Project Accounting Software - Best Practices When Developing Residential Estates

If you're involved with construction for a Residential Estate then these "best practices" for using your Project Accounting Software will help your client with their dealings with their financiers as well as simplifying your project manager's work.
However before you look at your software, it's best to have a clear idea of the processes involved when undertaking a broad-acre conversion to a residential housing estate.
The Big Picture
To start with you know that the financier backing your developer client is not going to take on the all of the Risk involved with constructing the total number of homes that can fit on the broad-acreage. They will aim to minimise their risk by staging the development.
So the the broad-acreage will be conceptually divided into several Development Stages. The first stage release will commence with the construction of a display village consisting of one of each house type. This enables their sales team to walk prospective clients through a completed home and to estimate the cost of changes to the basic design on a client by client basis.
After sufficient sales are made in Stage 1 the developer will release another Stage downstream and in the process build a new display village and sell off the first display homes you constructed.
This provides a positive cash flow for the developer as they progress through building the remaining stages and in doing so lessens the risk for the financier.
Now we understand the big picture, we have to determine how best to manage this Contract using our project accounting software.
One Project or Many Projects?
You may think it a good idea to set up each home as a project but there are disadvantages to this simplistic approach - particularly in terms of reporting.
It would be best if the whole Estate was defined as a single Project and then as you undertake construction you define each house, being the Scope of Works, as a Stage within that project in your project accounting software. The use here of the term "Stage" should not be confused with the "Staged releases" of land within the estate.
Better Client Reporting
One benefit of this approach is that it makes it easier to produce the reporting that your client the developer needs to provide to their Financiers to convince them that their risks are being managed properly. This is because you can produce "big picture" plus" drilled down" reporting as required.
Management Focus
The Stages approach also helps your project managers focus on the construction as they can see all the information about an individual house and follow it right through the system. In effect you have a "sub-cost report" for just a single house.
Managing Subcontractors
When a new house is required to be constructed, then you would add a new Stage and then allocate your tradespeople to work on it. The scheduling process will easily identify the extra details.
If we examine the Subcontractor Payment Claims process then each tradesman has an original contract for work on other stages (homes) so if they win another stage (home) then it will just be another amendment to their contract. You can then pay the subcontractor by stage and in the process make tracking and controlling the processes easier.
Complementary Projects
Depending upon how you contract with the developer you may in fact be establishing two projects - not one - for the entire estate. This would be the case if you decided to use a Complementary Project approach.
This approach enables you to manage the construction project on an "open book" basis, with the developer taking the risk and some portion of the work charged at agreed rates. You would take a small risk for the preliminary items but have an agreed rate of recovery for selected services such as project management on an hourly basis.
To do this in your construction accounting software you would establish one project as open book with the client, where the budgets equal the agreed target prices of the client. In this project, the income is equal to the expenses so there is no profit. But you link this project with a second project which invoices the first project for the value of contracted services at the agreed rates.
Payment Options
The next point to consider is how to pay subcontractors and suppliers in the first project so that it doesn't affect your cash-flow.
Ideally the client should setup a trust account and you pay contractors out of this account based upon a client approved payment list. However some developers may insist upon greater control of the "purse strings". In this case you could still control all the subcontractor claims paperwork within you're construction accounting software and at the end of each Pay-run send the direct deposits data file to your client so the developer can pay off this file using their own bank.
So the developer controls the "purse strings" but your project managers manage the job without you assuming the financial risk.
The practices should enable you to make better use of your project accounting software when you're constructing for a Residential Estate Developer.

The author Ronald Skeoch is the founder of Muli Management Pty Ltd, an Australian software developer of Project Accounting Software.
The flagship product, Muli, is a Project Risk, Accounting and Process Management software solution with an integrated Payroll.
A video demonstration of the Muli Software is accessible via the company website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ronald_Skeoch

Free Download OpenOffice 3.2.1

Download OpenOffice 3.2.1 for your another application software. Its free for you. More than a just a Collection of Free, Superb Office Tools.

