Architects, lawyers, doctors, investment bankers, plumbers, gardeners, cobblers..., there are good ones, mediocre ones, and downright bad ones. Some charge high fees, some charge low fees. Caveat emptor.

@toxicvoxel said:

There is some dispute over whether these words are those of John Ruskin but they sum up an age old truth that will remain long after this debate is gone:

@unknownuser said:

“There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey.”

.

Conversely... 'There is nothing in this world that someone cannot make better and cheaper...

We live in a consumer driven 'free market' society that is out of control. Jackson's post was well stated, however, Architects are not the only ones who suffer from this dilema. Anyone who provides a service or manufactures a product is prone to price cutting. Consider the small storekeeper who is driven out of business by Wallmart, or the manufacturer who cannot compete with foreign child labor and low costs. Who is to blame when people cannot make ends meet and are forced to buy cheap goods and who among us is not guilty. It is easy to blame someone like Kent, however, my question is, if he agreed to pay someone on this forum who has criticized him for the model, would that person then take the money and use it to purchase 'fair trade' or just go looking for a bargain?

We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard. ~Voltaire, Dictionnaire Philosophique, 1764

What Kent is doing happens all the time. There are hundreds/thousands of design books and magazines published every year where designers and manufacturers provide freebies in return for exposure.
There are lots of regular contributors to this forum who use it to promote their personal businesses through links either as signature add-ons or as part of a post solution and nobody complains about that. It seems that because Kent isn't a member of the 'club' he's being vilified for doing something that is commonly exploited.
Perhaps it's time to stop allowing anyone to add a commercial context to their posts and make it a truly non-profit forum.
If you don't want to do it, then pass.

Gag me!
I just went into diabetic shock.

Mexico City - 20C

iWeb/Mobile Me has a free trail.

I vote for the hairy guy.

Thanks R, and All The Best To You.
I should have mentioned that my house is totally hardwired with CATV and everything links to a central hub area. I went wireless about three years ago and all was good except the furthest point. The house is built on the side of a hill and I often joke - there's more steel and concrete than in the 'Golden Gate Bridge' holding it up. Anyway my issue is I use my MacBook most of the time in this area and the wireless signal has dead spots...BTW, tried a booster - not great.
Cheers,
DE

Hey,
I'm running into weak signal issues in my art studio and trying to add a second wireless router to serve as a bridge.
Has anyone done this? And if so, how do you set it up? It's driving me nuts!
Primary wireless router is a D-Link 615 and I am adding the same 615 model.
Thx.

motogroove,
I went through variances from hell when I built my house and feel your pain.
It's difficult to assess your design without windows etc., however, my first impression is that it feels a little too convoluted. My suggestion would be to simplify the roof designs and take a look at the staggered blocks on the entry side, perhaps, a 'silo' that includes your stairs and becomes the roof access could work. It would give you a featured entry, look great constructed from local stone, and a widow's walk on the top would provide an awesone 360 view.
As far as cladding goes... my suggestion would be cut all window openings, add windows then cladding.
There are also lots of trees you can import.
Good luck,
DE

Here it is...
http://sketchup.google.com/download/rubyscripts.html

Try this... personally, I think saint basil would go better with a garlic dome.
http://www.enricodalbosco.it/3dwarehouse/saintbasil/

FBG...
Info about your OS would be helpful.
DE

Pete,
Hope you mend soon. I'm surprised more people don't break their asses since they're already cracked.

This should work BeanBoy...

1. Create a cylinder.
2. Select the File > Import menu item to insert an image.
3. Select an image format from the Files of type drop-down list.
4. Select the image file.
5. Click the Open button. The cursor changes to the Select Tool with the image.
6. Click in the drawing area to place the starting point of the image.
7. Drag the cursor away from the starting point so that the image is resized.
8. Click again to place the image.
9. Context-click on the image. The Image entity's context menu appears.
10. Select Use as Material. The image appears in the In Model material library within the Materials Browser.
11. Click on the material in the Materials Browser. The cursor changes to the Paint Bucket Tool.
12. Paint the Material on the cylinder. The material will automatically wrap around the cylinder, repeating itself as necessary to wrap the entire model.
    

OMG?
Well, we know where $100K of taxpayers money went... down the poop chute.
The first 75-100K went to the Wall Street Journal... that sure reaches out to average hard working people.

Great photo. I'm off to Victoria for Christmas. Here's the view from my studio yesterday morning.

Thanks Dale... very cool.

How's the snow situation?

DE

Chrysler is spending more than $100k of the bailout money (yes that's taxpayer bucks) to thank all the suckers who contributed. This is nuts! Apparently GM is next.