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.

Merry Christmas

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.

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Where are the MicroStation Blogs

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.

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A HEEP of things

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

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?

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.