Author: Ricky Jordan

  • DraftSight – FREE 2D For ALL

    DraftSight – FREE 2D For ALL

    Dassault Systemes today announced the introduction of DraftSight, a 2D CAD tool that is available for download for FREE at DraftSight.com.  Last week I was contacted by a PR agency and was asked if I would like to see the product first hand and review some of the details of the program.  I jumped at…

  • SolidWorks 2011 Beta – Coming Soon!

    SolidWorks 2011 Beta – Coming Soon!

    Well, its that time of the year again folks.  SolidWorks 2011 Beta appears to be just a few weeks away.  No official dates have been given, but according to the SolidWorks Customer Portal site, the first Beta will be released  in “early July”. The Beta Contest Details can be found HERE where you’ll see individual…

  • Part Numbers and Configurations

    Part Numbers and Configurations

    If you do a little searching around the net, there are many discussions on the subject of internal company part numbers.  Many of the discussions center around the great debate of intelligent part numbers vs. unintelligent part numbers.  I’ll dive into that discussion a little later on.  One of the interesting things I have found…

  • SolidWorks 2010: Sketch Pictures in Drawings

    SolidWorks 2010:  Sketch Pictures in Drawings

    With my schedule relaxing a bit, I’m finally back in the groove and am excited to bring some new posts to the site.  This one is kind of a “reminder post” of a new feature in SolidWorks 2010 that is easy to overlook. You can now show Sketch Pictures inserted in models on the Drawing! …

  • SolidWorks 2010: Awesome Tables!

    SolidWorks 2010:  Awesome Tables!

    Sometimes when testing newer versions of Software you discover some “unreported” enhancements that really can be a time saver.  That type of enhancement is the source of this post, but first we’ll take an overall look at the enhancements to Tables in SolidWorks 2010. As reported in my SolidWorks 2010 Enhancements Highlight article, all Tables…

  • Al Predicts the Future of SolidWorks

    Al Predicts the Future of SolidWorks

    If you are active in the CAD world and haven’t heard of Al Dean and Develop3D, then you are seriously missing out. Al does a great job of looking at the MCAD Industry as a whole and his latest article lays out what I think is a spot on prediction of the future of SolidWorks. …

  • SolidWorks 2011 Sneak Peek

    SolidWorks 2011 Sneak Peek

    One of the things that attendees look forward to the most when attending SolidWorks World is the sneak peek of the next version of SolidWorks. Attendees were treated to TWO previews this year since the SolidWorks Cloud technology was shown on Monday. Wednesday’s General Session has in recent tradition been the day where we get…

  • SolidWorks in the Cloud

    SolidWorks in the Cloud

    This is just the first post of many to come on this. I’m going to try and hit the highlights and then we will get into some of the details later. Today at the first General Session of SolidWorks World 2010, SolidWorks previewed some new technology that they have been working on now for the…

  • SolidWorks World Sunday Part 2

    SolidWorks World Sunday Part 2

    Well, Sunday has now wrapped up and everyone is getting geared up for the first General Session tomorrow morning starting at 8:30am PST. The rest of my day included a few more Roundtable Sessions followed by the opening of the Partner Pavilion.  To me, this looks like the BIGGEST Partner Pavilion ever!  As usual there…

  • SolidWorks World Sunday Part 1

    SolidWorks World Sunday Part 1

    Well…I’ve got a small amount of time between sessions here so I thought I would post a few pictures of the convention center areas.  Below is the Convention Center entrance.  Nice Sign! Here’s a further out shot from the street showing just how big this convention center is! According to Al Dean over at Develop3D,…

  • Arrival at SolidWorks World 2010

    Arrival at SolidWorks World 2010

    Well after some flight delays, I finally made it to Anaheim about 4:30pm PST this afternoon.  While at the baggage terminal we ran into Alex Ruiz who was there to pick up Jeff Mirisola.  Alex gave Richard Hall and myself a ride over to the Hilton which saved us from having to hunt down a…

  • New Product Announcement at SolidWorks World?

    New Product Announcement at SolidWorks World?

    One of the interesting things on the press agenda for SolidWorks World 2010 is a press conference scheduled for Wednesday morning regarding a “New Product Announcement”. This is the only reference I have seen anywhere on this so I don’t really have anything else concrete on what this may be. So what do you think…

  • Getting Set for SolidWorks World 2010

    Getting Set for SolidWorks World 2010

    With the start of SolidWorks World 2010 now officially 1 day away, I’m finalizing my schedule, planning my coverage, and pondering just what exactly we might see at the biggest MCAD event in the industry.  One curve ball has already been thrown my way as my 6:15am flight for tomorrow morning was canceled.   I am…

  • HP Mini 110 Review

    HP Mini 110 Review

    Last year while attending SolidWorks World 2009, I started thinking seriously about purchasing a “netbook” computer after lugging around an 8.5 pound Dell M6400 for 6 straight days.  Rather than purchasing one right away, I decided to wait and see what the rumored “Apple Tablet” looked like before taking the dive.  With SolidWorks World approaching,…