blads blog

Autodesk University , or AU as its more commonly known by is  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.   I've had the opportunity to attend AU for the past seven years and I must tell you: I 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 for 20 years now, been a architectural technician, building  designer, and these days my focus is implementing and training people on the best ways of using CAD/BIM for a local autodesk reseller and even I'm totally floored at the wealth of knowledge and new ideas that exist at AU. Of course it w...

This Wednesday, 21 August 2013 heralds an amazing achievement for one of my favourite blogs. "Between The Lines" celebrates its 10th Birthday. Hearty congratulations to you Shaan regardless whether you're on holidays, in hospital or just kissing the locals you keep blogging on... Your blog has both inspired and supported me and many others, in oh so many ways, so in keeping with previous years' traditions,  it would be totally remiss of me not to provide another "birthday cake" to celebrate this great blog… Looking forward to many more Between The Lines posts .   Thank you Shaan for providing great articles, photos and informative and amusing articles... Enjoy your virtual "cake" Shaan  & Happy 10th Birthday  " Between The Lines "  May you have many many more :)

Why buy a road bike? I love 'em. Up until a few years ago I was a diehard flat bar Hybrid rider until very recently when I was re-introduced to road bikes and it was love at first pedal! Here is a light hearted look at what makes road bikes great and why you should consider getting / upgrading a new carbon fibre beauty like I've just done - thanks to the guys at The Bike Station 1. Speed... Who doesn't like going really fast? Road bikes are the quickest way to get from A to B on a bicycle; I was amazed when first jumping on board how quickly I could eat up the kms. As yet, I haven't been in a position to ride to many kms but the brief 22km jaunt happened in no time at all... it was amazing... I couldn't believe it at the time! Wide circumference wheels, thin tires, a stiff frame, it all adds up to getting as much power from your legs onto the road as possible with little resistance. This is a formula for efficiency and is an intrinsic property of road...

The Indispensable Time-Savers for Autodesk Revit IMAGINiT Utilities for Revit 2014 are due to be released very soon... One new utility has been added -  Link Fixer. With this utility you can fix repathed links to single .rvt models as well as a folder instantly.  Some updated functionality has been done to several existing utilities which include: Change Case (now has a config file to filter/add other types) Element Renumber (new renumber by picking along a path) Room Renumber (new renumber by picking along a path) Excel Export (addition of filters) Excel Import (allow for creation of unplaced rooms, spaces, placeholder sheets) Translate (now supports project parameters and now supports 58 more languages) MEP Space Update (Select any parameter to copy from/to, in addition to name and number) MEP Parameter Tool (updated configuration collection and combo-box parameter entry) Further information can be obtained from the IMAGINiT Customer ...

OK, I'll admit I been a bit slack in posting... and I don't know what happened to all those drafts I'd placed in here to post later... oh well...moving on... Since " my big slice " late last year, I've undergone further procedures to remove the excessive skin after my weight loss. All procedures were performed  by my absolutely fantastic surgeon, Dr Margaret Anderson   under a general  anaesthetic.  And her post-op nursing staff are equally amazing. Earlier this year, I underwent an inner thigh lipectomy and liposuction.  The lipo was performed to remove the excess volumes of fat from my legs and knees.  Following this, the  inner thigh lipectomy was done which involved  an incision from the crease of the groin region to just above the knee, in my case, and the inner thigh "lifted" and supported into its new tighter position.  It was then just a matter of wearing compression garments for a while AND  don't go on any 5km walks a few d...

In keeping the tradition, the CWC Calendar can be once again available here [Note: You must be logged into the AUGI Forums to view this the calendar] thanks to all at #AU2012 who participated in "wearing" the "official AUGI hat"

A few weeks ago, "Project Chronicle" came of age and has gone live after being after spending time in the Autodesk Labs area. What is Project Chronicle, you say - well its an extremely useful tool that allows users to easily capture, share and learn from software workflows.  It allows users to to record and capture information from within Autodesk software thereby creating excitedly useful and interactive video tutorials. I can see that this technology will be a valuable tool when dealing with technical support issues...  Check out the Project Chronicles website for some great videos already uploaded...

