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17
Mar 10

Developing software to a “cadence”

Most software companies tend to “surprise” us with their new release. Feels like a surprise, to us the user. In fact, I suspect its just as much a surprise to the development/release team as well. Up until about two years ago, we followed this same paradigm. We developed and released roughly annually and came out with just about 3-4, maybe 5 updates along the way. At the time, it seemed like it was working really well. We then took a step back and thought, what if we actually committed to a schedule?

The plan was an annual releases with quarterly updates. And get this, we planned to post the release dates to our user community. Seemed totally logical to me, the product manager. But, needless to say, there was quite an uncomfortable vibe in development and QA. Rightfully so, our product is immensely complex and we are tweaking and adding buckets of new functionality all the time. The pace takes a bit of getting used to. At the same time, we adopted a completely new development environment. Change is always good:)

Interestingly enough, the good people that develop ubuntu follow the same philosophy– they call it a “cadence”. Check out Mark Shuttleworth speaking about it below.

I am proud to announce that we are coming up on releasing our sixth release perfectly on time. The quality and predictability of our software has never been better. It allows us to respond to enhancement requests, fix bugs add new functionality and plan in a very efficient manner. The stress of delivering everyday is immense, but I feel that it’s what holds us all accountable. Not only accountable to the product, but accountable to the community.

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Now playing: Phish – Piper
via FoxyTunes

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16
Feb 10

Engineers should not fear “the cloud”

I’m going to go on record to state that I’m a huge fan of “the cloud”. They are two words that seem to really send people into a bit of rage lately. People want a definition, they want clarity What is the cloud? Call it what you want, I don’t care, I know what you mean and I want it. I want it now.

I think my friend, “the cloud”, has gotten a bad rap. It definitely took a ribbing at SolidWorks World 2010, where engineers were trying to make a drinking game out of it all. :) My sense is that its easy to make fun of something that you either don’t quite understand or that you don’t exactly see the value. I suspect its the latter in most cases.

If you have read anything on The Virtual Engineer, you will know that I am a huge fan boy of the good ole “cloud”. What is my definition of the cloud? In very simple terms it is web-enabled, web-based, web-hosted, web-stored, web-collaborated computing. Common theme here, “the web”. We all use it, many of us depend on it and some of are are even slightly addicted to it.

upfront cfd external flow simulaiton

So, why does using the word cloud cause anxiety? I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time, because I clearly don’t get it. Am I the minority? Not sure. But, it dawned on me the other day that I have felt the pain of “the old way”. If you haven’t, I’m not sure you will appreciate the value. The old way is a collage of bloated hard drives, sorry-ass USB external drives, various copies of files, handfuls of thumb drives full of stuff. I’m tired of being a VPNing, remote desktoping, begging for more horse power, tired of ftp-ing slave to status quo. I want a new way. I want to have access to my files, wherever, from whatever- laptop, netbook, iphone. If I want to share my files, I want to be able to send a link to someone with highly encrypted password protected safety. I want to be able to, at a minimum, preview my files in a browser. How can I be the minority? Doesn’t everyone want this?

But, the above is just the tip of it. I’m a simulation driven, upfront CAE doing, design guy. I am drinking a Big Gulp size of the the Kool-Aid. But, you want to talk about pain. I’m not sure there is a better reason today for engineers to openly embrace the cloud than in the simulation community. But not just the simulation community, the “upfront cfd” simulation community. Why?

  1. Design engineers tend to want to try numerous what-if scenarios, resulting in numerous back to back runs that ideally could run around the clock
  2. CFD models are getting bigger and bigger and are requiring more and more power
  3. Every design engineering department on the planet is trying to reduce cost of hardware, minimize capital investment- so paying for what you need, when you need it is a no-brainer
  4. More and more engineers find that they are on the go, out of the office and need access to their data, models, computing power from anywhere

I think we are on the cusp of a major break through in the way we engineer. There are a ton of things that need to be figured out. Security, licensing, bandwidth, hardware etc are simply just the basics that need to be worked out. Exciting to see some of the most talented people in the world working on it.

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15
Feb 10

Upfront CAE should help drive design decisions

If you are leveraging upfront CAE (fea, cfd & the like) than kudos to you. You are most likely a step ahead of your competitors. I’d love to hear your candid experiences, both good and bad. There was a big push for upfront CAE about 10 years ago. CosmosWorks, Design Space and others really gave some street credit to upfront structural and some thermal simulation. Hats off to them. They did a great job waking up the engineering community and making “upfront” a reality in the minds of engineers.

