Rande's Rantings & Ravings

HEEP 2011 Day Two

2011-09-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

Busy day today at HEEP full slate of presentations on 3 separate tracks. Started the morning learning about Wisconsin DOT Move to model based design and ended it with my 2nd presentation of the day titled "Engineering Technology of the future - Today (or why isn't anyone selling this stuff?). In between I gave a presentation on social Media and DOTs, attended several sessions on using LIDAR and point clouds, along with cloud computing and aerial surveying.

I think the two best ones (other than mine) were the Wisconsin presentation and the Caltrans presentation on their use of LIDAR. Say what you want about Caltrans but I they seem to know how to use technology. Off to a Bentley forum in a few minutes so check back in later in the week for more info.

Day One HEEP 2011

2011-09-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

The first day of the the 51st annual HEEP meeting is done at least the official meeting part. The vendor reception starts in about a half hour followed by the hospitality room where the real exchange of information takes place.

While attendance is down a bit this year, partly due to state budget and travel restriction, along with the need to have a passport to travel to Canada we still have 16 states and provinces represented, along with 6 countries. Not to bad for a down year. As usual the real technical sessions start on Tuesday. Today was devoted to organization business, student presentations and meeting with vendors.

I will say that this years crop of students gave the best presentations that I have seen in my past 23 years of attending HEEP. Congratulation to them all on their presentation skills and topics. While we won't know the winner until Thursday they should all be proud of the their efforts. The results of the competition and more information about the presentations will be posted on the HEEP website next week ( www.heep.org). If you weren't able to attend this year you can follow some of the action with twitter at the #heep hastag. That's it for now (off to the vendor hall).

What have you done with CADD Lately?

2010-10-15T11:16:00.001-07:00

So what have you done with CADD today? I’ll bet no one has asked you that question in a while. Which is a shame because it is a question that we need to ask and answer continually? CADD (and notice I use the double D’s) is an acronym for Computer Aided DESIGN & Drafting. Twenty some years ago CADD was a new and exciting field that held (in my opinion) great promise and adventure. Yes I meant adventure because CADD was going to free the engineers and designers to explore new and exciting designs and alternatives. It was going to as I once wrote turn us into Leonardo Di Vinci.

Unfortunately it didn’t quite turn out that way. It seems if you look around CADD became just an electronic pencil. Yes it did give us a quick way to produce cross-sections and it made all of our lettering readable but it didn’t create more designs or even less paper (my best guess we use at least 3-5 times more sheets of paper than we did before CADD). This might not be so bad if we were creating 3-5 times more designs and design options but alas we aren’t.

The paper issue points out one simple thing that everyone could do with CADD but generally don’t. That is review, mark up and distribute information electronically rather than always producing a hard copy then distributing it. Unfortunately old habits die hard.

MicroStation has hundreds of commands how many do you use, 10, 20 maybe even 30? That unfortunately just scratches the surface of the product. With the most recent SS1 version Bentley moved around some commands along with adding new menus and palettes. Rather than complain about the changes (which is our first reaction) think of it as a chance to explore the MicroStation interface and learn some new tricks. Try out some new commands, open up the MicroStation Help file and see what’s new and how you might use them to do your work in a different way.

The next time someone asks you what you have done with CADD I hope you can tell them about something new you have discovered.

(note: this post will also appear in the Nov. Issue of the NCDOT CADD News [but I liked so much after writing it] that I thought it would make a good blog post hope you enjoy it too.)

One condo, four people and eight computers

2010-05-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

It dawned on me this morning that my family has brought on vacation 1 laptop, 3 net books and and 4 smart phones with us on vacation. In other words we have 8 computers for 4 people. It seems like just yesterday we were sharing one PC in the basement with a dial up connection. Now we each have a wireless computer and 3g connected smart phone. So I guess you could say we are a "connected" family. The last time we were all on vacation together we took turns checking email on my wife's old dell 2600 laptop. Now I use my phone more for email and text messaging than I do for phone calls. So are we a normal/modern family? or an high tech anomaly? What do you think?

Note from Frankfurt, Germany

2010-04-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit closer too home. Made it to Frankfurt without any trouble and out to the holiday inn express just about as easily. Funny I had to go to Germany to stay at a holiday Inn express but now that I am a priority club member maybe I can get the state rate in NC.

While I was at dinner (outside) I started to notice all the jets overhead and how different it was just a couple of days ago when you saw none in the European skies. Funny thing is that this is the second time this has happened to me. On 911 I was also out of the country attending the International HEEP meeting in St. Johns, Canada.

It is really eerie when you rely on airplanes to handle long distance travel and they aren't available. It is also very eerie when you look into the sky and don't see any planes for a few days. I think we seriously need to look at a more diverse and integrated transportation systems that allow one part to fail without total disrupting the others. Now what that system looks like I'm not sure but I think we need to start figuring it out especially in the US.

Thought I would post that thought before I forgot it. That's it for now.

Last Morning in Austria

2010-04-23T23:41:00.000-07:00

The weekend is here and my journey home begins. Got up a little before 7 showered went out got some cash from the ATM and got a coffee and sausage McMuffin at Mcdonalds. Gotta say I really like the Austrian sausage McMuffin.

Plan on checking out of the hotel around11:00 am and take bus #27 to the airport. Then it is an Austrian Airlines commuter flight (os265) to Frankfort. My flight home is scheduled to leave tomorrow (Sunday) at 11:20 can't wait. Was going to hang out at the airport tonight but Jeanie found a Holiday Inn express a little ways from around so I made a reservation and will get a good nights sleep before getting up early and getting to the airport (don't want to miss my flight). So it looks like this little adventure is about over.