In keeping with previous years', those AUGI members who wish to distinguish their luggage other AU attendees - behold your very own luggage tags - designed to fit on 4.25" x 2.5" laminated luggage tags

With just over 30 days until #AU2012, the excitement and anticipation is well and truly building up.... Apart from the regular things to do, there are some musts IMHO that all good CAD geeks should participate and attend... Monday Nov 26: AU Freshman Orientation - not only for first-timers at AU... must do Exhibit Hall activities, namely stop by the AUGI booth in the  International Community Pavilion area participate in the 2012 AUGI Scavenger Hunt - sounds like an absolute blast! AUGI Annual Meeting and Beer Bust - Wednesday Nov 28 one of my favourite exhibitors - stop by the #IMAGINiT booth for hands on fun & prizes Counting down to AU 2012 - hope to see you there, for the most intensely insanely busy & geeky week of the year...  

OK so a number of people recently have asked me, how do I share files between my macs? There are a variety of different ways to transfer or share files between Macs... here's a few I regularly use... The Traditional tried n' true way... AFP (Appletalk Filing Protocol) is the traditional route to share files between Macs, and though it takes a moment or two to setup it has some major advantages like being able to map network drives for constant access and to transfer files between Macs and Windows PC’s as well as across Macs running any version of OS X, whether it’s 10.1 or 10.8.1. File Sharing needs to be enabled on all Macs that you want to use the feature on, here’s how: Open System Preferences from the   Apple Menu , and click on “Sharing” panel, located under the "Internet & Wireless" panel Check to enable “File Sharing” on all Macs you want to share files between From the OS X Finder, hit Command+Shift+K and then click “Browse” to find ...

Whilst registrations are still ongoing for AU2012, as of October 15, they will set up back a further $US500 - the discounted honeymoon period has ended. If you haven't yet registered, you can do so here...   If you are attending, are you an AU seasoned veteran or a first timer?  Either way, check out these great resources...  Autodesk University 2012 website Mistress  of the Dorkness's AU Survival Guide The KungFu Drafters's Beginners Guide to AU A must attend class for newcomers, would have to be the AU Freshman Orientation class And no AU can ever be complete without visiting the AUGI Booth located in the International Pavilion area, \ attending the AUGI Annual General Meeting and participating along with other AUGI friends at AUGI events, like Top DAUG and AUGI Day I'm attending... see you there!!!

Wow it's amazing what one week can do... Over the last three years, I have been slowly losing weight - no special diets or weight loss programs, just eating sensibly, cutting carbs and exercising a whole lot more.  I have lost a lot of weight, possibly in excess of 60kgs (approx 132lbs).  I don't really know the exact amount, but its a heck of a lot and I feel all the better for it. One thing I couldn't lose however was the excess skin and fat that dominated the area around my middle to lower abdomen... To do this, I needed what is known as Abdominoplasty surgery, or as its commonly known as a "tummy tuck". This time, at least readers will be spared photos of the surgery... I may post images later of the before and after, if I can obtain copies from my amazing surgeon, Dr Margaret Anderson. This time last week, I was being prepped for this procedure and the end result is absolutely amazing.  The procedure removed approximately 6.5 kgs. Yes, I'm ...

I'm so excited as I have been waiting for this day which seems like forever...  Here are a few unboxing ceremony photos of my new MacBook Pro Retina Display   –  2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7  processor , 16GB RAM,   768GB flash storage  and now fitted with a custom designed GelaSkins cover...

OK for sometime I've had some issues with my left foot and severe pain when standing and at times walking... It was first thought this was caused by a dislocation of my little toe. Whilst the dislocation has caused some grief, the culprit turned out to be a bony prominence located between my 4th and 5th toes which had to be removed surgerically. Ostectomy surgery as it is known, involves removal of the offending skin/tissue/bony prominence and a shaving of the bone structure underneath, in order to "free up" the problem joints in the toes. The surgery was performed yesterday at Ashford Community Hospital, by Dr G. Dracopoulos and his team of skilled assistants. Many thanks go to my anesthesiologist, Dr G. Rudkin who also photograph the event for me.  Thanks everyone you did a great job...

