UVSAR

Limited time offer: Save 20% on Life On A Line Deluxe

2011-03-24T15:04:00.000Z

From now until March 31 2011, anyone ordering copies of our world-famous Life On A Line Deluxe (the paperback full-color edition) via the Lulu storefront can use the discount code

MARCHSPECIAL305

to save 20% off the normal purchase price of US$52.79, with a maximum saving of $100 per order. Click the code above to being your purchase, and enter it at the bottom of the checkout page after choosing your delivery method.

Disclaimer: Use coupon code MARCHSPECIAL305 at checkout and receive 20% off Life On A Line Deluxe. Maximum savings with this promotion is $100. You can only use the code once per account, and you can't use this coupon in combination with other coupon codes. This great offer ends on March 31, 2011 at 11:59 PM so try not to procrastinate! While very unlikely we do reserve the right to change or revoke this offer at anytime, and of course we cannot offer this coupon where it is against the law to do so. Transaction must be in US Dollars. Finally, Lulu incurs the cost of this discount, so it does not impact the Author's proceeds of the book.

Announcing the new Adobe Acrobat X Family, and a new blog!

2010-10-18T07:01:00.002+01:00

Today sees the public announcement by Adobe of the Adobe Acrobat X Family, comprising Acrobat X Standard, Acrobat Pro and the all-new Acrobat Suite, along of course with Adobe Reader X.To keep all our Acrobat X posts together, Dave Merchant has opened a new blog - The Acrobat Ninja.

Acrobat X (pronounced "Ten") includes a significant change in the user interface, targeting the core enterprise market and the increasing prevalence of widescreen devices. Class-leading export to Microsoft Office OOXML format, support for Office 2010 and OS/X 64-bit browsers, PDF/A-2 export, integration with Microsoft SharePoint, full Windows 7 compatibility and a dramatically streamlined Tools Pane system are some of the headline changes, but there are many more improvements under the hood - and we'll be talking about them over the next few weeks in detail, via our new blog.

UVSAR will be announcing our timescale for rollout of Acrobat X compatible PDF products, plugins and extensions over the next week via our website and on this corporate blog. Our customer training programs are now available in both Acrobat 9 and Acrobat X versions, and we will be individually discussing the upgrade route with our clients.

AcrobatUsers Tech Talk, July 27 : Advanced Video in Acrobat 9 Pro

2010-07-27T19:55:00.002+01:00

For those who came to our Tech Talk today, all the links are available via http://www.uvsar.com/go/auc7/ - and the recording will be online later today for all those who didn't!

If you have any questions, please post them via the forums, link as above.

InDesign Fixups : Script to ungroup nested layers in a PDF

2010-06-29T11:42:00.003+01:00

When you export a PDF from Adobe InDesign and choose the "Create Acrobat Layers" option, the resulting PDF file contains all the layers from your INDD document, placed in a "nest" structure with the document filename as the heading. Along with the layers you have created in your document, InDesign always adds the "Guides and Grids" layer, even though there is usually nothing in it.

It's not possible to remove this enforced layer structure with the user interface OCG tools in Adobe Acrobat - so we have written a small Acrobat JavaScript that performs two (hopefully-useful!) functions:

It promotes all layers inside the nest to the top-level, and deletes the nest.
It unlists the 'Guides and Grids' layer from the sidebar panel - the layer is NOT deleted, but it's no longer mentioned.

The document structure is not changed - layers are not flattened, and any layer properties are retained.

The script is made available for free via Creative Commons Share-alike, so you can use it and modify it for personal and commercial purposes provided you do not resell the script itself as a commercial product. It works with Adobe Acrobat 8 and 9, provided you haven't disabled JavaScript!

Click here for more info and to download the script

Free Adobe CS5 Deep Dive Product Sessions

2010-06-23T14:52:00.003+01:00

The Adobe CS5 team has put together a series of free-to-attend online Connect sessions for CS5 users, with all-new material and demos. The series runs through July and August on the dates below. This is a chance to get your questions answered now that you’ve had to opportunity to get to know the products a little more.