Spent yesterday wondering alone around Salzburg picked up a few last minute things had one last
"bier" at the Augusltiner beer garden (love that place). I will post the pictures I took on Picasaweb shortly. Wandered back to the hotel stopping at a electronic store and few other shops just to look around.

Then back to hotel room to pack and talk Jeanie via Google voice chat which works surprising well and is "free". The video chat is nice too. Can't say enough about gmail and its tools, they have made this little adventure a lot better than it would of been otherwise. That's it for this post next one will hopefully come the comfort of home rather than a hotel room.

Last full day in Salzburg

2010-04-23T02:36:00.000-07:00

It is starting to wind down, this time tomorrow I will be off to the airport to begin my way home. I saw the Ogdens on the train to Munich this morning at 8:00 am. They were a bit apprehensive but looking forward to catching there flight home this afternoon. Wish I was on it too. Just have to wait for my Sunday morning flight.

We had a really nice day yesterday. I took the Ogdens up on the old city wall to my favorite bar/restaurant and had a few beers and a great meal (best I've had since I've been here). Even Cheryl had two beers which more beers than I've ever seen her drink (note she is white wine drinker). After a couple hours on the hill we made our way back down to the Augustinerkloster und Brau (beer garden) and had one last mug of "bier" before heading back to the hotel. Then spent the evening munching on snacks and playing cards. I'll make a last "walkabout" of Salzburg this afternoon to pick up a few final things before spending the evening packing and repacking my bags to assure a balanced and practical load.

If you ever visit Salzburg I highly recommend the hotel I have been staying at - Austria Trend Hotel Europa Salzburg it is a "4 star" hotel right next to the train and bus station. Which makes it very convenient and easy to find and use as a base of operations. And the rates are reasonable. Also the free wireless internet connection has been a life saver. If I have any complaint it is the phones, no one seems to know exactly how to dial international and toll free numbers (thanks to cells I would guess).

Well that's it for this installment now to google voice chat to see if my wife is up yet...

Stranded in Europe Day 3 (I think)

2010-04-22T00:44:00.000-07:00

Beginning my 3rd day being stranded in Salzburg. Good news is the flights are flying all over Europe and while our little group is scattered all over the continent from Rome to Amsterdam things are improving. Two couples have made it back to the US on stand by flights everyone else has confirmed flights out either on Saturday or Sunday. If things continue to improve we should all be back at work Monday. Never Thought I would want to get back to work.

As for being stranded in Salzburg I have gotten to know my way around the city and it is a pretty pedestrian friendly place. It is very easy to walk around as long as you obey the walk and don't walk signals. I am totally amazed at how the cars, bikes and people all share the streets without incidents like you see in the US. Maybe it is the more laid back life style here or centuries of training. Be interesting to look into (any of you research people out there need a topic). Another thing that is a bit unusual for Americans is you don't need a prescription to get drugs here. Just walk into a Apothacary (drug store) and tell them (in my case show them) what you want and they get it for you. Prices for generic drugs seem to be very similar to what my insurance pays for generics.

As far as prices in general other than beer everything is more expensive than it is in the states. Funny thing is just looking at the prices you would think they are the same (and number wise they are) but since the Euro is worth about a $1.30 or so, every thing is about 30% higher. Not a big thing at the low end but it is at the higher end. Another interesting thing is the price listed is the price you pay. Taxes seem to be already built in. Which is nice.

Today is the last day I will have company here in Salzburg. Jon & Cheryl Ogden are off to Munich tomorrow by train to catch their flight. So we are going to do something something together this afternoon/evening. Probably the Augultine Brau (beer garden) and watch the world go by. I'll see them off tomorrow morning and might even catch a train myself to Frankfort and see if can go standby on a Saturday flight. We will see how things are going out of Frankfort Airport this afternoon. That's it for now...

Stranded in Europe Day 2

2010-04-21T01:19:00.000-07:00

Since all I have is time on my hands figured I'd should post something. Came to Austria a week ago (04.14.10) to attend the HEEP Area V meeting the 15 & 16th and then spend the weekend with the group touring and taking in the sights, sounds and local beverages. Then a volcano happened in Iceland which put a real damper on things.

The meeting went well. All the American presentations were well received and in my opinion some of the best and most interesting ones I've seen in Europe or America. Even mine on Social Media generated a lot of conversation between the Europeans and our group as well. The Meeting ended Friday evening with a gathering at the local Bier Garden (will post pictures later).

Then the "fun" began since most of our group was leaving early Monday morning we still were not to concerned about the volcano but things were beginning to weigh on the group. Saturday the group took the "sound of Music tour and a trip to a salt mine outside of Berchtesgaden which was fun, but also involved a lot of bus riding.

By Sunday morning most of us got concerned as flights were being canceled right and left. A few of or group had planned to stay an extra week and tour Germany and Italy so they went on with those plans. The rest of us started a stress inducing limbo. Four of our group stayed in Salzburg to await flights out (I plan on leaving Saturday by either plane or train) to Frankfort to catch a Sunday flight that I hope will go. Others are in Vienna, Amsterdam, and Zurich trying to get connections etc. Two of our group((Ray &Pat) got out of Zurich yesterday on a standby flight (stood in lines for 6-8 hours). The rest of us hope to leave this weekend. Right now it looks like that will probably happen. As long as the airspace continues to clear and there are no other major erruptions. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer or two for us.

