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Greetings!
What does the future hold for MEs?
As a mechanical engineer, I have experienced the same
slump as my fellow designers and drafters in the
manufacturing sector. I had always been told that an
engineering degree was a full-proof guarantee against
long-term unemployment. At an ASME meeting I
attended a few months back, all of the mechanical
engineers in attendance had been unemployed for
several months.
It is discouraging, to say the least, to have suffered
through integral calculus and not be able to get a job.
Manufacturing jobs have been going overseas for the
past two decades at a steady rate, but I always
figured that R&D would remain in the states - assuring
design engineers some security.
The manufacturing sector lost 44,000 jobs in August
2003. Since July 2000, manufacturing employment has
declined continuously, shedding nearly 16 percent of its
workforce. In August 2003, wood products, machinery,
apparel, and electrical equipment and appliances each
lost 5,000 jobs. Employment declined by 12,000 in the
textile industries.
The federal government appears to be asleep at the
wheel. The media reports that many of the
unemployed have taken jobs outside of their chosen
professions in order to survive in the hope that they will
be able to return to engineering when the economy
recovers.
The fact is these jobs will probably never return.
Electrical engineers and software programmers will see
some recovery, but even their sector will never fully
recover, as software programmers in India cost pennies
in comparison...the fact that their work is not
necessarily as good is irrelevant to the oursourcing
company. Even
Autodesk outsources to India and China for technical
support, training documentation and software
development. I think we all agree that the lower
quality of some of Autodesk's technical support and
documentation is the direct result.
Autodesk considers this a reasonable trade-off (poorer
quality for higher profits) as do most American
manufacturers because consumers are still buying.
In the meantime, those who have been thrown out of
work need to re-assess their future. The reality is that
only about 25% of the mechanical engineers currently
unemployed are going to be able to find work in their
fields once the economy recovers. That's because
most of those jobs are never coming back. So, the
unemployed engineer has two choices - 1) to take an
early retirement or 2) switch to a different career.
As painful as this sounds, this may mean going back to
college and getting another degree. The two
industries that look the most hopeful are government or
healthcare/pharmaceutical.
For those in building industries, consider yourselves
lucky. Since the buildings we live and work in have to
be where we are, that industry may have ups and
downs, but it has little risk of going overseas.
To look at some of the statistics...
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CADzette garners it's first Award |
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Less than six months after this newsletter has been
launched, we have garnered our first award. Wow!
Tenlinks.com, a CAD portal, that provides news, links,
free downloads, and a potpourri of goodies for CAD
surfers has selected CADzette for their Site of the
Week.
Technically, the award went to the page where I post
the archives of past newsletters, but the award goes
to the newsletter and I have to share it with my
readers because you certainly influence what I write
about.
Your questions, concerns, and issues make it into every
issue, so give yourselves a pat on the back...this
means you DO count.
Check out Tenlinks... »
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Did you install Norton Antivirus after your Autodesk install? |
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There is a known bug that occurs when you install
Norton Antivirus after you install any of the latest
releases of Autodesk products.
Download and install the ac1st15.dll file to resolve the
error that occurs after you install Norton AntiVirus
2003 (NAV) or Norton AntiVirus 2003 Professional
Edition (NAV Pro) software and then try to start an
Autodesk program. Following is the error message that
is displayed:
Page fault in module ac1st15.dll
Make sure you have your anti-virus software turned
OFF during any application install to prevent problems.
To download this fix »
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A Younger Reader Chimes in on the Aging of User Groups |
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I wanted to write to you in response to your article
about user groups. I am a 26 year old ACAD user that
also prefers to utilize, online tutorials,and chat rooms
for networking. (or newsletters such as yours!)
Time at the meetings I have gone to do not seem to be
efficiently managed. There is always alot of talk about
issues, but no real solution. Alot of the crowd is more
interested in "shooting the breeze", job security and
maintaining the status quo. Even at my own workplace,
I am the "go to guy" when someone has a problem that
needs an immediate fix, but If I tried to suggest
changes in how we "work" or structure are work flow I
am meet with resistance on all sides. "If it's not broken
don't fix it" is one I hear all the time, but I don't want
to "fix it" I want to improve it.
The folks that I find online tend to be more interested
in my train of
thought, and more idealistic than pragmatic. There is a
definite balance
between being to idealistic and to pragmatic that is
very hard to maintain.
John Frahm, Santa Clara, CA
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Revit Users Complete the Transition |
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Revit, for those of you unfamiliar with the software, is a
4D Architectural software. Why 4D? Because Revit
allows you to manage time along with the usual 3D
design model issues. Revit originated in Boston and
quickly built up a loyal user base, attracting Autodesk's
attention.
When Autodesk bought Revit, there were major
concerns among users...did Autodesk plan to "kill" Revit,
like Softdesk, or would the application be allowed to
evolve?
But Autodesk recognized that Revit was a superior app
to ADT in many ways and has allowed Revit to continue
and, in many ways, flourish. But the honeymoon is
soon to be over...
Prior to Autodesk acquisition of Revit, the software was
rented. The terms were monthly, quarterly, and
annual. Autodesk is no longer renting the software.
