CAD Monkey

Blast off....

2012-05-22T22:43:00.001+01:00

I remember running home from school back in 1981 to catch what I could of the launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS 1). That started a love affair with space that has lasted all my life. Over the years, I have been lucky enough to visit Kennedy Space Centre on two occasions.

My first visit was in 2003 and was after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the Shuttle was grounded. My second visit was in 2009, just days before the launch of STS 129. You can see the Shuttle on its launch pad the week before take off in the picture below.

Yesterday, the first fully commercial space craft to dock with the International Space Station was launched. COTS Demo Flight 2 launched from Cape Canaveral and with it, a new era of commercial space travel was launched. You can check out the launch below.

Who knows, maybe soon we will all be heading in to space on commercial space craft. Anyone out there got a spare $200,000 to book a flight with Virgin Galactic?

The Skelligs Project: An Irish Collaboration

2012-05-18T22:34:00.001+01:00

Eoghan Kavanagh is an Irish Landscape photographer. Evan Payne is an Irish American filmmaker. Together, they aim to explore and document all the corners of the Emerald Isle, starting with The Skelligs.

Their goal is to travel to the larger island, Skellig Michael, and document both their experience and the character of the island, producing a number of high quality photographs and films in the process. Their explicit aim is to produce a high quality coffee table book to showcase their shared vision of the Skelligs.

If you would like to support Eoghan and Evan and help them finance the project, check out their Kickstart page here. Whilst your at it, check out Eoghans gallery also.

Blackberry Humour….

2012-05-16T16:23:00.001+01:00

It’s been a while since I posted, amazing how quick time flies! Anyway, to get back on track, here’s some IT related comedy!

CAD Clues App

2012-04-12T19:28:00.001+01:00

CAD Clues is a great site for CAD Tips and Tricks interspersed with some CAD related news. They have had a free Android and iOS app available for some time and I have it installed on my Samsung Galaxy S2. I was tinkering around last night and wondered if I could convert it to run on my Blackberry Playbook. As you may know, the Playbook has the ability to run Android apps that have been run through the Playbook convertor.

I downloaded the app, converted it to a BAR file and then signed the BAR file so it could be loaded on to my Playbook. I used DDPB to load the app on to my Playbook and once installed, I ran it. Everything looked good, the main page worked fine. I then switched over to the Twitter feed page. On first run, the Twitter feed was a bit of a mess, legible, but a mess. I closed out of the app and restarted it again and the Twitter feed looked fine.

I believe that CAD Clues are going to add the app to the Blackberry App World, but if you want to download the app and know how to use DDPB, then you can get the BAR file from their website. Check it out over here. If you have no idea how to sideload apps on to the Blackberry Playbook using DDPB, check this brief tutorial.

Caine’s Arcade

2012-04-11T15:38:00.001+01:00

I came across this short film late last night on Twitter. It’s the story of 9 year old boy called Caine, from East LA and the cardboard arcade he made.

Rather than me trying to explain just why this short film is so good, why not sit back, relax and take 11 minutes out of your day and watch it yourself.

For more information on Caine and this short film, why not check out the website.

Mmmmmmm….

2012-04-10T15:03:00.001+01:00

Some friends have set up two separate blogs dedicated to food. The first, Strictly Baking, deals with cakes, buns and all things sweet. Not only do these goodies look amazing, but the taste like a little bit of heaven in your mouth… Check out the site here.

The second site, The Dinner Ladies”, is described by the authors as Two Mammies, bonded by a love of food, whose mission is to help you answer the dreaded 'whats for dinner?' Why not check it out here.

They say that everyone should have one dish that they can do and do well. My culinary skills start and stop with an Irish classic. No, not Irish Stew or Bacon and Cabbage, but the humble Tayto Sandwich. Check out my how to guide here. I’m sure you will agree that it’s a stunning dish!

Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe…

2012-03-29T12:31:00.001+01:00

I don’t have an iPad, I don’t particularly like them. I won one earlier in the year, a nice 64GB iPad2, but gave it away to a family member.

Had I not given it away, then I would certainly be installing Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe app. It’s a companion to his amazing BBC TV show, Wonders of the Universe.

