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Cannon News Archives
Excerpts from the Cannon Newsletter
Following are excerpts from The Cannon News, a newsletter published quarterly.
Olde Towne Nipomo Project Wins 1st Place - May 1999
Life as I find it - a note from the president - December 1999
Auto Cad Tips - May 1999
Auto Cad Tip - December 1999 - Submitting Electronic Files to Clients
MS Office Tips - December 1999 - Windows Crashes, that's just the nature of the beast
Olde Towne Nipomo Project Wins 1st Place
The Central Coast American Planning Association Chapter has awarded 1st Place to the Olde Towne Nipomo Design and Circulation Plan for excellence in plan implementation for a small jurisdiction.
This Plan, prepared by the Cannon Associates Planning Department, is the result of two years of work with the Nipomo business community and the County of San Luis Obispo. The plan, which is now adopted by the County, will provide the framework for public improvements such as streets and parks. It also provides architectural and landscape guidelines for new businesses, and existing businesses wanting a face lift.
Life as I find it - a note from the president
That which does not kill you makes you stronger. The economy and our current list of projects has generated some of the most challenging working conditions in Cannon's history. The challenges are not necessarily technical, although the projects are not without their complexities.
These challenges have presented quite a learning experience for many of us.
In fact it has been a sort of trial by fire for some of us; stretching us well beyond our comfort zone. Some of us may wonder at times what we are really capable of handling.
Some people never really find out what their mental or physical limits are. They either never try or they bail out before they get close, simply unwilling to push themselves to that level.
For those of us who choose to push ourselves to and sometimes beyond our limits, and it is always our own choice to do so, we must anticipate that at some point we will experience the mental and physical symptoms of living in the extreme.
I say that we must anticipate these symptoms because they will come, in one form or another. In any case, we should never be ashamed or embarrassed by the onset of one or more of these reactions. They are our defensive mechanisms telling us that it is time to reassume control of our helm and bring our existence back below redline.
Rarely, is it pleasant to see or experience. However, we must bear in mind a sense of uplifting pride and admiration for the strength of character and personal fortitude it took to push ourselves to reach that point.
When we think of people who stretch themselves beyond their limits most of us eliminate ourselves from the list of achievers thinking that the title is only bestowed on mountain climbers, world class runners, soldiers, or victims recovering from life threatening situations. Those are the headliners, but there are people among us, right here in the working world, who do it with no fanfare and sometimes with little appreciation. It is not always of such heroic nature to merit front page news but the commitment, the perseverance, and the accomplishment are still quite extraordinary.
Every time we push ourselves to our limit, it is an opportunity to discover valuable secrets and insights about us. With each experience of this magnitude or intensity we gain confidence to face similar levels of adversity with greater ease or to face greater adversity. Both of these conditions increase our potential for greater personal understanding and achievement. Every experience builds more confidence, fortitude and maybe most valuable of all, more wisdom and compassion.
It is in that area high up on the mountain, on the far side of our personal limits where the valuable information about ourselves and our potential is cached. And only those who venture there ever discover it. There's no other way.
Cannon in the Community - March 2000
Did you know that in addition to the hours he puts in at Cannon, Dick Heffner also spends approximately 20 hours every month volunteering for the Habitat for Humanity? Habitat for Humanity is a worldwide Community Services Organization that facilitates the construction of new residential housing for low-income families. He started working with them 10 years ago and has recently been involved with the grading and permitting for three houses that are currently undergoing construction in Paso Robles. He finds donating his time and services, and the camaraderie and association with the other volunteers to be extremely gratifying. (What? You mean Thursday nights at Spike's with the Cannon crew isn't enough?)
Fun fact about Habitat: The average cost of a new home in California in 1998 was $180,000. The average cost of a new home built by Habitat for Humanity is $40,000. Hmmm, now I'm wondering how I can get them to build a house for me……Dick tells me that applicants are first screened to see if they meet the income qualifications and demonstrate a need, hardship, or disability. The chosen family must also spend anywhere from 200 to 500 hours assisting in the construction of their home. That counts me out, I hate splinters.
