Dear Mike,

A glass screen to the side of the stairs would add a degree of safety while retaining the opening feeling.

Regards,
Bob

Dear Bryan,

It seems to me that the main path through the park is too straight. There will be a tendency for the park to be used as a short cut and little else. I think the first thing one should see from either entrance is a foliage 'screen' (holly, bamboo, beech etc) which blocks the view of the exit. The railings look nice, but again should have a green 'screen' immediately behind to attenuate traffic noise and to create a sense of tranquility. I'm not sure I would want to sit in a park where I can see traffic passing on both sides. I think one should be able to sit around the ponds too, which means allowing space between the larger pond and the building.

The vertical face of the boundary buildings offer scope for climbing plants, such as clematis and jasmine. You could use weathering steel to make frames for climbing plants. The frames could overhang into the garden proving a green canopy. In fact, fragrant hardy plants/herbs like rosemary, lavender, etc., would be nice near the seating areas. A few tall trees would be nice to shield the view of the buildings/skyline and to attenuate noise reflected off the sides of the building. A wide, long rose pergola would do the same thing, and provide a seasonal attraction (also cherry trees etc).

There seems to be a lot of concrete, which will reflect noise and heat. Gravel paths would be nicer, and would allow free draining during rain storms, thus minimising run-off.

The pocket park is a nice idea. Is this a real project, or just an exercise?

Kind regards,
Bob

Kind regards,
Bob

Dear Inteloide,

Well, I must have been doing something silly because it's all working just fine.

Thanks for the swift response.

Kind regards,
Bob

Downloaded the plugin, and it looks useful, but no toolbar. I'm running SU V8.

Kind regards,
Bob

..and not just for small things

http://www.hizook.com/blog/2013/11/13/large-scale-rapid-prototyping-robots-industrial-robot-arm-extruders-and-building-sca

Regards,
Bob

Dear David,

I think your style reminded Pilou of drawings done with charcoal, hence the image of various line widths.

He is also quite, quite mad.

Kind regards,
Bob

SpaceClaim is very powerful, and is taking on many established 3D modelling programs (Inventor, Solidworks etc). If you have a connection to academia (lower and higher educational institutions) then it is very cheap. You can also import Sketchup models and turn them into editable solids.

Object moved

(www.spaceclaim.com)

Regards,
Bob

I am still having problems loading Sketchup V8 on my laptop as the University's security policy is trapping Sketchup (see the attachment). My IT chappie is getting the trap removed, but a Google search did give this:

http://www.symantec.com/security_response/attacksignatures/detail.jsp?asid=26859

We use Sophos, which reports this:

http://www.sophos.com/en-us/support/knowledgebase/112222.aspx

Are there known security issues associated with Sketchup?

Regards,
Bob

Dear David,

Once again, thanks for your help.

Kind regards,
Bob

Thanks David, and thanks Box.

One last question? Should I uninstall my copy of SU V8 before reinstalling the free version, or will it just install over the top of the existing software?

Kind regards,
Bob

Dear All,

Perhaps someone can help with this issue.

My one year educational pro license for Sketchup V8 has just expired. In previous versions Sketchup defaulted to the free version, and all was well until I extended the license for an additional year. However, Sketchup seems to be configured differently, and now won't let me in (see the attached screenshot).

Is there a way that I can get it to default to the free version, or do I have to reinstall2 the software? If the latter then where can I download a copy of Sketchup V8 as I'm not quite ready to extend the license?

Thanks for your help.

Kind regards,
Bob

The mechanism seems to be quite inexpensive

Access Denied

(www.dhgate.com)

Regards,
Bob

The Physics department at Oxford is taking this threat really seriously. Apart from implementing various measures, they also recommending that people consult this guide:

CryptoLocker Ransomware Information Guide and FAQ

This guide provides information and answers to frequently asked questions regarding the CryptoLocker ransomware. It provides a break down of what this infection does, how it encrypts your data, and how you can possibly restore your files.

BleepingComputer (www.bleepingcomputer.com)

Hope this helps everyone to understand the threat, and how to avoid being caught out.

The key advice seems to be 'back up all your files', and preferably on removable storage.

Kind regards,
Bob

You could take a look at Simon le Bon's tutorial on Gothic panels:

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9781&p=62185&hilit=gothic+panels#p62185

Regards,
Bob

Dear All,

The following was recently circulated by our IT department.

"Please be very vigilant regarding the Cryptolocker ransomware that is currently in circulation. This particular malware, if opened, will silently encrypt files on a Windows PC, and on any network drive that you can write to. It then attempts to extort hundreds of dollars in return for an unlock key. The University IT Services strongly advise that you should not pay the ransom (there is no guarantee that these crooks will actually release your files even if you do pay).

At present Cryptolocker’s main vector appears to be e-mail, pretending to be a ‘voice mail’ attachment, but there are also reports of infections spreading via Word or Excel files received by email, or even in shared Dropbox folders. A number of variants have come to light over the last couple of days, and it may adopt further vectors in the next few days. If you believe that you have been affected, please let us know immediately, but please appreciate that we will not be able to recover any files that have been encrypted by Cryptolocker. We may be able to help by restoring files from backups but this may not help with files you have been actively working on. Also backups may be overwritten with encrypted versions of the files if you don’t let us know quickly. If you are managing your own windows based system/laptop please check that your regular backups are completing properly.

Our anti-malware measures have identified and removed dozens of examples of Cryptolocker in the last few days but there is no guarantee that it won't appear in a form that slips through. So please do not open unexpected attachments received by email, particularly if they claim to be voice mail messages from systems you’ve never heard of, or from people you do not know.

You can find out more at e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptoLocker"

Also this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz2kmmsMpMI

Regards,
Bob

I probably did some of my best work on the drawing board. One had to be economical with the views, unlike today's 3D modelling suites where views are generated by a mouse click.

Bob

Astley Castle wins Riba Stirling Prize for architecture

Regards,
Bob

Fun to watch

Regards,
Bob

Is this what you are after?

http://dr-frame.software.informer.com/

Dear Fredo6,

There is a small problem with your plugin checker

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=52384

Kind regards,
Bob