Since phone service here has sucked thank god for google chat and my upset, but loving wife who has been able to get my flights redone and credit cards taken care of. One other note is the netbook I brought has been a god send. From now on I won't be traveling without one. It has made a huge difference in access, peace of mind ease of cmmunication with home. More later so stay tuned...

New Decade Same Old Blog

2010-01-18T17:00:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year everyone. Hope everyone is enjoyed MLK day. Since I had the day off I know I did. For once not only didn't I have to go to work but it was a beautiful day sunny and low 60's. After the cold, wet, lousy weather we've had the past few weeks it was good to get a nice day and time to enjoy it.

What's been happening since my last post. Around the office not much, around the profession a little bit more. Most people probably know that the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was recently held in Las Vegas. While I didn't get to attend (maybe one day) a good number of people did and wrote about it. From what I read it seems Cell phones, E-readers and tablets were all the rage. While CES is geared towards consumers (explains all the TV's Phones etc). I found the talk of tablets the most interesting. One of the big problems that I see in the AEC industry is, to really take advantage of technology we have to move past "paper plans". Until recently there hasn't been a good way to take electronic data to the field. I think cheap tablets could solve this. With a lightweight and cheap 10"-12" tablet, Wifi or even cell connections it becomes very practical to now take "electronic plans" or "models" to the field. Now if the CADD and Survey vendors will pay attention.

At home I finally got an HD TV (love it) when my old CRT TV finally bit it. But the biggest technology news is that the whole family are now smart phone users. My wife and I both have Motorola Cliqs while my son and daughter both have My Touchs (T-moblie is our carrier). Bottom line is we are one happy phone family.

Interestingly enough I while I use my phone a great deal more than I use to I don't make very many calls. Rather it has become a "communication device" more so than a phone. I check personal email accounts have complete access to google mail, docs and calendar not to mention facebook, twitter and numerous news and information feeds and occasionally make a call or two. After almost two months of continuous use I'm amazed. There have been a few bumps in along the way (wish batteries lasted longer) and there is at times TOO MUCH Information but all and all very positive experience. They really open up the world of social media to the user.

All of our phones run the Android OS which seems to work fine. There more apps that I sort though and while things don't always work the way I they did on previous phones, but what's new there? I have been able to everything I've wanted to. While I don't think they will replace computers in the near term they will save some wear and tear on them. Who knows by the next decade the traditional PC may be a thing of the past.

That's it for now...

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T08:32:00.001-08:00

My last post was about a month ago so since I have a bit of time I figured I post something. While October was a pretty busy month as I noted in my last post. November has been more laid back. Other than Thanksgiving the biggest event was the first North Carolina Local User Group (NCLUG) meeting in Raleigh. Gave a short presentation on MicroStation XM/V8i (online at http://www.nclug.com/downloads.html) which went pretty well. The meeting it self was a great success. We had over 60 attendees and I think everyone had a good time. Hopefully our February meeting will be as well attended.

Other big news is that I finally got a Google Wave account. Now just need some people to "wave" at. I have some invitations so if you would like to wave with me about this blog or other things let me know. Wave is very interesting but it takes some getting use to. question is - what is it? Super email, a wiki on steriods? What? Whatever it is it is interesting and I think it can become a great collaboration too.

Other than that hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and a great weekend.

October is almost over.

2009-10-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy, busy month (actually 5 weeks). Two "major" conferences, two weeks of training, and a NASCAR race have made for a busy "month". First the Conferences. I attended the 51st annual International Highway Engineers Exchange Program (IHEEP) conference in San Antonio, Texas Sept 21-October 1. It was my 20th consecutive IHEEP conference and one of the most enjoyable. The Texas Department of Transportation really knows how to put on an enjoyable and professional conference.

To see what went on this years meeting check out the following links:

The PowerPoint presentations from the conference have now been posted on the TXDOT web site and can be accessed from the following link http://www.dot.state.tx.us/iheep2009/presentations/default.htm .

The pictures taken by TxDOT photographers throughout the conference have been posted on Flickr:

main page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iheep
page with pictures sorted by event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iheep/collections/72157622486951404/

Check these links out when you get a chance and don't forget next year's conference will be hosted by the Michigan DOT in Dearborn, September 26-30, 2010. It's not to soon to start making plans to attend. Check out the conference website at http://mi.gov/heep.

The other conference I attended was the Bentley Roads & Bridges conference held last week (Oct. 19-21) in Charlotte, NC. While it was a bit cooler than usual in Charlotte the conference was 'hot".
Bentley kept the delegates feed, hydrated and busy for a solid 2 1/2 days. Every session and workshop I attended not only was informative but interesting as well. This was Bentley's first conference where all the Road and Bridges products met together. InRoads, GEOPAK and MX users finally got together and see how the other "half" works. Bentley is in process of combining it's three Road Design products in one Bentley Civil Product and it seems to be going pretty well. I can't wait to get my hands on the MicroStation Civil release of V8i SS1.

As for the 2 weeks of training I attended a Roadway modeler class in Raleigh and taught a GEOPAK class to some our GEOTECH users in Harrisburg, NC.

The race in Charlotte was fun but COLD. While it did rain a bit at the race we didn't get wet, which was good because we probably would have froze to our seats if we had.