Unlike some competitors, this suite was not created from a collection of separate pieces of software. From the start, it was designed as one complete office package.

Everything you need in an office productivity suite.

Open Office handles all your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with elegance and ease. Unlike other similar programs, Open Office provides better options matched with a smarter interface. It is very lightweight as it runs with minimal use of the computer's memory.

Many international companies have made the SWITCH – it's about time that you do too!

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Available in many languages and works on all major operating systems. Open Office suite saves all your data in the international open standard format witch then can also be read, modified and printed from other common office software packages. Download now and enjoy the best Office Suite available in any language!

Anyone can download OpenOffice today for free. We offer a full-featured Office suite for nothing. Just download it, install it and go. Some colleges and businesses have already moved to OpenOffice to save money, and I expect others to give it a look.

source : OpenOffice2010.net Open0ffice.pro-2010.com

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New Features of Microsoft Office 2010

According to an article published in InfoWorld in April 2006, Office 2010 will be more "role-based" than previous versions. The article cites Simon Witts, corporate vice president for Microsoft's Enterprise and Partner Group, as claiming that there would be features tailored to employees in "roles such as research and development professionals, sales persons, and human resources." Borrowing from ideas termed "Web 2.0" when implemented on the Internet, it is likely that Microsoft will incorporate features of SharePoint Server in Office 2010.

Microsoft indicated that Microsoft Office 2010 will include updated support for ISO/IEC 29500:2008, the International Standard version of Office Open XML (OOXML) file format. In its pre-release (beta) form, however, Office 2010 does not support the Strict variant of the format, but its Transitional variant. The intent of the ISO/IEC is to allow the removal of the Transitional variant from the ISO/IEC compliant version of the OOXML standard.[30] Microsoft Office 2010 will also support OpenDocument Format (ODF) 1.1, which is an OASIS standard.

New features are also said to include a built-in screen capture tool, a background removal tool, a protected document mode, new SmartArt templates and author permissions. The 2007 "Office Button" will be replaced with a menu button that leads to a full-window file menu, known as Backstage View, giving easy access to task-centered functions such as printing and sharing. A notable accessibility regression from 2007 is that the menu button no longer follows Fitt's law. A modified Ribbon interface will be present in all Office applications, including Office Outlook, Visio, OneNote, Project, and Publisher. Office applications will also have functional jumplists in Windows 7, which would allow easy access to recent items and tasks relevant to the application. Confirmed features of Office 2010 include:

Ribbon interface and Backstage View across all applications

Background Removal Tool

Letter Styling

The Word 2007 Equation editor will become common to all applications, replacing MS Equation 3.0

New SmartArt templates

New text and image editing effects

Screen Capturing and Clipping tools

Live collaboration functions

Jumplists in Windows 7

New animations in Powerpoint 2010

A new feature in Microsoft Office 2010 is the Social Connector. This allows users to write emails while keeping track of their family, friends, and colleagues by viewing status updates and past communication history with the individual. When users view their emails a name, picture, and title will be available for the person they are contacting. Upcoming appointments can also be viewed with this new feature and users can request friends. The Social Connector does not work with Office x64 bit versions and Microsoft suggests to use the 32 bit products on their official forums and support. Sync features for Windows Mobile phones like email, contacts and other integration will also not work with x64 versions of Office 2010. There is no information if the final releases coming up in a few days will patch this feature as to date a lot of features and integrations are missing from the x64 version of Office 2010. (source : wikipedia.org)

Download Microsoft Office 2010 Beta

Download Free Microsoft Office Beta or Microsoft Office 2010 Trial

n

Microsoft Office 2010, codenamed Office 14, is a productivity suite for Microsoft Windows, and the successor to Microsoft Office 2007 for Microsoft Windows. Office 2010 includes extended file compatibility, user interface updates, and a refined user experience. It will be available for Windows XP SP3 (32-bit), Windows Vista SP1, and Windows 7. With the introduction of Office 2010, a 64-bit version of Office is available for the first time, although only for Windows Vista SP1, Windows Server 2008 SP1, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Neither the 32-bit edition of Office 2010 nor the 64-bit edition is supported on Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.

