Matt Jezyk says it all

As part of the book process, we cajole some poor sole into taking some of their precious personal time and writing a foreword for us. For our upcoming Essentials book, we got Revit founder, Matt Jezyk to do so. And what he did was great. And long. So good, we wanted to share it with all of you.

To help roll in 10 years of Revit with Autodesk, check out this great essay.

http://db.tt/2K9F0AzM

Thanks a ton, Matt. We're looking forward to 10 more.

New Features of Revit 2013

The news is now starting to flood the blogosphere…Revit 2013 will soon arrive! As usual, Mastering Revit contributing author, David Light, has provided an in-depth review of the new features. Please hop on over to his blog and read all about it…

http://autodesk-revit.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-new-in-autodesk-revit-2013.html

Bird Brains

Well, it turns out the guy that claimed he could fly like a bird was FOS. Apparently he's an "artist" that wanted to create an "experiment about online media". It's not his first effort to create this thing he calls art:

In 2006, Kaayk created a hoaxed documentary about a fake disease called Metalosis Maligna that causes medical implants to grow and overtake the body.

Sorry if you felt a bit disappointed. Many people seemed inspired by the idea of flying like a bird - even if it was false inspiration.

So if Bird Man left you feeing a bit jaded, here's a far better inspiring alternative

The next video is a fourth grade girl at ski camp taking her first 60' ski jump. It turns out you really can fly (albeit for a short distance). But it takes real nerve, determination and staring down your fears to do it.

And the result is what looks and sounds like real character building - even though the little kid didn't get a televised interview after the fact or over four-million views on YouTube (as Bird Brains did).

You go girl. I showed your video to all my kids - and I got choked up each time.

A Spring Gift for You

The alternate title is "It's All Just Buzz"

you can take your pick.

That said, we received some truly inspiring copy in the form of a couple short essays. Both deal with the fact that Revit was acquired by Autodesk 10 years ago as of April 1, 2012. Both pieces will appear in the upcoming books, Mastering Revit and Revit Essentials, but as a reflection of the past 10 years and the the next 10 to come, we're going to post a link to them for you to download and read, free of charge.

I hope you find them as inspiring as we did. More to come on those thoughts, but check back in a week for a link.

Ripoff Report

Ever get a weird text on your cell phone and ignore it?

Then please pay attention to your next cell phone bill.

I was going to pay my cell phone bill this morning and found this:

WTF? One time use charges? That'll add up over a year…wonder what it is.

Dammit. I never ordered any of their shit.

So I called T-Mobile. And the customer service person was very apologetic and immediately reversed the charges. She also went on to say, "they're complete bastards". No - hang on…I think I said that.

But what she did say was this: "Just yesterday, I had to reverse nearly $200 of charges on someones cell phone bill from this company."

Here's how it works:

• They get your cell phone number (like a telemarketer).
• You get a strange text message.
• You open the message to see what it says.
• By opening the text message - you just agreed to accept the services and they charge you.
• There's nothing (yet) illegal about doing this.

Here's the company web-site.

And here's some more info from people that have been harassed by this horrible effing company.

And here's the LinkedIn page of their demon-spawn-child CEO Russell Klein, which brings up another point: Russell K. is a Harvard Business School graduate. This simply reaffirms that Harvard and Yale have no shortage of graduates that just love to $#*% with your wallet. Seriously? Harvard? Yale? If you guys are really the modern fonts of all that is knowledge and wisdom - then why do you keep graduating lobbyists on K Street, bankers on Wall Street and lawyers on 1st Street that are completely @#*$&ing over our economic well-being?

Dear Russell,

If you're reading this - there isn't a level of Hell deep enough for you and your fellow graduates. You provide so little value yet you charge so much. Why? Because after all the reversed charges from angry, sucker punched "customers" that have to take the time to call their cell phone companies - you need to make sure you still have some money left over (from the customers that either don't hate your "service" or just didn't take the time to check the details of their cell phone bill).

Wait - I take that back. I don't think you have a single customer that doesn't hate what you guys do. I can't imagine SendMe has one - just one - customer that pays for your service and loves what it does. Not one.

Not. A. Single. One.

Sounds of Science

 

Even if you're not into gaming, you should check out "Portal" . It's thoughtful, challenging and unique as far as I know. And the moral implications of a caring for an inanimate companion cube are…well…interesting.

It's also interesting that the creators of portal have released a three-volume soundtrack which is available for free. Coupled with the visuals and game play the music reinforces the importance of sound in order to complete a compelling experience.

If you're not familiar with "Portal" check out this short film by Dan Trachtenberg. Without giving away any spoilers, it will give you some insight into the mythology of Portal.

You may also know Dan from the "Totally RAD Show" - a wonderful podcast that reviews games, movies, graphic novels and more (Revision3). I had the great pleasure of meeting the TRS team team a few years back. Great group of guys that deserve all the success coming their way.