Voice Recognition Software

It has been a while since I've posted a blog entry so let me start off by wishing everyone a Happy New Year . While I do not know what 2009 will bring,  hopefully I'll be a little bit better keeping this blog more up-to-date. And I'll try to do that using a new Christmas present. The present I'm talking about is a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking. Which is a speech recognition software which is supposed to be three times faster than typing.

Since I'm not the fastest typist, I'm hoping that this voice recognition software will make it quicker and easier for me post interesting and timely blog postings in the coming year. So stay tuned to see (or maybe "hear") what happens.

2008 International HEEP Conference

Folks, the 2008 IHEEP meeting is less than four weeks away. If you are anyway, shape or form involved with Highway Engineering and or Computer Technology you owe it to yourself to attend the International Highway Engineer Exchange Program 2008 conference. This year the conference is being hosted by the New Mexico Department of Transportation in Albuquerque, New Mexico September 14-18, 2008.

For more information and to register please visit the Conference website at

http://www.iheep2008.com/

It's Wednesday so it must be July

Well the year is half over. Not sure if that is good or bad but it is what it is. Now that's a sentence if I ever saw one. In my previous post I mentioned I had been to two HEEPs in five weeks well now I have thrown in a vacation on top of that.

Spent last week with my extended family on the annual Robinson Family Vacation. this year we invaded Claytor Lake State Park in Virginia. Weather was great, Fishing (at least the bass fishing sucked) and I was sick for most of the week. But other than that it was a pretty good vacation. Funny though the cabin we stayed in didn't have a TV or a phone and cell phone service as spotty, But we had a great wi-fi connection - Go figure.

So what is on tap for July, for starters a holiday so that means a four work week (which is good because I still haven't completely lost my cold). --Happy Birthday USA. May be the politicians will take a weekend off (not a chance) but here is a suggestion for both Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain. Instead of repeating their stump speechs this weekend take the time to recite both the Declaration of Independence and the Consitution instead (now there is speech worth listening to). More importantly I hope the news outlets would cover both readings. To many Americans need to hear what this country is really is about.

At the end of the month I will be giving a presentation at the 2008 FICE/FLDOT Design Conference. This will be a first for me and am really looking forward to it. So if you are in the Orlando area on July 28 and want to attend a conference stop by Rosen Center Hotel and check it out.

Well that all for now until next time.

Five weeks and two HEEPs

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to post a blog entry from Cluj. Wish I could say it was due to lack of connectivity but it wasn't I was just lazy. As a matter or fact the hotel we stayed in was the first one in five years in what was Eastern Europe to have hotel wide wireless connections that worked great.

The HEEP Area V /TEM meeting went well. While not as many countries attended as usual there were enough to make it interesting. Our Hungarian host went out of their way to make us feel at home. Got to visit Braun Castle (home of Dracula), see a lot of the country side and visit the largest highway project in Europe. So it was a great trip.

Area V was the first HEEP meeting of the year and I just got back Wednesday from HEEP Area II in Atlanta. Like the Hungarians the GADOT people who put on the conference went out of their way to make all the attendees to feel right at home. The Biggest question to come out of the conference was what does an 11 million dollar condominium in Buckhead look like? Seriously the biggest topic at the conference was the use of technology in surveying and construction. With Automated Machine Guidance (AMG) and it's various parts being front and center. We had 8 of the 12 Area II DOTs represented with at least 6 State Surveyors and State Construction Engineers represented.

We even got the chance to spend an afternoon on a GADOT AMG project site which was a first for HEEP. I even got to climb up in the cab of grader and see how the operator does it. Very cool.

Lunch is about over so more later.

Off to Romania

Tomorrow morning I'm off to Cluj-Napoca, Romania for the 2008 TEM/HEEP Area V meeting. Should be a good trip other than having to fly steerage across the Atlantic. This will be my first trip to Romania and I'm looking forward to visiting another Eastern European county and how it compares to the other ones that I have had the pleasure to visit over the past four or five years.

I'm going over with group of 10 HEEP members representing NY, NM, TX, ND, NJ and NC (lot of N in there) so not only will be a chance to meet with the TEM countries but catch up with some friends and see what's happening in the US also. This will be my 5th trip to Area V and I'm always amazed by our host countries. The meeting will have attendees from a dozen or so countries and will be conducted in ENGLISH (thank goodness for us Americans). Because if I had to give a presentation in Romanian I would be in trouble. While our host's and all the other attendees will be working in a language other than there native tongue. Make you wonder...

Anyway if I get a chance I'll try to post from Cluj if not I should have a few things to blog about when I get back. So stay tuned.

A Quick Note and Question

April fools day has come and gone with out much fan fare as far as I can tell. While I am alway leary of anything I read or see on April 1st, I did come across one posting that had me going for a while. It was John Dvorak's piece on a bill that was passed in congress yesterday (April 1, 2008) - Onerous New Law to Phase Out Wi-Fi
you can find it on the PC Magazine website. It is so real that it is scary. -highly recommended.

Quick Question - Any Bentley GEOPAK or InRoads users out there looking at Autodesk's Civil 3D product? If so what do you think and how would you compare it to CURRENT releases of GEOPAK and or InRoads? If you have any thoughts on this question I would love to hear them.

Biggest news since last posting I'm going to Cluj, Romania in May to attend a conference now I have to come up with a presentation.. Stay tuned.

Is it 2008 already?

Just stopped by my blog and decided I better post something or people might not stop by. Basically be a bit busy and just haven't gotten around to posting anything. Let's see what's happening these days... elections, new release of AutoCAD, major Bentley customers are becoming very disgruntled... just a few things off the top of my head.

So what have I been up to lately? The biggest thing I've got going is I'm helping a friend update her MicroStation J book for MicroStation V8 XM which has been interesting to say the least. It is amazing how little you actually know about a new version of software until you dive into it.

Working on a couple of presentations for two HEEP meetings this spring and one for the FLDOT's Design conference in July which I'm looking forward to (first time I've been asked to present to an organization that I'm not a member of). Oh yea and Friday I'm giving a presentation to group of 5th & 6th graders on my visit in 2006 to Auschwitz. Should be as interesting as the visit to the camp. That it for now.