Most all of the materials for these homes are donated as well as the land. Locally, there are nearly 5,000 pounds of used and usable building materials stored at a new warehouse facility at Cuesta College. The biggest challenge the organization faces is acquiring property. Letters are sent out to vacant lot owners throughout the county, requesting donation of the property, sale at a reduced price, or cash donations to build future Habitat houses.
Locally, as many as 20 volunteers can be seen on any given weekend at a construction site but there are hundreds on the volunteer list. Dick recounted how recently a group of Cal Poly Architecture students wanted to assist with some design work, (yikes - have you seen those experimental structures in Poly Canyon?) Needless to say they were encouraged to stick to more conventional designs. Phew!
Lastly, Dick informed me that our own George Marchenko, Lance Rosenfield, Joshua Moody, and Laurie Lucas and the firm itself have also volunteered and/or provided financial donations to the local Habitat efforts. Way to go! The Habitat for Humanity is always looking for more volunteers to do everything from construction implementation to family selection. Contact the Habitat office at 782-0687 to find out how you can help.
Auto Cad Tips - May 1999
This edition's AutoCAD tip will focus on blocks. Since we are developing new standards and blocks, creating them properly is more important now than ever.
One important thing to consider is that we create drawings in many different scales, so making blocks at a 1-to-1 scale is very important so that others can scale them to their own drawing scales and be the appropriate size. A block with text can then be inserted to a 1"=40' drawing as easily as 1"=100' with the text scaling at the correct size (by using block scaling of 40 or 100).
Also, layer 0 has a special importance with blocks. When objects assigned to layer 0 are used as parts of blocks, those objects take on the characteristics of the layer on which the block is inserted. On the other hand, if those objects are on a layer other than 0, they will maintain their original layer characteristics even if you insert or change the block to another layer. Make sure that the insertion point is at 0,0 because this is the reference point AutoCAD uses to input your blocks.
Remember to purge your blocks of all non-used layers, text styles, etc. This keeps their size to a minimum and Monica very happy.
The final thought is if a standard block, such as a border, is to be changed, always update the standard block - not the one in the drawing - so everyone will have the new block available.
Auto Cad Tip - December 1999
Submitting Electronic Files to Clients: Since many of our files contain x-references, submitting electronic files to clients can be difficult. However, if you bind the x-referenced files into the master drawing, this process can be much easier.
To bind files you must open the x-reference dialog box and choose "bind." Within this option, there are two choices: bind and insert. Choosing "bind" will maintain the x-referenced elements (layers, linetypes, text, and dimension styles) by creating new layers in the master drawing with the x-referenced name as the layer name prefix (for example "xref-name: layer name" would be the total layer name in the master drawing). Choosing "insert" will merge the x-referenced elements with the named elements in the master drawing. For example, if both the x-reference and the master drawing have layers with the same name, the x-referenced layers will be placed on the master drawing, however, the master drawing layers will prevail. The bind option is recommended to maintain drawing integrity.
Note: The bind option does have its problems. For example, the 32-character layer-naming limit can cause trouble. To avoid this problem, rename the x-reference using a smaller name but do not rename the layers. For example, if a x-referenced file name exceeds 32 characters, an error will occur when trying to bind it to the master drawing. Therefore, type block at the command prompt and then block enter the old name and enter a new shorter name.
Hopefully these suggestions will solve your binding troubles. Good luck and happy cadding!
MS Office Tips - December 1999
Windows Crashes: that's just the nature of the beast.
Out of Resources: Windows stores vital information in two 64KB sections of RAM called resources. When these sections get filled up, (this usually occurs when you run a lot of programs at once or keep your computer on for days at a time) Windows becomes unstable. To limit the frequency of your crashes, don't load unnecessary programs, and reboot your computer every day.
