Not Just CAD!

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas & New Year.....

Dear all,

I know I haven't been around much this year....it has been a tough year.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Christmas and New Year and thank you all for your continued support and that you read my posts when I post them!

Peace and love to all of you.

Just before I go though, having spent time in Las Vegas at Autodesk University and having got married there and enjoyed all Vegas has to offer, spare a thought for the people mentioned in this article in the LA Times that I read today.....

(Paste this link in your browser if the above link doesn't work - http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-tunnel22-2009dec22,0,204722.story).

It really made me think. I have walked the sidewalks and driven the highways of Vegas on numerous occasions not even realised that these people were in their situation.

I hope they all find peace and happiness in their troubled lives, especially at this time of year. Spare a thought for them.

Take care....

SB

Yesterday and today...

Apologies for a severe lack of posts. Life has been hectic to say the least!

This is not a CAD related post today. As the title of my blog goes, Not Just CAD!

Yesterday...

Yesterday was a great day.

Angel (my first song to be released) was released on iTunes, Napster, eMusic, Rhapsody and Amazon MP3. Look up "Shaun C Bryant" and you'll find me! :-)

So now I feel a tiny bit like a rockstar! I can see why artists get excited about new releases. As soon as I saw that ReverbNation had delivered Angel to the online retailers, I went straight to my iTunes account. It was then that I realised that I hadn't used iTunes for a long while and had forgotten my account details (must be gettin' old!). So, one new iTunes account later, I was staring at my laptop screen and there I was on iTunes. Loads of emotions and thoughts went through my head. That's me. The whole world can download me. It is the weirdest feeling. On a par with when I first heard Wolfman play Angel on Wolf Radio Network on the Internet that time (or even times now!). You sort of feel like you've arrived, like all the hard work was worth it. Even if I only get a handful of people download it, it means something.

More importantly, the whole world now know exactly how I feel about my Angel. My beautiful Angel who saved me and makes me who I am today. So Angel, this one is for you!

On another note I spent a superb night in the studio last night, working on my new track, Heroin For The Soul. I managed to lay down a vocal framework for my producer, the excellent David Baird, and we now have a template to lay everything down to, so it is all systems go!

Thank you to everyone. I have had so much support from family, friends and just about everyone else I know. It makes you realise that all the hard work you put in is worth it.

Love and peace to you all, and if you haven't downloaded Angel yet, where have you been? :-)

Today...

Today is two things. It is Armistice Day. The day we remember our family, friends and comrades who have fallen in combat serving their country. We also must remember all who are still serving in foreign lands fighting with pride, grit and determination.

Today is also the funeral of a very good friend of mine, Sandra Hurley. Sandra was a great colleague of mine when I worked at MASS. Surrogate mum, friend, confidante and the lady who always laughed and made everyone else laugh. A breath of fresh air, always happy, always smiling. She will be missed. Safe journey, Sandra....thinking of you.

Enough said.

SCB

Shaun IS the Expert! (AutoCAD Exchange - Ask the Expert)

Hello all!

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, just extremely busy (which is great) on the work front but also busy on the music front, having just put my first songwriting effort out there on the Internet!

I am extremely pleased to say (albeit a little late!) that I am the Expert on the "Ask the Expert" section on AutoCAD Exchange this week from Monday 12 October through to Friday 16 October, so if you have any questions you would like to ask about AutoCAD, get on the site and ask me!

(If the link doesn't work, use http://autocad.autodesk.com/).

If you haven't done so already, you will need to set up a login to access AutoCAD Exchange, but get on there! It is best AutoCAD information portal out there (and it is run by Autodesk!).

Look forward to seeing you there!

Happy CADD'ing!

SB

PS - If you want a listen to my song, try my ReverbNation page!

(If the link doesn't work try www.reverbnation.com/shauncbryant).

AutoCAD 2010 Essentials - Training course slots available in Wokingham, Berkshire!

Hello all!

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. It's just been very busy this end, what with the end of the summer, kids starting school again, recording in the studio and everything else (including the day job!).

Anyway, MASS, who specialise in Facilities Management (FM), are offering an AutoCAD 2010 Essentials course on 19-21 October 2009 that covers all of the basics you need to know to become a competent user of AutoCAD 2010.

It's not often I push someone else's training courses! But, in the current climate I thought I would do one of my longest standing customers a favour! After all, I will be trainer on this particular course, so you do get the extra benefit of my company for the three day course also! (LOL).

So, to spend three days with me (and learn how to use AutoCAD 2010!), please contact Jennie Vincent via email on jvincent@mass-plc.com or you can call her directly on +44 (0)1189 778583. Also, in order for Jennie to track where the training inquiry came from, please just mention that you heard it from me! (Shaun Bryant, that is!).

If you book on the course, I'll see you there!

Happy AutoCAD'ing!

SB

 

 

Quick Tip for all CAD users!: A Man on the Moon - Scott Sheppard (Autodesk)

Well, I have a confession to make. I wasn't born when NASA put a man on the moon but I was born a few month's afterwards (September). Therefore, it must have been a good year! 1969. JFK promised to get there before the end of the decade (before he was so cruelly assassinated) and NASA kept his promise. Bryan Adams sang about the Summer of '69 so I guess that year sticks in many people's minds as the year we reached for the stars and we actually got there.