On April 15, 2010, Microsoft announced that Office 2010 had been released to manufacturing, with those Volume Licensing customers who have Software Assurance being able to download the software from April 27. It will be available in June in retail stores in the US.

Office 2010 marks the debut of free online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, which will work in popular web browsers (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Apple Safari). A new edition of Office, Office Starter 2010, will replace the current low-end home productivity software, Microsoft Works.

Microsoft's update to its mobile productivity suite, Office Mobile 2010, will also be released for Windows Phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Phone 7. In Office 2010, every application has the Ribbon, including OneNote 2010, Publisher 2010, InfoPath 2010, SharePoint Workspace 2010 (the new name for Microsoft Office Groove 2007) and the new Office Web Apps. (source : wikipedia.org)

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Do You Need to Buy the Top Registry Cleaner For Your Computer ?

It is very common for a computer to slow down after a period of regular use. This may be due to a lot of reasons but it could also be due to the fact that your Windows Registry has become filled with a lot of obsolete data. Every time you visit a website or download some music, there is some information saved in your computer's registry. You may be prompted to buy the top registry cleaner for your computer, but it would be wise to first understand whether you really need to buy it.
Since there are many reg cleaner utilities available, you might go to a website to see which the top registry cleaner is in their listings. These websites will have very interesting reviews on the various reg cleaners available. You will realize that each cleaner has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is therefore difficult to say whether the top registry cleaner is appropriate for your use. There is even a lot of debate about which one can be called the top registry cleaner.
A reg cleaner works by first scanning your computer to check for any files that are obsolete or corrupted. Once it has this information it has to delete these files in order to make place in the registry so that the computer can operate at a better speed. This will have to be done regularly since the registry keeps getting filled up repeatedly.
Each computer responds differently to the same program, so any program that is touted as the top registry cleaner need not necessarily work on your computer. There is another aspect to this argument. Even if a reg cleaner were to be rated really high, you might not need all its features. This is especially relevant if you are trying to save some money.
If budget is not an issue, then you should certainly buy the best registry cleaner software available. If it is, as is the case for most people, there are plenty of other reasonable options available, but you might have to forgo certain features. You might even get the cleaner you need for free since there are some reliable ones available. If you choose carefully and correctly you will be able to protect your computer from slowdowns and from harmful spyware, at a fraction of the cost of buying the top rated Windows reg cleaner in the market.

Now Pay Close Attention Here-
There are many registry Repair Tools available, Every Registry Cleaner has some benefits as well some drawbacks. Check the Registry Cleaners Review- Click Here, Also Don't Forget to Run a Free Performance Scan using our Top Pick.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Matthew_Malaka

Registry Cleaner Utility - Be Careful Where You Get it From

Does your computer take too long to start up or to shut down? Do normal operations take very long as well? There could be a variety of reasons for this, but the most likely one is that you need to clean up your Windows registry. Since the registry tends to get filled up on a regular basis, it would be best for you to install a registry cleaner utility that will do the necessary work for you as and when it is required.
A registry cleaner utility is a software program that scans your Windows registry in order to look for corrupt and obsolete files and paths. This will give you an idea of the files that need to be deleted. Based upon the registry cleaner utility you have, you could either opt to delete the identified files manually or you could get the utility to do the work for you.
There are so many varieties of registry cleaner utilities available that it can be quite a task to select one for your computer. They all have very pursuasive advertising and claim to be able to sort out a variety of problems that your computer may suffer from. One aspect of this added task is that you will not know which one to buy and at what price to buy it at. Another aspect is that a reg cleaner utility could be the vehicle for criminals to install spyware in your computer. As a matter of fact, lots of people have found to their dismay that their computers are not working as a result of a fake registry cleaner utility that they might have used. Many utilities are simply badly made.
Since there are so many potential pitfalls, you have to be very careful about where you get your registry cleaner utility from. There are sites advertising free reg cleaners in addition to the ones you have to purchase. You have to keep in mind that just because a utility is free does not mean that it will be harmful to your computer. In the same way, a utility that you purchase need not necessarily be safe.
You have to exercise a lot of caution and only buy software from reputed sources. You have to do your homework well and identify the sites that give only safe programs. There are many reputed reviews that you could read online and come to your decision.

