of the vine. It was introduced into Australia by pioneering Victorian viticulturalist Francois de Castella in 1908. Although only a few token plantings remain ...

You have eye colour, for example, blue eyes like your mom and long legs like your dad. Things like this are incredible when you think about it: we inherited every physical attribute from our parents, from copies of their genes. But what other things came from our predecessors?  One thing I inherited from my mum was Hammertoes.  So what are Hammertoes, you ask? Hammertoe is typically a bending of one or both joints of the second, third, fourth, or fifth (little) toes. This abnormal bending can put pressure on the toe when wearing shoes, causing problems to develop. Hammertoes usually start out as mild deformities and get progressively worse over time.  Hammertoes are progressive – they don’t go away by themselves and usually they will get worse over time. I elected to have my hammertoes corrected by surgery, starting with the left foot. This was performed by Dr G. Dracopolus and his great surgical team, on October 30. For the skirmi...

Besides being tricky to pronounce, Montepulciano is one of the more complicated grapes. You see, there's an Italian town called Montepulciano, which produces a wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. But, this wine is mostly made from  Sangiovese , and doesn't actually include any of the Montepulciano grape! The most famous examples of Montepulciano (the actual wine) come from the Italian region of Abruzzo, but it's planted throughout much of central and southern Italy, but nowhere near the town of the same name. Thankfully, this grape is also grown in Australia, it's much more straightforward and in true Aussie style, we've taken away the pronunciation problem by shortening it to 'Monte'. One that I tried very recently is Atze’s Corner Wines “The Mob” Montepulciano where it’s appeal lies in its beautifully generous fruit, including red plum, sour cherry and boysenberry, and moderate acidity, so I reckon if you love Shiraz you'll lov...

Way back in 2011 , I was diagnosed with a rare lymphoma, titled,  Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL).  It was considered to be totally non-aggressive and is commonly known as "the Lazy Cancer".  As  “it” was not causing me any concern or stress, it was decided that we would not interfere with it… So we did and watch wait approach and go on with our lives... Middle of this year, I started having "hip" issues and it turns it was a bursitis which was resolved very effectively with cortisone injection.  Shortly after that, started getting "back problems", nothing too much at first, then legs started to have "pins and needles". Late October, I finally had some "free time" to get into my GP and get CT scan... unfortunately another large mass (5.1cm x 5.6cm x 2.2cm) was found, roughly in the middle of my back which was putting pressure on my spinal canal / nerves. In I go for another biopsy... and again w...

Once again, Autodesk have provided a subscription only mid-year release.  For the full review, refer to Redstack's blog site , where it was first posted.

Autodesk University , or AU as its more commonly known by is an annual conference run by Autodesk each year, where all the biggest CAD geeks on the planet assemble and compare notes on best practices for their industries and try to outdo each other when squealing in glee over the latest updates to their favourite CAD package.   Whether you're interested in  Revit ,  AutoCAD ,  Inventor ,  BIM ,  Civil 3D ,  3D printing , point clouds or anything else CAD, design, architecture or engineering related, AU is a huge show with something for everyone. I've had the opportunity to attend AU for the past ten years and I must tell you: I have squealed with the best of them!  Seriously, AU is a fantastic event that gives you the opportunity to look at your everyday work processes in ways you’ve never even considered. Let me put that into perspective for you. I’ve been using CAD in excess for 30+ years now, I've been an architectural technician, buil...

Something a bit different this time around, another alternative varietal favourite of mine in ... Trincadeira  is one of a number of Portuguese red wine varieties which have been introduced into Australia. In early days it was used extensively used to make a port style wine. Rich in colour, with good acidity and rarely an excess of alcohol, Trincadeira or Tinta Amarela (if you are speaking to a Portuguese Douro producer) makes wines of serious quality when ripe. Properly ripened, it has vibrant raspberry fruit tempered by herby, peppery, spicy, floral complexity, and it can age well. Typically, in Australia, it is used in a blended capacity, however there are now a number of wineries producing a single varietal wine.  One of which,as mentioned is a particular favourite of mine... Patritti Wines .  Patritti was the first Australian winery to release a Trincadeira red wine under its official Portuguese varietal name. Recently their 2012 Trincadeira wine wa...

