very cool cardboard for making models

Ilan has a very nice product for making architectural models, with one pass you can make a clean cut. Solid board, bendable, easy to work- its the best!
www.taskboard.com

Ultra low-density construction makes Taskboard
very easy to cut - Just one pass of a blade will produce a
clean cut and an edge that is identical to the surface
in both color and texture - perfect for invisible joints.

Natural and biodegradable Taskboard is made of
sustainable forestry wood and can be sanded just like wood.

Unique fiber stratification process makes Taskboard rigid
yet enables forming with cold water or steam.

Create strong glue bonds using any glue, including white
glue, hot glue or solvent based glue.

Color Taskboard with any water or solvent based paint,
stain and finish.

Online house design

CrossLoop - Simple Secure Screen Sharing

I just found another way to share computers with other people, its called CrossTalk, is free and really really easy.
Here is what they say:
CrossLoop is a FREE secure screen sharing utility designed for people of all technical skill levels. CrossLoop extends the boundaries of VNC’s traditional screen sharing by enabling non-technical users to get connected from anywhere on the Internet in seconds without changing any firewall or router settings. It only takes a few minutes to setup and no signup is required.
Nice! My whole point is, you and your designer can be in touch and talking about the same thing, at the same time, going through your design ideas together no matter where you are.

Is CrossLoop Secure?

Security is built into all aspects of CrossLoop. Session data is encrypted at the end-points before being sent using a 128-bit encryption algorithm using a randomly generated 12-digit access code. Explicit permission is required before any screen images are sent to a remote computer. CrossLoop is a secure tool to remotely assist any PC on the planet.

Cool- check it out.

I also wrote a short article on how I work with people interactively to design their houses, you can read it here:

Online House Design

Later,

Dan

Evacuation Plan

My brother Joe writs columns about the Texas film industry for The Austin Chronicle and Dallas Morning News. His novel Evacuation Plan about life in a residential hospice is slated for release by Dalton Publishing in June 2007. In his spare time, ahem, he also teaches writing to graduate students at St. Edward's University and to undergrads at Austin Community College. But the biggest news in his life is the birth of my nephew Nicholas Drake. He is really enjoying singing (badly) to him, less so staying up all night and getting pooped on.

My Brothers Book

Profile

AA-S Best Bet: Austin author Joe O'Connell's first novel, "Evacuation Plan," sets out to honor the dying — and those who care for them — in the setting of hospice. "(You) know the difference between death and an electric eel?" observes one of the characters in the book. "People aren't afraid to talk about electric eels!" O'Connell was inspired to write "Evacuation Plan" after a three-month stint as a volunteer at Hospice Austin. His novel, crafted in the style of Tim O'Brien's recent novel "July, July," is a collection of reminiscence — tales alternately gentle, dramatic, surrealistic, that collectively affirm the beauty of being alive, even as they acknowledge that all of us face the necessity of making our own "evacuation plan."

"The message of hospice is more important than my book," says O'Connell, who is donating a portion of sales to Hospice Austin. "And that message is that you can have dignity and control over the end of your existence, that chance to say goodbye on your own terms. Who can ask for more than that?"

In celebration of "Evacuation Plan," BookPeople is staging a dramatic reading tonight that features Austin actors Chris Sykes, Amparo Garcia-Crow and Gary Kent. They will speak in the first-person voices of the novel's characters. Austin writer and rocker Jesse Sublett will play music that honors the novel's themes. What we have here is a home-grown Austin writer, and not your traditional book signing.
— Brad Buchholz

From the promoter:
An Austin Chronicle Summer Reading pick, Joe O'Connell's novel-in-stories style Evacuation Plan, a novel from the hospice, is filled with rich characters who reveal themselves in poignantly unfolding stories: the gambler who plays a risky game of sexual chicken involving his wife and his ex-con father; the mortician who was an unwed father-to-be; the drunk who magically encounters himself as a boy. Forgiveness, joy, making the final leap. Evacuation Plan is the story of a world in which the clock ticks off the final moments for all of us and makes of those moments a lifetime. Tonight at 7pm.

My Brother and his 15 minutes of Fame

Check it out ,his book is debuting today
http://www.austin360.com/event/events2/etc/userEventDisplay.jspd?%20eventStatus=Approved&eventid=134289

You can read more about him here:
http://www.austincc.edu/joconne/

Paper to Cad Conversion - Paper to Cad Conversion

Almost all of our house plan projects start with taking some sketch or old piece of paper and making it into a cad file. We do manually traced accurate cad conversions, taking your paper documents and turning them into cad files that will be used to make a full building set of drawings. Have your paper documents scanned at a minimum 200 dot per inch ( d.p.i.) and saved as .tiff files, then email them to us at admin at papertocadconversion.com

Paper to Cad Conversion - Paper to Cad Conversion

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This is one of the best places on the net to get ready made house plans

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Custom House Plans

Custom House Plans

Dreaming of a new home, you want your house plans to include all the great design ideas and layouts you have seen in your life. You know the way it should look in your mind, but when it comes to putting all the pieces together it doesn't seem to work. Call us to get your custom home plan design drawn properly. I will take your plan and elevation ideas and turn them into your own vision of what you want your home to be. We provide people a chance to work with an Architect at an affordable rate, taking your ideas and developing them into a complete set of plans that you can give your builder, as well as get your building permit. Starting from $250 for a design set of plans and elevations ( first and second floor plans, front elevation and one side elevation). Call me for a firm quote, then scan your documents at 200 dpi ( dots per inch) and save as jpg or tiff and email them to : admin at houseplanarchitect dot com