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Constructware in Firefox

You're going to love this one.

Mike Gemmell and Steve Williams have been holding out on us. They both were rocking the IETab extension for Mozilla Firefox, which goes a step beyond our old friend IEView. IETab (from Taiwan!) lets you open IE-only sites (like Buzzsaw and Constructware) right inside your Firefox session. And from what I was able to gather, Mike and Steve have both been using this little goodie for some time.

Check it out below. Make sure you set up *.constructware.com* and *.buzzsaw.com* as site filters in the IETab options dialog. If I hadn't been in a demo with Mike, I never would have known about this. Exactly when were you planning on sharing this information with our loyal readers, guys?!?

Readers: you know who loves you.

Digital House

Looks like Architectureweek is writing about the Digital House , an attempt by a couple of London architects to standardize a home design around 4x8 sheets of plywood and other common-sense dimensions that would enable them to be fabricated more easily.

This is a nice idea - I'm not sure if it will ever fly in large numbers, since houses are things that people (today) want "individualized" to them - it's a pretty personal thing for a lot of folks. But I do like the concept. Design tools should help designers achieve buildability more easily. I notice they're using our tools (3DS Max) but still, it could and should be easier.

On another note, how's that roof going to drain water?

Independentsoft WebDAV component

If you're looking to connect up to Buzzsaw with WebDAV, but don't know where to start, let me introduce you to my good friends at Independentsoft.

They have a component called WebDAV.NET which has both C# and VB libraries, and sample code. It's all at their web site. Don't trip over yourselves stampeding their door.

AGC Dispute with AIA continues over A201 Endorsement

Gary Secor, Autodesk Manager of Technical Specialists just shared this article by Jerry Laiserin with our team.  It's very interesting reading.  Here are some excerpts:

“On an industrywide basis, studies in both the United States and the United Kingdom show that as much as 30% of the total cost of construction is wasted due to inefficiencies in project information management. If aggregate A/E fees in the United States amount to 5% of construction cost, then one interpretation of these numbers would be that for every $1 spent on creating project information, $6 is lost in managing that information.”

“I am not singling out architects, constructors, or any other industry participant to shoulder blame for the cost of unmanaged project information; everyone who supports "the way we've always done things" must also share responsibility for the present state of affairs, as well as the hope for future improvement.”

AGC Dispute with AIA Represents Deeper Rift

 

SaaStainability

Keith Davidson, Director of Development, shared this interesting perspective on SaaS with us.  Thanks Keith!

How many power plants does it take to run world’s server and internet web farms?

It is estimated that fourteen (14) 1-Gigawatt power plants would be needed, five (5) in the USA alone. To get that into perspective, think 7 Hoover Dams running at maximum capacity -  or power to run 50 Million homes for one year.

Now, if you think that is a lot, it’s estimated to increase by 40% by the year 2010.

So what has this got to do with SaaS?

SaaS provides the following benefits to sustainable business practices:

1.       As an on-demand service, your organization will be using a shared infrastructure, rather than having a independent, redundant infrastructures for multiple organizations  - all consuming power even when the systems are not fully utilized.

2.       Our on-demand service is always in use by multiple customers. Therefore, the time spent consuming power when the system is not utilized is fundamentally removed. This is due to our ability to balance resources for the most effective use through virtualization.

3.       As this is our core business, we invest in new technology continually to improve our overall performance and power consumption.  This is very difficult for individual organizations when it is outside their core business.

What else does Autodesk Collaborative Project Management provide towards sustainability?

Firstly within our operational practices for Collaborative Project Management we recycle all of our retired data center equipment through partners specifically chosen for the recycling electronic and computer hardware.

Secondly our products in their own right are targeted at customers looking to improve their business processes and reduce waste in construction projects. This will lessen the impact on the environment and the energy wasted in changes after initial construction. Basically keeping the design digital for as long as possible to correct issues before construction begins and resources are used.

You Can Never Have Too Many IEs On Your Machine

Autodesk CPM Product Manager Matt Wheelis writes:

I thought you or your readers might be interested in a little piece of software that lets you run multiple versions of IE on one machine.  It’s found here:  http://tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE. Basically you can install this application and use it to fire up older versions of IE for whatever testing you’re doing.  Pretty neat way to avoid all the uninstalling and reinstalling.  Credits on this one to Susi Holman.

Thanks Matt! Sounds like a great utility.

New MEP Blog "Inside the System"

Check out a new Autodesk blog from Kyle Bernhardt. 

Inside the System will focus on BIM in the MEP industry.  So many of you are thinking, how does this impact Construction and Collaborative Project Management??  Well many construction MEP firms are expressing interest in using Revit MEP for creating their designs and shop drawings.  Kyle's new blog should prove a great source for 'street' info. 

Autodesk Contunues to Sponser Sustainable Design Series on PBS

Morgan Freeman narrates this season's series on PBS.  Topics covered will include wind energy and Brazil's ethanol success.  Check it out!

More info at AECCafe

Season Two Preview

Buzzsaw 2007.4 SP Announced

You might have gotten an email like this today:

Dear Buzzsaw Site Administrator:

This message contains important information regarding your Autodesk® Buzzsaw® site and its operation.

We are pleased to inform you that as of Saturday,October 13, 2007, there is a new version of Autodesk Buzzsaw software available to you and your users. This rollout (2007.4 SP) includes:
Improved permission control for project administrators.
General performance improvements.
This is not a required download, so you may choose to update your client software at your convenience.

For your assistance, we have posted a “What’s New” document on the Autodesk Buzzsaw What’s New page.

As always, the latest version of the Buzzsaw software can be downloaded from here:

English:
https://projectpoint.buzzsaw.com/!/download/ProjectPoint-BZ-EN.exe

Since you're reading this in English, you probably just want to go to www.getbuzzsaw.com to get the new version, once it's available. Props to the non-English speakers in the audience.

If you have any questions, please contact the Autodesk Buzzsaw Customer Support Center at http://www.autodesk.com/buzzsaw-support.

Thank you for using Autodesk Buzzsaw.

Autodesk and Buzzsaw are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. © Copyright 2007 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards 07

Autodesk is apparently sponsoring the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards for 2007, which hands out 15 minutes of fame for a bunch of innovators.

The videos are really great! I especially like the multi-touch screen and the Amory Lovins ones. Oh, and the helicopter blade. And the mini-wind generator. OK, actually they're all worth watching.

Enjoy! This is inspirational stuff.