Scheduled sessions (each lasts 90 minutes, from 11:30 to 13:00 US/Eastern time)

Tuesday, July 13: Adobe Illustrator CS5
Tuesday, July 27: Adobe InDesign CS5
Tuesday, August 10: Adobe Flash Professional CS5
Tuesday, August 24: Adobe Premiere Pro CS5

To REGISTER for these free online seminars, go to: http://bit.ly/bZQVjB

Adobe Enterprise Cafe

2010-06-15T14:20:00.003+01:00

The latest free AIR application from the Adobe developers is Adobe Enterprise Café - a desktop app which helps you stay in touch with the goings-on, receive news, find information, and aggregate content related to Adobe LiveCycle ES (Enterprise Suite), Acrobat, Connect, ColdFusion, and the Adobe Flash Platform.

As well as linking in to community events and news feeds, it brings in content from Adobe.TV and the user community websites, including of course the forum at AcrobatUsers.com (though remember that for the time being, your username and password for the forums isn't the same as your Adobe ID).

It's a bit beta-ish in places, and I'm not too partial to brown as a color scheme, but hey.. it's still cool.

Acrobat 3D PDFs - stopping export to 3D Reviewer

2010-05-01T09:38:00.007+01:00

Prompted by a question at AcrobatUsers, here's a schneaky hack for anyone putting 3D models into their PDF files and who wants to stop the trivially-easy export of those models into other software.

When you import a 3D file using Acrobat Pro Extended, it can be stored internally in one of two ways: PRC (B-rep) and U3D. PRC preserves the exact contents of CAD/CAM files, so is great if you want people to be able to do accurate measurements on the 3D model, and U3D embeds polygonal geometry (meshes), as generated from 3D modelling software such as Sketchup, 3DS Max, Maya etc. You can down-sample U3D scenes to intentionally reduce their value to anyone, but then of course you lose accuracy on measurements.

Either way, if you send the PDF to someone using Reader 9, they get to look at it and not much more.

However if they have Acrobat 9, they can right-click on the 3D scene, and find a nice little context menu:

If the model is a PRC, the "Export Data" option is available, and will let them export to a number of formats (IGES, ParaSolid, STEP, VRML, and STL). As the PRC model is "perfect", so is the exported copy. If the model is stored as a U3D mesh, only the "Edit in 3D Reviewer" option is available, but it's still possible to hoof the model out. Not good, if your model was supposed to be "protected" by this whole PDF idea.

The trivial-but-deceptive solution is to apply security to the PDF, and in the security options panel uncheck "Enable copying of text, images and other objects". When you import a PRC file, Acrobat Pro Extended even tells you this (as a stark reminder your data is perfect and vulnerable):

So fine, you apply password security - but hold on a second. First, remember that password permissions security on a PDF is an illusion of security, not real security. It can be removed in 5 seconds by anyone with free software, of which there are pages and pages on Google. The only truly secure methods are certificates and DRM (such as through Adobe LiveCycle), and both of those cost money to implement. While we're at it, what if you don't want to stop copying at the document level (maybe something else in the document needs to be copyable)? Can we get the "Export to" and "Edit with" options to just go away?

Well, yes - yes we can! But first, we need to understand something about these annotations in Acrobat 9. If you open the content inspector sidebar (right-click the sidebar area if it's hidden) and inspect your 3D PDF, you will see the annotation is stored as "3D":

However, it's NOT a "3D annotation". The 1.7L3 PDF specification only understands something called a "Rich Media annotation", which can play Flash, video or 3D content, and which has a special variable to say which it's trying to display. So the image above is showing the page contains a "RichMediaAnnot of type 3D".

Why care? Because Acrobat 9 and Reader 9 don't care. If you create a RichMedia annotation of ANY type, it will play it even if the content doesn't match the type variable - but they make up the context menu based on the type variable alone. Confused? Well think of it like this - if we make a VIDEO annotation, but put a 3D scene inside it, Acrobat and Reader will show the 3D scene just perfect; but will show the context menu for a video:

Note the distinct lack of anything saying "Export" or "Open in". Nada. Zip. Bupkis. The PDF is still not secured, but we can't extract the 3D data! Not only that, if we try and open the PDF directly in 3D Reviewer, it'll show an empty scene - because dear old 3D Reviewer only looks for annotations of type=3D.

Getting excited yet? Want to know how to do this insane alchemy of the annotations?

You need a SWF.

Any SWF. Literally any SWF - you're not even going to use it. You just need one.

