Mike’s Blog

At work we are currently trying to transition from 2D Microstation J to Autodesk design applications (ie. Architectural Desktop, Building Systems, Land Desktop). Not the whole company is changing though, only the building side is changing and they will still have some Microstation work to do. The transportation department will still continue to work on Microstation also. All of this is being driven by our clients and their requirements for design file deliverables. For years we have worked on jobs in Microstation and then tried to convert it at the end to AutoCAD only to find that the conversion doesn’t go smoothly.

Now that we have everything setup, at least 90% done, we have started to do design work with Building Systems 2005. There is one user who has been working on this project and trying to debug our system. One of the issues that he has come across is a drastic reduction in machine performance while working. He is currently working on one of our top PC’s which meets or beats all of Autodesk’s recommended system requirements. While working he noticed that his machine was becoming unresponsive and even crashing Building Systems.

In reference to a comment on one of my other posts, I have added a page that lists all of the plugins that I currently use on my site. This link can be found on my site map, as well as here.

Thats it I have had just about enough with stupid rebates. It is a simple concept though,cut out a UPC, fill out a form and mail it away and wait for a check. But it seems that the idiots at the rebate redemption center are about as smart as a box of corn flakes. I have sent in a few different rebates within the last year and gotten most of them back. But there have been two of them that I am really pissed about. Now I am not blaming the rebate centers fully on this, I might be to blame a little also, but just a little. Both of these rebates had emailed me to tell me that my rebate has been rejected. And why you ask, because they claim that I did not send the UPC. Now I am positive that both times I have wrapped the UPC inside the receipt so it wouldn’t get lost, I am anal about things like that. But maybe there is a flaw in my process. Maybe I should be stapling the whole damn thing together so that the idiots at the rebate center don’t lose them anymore.
I think I am officially done with rebates. If a company can’t give me the final price up front then screw them. I will just go somewhere else and get something of lesser quality with half the features for a higher price.
Although I will say this about rebates, Staples is on to something, their easy rebates are just that. There is no cutting and mailing , which by the way saves me an additional 37 cents. You just have to go to their website and fill out a form with information from your receipt, and in about forever they mail you a check.

$1,000,000,000 REBATE:
Please mail in this form along with your original first grade report card, duplicates will not be accepted, to the address that I am thinking of right now. Please allow 6-8 hundred years for processing. We guarantee 100% rejection of all rebates not received by us on February 31, 1776.

Well just in time for my politics class I have found a nice very short political quiz. I have no interest in politics and as shown by my results from the quiz I don’t really fit into any strong willed group.

CENTRISTS espouse a “middle ground” regarding government
control of the economy and personal behavior. Depending on
the issue, they sometimes favor government intervention
and sometimes support individual freedom of choice.
Centrists pride themselves on keeping an open mind,
tend to oppose “political extremes,” and emphasize what
they describe as “practical” solutions to problems.

For those of you out there who work for a company or attend a school that filters web traffic I have found a cool little site that get around the filters.
ProjectByPass

ProjectByPass.com is a FREE web based CGI proxy. The purpose behind this project was to provide a free proxy for people in general to use to bypass school or work filters. The site will most likely be blocked eventually by a school or business because word will get out about its existance.

I have tested it out and it does work! (don’t worry Ken I only went to a few sites, you know for testing purposes)

My only real concern is that, in my opinion, have a greater chance of containing spyware, and viruses. So a site that should have been blocked by the filters now gets through along with some unwanted visitors.

UPDATE
Well it didn’t take long. The link to projectbypass doesn’t work anymore. Sorry. As soon as I find out where it has moved to I will update the link.