An Update on My Menagerie
Long time subscribers know that I own dogs and
horses. I am tickled when I speak at a local user
group and am asked about my animal companions.
For those of you who probably won't be seeing me in
person...here's an update on my furry friends.
Buddy, the border collie I use to compete in agility
events, has partnered with my son, Isaiah. This
summer, Isaiah and Buddy won a Silver Buckle in the
Australian Shephard Agility Series. Buddy also won a
Novice Agility title from the Canine Performance
Events association. Buddy, who is a 7-year old
female, will be competing this year at the standard
level as she is no longer a novice.
Nia, my other border collie who is also 7, is now
legally blind. She gets around fairly well, although
she moves slowly since she can't see. She has a
pretty good life with Buddy basically acting as her
guide dog.
Laertes, my steady Peruvian Paso, still works with
kids and is currently Isaiah's mount. He is healthy,
happy, and doing well. Horse people who have
watched Isaiah ride him at local parks have offered
me substantial sums of money for him. He is not for
sale.
Sebastian, the rowdy Paint who bucked me off this
summer and broke ten of my vertebrae, is currently
away at "boarding school" working with a trainer full-
time to see if he can be taught proper manners. The
trainer, Garry Stauber - a Long Rider and Natural
Horsemanship adherent, reports that Sebastian is
smart, athletic, and extremely unruly. Garry feels he
will be able to "break" Sebastian without taking the
horse out of him or hurting his spirit.
Oberon, my husband's horse, remains a stalwart
Arabian...he is nervous, high-strung, and devoted to
my husband and Laertes. This summer he pulled back
on a hitching post and broke it while tied; he also
pulled a traffic sign out of concrete....my husband
had tied him there when we were tacking up to head
out on a trail. My husband finds this behavior
charming. This is what happens when we love our
animals...we can pretty much forgive any of their
transgressions.
Give your animal companions a hug and treat from me!
Quick Links
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Caveat Emptor
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I was recently contacted by a user who was having
difficulty with a third-party software that is an add-
on to AutoCAD.
My first step was a visit to the company's website.
My initial observation was that they did not have the
Autodesk Authorized Partner logo on their website...I
did a quick search on Autodesk's site and they were
not listed as a developer or a reseller...this despite
the fact they were selling Autodesk software from
their website!
This set off all sorts of alarms for me...you NEVER
want to buy Autodesk software from anyone other
than an authorized reseller or Autodesk directly.
Otherwise, you may find yourself in a real pickle
when
you try to register it or upgrade.
Now, you do not have to be a registered Autodesk
partner in order to develop a third-party application.
However, it certainly helps...if you pay Autodesk an
annual fee, you get access to developer support and
limited access to their code for the purposes of
developing your application. Autodesk will even test
your software against their software and give you a
stamp of approval for a fee.
In this case, the company reported to me that they
have an agreement with Autodesk that allows them
to sell AutoCAD to their customers to facilitate the
use of their software.
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Try a Tasty Dish
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While updating my ADT text for 2008, I ran across
the command ai_dish. Always game to try a
new command, I typed ai_dish on the
command line. I was prompted for an insertion point,
a radius, and segment numbers. I picked a point,
entered a radius value, and accepted the defaults for
the segment values.
A very nice solid in the form of a dish appeared on
my screen...how cool! I checked for this command in
2006 and it is in there as well.
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Feel Free to Unsubscribe
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This ezine is free...I don't go out and force people to
subscribe. All my subscribers signed up of their own
free will. If you find the content boring, annoying, or
unhelpful, please unsubscribe. Every ezine includes a
link at the bottom of the page that allows you to opt
out. If you don't know how to operate the link, feel
free to email me and I will unsubscribe you.
I am approaching the end of my fourth year of
writing this ezine. I don't think I have missed
publishing an issue the entire time (although a few
times folks have gotten double issues by mistake).
Subscribers can figure they will get at least a dozen
free tutorials and a dozen free lisp routines in the
course of any year. Not to mention tips, tricks, and
useful links. The best issues are in March, April,
May, and June, when I have lots of fresh material
from the new releases from Autodesk...so hang in
there!
I do not advertise this ezine...all of my subscribers
either stumbled across my website doing a
websearch or heard about it through word of mouth.
That makes you an elite group....if a group numbering
more than 1,000 users world-wide can be considered
elite (and I do).
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Heading Down to New Orleans for Solidworks World
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With fingers crossed and deep breaths, I am heading
off to my first SolidWorks World tomorrow. I haven't
attended an AU in two years, but SW is less crowded
and, best of all, NOT in Vegas. Looking forward to
learning more about this sofware. I am using
Inventor full-time right now, but I used SolidWorks for
a few months when I was working in Morgan Hill and
it kinda grew on me.
So, if you are going to SolidWorks World as well, feel
free to come up and say 'hi'. I like talking to users
and hearing their stories.
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