Create your 3D scene as normal in the PDF, and right-click it to choose Properties. In the popup window, switch to the Resources tab and press ADD. Select that SWF and add it. Don't bother with anything else, because it's only going to be there for 5 seconds.

now press OK to close the Properties panel, and immediately right-click and re-open it again. Go back to the Resources tab, and remove the SWF. Yup - delete it. Press OK again, and you're done. The PDF is exactly as it was before (you haven't even saved your changes yet) - but go open that content inspector and see what it says:

Now for the fun part - activate your 3D scene, and right click it. What don't you see?

Adobe Creative Suite 5

2010-04-12T16:46:00.002+01:00

Today marks the global launch of Adobe CS5, so we can finally talk about the new features (and will be doing, at length, in the coming months). There's a bunch of info on Adobe TV but amazingly the video network's getting hammered at the moment, so connecting may not be as easy as it should be (as in, you can't). SNAFU bandwidth moment, but it'll come back to life soon. Small rodents are being inserted into tubes to flush out the dust.

To clarify two things we've been asked a lot -

April 12 is 'soft launch day' - when we get to reveal all the features and pricing for the CS5 applications and collections. You can pre-order everything, but delivery (either physical or EDS) won't happen until the mid-May. Free ground shipping for physical orders of the Collections applies for pre-orders placed until April 29, but only for customers in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

Users of Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects must remember that the CS5 editions are 64-bit only, so you will need a 64-bit processor and the x64 version of Windows Vista or Windows 7 to install these two applications. All other applications in the suite are compatible with 32-bit x86 systems.

Setting a default document when a PDF Portfolio is opened

2010-03-12T11:48:00.005Z

We often get asked how to "turn off" the Flash Navigator panes for PDF Portfolios, or rather to show one member document when the PDF is opened, instead of the grid view, home or detail panels.

Users can still go back to any of those from the menu bar, but displaying a default document is often important (for example to show a cover letter or EULA).

Unfortunately, hiding the Navigator isn't something you can do from a menu in Acrobat - not yet. You need to talk to Acrobat via the all-powerful JavaScript console, and tell it what to change. It's not as scary as it sounds, but first-timers will have never worked this out themselves...

Open your Portfolio in Acrobat Pro and make sure you're looking at the Navigator, not at one individual member document, and press CTRL-J or Command-J to open the JS console. Press ENTER once to wake it up, then clear the messages using the trashcan icon in the bottom right corner. You are now talking to Acrobat, and the first thing to tell it is that you want the Navigator to open in "hidden" mode. Type this into the console, make sure your cursor is still at the end of the line, and press ENTER:

this.collection.initialView = 'Hidden';

The reply will be "Hidden". Nothing on the screen will change, but don't worry. You can clear the window again if you want, or just press RETURN a few times to get into empty space again.

UPDATE: We've been asked how to reset the view back to the original "navigator" system - the answer is to run

this.collection.initialView = 'Custom';

To set which member document is displayed when the Portfolio first opens, we need to set the .initialDoc property of the collection. Again, you can't (yet) set this from inside the user interface - it's time to type something else into the JS console! If you have a file called "my_first_letter.pdf" in the top level of your Portfolio, then to choose that you type this:

this.collection.initialDoc = "<0>my_first_letter.pdf";

Again, press ENTER to run it and you'll get the string back as a reply.

The logic is simple - .initialDoc wants the name of the member file, preceded by a number inside <>. For documents at the top level, that number is always zero - if your Portfolio has folders inside it, the number is the ID of the folder. Yeah, of course you need to work that out too, but the simplest way is to just list everything in your Portfolio and copy the one you want. If you run this one line of code, it'll show you everything:

 
for (var i=0; i<this.dataObjects.length; i++) console.println("DataObject["+i+"]="+this.dataObjects[i].name);

If you typed the above into the console over two lines, select both with your mouse and press CTRL-ENTER or CMD-ENTER to make sure the console runs both together. Remember, this only works at Navigator level, if you run the code while you're looking at a member document, it'll just see that document, and complain there's no member documents to list. You can put Portfolios inside Portfolios!

Copy and paste the name you want into the previous line of code, and run it. Save the Portfolio, and when it re-opens you'll have your default document in view. You can still carry on editing things, but if you tinker with the Navigator settings you may need to reset the initialView to "Hidden" again.

