Google SketchUp Notes

Scope

This file is the result of my personal note-taking while learning SketchUp.  I am not an expert in SketchUp, nor is this a complete SketchUp tutorial, nor is it intended to be for everyone.  It may, however, be useful for people like me that don’t have patience to watch video tutorials and prefer to just dive into an application, figuring things out as they go.  Also, this is focused on drawing parts that will then be printed out as working drawings for construction.  SketchUp has many other facets not covered as they don’t particularly interest me.  This is a compilation of my notes, taken from various sources, many as direct cut/paste operations.  While I’ve made no attempt at individually citing each point (I hadn’t really intended to share this when I started), I have placed my sources at the end.  Note that this document may be updated as I learn more.

Philosophy

• You can use the keyboard to enter very precise distances.  When you create a line, box, circle, etc., or are scaling, rotating, extruding, moving, etc., after the initial click you can type in any value, or values separated by a comma in the case of a box, via the keyboard.  If you don’t like that value, you can type another in, and again, over and over, until you like it.  Once you move to the next entity, you can still change things via the scale, move, or rotate tools, or sometimes the component info window.  Also, when typing in, it will assume the units defined by the model, but you can add whatever units you like just by typing them in (eg: 12mm even if the model is set to use meters).  You can view these numbers via the measurements toolbar.
• Tools or other controls can operate differently depending if things are preselected.  The follow-me tool is a prime example.  There are some tools that work slightly differently from the pull down menus rather than the context (right-click) menu (like making components).
• Context is important.  If you are editing a group or component, making it “the context,” then scaling, for example, will be on that group, not the whole model.  Components can contain components or groups, or vice-versa.  There does not appear to be a fixed limit on how far this nesting can go, but it can be computer intensive.
• The status bar at the bottom often has useful information or hints about what to do next when using a tool.  The colours of various guides and the cursor dots have meaning as you draw.
• There are many Ruby plugins for SketchUp that do a lot of very useful things.  SketchUp is not really complete without them.

Getting Started

• In Window - Model Info, you can set many model defaults, like the units.
• Draw a box in 2D, extrude a face into 3D.  Draw a line on a face to divide it and then extrude one of the faces away.  You are now editing a model in 3D.
• Select a line and move it, notice how it distorts everything connected to it.
• Undo - it’s very useful.
• Select everything and make them a single component or group object.
• Add a line connected to the above object.
• Move the line, noting how the object does not distort.
• Select the line and cut it.
• Double-click the object with the select tool to edit it.
• Paste in Place to put the line in the object.
• Click outside the object edit frame to close editing on the object
• The line is now part of the object group/component.
• Open the Scene window and create a scene.
• Orbit/Pan/Zoom around until the object looks like what you want.
• Update the scene (right-click on the scene tab).
• Print Preview, without setting extents to model.

That’s pretty much it, all the rest is detail.

Mouse Shortcuts

• No matter the tool, the middle mouse button will orbit, shift middle will pan.
• Double-clicking the middle mouse button on an entity will make it center on the screen, though not so easy to avoid zooming with a wheel/button while doing this.
• Double-left-click on a face with the select tool will select the face and the lines that boarder it.
• Triple-left-click with select tool will select all connected.
• Select left-to-right will select anything fully in the box; selecting right-to-left will select anything touching the box/line.
• Double-left-clicking will repeat the last operation.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• There are very little by way of default keyboard shortcuts but it is very easy to add your own via the Windows - Preferences menu item.  Once you set things up, you can save them by exporting/importing your preference file.  I find it helpful to set the alt-arrows to predefined views, L to open the layers window (L again will collapse but not close it … I drop all the collapsed windows over-top each other on an unused area of the menu bar), C for components, I for info, etc...  
• The arrow keys constrain drawing and movement to one of the three axes.  Up/Dn = blue, Left = green, Right = red
• When selecting the shift key toggles (selects/deselects) each time you click on something. The cntrl key enables unconditional multiple select.  cntrl-shift select will always unselect.
• cntrl-T deselects all, though it will not stop editing a group/component.  You can also just click on some empty space.
• Use the extrude tool to quickly highlight faces to reverse or delete. Just hover the tool over the face (NO clicking) and using shortcut keys "D" = delete, "R" = reverse face to either delete them or reverse them.  The move tool will allow quick object deletes in a similar fashion.
• Several tools remember the last used value [during that session] - Offset and PushPull are the main ones.
• With scale, move, and rotate, typing in units (‘, cm, etc) will set to that value rather than adjusting by that value.
• Many of the drawing tools have associated keyboard keys that enable constraints on the tool. The cntr key cause some tools to make copies automatically, for example.

• When drawing, scaling or moving anything once you have started to make a move you can release the cursor and type in the required value and press enter to finish.