Sun virtual box, Windows 7 and Ubuntu too

2009-08-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

I writing this entry via Firefox running under Windows 7 evaluation copy, build 7100, within Sun's Virtual Box 3.0 on my dell inspiron 530 running XP. Now that is a mouthful if I do say so myself. Additionally I can also fire up Ubuntu 8.10 or 9.04, run a Joomla or Wordpress virtual appliance either at the same time or by themselves. Just a few short years ago that would have taken at least 4 different PC a server and all the networking stuff to connect them. Now I can run them all on one PC. Amazing and relatively easy.

The question I have is - If I can do all of this on my "home pc" without spending a cent why can't companies like Bentley, Autodesk or Trimble provide me with functional easy to use virtual applications for CADD.

For example how about a Plotting appliance that I could set up anywhere to handle work group or office plotting. How about a project/file management or survey management tool that I could run under what ever OS I want to, be it Linux, Window or Mac OS?

Why do survey data collectors cost thousands of dollars when I can get a netbook for $250 that is 2 or 3 times more powerful and versatile than any data collector on the market. Not only that but I can buy 4 or 5 for the cost of one data collector! Am I the only one that sees this or am I missing something? With the economy the way it is and the need to "do a lot more with a lot less" why aren't there any "engineering netbooks"?

Something to think about...

Facebook, Twitter and DOTs

2009-06-27T13:59:00.001-07:00

Departments of Transportation's like most large organizations are slow to change and even slower it seems at embracing new technology. The question I would like to pose is "Can DOTs use Facebook and Twitter (or technologies like them) to improve internal and external communication?"

The answer is.....

Busy Month

2009-06-17T17:35:00.001-07:00

It has been over a month since I have posted anything to R cubed so I guess I should bring you up to date. So far June has been a pretty busy month. Visited an old high school buddy in New Orleans and attended the HEEP Area II meeting in Baton Rouge, LA where I gave a presentation on DOT's use of the Internet and what the future holds. Attended my parents 50th wedding anniversary in Wheeling, WV this past weekend and got to see a lot of relatives that I haven't seen in several years. Funny in this time of instant communication how easy it is to not keep up with one's extended family.

Back at the office the NCDOT is making plans to upgrade our 1500 CADD machines to MicroStation V8i and all the software that goes with it. In addition we are fighting our Security people over how tight they are locking down the Departments XP images and registry access. In addition we are not only upgrading our existing software from MicroStation V8 to V8i but we are also "upgrading" a portion of our CADD PCs from windows 2000 to XP. I know welcome to 21st century...

Along with that I have been messing around with Sun's soon to be Oracle's VirtualBox software to run Ubuntu and Window 7 along with windows 2000 and XP. Pretty cool product. Additionally I have also become a regular Facebook user and a part time twitter. Which I am finding to be interesting tools to say the least. I've always said that the internet is about communication and these products are proving the point (just ask the Iranians).

Well that's a quick wrap up of what I've been up to. Now I need to figure out a simple, easy yet readable way to display a series of annual reports on the HEEP website. Also don't forget to Buy Understanding Microstation V8 XM in 2D: A Basic Guide FOR XM and V8i Users. from Stipes Publishing.

Buy This Book

2009-04-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a book new CADD book to read (with lots of pictures and arrows) then look no farther than the new, (hopefully to be best seller) from Karen Coen-Brown and Randall J. Robinson (that's me) - Understanding Microstation V8 XM in 2D: A Basic Guide FOR XM and V8i Users.

It is available now from Stipes Publishing for the amazing low price of $49.80. For more details and to order a copy visit

http://www.stipes.com/cadd.html

or contact

Stipes Publishing L.L.C.
204 W. University Avenue
Champaign, IL 61820
P.O Box 526
Champaign IL 61824-0526
217/356-8391
stipes01@sbcglobal.net

Conferences and Cost

2009-04-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

Well 2009 is really starting to take it's toll on conferences. Last month Bentley canceled the BE Conference that was scheduled to be held this May in Charlotte, NC. Which really sucks since Charlotte is just down the road from my house and I was looking forward to attending.

Then a couple of days ago I received a email for Paul Fort in NJ informing me (and others) that the HEEP Area I meeting that was being planned for June was canceled mainly due to State DOT Travel Restrictions. Which is a short sighted shame (not on Area I's part, but on the states). Bentley also cited the travel restrictions as a reason for the BE cancellation also. (Although I think it may have been a money saving thing for Bentley not its customers).

Anyway,

It is a shame that agencies, organizations and company's cut back on travel and training when the economy is down. You would think it would be just the opposite since their work loads are down they would have time to train, learn new skills and make personal contacts, which will help them thrive in the future. But that makes a bit to much sense I guess.

So what is your organization doing, building for the future or hunkering down for the quarter?

P.S. check out HEEP.ORG the Area II and International meetings are still on and you won't find a better conference deal anywhere...

Sunday Night

2009-03-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Seems like Sunday evening is one of those times that I actually get a chance to "play" around on the computer. Today I have installed Ubuntu 8.10 on a virtual machine on my PC. Pretty cool actually, I used Sun xVM VirtualBox to create and ubuntu virtual machine (PC) and installed Ubuntu 8.10 linux on it. SEEMS to Work well and was very little hassle to install. I used Ubuntu as my main operating system on an old PC about 2 years ago but switched back to XP to help update a MicroStation book. Anyway I had been wanting to get back to playing with linux and the VirtualBox seemed like the way to do it. I'll try and keep everyone posted.