Alternately if you know which dataObject you want to open, you can use the object itself to set the initialDoc - for example typing this in the JS console will set the third document to be the default (remember arrays start from zero, so item [2] is the third in the list):

this.collection.initialDoc = this.dataObjects[2].name;

The order of files in the dataObject array is based on the order they were added (NOT their name, or any of the sort lists in the Navigator) - so if you plan on doing this hidden-view thing a lot, it makes sense to always add the document you want first. If it's a the same document (a cover letter, etc.) you can keep pre-saved "empty" Portfolios with that one document added and the view state set to Hidden, so you can just drop in the other files and save a copy.

Note that if you set the initialDoc, but leave initialView alone (or reset it to "Custom") the file you specify will be the one centered on the layout, for example in a Linear or Sliding layout, the navigator will set focus on whatever the file is. If it's in a subfolder, it will open that subfolder.

The techniques described here work in Acrobat 9 and Acrobat X, on both version 9 and version X portfolios. Setting the values of the collection object doesn't count as "editing", so you can apply them to an Acrobat 9 portfolio using Acrobat X without getting prompted to upgrade the layout.

Thoughts on safety in the wind energy industry

2010-02-04T19:15:00.005Z

As I'm sure there'll be no end of vitriol thrown over the article I've just written discussing workplace safety in the UK wind energy industry (not least from trade bodies), I think it's worth clarifying our position on the whole heap of beans.

We are not anti-wind, and have no affiliation to any anti-wind lobby groups, nor for that matter to any pro-wind lobby groups. The massive growth of wind farms is a sensible and inevitable consequence of the energy crisis, both in the UK and elsewhere, and despite not having one on our particular skyline, we'd quite like one and expect it to pop up sometime soon.

As someone with many years experience instructing and advising both workers and the emergency services in all aspects of work at height and rescue across the UK, I am well aware of the capabilities (both on paper and in practice) of the emergency services and wind farm technicians to respond to different incidents, and indeed have been discussing the problems with both sides for some time. Part of UVSAR's work is to audit the compliance and safety standards at wind farms on behalf of operating companies, from Cornwall to Orkney and most places in between, end-of-life 400kW turbines to brand new multi-megawatt designs, both onshore and offshore. Of course we won't name them, nor can we release photos or reports of failings that would identify particular operators, sites or workers (as of course they would prefer not to be shut down) - though we can guarantee that of the sites inspected to date, none escaped without a list of failures and warnings. Some of that is only to be expected, as after all no workplace is perfect; but all too many have issues that place lives at risk.

Statistically, there have only been a few deaths directly on UK turbines (and some more in the support industry, such as on barges). Compared to the deaths on roads, or even from falling down your own stairs, this seems insignificant. By pure totals it is, but there are very very few people working in turbines in comparison, and so the risk per-person-hour-worked is significant enough to warrant more attention than it's getting to date. It's not terrible, but it's comparable to other high-risk jobs which are perfectly happy to admit they're high-risk. Our concern is that the workforce in the UK wind sector is set to increase by a factor of ten or more in the coming years, and making the perfectly-reasonable assumption that they won't suddenly become 10 times safer overnight, the deaths and injuries will start to mount up. Looking at the HSE RIDDOR data, all the most 'dangerous' tasks happen on a wind farm, from work at height, through heavy lifting, rotating machinery, high voltages, off-road driving, confined spaces and remote working. The offshore sector has probably the only comparable combination of interlinked hazards and remoteness, and that is peppered with extra legislation and million-pound in-house emergency resources because it needs to be. The wind sector is not - it has the same laws, and the same green first aid kits, you have in your office. Should there be a defibrillator at every turbine if workers are inside? What should the response time be for an ambulance? Nobody's really in the mood to answer, or even find out who to ask.

The fundamental issue, in my opinion, is that many aspects of the work on a turbine have no agreed standards to follow, or several that contradict - UK trade bodies have issued very extensive voluntary guidelines, but these are restricted to one or two very specific aspects of the work. Elsewhere in the world (even in Europe), training standards are often far more wide-ranging, but they aren't being accepted by policymakers in the UK. Turbine manufacturers often supply documentation based on a conceptual international customer so they cannot be taken as-is in the UK, yet many operators don't rewrite them, I presume believing something that expensive must come with the right paperwork. It's not easy to say it's the fault of one specific person, nor are we saying that particular named companies are better or worse (though clearly some are), however the situation is what it is. A policy document says "everyone will do ABC" and out in the field, the two workers in the turbine decide not to - either because the procedure doesn't work, or they haven't got the kit, or they just can't be bothered. It's human nature; if you're not being watched, people do things their own way - especially if the official way doesn't work. The problem comes when workers aren't trained enough to understand why the policy says what it says, and why their take on it is going to kill them. It's happened.