• Move Tricks:
• Make a copy or array of copies while moving:
• Move+ctrl to copy + typed 'dimension' + moves the copy by that 'dimension'.
• Immediately typing 10x [or 10* or x10 or *10 !] will copy 10 times, at that dimension each time.
• Alternatively immediately typing /10 will take the 'dimension' as the total distance and make 10 copies that are fitted into the distance, dividing the 'dimension' into 10 equal parts - great if you want to subdivide 7 3/16" into 3 parts.
• Eraser Tricks:
• Eraser+Ctrl 'softens' edges.
• Eraser+Shift 'hides' edges.
• Eraser+Ctrl+Shift unsoftens edges.
• To 'unhide' edges you have to use Entity Info or right-click context-menu 'unhide'...
• Scale Tricks:
• Typing units (10mm, cm, etc) into the scale tool will set length to that measurement rather than scaling.
• Cntl and Shift modify.
• Paint Tricks:
• Shift to paint all that match
• Ctrl to paint all connected

Methods

Inference

Inference is about SketchUp trying to figure out what you want to do and the inference engine is why SketchUp is so easy to use.  However, it’s still a dumb computer program and sometimes it just can’t figure out what you want it to do.  Thus, it helps to understand some inference engine basics.

• Display Aids while using tools:
• Green dots = Endpoints
• Red dots = On an edge
• Cyan dots = Midpoints of edges
• Blue dots = On a surface
• Red line = X axis
• Green line = Y axis
• Blue line = Z axis
• Magenta line = something is parallel or perpendicular to an edge.  Also, if drawing across a corner, the line or arc will change to this colour if the ends are an equal distance from the corner.

• Using inference locking:

• When using a tool that won’t infer what you want, rotating for example, find (or even temporarily draw) another object that will allow that inference.
• Hold SHIFT to capture and lock that inference.
• Then go back to the object you want to work with.
• Drawing plane
• if the ground covers most of the view then objects are drawn on the X/Y axis
• if the sky covers most of the view then objects are drawn on the Z axis
• When trying to snap to the center of a circle or arc, running the tool around the circumference will tell the inference engine what you want.

Layers

• Layers are for hiding components in different scenes.
• Conventional wisdom is to always draw on layer 0 then create components/groups and move them to other layers if desired.  This is because layer 0 is special in that components on other layers will always show layer 0 items if the other layer is shown.  Each item in a group or component has its own layer setting.  Thus, it is possible to put individual items on other layers and then hid it.  This will result in the component not showing those items on the hidden layer.

Scenes

• Scenes will print as pages of output.  Thus, scenes define the final paper report of the model.  It is very useful when you want a bunch of dimensioned parts to build from.  Simply make a scene for each page you want printed.  If you want the standard 3-view (top/front/side) 2D representation of a part on a single scene (page), then use the CADup plugin.
• Layers are typically used to define what objects are shown on a given scene.
• By selectively hiding objects, you can create two scenes that show doors, one open the other closed.  Simply have 2 instances of the same door component, both opened and closed, and hide the one you don’t want to see on each scene.  You could also use layers; open in one, closed in another; to set each scene.  You can also use a scalable dynamic door in one scene.  (Note: “Another Dynamic Door” from the warehouse is a good one)
• If you create a scene, it will keep hidden objects set at the last update.  Thus, if you hide a bunch of objects to work on something but don’t update the scene, you can get back to only the hidden objects you want by simply re-choosing the scene.

Components and Groups

• Both allow items to move together and not distort when attached feature (not in the component or group) are moved.
• Both can be copied and pasted like anything else.
• All instances of a component are the same.  If you edit one, all will change.  Groups are individual.
• Components are available in the component library, can be saved as their own model, and can be shared by uploading to the SketchUp warehouse.
• You can edit a component or group by double-left-clicking with the select tool, or via the right-click context menu.

Copy and Paste

• The clipboard survives the undo function up to and including the entire model.
• Under the Edit menu, there is a “Paste in Place” command that will paste the clipboard contents back where they were cut from.  It is very handy and deserves a keyboard shortcut.
• If you draw something on a group/component that is closed, either because you forgot or because it allows you to draw without interacting with the group contents while still having the snaps work, you can cut these new items, open the group/component for editing, and Paste in Place.

Lines

• When drawing lines that need to be the same length as other lines that are parallel or perpendicular, after you have started the line place the cursor on the endpoint you wish to match and the inference engine will then snap to it, parallel to it or perpendicular to it.

Circles, Arc, and Tapers

• You can edit the diameter of circles and arcs by typing in changes in the entity window. The circle or arc must be the only item selected.  You can make tapers this way by adjusting one of the circle-ends of a cylinder.
• If you are trying to find the center of an arc or circle run the cursor along the edge of the circle. That tells the inference engine what you need and it will then snap to the centre of the circle.
• When you select the circle tool the default number of segments used to create the circle is 24. You may at that time enter any other amount greater than 2 on the keyboard and press enter. That will become the new default for circles for the rest of the session. This also applies separately to the arc tool. A moment of thought and it becomes clear that this allows you to make any regular polygon from a triangle on up.

Rotation

• When rotating, if your mouse pointer is inside the rotation indicator, it will snap.
• You can distort objects by using the rotate tool on an ungrouped and unselected object.
• If you select a face you can rotate that face and edges of that face. You can use that to twist everything connected to that face.
• The copy 10x (number x) command also works with the rotate tool to make polar arrays.

