Archive for June, 2007

Friday Smackdown

Published
by
Josh
on June 22, 2007
in Smackdown
.

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shot of wallpaper for dual screensThe vast amount of space is taken up by things like air and dust and people sneezing at each other simultaneously.

Dual Monitor Wallpapers - Bring unity to your dual screens.
The 10 Second Rule - One of my favorite blogs tells how to write for diagonal readers.
Surefire ways to get fired - hilarious, if your looking, these suggestions might help.
Tour of Microsoft Virtual Earth - They are watching you.
Make your photos talk - upload photo of boss, select mouth, record word of wisdom, pure gold.

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Microsoft Surface: It’s a Big-ass Table

Published
by
Josh
on June 21, 2007
in Tech to watch
.

You know that table Microsoft came up with? It’s just a big-ass table. This parody video explains it all.

source: Techcrunch

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What you want to know about SolidWorks 2008: Sketching and Features

Published
by
Josh
on June 20, 2007
in Product Reviews
. 8 Comments

solidworks 2008 logoMonday we took a look at the interface enhancements for 2008. While there are things that can be improved, like being able to customize menus, I generally see it as an improvement because it gets you closer to your design. This is particularly important when you’re starting it out and that’s what we’re cooking up today.

SolidWorks 2008 sketch features

SKETCHING AND FEATURES

Sketching is at the core of SolidWorks. It’s a sketch-dependent modeler. Everyone knows that right? You need 2D to make 3D. Sometimes I wish that wasn’t the case, because your feature is limited to what that sketch can do in the orientation it was created and the sequence in which they are created has to be well thought out.

I say all this because SolidWorks aim for 2008 is to, “focusing less on CAD and more on design.” How do you do that? I would say by completely eliminating sketches. I know, sounds crazy, but we still use them for now, so, while there is no evident shift away from SolidWorks being sketch-dependent, there are some great additions to make your sketching go faster and your features more robust.
Continue reading ‘What you want to know about SolidWorks 2008: Sketching and Features’

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SolidWorks 2008 officially released

Published
by
Josh
on June 18, 2007
in Noteworthy
. 3 Comments

solidworks 2008 logoSolidWorks sent out their press release today for SolidWorks 2008. It’s currently in the last stages of Beta and can be purchased, but there is no published timeline of when it starts to ship. Some may not think so, but I see a lot of benifits coming out in this release. I also see where some further improvements could be made. I’ll be talking about them over the next few post.

Included in the press release is a podcast. It has my name as the beta user being interviewed, but it doesn’t sound like me. Man, I sound weird… and a little tired. Nontheless, enjoy the news and the cast.

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The SolidWorks Blogging Community gets some lovin’

Published
by
Josh
on June 18, 2007
in Noteworthy
.

SolidWorks User Group NetworkThe SolidWorks Users Group Network site has put up a page listing the bloggers within the community. Lovingly called “the blog squad,” they are the ones that you’ll usually find over in the sidebar links on any of the blogs. There’s good info and personal insight into a lot of the different applications SolidWorks is capable of handling. Put them all in your feed and be sure to comment on what they have to say because you can be part of the community too. Now, doesn’t that feel good?

SolidSmack just came on the scene a little over 7 weeks ago and it’s a privileges to be part of such a great community. Thanks everyone.

Check it out.

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What you want to know about SolidWorks 2008: The Interface

Published
by
Josh
on June 18, 2007
in Product Reviews
. 17 Comments

solidworks 2008 logoThe launch of SolidWorks 2008 is quickly approaching and even though you may just be getting use to some things in 2007, the new version has some features that could bring you to the edge of your seat. If you’ve seen the preview demo, the new interface may be the first thing that stands out, but the focus on functionality and how you design makes this new version all the more interesting.

Over the next few days, we’re going to plunge into the depths that are SolidWorks 2008. We’re going to go over the major functionality shift in the new version of SolidWorks and show you how you’re going to be doing more of your work on the screen with less lag. This is gonna be the meat. I’ll save the What’s New for you to look at, you can download that right here.