What I feel is needed is not a whole new raft of legislation - we have enough to cover everything, it's just not being used. HSE haven't got the resources to drive round the countryside inspecting wind farms, and workers know that. We need to accept, at a public level, that these are high-risk jobs in very remote areas, and arrange the support for those jobs accordingly (both within the company and beyond). Fire services need to be not only visiting every wind farm on their patch (as every model of turbine is significantly different), they need to be training on them regularly and in a full range of difficult scenarios. You can't practice on the fire station drill tower, and you can't learn a whole lot from standing at the bottom. The same goes for the medical and support staff who will need to attend (paramedics in the HART programme, BASICS doctors, SAR helicopter crews, the RNLI, etc.) - some site visits and discussions have happened, but it's been done on a local level, and that's only of use if your casualty is in the same postcode, with the same watch on duty. If that training shows there's still a gap between the employees' ability and the external help available (and it almost always will), the employers will have to fill it. Most don't even know it's there.

Talking about the potential for accidents, and the potential for a small accident to mushroom into a tragedy when an emergency response fails, is very much a no-no within the wind energy sector, as everyone in it is afraid of losing customers. I'm not, as to put it bluntly, those elements within the wind sector who don't want it talked about aren't going to be our customers in the first place. We're not "in the industry" - we just happen to do stuff for people who are. If elements with public images to defend want to take a shot at me for popping over the parapet first, then fine - we have the evidence and experience to support everything we've said, and if anyone wants to find out about who's been killed where, just Google.

It's not about wanting to start a fight or to give ammo to the environmentalists and lobby groups (not that I think there's any ammo to be had). It's about getting the operators, site managers, fire officers and all the hundreds of subcontractors who visit these places to start the discussions, training, rescue practices, navel-gazing and policy changes needed to keep people safe as they take on the most extreme civil engineering projects the country has ever seen. Safety should be proactive, not reactive.

If that means I have to dodge a few bullets from a PR department, it's a small price to pay.

Dr Dave Merchant, UVSAR

Friendly messages for Acrobat/Reader users who disable JavaScript

2010-01-28T12:45:00.004Z

With the 9.3 update to Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader, if a user opens a PDF document with some JavaScript in it, and they have JavaScript disabled in their application preferences, they will see the Yellow Bar of Death:

While it's perfectly true that malicious JS code has been used in the past, the security holes that were exploited are now closed. 99.99999% of PDFs that use JS do so for perfectly safe and essential reasons, such as checking form fields and controlling multimedia - with JS disabled, a carefully-crafted PDF can be rendered useless.

The Yellow Bar of Death, in our opinion, somewhat overstates this security issue. Most people have no clue what JavaScript even is, so for a big scary banner to shout "Enabling JavaScript can lead to potential security issues" is going to send them scampering into trees unless the document jumps in and explains it in a calm, relaxing manner.

The solution, of course, is to use JavaScript to display that message - or rather to undisplay it. We add a layer or a page to the document that by default is shown when the PDF first opens, and then use a document-level script to hide it again. People with JS enabled see nothing, those with JS disabled see the message.

Method 1: Add a page

If we add an extra page to the document (at the start or end), we can set the document properties to open on that page by default (menu..file..properties..initial view... open to page) - this works even if JS is disabled. We then need to add a page-level script to that page, so our JS-enabled readers get automatically shunted to the REAL start of our document. Let's say for example that we had a 10-page file, added the calm explanation on page 11:

Open the pages sidebar and click once on page 11 to select it (it'll turn blue)
Click the options tool (the little gear wheel symbol on the sidebar) and choose "page properties"
Move to the Actions tab
On the "Page Open" event, choose "Run a JavaScript" and press ADD.
In the editor that appears, type this one line and press OK to close all the popups:

this.pageNum = 0;

...that will send readers back to page zero, which is the JS equivalent of page 1. Do NOT use the "go to a a page view" action as this works even with JS disabled. We specifically want a JS action so it fails for the people we want to show our message to.
Save the PDF, and test it by disabling your JS (cmd-K or ctrl-K, JavaScript, untick the box)

Method 2: Add a layer

This works best for single-page documents but it's a bit fiddlier to apply. We're going to add a new OCG (layer), set it up to be visible and non-printing by default, then use a document-level script to hide it. As Acrobat has problems showing normal layers on top of Flash or 3D content, we need to borrow the services of the Watermarking tool to insert our layer, then use some JavaScript to rename it:

I'm assuming you have a suitable PDF to use as the message - if not, you can download ours by clicking this link. It's also easier if the PDF doesn't already have a watermark.