Now Pay Close Attention Here-
There are many registry Repair Tools available, Every Registry Cleaner has some benefits as well some drawbacks. Check the Registry Cleaners Review- Click Here, Also Don't Forget to Run a Free Performance Scan using our Top Pick.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Matthew_Malaka

Simple Steps of Making Your Computer Safe

Viruses are very threatening these days. There are many people who are having problems with their computers because of these viruses. The good news is that there are many programs these days that can provide anyone with tight computer security. You can use internet security as well as antivirus software to protect your computer. These programs can also give them protection from hackers.

The first thing that you need to do to protect your computer is to download and then install any internet security program so that your computer cannot be assessed by hackers who have the intention of getting information for your PC. Hackers will also be disabled from getting into your system to destroy it. We must protect our computers from these hackers so that any intellectual properties stored in our computers will not be stolen.

Next, you must also ensure that your computer have antivirus software installed. This antivirus program will be able to protect your system from being attacked by internet viruses, malwares, and other destructive scripts. Over the years, there have been a lot of people who have the benefited from the antivirus programs. What is good about these programs is that these are very affordable. These can be downloaded directly from the internet and installed in your system right away to have a good form of computer security.

Once you already have these programs installed in you computer, you need to set automatic virus scanning. Scheduling automatic scanning will give you the assurance that your computer is constantly safe from getting virus threats. We all know how dreadful and how destructive viruses and malwares can be. These may even destroy computer systems for good. Aside from scheduling the software for automatic scanning, you also need to set for constant software or program update. This will allow you to continuously have updated software that can make you computers safe from viruses as you use the internet. It is through the internet that you get these viruses. This is how you can have better computer security.

Aside from doing all these, you should also set up your computer firewall. The firewall is an effective tool that will keep the hackers from sending viruses to your computer or get in to your system and steal important data from you. Over the years, firewall has been one of the most powerful tools that can provide better protection for your computers. You can set up this firewall whether you are using the computer for personal or business purposes.

Never install anything on your computer when you are not sure that it is safe. When you download something from the internet, you might observe that some programs and files will be accompanied by installers. Before you finalize the installation, it is important to first verify that it came from a reliable source and that it will not cause any harm to your computer system. This is how you can provide a good computer security that will eliminate the threats of getting your computer system destroyed.

Trent Presley works in computers and likes to write about anything related to computer software in his spare time. For more information you can visit his website Norton Antivirus Review.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trent_Presley

