Category Misc.

Autodesk’s Clever Way to Encourage Employee Activity

Last week while attending Autodesk University in Las Vegas I witnessed a very clever way to encourage employees to be live a more active lifestyle with the goal of healthier employees mean lower healthcare costs. What I saw was several Autodesk employees competing on who was the most active and recorded steps using a Fitbit unit.

At Autodesk University this team I spoke with were logging several miles a day. In the past I had seen health surveys and emails encouraging a healthy lifestyle for employees but they were done at the computer. Autodesk does have some nice gym membership and other health related benefits for the individual employees but the Fitbit was the most innovative I had seen. Autodesk had a limited time benefit for a Fitbit unit but unfortunately I did not get that email or missed it in the hundreds of emails I receive daily. Perhaps someone on the Autodesk HR and Benefits team might read this post and take pity on me and extend the offer .

Airline Humor – A Good Thing?

I thought I would share a travel related experience from this week. I thought I would share a travel related experience from this week.

In addition to being late for a flight, hungry, and creating the first Airline Stew, I had opportunities to hear multiple airline announcement styles.

Quickie Update with Zombies and What a Way to Start the Day

I had a great time in Seattle speaking at the AUGIO CAD Camp on Monday in Seattle. In addition to showing Project Photofly live and other great Autodesk Labs technologies I also showed a live demo of the new Project Geppetto in 3ds max 2012.

Project Geppetto is an early technology preview available free from Autodesk Labs that allows you to create animated people in 3ds Max 2012 either following paths or idle and look different and have different actions. This technology answers the need for moving characters in your animations instead of just frozen people of the same character used over and over in a scene. The best part is that some of idle people appear to have zombie characteristics.

RIP Steve Jobs 1955 – 2011

The world lost a dreamer, designer, speaker, and world class visionary today. Regardless if you were an Apple fan or not, Steve Jobs impacted many of our lives by speeding technology and quality products.

Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, iPad, PIxar, music downloads, and more.

Goodbye Steve

Human Nests and Tree Houses

Recently I was pointed to a Yahoo video interview which featured Roderick Romero of Romero Studios who is a designer and builder of high-end tree houses or as he referred to them as “Human Nests”. The tree houses are not the stereotypical tree house you remember as a kid. These designs and constructions are a blend of art, creativity, sculpture, sustainable materials, design, and skillful craftsmanship.

The Yahoo SecondAct series - Real stories celebrating life, passion, and reinvention. Feature interview of Roderick Romero designing tree houses as unique sculptures using AutoCAD http://yhoo.it/pjtulb

Need Some Steampunk Goggles? Make Your Own.

Yes you can make your own Steampunk goggles "N-Axis" thanks to the amazing Autodesk community site Instructables and member gogglerman http://bit.ly/rm5fFi .

Really, no self respecting Steampunk fan should be without their cool Steampunk style goggles without feeling overwhelming embarrassment. Now instead of paying over $200 at the Makers Faire for a pair already made I can make my own and have enough money leftover to make a Steampunk hat, jacket, arm mounted ray gun, and ornate nickel tipped boots.

Wednesday Open Mic

In eight years of blogging I have received several questions on AutoCAD on this blog in comments and tried to answer each one. There is not real formal method to ask a question that is not related to a specific topic of a specific blog post and some have posted their questions to random other post comments. It is for this reason I am experimenting with a Open Mic post for AutoCAD & Autodesk Labs related questions or perhaps just a general comment about this blog, me, my hair, you looking for a job, or the upcoming Autodesk University.

Let’s Hangout Tomorrow on Google+

I have recently been personally experimenting with Google+ and the Hangout feature where up to 10 people can use their webcam and microphone to live chat. So far I have held several Hangouts all with great results and feedback. I am even perfecting a way to not only show my face but also switch to my video screen to show something if needed.

Final Launch of Space Shuttle STS-135

I am watching the live video feeds from http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/status.html and NASA TV (http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/) of this historic moment for the final launch of the space shuttle STS-135 scheduled for a little under an hour from now at 11:26am EST. Having attended launches the most recent being STS-133, know several involved in the space shuttle programs, and worked on parts of the space program over the years it is a personal moment.