Open the base PDF and choose menu..Document..Watermark..Add
Before anything else, press "appearance options", and tick only the bottom two boxes.
Click OK and load your message from a PDF.
Set the position, opacity, scale etc as required
If the PDF has more than one page, press Page Range Options and set it to just the first page.
Click OK to create the layer.

At this point, the new layer is called "Watermark" and isn't visible on the layers sidebar. That may be fine, but if you want to add a real watermark, you'll need to rename this layer so you can control it separately. This requires a bit of scripting in the console window, but nothing too scary.

Open the console - cmd-J or ctrl-J, and press ENTER once to wake it up. Ignore the messages - press the trashcan to clear the window, and type or paste in this section of code:

var OCGs = this.getOCGs();
for (var i=0; OCGs && i<OCGs.length;i++) {
if (OCGs[i].name == "Watermark") OCGs[i].name = "JSMESSAGE";
}

Select it all, and press ctrl-enter or cmd-enter to run it. The result is the watermark is now in a layer called JSMESSAGE, so if you want to add a real watermark on top, you can. The layer still isn't shown in the sidebar, but that's fine - less to confuse our readers.

Now, we just need to add a document-level script that hides our JSMESSAGE layer when the document opens. Click Menu..Advanced..Document Processing..Document JavaScripts.

In the box, type some random name (e.g. "js message") and click ADD. In the editor window, delete everything and paste in the following code - almost the same as the one above, but this time we're setting the layer to be invisible:

var OCGs = this.getOCGs();
for (var i=0; OCGs && i<OCGs.length;i++) {
if (OCGs[i].name == "JSMESSAGE") OCGs[i].state = false;
}

Save the script and the PDF, and you can test your new message layer as for method 1 by disabling JS in General Preferences and re-opening the file.

Click here for an example of this message layer scripting - based on a file that contains our PDF Tube Flash wrapper and therefore contains a whole chunk of essential javaScript.

Online tutorial - Javascript, Flash and 3D in Acrobat PDFs

2010-01-16T17:18:00.003Z

On Tue Jan 26 at 10am Pacific (6pm GMT) we're giving a live online tutorial covering the way Adobe Acrobat 9 users can control Rich Media (Flash and video) assets and 3D objects within their PDF files, using Acrobat's built-in Javascript engines.

(Yep, we said "engines". There are two. We'll be explaining that as well!)

To join the live session is completely free - simply head over to Acrobatusers.com and register. You'll get an email a few days before the broadcast with your access link.

If you've ever wondered how to embed a YouTube video into a PDF, or how those jazzy examples of 3D parts-selector forms actually work, sign up and wonder no more. Of course if you miss the live broadcast, a recording will be posted to Acrobatusers.com a couple of days later, and will stay there until the end of the universe (or a site revamp.... whichever comes first...)

Adobe Document Center free trial closes

2009-12-20T12:13:00.004Z

(UPDATE) : Adobe Document Center survived for a little longer than this post originally predicted (politics, politics) but it has finally been given a date to visit Old Sparkey : April 2 2011.

Although ADC hasn't exactly been the success we hoped (frankly, it did marginally worse than a drunk guy in a Santa suit turning up to a Jewish funeral), the free public trial ends at the close of 2009, thereafter it'll be a subscription service for anyone who still wants it.

If you've tried the trial and installed the plug-in LCRM security settings for Acrobat, you'll notice that things go very strangely wrong come the New Year, as every time Acrobat starts it hits the ADC policy server for information on your account, which of course won't be there anymore. The result is a big delay before Acrobat loads, possibly of up to 20 seconds. The solution, of course, is to remove the settings again.

HOW? Well yeah, that bit never made it into the ADC help file.. sorry.

1) Open Acrobat 9 (or 8, if you're so inclined).
2) Click the menu: "Advanced" - "Security Settings..."
3) In the window that appears, click "Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management" on the left.
4) You'll see an entry for the ADC pdf-policy server. If there are entries for other stuff, then you may well be using LCRM in your workplace, and you should leave the others well alone. 99% of people will not, so they'll just see the one line.
5) Select it and press the Remove trashcan button.
6) Close the window with the close icon on the top right corner (nope, didn't remember to add a close button to the main window... waddya mean you wanted perfection?).
7) Close and re-open Acrobat.