Push/Pull

• When using the push/pull (extrude) tool you can reference it to any other surface or edge that the cursor can reach in the entire drawing area. That will instantly snap the extrude to that length.
• The push/pull tool may be used on any face that isn't a smoothed surface. If the face is smoothed it must be un-smoothed first.
• If any face is made exactly coincident with another face both will be deleted. This is useful when making holes.
• When pushing faces if the ctrl key is tapped the original face will remain in place and a new face will be created that is moved.

Tape Measure

• It will make guides/points if it shows ‘+’.  Toggle this with the cntrl key.
• Starting from along a line will make a parallel infinite guide.
• Starting from an end-point will make a line to a guide point in the mouse direction.
• Use the construction line tool to set up snap lines in advance. It has a few nice features. The first time you set up a snap line you type in the length from the keyboard and press enter. The line moves to that position. Subsequent uses of the tool will automatically snap to that previous value which make setting up more similar snap lines trivial.
• Scale with Tape Measure by measuring a line and then typing in a value.  It will prompt to scale the whole model.  If editing a group or component, it will prompt to scale that.

Moving

• While moving the movement may be constrained by the arrow keys.
• If you don’t want shapes touching an object you want to move to deform, make them a group first.
• If nothing is selected before choosing the move tool, it will pre-select as you move over an object.
• The move tool, with nothing selected, makes a handy quick-delete tool.  Just let things get pre-selected and then hit delete.  No clicking necessary.
• Accurately position by grabbing end-points or corners that can be snapped to other features or construction points.
• Within a shape, individual lines may be selected. If the line is then grabbed at the centre point it will deform the object along constraints that you choose and/or along constraints that don't required new lines to be created. For example, a cube may be deformed to any prism.  You can also adjust the length of a beam that includes features on the end by selecting all the features that make up the end and moving that along the beam length.
• Grabbing a vertice will deform the object and the sides that meet at the vertice.
• Selecting and moving faces will deform the object accordingly.
• When moving, if any edges or faces become coincident it will become a single edge or face.

Arrays

• Arrays are made by using the move tool or the rotate tool to make the first copy. Once it is made you type in the number of additional copies followed by the letter x ( example 200x) and it will make linear or polar arrays automatically. The value includes the first copy you made but not the original.

Lathing via the Follow-Me Tool

1. Create a 2D circle.
2. Create a 2D profile that is perpendicular to this circle.  If it is touching the circle, the result will be a cup, if it is not touching, the result will be a solid or pipe.
3. If the profile extends to the center of the circle, the cylinder will be solid.  If not, it will be a pipe.
4. Select the circle (outer line, not the face).
5. Chose the follow-me tool.
6. Click on the profile face.
7. SketchUp should now automatically create a cylinder with the profile specified.
8. You can delete the circle if desired.

Note that if you take 2 perpendicular circles with coincident centers and lathe one about the other the result will be a sphere.

Rounding Edges

• Rounding the edges is easy on one face:
• draw an arc on a perpendicular face
• select the target face (double-click to select the lines around it)
• use the Follow Me tool to carry the perpendicular arc around the face.
• however, if you then try to round a perpendicular face, it won’t work the way you would expect, say, a router bit to double-profile.
• Rounding perpendicular faces:
• The manual way:
• start by making groups or components that match the profile you want:
• draw a circle with the desired radius
• extrude it into a cylinder
• divide the circle into 4 quadrants
• copy and paste it 3 times
• on each of the 4 copies, extrude away 3 of the 4 segments
• group each quarter-round
• select all 4 groups, copy and paste 2 times
• rotate each of the 2 groups around an axis
• the result will be 12 groups, representing all possible corners in 3D
• you can then export these to a component and separate model if you want.  You can build up selections the way you would a router bit collection
• Apply the profile to the corners:
• on each corner, paste a copy of the profile group that matches
• explode the profile and the target
• select all (triple-left-clicking with the select tool will do it)
• in the context menu, use Intersect Faces - Model
• use the eraser tool to remove everything not wanted
• the result will be rounded corners, including the perpendicular intersects, where desired
• There is a plugin called RoundCorner that is suppose to do this automatically (and more) but it won’t load in SketchUp running under wine (at least on my computer).  However, the above technique allows custom profiles if desired.

Viewing

• You can turn off viewing component axis indicators in the Windows - Model Info - Components dialog.  These get turned on by the Align_2D plugin.
• If you use one of the ‘Engineering’ styles in a scene, you can get a white background.  This will make for better dimension printouts.

Faces

• Each surface has 2 faces, an outside and an inside.  They need to be kept that way, especially if you plan on exporting the model to some other application.  
• Inside faces are blue (by default) and sometimes during editing they can wind up on the outside.  
• You can flip the face by selecting the face and hitting ‘R’ to reverse it.  There is also an Align Faces tool you can use if there are a lot of them.
• the Entity Info window SketchUp puts a "solid" in front of the group's name to indicate, when an object is indeed solid.

Smoothing

• Internal faces will produce invisible edges on a surface to be smoothed. Deleting internal faces will remove those external edges so the area may be smoothed.
• Smoothing is a visual effect only. It doesn't change the underlying geometry. As a result, shadows cast by a smoothed surface will reflect the actual geometry, not the smoothed appearance.

