Oh, yeah, the best tech tip EVER is … Back up your hard drive when you suspect your computer is nearing end of life. 

On that note, I have to thank Matt Lombard for his input on my new Dell M4400 laptop. I scored it for less than my $1200 budget, and I’m still a fan of the Dell Outlet. (Even if they did ship it to the wrong address) It has plenty of power without the overwhelming size and weight of my old M60. The screen is bright and clear, and for some reason as yet unclear to me, I like the ribbed cover.   The 9 cell battery lasts an impressive 6 hours, although I have yet to use it for lengthy, processor intensive operations and I suspect that may affect its staying power. 

On a personal note, I’m turning into a personal consulting business.   I know it’s a crazy thing to do right now, but I figure if I’m not working for anyone else, I might as well not work for myself.

I have selected the Professional version, mainly for the PDMWorks utility. Even a small company can really benefit from managing different projects for different clients. I really hate it when I can’t find my files. Another benefit of a utility like this is that I can access client’s vaults. (I know as long as the stars line up and everyone is on the same version, SPs, and the user privileges are all in line, but I can dream, can’t I?)

Sure Photo rendering is nice, but like most engineers, I admittedly lack a fundamental understanding of aesthetics. Design checker, on the other hand gets me excited for the possibilities.  Wouldn’t it be great to automatically check each drawing for compliance before it’s checked in?   

Stay tuned for site upgrades….