Solving the Challenges of Offshore Software Application Development

The arena of web is vast and universal. This global medium has reach that no one can fathom and expansion that no one can measure. The world is one without any boundaries of nation or language, thanks to the web development and web applications. They are creating brands that are global and have universal reach. They are holistic in terms of scalability, flexibility and user friendly performance.
As web applications continue to reach new horizons,there have been some drawbacks too. Generally web applications consist of planning (usually with client for model structuring a website), designing, development, testing and implementation of application. However, the maintenance costs, poor quality, poor designing or maintenance, configuration management and usability come forward.To resolve this, here are some points that should be taken into consideration for a trouble-free web experience with offshore software application development vendor.
Understanding the Requirements
Most problems occur because offered web development services are different from what clients expect or need. The solution to this problem is simple and straight forward- Listen and Understand. If you are an offshore website development company your work doubles up as in most cases either would you be dealing through phone or email with clients. The wide hiatus and deviation between the needs and delivery model can be fulfilled by smart working and smart understanding of objectives and purposes of business of client.
Also, the customer handling and website functioning is important; it does count in the web development services you provide. This builds up your reputation of hitting the bull's eye at one instant and providing customer satisfaction with excellence.
Internationalization and Localization
It is true that World Wide Web is universal. It binds the whole world into one. However, in the lust of being global, you as an offshore website development company should not forget that the local elements should not be forgotten to ensure long term success. Your web applications should support local language and cater to international visitors also. However, it should not highlight the cultural and regional differences.
Estimation of Pricing
The other significant roadblock in offshore web development services is the correct estimation of prices of the services. Clients visit offshore vendors because of high quality solutions and cost effective methodology. To maintain the credibility of your performance and services, it is recommended to opt transparency in operations and while quoting costs for the work.
Customer Satisfaction with Quality Solutions
Quality still rules and is mandatory in this all glitzy work. Thoroughly test and trouble shoot the application before launching and releasing it before launch. Proper verification and validation should be done to ensure proper performance of the software and web application. Compatibility issues with local or overseas issues should be tackled before implementing.
Output
The result should match the expectations of your client. The web application should be post maintained keeping the market trends in the mind. Services and other maintenance should be guaranteed by you.

Daniel Jose is Software Development Services expert and has been sharing a proud association with Vcare Software Development (VSD) for long.He is working as a consultant on Software Application Development and web development services. VSD is a name that tops the list of services and aspects related to Software Development Services and offshore website development within your budget.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daniel_Henry_Jose

Excel Formulas - 7 Basic Elements Revealed

If you are relatively new to writing Excel formulas, pay attention to these concepts.
Ignoring them will lead you to unnecessary headaches...
1) Every Excel formula starts with the = sign
The = sign is automatically entered when you insert an Excel function.
A formula without the equal sign is considered a cell content.
Let's see an example...
Given the fact that the cell A1 contains the number 10 and the cell A2 contains the number 20; the formula: =A1+A2 will retrieve 30, while the formula A1+A2 will be pure content. It will be shown as A1+A2 in the given cell.
At the same time, the function =SUM(A1:A15) will retrieve the results, while this one SUM(A1:A15) not.
The = sign must be entered by hand when you write the formula directly on a cell.
Important reminder: a formula entered on a cell that is formatted as text will not be evaluated even if it has the = sign.
2) An Excel formula may contain numbers (constants) or references to cells
The formula: =A1+20 contains a reference and a number.
A1 has the value of the content of the cell A1, while the number 20 is always 20.
The advantage of having references instead of constants is that you can change a whole spreadsheets by changing the input cells.
Otherwise, you should edit each instance of the formula in the sheet.
3) The Excel formula may contain plain Math, other functions or a combination of them
You can write a formula this way: =(A1+A2+A3+A4)/4+10 with plain Math or this way using a function and Math: =AVERAGE(A1:A4)+10.
4) Arguments are separated by commas and should be entered according to a specific order (syntax)

The arguments of a function are separated by commas.
The order in which they are entered are unambiguous and correspond to the given function syntax. For example: the formula =SUMIF(A1:A10,">20",B1:B10) corresponds to this syntax: =SUMIF( range, criteria, sum_range )
5) The result of an Excel formula is retrieved in the same cell on which was written
After you hit enter, the formula is calculated and the result is shown in the same cell.
Important reminder: Excel won't calculate the formula result when it lacks inputs. On the other hand, you will get a result if all the arguments and logic are correctly entered.
6) You cannot see an Excel formula in a cell just its results.
You can see the contents in the formula bar, by pressing F2 or by showing formulas instead of results (CTRL + ` )
A formula shows by default its result in the cell where it is contained.
This may lead you to confusion with the inputs. An input and a formula result are not distinguishable at first sight.
7) Excel computes formulas in a well known order
If you combine several operators in a single formula, Excel performs the operations in the order shown in the following sequence.

