Posts made by watkins

If you client has sent you an assembly, then ask him/her to send you the individual parts as .sat files and then go the AutoCAD route. Not sure what else to suggest.

Do you have a copy of AutoCAD? If yes, then get the client to send you the file in .sat format. Import the .sat file into AutoCAD (use the IMPORT command), scale up x 1000 to take care of small features and then save as .dwg file. Import the .dwg file into Sketchup.

Regards,
Bob

Dear Joel,

Yes, I know about the VCB box displaying the number of segments, and I should check it more often than I do, but I often forget. What I am suggesting is a 'prompt' to remind you to change (or not) the number of segments.

Kind regards,
Bob

It would be useful if when selecting the circle tool the circle pointer icon displayed the currently set number of segments. This small addition would prompt the user to consider 'more or less' segments before drawing the circle.

Regards,
Bob

Why not use your computer and put all your commonly used calculations and conversions on to EXCEL spreadsheets?

Regards,
Bob

Dear John,

I see you have built a 'spouse' flat above the garage for when your wife visits. Presumably it has a visitor's book?

The style looks vaguely American, which is surprising after your recent run of 'cottage' models and renders. What made you choose this particular style?

As always, a lovely model well rendered.

Regards,
Bob

Dear Chris,

I made a request a little time ago for an icon to go with this script. I use your centrepoint finder so often that an icon would be very useful (and yes, TIG, I know I could assign a shortcut...)

Many thanks,

Bob

There is this Wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_drawing

which is inaccurate regarding UK standards, which is third angle (also see the discussion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Engineering_drawing).

There is also this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_drawing

Regards,
Bob

Dear David,

A little trip down memory lane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4gM0Hp1eU8

Felicity Kendal was a bit of a pin-up in her day, well, I thought so. She even had a rose named after her.

Best wishes,
Bob

Wow, dueling pistols at dawn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bouV7zeN1g

I think everyone has made their point. Time to go back to nice, lazy sketching and code writing.

Best wishes,

Bob

Dear TIG,

A very small correction, but MRI = high magnetic fields, and not ionising radiation. The only 'known' dangers are to pacemakers and metal implants (mostly ferromagnetic materials).

We have become very risk adverse over the years. I often think of the 6,000 people who are killed every year on UK roads, but I still get in my car to drive from A to B. I accept the risk because I want the convenience of having my own transport. If we want to consume electricity at the current rate (plasma screens, computers, microwave ovens, street lighting, etc), then we are pretty much stuck with nuclear power until scientists and engineers come up with more efficient renewable energy power plants.

Radiation at any level poses a risk to health, with the probability of irreversible damage increasing with increasing dose. These days I am more concerned about the vast number of chemical compounds washing around in our environment. This article discusses persistent chemicals found in breast milk:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T6D-4DNB48W-2&_user=126524&_coverDate=12%2F01%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1695207997&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000010360&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=126524&md5=ba0670feb80290806aa862286160772c&searchtype=a

Perhaps not germane to the discuss, but it does suggest that perhaps relatively small radiation leaks should not be at the top of our 'shock horror' lists.

Regards,
Bob

Dear Tom,

Just in case you haven't already seen this,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12860842

Extract from article:

People worry about radiation because they cannot feel it. However, nature has a solution - in recent years it has been found that living cells replace and mend themselves in various ways to recover from a dose of radiation.

These clever mechanisms kick in within hours and rarely fail, except when they are overloaded - as at Chernobyl, where most of the emergency workers who received a dose greater than 4,000 mSv over a few hours died within weeks.

However, patients receiving a course of radiotherapy usually get a dose of more than 20,000 mSv to vital healthy tissue close to the treated tumour. This tissue survives only because the treatment is spread over many days giving healthy cells time for repair or replacement.

In this way, many patients get to enjoy further rewarding years of life, even after many vital organs have received the equivalent of more than 20,000 years' dose at the above internationally recommended annual limit - which makes this limit unreasonable.

A sea-change is needed in our attitude to radiation, starting with education and public information.

End extract.

Regards,
Bob

Asperger's syndrome, the engineer's disease

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/story/15-the+engineer%27s+disease.html

Taking what they hear literally, is often a good sign. One of my students had asperger's and I had to be careful how I phrased requests.

Regards,
Bob

Which is the latest version?

Thank you for your generosity.

Regards,
Bob

Your thread reminded me of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeyqQdbR9EE&feature=related

Regards,
Bob

Build your house under ground and keep the ruin as a folly:

http://www.aipassivhaus.com/index.html

..but you needs loads of cash before you start. the Architects are obviously keen users of Sketchup

http://www.seymoursmith.co.uk/4g.html

Regards,
Bob

Dear Thomas,

Could your recommendation be taken further? Could a plugin be created, with a drop down menu activated by an icon, to load plugins from different locations on one's C drive? The idea being that one has a baseline plugin folder in the normal Google Sketchup location, and then one loads plugins from different folders on the C drive as and when they are needed. Ideally, the user should be able to edit the drop down menu to label menu items, to assign directory path names and to add/remove items.

Just a thought.

Regards,
Bob

Dear Tom,

I rather agree with your sentiment. Here in the UK the media are having a feeding frenzy, First Egypt, then Libya and now Japan. The BBC have a Japan Disaster Live website giving minute by minute updates on the reactor, and have flown out 'celebrity' newscasters to cover events. You almost feel that they are wishing for things to get worse so that their headlines can be even more dramatic.

The Japanese are an industrious and disciplined people, and will recover from these setbacks. These events might even kick-start the Japanese economy, so there might even be a silver lining to this particular 'radioactive' cloud.

I urge people to make a contribution to the Red Cross fund. Consider giving up one Stabuck's grande latte each week for 6 months, and denoting the proceeds to the relief fund. It is enlightened self-interest. If Japan's economy goes down then we will all be affected

Kind regards,
Bob

Ah, didn't realise that Steels was the same as SteelSection.

Thanks, Bob

Dear TIG,

Where would one find 'ye olde SteelSection.rb'?

Regards,
Bob