Viruses: If something that used to work is suddenly giving you trouble, you may have caught some malicious code. Make sure your antivirus software is up to date.
Hardware: Bad memory, dying power supplies, overheated processors, poorly connected cables, or badly seated boards are all capable of destabilizing your operating system. If nothing else solves your problem, unplug and open your computer. Excessive dust can cause overheating, so you might try using a small vacuum cleaner or compressed air blower (made specifically for PCs) to clean up the dust. Also, check to ensure that the cables and boards are connected properly. If you continue to experience frequent crashes take your computer to your service vendor for a professional checkup.
If nothing else works and the crashing becomes intolerable, it's probably time to wipe out and reinstall Windows.
Note: These tips are for the home users. Any Cannon Employee experiencing computer problems should contact the MIS Department immediately.
MS Office Tips - March 2000
Speed Up Your Spell Checker
Word's spell checker will run faster if you don't ask it for suggestions. If you're willing to bet that you can correct typos once they're flagged, choose Tools, Options and click the Spelling tab when the Options dialog box opens. Deselect the Always Suggest check box, then click OK. Now when you run the spell checker, Word will flag misspellings, but won't make any suggestions.
Speedy Text Selection
Want to select an entire paragraph? Click any part of the paragraph three times. Or move your pointer to the left edge of the paragraph, and click twice when it changes shape to a right-angle outline. To select a single sentence, hold down your "Ctrl" button and click anywhere in the sentence.
Quick Trick for Common Phrases
If you tend to type the same phrases over and over, you can use the AutoCorrect function to save yourself some work and hair pulling. Select Tools, then AutoCorrect. In the Replace box, type in something easy to remember, and in the With box type the phrase you often use. For instance, to save typing "To whom it may concern:" replace it with the keystrokes TW#.
Formatting With AutoCorrect
AutoCorrect is not only for replacing text, but also for applying formatting changes. For example, suppose that you often need to type a line of bold, italic boilerplate text followed by a line of text that's always in the Heading 1 style, but the wording changes. Type your first line of text, formatted in bold italics, and press Enter. Now select the Heading 1 style (from the Style box on your Word toolbar) and then select both lines. Choose Tools, AutoCorrect and select the Formatted radio button. Specify the characters you want AutoCorrect to respond to and click OK. Now, when you type in the keystroke sequence, AutoCorrect will add the formatted boilerplate text, the carriage return, and the style change for you.
Auto Cad Tip - March 2000
Plotting Several Drawings at One Time
ACAD 14 includes a utility entitled, "Extended Batch Plot Utility" (ebatch.exe) that will enable you to plot several drawings at once - unattended. This can be a very useful tool when printing several sets of drawings throughout the life of a project.
To set up the utility, please follow these steps:
1. In paper space within the drawing, set up a view called "plot" and exit the drawing.
2. Create a shortcut on your desktop by browsing your c:\program files\ autodesk\ acadmap2\ support\ EBATCHP\ebatch.exe
3. Right click on ebatch.exe and drag to your desktop and select create shortcut
4. Once the icon has been created on your desktop, double click the icon to launch the utility.
5. At this point, you can add as many drawings to the List of Drawing to Plot Area.
6. Highlight the drawing(s) and select "associate pcp/pc2" button and browse to N:\Cannon Standards\pc2 and select the printer of your choice.
7. Next, click on the Plot Area tab - select the view you named "plot" in the pull down menu. Plot scale should already be set based on the pc2 file you've selected.
8. After all the drawings have been setup, be sure to save the list under the File Tab.
9. To plot your selection, click on the Plot button and away they go.
Grab a coffee refill and when you return, the plots will be finished. Although this may take a few extra minutes to set up this process, over the life of a large project, it will save a lot of time by manually opening, plotting, and closing each file. Remember, if the computer is working, you are working….
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