Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday 8:41AM
AUTHORITIES warn Aussies not to be tempted to go sightseeing as tsunami heads our way.
The alert follows a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake which hit off the coast of Chile in the middle of the night toppling buildings, cutting power and killing at least 150 people.
The Marquesas islands, northeast of Polynesia, were hit between 7:00 and 8:00 am by a series of two-metre waves which damaged some boats but no one was hurt, officials said. A four-metre wave hit Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, officials said.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Friday, February 05, 2010
Gabi Jack SWW2010: Wednesday General Session
The Wednesday general session is always the most exciting one of all three. New functionality added and future enhancements are announced during this session; sometimes, new products are announced, as well.
To continue with the tradition, I’m also sharing with you a series of pictures that I took during the session. It was really lots of fun, because, as you may already imagine, SolidWorks folks like to deliver their message with lots of humour.
So, the Top Ten Enhancement list for this year was as follows:
#10 Simplify Video Card Requirements
#9 Exploded views for weldments
#8 Option to dangle children instead of deleting them (this one created a lot of laughter among members of the press for some reason that I still don’t understand)
#7 Graphical Map of References
#6 Allow more types of assembly features
#5 Better utilize all processor cores
#4 On the fly equations in dialog boxes
#3 File compatibility between versions
#2 Increase stability ( I have a Déjà vu feeling with this one)
#1 SolidWorks should cleanly uninstall itself
Mark Shreider talked to us about Model Mania, the modelling contest hosted at SolidWorks World every year. In this contest, users (also resellers compete) are given a part to model, modify and/or run a simulation study on, and must achieve a satisfactory result in the shortest amount of time possible. The faster the better. He actually showed us a couple of the challenges presented to those that took the test and guided us through the solution. Really neat! Check out the pictures that I’m including, where you can also see for yourself who won first, second and third price in the competition.
Richard Doyle showed up dancing to the rhythm of Britney Spears to present the members of the SWUGN Committee for 2010/2011 and announce the winners of the SWUGN awards. Check out the pictures. Oh, how I wished I had my video camera with me right at that instant! Richard really had rhythm. 
The new functionality for SolidWorks 2011 was introduced through a bit of comedy, as usual. This time there weren’t sumo wrestlers or pink scooters, but Jeremy Regnerus and Ian Hogg were contestants in a Super CAD Smack down. Each of them took turns demonstrating the new functionality available for 2011. And each time they were successful at it, it was almost as if they were delivering a punch to their adversary. Really funny! I tried to take as many pictures as possible to illustrate this new functionality, but not all my pictures turned out great, so, in short, some of the new functionality in SW 2011 will include:
- Revolve up to surface
- A Defeature feature that will allow you to choose what features to keep and which ones to remove when sharing a document. The idea is to help you protect confidential information about your model and still be able to share it. Check the pictures for this one.
- Fully customizable Real View
- Full integration of Photo View 360 into SolidWorks
- Improvements to performance and memory usage
- Planar simulation, that allows the user to run a simulation study on a slice of the model and then translate the results to the solid model.
- Feature lock, will allow the user to keep part of the feature tree from rebuilding when it’s not really necessary.
- Dimensions can be evenly spaced in new views or even in pre-existing views, as a way to repair them.
- Dual Dimensions Hole tables
- Weld tables available in drawings
- Chamfers used in assemblies to prepare for weldments
- Enhancements to the piping portion of the software
- Lightweight weldments
- Walk through. This is like a virtual tour of your model. Really neat.
At the end of the session, a new product was announced that will be available pretty soon: Product Data Sharing. In a nutshell, it’s like PLM, only it promises to be simpler and better, since all the data will be located on the cloud, taking advantage of Enovia technology. With Product Data Sharing, SolidWorks users would be able to collaborate with each other and work together in real time, regardless of where in the world they are, what hardware they own or what platform they are working on. It offers a secure workspace, automatic revision numbering, the ability to add comments and interact with each other, and it would be available through SolidWorks or a web client.
Truth is many companies have already migrated to the cloud and it seems like the logical way to go, but Dassault Systems will still give the customers the last word and ample time to decide what they want to do. This is a process and, although this product will become available soon and the goal is to offer more and more services in the cloud in the not so distant future, it doesn’t mean that users will be forced to change or else.
Hope you enjoy the pictures. I have tons more to say, so make sure to come back.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Gabi Jack SWW2010: Wednesday General Session
The Wednesday general session is always the most exciting one of all three. New functionality added and future enhancements are announced during this session; sometimes, new products are announced, as well.
To continue with the tradition, I’m also sharing with you a series of pictures that I took during the session. It was really lots of fun, because, as you may already imagine, SolidWorks folks like to deliver their message with lots of humour.
So, the Top Ten Enhancement list for this year was as follows:
#10 Simplify Video Card Requirements
#9 Exploded views for weldments
#8 Option to dangle children instead of deleting them (this one created a lot of laughter among members of the press for some reason that I still don’t understand)
#7 Graphical Map of References
#6 Allow more types of assembly features
#5 Better utilize all processor cores
#4 On the fly equations in dialog boxes
#3 File compatibility between versions
#2 Increase stability ( I have a Déjà vu feeling with this one)
#1 SolidWorks should cleanly uninstall itself
Mark Shreider talked to us about Model Mania, the modeling contest hosted at SolidWorks World every year. In this contest, users (also resellers compete) are given a part to model, modify and/or run a simulation study on, and must achieve a satisfactory result in the shortest amount of time possible. The faster the better. He actually showed us a couple of the challenges presented to those that took the test and guided us through the solution. Really neat! Check out the pictures that I’m including, where you can also see for yourself who won first, second and third price in the competition.