Also today I converted two albums I had on cassettes to mp3s. While it takes a bit of time it is pretty easy. Just pop the cassette into a portable player, connect it to my PCs line in and fire up Audacity and hit play. Once the cassette is done I label the tracks and save them to the hard drive. Wish there was a quicker way but it works. Only have another couple hundred cassettes and albums to convert.

Finally spent some time on Facebook, while I think it has a lousy interface it is a useful way to keep in touch with friends and family. BTW I have created a HEEP Group on Facebook to try and keep up with my fellow HEEPers. If you get a chance check it out.

That's if for now...

New Versions

2009-02-14T19:37:00.001-08:00

Hard to believe that it is already the middle of February. It seems like Christmas was just a couple of weeks ago and now it's tax time. So what is happening these days? In the CADD world Bentley has released MicroStation V8i and Autodesk just released AutoCad 2010. So everyone has good bit of updating and testing to do. It looks like AutoCAD 2010 adds some new features but continues on with most of the 2009 interface in tack.

Likewise MicroStation V8i continues the interface enhancements from MicroStation XM. This will cause a lot of state DOTs some problems since I would say the majority of them are still using MicroStation V8. So those moving to V8i over the next year are going to have their hands full. Learning the XM interface and the V8i enhancements. Hopefully the gains will be worth the pain.

Likewise, GEOPAK users will also have the addition of the InRoads roadway modeler to GEOPAK to deal with. Which while it will cause a bit of a workflow change but I think most people with find it a worthwhile one (guess templates won out in the end).

At least we won't have to worry about a new operating system introduction for a while.

Voice Recognition Software

2008-12-28T13:10:00.001-08:00

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

2008-08-20T19:23:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-02T18:31:00.001-07:00

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

2008-06-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-08T18:58:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-02T19:51:00.001-07:00

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?

2008-03-11T19:56:00.001-07:00

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.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-21T11:54:00.001-08:00

Another year is winding down and I just want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As a little "present" for my faithful readers (you know who you are...even if I don't) check out the new Bentley Community Web site at http://community.be.org/ I think it is going to be a pretty good place to hang out in the new year. So see you around the web.

Where are the MicroStation Blogs

2007-12-03T16:38:00.001-08:00

Ever notice that there are a lot of AutoCad blogs and not many MicroStation blogs? With the end of Autodesk University in Las Vegas there are lots of blogs out there talking about what went on. After the Be Conference I didn't see but one or two.

I guess my point is why does Autodesk sponsor corporate blogs while Bentley doesn't seem to care about them? Now maybe there are a bunch of MicroStation Blogs out there that I haven't seen so if anyone knows of any let me know, I'd like read them.

A HEEP of things

2007-09-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

The 2007 International Highway Engineers exchange program (HEEP) concluded last Thursday night and I’m just now getting a chance while I wait for may daughter to finish her weekly piano lesson. 396 attendees saw a variety of excellent presentations that ran the gambit ffrom CADD usage to Xerox plotting solutions. As usual a great time (see pictures) was had by all and a whole bunch of information was exchanged in both formal and informal settings.

First, I would want to congratulate Ms. Diane Gunsch as being the recipient of the 2007 Ken Close Award which can be given by the HEEP President to anyone he or she considers a person who represents the ideas, philosophy and mission of the HEEP organization. Diane has exemplified what HEEP stands for as a member, area director, HEEP president, ESP director and most of all a good friend. So Diane, congratulations again, on being the 2007 Ken Close award winner and welcome to the club.

So other than Diane’s award what went on tat HEEP his year? From my view the two hot topics this year are - Automated Machine Control and 3-D Design. With every session of these topics well if not over attended. This really isn't surprising since the “3D issue” has been festering for a while (come to think of it for as long as I have been involved with cadd – now going on 20+ years). The funny thing is that a lot of smart people thought we put this issue to bed in the mid 90's with the GEOPAK vs. InRoads debate. Guess what it looks like the 3-D philosophy of Inroads won and it is leaving the GEOPAK states with painful choices about which direction they need to go. The choices that I see are.

1. Hang on to GEOPAK make due and hope the product changes
2. Hang on till Bentley delivers a “NEW” civil product (possibly Power Civil XM)
3. Switch to InRoads
4. Or the most radical one - Switch to Autodesk 3-D and AutoCAD...

All of these will cause great amounts of Pain for the DOTs use and our engineering groups that currently rely on Geopak to produce “plans". The question that we will be asking is what level of pain can we accept and where do we see our organizations and the highway industry going. I feel this is last time we are going to get this chance to decide before outside forces decide for us. We live in interesting times....

In addition to the 3-D design discussions there was a lot of talk about how the move to 3-D will effect the organizational, professional and legal aspects (if any) for our staffs, our organizations and the public.

A HEEP of information

2007-08-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

The 48th annual Highway Engineers Exchange Program (HEEP) International meeting is less than three weeks away. I can't recommend this conference strongly enough. If you work in the areas of Highway and Bridge design, construction or maintenance and having even a passing interest in computers and technology, then this is a conference YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS.