SolidWorks 2008 screenshot

Today we’re gonna look at

THE INTERFACE

This, in any program for some reason, is usually a big complaint when it changes. I’m just gonna say it. It’s better. Take 30 minutes to play with it and you’ll like it. Here’s why…
Continue reading ‘What you want to know about SolidWorks 2008: The Interface’

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Friday Smackdown

Published
by
Josh
on June 15, 2007
in Smackdown
. 1 Comment

mixartThe larger elephant usually has more of those birds on it’s back, and that, my friend, is the answer to your question.

Mixart.com - unique interface design and photography
World’s Largest TV - great for home videos and only $53k.
Flash photo gallery for flickr and picasa - best one out there and FREE. Put your photos in and add it to your site.
Safari for Windows - Apple releases it’s popular Browser for Windows users.
Downloadable Design - Ponoko has the scoop on how to make anything with paper.

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SolidWorks and India… Spicy

Published
by
Josh
on June 14, 2007
in Business
. 2 Comments

swx logoGetting SolidWorks into India isn’t anything new, but it seems a push is being made, at least with headlines. A load of articles came out June 12th about SolidWorks in India.

What’s interesting to me is the reported amount of license given away. That’s the way to saturate a market segment. Hope they at least got a little spicy Tandoori Chicken for all that. There’s two ways of looking at this of course. This will provide more capacity for US companies that can not find the talent here or send more US jobs overseas.

For me, this is a reality. With the strong economy it has been difficult to bring in talent. I direct part of a 12 man team from India that has over 50,000 people in it’s company. That is a lot of extra capacity.

Here are the links and some interesting excerpts from the articles.

SolidWorks to strengthen foothold

SolidWorks has so far given about 6,000 software licenses in India that include 3,000 commercial licenses. The company which clocked a turnover of $300 million in FY2006, has over 3,000 customers in India including Godrej, Voltas, LG Equipment, Mico and Integral Coach Factory.

Solidworks will expand presence in India

The number of staff will be increased to 90 this year, from 60 last year,adding employee resources to both its research and development and support centre departments. The number of value added resellers would be increased to 30 from the current 18.

Solidworks to expand presence in India

Mr Ved Narayan, Solid Works Vice President for Asia Pacific said, that the region contributed 25 per cent of the total revenue of the company amounting to 300 million dollars.

SolidWorks Bullish Over Indian Market

This year, SolidWorks has aggressive plans to expand its VAR network and increase its India employee headcount.

SolidWorks to increase headcount in India

SolidWorks also planned to expand its presence in educational institutions across the country to help meet the needs of small and medium enterprises in India.

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SolidWorks Beta 3: Your Last Chance

Published
by
Josh
on June 13, 2007
in Noteworthy
.

beta 3Today, SolidWorks launched the final Beta version of 2008. This means the launch is right around the corner and it’s the last chance you’ll have to get in on the beta testing. You can be assured that there will be a whole slew of news, podcasts, and video coming out so keep your feeds running to find out the latest.

You get points for submitting issues and taking surveys. Only 40 points will get you a sweet sports travel mug and a mere 50 will qualify you to win your own seat of SolidWorks Office premium with subscription. Go now I tell you.

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Fastest street legal car designed in SolidWorks

Published
by
Josh
on June 13, 2007
in Product Design
. 3 Comments

supercar_logoHave you ever thought a car could be designed in SolidWorks? Well, it’s being done right over in Sweden by Koenigsegg. Their latest production car is the fastest street legal car on the market clocking in at over 800 HP with speeds topping at 245 mph. That’s crazy fast and they used SolidWorks to make it happen.

The CCX rolled out from R&D back in 1996. It debut 10 years later and has been getting a lot of press. Read one of the reviews here. If you were at the SolidWorks World Forum in 2005 you may remember Christian von Koenigsegg giving the keynote address.

Their website features a lot of information of their other projects and a great gallery. They also have a sections that provides a look into their design and engineering philosophies. This car makes me want to challenge the next person I see to a race. Take a look at some of the images below. Does this make you imagine what can be done with SolidWorks?

orange ccx

ccx chassis

ccx side front

ccx top

Source

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