Currently it is only available for iPad 2 and all new all singing and dancing iPad (3rd Generation) at a special promotional launch price of £4.99, but according to a tweet from the good Doctor, an Android version will be available in the next 2 months or so.

Check out the YouTube Clip below.

Wonders Of The Universe iPad App Demo.

No sex please, we’re Blackberry.

2012-03-20T22:20:00.001Z

As some of you will know, I own a Blackberry Playbook Tablet. It’s an excellent tablet, feels great in the hand, nice screen and great price. There are a few apps missing that would make it great. Skype would be one, some form of SMB Browser would be another and finally Zinio, the digital magazine app.

Well today, Zinio finally arrived. I eagerly installed it, logged in and was instantly disappointed. I have a few subscriptions on my account, 2 of which are Maxim and Playboy. I’m a guy, I like look at ladies, reading about gadgets, sports and music and Maxim covers those bases. Playboy? Well it was banned for so long here in Ireland that it would be sinful not to buy it now that it is freely available, plus the articles are fantastic :).

For some reason, RIM (along with Apple and Google on their platforms), have decided that I, an adult well over the age of 18, should not be allowed view these publications that I purchased, on the tablet that I purchased. How do I know it’s RIM that are doing this? Well Zinio helpfully posted this on their website in the last few hours “Please note that due to RIM restrictions, content that is PG-13 and up (such as Maxim) will not be viewable on the Playbook.” Zinio also saw fit to reply to my tweet and posted this “This is RIM's decision, unfortunately. We would love to offer all our content on the platform.”

I understand that the Blackberry Playbook runs RIMs OS, so they are lord and master of their domain, but surely there has to be a workaround to this stupid decision. Otherwise it’s bye bye Zinio, Maxim and Playboy….

*****Update*****

Thankfully, after a concerted effort by Blackberry Playbook users, RIM and Zinio have finally sorted this issue out. Whilst the likes of Playboy will not be available through the Playbook App, Maxim and other magazines rated similarly, will now be available. If only other companies listened too and acted on customer complaints this quickly.

The Future of TV???

2012-03-14T12:27:00.001Z

Obviously this could never ever happen…. could it??

Android Apps on the Blackberry Playbook…

2012-03-07T22:34:00.001Z

So, like many others, you bought a Blackberry Playbook when RIM reduced the price substantially. I think you’ll agree that hardware wise, it’s a fantastic piece of kit. The OS has also just been updated to OS 2.0, adding some new functionality to the Playbook. One thing that hasn’t really changed is the lack of apps in the BlackBerry App World. Don’t get me wrong, there are some very good apps available for the Playbook, but when compared to iOS and Android, the Playbook lags behind.

RIM in their wisdom (others see it otherwise), decided to build in Android compatibility to OS 2.0. What does this mean? Well it means that Playbook users have access to a whole world of other apps. Android developers can easily convert their apps to run on the Playbook and these apps can then be submitted to the App World.

If your favourite Android developer hasn’t got around to converting their apps to work on the playbook, why not do it yourself? If you can find the original Android APK file, you can convert the apps to BAR files yourself if you follow this guide. Once you have converted the APK file, you can then side load the file on to your Playbook. If you are confused as to what side loading is, check out this post that details how you can side load the Amazon Kindle app on to your Playbook. It gives step by step guides for both Windows and Mac.

If you can’t find the original APK file for your favourite Android app, check out Playbook Bars as someone may have already converted it and uploaded the BAR file for you to download.

Oh, if you are still running on OS 1.X and would like to upgrade to the latest version of the OS, go to Settings, then to Software Updates and click on Check for Updates and follow the onscreen hints.

Enjoy!

Design Review Mobile for Android…

2012-02-16T21:57:00.001Z

Just a heads up for all you Android CAD Monkeys out there, Autodesk released Design Review Mobile for Android this week.

So, what can you do with Design Review Mobile? Well lets see, you can:

• Open and view 2D and 3D DWF files from your Autodesk Cloud documents account.
• Use multi-touch gestures to zoom, pan, and rotate drawings.
• View meta data and other details about elements within your technical drawings.
• Use simple redlining and intuitive mark up tools to communicate changes.
• Add text or comments using familiar callouts.

Check it out on the Android Market here.

Full Printed…

2012-02-10T21:45:00.001Z

3D Printing is the height of fashion in the CAD world at the moment and the video below is doing the rounds on many of the CAD Blogs out there. I thought I’d get in on the action!