You'll find it opens "fast" now (as fast as it should, anyways), that it doesn't hit the Web during app init, and that the entries for your ADC account are removed from the Security toolbar button's "Manage Security Policies" panel. Note that you'll still have some active LCRM entries for refreshing policies on the rollout menu, but they don't actually do anything.

Tutorials online about Flash in 3D PDFs

2009-09-29T10:03:00.003+01:00

After a lot of prodding about under the hood of Acrobat 9 with a not-inconsiderably-small hammer, we've been able to post a free two-parter tutorial at AcrobatUsers.com, covering how to insert Flash SWF files into a 3D scene (inside a PDF document!) and use them as interactive, animated materials and textures.

Part 1 is here, a good place to start!

To build these types of PDF you need to be using Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, but you can open them in Reader 9 and any flavor of Acrobat 9. The possibilities for this as-yet-quite-secret ability of the rich media PDF extension system are enormous, as the SWF can do most of what a SWF can do on a web page: we can download assets from the Web, play videos, receive user input as text or drawings, and with some bleeding-edge undocumented techniques in Javascript we can even use the SWF as a "pattern factory" to generate bump maps, opacity maps or colors for other objects in the scene. WoW inside a PDF? Not quite yet, but very close!

Adobe BrowserLab - multi-browser test suite now in free beta

2009-09-07T18:23:00.003+01:00

Worth checking out - currently in free open beta - is the new multi-browser preview suite from Adobe. It runs inside your normal browser using Flex, and allows any live URL to be previewed in a range of browsers under a range of OSs, including really cool things like onion-skinning each version to see the differences.

Each page is rendered as a screenshot-style image (so links, animations etc. don't work) but unlike many of the other "screenshot from many browsers" online services, BrowserLab understands Flash content and the various available OS typefaces, so will include that stuff in the render - you can even see if the font metrics for Safari under OSX are different to those in IE7 under Windows, and if that breaks your carefully-created layout.

http://browserlab.adobe.com/

Scott Fegette has an intro tutorial on AdobeTV explaining the system.

Adobe will be adding more browsers and OSs over time, and it may turn into a paid-for service, but at the moment it's free to use - just login with your Adobe ID, or create one at the start page.

Just how big is H1N1?

2009-07-22T10:48:00.006+01:00

The H1N1 influenza virus is small. Really small. Typically it has a diameter of 120 nanometres (120 x 10^-9m, or 0.12 microns), but when trying to describe that to people, a nanometre is pretty meaningless. So, here are some useful facts:

The smallest distance resolvable by normal visible-light microscopes is around 200nm, so H1N1 is effectively invisible. It can be just about detected with UV light microscopes, but to see any structure requires electron or atomic force microscopes. Even then, we can only just make out the surface features, as they are the size of individual molecules.

Comparing H1N1 to things you can see:-

A strand of spider silk is around 5 microns in diameter, so 42 viruses would fit across it.
A red blood cell is is around 7 microns in diameter, so 60 viruses would fit across it.
A human hair averages 80 microns in diameter, so 666 viruses would fit across it. (hair varies from 18 to 180 microns so it's not a very good thing to compare to, despite the media using it all the time)
The pits on a CD are about 125nm deep and 500nm wide, so a row of five viruses could nestle into one.

For those of you familiar with 30 St Mary Axe in London, also known as the Swiss Re Building or The Gherkin, we have a really nice comparison:

If a grain of uncooked rice was scaled up to the size of the Swiss Re Building (30,000 times), an H1N1 virus would be the size of a grain of rice.

At the same scale, a human hair would be about 8 feet wide and a red blood cell would be the size of a grapefruit.

If you're in need of a 3D computer model of H1N1, we have one available via TurboSquid.

Editing the value of a PDF measurement tool annotation

2009-07-12T13:49:00.003+01:00

When you add a distance, perimeter or area measurement to a PDF document, it's possible to choose the units, but impossible (at least via the UI tools) to "fake" the value shown on the label - for example to make it a real-world unit or something Acrobat can't understand like a furlong or bloit.