Unfortunately, they took the “top down” approach. They were both respectively veterans in the CAE space that had “analyst” tools that were successful in their own right, and now they were changing their tune and exposing their technology to the design community. They found themselves in a very difficult place. They were taking what they knew and tried putting it in different terms. So, the end result was making FEA “easy to use” and making structural analysis “possible for design engineers”. But, I bet if you poll engineers and ask them how many are looking for an “easy to use FEA tool” or an FEA tool created for “design engineers”. I suspect, you will get a mixed bag. Let’s face it, most engineers are not looking for an FEA tool or a CFD tool, for that matter.

Engineers and their managers are looking for a tool that allows them to make better design decisions, reduce the number or physical prototypes, provide information whether a design passed or failed based on some failure criteria. Right? Most engineers could care less that its FEA or CFD. They expect and in many cases, demand that its easy to use. They also should not have to deal with status quo. They need tools that help them make decisions.

Where am I going with this? Don’t be fooled when looking to improve your design process. Don’t just get in line and assume that the “traditional analysis” companies or even worse, the MCAD companies, really understand how to help you make better design decisions. Each one of them is focused 100% in what they do. And what they don’t do is upfront CAE.

Traditional FEA/CFD companies are focused on working with analysts. MCAD companies are focused on 3D design. Each has a “solution” for you or so they claim. But, the reality is they are not focused on what you need.

There are very few companies that know and own the “upfront” FEA and CFD markets. Go out there, bang on google, cream rises to the top.

Don’t take my word for it. See for yourself. But, don’t believe the hype. Make sure you are making the right decision.

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12
Jan 10

Apple 3D Head Tracking for Manufacturing

Ever thought about bobbing and weaving with your CAD model?  I received this video and post today.  Really cool concept. What do you think?

Touch screen seems to be the hot topic in CAD right now. What do people think about head jestering. Obviously, this video takes it to the extreme. I can’t visualize myself moving my head that much (as shown in the video), but the concept is AWESOME! Got me thinking of the next generation of interacting with 3D models in the CAE space.

Recently noticed that even the local weather folks are using fancy touch screens. Imagine it even bigger than this. Imagine taking this to the next dimension and interacting with a holograph. Check out this video that was posted a few months back.

All exciting stuff.I used to be a big time user of the spaceball. I don’t seem to use it as much today. Nothing wrong with it, just not driving CAD as much as I used to. But, coming from someone who is spinning models around daily and creating presentation after presentation. I am looking for the next generation “model manipulation tool”. I might trademark that name. Just came to me…

Me in my virtual world / Uncategorized / cfdesign / cocreate / fea / logitech / quickcam / spaceclaim / yahoo voice — View Comments
15
Dec 09

Pushy software prompts piss people off

In the world of the web, I have seen some really slick ways of alerting the user, notifying the user and updating software. It is becoming more and more common for apps to “auto-update”. Some programs have subtle prompts that an update is available and then guide you through a gentle process of updating.

The next level is when the try to entice you to “upgrade”. Most are subtle and you can tend to ignore them without having to “turn off” the notification. There have been many that I have ignored for quite some time and eventually jumped into the deep end and bucked up. Examples of this –dropbox, evernote, flickr and jing. Many of these programs offer the “free version” and offer extra goodies when you put up some cash. I find my tolerance is based on the impact/cost ratio.

Meaning, many of the above programs offered me surprisingly tremendous value for free, so I felt obliged to take the step. Part of the reason is that I love the new up and coming fighters. The other part is that the upgrade process was simple and the price was reasonable. All of the above range from $15-100/yr.

So far so good, right? I recently received a new machine and was going through the ritual of reinstalling and downloaded XOBNI. They started out as they all do with the free version. I LOVED it. However, the love affair ended this morning. Why? I felt pressured and annoyed. They recently went to a premium option. Fair enough. One of the options in the premium version was to auto-fill your To: box much better than Outlook.They had a slick way of showing you (greyed) out what could have happened if I was on premium, still ok so far. But, I found it very difficult to turn off the teaser and found it to be in the way. I clicked to check out the link and the price was $29.95. Seemed steep, really steep. Enough that I had to think about it and decided to wait. I then noticed that I had to go to options to turn off the premium teaser. hmmm.. Now, I am pissed– annoyed really. So, what did I do?