1. - Negation (as in -1)
2. % Percent
3. ^ Exponentiation
4. * and / Multiplication and division
5. + and - Addition and subtraction
6. & Connects two strings of text (concatenation)
7. = < > <= >= <> Comparison

If a formula contains operators with the same precedence. For example: if a formula contains both a multiplication and division operator; Excel evaluates the operators from left to right.
To change the order of evaluation, enclose in parentheses the part of the formula to be calculated first.
The formula multiplies 2 by 3 and then adds 5 to the result.
=5+2*3=11
In contrast, if you use parentheses to change the syntax, Excel adds 5 and 2 together and then multiplies the result by 3 to produce 21.
=(5+2)*3=21
Conclusion
These Excel formula nuggets will help you to get started on the fascinating world of Excel spreadsheets.

For more professional Excel tips and advice, visit http://www.excel-spreadsheet-authors.com/
Learn more about: Excel Formulas

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Franco_Farias

Media Player

Media player is a term typically used to describe computer software for playing back multimedia files. Most software media players support an array of media formats, including both audio and video files.

Some media players focus only on audio or video and are known as audio players and video players respectively. The producers of these players usually focus on providing a better user experience as they are specifically tailored toward the media type. Live At The Troubadour [CD / DVD Combo]

Microsoft Windows comes with pre-loaded Windows Media Player. The latest is Windows Media Player 12, which is bundled with Windows 7. Mac OS X comes pre-loaded with Quicktime Player for playing Quicktime movies and iTunes for playing a variety of media formats. Winamp supports Apple iPods and other portables like Creative's Zen while also supporting audio and video playback. Linux distributions come pre-loaded with various media players including Amarok, VLC, MPlayer, xine, and Totem.

Many media players use libraries. The library is designed to help you organize, or catalog, your music into categories such as genre, year, rating or other. Good examples of media players that include media libraries are Winamp, Windows Media Player, iTunes, RealPlayer, Amarok and ALLPlayer.

source : www.wikipedia.org

Introduction to Dashboards (management information systems)

In management information systems, a dashboard is an executive information system user interface that (similar to an automobile's dashboard) is designed to be easy to read. For example, a product might obtain information from the local operating system in a computer, from one or more applications that may be running, and from one or more remote sites on the Web and present it as though it all came from the same source.

Types of dashboards

Digital dashboards may be laid out to track the flows inherent in the business processes that they monitor. Graphically, users may see the high-level processes and then drill down into low level data. This level of detail is often buried deep within the corporate enterprise and otherwise unavailable to the senior executives.

Three main types of digital dashboard dominate the market today: stand alone software applications, web-browser based applications, and desktop applications also known as desktop widgets. The last are driven by a widget engine.

Specialized dashboards may track all corporate functions. Examples include human resources, recruiting, sales, operations, security, information technology, project management, customer relationship management and many more departmental dashboards.

Digital dashboard projects involve business units as the driver and the information technology department as the enabler. The success of digital dashboard projects often depends on the metrics that were chosen for monitoring. Key performance indicators, balanced scorecards, and sales performance figures are some of the content appropriate on business dashboards.

Interface design styles

Like a car's dashboard (or control panel), a software dashboard provides decision makers with the input necessary to "drive" the business. Thus, a graphical user interface may be designed to display summaries, graphics (e.g., bar charts, pie charts, bullet graphs, "sparklines," etc.), and gauges (with colors similar to traffic lights) in a portal-like framework to highlight important information.

History

The idea of digital dashboards followed the study of decision support systems in the 1970s. With the surge of the web in the late 1990s, digital dashboards as we know them today began appearing. Many systems were developed in-house by organizations to consolidate and display data already being gathered in various information systems throughout the organization. Today, digital dashboard technology is available "out-of-the-box" from many software providers. Some companies however continue to do in-house development and maintenance of dashboard applications. For example, GE Aviation has developed a proprietary software/portal called "Digital Cockpit" to monitor the trends in aircraft spare parts business.

In the late 1990s, Microsoft promoted a concept known as the Digital Nervous System and "digital dashboards" were described as being one leg of that concept.

