Tom has a question about design software for his business. He asks: “Do you know of any low cost CAD software packages for my home repair business?” As you already know CAD packages can be fairly expensive and may be difficult to use depending on your background. For those who don’t know, CAD software is typically used by engineers and designers to assist in the designing process.
Some design software can run in the thousands depending on the title. SolidWorks, which is considered the premier design software, can cost $1,000.00 or more per copy. Considering the cost of the software combined with special computer requirements, implementing some design packages can be a pretty hefty imposition for many businesses.
I have a pretty neat solution which I use for my own furniture designs. Years ago I found a Google product called SketchUp which is completely free and pretty powerful. In a nutshell, SketchUp lets you design in real time with very little training. Recently, I showed a customer how to use SketchUp in about five minutes.
SketchUp has many features other software does not. Not only can it be used to make traditional CAD designs. With SketchUp ready-made templates can be placed directly into your drawing. For example, in your business you might layout the room dimensions and create a three dimensional model from there. By dragging in templates you can easily add furniture, appliances and hardware items.
SketchUp makes it fairly easy to make a 3D model to show your customers. Depending on the complexity of drawings you’re after it may not be the best solution without investing in a complete package. What’s the worst that can happen? It’s free to download and use and if it doesn’t meet your needs you can always uninstall it.
Jan would like some tips on maintaining her privacy while surfing the internet and asks the following question: “Can you explain how a proxy server works?” Jan, a proxy server is nothing more than a longer route to the same location with the benefit being anonymity. I should have added in the key word ‘partial’ before anonymity – I’ll explain why as I go.
Proxy service companies are fairly common; many are free and some are paid. Depending on your goal, the free services are sometimes a reasonable way to go. Before I type anymore I want to explain that your data may be seen by any one of the proxies it travels through. I don’t know if I would use the words reputable and proxy in the same sentence but that’s up to you to decide.
It used to be (and sometimes still is) that proxies were used to keep your personal information from either the end website you’re visiting or your ISP. The use of a proxy server implies privacy from one or both of those I just mentioned. It does this by re-routing your internet traffic through alternate locations; therefore, blocking your computer’s information from both locations. I can’t stress enough that your data passes through a server at some point so don’t do anything truly personal through a proxy.
Setting up your computer to surf through a proxy is fairly straight forward. Once you have your proxy’s settings all you need to do is open Internet Explorer. Click on the ‘tools’ menu and then scroll down to ‘Internet Options.’ Click on the ‘connections’ tab, then click the ‘LAN settings’ button. Check the box that says proxy and enter your information. From there Explorer is set and ready to go.
Tech-Tip of the week: Upgrading your computer’s memory is an inexpensive option to buying a new computer.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can e-mail him at Jeromy@LocalComputerWiz.com or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)