You will, of course, have noticed that the news pages look different from the rest of this site. That’s because after months of trying to get the site working on the new template, I’ve realised that I don’t have the time to do it all in one shot – so I’m doing it one section at a time; starting with this one.
Category Archives: News
Fiber Optics for Accent Lighting
C|NET reports that a company based in Ohio, USA has created interior lighting systems that consume just one-third the energy compared to the average fluorescent system. In addition, it is said to emit neither heat nor UV light and won’t leak mercury if broken. Although the systems are expensive at the moment, they are expected to become affordable in the near future.
Okay, let’s be clear about how it works. What the system does is that it takes light from a conventional source – say an incandescent or a metal halide and distributes it via flexible plastic cables with optical fibre inside. This light is transferred to numerous “bulbs” which are naturally highly efficient given that there is no emission of heat at all.
Edit [27.09.2015]
The site <http://www.fiberstarspoolandspa.com> seems to have disappeared. Here’s a link to the most recently cached version of the site on Wayback Machine.
CAD Studio downloads from Xanadu
This Czech site (don’t worry, the link is for the English page) contains some useful software, routines, patches and fonts for AutoDesk related products. New uploads have their date highlighted in red so even if you check it once in a couple of months, it’s easy to see what’s changed.
CGI India – free models and textures
For a site that’s been around almost two years, I would have thought there’d be more models to download but, well, it is a blog after all. Their models are in *.3ds format and there are 5 collections of textures as well.
50 Ways to Save Water
Although the report is quite US-centric, the suggestions here can be directly applied by anybody. Most of them don’t cost you anything – all you need, is to care a little for the environment.
Full Report :: 50 ways to save water
Tentmaker GDL Object and More
Free objects from Olivier Dentan including a Tent-maker object; this is modified from the original one created by Frank Chin – who is proving to be quite difficult to find on the net. There are references to objects made by him but none that I can find to download.
GDL Toolbox – Freeware
This is an interactive 3D object editor that works within ArchiCAD to define and modify geometrical objects. Don’t forget to also download the toolbox manual which is twice the size of the software itself.
Edit: The link above no longer works. See the new post on the subject: [[gdl toolbox only in hungarian]]
ArchiCAD Object Depository
Finally Graphisoft decided to set up a central GDL exchange on their own site. Now I only hope it doesn’t stagnate due to lack of contributions – as have many others over time.
Separating Toilets
This may not be great dinner-table conversation but simply separating urine from excreta can make a huge difference to how we approach the issue of human waste. Wost Man Ecology, a firm run by Swedish farmer Ingvar-Nilsson, makes separating toilets that are now selling all across the world. Essentially, the urine can be directly used as a source of urea while the solid waste composts (and turns into fertiliser) much quicker when it’s dry.
CAD Corner
This site wants to be “For Everything AutoCAD”. Includes AutoCAD blocks (version 2006) tutorials, LISP routines, shx fonts and hatches. There’s also a forum for discussion and, possibly trouble-shooting. Time will tell if this site strikes a chord with users or if it’ll die away like many others before it.