Just when you thought you knew everything about SolidWorks Explorer, Devon Sowell gives us his first post discussing tips to make your venture into the abusive and murderous world of data management easier to handle. Some Things you’ll learn: What SolidWorks Explorer is for If parts are open when a drawing is open (Hmmm…are they?)…
No, seriously, they came out of nowhere and took my toothpicks, canteen and a small stash of onions in my back pockets… Left me with these stupid links. Dipity – Why does someone always think of a way to create interactive timelines before I do? This is so seriously cool. Vibram FiveFingers – Hey look…
Last night at 11 PM CST Microsoft let loose the fetters of Live Mesh, a new platform technology to synchronize and interact with data across any device and access it from anywhere from any computer or browser. Oh, but it’s so much more and it could, and I think will, affect how you work with…
If you were standing on the corner of the CAD block yesterday, you had obscure CAD terminology splashed all over your new pants. Everyone and their step-uncle’s mom was waxing intellectual about the ‘newest-in-new, right-up-in-your-face- and-hit-you’ CAD tech announce by Siemens PLM called (prepare for large phrase that makes you mildly uninterested)… ready… “Synchronous Technology.”…
I find it funny and ironic that the SolidWorks World 2008 Media Site launched yesterday has the large SWW08 logo that includes the word “Share.” SolidWorks didn’t want Matt Lombard to ‘share’ the presentations with everyone. But thanks to the frisky community and some understanding at SolidWorks, all the presentations and media are up for…
Just look at that, another year of wanton waste and excess and suddenly Earth Day is here again to make us feel guilty about throwing that milk bottle away. While the eco-activism side of things makes me wretch slightly, I love to get outdoors and do the landscaping and the planting. It’s more because it’s…
If you’ve taken a quick excursion to SolidWorks.com you’ll notice some new slick graphics (love the sliding effect), more quicklinks and a smooth modern gray replacing the lovely orange hue. One of the content blocks down below the featured content has a question that asks “What can SolidWorks do for you?” This got me thinking.…
For ya’ll that like to make your models look like the real deal, there’s a (soon-to-be available) new book for you to cozy up with. Rob Rodriguez and Jim Boland have joined together to expand the PhotoWorks step-by-step series with the 2008 PhotoWorks Step-by-Step Self-Study Guide. If you’re familiar with Rob’s talent, you know it…
If you’re wondering why the presentations to SolidWorks World 2008 haven’t been made available to the public, here’s the answer… I have no freakin’ idea. But, you can download them all now and you don’t need top double secret access. Matt Lombard has put all 1.3GB on his site, so time to get a drink…
This could also be called “Why Engineers Should Not Have Cats.” I’m sure this will help someone and also disturb others. I’m sorry, I just can’t stand cats. It’s not so much the cat though. It’s more the giant whelps I get when scratched and the incessant amount of hair that spills out of their…
What would you do if you were off in Ethiopia waiting in a guest house to adopt your third child? If I thought long and hard I probably wouldn’t have come up with what Caleb Stolls did. I don’t want to tell his whole story but basically he created an model and animation of the…
And then, when I fell off the top of the fence, this tiny possum army carried me off to a tree to have some cake and visit these useful links. 1930’s Color Photos – The Library of Congress has a Flickr Account with color photos from when a roll of film cost more than a…
If only I had a ice-cold beverage that didn’t become hot and tasteless within a container that fit nicely to the shape of my hand.*sob* Your polycarbonate dreams of a cool beverage lasting till your final sip and designed in SolidWorks have arrived. CoolGear Inc. is designing their liquid holding devices in SolidWorks. I know…
Oh to have the power over time and SPACE. The folding and bending and rotating. You take that too lightly and you’ve suddenly destroyed three planetary systems and a shrimp boat off the coast of New Jersey. Take that down a few million notches and you have all the harnessed energy of 3D computational manipulation…
Assemblies people! Not assemblies of people, which can have you going through more gallons of fake blood than a remake of the Re-animator, but assemblies of inanimate chunks of 3D data. You can make really, grossly huge assemblies but there’s a point where people start whispering about you behind your back. Instead of spending your…
Yep, faster than blindfolded Japanese hurdle jumpers for sure. You may think your 8GB flash memory thumbdrive is all that. Sure, it’s tiny and cute and degrades slowly over time, but how about some memory that will store and access information over 100 times faster and not degrade? IBM’s Racetrack memory has been buzzing around…
