What's New? In CAD

Opinion

VisiCalc was the reason SMBs bought $6,000 PCs in 1979 -- getting the moniker “killer software.” Now Roopinder Tara wonders if the latest release of SketchUp might become the reason for SMBs to pay $3,000 for new iPads. https://www.thecadinsider.com/2024/07/how-to-justify-over-3k-for-the-latest-apple-ipad-pro-sketchup.html

ARES Commander from Graebert Gmbh has long been able to import DGN files from Microstation (Bentley Systems) and convert them to DWG from AutoCAD (Autodesk), IntelliCAD, and so on. Now ARES can export from DWG (its native format) to DGN. https://www.graebert.com/us/cad-software/ares-commander/new-features/

Siemens Software is providing its software to Natilus for its ‘Diamond’ blended-wing aircraft body that might be able to offer 1.5x more cargo capacity than current cargo aircraft, yet gulping down 50% less fuel. Another 50%-er: the time it took to design the pudgy aircraft. (Sorry, I can’t find a link to the press release online.) https://natilus.co/

After Crowdstrike struck out overnight last week, I captured some of the best tweets from Twitter, which was unaffected, on my WorldCAD Access blog: https://www.worldcadaccess.com/blog/2024/07/crowdstrike-strikes-out.html

This is your regular reminder that some CAD vendors want to scrape data you stored on their clouds, but say they want to do it with your permission -- albeit they might hold your data to ransom thru a simple change to their one-sided T&Cs. https://www.proofnews.org/apple-nvidia-anthropic-used-thousands-of-swiped-youtube-videos-to-train-ai/

The Overture Maps Foundation, backed by Esri, Tomtom, and others, releases four global open maps datasets; transportation remains in beta: https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/24/backed-by-microsoft-aws-and-meta-the-overture-maps-foundation-launches-first-open-map-datasets/

With so many car manufacturers this year announcing that they giving up going all-electric by a specific date, the future for hydrogen-fueled cars is also looking bleak. The reality: "Refueling takes many hours, caused by hydrogen pumps freezing up and locking onto the vehicle. Frustrated owners are then left waiting 30 minutes for the pump nozzle to warm up enough for a safe disconnection.” https://www.carscoops.com/2024/07/toyota-sued-by-mirai-owners-for-hydrogen-refueling-issues/

The magazine I still write for, 'Design Engineering', celebrates its 70th birthday in January. Seventy years is amazing in the print magazine market. Read it here, including my 'CAD Report' columns going back to 2012: https://www.design-engineering.com/digital-edition/

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