The clip was created for the "Laboratory of Manufacture” exhibition at the Disseny Hub Barcelona back in 2010.

Full Printed from nueveojos on Vimeo.

If you think that the video is a little bit too far fetched, why not check out Autodesk 123D and see just what you can do from the comfort of your own couch!

Draftsight V1R1.4 ….

2012-02-06T16:39:00.001Z

Some good news in the CAD world today, Release 1.4 of Draftsight, for both Windows and Mac was released today. No word yet on just what this update brings us, but you can download it here.

Rest in Peace Vista….

2012-01-31T15:19:00.001Z

Windows Vista, released by Microsoft back in 2007 (retail version), has been killed off by Autodesk.

As of Jan 1st 2012, Autodesk officially ceased supporting Microsoft Windows Vista Operating System for all new (and upgraded versions) of its products and services released in 2012. The press release is here.

For those that can’t be bothered to read the press release, here are some key points.

Will the Autodesk software/application I recently purchased (i.e. 2012 version) work on Windows Vista even though Autodesk is ceasing support for this Operating System?

Yes, the current Autodesk product line (version 2012) will continue to be supported on Microsoft Vista. Support will cease for new versions of Autodesk products released beginning January 1, 2012.

How does this ‘ending support’ affect me and the products that I currently own (version 2012 and earlier)? I am still on Windows Vista and do not have the ability to migrate to other Windows OS.

Autodesk will continue to support you and your existing, purchased products on Windows Vista in alignment with our current product support policies.

If I choose to buy a new computer with Windows 7, can I reinstall my 2012 products on the new computer or will I have to buy new licenses?

Yes, you can continue to use your current Autodesk products with this new operating system. Once installed, you will have to obtain a new authorization code.

What do I do if I run into issues with Autodesk products on Windows Vista? Who do I contact for support?

You can continue to utilize your existing Autodesk support channels for Windows Vista issues for Autodesk products/versions which have shipped prior to January 1, 2012. For new versions of Autodesk software shipping after this date, please refer to the Autodesk Discussion Forums for peer-to-peer support if you decide to install these Autodesk products on the Windows Vista operating system.

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So, why are Autodesk doing this? Well Microsoft ended sales support for Vista back in 2011 and mainstream support ends sometime in 2012. Autodesk feel that most of their client base has either moved on to Windows 7 or stuck with Windows XP. According to Autodesk, they will work with our customers in the coming 12-24 months to understand their transition plans and make a support decision about Windows XP when it is appropriate to do so.

So, there you have it, no new releases for Vista from Autodesk. If you are running Vista at the moment, you have two choices, stick with Vista the current version of your Autodesk software, or bite the bullet and upgrade to Windows 7.

I’ve found that generally speaking, a Vista capable PC will run Windows 7 without a hitch. Check out this page from Microsoft on upgrading from Vista to 7. You can also download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from here. It will scan your PC for potential issues with your hardware, devices, and installed programs, and will offer recommendations on what to do before you upgrade.

Stop SOPA Ireland

2012-01-27T20:01:00.001Z

It’s not often that you will see me getting political on this blog, I normally save that for the pub when my friends are drunk, but the actions of Minister Sean Sherlock and his latest bit of law making here in Ireland need to given the widest public arena possible. We have all heard of SOPA and how it faired in the US. Well Ireland has it’s own version and it is due to be passed as law this month without members of Dáil Éireann voting on the matter.

I have no problem with copyright being enforced, but there are ways and means to do it that will not hamper legitimate businesses. Minister Sherlock seems to be taking advice from one side and one side only on this debate and as we all know, a one sided debate is to dictate.

It would seem that Minister Sherlock knows that there is something inherently wrong with his bill as he is introducing this law without a vote in the Oireachtas. Why did we bother to vote and elect people to Dáil Éireann if a Minister can choose to ignore the members??

One might be paranoid and say that if they can enact this law without a vote in the Oireachtas, then what other laws can they put through with out a valid debate or vote?

If you feel annoyed, aggrieved and upset not only by this law, but also by the means it is been enacted, then check out the Stop SOPA Ireland site and put your name to the petition.

