Jackson,

No matter what career your kids head towards
they will no doubt need computer skills. It
seems that computers are becoming part of
everyday life.

As suggested I think its best to let them play
but ONLY for a limited amount of time on computers.

BTW, I have been looking for entry level
programming software for a friend's kid. Some time
ago I found http://www.alice.org quite good but I have now
also located http://scratch.mit.edu/. The latter is like
playing with building blocks to produce simple
programs, great fun, even for adults

I think SketchUp may be a bit on the techie
side for kids starting out. Maybe you should
have a look at MagicalSketch 2 by http://www.e-frontier.com/article/articleview/1204/1/553?sbss=553

MagicalSketch may look childish but some
amazing stuff can be produced. This program
coupled with Scratch should be able to produce
the kind of stuff kids are into these days.

Mike

PS: Must get rid of that squirrel .... getting a
pain in the head

Happy Birthday guys ...... have a drink on me

Good find Eric. Video Trace will be a very useful tool to have in the arsenal if it ever hits the marketplace.

I've read through the available stuff on it and signed up for progress reports so hopefully we will be seeing it launched in the near future. The link for signing up is, VideoTrace@acvt.com.au. in case anyone wants to be kept informed.

Mike

PS: I like the way they did the 'big iron ball crashing into the cars' in the video

@didier bur said:

Coen,
Sponsored by Guinness ?
I'm sorry to say I don't like this icon. Just my opinion...

Hi Didier,

Unless the forum is sponsored by 'The Black Stuff' I'd
say change it also ..... no free adverts here

I'll let you into a little secret, just between the two
of us a don't like Guinness, never acquired a taste for
it. If I was to drink a stout I'd prefer Murphy's, much
smoother and refined.

http://www.murphys.com/about/products/detail.asp?ID=103

Mike

Thanks Lewis, good find. Downloaded it and played
a little bit. Easy enough to figure out so far

Mike

5 star work there Jeff. You are able to
leverage Modo well.

Mike

Fantastic work Spence, you must be as proud as Punch
and I wouldn't blame you

Mike

I saw that model also in the GSU forum and
agree that it was well done.

I noticed also that the render was produced
using Cheetah 4.2. I d/l this program and
checked it out (Mac only).

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it
supports the 3D Connexion devices. I think
this could make a huge difference to me in
getting to grips with a rendered as I'm so
used to free orbiting ..... maybe it does
not make much sense ..... but thats the way
of things ...... every program has to have a
free orbiting function these days. I think
its an after effect of SketchUp

Mike

Glad you dropped in Spence. I like the particular
style you have developed, ideal for the produces
you are working with

Mike

..... a difficult thing to do if one is
addicted !

Just noticed a new drug that may help
smokers that want to quit,
http://www.chantix.com ..... errr the same
people that make that other drug that
has also helped many men, not to give
anything up, more to get something UP

Couldn't resist

Mike

Yep, sure is. I use it all the time to enhance pics grabed from
the Web.

Mike

HAPPY YEAR NEW TO ALL

Mike (with a slightly sosre head this morning)

Thanks Remus, a very useful component that will definately be used.

Cheers,

Mike

Welcome Franziska,

These look very good to my 'professional' eye. I particularly like your
eye for composition.

Mike

@unknownuser said:

I had a game of snooker with my 91 year old Dad last week and we shared a drink from a very old bottle of Whiskey. He has thanked me for my persistence many times.
.

Wow, 91 and able to enjoy a glass of Whiskey! There could be a lot in what you are saying Bruce. From the articles I've read there seems to be a lot of contradictions. I'm also coming around to the belief that quite a lot of our ailments are brought on by stress! I suppose at the end of the day our fates are really in the laps of the Gods

Mike

@3eighty said:

I think Billy Crystal said it best..."At our age, we learn to pee in Morse code"....

Hey! Don't knock it! It could come in handy some day

And thanks for bringing this subject up. As Paul says it is a very serious matter that should be kept in mind when men hit the 50 mark!

Mike

Yea Bruce, there is a lot in what you say. I've often picked up some gems of advise from 'Old Timers', Hey! at 57, I'm slowly becoming one myself.

This reminds me of a joke that I heard a few years ago. Now I'm not much use at telling jokes but I'll have a go.

Two Old Timers sitting on high stools at their local bar got talking about when the sex 'urge' went! Pat the younger (75) was happy enough and asked Joe (80) did he still get the 'urge'? Joe was happy to report that the equipment still worked and he got the 'urge' occasionally.

They were a little stumped and decided they would ask older guys to discover when the 'urge' left. They then noticed Mick (95) sitting quietly at the corner of the bar having his pint and listening to the the conversation! 'Hey, Mick, do you have any idea when ..' Mick interrupted with 'Don't bother asking me I can't help you out on that one'

I hope these guys were right

Mike (Hopefully 'Mick' in 38 years time!)

3eighty,

Sorry to hear your tale. But at least you can now do something about it. It got my Dad some years ago. I feel he would be still alive and kicking today if he had not ignored the warning signs and sought treatment. We (Family) nagged the hell out of him when we realise something was wrong but he did not want to listen. When we managed to get him to the doctor for a checkup it was too late. The doctor also felt that if he had come to him a year or so earlier when the first warning signs showed there was a good chance that he could have been treated successfully.

I have regular checkups, at least every 12 months, and I advise my buddies to do likewise. What is it about men, we are quite willing to walk into a hospital with our arm or leg hanging off but when it comes to any problems in the genital area we resist!

Please keep us posted and remember that we are rooting for you.

Mike

Sorry Dave ..... must be old age catching up with me.

Mike

Hi Guys,

I've just read 'our' Tim Danaher's review of Microspot Interiors 4 Pro in MacUser. Tim is a regular feature writer with this magazine.

His article can be found here,
http://www.macuser.co.uk/macuser/reviews/142788/microspot-interiors-4-pro.html

and the Interiors Pro 4 can be found here
http://www.microspot.com/products/interiorsPro/index.htm

I suppose the most important feature for me at any rate (Mac / SU User) is the new ability of Interiors 4 Pro to import native .SKP files.

Mike