Torbreck 2007 Old Vines Shiraz Another stunning Shiraz, (or as my US friends call it a "Syrah"), however this time it is from the famous Barossa Valley.   I was pleasantly surprised with this wine as it had fantastic fruit-driven sweetness, reminiscent of a traditional home-styled Italian/European red wine. Not something that I expect from a wine from 100-year old vines. Deep garnet red in colour with flickers of purple, the wine’s high-toned aromas of black cherries, five spice, crème de cassis and spring flowers are supported by a rich core of roasted earth, liquorice, and provençal herbs. The palate offers a soft latent richness and silken-like texture with subtle notes of crushed cherries, plums and earth - all neatly wound by a taut spine of acidity and ripe supple tannins and fruity sweetness. Oh my god, it was Gorgeous!!!

Australia's most popular grape varietal, Shiraz is full-bodied with high alcohol, and vibrant berry and plum on both the nose and palate. Some years ago I discovered the Mitolo brand and it’s was a very good surprise, indeed!!!   Today's selection is a Mitolo 2006 Shiraz 'G.A.M.' (the initials of the Mitolo children, “Gemma, Alexander & Marco”) wine has an opaque purple-ish colour, has an aromatic array of roasted coffee, violets, lavender, pepper, Asian spices, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur.  In the mouth it is velvety-textured, deep, concentrated, opulent, and altogether hedonistic.  The focus is on McLaren Vale fruit from Willunga, which is located towards the most southern part of the district. Thankfully I have other bottles of this vintage, as it has been suggested that it will drink well through to 2020.  It is definitely a personal favourite.

OK I promised fellow Redstack  co-worker and Blogger, Damien Jovica  to write a review on this blog of a wine that I've had during the past week, usually at "Wine O'Clock, Friday afternoon... so that end, I'd like to present to you all, my first "Wine of The Week" - a glorious 2008 Symphonia Tannat. What the heck is a Tannat, you say???  I am a big fan of Alternative varietal red wines and I found this variety some 7 years in NE Victoria.... and WOW what a stunner!!! For the uninitiated, Tannat's homeland is the South Western area of France, and one of its synonyms, Madiran, is also the name of an important appellation in that part of the world.  Wines of this variety are notable for their very high levels of tannin. Tannat wines are also very high in polyphenols - these are good chemicals in wine that keep your heart healthy (according to researcher & author Roger Corder in the book " The Red Wine Diet "). T annat's have a reputat...

Recently Autodesk gave me the opportunity on relating my experiences with their new Stereo Panoramas feature It was first posted by Autodesk .  See   Rendering Pro - My Stereo Panorama Experience by Bill Adams A still of the interior I later rendered as a stereo panorama

ULTIMAKER 2 Having a 3D Printer can open up a world of customization faster and closer to home. With the Ultimaker 2, you can personalize the objects in your life and have fun doing it. Designed for both the novice and the skilled, the Ultimaker 2 is well built and easy to interface with, and it creates stunning 3D prints. For its large build sizes, included accessories, robust software and print-quality score, the Ultimaker 2 wins!!! Every inch of the Ultimaker 2 is designed to create the most effortless and enjoyable 3D printing experience ever. With ground-breaking 20 micron definition and near silent operation, it’s a leap forward in accurate 3D printing. Everything's taken care of from the moment it’s out of the box, it’s ready to go. Intuitive software quickly and intelligently prepares your design for print. A radial scroll wheel allows for adjustment to speed and heat even whilst it’s printing. Long print jobs come with the reassurance of hours upon hours of conti...

If there were ever a time to upgrade your AutoCAD license it is now! So what's new? Whilst there doesn’t seem to be any one “new” thing, there is a plethora of product enhancements to existing commands and features. One thing that isn't new is the DWG file type, yes AutoCAD 2016 will still run on AutoCAD 2013 DWG. Here’s a brief list of some of the new enhancements and features…          Snap to geometric centre.  A new object snap mode – geometric centre, or GCE at the command-line – allows you to snap to the centre of closed polylines, whether regular or irregular.           REVCLOUD command has some new options.           The DIM command has been updated. The command has combined all dimensions creation controls into one command. Simply type DIM on the command line and right-click. Thankfully, I no longer have to find or remember the commands for the individual dimension types.   ...