Mankind has many faults. One of which is to get down when the going gets rough. Watching "Moonshot" the other night (a TV dramatization of the moon landing), I realised that people died to get us on the moon. They died for a cause and we all have a cause. That cause is to be remarkable and make a difference. All of the team involved in the first manned moon landing of Apollo 11; engineers and astronauts alike, believed in their cause and so should we all. Even if it is just to get by in such difficult times. It is tough out there right now but things will improve and things will change. Just believe in yourself like those guys at NASA did. You never know what might happen!

So, why am I waxing lyrical about the 40th anniversary of the moon landing? Well, it marks my 40th year, for one, and secondly, Scott Sheppard's blog with a copy of an email from the VP of Autodesk Labs inspired me. So, thanks, Scott. You brightened up my day and make me realise that it is NOT all doom and gloom!

Go to Scott's blog here.

Or here is the link in full: -

http://labs.blogs.com/its_alive_in_the_lab/2009/07/man-on-the-moon.html

Happy CAD'ing!

SB

Quick Tip for AutoCAD: Get some training! - An example of what NOT to do!

Dear All

I hope you had a great weekend. I spent some of mine teaching my 7 year old son and 12 year old daughter how to play baseball with my dad (grandad). I was expecting my son to wallop the ball and lose it (he has a tendency to do that sort of thing - you know how young boys are, right?). Surprise, surprise, my dad (who is 68 by the way) hit the ball the furthest and we had to lower my son over a fence in to a cornfield to retrieve our ball! Our big adventure for a Sunday afternoon! LOL

On a professional note, as you are already probably aware, I work closely with the Virtual Training Company (VTC) writing video learning courses for AutoCAD. As an instructor and training consultant on AutoCAD, I cannot stress enough the need for appropriate AutoCAD training, whether it be in the classroom, on video, from books, or wherever you may find it.

The UK distributor for VTC emailed me this example of what NOT to do with AutoCAD. It highlights the need for training and learning on AutoCAD to ensure that costly errors like this aren't made at the point of construction.

Check out the link here. It is a news story in one of our UK national newspapers, the Daily Mail. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL in to your browser;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1197279/Computer-error-blamed-couples-1million-dream-home-built-big.html

In this example, it is obvious that the AutoCAD user and the planning authority need to have to have their day in court to sort this one out, but with the right training, none of this should have happened!

To get the RIGHT training and make sure YOU don't make costly mistakes, check out the current VTC AutoCAD titles I have authored for VTC below. Further AutoCAD 2010 titles are due out soon!

Quickstart: AutoCAD 2010 (online only)

AutoCAD 2009: Mastering Basic 2D Concepts

AutoCAD 2009: Certified Associate

AutoCAD 2009: Certified Professional

Happy AutoCAD'ing (check that plot scale! - LOL).

SB

It's OFFICIAL! I am now on Twitter!

Well, it is now official! I am on Twitter!

Having resisted for as long as possible, I succumbed yesterday when my lovely wife (Michelle) told she had set up a Twitter account for her business. Being the uber-geek that I am and not wanting to be outdone, I set up my account!

For those of you who want to follow me on Twitter, there is a Twitter widget in the left column of the blog (apologies for the odd formatting - will resolve as soon as).

For those of you who are already "tweetophiles", my Twitter ID is notjustcad and the url is http://twitter.com/notjustcad.

I will also be linking Twitter to my Facebook profile very soon!

Looking forward to hearing your "tweets" (sic) :-)

Happy tweet'ing!

SB

Quick Tip for AutoCAD - OVERKILL - by Ellen Finkelstein

Well, hello everyone! long time, no speak!

No excuses, just been real busy, which I guess is a good thing in these troubled times.

I regularly read Ellen Finkelstein's blog at www.ellenfinkelstein.com and I love her simple approach to AutoCAD. It is easy to understand and just makes for easy reading. Thanks, Ellen!

Her tip for AutoCAD about the OVERKILL command found in the AutoCAD Express Tools is a very under-used (and under-rated!) command. It allows you to resolve issues such as overlapping lines and polylines, saving ink when you plot, for example.

 

Go directly to the page on Ellen's blog here!

Great blog, Ellen, thanks!

Happy AutoCAD'ing!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

SB

Quick Tip for AutoCAD - DWGOpen by Phill Ash

I came across this superb little application that runs within AutoCAD called DWGOpen written by Phill Ash when he posted a discussion group on it on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com).

If you are running multiple versions and profiles of AutoCAD on your PC/laptop, Phill's app brings up a small dialog box that asks you which version and which profile you wish to use to open a DWG file. Cool, huh?

Phill's webpage for this app is here. You can also go to his LinkedIn profile if you are a LinkedIn member.

I think that this is a superb app for AutoCAD, especially when working in a large corporate environment using multiple versions of AutoCAD on multiple projects.

Nice one, Phill and thanks for giving me permission to put your app on my blog!

It is now 12.42am on the 3 June 2009.

I must get some sleep.....zzzzz!

SB

A quick apology!

Hello all!

Well, my first thing is an apology to my blog candy winners! Yes, you have won blog candy but I have not shipped it yet and it is very remiss of me so, SORRY. The only excuse I can give (which is probably a bit lame) is the current economic climate (which EVERYONE is blaming for EVERYTHING!). It has affected my business quite severely so I just have not had time to sort it all through! However, I will make sure it ships very soon!

Secondly, I apologise for no posts recently. Sometimes, things just get in the way of what you want to do. Some things are good, some things are bad. I have had my fair share of the good and the bad recently. No excuses. It has been that way for a while. However, things are improving and I promise to be a better (more frequent) blogger!

It's real late here (12.30am) and I am working away from home so sleep now.....

Night!

SB