Dynamic Components

• Only the Pro version can create dynamic components
• The free version can use and interact with dynamic components
• Some dynamic components are scalable
• You can take a simple dynamic door from the warehouse and scale/rotate/flip to work as any door.  “Another Dynamic Door” is a good door to work with as it’s very simple and works.

Useful Plugins

Utilities

Stock routine, adds two commands under Tools - Utilities:

• Create face:
  Select the contiguous edges where you want a face and then select this tool.  It will create the face.
• Query tool:
  Displays information on anything you hover over.

SKP_to_DXF

Exports to CAD

• from: http://www.guitar-list.com/download-software/convert-sketchup-skp-files-dxf-or-stl

Unfold Tool

Unfolds surfaces for paper or sheetmetal work.  Located in Plugins - Unfold Tool.  Select tool, left-click on a face, then another connected face.  It will flatten the joint between the two.  Repeat until you have a flat sheet.

• from: http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2007/08/plugin-unfoldrb.html

Rotate 90

Rotates the selected object 90 degrees around the Z axis.  Select a group/component and then Context Menu - Rotate 90 around Z.

• from: http://rhin.crai.archi.fr/rld/plugin_details.php?id=345

Mover2

Gives a high degree of control over moving a group/component, including set to origin and Zero on Z axis.  Has many other options.  Plugins - Mover2 for the dialog box.

• from: http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/p/my-plugins.html

Get Dimensions

Returns the dimensions of a selected object.  Select object then Plugins - Get Dimensions.

• From: http://rhin.crai.archi.fr/rld/plugin_details.php?id=158

Joint Push/Pull

Variations on the Extrude tool that can work with multiple faces.  It has its own toolbar as well as being under the Tools - Joint Push Pull, and in the context menu.  It has 3 variations:

• Normal  - same as Extrude tool.
• Joint - Works like extrude tool except it will leave faces at edges.
• Vector - Will extrude at an angle to selected face.
• from: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=6708

Point At Center

Default in SketchUp install - via ContextMenu plugin.  Adds Point At Center to context menu when a circle or arc is selected.  Adds a construction point.

• from:  just move it from the Examples folder

Construction Line Tool

Create construction lines the same way you draw regular lines (instead of using the tape measure tool).  Has a toolbar as well as being under Draw - Construction Line

• from:  http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2008/02/plugin-construction-line-tool.html

Selection Memory

Creates a calculator like memory for selections.  Options are:

• MS = memory set
• MR = memory recall
• M+ = memory add
• M- = memory subtract

Has its own toolbar.

• from: http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2008/01/plugin-selection-memory.html

Align_2D

Moves all selected items to same 2D plane.  Available under Tools - Align 2D.  Note that this tool enables component axis display.  You can turn it back off with Windows - Model Info - Components dialog.

• from: http://rhin.crai.archi.fr/rld/plugin_details.php?id=12

CADup

Used to generate 2D representations of components or groups.  Good for creating dimensioned drawings.  Available under Tools - CADup.

• from: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=35096&sid=222dae16db08381719efab02a0ce7bb4

Workflow:

1. Make sure the origin area of your drawing is clear.  This is where CADup will place its output.
2. Select and copy the items you want flattened in this particular view.
3. Paste them in an empty area.
4. Explode all items, repeat until there is nothing left to explode.  This is not necessary if you are only dealing with a single component or group and there are no sub-components or groups nested inside it.
5. Make the items a group (selected).
6. Run the CADup tool.  It will create a 2D object at the origin (hint, use the top view).
7. Delete the group created.
8. Select this object - and edit it.
9. Move or delete the items in it as desired.
10. Dimension as required.
11. Move dimensions into individual CADup groups such that they can be moved to make a better printout.
12. Define a scene for each component group you want printed.

Weld

Unexplodes a circle.  Located under the plugins menu.
from: http://www.smustard.com/script/Weld

My Install

This is just what I do.  It’s not meant to be some definitive standard.  Also, I run Ubuntu Linux so I’m running SketchUp under WINE.  It seems fine, though there are a few odd bits.  Current version, when I last updated this, was SketchUp v8 standard (not Pro).

Installing and Running Under WINE

• After installing WINE, download both Google Sketchup and the SketchyPhysics plugin (if desired).  Right-click on the files and “run under wine”.  Point SketchyPhysics to the right plugin folder.
• bug 14045: If you get the error "SketchUp was unable to initialize OpenGL!, run regedit (from the terminal type: wine regedit), open [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\SketchUp8\GLConfig\Display], and change "HW_OK" to 1.
• This is from:  http://wiki.winehq.org/GoogleSketchup
• SketchyPhysics bug:
  “Error Loading File SketchyPhysics.rb undefined method `file_loaded?' for main: Object”
• copy sketchup.rb from Tools folder to Plugins folder
• edit sketchyphysics.rb from Plugins folder and add this line at the beginning of the file:   load "sketchup.rb"
• This is from: http://code.google.com/p/sketchyphysics/issues/detail?id=9
• Printing issue:  I get a blank page unless I “enable high accuracy HLR” in the print window.  I’m printing to PDF file typically.  Also, I can’t get the export 2D graphics to work at all.
• I also have an issue with an old HP printer that won’t print dimension numbers.  Something about the font that I’ve not figured out.  The workaround for this is to print to PDF, import the PDF into the GIMP as images (not layers), and then print each page there.  That works fine as the text gets converted to graphics.
• Display update issue.  On another system, I ran into an issue where the display would not update until the next command.  This is a problem.  
  There are now 2 solutions to this:
• Solution 1: Starting with the following command line:
  vblank_mode=0  wine "/home/fixerdave/.wine/dosdevices/c:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp.exe"
  (source: gmharris http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=11980351#post11980351)
  To use the above in a launcher you need to (same as below) create a file somewhere in the path with the above as contents, make it executable, and then point the launcher (type = application) at that file.
• Solution 2: A startup script as follows:  
  (source: an anonymous comment on ubuntu-linux-sketchup-using-wine)