They are now selling perpetual licenses--a more
technical name for what is commonly called a software
purchase. Customers that had monthly or quarterly
licenses were able to convert those licenses to
perpetual through July 31, 2003. For customers who
have existing annual contracts that have not expired
they have through Dec 17, 2003 to convert them to
perpetual licenses. If they do not do it in that time
frame they will have to purchase a new copy which will
be significantly more expensive.
The clock is now ticking on Revit users, to join the
Autodesk methodology of upgrades and subscription or
get off the train. Contact your local reseller for details.
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Have you tried GotoMyPC? |
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GotoMyPC is similar to PCAnywhere. The idea is that
you can access your workstation from any location.
Gosh, why would you want to do that? Have you ever
visited a customer site, put in the CD you burned and
found you were missing that critical file?
One network person I know uses PCAnywhere to install
software at customer sites. She has the installation
CDs set up on a computer in her office. She logs in
from the customer site and installs remotely. She
swears by it.
Lest you think this smells of piracy - the customer must
have a valid license before she performs any install.
I have had mixed results using this sort of software. I
will say that when you are in desperate need to get to
your workstation and you a hundred miles away from
your office, this software is a godsend. Nothing worse
than looking unprepared in front of a client.
The bad news is that if you don't have a high speed
connection available it is simply not worth it...it is
waaaay too slow. And some customers will not allow
you to transfer files over their network for security
reasons or even log in to the internet.
Download a Free Trial »
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Corrections, Additions, & Compliments |
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CTB/STB Style Controls
Thanks to Mike Perry who brought the following to my
attention:
I think you need to point out that the
commands ._ConvertCtb & ._ConvertPStyles
are only available in AutoCAD 2000 & 2000i if the
Migration Assistance has been
installed. AutoCAD 2002 & 2004 has them *built-in*.
Below comes from the AutoCAD OnLine Help File -
Issue:
When you use the CONVERTCTB or CONVERTPSTYLES
command, the following
error message is displayed:
Unknown command
Solution:
The CONVERTCTB and CONVERTPSTYLES commands are
available in AutoCAD
2000i only if Migration Assistance has been installed. To
enable their use, install
Migration Assistance from the AutoCAD 2000i CD.
If Migration Assistance is installed, and you still receive
the Unknown Command
error message, use the APPLOAD command to load the
accvps.arx file.
Note: You can add the accvps.arx file to the contents
of the Startup Suite within
appload, so that it is loaded each time you start
AutoCAD.
Turning off Buttons in 2004
If you're like me, you haven't used SNAP or GRID in
years, maybe decades, and it is annoying accidentally
hitting those buttons and enabling SNAP. You can
enable/disable the visibility of the buttons in your 2004
software by left clicking on the down arrow next to the
small satellite icon.
One Reader Reports Tip Worked for Her
I just finished reading your newest Sept. 12 letter.
Thought you might be interested to know that the
information you provided previously about controlling
transparancy in Mtext worked great for me in Acad
v2004. Thanks for the great tip.
Linda
Paul Waddington Chimes In
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read
what I had placed on my WEB page and for passing on
this information via your newsletter. It has
had a fairly large impact on the 'hit' rate several
hundred of which have
been from Autodesk!
Paul Waddington
A Satisfied Reader Makes Me Blush
Elise, your CADzette is awesome, awesome, and even
more awesome! I looked
through some of the back issues you archived at your
site. Very insightful,
objective, and providing very useful, even unique tips
and tricks. This is
definitely cutting edge material. The alerts you provide
to project managers are
invaluable. No more dim, foggy "CADzetteless" days for
me!
Lillian
San Francisco
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CADopia bundles IntelliCAD with Adobe Professional |
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CADopia is providing students and educators a bundle
of CADopia IntelliCAD 4 Standard and Acrobat
Professional for $189.00 total.
You do need to show proof that you are student or
teacher or you will not be able to get this deal.
Jorneyed requires you to fax a copy of your student
registration/schedule and student id or your order will
not be processed.
To purchase this bundle »
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REVCLOUD - NEW 2004 COMMAND |
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REVCLOUD started out as a popular express tool.
AutoCAD 2004 comes with Express Tools included (this
was an AUGI Wish List item for several years), but even
if Autodesk decides to pull the Express Tools - which
might happen...over the years, the Express Tools have
been free, purchased for a low price, given away as an
incentive to upgrade, and used in whatever way
Autodesk felt would give them the most leverage.
You can use REVCLOUD to create a revision cloud or
convert any closed polygon to a revision cloud. To
convert a closed object, type REVCLOUD at the
command line and then type 'O' for object. You will
then be prompted to select the closed polygon. When
you convert a closed object to a revision cloud, the
original object is deleted if DELOBJ is set to 1 (the
default). If you wish to retain the converted polygon
on a separate layer, set DELOBJ to 0.
You can access the REVCLOUD command from the Draw
menu, the Draw toolbar, or by typing REVCLOUD on the
command line.
To make sure your cloud looks clean, set the arc length
to a decent value or you will get a cloud that looks
pretty raggedy.
REVCLOUD does not support transparent and real-time
panning and zooming.
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