Revit 2012 - New Features

Hey, guess what? A post (or rather a link to a post) that has nothing to do with anything that's not about Revit.

David Light did a bang up job here documenting the new features coming to a workstation near you with Revit 2012.

Sucker Punch

Get out of the office early and go see Sucker Punch today. It's an original screenplay by Zack Snyder (IMDB link here), the same director behind such hits as 300, Watchman and presently tasked with directing Superman: Man of Steel.

Tell your boss you're doing it for research because 1) You need to be inspired and 2) Revit was used to design the sets and you're tired of hearing people of less experience and force of will tell you what "Revit can't do". ;)

Announcing.....Stuff

So, it seems whenever we (as a blog) do announcements we seem to always show the three of us, James, Phil, Eddy, in some fashion that's not who we really are but somehow embodies the concepts of who we might be. So, as the heading states, I have some stuff to announce and to do that, I was looking for some imagery of the conceptual version of 'us'.

I found this one - the Three Musketeers. Not so much for the obvious references but the un-obvious references. Two specifically. First off - well there's really 4 of them in this photo (Willem, that can be you on the right). And mainly because one of them is Charlie Sheen who at times can act like one of the key authors of this blog.

Hint: it's not me.

Unfrigginbelieveable!!!

I think I'm gonna send Lynn Allen a t-shirt and CD to celebrate!



It's official! The punk rock band the FLAT TIRES and their album "Freeborn" that I had the honor of producing last fall has been put into rotation on Pandora! Here's a link to their station for your listening pleasure :) Headphones apply. NSFW.

RTC North America - LIVE!

Good news everyone! Registration is now open for the Revit Technology Conference being held this spring in Huntington Beach, California from Thursday, June 23th till Saturday, June 25th.

http://www.revitconference.com.au/rtc2011us/index.htm

Why will you attend? Because time is money!
1. RTC is keenley focused on BIM and the ecosystem that is BIM.
2. RTC is held less than 8 weeks after new software launches (based on historic release cycles)!

We're not competing with AU! Heck - even Autodesk CEO Carl Bass will be attending. He's the keynote speaker!

Ecosystems vs Technologies

Technology graveyards are littered with amazing stuff that didn't survive because of two really important dynamics:

Friday Reprieve #32

Wow! What a ride! Writing two books at the same time + the 10 hr day job + family leaves very little time for fun. or beer. Thankfully we're at the stage in the books now where we're finishing up some final reviews, and getting ready to print. It's very exciting - Mastering Revit 2011 was translated in India, Germany, and the UK (they use weird words like 'lift' and 'torch' and the beer is warm). The Revit Essentials book will soon be translated into Portuguese for sale in Brazil. Do you know what that means? It means that somehow Phil will be able to mold young minds in several countries. Hide your kids.

LEED Silver

Subject: 1626 Jefferson

Eddy,

I have a certificate to mail to you for the above referenced project but, we do not have a physical address on file.

Please provide your address and I will make sure the certificate is mailed.

Thank you,

This is the email I received to close out my LEED paperwork. It's a testament to how this process went. Thankfully, they figured out the address was in the subject line of the email they wrote (not to mention on all the paperwork and they visited the house several times). With all that said, the lovely, oversized certificate arrived today.

Earl Grey...Hot

It was just a matter of time. Is there a CMYK equivalent in the Food Pyramid?
Really interesting article on the research going into food printing.
"Honey, the Soylent Green cartridge is nearly empty and the guests will be here in less than an hour!"

Authoring Team

We're so close to being done with the next Mastering Revit book. It's been a long and winding road, so I thought I'd take a moment and recall some of the finer authoring achievements over the past few months.

Initial planning for the content took place in Vegas at Autodesk University 2010. James (left) wore his favorite shirt. We didn't mind the colors, but Eddy (right) begged him not to roll up the sleeves. I was just dumbfounded that Eddy could grow a goatee. I didn't think he was capable of facial hair.



As New Year rolled around, deadline pressures mounted. James lost the beard but insisted on the "I'llkickyourassallthewaytothefarendofLongIsland" sideburns when I dared to suggest authoring was "fun". I like James, but I'm afraid of him when he's pissed off.



By January, let's just say we had to wear uniforms. Our publisher was getting a bit anxious about meeting deadlines for two books about the same time and after some trumped up charges were pressed we found ourselves "sequestered". Note to self: always read the contractual fine print.

James picked up a nicotine habit to calm domestic related nerves. Eddy took one for the team. Me? I'm smiling. Let's just say our cell mate will never again giggle when we say "Family Editor" or "Reload Latest". It turns out that last year's Mastering Revit book tucked in the end of a pillowcase is a weapon not to be reckoned with.



As February rolled around, Eddy was back on the rum and Coke. Not that we missed our uniforms and former "room mates" but it beats yard work around the house. James begged us to help with his gardening and we all chipped in. Eddy's pissed that all the hydroponics are putting his electric bill through the roof.

Speaking of roofs, the very next day Eddy installed a 1kW photovoltaic system on the roof of the trailer and got the whole thing LEED certified (and then wouldn't shut up about it). It seems silly to me - turning sunlight into electricity just to turn it back into artificial sunlight. But James recons it's better in the long run cause otherwise my cats keep getting into his "gardening".

Everything was fine till the editor showed us "finished and approved" cover art for the Revit Essentials book; cover art that we didn't approve and what we all agreed looked like what comes out of a cat that's eaten way too much from James' indoor garden.

At this point, Eddy freaked said something about what he was going to do with the business end of the rake he was holding, which kind of freaked me out. Eddy is supposed to be the calm one - and now I found myself trying to talk down both James and Eddy. In the end, some really great cover art was selected by the three of us and Eddy settled down. But I wouldn't be surprised if packs his rake for Vegas this year.



Wow - was this the best day ever. After spending months writing the book we find out - after the fact and at the last possible moment - that we have to go back and make sure that there's all this extra stuff added to the book for certification purposes. Did I mention that a lot of the content the publisher wanted added had been previously edited out in order to make some bean counter with a spread sheet happy by keeping the book below a target page count? I said something about fire-ready-aim and James said something about being surrounded by f*&tards and needing to work in his garden and Eddy stopped adding Coke to his rum.



But in the end, it all came together. We've finished all the writing and now it's just editing, choosing cover and center art. And my new eye wear prescription finally arrived.

We're all really amazed how much James polished up after selling his first "harvest" (which pays way more than writing books anyway). You can't see all the nicotine patches covering his back, but we're glad he's going to try to quit smoking (again). Eddy's went back to adding Coke to his rum, but as you can see - he's kind of melancholy. Since I help James cover his back with the nicotine patches, Eddy has to take them off.



Did I mention that I'd love to write a Family Editor book? Come on James...it'll be fun!