Archive for February, 2008

5 Temptations of a Hardcore SolidWorks User

Published
by
Josh
on February 29, 2008
in SolidWorks Tips
. 6 Comments

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not-crazy-3d.jpgYou’ve probably been there - tease and ridiculed for organizing other people’s features, “accidentally” fixing someone else’s sketches or finding the last keyboard combination for a shortcut. It’s a condition that use to be treated with humidifiers and Malox, but that made the affect and smell even worse.

So, I’ll just list some of these things to watch out for. And if you see someone going a little overboard, pretend you’re going to give them a nice hard slap and then just throw your head back and laugh.

Over-Macro-ing
Creating Macros for everything from loading files to adding mates while they carrying on a conversation with you. “yuhuh… yeah, (coincident) I know, I told her that *hahaw*, (concentric, coincident) but she was like, you are still ugly (parallel)…”

Derived-Configuration mayhem
So many levels of derived configurations that you need the original product manual to find the configuration you want to use. “I’ve created a configuration for everything in the entire world, including soup. My life is complete.”

Making Backgrounds
Ya know, because cool backgrounds are so useful and help you design. Actually, it’s enough to get strange looks from co-workers when you’re sporting a new background. “Is that a new version of SolidWorks?”… (hmmm)…”Yes.”

BOM Overuse
Modeling and Using a BOM (Bill of Material) to make a grocery list and keep tasks. “Ok, uhhhm, hun, can we get the macaroni next week, I don’t have a model yet… ok, ok… I know… I’m wierd, but… what?… you’re taking the kids too… I don’t have models of them, SORRY, that slipped…hun?”

Screen-licking
I don’t want to go into specifics. Don’t worry, this one is not hereditary.

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Curved iMac Concept, Tilts Over, Kills 60.

Published
by
Josh
on February 29, 2008
in Product Design
. 2 Comments

curved-imac.jpg
60 cubic inches of usable space that is. At least that’s what I thought until at sat down.

I’m sitting in a corner with a 24″ LCD pushed up against the sides of the wall. Forget that it’s in a dirty basement with tortured screams and no sunlight. Now, I’m imagining this screen stretched and curved about. More screen, more space up front for coffees and pistachio shells to pile up. Now, I’m thinking touch since it’s a Mac.

I’m ready for something to change how I work.

I am really impressed by how this thing looks and I’m probably as infatuated with the possibilities of curved monitors as any other tech geek, but this one still seems like a dream, especially since SolidWorks is still PC-based. (ps. I know about basecamp and vmware.)

iview2.jpg

iview3.jpg

Via Yanko: my new favorite design blog

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Friday Smackdown: Badgers Like It

Published
by
Josh
on February 29, 2008
in Smackdown
. 0 Comments

vintage-backgrounds.jpgHave you seen that commercial with the sleeping Badger family and the guys cellphone goes off and wakes the badgers, then all you here is a growl and a scream. That’s funny.

Pattern Vintage Background Patterns - I’m telling ya, this is just what your computer screen or Powerpoint presentation needs.
Fix your sad cubicle - If you could, you know you would put stuffed animals all over the place.
Design Your Room - Yeah, In 3D. The best one of these room designers I’ve seen. Lots of fun too.
Learnit Lists - Learn a new language a few words at a time. This is in beta, but has already been helpful for me.
Scrabulous - It’s pretty much Scrabble Online, plus it free and you can’t choke on the small pieces.
Firefly - First Microsoft Surface Game??

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SolidWorks ScanTo3D vs. NextEngine’s RapidWorks: Which Is Better?

Published
by
Josh
on February 27, 2008
in Product Design
. 11 Comments

next-engine-scanner.jpgHop down off the copy machine for a minute cause I’ve got a treat for ya. I talked with Dan Gustafson from NextEngine. Ya know, that company that makes the comparatively inexpensive and ultra-small 3D scanner?

If you’re intersted in 3D scanning, SolidWorks Premium comes with NextEngine’s ScanTo3D utility. But NextEngines own RapidWorks utility looks like the same thing. They use the same scanner, so what’s the difference? Here’s your answers.
Continue reading ‘SolidWorks ScanTo3D vs. NextEngine’s RapidWorks: Which Is Better?’

