Custom Autodesk RSS Feeds

It is possible to create a custom RSS feed that notifies us when Updates, Hotfixes, or Service Packs become available for various products of our choosing.

Click on the title of this post to get to a page where we can select one or multiple products. Then press the "Create Custom Feed" button to be taken to another page where the custom feed URL can be aquired. This page also contains links to automatically subcribe our newly create custom feed into various desktop and web-based RSS feed readers.

It is interesting that Outlook 2007, Internet Explorer 7, and 2008 Autodesk products can now accomodate RSS feeds. This proves that receiving specific information of our choosing via the internet is a very import part of being in-touch with our world.

Note:
If we select multiple applications for the custom feed, and because Updates/Technical Solutions might be posted to various products simultaneously there may be some duplication of information. If our custom feed is for only one application, duplication of information typically does not occur.

"Experience The Possibilities" Tour

On Wednesday May 16, 2007 we here at KETIV Technologies will be at Autodesk's North American tour when they stop in Anaheim, CA (about 5 miles from our offices). We will be available to provide lots of information about the 2008 family of products.

I hope to see you there.

Heidi Shows Us Annotation

If a picture is worth 1,000 words then a movie is worth 100,000 words. In her blog "AutoCAD Insider" Heidi Hewett talks about the new annotation scaling in AutoCAD 2008.

Plus as a bonus feature she has two links to animations about how this is done and how it will be done.

Thanks Heidi! This is very helpful information.

Autodesk's Official 2008 Press Releases

On Monday many websites carried Autodesk's official press releases about the 2008 family of products. Here are a couple as carried by Yahoo!:

AutoCAD 2008 & AutoCAD LT 2008
The item that caught my eye was the new annotation scaling capability (similar to Civil 3D labels) which will apply to things such as tables, text, and leaders.

AEC Products (Civil 3D, Architecture {new name}, & MEP {new name})
Most of the items related to Civil 3D caught my eye. Things like enhanced multiuser environment (I am assuming that this means Vault), automated sheet generation, and Google Earth interoperability.

Click on the links to read them yourself.

So this begins the official process of learning about, and then learning Civil 3D 2008.

Bad for Most - Good for a Few - Baby Boomers Retirement

A reality for many industries is the impact of the impending retirement of baby boomers. It is said that over 40% (maybe as much as 50%) of the industry will reach retirement age within the next five to 15 years. We all know that there is already a shortage of employees in our industry. With this mass exodus things will get worse. Those who do not have some sort of plan will be in a very difficult situation.

In the document "Offshoring: Implications for the Engineering Workforce and Profession" Ralph W. Wyndrum, Eng.Sc.D, paints some rather unpleasant scenarios. But I found a section of his "Closing Notes" rather poignant. Here is an excerpt...


The professional engineering societies... will quickly lose relevance if we don’t do a good job of enabling our members to thrive in their profession, providing them with better tools and direction to deal with the challenges posed by globalization. We have to be equipped to respond to members effectively when they ask: How can I be more “innovative?” What does it mean to be “entrepreneurial?” What technologies will I need to be versed in to stay competitive in the next five years? We also need to be able to break down our disciplinary smokestacks and move more nimbly to expose our members to the intersections of technology, where innovation increasingly occurs.

For the "glass is half full" crowd... There will be many opportunities for advancement in the coming years and those that are prepared will have lots of options.

I Am Moving

No, I am not changing employment. Nor is this blog changing address. But, I am relocating to a new home, which will likely impact this blog for a period of time. So, if you have noticed less activity than usual. or you do in the near future, I hope you will understand why.

I am moving exactly...

0 degrees, 00'54.78" of latitude south and...
0 degrees 00'08.35" of longitude to the west

Translation: about a mile south.

Civil 3D 2007 & Window Vista

There have already been some users that have asked the question "Can Civil 3D 2007 run on Window Vista?" Some have even gone so far as to attempted it.

The answer is, No, NONE of Autodesk's 2007 family of products run on Windows Vista.

As it becomes necessary to replace new computers the issue of operating systems must be addressed. But, everyone should be well aware that Window Vista is currently (January 29, 2007) not an option for Autodesk's production applications.

New Blogger Interface!

I have been waiting to be able to use the NEW Blogger site. I had not been able to until now because of the size of this blog (almost 400 posts over 2 plus years).

The new Blogger allows many additional capabilities with blogs like this (ie. tags, easier formatting). I hope to be able to revise all old post to take advantage of the new abilities and make this blog better.

With the start of 2007 this blog can enter a new era. Cool.

If you have any suggestion, of course they are all welcome.

Lets start.

Turning a Corner

It could be just me, but it seems that Civil 3D as a product is entering a new phase. Many things that I have seen occur lately, and many things that are on the near horizon all point to a new era for this product. I believe many others are arriving at the same conclusion.

Industry Comment - ENR Cover Story

The cover story of the May 8th issue of ENR Engineering News-Record was titled:

"The Hight Cost of Turnover"

It is a very interesting read regarding how, in this very competitive and staff depleted market, are companies attempting to hold on to their existing employees.

It boils down to employees have the upper hand and companies are getting very creative in efforts to make employees happy.