SomeBackup – Technology Blog

Computer Aided Design (CAD) is a form of software automation that uses various computer-aided design tools that helps engineers, architects and other professionals in the design activity purposes. It is considered to be both software and special-purpose hardware. In product lifecycle management, the use of geometric tools plays a significant role. The CAD is available in various packages ranging from 2D vector based drafting systems to 3D parametric surface and solid design modelers.

CAD allows you to prepare fast and accurate drawings. Virtually anything can be constructed and built as a design model developed in the CAD system. The flexibility to alter the drawings is performed very easily with a minimal effort. It is also referred as Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD). It is sometimes translated as computer-assisted or computer-aided drafting. The tool provides you a better and the faster way of developing the drawings with better creativity.

CAD is used in major areas like applications that involve computer graphics, computer- aided manufacturing, solid modeling, solving by constraints, architectural purpose and VLSI design. Other fields that use the CAD are Architecture Engineering and Construction, Building Engineering (AEC), Mechanical CAD (MCAD), Electronic and Electrical (ECAD), manufacturing process planning, and digital circuit design.

CAD uses four basic phases that are used for designing and manufacturing. They are the requirement phase which collects the basic requirements and conceives the basic idea. The designing phase uses detailed component modeling and assembly modeling. The development phase uses engineering drawings. The tool design is used in the manufacturing phase.

Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), CAD/CAM applications, CAD scanners, CAD resources, and the software used by these computer-aided techniques all enable the drawing to be developed quickly and easily. General purpose CAD software, 3D rendering software, CAD/CAM software, facility management CAD, architectural CAD software, solid modeling CAD software and Mechanical CAD (MCAD) are the major computer-aided software applications that are used.

Whether you are shopping for accounting software to help budget your personal or business expenses, you may find that managing all of your files with a single program helps you to save time and know exactly where your money goes. If you are familiar with the accounting process, you already know how complicated ledgers, account statements, debits and credits can be. In an effort to simplify the accounting process, a number of manufacturers have created software specifically designed to help make your life a little easier.

Before deciding on any one particular accounting software program, keep the following tips in mind:

Because many popular online software specialty stores allow for product feedback from customers, you will have the opportunity to read reviews that may help to make your decision easier based on the experiences by others who have already used the accounting software in question. Pay close attention to customer reviews when shopping for software.

When you consider the purchase of any type of software, including that of accounting, you will want to make sure that it is compatible with your computer and that all PC requirements are met before purchasing the product. Many software programs require a specific type of processor, available memory, etc. In order for the software to function properly your computer will need to be able to handle all of the applications contained therein. By being familiar with your computer’s configuration, you will be able to make a better selection when it comes time to purchase your new accounting software.

When shopping for accounting software, read about the program’s description and capabilities. You will need to make sure that you are either already familiar with the application or that you will be comfortable in learning how to use it. The reason is because many retailers will not accept software that is being returned if it has already been opened. So, before you buy, consider downloading a trial version or purchase an accounting software program that you are already familiar with.

Purchase your accounting software from a company that has been in a business for awhile and one that has a good reputation. This will ensure prompt customer service, reliability, product assurance and a timely shipment. By purchasing software from a reliable and established business, you will also gain the peace of mind in knowing that the title is authentic and not an illegal copy. The most effective way of checking out a business’s reputation is through the Better Business Bureau.

Learn about the company’s return, refund and/or exchange policy. Although most retailers will not refund the purchase if software has been opened, they may be willing to exchange it for the exact title if the program is defective or damaged.

Correction at 10:45 a.m. PST: The ability to start downloading the beta ended at the start of Tuesday.

The clock is ticking for those that want to play around with the Windows 7 beta.

Microsoft issued a late reminder on Monday that people had only until midnight Pacific time to start downloading the operating system.

Those who started their download in time have until 9 a.m. PST Thursday to finish the process, Microsoft has said. Those who went to the site on Tuesday were able to get a product key, but not the code itself.

“We’re sorry, but downloads are no longer available,” Microsoft says when users click through from the download page.

Although the beta version will cease being available to the general public, members of Microsoft’s MSDN and TechNet developer programs will continue to have access to the code.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Windows 7 Beta at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. After a slight hiccup, Microsoft made the code available on January 10.

The software maker has said the next test version of Windows 7 will be a near-final “release candidate” version, although it has not said when to expect that to arrive. Officially Microsoft has said that the final version of Windows 7 will come by the end of January 2010, although the company has been aiming to get it done in time to be on PCs that ship for this year’s holiday-shopping season.