#! /bin/bash
# Uses xrefresh launched repeatedly using watch within an iconified xterm
# to force Google Sketchup to redraw every 0.3 seconds...
# Stores the PID and kills the xterm on exit from Sketchup!
# Note that I needed to install xterm as well
xterm -iconic -title "Sketchup Refresher (xterm)" -e "watch -n 0.3 xrefresh -geometry 1x1+500+500" & watchPID=$!
echo $watchPID
env WINEPREFIX="/home/username/.wine" wine "/home/username/.wine/dosdevices/c:/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp.exe"
kill $watchPID

Use as follows:

• Create a text file with the above lines.
• In Properties for this file, mark it as executable
• In System - Preferences - Main Menu, create a new launcher that points to this file.

It’s not pretty, but it works well enough as of Mint 15 and SketchUp v8

• Scene update crashes:
• Turning off - Use Scene Thumbnails resolves this.

My Preferences:

• Install SketchyPhysics - disable until needed.
• Install standard plugins.
• Import preferences file.
• Enable Toolbars:
• Large toolset
• Measurements
• Standard
• Move Measurements and all plugin toolbars to top

Sources:

• Evan, from the Home Shop Machinist Net:http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net
• Various Authors on The Duh! (Do’h!) Thread of SkechUcationhttp://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17315

• Mike Bailey's SketchUp Pagehttp://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~mjb/sketchup/

• Comments on: Ubuntu Linux Sketchup using Winehttp://credentiality2.blogspot.com/2010/04/ubuntu-linux-sketchup-using-wine.html
• Google online SketchUp help.
• My own experimenting.

Mitigating Good Intentions

I expect most leaders of large organisations start out with good intentions. Some carry them through, many don't. I've often wondered what it's like for a leader to make that transition from feeling like they're the answer to the problem, to thinking that their followers are too stupid to realise they're the answer to the problem, to realising that if they relinquish power their followers will attack them, to realising they are the problem. It must be a subtle transition as history is full of leaders that have accidentally made it.

I don't suppose we can do much about the small-timers, the CEOs and lesser politicians, but wouldn't it be great if we could develop some mechanism to alert national leaders that it would be a good time to step aside, to retire, to get out while the getting is still good. In the Cold War days, it was thought that giving an out to the leaders one side or the other supported, while turning a blind eye to how said leaders stayed in power, was a good idea. When these leaders went too far, or they just became less useful, they should be able to retire on the wealth they embezzled, even if they really deserved to rot in jail. Rightly or wrongly, that all ended with Pinochet. The rule of law now extends to past leaders and this leaves the likes of Kim Jong no place to go. These leaders, realising that they are the problem, are stuck. They have no place to go; they fight to stay in power or they rot in jail. It's too bad. If we had the means to identify these people, to offer them a way out before it's too late, then we could save the world a whole lot of grief.

I propose a retirement resort. Anyone with the money can buy in and move there. It would be a great place as these people often have a lot of money in the kitty. There only needs to be two rules: The first rule is that while the ICC has full jurisdiction, there is no extradition and no local jail. If you're found guilty, you simply can't ever leave. As the kind of people we would like in this place are already living in de-facto prisons where they're paying for the security, this wouldn't be a problem. The second rule is that the more hated you become, the more it costs to buy in. Think of it like a fine for being nasty. Then, all the world needs to do is publish a list of all the world leaders and how much their current buy-in cost would be.

This list would effectively rank world leaders by nastiness. For example, your run of the mill leader of a democratic nation with an average number of minor scandals could buy in to a nice luxury condo for 10mil or so. However, the likes of Kim Jong would need billions to buy the same place. We publish the list and the world leaders can check up once it a while to see where they are and make sure they've embezzled enough money, for when the day comes. If they're thinking of doing something nasty, well, they better check their bank accounts first, just in case. The list would provide a little indicator to these leaders of where they are on that slide from problems solver to problem. Besides that, it would stop all those incessant comparisons to Hitler. Once and for all, we'd know that person A is not "just like Hitler." He is, in fact, #57 on the all time list, and it would cost him $X for a luxury condo on The Island.

The best part of this is that it's basically free to do, with the inhabitants paying all the bills. All we'd need to do is find some spot of land with a reasonably nice climate and then enact the international laws necessary to make it safe for exiles. We'd need a committee to decide where the leaders are on the list, and they'd need a budget like all the rest, but it could be paid for by the inhabitants as well. Yes, it will be stolen money but the people stolen from would probably be happier to be rid of them with the money than to have to fight some revolution to get rid of them the old-fashioned way. It's the principle of harm-reduction. Sure, it would be great to make these nasty leaders suffer, but not if it makes the people trapped under them suffer any longer than they have to.

