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

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.

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…

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.

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…

I have written in previous posts about using MS Communicator for work and using Yahoo Messenger for everything else. But, recently I started using Skype to communicate with some friends and co-workers outside of the US. So, it may seem insane to use three separate messaging programs. But, each has features I like and I tend to use them based on what the person on the other end is using.

I have been using VOIP quite a bit lately. I have always used Yahoo Voice to call home when I am traveling outside of the US. But, I have been using Skype now to communicate for work. It is really convenient. I would love to be able to ditch my office phone (landline) altogether. I am almost always connected to the internet and when I am not I can be reached on my mobile phone. It is just much easier to have it all in one place. Skype has some really cool tools where you can quickly make calls on the fly.

So, why can’t I just ditch my landline? For starters, I use Webex quite a bit and there are some bandwidth issues when using Webex and VOIP. Things are improving but still not perfect. There are some other issues as well.

+’s of Yahoo Voice

• $0.01/min to call the US & UK regardless of where you are calling from, this is half of Skype

• A fraction of a cent more to call France and Germany

• For $2.50/month I have a local (Philadelphia) phone number that anyone can call and will ring at my computer

• If I am away from my computer and receive a voicemail, it emails me an audio file which I can check on my phone or laptop

• I can forward my office phone to my Yahoo # when abroad. Otherwise, I would have to pay long distance to check voice mail or receive forwarded calls.

• My Yahoo # appears as a Caller Identification when I am calling landlines or mobile phones.

-’s of Yahoo Voice

• There is no unlimited US calling. So, even though calls are $0.01/min, I would like the option to pay a monthly flat rate to call unlimited in the US. So, pretty much a show stopper for ditching my office phone.

• The interface is a bit awkward when dialing landlines and mobiles

• Not as accepted as Skype internationally

+’s of Skype

• Solid interface

• Really cool tools built in to identify phone numbers in emails and websites to call directly

• You pay $3/month for unlimited calling to US/Canada

• $0.02/min to call internationally (twice that of Yahoo, but still cheap)

• You can get a phone number for non-skype people to call you for $20/year

• Call forwarding capability

-’s of Skype

• They do not have caller id in the US when calling landlines and mobiles. This is essentially a show stopper for replacing an existing landline for business as people rarely will answer from an “UNAVAILABLE”

• AMEX is not an accepted form of payment

• If you use a VISA credit card, you are limited to $30/month. You have to use other forms – Pay Pal etc to get more. Apparently, that changes the longer you use it.

• Skype mobile is still in its infancy in the US

So, because I am a geek for this type of stuff, I use both. So far so good. I would love to find a product that would do it all. The two show stoppers above would make me a dedicated user and huge evangelist for their products. Not sure anyone from Yahoo or Skype is reading? If so, hook me up.

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.