I uninstalled it. Why? The teaser was annoying, too difficult to turn off and the impact/cost ratio was too high.

MORALE: It is ok to be a bit pushy, but be careful. Above all else, make sure that your impact/cost ratio is within reason. In my case, $9.95 would have been a no-brainer. $14.95, I’d have to think about it. Above that, no thanks. Not one to typically gripe about this sort of thing. But, unfortunately, you got me on a bad day. live and learn, I hope.

Me in my virtual world / Uncategorized / cfdesign / cocreate / fea / logitech / quickcam / spaceclaim / yahoo voice — View Comments
14
Dec 09

CFdesign nominated for NASA Tech Briefs – Product of the Year 2009

I can’t say I am necessarily above asking for you to help and vote for “Blue Ridge Numerics” in the NASA Tech Briefs Product of the Year poll. So, here is my request to consider voting for us this year.

But, I will give you a few solid reasons why I think we deserve it.

    • Abnormal obsession to helping our customers solve flow and thermal design challenges.
    • Constant strive to listen, understand and implement changes to our product to help the world that has been historically intimidated to even consider CFD, not only solve their problems but unleash innovation.
    • Unwavering dedication to helping people adopt a “new way” of product development in lieu of a crappy economy.
    • Undying determination to go up against goliath software companies to deliver a solution for the people, because its who we are to the core.

      Seems a bit over the top, doesn’t it? Anyone that has done business with us or has spoken to any of us, realizes in a few minutes that it is genuine. Genuine passion to exceed expectations…

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      10
      Nov 07

      How to stay in touch when on the road…internationally

      Many of us are required (or choose, depends on your perspective) to be on the road for work and be away from those that are close to us. There are many ways to stay in touch..email, mobile phones, ims, webcam etc..

      Even a few years ago this was a challenge. Remember the days before high speed internet? Local mobile plans were a real treat and calling cards still cost too much. Things have definitely changed quite a bit. Nearly everyone in the US has a nationwide mobile phone plan. Many have PDA phones that allow emails and texting. So, as long as you are traveling in the US, you can stay connected fairly easily. Maybe even connected too much, by some standards?

      But once we travel outside of the US, things can get complicated. Well, let’s face it, things get expensive. Making international calls are getting more reasonable, but roaming is outrageously expensive. Even if you pay the “upgrade” fee to “get the best” price. It costs ~0.99/min in Europe. So even a quick call home can be a few bucks, but usually much more.

      One option is to get a prepaid SIM card for the perspective country and make the long distance call home. Still expensive and a drag to have to go through the hassle. I just returned from a trip to England and have found new ways to “call home”.

      I recently began using Yahoo Messenger to call home. The exact service is referred to as Yahoo Voice.
      So, assuming that I can get descent quality high speed internet access, it has worked out very well. If I call pc to pc, it is free. Yeah, free. If I call pc to phone it is $0.01/min. That is half of the cost of its primary competitor Skype. Another really cool feature is “phone in” service. Allows me to choose a local number that anyone can call that will then ring me at my computer. If I am not there, they can leave a message. I can also forward my US office phone to that number so that I can retrieve voice mails while on the road. Otherwise, even checking voice mail would be a long distance call.

      As long as the internet connection is descent, the sound quality is not bad. I did have slower connection in one hotel and the delay was quite annoying. I find that it is more of a hassle to ensure that my headset is working properly. Seems to have a mind of its own. Mutes the mic, uses the computer speakers instead of the headset. Simple reboot seems to clear up the issues. I am using a Plantronics DSP-400 headset.

      Another perk when traveling is using a webcam. Currently
      I am using a Logitech Quickcam Deluxe for Notebooks. I love the size and the image quality is descent. But I have to say, the stability of the camera isn’t the best. It tends to crash my computer (BSOD) quite often. So, I have to be very careful when I use it not to have too much else running on my machine.

      The key to both the headset and camera that I am using is that they are both fairly portable. The camera is literally the size of a box of matches. The headset folds neatly, but does have a clunky “voice enhancer” thing of some sort. Looks like a battery pack.

      I feel like gypsy because my bag has so many things in it. But staying connected is important to me, so its worth it. These are the gadgets I use for communicating. I am also way into music, I’ll save that for another time.