Richard Doyle showed up dancing to the rhythm of Britney Spears to present the members of the SWUGN Committee for 2010/2011 and announce the winners of the SWUGN awards. Check out the pictures. Oh, how I wished I had my video camera with me right at that instant! Richard really had rhythm. 
The new functionality for SolidWorks 2011 was introduced through a bit of comedy, as usual. This time there weren’t sumo wrestlers or pink scooters, but Jeremy Regnerus and Ian Hogg were contestants in a Super CAD Smack down. Each of them took turns demonstrating the new functionality available for 2011. And each time they were successful at it, it was almost as if they were delivering a punch to their adversary. Really funny! I tried to take as many pictures as possible to illustrate this new functionality, but not all my pictures turned out great, so, in short, some of the new functionality in SW 2011 will include:
- Revolve up to surface
- A Defeature feature that will allow you to choose what features to keep and which ones to remove when sharing a document. The idea is to help you protect confidential information about your model and still be able to share it. Check the pictures for this one.
- Fully customizable Real View
- Full integration of Photo View 360 into SolidWorks
- Improvements to performance and memory usage
- Planar simulation, that allows the user to run a simulation study on a slice of the model and then translate the results to the solid model.
- Feature lock, will allow the user to keep part of the feature tree from rebuilding when it’s not really necessary.
- Dimensions can be evenly spaced in new views or even in pre-existing views, as a way to repair them.
- Dual Dimensions Hole tables
- Weld tables available in drawings
- Chamfers used in assemblies to prepare for weldments
- Enhancements to the piping portion of the software
- Lightweight weldments
- Walk through. This is like a virtual tour of your model. Really neat.
At the end of the session, a new product was announced that will be available pretty soon: Product Data Sharing. In a nutshell, it’s like PLM, only it promises to be simpler and better, since all the data will be located on the cloud, taking advantage of Enovia technology. With Product Data Sharing, SolidWorks users would be able to collaborate with each other and work together in real time, regardless of where in the world they are, what hardware they own or what platform they are working on. It offers a secure workspace, automatic revision numbering, the ability to add comments and interact with each other, and it would be available through SolidWorks or a web client.
Truth is many companies have already migrated to the cloud and it seems like the logical way to go, but Dassault Systems will still give the customers the last word and ample time to decide what they want to do. This is a process and, although this product will become available soon and the goal is to offer more and more services in the cloud in the not so distant future, it doesn’t mean that users will be forced to change or else.
Hope you enjoy the pictures. I have tons more to say, so make sure to come back.
From Gabi Jack's Blog
Hi everyone! First of all, let me apologize for not putting this post up yesterday, but truth is these kind of events, as useful and educational as they are, have the nasty habit of leaving you completely exhausted. There’s just so much going on and no time to stop! If you checked my Picasa, you may have noticed the pictures were already there, just no post. Sorry!
Now that SolidWorks World is over, I can finally find some time to at least try to catch up and share with you some of what I saw and learned during the last few days. So… Here goes a bit about Tuesday’s general session and the special event that took place in the evening.
If you’ve ever been to SolidWorks World, you probably know that they like to add a bit of humour to the general sessions and this one was no exception to the rule. For this session, certification experts Mike Pucket and Avelino Rochino invited Jeff Ray, DS SolidWorks CEO, to play a friendly game of something they called Certification Hole in One. Basically, as you can see in the pictures I took, Jeff Ray had to answer a few questions based on the different certification tests currently available in order to win a price for a lucky SolidWorks user that had been previously chosen from those in attendance. The price, by the way, was one of those cool R/C cars we had all been playing with the night before, during the CSWP event. Oh, but Jeff Ray also had to putt in order to win, and he had to do it wearing a funky looking hat. In a more serious note, Mike and Avelino also announced new certification test that is already available: the CSWE. This test is intended for the real SolidWorks Expert.
James Cameron, famous film director and movie producer, was also present during yesterday’s general session. He spent some time talking to John Hisrchtick, co-founder of SolidWorks, and explaining to us how the movie Avatar was made, and all the technology and equipment behind the animation. I took a few pictures of the special suits and head gear that the actors had to wear while filming the movie. The idea behind having them wear all that equipment was to accurately capture their movements, gestures and facial expressions and, translate all that information to the animation model, in order to make the final result as realistic as possible.
Filming the movie of Avatar must have been challenging! Basically, the actors had to pretend they were seeing and interacting with a world that wasn’t even there. They had a few props, but not much else besides their imagination. Yet, the movie was a great success. You’ll notice in one of the pictures there’s a special little camera that James Cameron used during the filming of the movie. That camera is truly unique. It allowed him to watch the performance of the actors pretty much as they would look like once animated. With the aid of the camera, bringing the fantasy to live right there, while filming, became possible and this facilitated the filming process tremendously. Check out the pictures and you’ll see what I’m talking about!
But James Cameron is not only a film maker o famous producer; he’s also an inventor and an engineer, who has used software such as SolidWorks to design equipment for movies and for his own expeditions. This equipment I’m talking about is the kind of stuff that can’t go wrong, because his life may depend on it. It’s a good thing he’s using SolidWorks! 
About this he left us with some inspiring words that I quote here: “Hope is not a strategy. Luck is not a factor. Fear is not an option.”
Anyway, check out the pictures. I also included in this album some pictures I took during last night’s special event. As you can see, there were some very cool vehicles on display, courtesy of Factory Five Racing, including the electric hot rod I had told you about before. Of course, there was food, drinks, a band and tons of people having a great time. Stick around, there’s more to come!
