Windows 7 Fault Tolerant Heap Prevents Crashing
The Bottom Line Microsoft has been busy, and they’ve made some smart decisions programatically for Windows 7. The Fault Tolerant heap will help keep applications from crashing once Windows 7 recognizes a pattern, and applies a resolution. Procedures that may have crashed in the past, are less likely to crash in the future. For the normal user, should this be disabled? Absolutely not. The Details There’s a new feature in Windows 7 called... [Read More...]
Growth
I started tearing apart my toys when I was young. First the radio, then the tape recorder – it got to the point my family quit buying me electronics for fear they’d be in pieces within days. Follow me for a minute: I figured if I was to acheive anything, it would have to be with a computer; I didn’t see a future in jewel tips and bumwad. I knew, however, that meant I better learn this new “AutoCAD” thing, and I admit... [Read More...]
I.II.I Tutorials in the Technology Suite
In an effort to help you learn key concepts and become more productive with minimal investment, I.II.I announces the birth of the Technology Suite at I.II.I. In tough economic times, you need more choices; it’s often difficult for an employer to justify time for training, and we want you to have an avenue for finding answers when you need them. Our tutorials aren’t product demonstrations. They’ve been created in response to client... [Read More...]
Cloud Computing
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Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010
It’s with a great sense of pride that I announce my partnership with long time friend James Wedding to co-author Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010. We’re looking forward to a great new edition! If you’ve used the 2008 or 2009 edition, we’d appreciate your feedback TODAY as we’ve already started. Drop a comment here, or at scott.mceachron@121pcs.net. Amazon.com Widgets Scott McEachron www.121pcs.net Civil 3D Tutorials* Register Today... [Read More...]
NCS and the AIA CAD Layer Guidelines
Investigating an Implementation of the National CAD Standard (NCS) can be as simple as starting Civil 3D with one of the NCS templates that ships with Civil 3D. Civil 3D 2009 includes three Imperial templates with layer naming conventions intended to mirror the AIA CAD Layer Guideline (Metric templates of the same name are included as well): • _AutoCAD Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS Base • _AutoCAD Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS Extended • ... [Read More...]
The Art of Implementation
The overall success of a Civil 3D Implementation depends on people quickly discovering for themselves what goals to set and what to do to achieve them. When approached from this standpoint, the work is more rewarding for the people involved. There are three keys to a rapid results initiative: 1. Must be results oriented2. Must be vertical3. Must be fast Results OrientedDetermine a single goal, and work toward producing a measurable result. For... [Read More...]
Results Driven Implementation
According to Daniel Gingras of Boston University, 60% of all software implementations fail. Failures not only have financial implications, but they demoralize employees. The problem is, the traditional approach to implementation shifts a teams’ focus away from the end result and toward developing time lines, recommendation, new technologies, and partial solutions. The intent is to assemble a blueprint that lays out the plan for achieving an ultimate... [Read More...]
Just Do It
In the past few years of consulting with firms investigating an implementation of Civil 3D, one thing has become clear. Too often the task seems overwhelming and it’s become too easy to simply give up and fall back into a comfort zone. When I began to work with DCA (later Softdesk, and finally Land Desktop), I started with one thing I found painful – labelling lines. I was blown away by the fact that DCA could label lines for me automatically.... [Read More...]
Civil 3D and Change
After 911 the FBI invested upwards of $200 million on new software, but the project failed (depending upon the source, the price tag climbs as high as $600 million). Originally the contractor largely in charge of creating the software set out to solve what seemed to be a single problem: Lower the time it takes to handle paperwork and input data. The new software, at least on paper, appeared to solve all the current paper shuffling problems –... [Read More...]