This Tuesday, 21 August 2012 without doubt one of my favourite blogs celebrates its 9th Birthday. Shaan regardless whether you're on holidays, in hospital or just kissing the locals you keep blogging on...  it would be totally remiss of me not to provide another "cake" to celebrate this great blog… Thank you Shaan for providing great articles, photos and informative and amusing articles Enjoy your virtual "cake" Shaan  & Happy 9th Birthday  " Between The Lines "  May you have many many more :)

As a trainer in CAD software, you are always on a journey updating your skills and technical expertise, usually its via printed materials, i.e. training guides, books, etc and other sources. In fact, my merge little collection of IMAGINiT Training Guides is starting to pile up... I am now thoroughly overjoyed that I have access to all my training guides in Ascent's eBook format.   The eBooks contain the exact same content as their printed versions, with one major exception - they are in full colour and so much easier to read.  The books are installed utilising the VitalSource Bookshelf system to download and view your collection.  They can be installed on Mac or Windows computers and on iPads and smartphones. The VitalSource BookShelf browser enables the user to search the contents of the books, or with their eBook library.  You can zoom in and out, a handy feature when using an iPad, Tablet or smartphone, when viewing images that contain dimensions or othe...

Wow, its been a while since I posted anything... my bad.  So a brief summary what's been happening since... BDA National Conference 2012 Held in april at the national maritime museum, darling harbour, nsw whilst numbers were a bit down, it was great to catch up with "old" friends from around the country. this year the conference featured pecha kucha styled presentations, that is a format that is based on 20 images x 20 seconds per image - its a format that makes presentations concise and keeps things moving... there was even one from yours truly on all things - bladams wine cellar :) Revit Technology Conference, aka RTC AUS 2012 Held in May at the Novotel Resort, Wollongong. What a great conference, this time participating as a Sponsor. I had the privilege to go and represent IMAGINiT Technologies on their trade booth and as principle sponsor of the gala dinner on Saturday evening.   Some interesting snippets of information learnt during the ...

News this week - the beloved AUGI Forums has had a long awaited  upgrade of the forum software to vBulletin 4.1.11  and its looking pretty slick but don't take my word for it - go Visit the AUGI Forums Whilst this version of software has many new features, at this time, AUGI are only implementing the ones we already have active. Others will be implemented as they are tested and they become Board approved. I can tell you though, that there is a new mobile skin for the site that is implemented automatically if you browse to the website using a supported mobile device.  :) I hope your experience with this upgrade goes as smooth as possible, as mine did... Late last week, the March edition of AUGIWorld was released. This edition featured Tips, Tricks & Techniques including some great Jay Z's Revit Tips n' Tricks and Mark Kiker's Mac Apps

Yes it's on again…  a Vegas-styled Australian Autodesk University summit…      The Summit is a series of events held throughout Australia, which  starts in Sydney on March 13, will be in Adelaide and Melbourne on March 16 and March 21 respectively, before concluding in Brisbane on March 23.        The full-day program offers elective options throughout so that attendees can focus on topics specific to their job.   The two IMAGINiT speakers who will be presenting at the Summit from the United States are Carl Smith and Alex McCarthy. Carl Smith, an Autodesk certified instructor, sought after speaker and blogger, will deliver the manufacturing focused sessions, whilst Alex McCarthy, a Revit platform, sustainability and BIM expert, will deliver the Autodesk Revit and BIM related sessions. Some of the topics that they will cover include collaboration, design automation, green design, Revit MEP simulation and visualisation.   ...

  This beautiful old  historic building located in Williamstown, South Australia is home to Domain Day cellar door   which has some unique wines  from its cool climate vineyards.   A particular wine favourite of mine, Saperavi, has proved difficult to find in SA until now and Domain Day's version is simply gorgeous… Highly Recommended :)   On arrival, we were greeted by   their cellar door manager, Jimmy Day - his passion for his wines was infectcious and we treated to not only delicious Saperavi tastings but other styles as well.  For the uninitiated Saperavi  is a red wine grape variety that is a native of Georgia in the former Soviet Union where the  grapes are known for their dark pink flesh and very dark skins, from which they get their name.  It makes a intensely deep purple coloured wine with great tannins to give outstanding cellaring potential.