Midwives in BC - a review

I can't say I'm much of an expert in maternity. My wife, being from Japan, was rather ignorant of what having a baby in Canada involved as well. So, our first child was a bit of an adventure, and it started with our first choice, to decide between an OB/GYN or a Midwife.

I, being one of those self-declared rational people, had a decided preference for the established medical route. My wife had no idea... in Japan, expectant mothers picked the private maternity clinic that offers the perks and price that interests them. So, we got our referral to an OB/GYN, in 3 weeks. While waiting for this, as we walked past a Midwives office in our neighbourhood, we decided to see what that was all about.

Before we knew it, we were having our first appointment with our Midwife. We filled-out the paperwork, answered the questions, went for the blood tests... had our second appointment, got some great advice, got our questions answered, and everything was great. But, there was that OB/GYN appointment coming up. Our Midwife was most understanding and supportive, saying it was perfectly fine if we wanted to switch.

We went to see the OB/GYN, waited in the office for 20 minutes, and then met a wonderful person. She was obviously busy, but very supportive. We let her know that we had been seeing a Midwife but were undecided on which way to go. She let us know that under BC regulations we had to choose between the two, there was no going to both, but that she was okay with whatever we decided. Then, she went through the standard first meeting, filling out the paperwork, asking questions, requisitioning blood tests, just in case we decided to go with her. She was great.

However, the one thing that really struck my rational self was that the questions she asked were the same as the Midwife's, the blood tests she ordered had already been done with the Midwife. Everything was already in order, all the 'T's had been crossed. The Midwife and the OB/GYN were doing the same thing... they were both great. Well, this caused us some consternation. It would have been an easy choice if either the OB/GYN or the Midwife was clearly better, but they were both great, really great. Still, we had to choose.

While I still had a slight leaning towards the OB/GYN, mostly because we're a little older and the possibility of complications was higher, I left the choice to my wife. This was probably a mistake as she, being Japanese, wound up agonising about not wanting to offend either. She leaned towards the OB/GYN because she was referred by her GP, and she didn't want to offend the GP either. So... by the slightest of margins, the OB/GYN won out. My wife asked me to call and make an appointment.

I called the OB/GYN receptionist and we went back and forth searching for a time to come in. Best I could get was in about a month, and both my wife and I would have to book off time from work to make it. Now, for a couple expecting their first child, a month is a very, very long time away. So, making a manly command decision, I said "screw this" and convinced my wife to go with the Midwife. We could always switch later on if we felt it was necessary. She agreed. I called the Midwife receptionist and booked an appointment the following week. And, thus began our journey through maternity with our Midwife.

I'll skip the complete narrative on our appointments with our Midwife and instead say that any doubts I had about a Midwife being somehow less able to deal with complications were completely unfounded. Our baby was breech and we ended up going through what's called a Version, where a medical doctor tries to turn the baby from the outside. This didn't work and we had to go in for a scheduled C-section. The transitions in care, from Midwife to MD and back again, were seamless. Our Midwife was with us there in the operating room, and after, and had full hospital privileges. No one we met at the hospital expressed any concern about us having a Midwife instead of an OB/GYN, in fact they were all very supportive. We never, at any point, felt we were lacking in professional care, never.

We did, however, gain a lot by going with a Midwife instead of an OB/GYN. We've had hour-long appointments, un-rushed with plenty of time to discuss any concerns we had. We've had easy appointment bookings that fit our busy lives. We've had frequent in-hospital visits after the delivery to help with breastfeeding and any other concerns. We've had several at-home visits after delivery. And, there's the follow-up appointments for 6 weeks after deliver too. Our Midwife has been great, more than great actually. Both my wife and I have relied on our Midwife to not only have a child, but to transition into becoming parents. This is no small thing and I couldn't imagine going through this process without her. If we ever decide to have another child, I would not even consider going through it without a Midwife.

Thus, through more chance than intelligent choice, my wife and I went through a pregnancy, through delivery, and now into parenthood with a Midwife. We consider ourselves to be very, very lucky. I write this now, with my healthy and happy son sleeping on my lap, as a recommendation to any other self-declared rational people that may be reading this. Don't worry about missing-out on professional care with a Midwife. They are professionals, fully integrated into the BC medical system, and the enhanced support they provide is exactly what you're going to need.

Trade Wars

Let's see here... China and the USA are playing this little dance. China makes stuff and sells it to people in the USA. People in the USA can afford to buy the stuff from China because they borrowed the money, from China...

We could look at it this way: China, as the world's largest emerging market and also the world's manufacturing centre is pretty well set. At any point, they can just stop buying US debt, double or triple their internal financial support (either through infrastructure projects or direct welfare), and let their own people be their own manufacturer's market. Of course, they would have to prevent their now-rich people from buying non-Chinese products, but a nice trade-war would accomplish this fairly easily.