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Day and Dean Wrap It Up at MCAD

Published
by
Josh
on February 27, 2008
in Business
. 4 Comments

dark-cloud-london.jpgA black cloud rose over London, children abandoned the lush playgrounds of Bishop’s Park and all the produce had gone rotten. Time slowed and what was once a heralded historical moment suddenly became a memory lost.

And then all that nonsense was blasted away with a couple two-week notices, a set of final articles and a ting of maniacal laughter from the editorial duo Martyn Day and Al Dean formerly of MCAD Magazine.

Al’s still on the roster till the end of the week, but their last articles can be viewed online at the links below. At the very least you have to read Martyn’s Dassault V6 preview and Al’s SolidWorks World 2008 coverage. Excellent.

Who knows what they’ll do next.

Martyn Day
Dassault launches Catia V6 platform
PTC press and analyst day

Al Dean
SolidWorks World 2008
Blue Ridge Numerics interview

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How It’s Made: Plastic Injection Mold

Published
by
Josh
on February 26, 2008
in Product Design
. 2 Comments

Some of you may have jobs that allow you to get close and personal with the CNC equipment operators. If you’re not so lucky you may be interested in this video I came across at Core77.


Plastic Injection Molding

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Optimus Maximus Keyboard Is An Instant Antique

Published
by
Josh
on February 26, 2008
in Tech to watch
. 1 Comment

optimus-maximus-keyboard.jpgThere’s this stylish new keyboard that’s been floating around the sphere of tech-hungry computer users. One with programmable keys. Oh, and each key is a separate full-color OLED display.

If you frequent tech blogs, you’ve probably seen this or a video. It’s certainly cool, but also makes one think of how antiquated a keyboard seems with the touch sensitive stuff that’s out. However, it does redefine the possibilities of what the keyboard can be.

Worth $462.27?
*Laugh* Still, it’s kinda cool and may have some applications but I remain stomping my feet for more. I’d like to see something that uses the touch interface and that doesn’t stop working when a co-worker spills his afternoon smoothie on it. Something like their Tactus Concept. Now that’s some style.

You can find out more at the ArtLebdev site.

lebdev-keyboard-01.jpg

lebdev-keyboard-02.jpg

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5 Slick Ways To Improve SolidWorks Large Assembly Performance

Published
by
Josh
on February 25, 2008
in SolidWorks Tips
. 7 Comments

solidworks-large-assembly.jpgOh boy, large assemblies. How incredibly fun and dreadful. It’s as if the rest of the day is slowly being eaten away by a horrible flesh-eating bacteria… that has given up flesh because of guilt and eats time…instead. Why?

A lot of people fear having to open a large assembly. I didn’t want to feel like that when I had to make a change to one part that affected an upper level assembly, so I came up with 5 ways to cut that silliness out.

A question
If it takes four engineers 15 minutes a piece to open an assembly, how soon till the water cooler and premium coffee disappear?

If your rate is $80/hr that starts chipping away at the margins pretty quick. Lets smash that to bits.
Continue reading ‘5 Slick Ways To Improve SolidWorks Large Assembly Performance’

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Isabella Baby on SolidSmack

Published
by
Josh
on February 24, 2008
in Noteworthy
. 12 Comments

I can’t help it. It’s rare you take a day off and come home with a baby girl.

Isabella Grace - 8lbs 3oz - 20.5″ - No tattoos

You can see more photos on our personal site or flickr site

I’m stoked. I think she’ll be in charge of graphics and letting me know when I’ve been on the computer too long. If anybody has tips on raising girls please tell me or send me reading material.

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Friday Smackdown

Published
by
Josh
on February 22, 2008
in Smackdown
. 0 Comments

date-stamp-ideas.jpgOh boy! cheese balls! just lok at ‘em all! Hands down, it’s the greatest type of ball on the face of the earth.

Date Stamps - A gallery of date stamps and resources? why didn’t you say so!! Good for scrapbooking, web or making your own calendar.
Ajax Periodic Table - You never know when you’ll need to know the atomic weight of Vanadium.
Netlicious - So you can organize all your del.icio.us bookmarks from your desktop. How organomical.
Twitxr - It’s a Tweet with pictures. what does this all mean.
Turn YouTube Video into ScreenSaver - Yes, a screensaver of your favorite crappy cat video. Actually it showS how to turn any flash movie into a screensaver.
SteamPunk - If you’ve wondered what Steampunk is, this gallery will give you the idea. How many punk sub-genres are there ya think?

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