PTC Frustrates Out of the Box

The Pro/E “out-of-the-box” experience has got me in a bad mood. I had never installed Pro/E before. I had been warned that it “takes forever” which had already made me a tad anxious. But a customer sent me a PRT file and I had no choice. I pulled the Wildfire 3.0 box off the shelf and in 5 minutes, came to a screeching halt. A... [Read more]

Siemens Pleads Guilty to Corruption in USA

Deutsche Welle reports that Siemens has plead guilty to giving bribes and falsifying corporate books in the USA. A US district judge fined the German company and three of its subsidiaries some $450 million. The company owes another $350-million in fines to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Wall Street Journal adds that this fine is a record... [Read more]

3D Systems: We’re Not Under Attack, Honest

3D Systems adopted a poison-pill defense last week, despite the company not being subject to a hostile takeover. Ah, but maybe this is a signal being sent out that it wishes to be bought. The plan is pretty complicated, one that I can't fully figure out. Perhaps that is the first line of defense, grasshopper: make the poison-pill terms so complex... [Read more]

Hate CUI? Buy My eBook Anyhow

J.F writes: As the premier hater of the CUI [AutoCAD's customize user interface] and figuring the ribbon only makes it worse, why shouldn't I buy this e-book. Even if I never use it, it is still a good deal as I am helping support you for more good stuff down the road. It is a short road as I am now 66 and hope to retire before long. I agree.... [Read more]

Review: DWG TrueView 2009

I'm marking the final exams of the class I taught this fall to first year surveying students learning AutoCAD for the first time. In six weeks, they made impressive progress — from zero to creating drawings with layers, text styles, blocks, and inserted images. Most get close to 100% on the practical side of AutoCAD. The theoretical is more... [Read more]

ODA to ADSK: Suspend Us, Too

When Autodesk sued SolidWorks in civil court over a rectangle that was orange (and for other reasons), it suspended its don't-use-"our"-DWG action against SolidWorks over at the US Patent and Trademark Office. That's because the result of civil action impacts the trademark action. Win one, probably win the other; alternatively, lose... [Read more]

Four Reasons Economic Downturn is Good Timing For R&D

Global economies run in cycles. What goes up must come down. Likewise, we hope that what goes down must come back up. When we understand economic cycles we see, however, why a downturn is a good time to invest in R&D. Obviously cuts are in order during a downturn, this article explains four reasons why R&D shouldn’t be one of them. 1)... [Read more]

The Toilets Overflow - Autodesk Answers Back

The reporting of the AEC Q&A session held recently at Autodesk University (see Dec 4 post on CAD Insider) seems to have generated a fair amount of controversy. One issue seems to about toilets. More specifically, the issue raised was a follow up remark about overly large model sizes in Revit: But 500 toilets in Revit is 500 separate copies of the... [Read more]

The Toilets Overflow - Autodesk Answers Back

The reporting of the AEC Q&A session held recently at Autodesk University (see Dec 4 post on CAD Insider) seems to have generated a fair amount of controversy. One issue seems to about toilets. More specifically, the issue raised was a follow up remark about overly large model sizes in Revit: But 500 toilets in Revit is 500 separate copies of the... [Read more]

Say What You Mean

Sony Announces Initiatives to Improve Profitability and Enhance Operational Efficiencies in its Electronics Businesses.     - Sony Corporation press release  Sony to shed 16,000 jobs, increase prices.     -Thomas Ricker, Engadget Go to Source SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Say What You Mean", url: "http://www.3dcadtips.com/2008/12/say-what-you-mean-2/"... [Read more]

« Previous Page — Next Page »