Or, we could look at it this way: China has been busily manufacturing all this stuff and selling it to a counterfeiter. The US is, after all, just printing money to buy this stuff. What is this money actually suppose to be worth? Thus, the people in the US have all this Chinese stuff and the debt accrued while paying for it will simply disappear with hyper-inflation. Hyper-inflation will happen when people realize that US money is worthless, which will happen as soon as China stops buying it. China will be left with a pile of worthless money, polluted rivers, and air they can't breath. The US, not being able to import anything, will have to ramp-up local manufacturing and, in the process, create local jobs. It's not like there isn't the know-how available to do this. US businessmen have been setting up factories all over the world and staffing them with unskilled labour. Doing it at home will be easy.

So, who wins?

Well, I say China. If they had let things go, contented themselves with just being the world's biggest emerging market, then they would be the ones with debt right now. Instead, they played with the currency such that the majority of their people never really got to the point of being consumers. They exploited their impoverished people, US manufacturing competition, and global trade liberalization such that China became the world's manufacturing centre instead. Yes, all that money they bought to keep their own people poor will become worthless. However, worthless money is still better than debt. The old China could not have ramped up internal production to meet the needs of their people that had become spoilt on imports. Now, they already have the manufacturing. They don't really need an export market because they already have a billion people emerging from poverty. Those people have a lot of things to buy.

I don't think it will be all that bad in the USA, certainly not as bad as the doom-sayers expect. There will be some turmoil, and the embarrassment of no longer being the economic powerhouse of the world. Britain survived this, and the British people seem fine. The US is still a military superpower, and this isn't likely to go away, not when their arms manufacturing is mostly internal anyway. Manufacturing will return and jobs along with it. Really, as all things economic are relative, when China bows out, goes internal as in the Middle Kingdom days of old, the rest of the world will probably get back to normal. Again, after the turmoil subsides.

Really, all that happened is that China screwed the world out of being able to exploit it as the world's biggest emerging economy. They industrialized without being exploited. It's a pretty neat trick when you think about it that way.

Personal Digital Ecosystem

I don't understand the current craze for monolithic smartphones. It seems, to me, the wrong direction to go. It just seems silly to me when I'm wandering around with 3 cameras on me, 2 of which I'm not going to use because they're so inferior to the want I want to use. It's such a waste. If I were running a company like Sony, here's what I'd do.

I'd start with a series of pocket computers, all doing basically the same thing but with different performance and sizes. There would be tiny ones, about iPhone sized, middle ones, something as small as the Nokia N810 all the way up to the iPad, and even bigger netbook sized ones. They would have options for built-in hardware keyboards if people wanted them. All would have WiFi and Bluetooth, none would have GPS, accelerometers or fancy cameras. Sure, maybe something like the N810 webcam, but nothing more.

Next, I'd have a wristwatch voice-controlled cellphone with built-in GPS. In stand-alone mode, it would offer basic voice communication and direction-finding. It might even tell the time. However, it should tether to the computer and give it full Internet access over the cellular network. The computer should be able to call people on the contact list or allow typing and reading SMS communication. It should also be able to display full navigation maps and other GPS features.

Next, I'd have a camera, maybe a little point&shoot, maybe a full DSLR. Whatever I want to use and am willing to pay for. This too should be tethered to the pocket computer. If I take a picture, it should automatically geo-reference from the wristwatch GPS data. It should transfer pictures to the pocket computer with a touch of a button. The pocket computer should allow full remote-control of the camera, with a full remote-viewfinder.

Next, I'd have a TV at home. If I tether the pocket computer to the TV, the TV should become the monitor for the pocket computer. Maybe this TV has a keyboard/mouse interface attached as well. Movies could be played from the pocket computer on the TV or, alternatively, the pocket computer could be the remote control for the TV with other media sources.

Next, I'd have similar TVs in the hotel room when I'm traveling. Maybe, this TV is in an airport kiosk and I pay by the minute via my cellphone contract to use it. Thus, all my personal computing goes with me, all my media, all my contacts, everything, yet I have access to a full monitor and keyboard when I want to get something done. Why should I have to lug around a screen and monitor while traveling? All I need is the computer, and maybe a little screen for casual use while I'm waiting around.

Next, I'd have a mass-storage device that tethers to the pocket computer. Maybe it's a cheap hardrive, or maybe it's the latest in solid-state. Again, my choice, any size I want and easy to upgrade.

Next, I'd have little I/O modules and sensors: Maybe a cheap accelerometer inside a tennis ball, maybe a weather-station. Whatever I want to buy, sort of like Wii game controls. The more to choose from the better. After all, while there is an iPhone app that allows you to see who can toss the iPhone up the highest, do you really want to do this with your expensive monolithic smartphone? Why not put the stupid little sensor in something that costs $20 and tether it to the expensive part? Put it inside a baseball and see how hard batters are hitting it, whatever comes to mind.

Next, I'd have some motion-powered battery chargers. I'd make all of these devices use the same small batteries, small enough to fit in the GPS watch. Larger devices would just use packs of them. These batteries would go in the motion-powered battery chargers that are worn on the wrists. Yes, they would be heavy, but that's the point. They are for exercise. As you exercise, you charge your batteries. It wouldn't have to be that practical, as most of the battery charging would be done at home on a base charger, but the idea would get people moving.