The 2007 conference is being hosted by the NY State DOT and the NY thruway Authority in Albany, New York September 15-20. The conference theme is - "Promoting Advances in Transportation Technology." Here are just a few of the many interesting and diverse presentations at this years conference:

Emerging Technology and the Implications for State and Local Government
- Tom Cowper, NYS Office for Technology, Statewide Wireless Network

3D Models for Machine Guidance Systems
-Ryan Forrestel, Cold Spring Construction

Practical Experiences with Terrestrial Based LiDAR
-Michael Loose, PennDOT

BRASS-PIER(LRFD) analysis/design program
-Micheal J. Watters, Wyoming DOT

Use of 3D Model with On-Site for Inspection
-Phil Klimczak, NYSDOT, Kevin Jackson, Bentley

And even yours truly is doing a little presentation entitled

When Jumping Over the Moon Watch out for Asteroids

Please come and see these and many other presentation on the use of computers by the North American and European Departments & Ministries of Transportation. YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID!

Buddy can you spare a floppy drive?

2007-08-20T19:01:00.001-07:00

Saw this posting on Evans Yares blog (EvanYarescom) and it got me to thinking (again)....

The Ticking Time Bomb

BBC News reports:

"The growing problem of accessing old digital file formats is a "ticking
time bomb", the chief executive of the UK National Archives has warned.
Natalie Ceeney said society faced the possibility of "losing years of critical
knowledge" because modern PCs could not always open old file formats."
How many of you out there truly think all your stored data is safe? Even if your hard drives don't fail, how long will your tapes and CDs, DVD last? Or even a better question -- will you have any computers that will be able to read the media your data is now stored on?-- in 10 years? how about 20? Floppy drives are just about gone, as are omega zip drives. It won't be long till CDRs are just a memory. It is some thing to think about.

Management Back Asswards

2007-07-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

It has been said that "education is wasted on the young." In other words when we have the chance to learn and explore the world, we aren't old enough to understand what a great opportunity it really is. Only after we are older do we realize all the things we could of done and learned if we had only known...

Duh.

I think a corollary of this saying should be "management is wasted on the old." If you look around at any organization you will notice that most the upper management not only is "old" but it looks and thinks remarkably similar. While they all may not be “old white guys” they all seem to think like them.

I find it funny how you can walk into any company or organization in the world and ask the newest employee (after he/she has been there a few weeks) what is wrong with the it and he/she can tell you. But in 20 years time this same employee who is now in management can't.

This is because in general we only promote people who think like ourselves. By the time this young guy is promoted into upper management he is thinking just like the guys who promoted him. I think this is the main reason that the AEC/Highway industry hasn't been able to keep up with the technology. Sure everyone uses CADD today and very few current designer even know what a lead holder is (was). It is also the reason that very few of our senior management and engineers could actually use the tools they buy to design anything.

Because of this we are still printing paper plans and working in two dimensions instead of building from interactive models in three dimensions. I've been working in the Civil CADD area for over 20 odd years and we (with just a few isolated exceptions) are not doing anything with Civil CADD software that we couldn't do 20 years ago. It is such a waste. Just think were we might be today. If only. Am I the only one that feels this way?

Ubuntu and things

2007-06-16T08:36:00.001-07:00

I have a few minutes so I thought I would test out my new firefox addon called ScribeFire.

I'm using Scribefire running on Firefox 1.5.0.12 running under Ubuntu Linux 6.06lts on an old HP pavilion 7867 computer. You know what?It runs flawlessly. It is faster, more stable and up to date than my main windows xp computer. If you haven't given Linux a spin yet I highly recommend that you download the latest Ubuntu release and give it a try. You will be glad you did. Especially if you need an addtional PC around the house or office to read email and surf the web.

About the only thing I can't do under Ubuntu that I can do under XP is run MicroStaiton or Autocad under it. My question is why not? Especially MicroStation which use to run under a varity of "unix flavors". I would even be happy with a slim down version (aka powerdraft) that would run under linux so that I could run it on slimmed down hardware like Palm's new ultra portable. Be a great cheap way to get MicroStation out into the field at a very competitive price... Anyone listening? I hope so...

CADD in 2057

2007-05-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

For the past several weeks the editor in chief of the Inovate Daily Newletter http://www.innovateforum.com/daily has been running a series of on again off again articles on the future of CAD in the next 50 years. Since this is the kind of topic I enjoy thinking about I decided to blog about it a bit.

While I don't have the slightest idea what the future holds or where CADD will be in 2057 (for that matter I probably won't be around to care). I think it might be informative to look at where I thought CAD would be today. As the saying goes "those that don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it".

Back in 1987 when I started using, learning, supporting and talking about CAD I thought it would be much different in 20 years than it turned out to be. Other than the improvement in computer technology CAD hasn't changed very much at least in the Highway/AEC business. I have often said we are doing nothing today that we couldn't do 20 years ago... and that is really sad.

20 years ago I thought that by the year 2000 (at the latest) CAD would allow civil engineers to practice what I call "Real Time Engineering". That with the expected advances in technology, hardware and software design highway and bridge projects would be designed, built and managed concurrently. Although we have the technology, what I didn't count on or understand was the nature of the beast.

The Civil Engineering world changes slowly. It is not enough to have the ability to do things you have to have the will and drive to not only use CAD but to apply it. While we have had the CAD and computer technology for over 20 years we have never been able to change the way the Highway/Bridge/AEC community thinks and works. So even with all the wonderful tools we have at our disposal we still basically design and build highways just as we always have.

So I hope that in 50 years my "dream" of real time civil engineering comes true but if history is any indication the CAD systems of 2057 will still be stuck at the turn of the century.

2007 HEEP Area V

2007-05-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Just back from the HEEP Area V meeting in Budapest Hungary. Where I and my fellow "heepers" had a great time not only visiting, but discussing things with our counterparts from the the TEM Countries. I'll post a bit more later and post up a few more pictures.