The place that  Revit  holds in Australia's architecture and construction scene is simply undeniable. Since the time I became one of Australia's first users of the software back in the early 2000s, I've seen its presence Down Under grow in leaps and bounds, and for good reason. But where does the appeal even come from in the first place? I think the solid backing and reputation of Autodesk, who owns and produces Revit, certainly has a part to play. In addition to its technical superiority there's a huge worldwide support base to fall back on, and that definitely lends it an aura of credibility. There are certainly a lot of other products out there - many of which I've used at some point - but it's clear that few come close to Revit. It's become even better over the years. With a new rendering engine, you can do a lot more things with it than before. From incorporating structural and MEP disciplines to point cloud compatibility, it's a much more slic...

This release has many small improvements and one major feature that changes the way Scan To BIM is used for piping with the addition of an “easy button” like feature called Auto-Find Pipes. This feature when used will scan the entire point cloud or a selected area and look for pipes then create matching pipe runs using native Revit geometry .  A video playlist of some of the items in 2015.1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRxAXG3D8Lk&list=PLGzJTXx9gbj-bLDzD9N8DpjnvCl-qMqBl&index=2 A few more items in this release to make note of: Help File is now web based, we can edit and update for all users at any time (ie add a more detailed example)   More Tutorials, added via the app but pulling from our youtube playlist for STB 2015. Tweak to Deviation, smaller numbers and Grid Deviation now supports placing numbers in the grid view (center of each grid) as shown in the video above. The Adjust Pipe feature has now been moved from the Create Pulldown Menu t...

It seems very fitting that a UAV was captured by a remote camera "on a special delivery run", particularly as Shaan Hurley is an avid UAV-affectinado.  Once again we celebrate another birthday, it's 11th this year for one of my favourite blogs / bloggers.  " Between The Lines " celebrates its 11th Birthday, on Wednesday 21st August. Hearty congratulations to you Shaan.  Your blog has both inspired and supported me and many others, in numerous ways, so in keeping with previous years' traditions,  it would be totally remiss of me not to provide another "special delivery birthday cake" to celebrate this great blog… Enjoy your "cake" Shaan  & Happy 11th Birthday  " Between The Lines " 

Well, I for one couldn't be happier...  not only are Redstack a great bunch to work for, they are now an Official Apple Reseller.   Earlier this week I received my new Laptop skin and today my new 15" Retina MacBook Pro laptop...  Here are a few unboxing ceremony images of my new MacBook Pro Retina Display   –  2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7  processor , 16GB RAM,   1.0Tb flash storage  with it's custom designed  Nuvango Laptop skin ...   Redstack can now offer a broad range of Apple hardware solutions - they can be part of a bundled solution including all your hardware, software and accessories.  We can install your software and deliver a ready to go solution straight out of the box.

Recently in an Autodesk blog "In The Fold" - it was announced that Autodesk aced the buildingSMART BIM interoperability challenge held the beginning of this year. When self proclaimed BIM (Building Information Modelling) and FM (Facilities Management) geeks get together for friendly discussion, COBie nearly always get mentioned in some form or another. So what the heck is COBie? COBie is an acronym for " C onstruction O perations B uilding i nformation e xchange". Its purpose to exchange information that is gathered during construction to be passed on to a building's facility manager.  COBie defines the way this information shall be structure and the formats that should be used. Autodesk are continuing to work on data exchange protocols and as such now have extended their COBie Toolkit for Revit to their 2015 product line or download the toolkit now delivered

Keeping Your Mac and Windows BootCamp Clocks in Sync This has annoyed me for some time, however I’ve stumbled upon a simple registry edit fix… Essentially, the incorrect clock setting happens because OS X use GMT time while Windows tries to synchronize with your local time zone, getting confused when you reboot between the two. Apple's own Boot Camp drivers for Windows are supposed to fix this problem, though some users have noticed that it still happens even with the drivers installed. ·         To fix it, boot into Windows, click the Start button and type regedit.exe in the search box ·         Hit Enter and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation ·         Right-click anywhere in the right pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value ·         Name it RealTimeIsUniversal , then double-c...