The basic idea is to break up the monolithic smartphones into individual devices. The advantages of doing this are many:

• People can build the exact system they want. If photography is important, get the expensive camera, if movies are important, get the better screen, or more processing horsepower, or smaller size, or... Rather than trying to find the perfect smartphone, and settling for deficiencies as there can never be perfection for everyone, all the best components can be put together as desired.
• Individual components could be upgraded as the user wants. Rather than forking out big-bucks for a new monolithic device, each component could be replaced as something better comes along. New sensors or game controllers can be bought whenever they come out.
• People don't have to carry everything if they don't want to. If they're going for a jog, do they really want to carry a pocket computer just because they need a cellphone? If they're not planning on taking pictures, maybe they won't carry the DSLR, maybe they'll slip a cheap point&shoot in their pocket instead.
• Companies can keep selling devices, over and over again, as each component won't be too expensive. Alternatively, really expensive components can be sold as they won't become obsolete like a monolithic package would. The fabulously-expensive DSLR could outlast several pocket computers, for example. Thus, discriminating customers would be willing to pay quite a lot more for some of the components.

This idea is now published and, as such, is free to the world. Feel free to take this idea and do with it as you wish. I expect no remuneration, but do expect attribution. Please tell people where this idea came from.

The Psychology of Junk

I love junk... I'm the kind of guy that just can't pass up some rusted bed-frame laying on the side of the road. I just 'gotta have it. It's metal, angle iron... I could make something from that. Of course, like all of my kind (except maybe those living out in the desert somewhere), I have more junk than space. In fact, I have so much junk that I don't have any room to do anything with it. If I want to do something, anything, I have to move a pile of junk out of the way before I can start.

Thus, I've been thinking about all this junk the last while. Why do I just 'gotta have it? Why can't I be like a normal person and just go to the store when I need something? Why would I rather store junk, with all the costs this entails, instead of paying the store to, well, store it for me? That's what stores do. Take my off-cut bin for example. When I make something out of wood, there are always little bits left over. Those bits can come in handy, when using a drillpress for example. It's always good to have a few bits of wood kicking around for whatever. So, I have a cardboard box up on a cabinet in front of my benchsaw. Yes, that box is overflowing, still, even after moving a bunch of this "good stuff" to a drawer in a shed that's buried behind a bunch of other good stuff. So, now, when I need the benchsaw, I have to clear all these stupid little bits of wood out of the way. Honestly, if I ran out of little bits of wood for backing boards while using the drillpress, I could go cut a chunk off the new 2x4 standing in the corner. Yes, this would be a waste of new material, I might even waste $2 worth in the course of a year. $2... or cutting a board with a handsaw because I'm too lazy to clear the junk and get to my benchsaw. Why do I have to have this junk around, instead of just cutting a bit off some new stock when I need it?

I think I have the answer. I used to think it was because I was efficient, the ultimate recycler. I didn't waste anything. But, reality is a lot less grandiose. I have all this junk around because I prefer to build things out of junk. No, not because I don't believe in waste, it's because I'm chicken. When I work with new material, I don't want to waste any of it. I plan, I measure, I make cut-lists, and I swear my head off when I inevitably screw it up. But, when I use found material, junk from the side of the road, I don't care. I throw stuff together, if it works, great. If not, who cares. I didn't waste anything, it was already junk. Easy come, easy go. That's the secret allure of working with junk. It's like spending found money. It's easy, no stress at all. The honest truth is that working with junk instead of new material is a lot more fun.

But, junk has a dark side too, there are a lot of hidden costs. First, you have to spend time processing the junk. I'm not talking about finding it, that part's fun - kind of like hunting. But, after you get it to the shop, you have to take it apart, and that takes time and consumables. Saw blades, drill bits, gloves, and the occasional knuckle all get used in this processing. Second, is the part we all know about, storage. Maintaining a large store of junk takes space, and that space costs. It may be in money, or arguments with the family, risk to people running about, or poor relations with neighbours. Maybe you're like me and have bought new material to build a shed to keep your junk. Heck, even all those tarps cost money. Third, and this is the real kicker, it creates a lot of constraints on new projects. Instead of having your pick of materials from the store, you get bits of this and that from the junk piles. So, the shelves can only be this big, or it can only use that kind of hinge, or it has to be made out of the wrong type of material. The list goes on. Basically, while it may be a lot less stressful working with found material, it's a lot more work, and the results are often less than ideal.

So, what am I going to do about this new found realisation, that all my problems with junk actually stem from me being too chicken to use new material. Well, I've already cleared all the off-cuts in front of my benchsaw. Yup, they went in the garbage. I know, a tiny first step, but it was hard to do. This isn't going to be an instantaneous behavioural change; no cold turkey for this guy. I'll start with wasting $2 a year on bucked up 2x4s, then try to be a little more casual about wasting other material. Maybe, I'll actually make some shelves for my shop out of a new sheet of plywood, without a cut-list even. I just have to keep reminding myself that keeping junk really costs more than going to the store, that it's okay to economise on the junk by wasting a little bit of new stuff, once in a while. It's either that move to a desert somewhere...