The next revolution in beauty…

2012-01-12T22:55:00.001Z

The video below is unfortunately not a real advert, mores the pity. It’s the kind of thing that kids need to see on TV. As adults, we know, or at least we should know, that the images we see in magazines are manipulated to some extent. Skin tones are lightened, bodies are narrowed, legs stretched, wrinkles and blemishes removed, the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, kids don’t always realise this and can strive for a form of beauty that is just not healthy.

Anyway, take a look at the video. It’s by a guy called Jesse Rosten. Check out his reasons for making the video and some behind the scenes info here.

Netflix Ireland launches

2012-01-10T21:41:00.001Z

To my North American readers, Netflix will need no introduction, but for those that have no idea what Netflix is, let me try to explain. Netflix offers Internet video streaming ("Watch Instantly") of selected titles to various devices (PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Wii, Xbox 360, PS3…). Basically, it is your local video store on the internet.

Now, being the nerd I am, I had to try the service, so this morning, I signed up for a free 1 month trial account. Signup is a simple affair, but be warned that even though it is a free trial, you still need to enter your debit or credit card details. After your month is up, the service will cost €6.99.

I plan on using my PS3 to view the service. I turned on the PS3, went to the Playstation Store and found no Netflix app. Hmmm.. now that’s not good I thought to myself. I called Netflix customer support and spoke to two very helpful ladies with American accents and they stepped me through the process of getting Netflix up and running on the PS3.

If you can’t find Netflix in the Playstation Store, I suggest you try the following:

Go to Playstation Store
Download and install Vidzone. (thanks Daherlihy!)
Power off PS3
Wait a few seconds (they said 15, but…)
Power on the PS3
Browse to TV/Video Services on the XMB and you should see Netflix.
Click on the icon to install the service.
Sign in.

And that’s how you get Netflix on your Irish PS3 if it is not appearing for you in the XMB.

I’ve also tried running Netflix on my Samsung Galaxy S2. You can download the app from the Android Market and after that, it’s an easy setup. Just sign in and away you go.

I’ve only watched a couple of shows (South Park and MythBusters), but picture quality looks good and streaming, whilst not instant, only takes 2 or 3 seconds to start on my 25Mb connection.

So, I have a month to make up my mind if I like it or not…. At €6.99 it is an affordable service, but it’s all about the content and to be quite honest, the content does not look that up to date. If they can’t compete with the local video store, then they might be in trouble.

Hey, where did that come from???

2012-01-07T17:18:00.001Z

15 days to build a 30 storey, magnitude 9 resistant, 183,000 square feet hotel. That’s just damn impressive. Where is this hotel? Where do you think, China of course, somewhere called Dongting lake, in the Hunan Province.

OK, so it doesn’t take into account the amount of time spent prefabricating the building in the factory, but it’s still impressive to see a 30 storey building erected in just 15 days.

Check out the video below.

The Gym……

2012-01-05T22:18:00.001Z

The new health regime continues. I hit the gym again tonight. If it was all cardio stuff, it would be fine, but nope, it’s not and the weights are killing me!

Oh well…. onwards and upwards.

Been there, seen that, done that…

2012-01-04T14:27:00.001Z

I’m guessing that this is a familiar scenario for all CAD Monkeys!!

2012 - The new me and all that rubbish…

2012-01-02T15:07:00.001Z

So I turned 40 a few weeks back….. Unbelievable. I still feel like I am in my 20’s, I don’t feel 40. Sure a few joints ache and my back is not the best, but they’re just old football injuries, everyone has those aches, don’t they??

Anyway, my friends decided to purchase Gym membership for me as a birthday present. I could take that one of two ways. Either be pissed off at the cheek of them to give such a present, or accept it as it was meant and use it to its full extent.

Today I checked in to the gym for the first time. It’s the first time I’ve been in a gym in about 10 years to be honest. Back in my early 30’s, I used to work out hard. 5 nights a week, pounding the road and pumping iron. Then, well I have no idea why, I stopped. Every now and again I would start up again, but I never managed to get the same level of intensity in to my workouts and found it easy to come up with excuses not to workout.

Will todays efforts be the start of something new? A turn around in lifestyle? Or will I just give it up after a few weeks?? Who knows, though I hope that this will be one New Years resolution I’ll stick to.