I'm back

2006-12-07T19:18:00.000-08:00

It’s been a while since I posted anything to “R Cubed” so since there doesn’t seem to be anything on TV (although it took great discipline not to watch John Wayne in The Green Berets) and I left the book I’m reading out in the car I might as well post something.  So to paraphrase my son’s famous quote “what to write? What to write?”  You see that is one problem with a blogs you have to write something now and again (as soon as those talking computers come on line look out).

So what to write?  During the day I can think of all kinds of “heady topics” but when I get a chance to jot them down I have trouble remembering them.  Couple of things, I read a lot.  Because of all the different magazines, I read during the week I have gotten pretty good at noticing IT trends and tools before they really get popular.   A case in point is wikis and blogs – they seem to have become all the rage lately.  I was giving presentations on using them over a year ago.  Funny thing is that even though I was out in front of the curve and now that wikis are hot my organization doesn’t know they exist… so much for the prophet business.

I have talked about wikis before.  In particular a specific kind of wiki called a Tiddly Wiki.  I recently gave a short presentation at the 2006 HEEP International Conference held this past September in Williamsburg Virginia.  If you would like to take a look at it (remember power points lose a bit without my unique translation) you can download it and other HEEP presentations at

http://iheep.vdot.virginia.gov/iheep2006presentations.htm

you can find it under Thursday presentations and the title is

“Tiddly Wiki and Things – another internet technology that you never heard of but might find useful.”

I gave two other presentations that day but I think I’ll save them for another posting.

Upgrade advice

2006-03-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

Today it seemed like all the cadd newsletters and blogs (most of them anyway) were talking about the latest release of AutoCAD (with the catchy name of AutoCAD 2007) that is due to be released in late March.   While the pundits can’t wait, and are touting all the new 3D features I’ll lay money that the average user is thinking – “Oh shit, not another upgrade.”

Having just gone through a major upgrade at work (from MicroStation J to MicroStation V8) in 2005 I can relate.  For both users and the support staffs new versions suck.  Not that the features aren’t cool, they rarely seems worth the pain.  When you think that the average user at most uses 10-20 percent of a program’s features you have to wonder how bad we really need new ones.  I know the vendors say that the users demand them but to tell you the truth I’ve never met an average user who has ever been asked about what they need – Have you?

Unfortunately the biggest problem with a new version is all the grunt work you have to do to get them installed and running.  Not only are there general problems inherent in any new release, but it is rare that all the other programs you depend on will work with the new release out of the box -- this is where the problems really begin.  It seems to me that users tend to skip at least every other cadd release these days.  You think the vendors might take the hint…

If I could offer any advice to the cadd vendors of the about upgrades it would be this.  Stop worrying about features and make sure that when they release a new version that it solves our problems rather than creating new ones…

Happy New Year

2006-01-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy New Year… I generally don’t make new years resolutions (hard to keep) but I will try to post to my blog on a bit more regular basis this year… So check back soon…

New CADD Site

2005-12-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I became aware of a new CADD Website that deals mainly with MicroStation but also covers a lot of general CADD topics.

The Name of the site is:

Eat Your CAD and it’s URL is

http://www.eatyourcad.com/

Check it out when you get a chance you won’t be sorry.

TiddlyWikis and CADD

2005-10-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

Every major CADD program on the market that I am aware of is “Internet Aware” now exactly what this means and what value it actually adds is anybody’s guess.  I recently gave a presentation on applying internet technologies to CADD and Engineering and I think several of these technologies could prove very useful to both individuals and organizations.  (If you missed it you can download from the sidebar.)

One of the technologies I talked about was a WIKI.  I recently came across a variation of this technology after reading a post on Joel Orr’s PLM blog.  This variation is known as a TiddlyWiki.  While a regular Wiki requires a web server and a database.  TiddlyWiki requires only a browser (either Firefox or IE 6.0>) to work properly.  Exactly what is a TiddlyWiki?  I guess you could say it is a webpage on steroids.  By using JavaScript you have basically a self hyper-linking, free form database contained inside a single webpage.  I know it sounds a bit strange but take some time and check out a few of the various flavors … I think you will be astonished.

The place to begin is the  TiddlyWiki home site at http://www.tiddlywiki.com

You will be glad you did

Observations from Bismarck

2005-09-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

The 46th annual Highway Engineering Exchange Program International Conference is History. I would like to congratulate the North Dakota DOT, HEEP President Diane Gunsch and her staff for putting on a wonderful conference. Not only did they take great care of the conference delegates but they put on a top notch technical program as well.

So what was everyone talking about at HEEP? One word – GOOGLE.

More specifically GOOGLE EARTH. If you haven’t looked at it RUN don’t walk to the nearest browser and take a look at it. It is truly amazing. How do they do it? More importantly how do they make money? Not only is the product amazing in it’s own right but it can be “hacked” very easily to make it do what you want it to. It can become with a little work your own FREE personal GIS. Dilip Dasmohapatra from the Alberta DOT showed me how he was able to use GOOGLE Earth to display, locate and do a fly around of any bridge in the Alberta bridge database by just typing in a bridge number. If I was ERSI I would be worried to say the least.

Next thing people were talking about – The Old Days.

