Genre: Promotion

The ADGE Services Exchange A new way to co-operate in an increasingly virtual world : the virtual employee . Small business people face a typical problem : You ca n't be excellent in all areas . Some of us became real good in ARx programming or build dialogue boxes on the fly or are good at writing the manual , creating localized versions of software , creating the installation routines and help files . ADGE ( Autodesk Developer Group - Europe ) maintains a database of services . Every member is free to enter all services they can offer to other members ; every ADGE member can access the database to find the services you need . Your participation at the ADGE Services Exchange is included with your membership fee , so it costs nothing . We encourage you not to sell services but to exchange them . If you create my ARx module , maybe I can create your installation routine . You can download your copy of the data base from the ADGE library on CompuServe ( file : SERVICES . ZIP ) . The database access program is a small AutoLISP program -- so everyone can run it . We will update the file frequently , so download the latest version before looking for services . If you do n't have access to CompuServe , contact ADGE for the latest disk-based version . You are requested to keep the database confidential . " And at the bottom are pointers to my VRML App-Killers page ( even SGI's browser crashes on one of the files ) and VRML Illumination Comparison page , which shows the problem with the loose definition of materials in VRML v1 . 0 -- each browser renders the same VRML scene differently . " What Is ' CAD ' Short For ? For most of us , " CAD " is short for computer-aided design or computer-aided drafting . For the public at large , " CAD " refers to men having dubious relationships with England's royal females . From the Newsbytes news service , we find another definition for " CAD " : " Doppler sound wave technology is being used to measure the rate of blood flow through blocked coronary arteries ... Called a FloWire , the device helps determine the severity of coronary artery disease ( CAD ) , and whether patients are likely to experience recurrence of artery lesions in the future . " Users Find 201 Bugs in AutoCAD Release 13c4 The unauthorized AutoCAD R13 bug list is now in its seventh edition , reporting a total of 425 items . Bug collector Steve Johnson 100251.2544@compuserve.com says the eighth edition can be expected soon . Here is the summary of bugs found by users ( not Autodesk ) of AutoCAD : " This list is not intended to be used as a scorecard to see how well Autodesk is doing at fixing bugs . Autodesk have their own bug list and assign their own priorities about which bugs should be fixed first . However , because this list includes various items that are not bugs in the current version , it is possible to get the wrong impression of the current state of Release 13 . This list will continue to grow , even if the total number of current bugs decreases with each update . " Bugs that are partially fixed are considered current for the purposes of this table . This table does purport not show the total number of bugs in each version of Release 13 , rather the number of bugs from this list in the ten incremental versions : WorldCAD Access is the official Web site for the unauthorized AutoCAD Release 13 bug list . You can view the seven editions on-line with any Web browser or download complete PkZIP files in either ASCII text or Word 2 format at : http://haven.uniserve.com/~ralphg/ Global Internet Service Even though the Internet is global ( there 's even sites in the Antarctica ) , your Internet Service Provider is n't . That means globe-trotters and road warriors might need to dial long-distance to access the Internet . Now the Newbytes news service reports that " a group of ten Internet service providers from seven Asian nations and the United States have become founding members of the new Global Reach Internet Consortium ( GRIC ) , a group set up by Santa Clara-based Aimnet to offer a worldwide Internet roaming system . The new service allows customers of any of the member ISPs to access the Internet via lines of other member ISPs when travelling . " Autodesk Switches Support to Integer Numbers One argument between CAD vendors is whether integer or real numbers are better for storing data . MicroStation and Cadvance use integers ; CadKey and AutoCAD use floating point numbers . But recently Autodesk reversed its preference . From the documentation for DWF ( drawing Web format , its new 2D vector file format ) , here is the argument Autodesk makes for switching to integers : " Thirty-one-bit integer values are used [ in DWF ] because they allow for more precision and greater computing speed than 32-bit floating-point values . Out of a floating-point number's 32 bits , eight bits are used to store exponent and sign information , leaving only 24 bits of true precision ( not to be confused with a floating point number's large range ) . " If a map were drawn with [ DWF's ] 31-bit integer coordinates , over 21,000 kilometers ( approximately 12,000 miles ) of distance could be uniquely resolved down to one-centimeter ( approximately a half-inch ) increments . If 32-bit floating-point coordinates were used , only 167 kilometers ( approximately 100 miles ) could be resolved to this level of detail . " The End of TESS , As We Knew It TESS ( or The Tesselation Times ) was a weekly email newsletter , sort of like this upFront . eZine newsletter . For its 3,000 readers , the staff of 3D Artist magazine put together news about the 3D graphics , CAD , and VRML industry -- oft times scooping the mainline magazines by a month or more . Earier this month , TESS reduced operations as a victim of Internet Economics . If you recall , the idea behind Internet Economics is that you make lots of money by giving product away for free . Hey , it certainly worked well enough for Netscape . Editor / publisher Bill Allen wrote this in TESS's final editorial : " In business , one must experiment to find out what works and what does n't . Last December we considered eliminating * The Tessellation Times * as an experiment that had n't worked as intended . But TESS provides communications we need to keep open with our magazine subscribers , so we are moving forward in a new direction . " TESS now will be much briefer , dropping most reporting on shows , insider business news , technology , and programming . Instead we will stick to what everyday professional desktop 3D graphics users actually need to do their work better . TESS will continue to be freely available on our Web and ftp sites , but only will be broadcast to current magazine subscribers and advertisers ( no comp or other free broadcast after this , Tess # 617 ) . " June Issue of the CAD ++ VRML Newsletter " Attack of the Killer Internet CAD Standards " is the headline for the June , 1996 , issue of the CAD ++ VRML Newsletter . The publication calls itself " The # 1 Newsletter for CAD on the Internet . " Autodesk has declared that " There is currently no standard for CAD on the Web . " The article describes the many different ways that four CAD vendors -- Autodesk , Bentley Systems , CadKey , and Intergraph -- desperately hope to be that new standard for CAD on the Internet . The issue of CAD ++ VRML features : Reviews of alpha and beta CAD-for-Internet products being offered by four CAD vendors . CAD on the Internet Survey Due to the slow rate of CAD vendors returning surveys , we 'll delay reporting the results of our survey of how CAD vendors are attacking the Internet . If you are a CAD vendor interested in participating , send email to ralphg@xyzpress.com .