DownThemAll!
This is a good replacement for a regular download manager. It offers all the typical functionality of a Downloads manager. This plugin currently has 1.3 million active users which is a testament of its popularity and usefulness. This certainly is a money saver.

“The first and only download manager/accelerator built inside Firefox!”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/201
DejaClick
DejaClick plugin records all the events on a browser and plays it back for you in the same sequence whenever required. For example, if you open certain sites the moment you switch your computer on, this activity can be recorded and played every time you switch the computer on instead of manually opening one site after another.

“DéjàClick is a web recorder and Super Bookmark utility designed exclusively for Firefox. You can record and bookmark your browser activities, then with a single click, replay the entire sequence all over again.”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3262

FireFTP
This has got to be one of the best extensions every made for Firefox. I use it day in & day out and “almost” never had an issue with it. I highly recommend this plugin for bloggers and webmasters, I love it for its simplicity and for the fact that it is free.

“FireFTP is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers.”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/684

Gspace
This extension simply connects to your gmail account and lets you upload or download files off the gmail space. Every time a file is uploaded you will see an e-mail in your account with the file attached. If the file is deleted using Gspace the e-mail disappears too.

“This extension allows you to use your Gmail Space (4.1 GB and growing) for file storage. It acts as an online drive, so you can upload files from your hard drive and access them from every Internet capable system. The interface will make your…”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1593

Firebug
Firebug is a MUST HAVE plugin for web designers or anyone who does any type of development online. Firebug lets you easily analyze, edit code or view CSS or JS while at the site.

“Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page… Firebug 1.2 requires Firefox 3. Firefox 2 users should install the older 1.05 version of Firebug.”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1843

Screengrab!
Screengrab saves time and machine resources. It does not run as a separate program unlike most of the other screen capturing programs. As it is a Firefox plugin, it only works within the webpage area.

“Screengrab saves entire webpages as images…”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146

Codetch
Author description says it all. It’s the closest you can get to a professional web editing interface in a browser.

“Get the feel of Dreamweaver in a Firefox extension. Edit your documents right next to your web pages as you surf.”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1002

Gmail Manager
This is an ideal plugin to save time for people who maintain multiple Gmail accounts. It lets you configure multiple Gmail accounts and sits on the status bar and alerts you of new mails in any of the configured accounts.

“Allows you to manage multiple Gmail accounts and receive new mail notifications. Displays your account details including unread messages, saved drafts, spam messages, labels with new mail, space used, and new mail snippets.”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1320

Stealther
This is the best plugin is you want to surf the net undercover. It disables tracking of certain features on the browser which makes it possible for the users to browse the internet anonymously.

“If there are times you want to surf the web without leaving a trace in your local computer, then this is the right extension for you”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1306

Menu Editor
Menu Editor lets you choose what you want to see on your Firefox menu and the options within a menu. All it takes is a click to hide the entire menu on the browser.

“Menu Editor is an extension that allows you to customize the menus in Firefox and Thunderbird.”

Downloads Page: http://menueditor.mozdev.org/

Greasemonkey
Greasemonkey is a plugin which adds additional functionality to webpages based on the custom JavaScript code feeded into the plugin.

“Allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript.

Hundreds of scripts, for a wide variety of popular sites, are already available at http://userscripts.org.

You can write your own scripts, too. Check out http://wiki.greasespot.net/ to get started.”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748

MeasureIt
MeasureIt comes in really handy if you want to know the dimensions of an image or anything on the webpage. This plugin sits on a status-bar and on a click of a button it helps you measure the area of the given object.

“Draw out a ruler to get the pixel width and height of any elements on a webpage.”

Downloads Page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/539

Talk has started around the new operating system from Microsoft, Windows 7 will be the successor to Windows Vista and is expected to be available sometime in 2010. The new OS is currently part way through a 3 year development period and the exact launch date will only be released once certain quality targets have been met.

Some of the key features of the new OS will include:

• Advancements in touch, speech, and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, and kernel improvements.
• Support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors and a new version of Windows Media Center.
• Gadgets being integrated into Windows Explorer, a Gadget for Windows Media Center.
• The ability to visually pin and unpin items from the Start Menu and Recycle Bin.
• Improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack being integrated.
• A multiline Calculator featuring Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion.

A couple of screen shots of different builds are currently available, just click the thumbnails below: