With Building Information Modeling (BIM) finally taking hold in AEC design firms across the globe and with stats like “…80% of the top 100 AEC firms in the US moving to BIM…” coupled with a noticeable shift to firms wanted to recruit staff with Revit experience, I’m picking we’ll see a return and possibly and increase in the value of Autodesk shares before too long, anyone got any share $$$…

Who would have thought… that back in 2000, you would have made it to 2010 and, in doing so, are now able to buy a 32 GB thumb drive for under $100 to store all your cat pictures and design files on? Or, that you would meet online with a customer in Switzerland for a 5 hour design review? A lot has happened and it’s usually nothing like what we thought it would be or necessarily want it to be. Nevertheless, there are some cool advancements that happen along the way. These are a few of my guesses of what a few of them may be over the next ten years.

1. SolidWorks will release a CATIA translator/converter
2. 3D Design apps on Windows, Mac, Linux or Mobile
3. More apps via (your head in) the cloud
4. Thumb-drive and web upgrades
5. Devices for 3D Product Specs/Design guidelines
6. Print replacement parts
7. People will realize 3D is more than in the movies
8. A big merger between a 3D Design and a Rendering company
9. A major partnership between a 3D Design and a game console company
10. We will design airplanes via Facebook

Want to read more about these predictions – click here

2009 saw the growth of some trends and interest that will most likely carry over into 2010. In addition, I took a look at what were the most popular feature stories published by AECWeekly over the past year.

1) Cloud computing.
2) 3D laser scanning.
3) Visualization/simulation/analysis.
4) Social Networking.
5) Multi-core computing.
6) Doing more with less.
7) Project collaboration tools that enable the BIM process.
3D printing.
9) Building Product Manufacturing.
10) Energy and Building Performance.

For more information please refer to the original post – here

The problem:

The user upgrades their 2G iPhone to latest version of the firmware via iTunes and this doesn’t go well 1. either they were using jail broken firmware in the past or 2. something just gets screwed up, hey it’s technology and stuff happens… you can tell the upgrade has failed because the only thing displaying on your iPhone start screen is the USB connect symbol, grrrr!

The solution: (Windows only)

These are the steps that worked for me on three separate “broken” iPhones from different users, so it’s my assumption that these are a pretty good start to restoring a jail broken 2G iPhone to the 3.0 firmware.

1. (possibly the hardest part) Downgrade your iTunes software to version 7.5, note you may have to rename you iTunes library for it to work, i have a separate PC setup with iTunes 7.5 on it for this reason.

2. Connect the broken iPhone to your PC, turn off the iPhone and put it into DFU mode, ZiPhone can automate this or once connected and turned off, hold the power button for 3 secs, now hold the home button for 10secs without releasing the power button, release the power button but continue to hold the home button for 20secs.

3. Restore the 2G iPhone firmware to 1.1.4, do this by holding down the shift button and clicking restore in iTunes and browse to the 1.1.4 firmware and click ok.
Important: ignore the error message you get when iTunes is verifiing the firmware.

4. While the iPhone is still connected now open ZiPhone and click the “Do it ALL!” button, this will jail break, unlock and active your iPhone. Your iPhone should now be fully functioning again but on the 1.1.4 firmware.

5. Move your iPhone to a PC that has the latest version of iTunes or upgrade iTunes to the latest version and restore the iPhone firmware to 3.0, do this by holding down the shift button and clicking restore in iTunes and browse to the 3.0 firmware and click ok. Your iPhone now has the 3.0 firmware but is now “locked”.

6. Unlock the 3.0 firmware by using RedSnow, run the RedSnow exe and select the 3.0 firmware (same location as step 5) click next, tick Unlock and install Cydia (Cydia is optional), browse to the location for bootloaders 3.9 and 4.6, click next and follow the on screen prompts.

7. Your iPhone should now be fully restored, jail broken, unlocked and activated on the 3.0 firmware. =)

Top Quality Content
The parts you find at RevitCatalog.com are not like other Revit Family sharing sites. Our parts are not user-generated. Instead, we partner with building product manufacturers to create intelligent, stable, and usable Revit Families. What’s more, every part on RevitCatalog.com has been tested and validated by our staff before being published live. Don’t jeopardize your entire project for free content. Check RevitCatalog.com first.

The FAR Manager
In order to download and use parts from RevitCatalog.com, you must use the FAR Manager to import our proprietary transfer format into Revit. The .FAR file format is a tiny file, compressing the complex geometric data of a .RFA file for easy transport and storage.

Google employees and people who have seen the Google Phone have already started posting about their experience with the phone. Jason Howell, an employee at CNet posted on Tech Crunch saying the following about the Google phone:

* It resembled the HTC Hero, but was a bit smaller and definitely thinner.
* Looked sleeker, and was super light.
* Was unlocked and using an AT&T sim card.
* Running on Android 2.1.

Another person that goes by the name Great White Snark also got some hands on with the Google Phone and had this to say:

* “It’s like an iPhone on beautifying steroids”
* “Similar form-factor to the iPhone, but with a smooth-brushed-metal-looking shell instead of a glossy one. And perhaps a smidgen lighter.”
* “Super fast, speech-to-text in EVERY app”
* ” Awesome “live wallpapers” in the background that respond to touch in really beautiful ways. Like water ripples that emanate out from a touch.

So far there have been positive reviews, and the Google Phone is rumored to be launching in January 2010. If you plan on buying an Android phone this month, you may want to just wait until January and see if Google really does launch a Google Phone.