Blackberry Playbook….

2011-12-29T02:01:00.001Z

As a Christmas present to myself, I bought a Blackberry Playbook. I’ve wanted a tablet for a while, but many of the Android tablets out there felt cheap and nasty to the touch. I also could not bring myself to pay ridiculous money for either a Samsung Galaxy Tab or an iPad.

One night over the holidays, I was reading about the 16GB Blackberry Playbook. I checked a local store and saw that it would be reduced to €219 as St. Stephens Days special. It would then return to €249 afterwards. It should be noted that the €249 is already a vastly reduced price. It was originally released at €469.99 when released.

Anyway, bright and early on St. Stephens Day, I hopped into the car and off I went to PC World to take a look at one. First impressions were that it was small. Solidly built, nice to hold, great screen, but still small. I pottered around the store and looked at other tablets, mainly Android ones, but something kept bringing me back to the Playbook. Eventually I gave in and purchased it. You know the story, it was in a sale, I had a voucher, I was practically saving money……

The initial setup was quite easy, next next next next, you get the idea. After initially playing with it for a while, I upgraded to the beta of OS 2.0. Why did I do that? Well first and foremost I like to tinker… Secondly, although the Playbook runs its own OS called QNX, it allows you to run many Android applications (.apk) that have been converted to Playbook applications (.bar). Not every Android app can be converted, there seems to be strict rules on what is and is not acceptable. I’m damned if I can find the forum post about what you can and can’t convert. If I do, I’ll update the blog.

I’ve installed the Android versions of Twitter, Facebook, Amazon Kindle and Handrite so far. All seem to work well and in the case of Facebook and Twitter are far superior to the versions that came preinstalled. There are some good native Playbook apps. I’ve installed BlueBox (a Dropbox client), Score Mobile (keeps me up to date on my sports results), Air Browser (a file manager) and Evernote (a note taking app that syncs between your PC/Tablet/Smartphone).

One of the most important aspects of any tablet, is battery life. I’ve been getting approximately 7 hours of use on a single charge. It’s hard to be exact as I don’t use it continuously all day. Unfortunately, I have other things to do aside from playing with gadgets. Officially, I should get 10 hours of standard use on a single charge, but just what standard use is, I don’t know!! In use, the Playbook is quick and responsive. The screen is fantastic and has a wide viewing angle. You can also access the Playbooks hard drive over wifi and upload or download files to it using this method. You don’t need any special drivers to do this, just open My Computer on Windows and type \\ followed by the ip address of the Playbook into the Address Bar, in my case it was \\192.168.1.45

One of the best resources for all thing Playbook and indeed Blackberry related, is Crackberry.com. The forum on the site is a wealth of information with answers to almost any Playbook related query you may have. After setting up your Playbook, the next thing I would do is head over there and register an account!

So, that’s it so far. I’m still coming to terms with the OS and its features. I’ll have to sit down and work out how to convert .apk files to .bar files and I await the official release of OS 2.0 slated for sometime in February. Hopefully, over the coming weeks and months, I’ll have a bit more to say about the Blackberry Playbook.

TurboViewer Pro v2 released for iOS devices…

2011-12-15T23:32:00.001Z

IMSI today announced the release of TurboViewer Pro v2, the professional version of its free TurboViewer app for the iPad and iPhone. The full press release can be read here.

I haven’t had a chance to use the app yet as they IMSI have not released a version for Android. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for an Android version of this app. It looks interesting and it’s great to have another player in the CAD world developing for the mobile platform.

You can read more about TurboViewer by clicking here.

10 Billion Downloads from the Android Market…

2011-12-08T20:37:00.001Z

No posts in 2 weeks and now 2 in a matter of minutes!!

Google are celebrating reaching 10 Billion downloads from the Android Market. Check out the 10 for 10Cents promo that they have running all this week.

The graphic below shows the growth of the Android Market since 2008.

Draftsight Youtube Channel

2011-12-08T20:18:00.001Z

Seems like I haven’t written a blog in ages….I’ll try to be more productive in December!

This posting is just to give a heads up about the Draftsight Youtube Channel. Check it out by clicking here. You will find some fantastic and easy to follow tutorials for everyones favourite free CAD package!

Don’t have Draftsight? Well then, download it for free from here.