Allright, I’ve found something that will keep you up all night or keep the kiddos entertained for 8 minutes longer than usual. It’s called LineRider and you create a world of ramps, hills, valleys and obstacles to send a tiny sledder down until he flies of falls to his demise. Amazing simple and fun. Here’s…
Imagine that. All them misbehavin’ beans there have uploaded themselves to the Interweb to start an anti-literacy campaign. I didn’t know beans had interesting literature, or links like these. Drop.io – Quickly share files. I mean quick. Drop 100MB like its hot. SomeEcards.com – Yeh, ecards. Ok, some of these are REALLY inappropriate… but some…
I’m not sure about you, but I am increasingly frustrated in the separation between 3D design and data management. Yep, I have two hairs left on my head and permanent marker all over my face from nervous twitching each time something needs to be checked-in or out. There’s creating a model and then there’s managing…
Today, SolidSmack is shedding it’s stylesheet and baring it all. It’s official CSS Naked Day and while seemingly a bit silly (which is not beyond this blog) it’s all for the good fun… to promote Web Standards. Plain and simple. This includes proper use of (x)html, semantic markup, a good hierarchy structure, and of course,…
If you’re involved in plastic design you may have heard of Protomold. If not, they’re a Rapid Injection Molding outfit. You can send them your 3D models and have a prototype created super fast for as little as $1795. If you just completely glaze over when somebody mentions plastic design or want a interesting purple…
Slice! Dice! Oh, shazang! my favorite Scrubs episode is on right beneath my tomato slices! Sweet! This fine example of kitchen gadgetry was created in SolidWorks 2008 and rendered in PhotoWorks by Marc Nardangeli, an industrial designer. It’s an acrylic board with a chromium handle and a flexible (OLED?) screen embedded within. The idea is,…
Last week I gave you some tips on how to get hired on the spot. I got some good feedback from it and apparently some people are taking the advice. Like Caleb Stoll who just launched SolidWorks Unleashed and already has a healthy amount of great video posts. Buell Motorcycles, which primarily uses SolidWorks, is…
There’s a conference that has been taking place for, oh, about the past 9 years, where the elites of the CAD industry get together and mash-up all the collective information and emerging interests of the CAE (Computer-aided engineering) industry. The conference is called COFES2008: The Future Of Engineering Software. It sounds like your boring my-stuff-is-better-than-your-stuff…
Wow, you all have some really interesting ideas about the future. I think you need to be in charge of some stuff or hooked into a giant hummin’ glowing thing that sucks all your good ideas out and turns the bad ones into compost for a colony of really nitrogen-depleted scientists. Until then, congratulate the…
It’s not the price son, it’s the durn color. I mean, whus’ your grandpa gonna say when he sees a horse dressed like that. It’s just ain’t natural! HDR Wallpaper Resources – Crazy Cool HDR (high dynamic range) photos, a TON of them from place all over the webulous. Robosapien Mods – Here’s all those…
This isn’t going to tell you what to put on your resume, how to dress or what to say. This is going to show you what you can do right now without even setting up an interview, making a call or going out to buy a new outfit. It’s really easy and you’re probably closer…
If you haven’t made a comment to win the 3DConnexion SpaceNavigator, you have until tomorrow morning to add one! The comments so far have been an interesting look at what some think the future of CAD might be or how they would use this handy device. You can see them below and if you add…
Every once in a while I’ll come across some really nice looking images of models created with SolidWorks on Flickr, but finding exceptional Architectural Design created with SolidWorks is rare. It’s not that architecture can’t be done in SolidWorks, it’s justs been focused primarily as a solution in the MCAD market. Architecture was my first…
Yesterday was sort of a blow off day on the Blog/News scene. You gotta pretty much figure that half the stuff you read on April 1st is gonna be bunk. While a lot of people think it’s complete idiocy, it’s also a chance to lighten up and see different aspects of how people think or…
Ok, enough of the silly posts. Time for something seriously cool and real. If you use Gmail, it’s an absolute pain to have it synced with Outlook. On top of that, if you use Plaxo and have all your other email accounts synced with Outlook, your Gmail account is an abyss of random email addresses…
It’s amazing how simple this is. You can actually do this in less time than it takes you to learn how to trap small animals and sell them outside Wal-mart. Draw a cube This is like the multi-tool of CAD. If you don’t know where to start, draw a cube. Use the annotation tool This…
It’s kind of an unprecedented move, but SolidWorks, the 3D corporation that has called Concord, Massachusetts home for the past 15 years, has finished the final paperwork to relocate most of it’s home office to Venice, Italy. “[SolidWorks] felt it was time to be closer to lots of water and when some building became available…
