Conferences and Cost

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

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

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

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.