Are you interested in joining our LEED Green Associate Study group? We are currently forming a group to begin meeting this fall. Contact Pat Leyden to learn more.
Are you interested in joining our LEED Green Associate Study group? We are currently forming a group to begin meeting this fall. Contact Pat Leyden to learn more.
Cool Internet Tips
On-Site INSIGHTS July 2010
(cool websites for SDA members)
By Essie Borden
This feature provides information on useful websites for A/E firms. If you have suggestions for websites to be included in future columns, please send them to Essie Borden: essie@meridiandesign.com. Name Pronunciation Guide Have you ever apologized to someone for completely butchering the proper pronunciation of their name? Try http://inogolo.com – an online pronunciation guide that can provide you with the correct English pronunciation of many proper names. The next time a visitor or client comes to your office with a name like “Chodkiewicz,” (it’s pronounced hahd-KAY-vich) be prepared with the proper pronunciation. The site includes phonetic and audio pronunciations. Names can be searched by entering the name itself in the search box, by browsing alphabetically, or by tags (such as authors or political leaders). There’s also a directory of Pronunciation Guides organized by subject (such as artists, dogs, or Greek food).
Tip of the Week – Shortcuts for Internet Explorer October 2009
Browse the internet faster with these shortcuts:
F5: Refresh the webpage
Backspace: Previous page
Ctrl+N: Open new browser window
F11: Switch between normal view and full- screen view
Ctrl+P: Print
Ctrl+H: View browsing history
Ctrl+W: Close current browser
Esc: Stop page from loading Ctrl+Enter: “www” and “com” will automatically be added to the text you type in the address bar e.g. typing in “lloydgroup” and pressing Ctrl+Enter will automatically result in www.lloydgroup.com.
“Tip of the Week” provided by The Lloyd Group at marketing@lloydgroup.com.
On-Site Insights June 2009
Cool Websites for SDA Members
By Essie Borden
Magnetic Labels and Label Holders
If your firm’s library or supply area uses steel shelving, magnetic labels are a terrific way to keep your binders, books and supplies organized. They can easily be affixed to the front face of the shelves and moved as the sections change. And how many of us have file cabinets for which the drawer labels are lost or damaged? Magnetic labels and label holders work well for them too. A very useful source for these products is Global Industrial (www.globalindustrial.com). Search for “magnetic labels,” and you’ll come up with several pages of products.
On-Site Insights March 2009
Cool Websites for SDA Members
By Essie Borden
A/E/C Websites for Job Searching
www.archinect.com
www.careercenter.aia.org
www.newyork-architects.com
www.world-architects.com
www.worldarchitecturenews.com
www.architypereview.com
www.craigslist.org
www.ashrae.org
www.mepjobs.com
www.engineersclearinghouse.com
Other Websites for Job Searching
www.iida.org
www.smps.org
www.careerbuilder.com
www.monster.com
www.hotjobs.com
www.craigslist.org
www.iaap-hq.org
www.sdadmin.org
www.labor.state.ny.us/
www.Indeed.com
www.simplyhired.com
www.job.com
www.jobs.net
www.jobster.com
Employment Agencies
Ms. Elisa Swiller ELS Associates (212) 686-0200
Mr. Jack Kelly Jack Kelly & Partners 212-754-2424, ext 11
Mr. David Rubenstein Advantage Human Resourcing 212-551-0563
Mr. Jamie Feinstein Forrest Solutions 212-204-1108
Ms. Bev Pagoda First Choice Staffing (646) 536-5640
Ms. Charlene Berkin The Tuttle Agency (212) 497-9583
Margaret Kennedy Taylor Grey (212) 687-8100
On-Site Insights October 2008
Cool Websites for SDA Members
By Essie Borden
This feature provides information on useful websites for A/E firms. If you have suggestions for websites to be included in future columns, please send them to Essie Borden: essie@meridiandesign.com.
Sources for Bags for Shipping Large Rolls of Drawings Most of us are probably familiar with the “tubes” provided by airfreight carriers such as FedEx and UPS – long, triangular boxes that hold tubes of drawings for shipping. Unfortunately, these boxes don’t hold really large rolls of drawings. Until recently, FedEx had a poly bag that could be used for large rolls, but now they’ve discontinued this form of packaging. Here are some sources for alternatives.
www.uline.com has poly shipping bags in various sizes. (Keyword: Long Poly Mailers) These come in cartons of 50, and the price goes down as the quantity ordered goes up. This company also has brown kraft paper bags in different sizes. Poly bags might be safer for overnight shipping and for messengering drawings in bad weather, but these would be fine for most messenger deliveries – and quicker to use than wrapping drawings in brown paper by the roll. (Keyword: Kraft Blueprint Bags) www.draftingsteals.com This outfit carries a number of different sizes of poly shipping bags. (Keyword: Shipping Bags)
www.bramespecialty.com
On Brame’s home page, click on Blueprint Bags. These are not poly, but heavy-duty kraft paper. These also come in a variety of sizes. FedEx does still have a tag that can be used for shipping bags of drawings. Check out their “Specialty Supplies” for the FedEx Airbill Tie-On Tag and the FedEx Label Tie-On Tag. These can be used with non-FedEx poly bags.
On-Site Insights July 2008
Cool Websites for SDA Members
By Essie Borden
Microsoft Office 2007 Help. If you haven’t yet switched over to MS Office 2007, you probably will soon, and then you too can experience the frustration of not being able to find familiar commands and features – to say nothing of learning the suite’s many new enhancements. The following may help you get started. (Thanks to Amy Nanni for passing on the first two.)
Word 2003 commands in Word 2007. This handy free tool allows you to pull up the Word 2003 basic screen with all those comforting old toolbars and help you to find the same commands in Word 2007.
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/asstvid.aspx?assetid=XT100766331033&vwidth=1044&vheight= 788&type=flash&CTT=11&Origin=HA100744321033
Excel 2003 commands in Excel 2007. This does the same for Excel.
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/asstvid.aspx?assetid=XT101493291033&vwidth=1044&vheight= 788&type=flash&CTT=11&Origin=HA101491511033
Office 2007 Quick Reference Software Guides for Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. from BarCharts. This company sells software guides that cram a lot of information about the Office 2007 components into a few heavy- duty, laminated, 3-hole-punched pages. They specifically highlight new features, new interface, and other functions of each software – and they aren’t that expensive (about $5.95 each). (BarCharts also sells guides for other commonly used office software as well as guides covering non- software business topics such as Business Law, Resumes and Interviews, etc.)
www.barcharts.com/default.asp?page=charts&pg=quickstudy&ca=office
On-Site Insights March 2008
Cool Websites for SDA Members
By Essie Borden
Free Design Software Tutorials
Keeping your firm’s design staff up to speed on the latest software is a never-ending task. Software tutorials can be an important component of a continuing education program, allowing employees to gain new skills or improve existing ones without the structure (or cost) of a formal class. The following websites are a good start – they all provide free tutorials in commonly used design softwares.
AutoDesk. This site has tutorials for both AutoCAD and Revit as well as lessons in moving from AutoCAD to Revit. You just click on the lesson you want, and the tutorial loads for immediate use.
http://adskhost.com/2006/01/ADTresourcecenter/?page=tutorials
SketchUp Self-Paced Tutorials.
These tutorials can also be downloaded.
http://sketchup.google.com/sptutorials.html
SketchUp and Google Earth Video Tutorials.
These tutorials are videos that can be opened and played directly from the website without downloading.
http://sketchup.google.com/tutorials.html