Ahh, It’s one stormy day before April. What better time than this to give away a SpaceNavigator courtesy of 3DConnexion. Don’t know what it is? It’s a 3D mouse that allows you to move every which way in a 3D environment. I’ve been using one and really like it after getting use to it. So,…
So where is everything about the world of SolidWorks being stored out there? It’s not under your patio bench. It’s actually spread out across the entire chasm of the interwebular galaxy and is very difficult to harness at times. Soooo, here’s a bunch of links that help me find SolidWorks content when I’m trying to…
Dwindling squirrel population? I thought. These people want to take all my acorns and squirrel babies and leave me with these wretched links. Photoshop Express – It’s finally here, edit photos online. Not as good as the real thing but tuning and some filters. TimeMachiner – Send Emails to the future. Remind yourself of what…
For all of you crazed 3D-modeling, equation-using junkies out there, you may be really, really excited to know that your equations will update in real-time when using Instant3D in SolidWorks 2008. Jeff, from ExtensibleCAD, shows this happening when using logical (if-then) equations to drive features. See video below. The equation is set up to change…
Have your circuit boards been feeling a little disconnected as of late? That resistor is just not fitting in right with the others? There’s hope. SolidWorks has acquired Gold Partner Priware, the makers of CircuitWorks and is including it with SolidWorks Office Premium. Additionally, it will not be available any longer as a stand alone…
There’s an interesting segment in technology that really has the largest direct effect on how we work and how teenagers spend 20+hours of their week. The Screen. That amazing peripheral you’re gazing into right now to which we’ve come to view the entire world through… until it goes black or your laptop is yanked off…
I’d like to hear it from the man himself, but according to DesignNews Jon Hirschtick, the nicest guy and founder of SolidWorks, was one of the original MIT blackjack team members depicted in the upcoming film, 21. The movie, based on the book of the real events, stars Kevin Spacey who leads a group of…
Here’s a slightly useful and not-at-all complicated tip on reducing features by using 3D sketches. It’s more fun to have people gather around your desk, get all attentive and then yell the first step very, very loud as they hunker down around your screen… Now move in close people… Two Tips in One This is…
It’s odd how time beats things into submission and then also how soup gets cold so fast. And when I say “time” I mean those geeky and mildly disturbed types that actually live on cold soup while they create new apps and innovations from their basement. Yeah, and it’s even more odd to see what…
If you are thinking about upgrading to Microsoft Windows Vista or think that SolidWorks will not run well on Vista or that everything in the world sucks because of Vista, you NEED to read Mike Puckett’s SolidWorks on Vista experience. With Vista SP1 now available this makes the move to Vista even more important in…
OK, completely non-relevant and completely having nothing to do with 3D CAD, but hen also having everything to do with cool. C’mon! Ed Norton and Tim Roth turning into two huge beasties battling it out?! There’s probably some 3D mechanical laser scanning something or other so… relevancy achieved. It’s in HD, so let it load.…
Really it’s as if everything just came to a stop and then it was like a DJ took over with all the scratchin’ and mixin’ and then I just coughed them right up, crazy paperclips. Free Web App Icons – I know you don’t have enough for your web apps already, so here’s some more.…
Ya know, I’ve heard about people drawing 3D models in the air, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. To me it seems like a bunch of ‘keyboard-like’ commands in the air but, wow ya know, pretty close to what you might imagine huh? 3D hand input modeling system You can see another…
“Oh man, Josh is doing a tip on one of those useless features in SolidWorks 2008! I have gaskets and pinions to engineer!! Who has time for some silly ‘smags’ or ‘tags’ or whatever! I’m going to YouTube and watch squirrels race.” Hey, hey, hey! Hold back your fury and check this out. You can…
SolidWorks finished up their second year Student Design Contest a couple weeks ago and I’m finally getting a chance to look at some of the designs. I’m two things: hungry because I haven’t eaten breakfast and impressed cause these students did a rockin’ good job. Most of the entries were from Universities around the world…
I’m working on designing and possibly constructing a built-in bookshelf at home. It’s going to wrap around a wall and have an integrated desk in a spot that would otherwise be completely useless. Amazingly enough, bookshelves have commonly been used to do just that. Make an unused space usable. That’s interesting to me because everyday…