Benefits of digital dashboards

Digital dashboards allow managers to monitor the contribution of the various departments in their organization. To gauge exactly how well an organization is performing overall, digital dashboards allow you to capture and report specific data points from each department within the organization, thus providing a "snapshot" of performance.

Benefits of using digital dashboards include:

1. Visual presentation of performance measures
2. Ability to identify and correct negative trends
3. Measure efficiencies/inefficiencies
4. Ability to generate detailed reports showing new trends
5. Ability to make more informed decisions based on collected business intelligence
6. Align strategies and organizational goals
7. Save time over running multiple reports
8. Gain total visibility of all systems instantly   

Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
 source : www.wikipedia.org

Computer-aided Design Overview

Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computer technology for the design of objects, real or virtual. CAD often involves more than just shapes. As in the manual drafting of technical and engineering drawings, the output of CAD often must convey also symbolic information such as materials, processes, dimensions, and tolerances, according to application-specific conventions.

CAD may be used to design curves and figures in two-dimensional ("2D") space; or curves, surfaces, and solids in three-dimensional ("3D") objects.Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

CAD is an important industrial art extensively used in many applications, including automotive, shipbuilding, and aerospace industries, industrial and architectural design, prosthetics, and many more. CAD is also widely used to produce computer animation for special effects in movies, advertising and technical manuals. The modern ubiquity and power of computers means that even perfume bottles and shampoo dispensers are designed using techniques unheard of by engineers of the 1960s. Because of its enormous economic importance, CAD has been a major driving force for research in computational geometry, computer graphics (both hardware and software), and discrete differential geometry.

The design of geometric models for object shapes, in particular, is often called computer-aided geometric design (CAGD)

Current Computer-Aided Design software packages range from 2D vector-based drafting systems to 3D solid and surface modellers. Modern CAD packages can also frequently allow rotations in three dimensions, allowing viewing of a designed object from any desired angle, even from the inside looking out. Some CAD software is capable of dynamic mathematic modeling, in which case it may be marketed as CADD — computer-aided design and drafting.

CAD is used in the design of tools and machinery and in the drafting and design of all types of buildings, from small residential types (houses) to the largest commercial and industrial structures (hospitals and factories).

CAD is mainly used for detailed engineering of 3D models and/or 2D drawings of physical components, but it is also used throughout the engineering process from conceptual design and layout of products, through strength and dynamic analysis of assemblies to definition of manufacturing methods of components. It can also be used to design objects.

CAD has become an especially important technology within the scope of computer-aided technologies, with benefits such as lower product development costs and a greatly shortened design cycle. CAD enables designers to lay out and develop work on screen, print it out and save it for future editing, saving time on their drawings.

Occupations that use CAD include designers, architects, and developers.

source : www.wikipedia.org

Computer-aided engineering Overview

Computer-aided engineering (CAE) is the broad usage of computer software to aid in engineering tasks. It includes computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided analysis (CAA), computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), material requirements planning (MRP), and computer-aided planning (CAP).

Software tools that have been developed to support these activities are considered CAE tools. CAE tools are being used, for example, to analyze the robustness and performance of components and assemblies. The term encompasses simulation, validation, and optimization of products and manufacturing tools. In the future, CAE systems will be major providers of information to help support design teams in decision making.

In regard to information networks, CAE systems are individually considered a single node on a total information network and each node may interact with other nodes on the network.

CAE systems can provide support to businesses. This is achieved by the use of reference architectures and their ability to place information views on the business process. Reference architecture is the basis from which information model, especially product and manufacturing models.

The term CAE has also been used by some in the past to describe the use of computer technology within engineering in a broader sense than just engineering analysis. It was in this context that the term was coined by Dr. Jason Lemon, founder of SDRC in the late 70's. This definition is however better known today by the terms CAx and PLM.Living Organized: Proven Steps for a Clutter-Free and Beautiful Home

source : www.wikipedia.org