Years ago I mucked about with Softcad but didn't get much use out of it, I didn't find it as intuitive as it looked. But looking around the EdiCAD website they have upped their game a bit. I'm going to try out the new free version of Architech pc 2d for cad drawing as its parametric. I've just downloaded it this morning.

There are a couple of "ex-Hungarians" here actually

And last, but not least, do NOT make this mistake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-5cEzGclbc

As this is sort of an international forum, which I frequent, I do want the Indian readers here to know that people in the US have not forgotten how other peoples showed solidarity with us after 911, and we feel sadness for the violence and suffering in Mumbai today. Also I was moved hearing how the citizens of Mumbai called for unity and restraint in this tense period. We don't get a very full picture of what it is like there, but we are following what we can. We hope peace and healing will prevail in Mumbai.

fool, you told me we would both be judges.

@unknownuser said: An edible mesh? Is that function of the new Dynamic Components? Happy Turkey Day all. I had mesh potatoes with my turkey. Does that count?

damn..virtual spectator looks really cool..have to read more about it.. we've got a gps data acquisition program in our track car.. which allows you to replay your runs...but its just a dot going around on a line...lol

Dave letterman mentioned that his regular bit 'Great moments in presidential speeches' will be ending shortly with the end of the Bush administration. he aknowledges that this is a huge blow to his show as this has been a staple of his success for the last so many years. [flash=425,344:2lkt2dhi]http://www.youtube.com/v/NqJiCDElWmo[/flash:2lkt2dhi]

And a reply email to what I forwarded to them as a suspicious phishing email looks like this: @unknownuser said: reply-to spoof@paypal.com to Csaba Pozsarko date 26 November 2008 10:50 subject RE: - Your recent report to PayPal (KMM106697224V70159L0KM) :kf1 Reply Hello Csaba Pozsarko, Thanks for forwarding that suspicious-looking email. You're right - it was a phishing attempt, and we're working on stopping the fraud. By reporting the problem, you've made a difference! Identity thieves try to trick you into revealing your password or other personal information through phishing emails and fake websites. To learn more about online safety, click "Security Center" on any PayPal webpage. Every email counts. When you forward suspicious-looking emails to spoof@paypal.com, you help keep yourself and others safe from identity theft. Your account security is very important to us, so we appreciate your extra effort. Thanks, PayPal This email is sent to you by the contracting entity to your User Agreement, either PayPal Ince, PayPal Pte. Ltd or PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. & Cie, S.C.A. Société en Commandite par Actions, Registered Office: 5th Floor 22-24 Boulevard Royal L-2449, Luxembourg RCS Luxembourg B 118 349.

and who said that crime does not pay??? well I guess it does for a while until you get caught.

Hi Guys, I found one that does the job for me and thought I'd mention it in case anyone else has the need to exactly resize an app window, its Zooom/2, http://www.coderage-software.com/zooom/index.html It's not free (€12.51) but does have a 30 day trial. Mike

Woops, well i hope you had a happy birthday

yes I thought it was creepy. but teenage creepy it was really amateurish and at 43 I felt like the old man sitting in the rocking chair at a family reunion.

@johnsenior1973 said: You are kidding, right? There's a list of upgrades that people have requested on this forum that have been completely and utterly ignored by Google. You think they are going to rush the release of SU7 because of this thread while completely ignoring what they want? Slightly Bitter John?

@paul j said: %(#4000BF)[Heard today at work that they might be considering getting CATIA. I will do a Google search in a moment - just wondering if anyone on this forum uses it and can answer the following *** Is it a hard package to learn ? (I guess I am worried about a steep learning curve) ** Are there many similarities to Sketchup ? ** Does anyone have a link to a demo that can be downloaded ?*] I have used SolidWorks, which is a little cousin to Catia. My responses to your questions: It is significantly more complex than SketchUP but more in an enterprise way than a modeling way. Restating that, the modeler in Catia will have some similarities to SketchUP. But Catia's power is not it's modeler, it is the ability to have multiple (and I mean many) operators working on the same design simultaneously without stepping on each others toes. The other major strength of Catia, where SketchUp has no functionality whatsoever, is it's tie in to sophisticated data management systems. This allows the parts that are designed to be machined, purchased, whatever by a complete different team than the original modelers. SketchUp's modeler is very easy to use, but it has no history. You start with a shape and add things to it or subtract things from it. Catia, SolidWorks, Pro/E are parametric modelers where all your operations are kept in a tree and you can go back and change values. Inserted a hole in step three that was 5 mm in diameter, you can click on it and change the hole to 3 mm and it will correctly change it. Now saying this, Siemens and PTC are releasing history-less modelers which as far as I can tell act a lot like SketchUP. My experience is both have advantages which is why SolidEdge and Pro/E are being released with both capabilities. I'm certain SolidWorks and Catia will eventually get these features. It's a competitive market. You aren't going to find a demo to download. The distribution of all professional 3D MCAD is VERY tightly controlled via vendor networks. SolidWorks is, Catia even more so. These are high end products aimed at industrial audiences and they don't want anybody pirating this stuff if they can avoid it. Hopefully your employer is signing on for significant training. While you can effectively learn SketchUp (and SolidWorks) on your own, that just simply isn't possible in Catia. The training budget for the first year should be in the ballpark of your software outlay costs or your implementation is going to be a financial failure. I guarantee it. I'm not kidding. The second year it can be less, etc, etc, etc. The other gotcha to Catia is maintenance costs. All professional 3D MCAD has an annual subscription cost of approximately 25% of the original price per year. So if your seat of Catia cost $20,000 (which wouldn't surprise me as I paid $25,000 a seat for Pro/E in 1996) your company will be faced with a $5,000 bill very year to maintain that seat of software. To the commenter that suggested SpaceClaim, it's a good modeler that is not history based. The CEO of SpaceClaim was the original developer of both Pro/E and SolidWorks. But SpaceClaim is not Catia and won't be for a long. It's the enterprise functionality. Good luck and let us know what your thought are when you see Catia.

Redneck Gingerbread House: [image: XxE9_rngingerbread.jpg]

..... and don't forget to have ANOTHER look at Layout, now Layout2! http://sketchup.google.com/product/layout.html I think Layout has now grown up and will be adopted by many professionals with a need to communicate their design ideas to clients.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28151

I think it will be more along these lines: See George run. Run, George, run.

@petercharles said: @autarchos said: Huh, what's happened???? Someone must have moderated it. Anyway, it's there so have a look.