More specifically we miss the competition between CACIE, Intergraph, GEOPAK, and Bentley that we had at HEEPs past. Now that Bentley owns all the civil design packages that are worth anything we are basically at their mercy. Some of you who aren’t involved in the highway design world might say, what about Autodesk? (They did buy CACIE). In the highway design world AutoDesk isn’t even an also ran. Their new Civil 3D product looks interesting but since it can’t (or won’t) read and write MicroStation dgn files, they don’t stand a chance in this market. Unfortunately for AutoDesk highway design is STILL ALL ABOUT THE DATA Files.

If all the vendors would agree on using and supporting a single XML standard then maybe we would be able to select software on the basis of features, performance and support. But I won’t be holding my breath.

Talking about XML if you want to what a single XML standard could look like then check out the TRB TransXML Project NCHRP 20-64 at:

http://www.transxml.org/

That’s it for now.

Top of the HEEP

2005-08-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

If you aren’t doing anything the week of September 10-16, 2005 you might want to think about spending a little time in Bismarck, North Dakota at the 46^th annual Highway Engineering Exchange Program International Conference. It is a cozy little gathering of 300 or so highway engineers and information technologists talking about using computer technology, to design, build, and maintain our nation’s highways and byways.

If you want to know how the Departments of Transportation in the United States, Canada and Europe are applying computer technologies to civil and highway engineering then there ISN’T A BETTER CONFERENCE IN THE WORLD. In fact if you just want to find out how to use CADD and talk to people who use, manage and live it then Bismarck is the place for you. Don’t take my word for it come and see for your self you won’t regret it.

For more information visit the HEEP website at www.heep.org or the 2005 International Meeting’s website at http://www.state.nd.us/dot/IHEEP2005.html . If that isn’t enough I’ll be giving two wonderful and thought provoking presentations that you can’t see anywhere else. Hope to see you there.

Standards, standards and standards

2005-07-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

The funny thing about standards is that there are so many. Except when you need to find some.

I've found CADD standards are a little like that. Everybody seems to have them but can you find them? In the "old days" most of us keep our "CADD standards" in a 3-ring notebook or some other type of binder. While these "standards"were easy to use and generally find they were (still are) a pain to keep up to date.

Along came the web and voila out went the book. We couldn't wait to get everything out on the internet. The problem is that while this made the distribution of our standards easier it made them a bit more difficult to use. Now instead of reaching for the "manual" you had to connect to the web (assuming the network was up). Now while I still prefer the "written word" we still have the same problem we had before -- How to keep the stuff up to date?

There has to be a good, easy and affordable way to create, collect, DOCUMENT and maintain cadd standards for publishing in both electronic or paper form. Any suggestions?

In State Outsourcing

2005-07-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

It's funny you can't pick up a newspaper or magazine these days and not see an article about some company outsourcing this or that service to India or some offshore country. What's even funnier (if it wasn't so sad) is that you never read about an organization or business using the tools that make outsourcing possible to make their organization or business more competitive and productive.

For example say you have an open engineering position in the capital city of a state yet the best candidate for the position lives 200 miles away in another part of the state. Let’s also say that the person wants the job but for various reasons doesn't want to move. Should he or she have to? In today’s world I don’t see why it would be a requirement. Unless the job demands that you be in a specific location 24/7 (like running a hotdog stand) and you can always move the hotdog stand. Just about any “professional” engineering or computer job can now be done from just about anywhere. Given a high speed internet connection, a phone and the proper software you can do design and programming work from just about anywhere. For that matter you can manage hundreds of people doing just about anything from anywhere you want to. The days of looking out the office window to make sure everyone has his or her head down over a drafting board is long gone.

So the next time you think read an article about outsourcing this or that job give some thought by how you can take advantage of the tools and technology of outsourcing to expand your staff and fill vacancies while keeping the jobs and experience “AT HOME” or at least in the same state.

We all talk about the “virtual organization” it’s time to start building them!

What ever happened to manuals?

2005-06-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in front of my trusty Dell with an old digital Pentium 11 laptop sitting beside me running a CD version of Damn Small Unix (DSL) trying download a copy of open office to try and run on the laptop from a pen drive.

I got to thinking "Whatever happened to manuals?

Anybody know? Back when I first got started in CADD with and Intergraph VAX and Clipper workstations everything had a manual. The hardware manuals for the VAX and Clippers were volumous. So were the original manuals for IGDS, MicroStation and Autocad. Now, if it wasn't for windows help there would be no help at all ( which there isn't).

Now it seems that everything is either available on-line or in .pdf format. What are you suppose to do if your network connection isn't working or you don't have one? How about getting adobe to work properly these days?

Is it to much to ask that every program come with a least ONE Reference Set of Manuals? I mean when you are paying $4000.00 a copy for CADD software is that to much to ask? No one has any trouble printing and including a EULA inside the box -- Do they? If it is a matter of cost pass it along. Since manuals have vanished from the packages I haven't notice any decrease in price to compensate for the omission -- Have you?

Just something to think about the next time you have CADD problem....

How this blog thing works

2005-05-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

Now that I have my own BLOG "What to do...What to do..."

What I hope to do is add my two cents what is going on with CADD and how engineers are using technology in the real world. Or at least in my part of that world - Highway and Bridge engineering.

Now while I'm a bit new to this "blog thing" I do occasionally give presentations ( the latest was in May at the HEEP Area V /TEM meeting in Lithuania) and have written a few articles over the years dealing with the use of CADD and Technology. If you would like to check a few of them out visit the PC Trans website.

So Stay tuned I think this is going to be fun....

First Post

2005-05-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. I've been meaning to set one up for a while and finally got around to doing it. As the saying goes

...And So It Begins...