Luckily, measurements are stored as a PDF comment (annotation) and so we can edit them using Javascript. Below is an example JS script - to use it on the fly, select one or more measurements on the page using the Select Object tool (the big blue arrow), open Acrobat's Javascript console (Ctrl-J or Command-J), paste the code into the console, select it all and press Ctrl-Enter (Command-Enter).

It'll loop through every selected measurement, scrolling to it and temporarily making it a dashed line so you can see which one's being addressed, and ask you for a new label. You can type in anything you want, or press cancel to keep the old value.

If you move the vertices again using the measurement tool, it'll snap back to "real" units - but you can move the labels, offsets, change styles etc. and the custom value will be retained.

var sAnnots = this.selectedAnnots;
if (!sAnnots) app.alert("No measurements are selected")
else {
var dlgQ = "Enter dimension, including units";
var dlgT = "Edit measurement label";
var dlgDA,reply,nProps,aRect;
for (var i=0; i<sAnnots.length; i++) {
dlgDA = sAnnots[i].contents;
this.scroll(sAnnots[i].rect[0],sAnnots[i].rect[3]);
sAnnots[i].setProps({ style: "D", dash: [3,2] });
reply = app.response(dlgQ,dlgT,dlgDA);
nProps = { style: "S", contents: reply };
sAnnots[i].setProps(nProps);
}
}

If you're using the code repeatedly, just copy the following script into a .JS (text) file and save it in Acrobat's Javascript folder - it'll give you a new item under the Edit menu that's enabled whenever you've got a measurement selected:

app.addMenuItem({
cName: "editSelMeas", cUser: "Edit selected measurements",
cParent: "Edit",
cEnable: "event.rc = (event.target.selectedAnnots != null);",
cExec: "editSelMeasurements();"
});

function editSelMeasurements() {
var sAnnots = this.selectedAnnots;
var dlgQ = "Enter dimension, including units";
var dlgT = "Edit measurement label";
var dlgDA,reply,nProps,aRect;
for (var i=0; i<sAnnots.length; i++) {
dlgDA = sAnnots[i].contents;
this.scroll(sAnnots[i].rect[0],sAnnots[i].rect[3]);
sAnnots[i].setProps({ style: "D", dash: [3,2] });
reply = app.response(dlgQ,dlgT,dlgDA);
nProps = { style: "S", contents: reply };
sAnnots[i].setProps(nProps);
}
}

Quickmark adds geo-mapping to QR codes

2009-06-11T12:27:00.003+01:00

The idea of putting geographic coordinates in a QR code is nothing new (Google ZXing has been doing it for ages), but until now the problem was that the QR translated to plain text, usually saying something like:

GEO:-77.036564;38.897661

As the "GEO" http prefix isn't supported by anyone, you then had to copy the text, reformat it, and paste it into something which displays maps, often in two halves. Most of the time you just couldn't be bothered.

Quickmark has just updated their own free mobile barcode reader to understand the "GEO:" tag inside a VCARD entry, and to automatically open the location in Google Maps Mobile. As it can be as accurate as you want (just add more digits) it has masses of uses both in casual wayfinding and in commercial GIS, and hopefully the other QR reader programs will incorporate the same functionality in their updates. Geocachers of the world will be drooling at the options, but also banging their heads against Groundspeak's usage agreement which forbids "forcing users to download software". I detect a breakaway faction in the making.

Here, for example, is the geographic QR code for the White House, Washington DC:

The raw text of the code actually says:

BEGIN:VCARD
N:;White House
GEO:-77.036564;38.897661
END:VCARD

and you can make your own codes at Quickmark DIY.

secure QR and QM codes

2009-05-08T09:43:00.005+01:00

As evangelists for 2D barcoding outside the world of advertising, one of the questions we're often asked is how to control who can scan a barcode, or check validity. Given anyone can make a barcode and almost every cameraphone can read them, relying on a plaintext QR code for verifying certificates, tickets, etc. or to link to an inspection database can be a problem.

Luckily, the standards for QR codes allow anything to be encoded, and the folks at Quickmark have taught their free scanner software to recognize encryption. So far they're the only people to offer both free scanner and free online generators (click on Quickmark DIY) for encrypted data, but their scanner app is one of the best on the market anyway.

With QR, you (so far) only have the option to encode the entire data block with an alphanumeric password. Scan the code with Quickmark Reader and it'll ask you for that password before showing you what the data is. Other scanners will just show you junk. Some phones may make entering letters a bit more difficult, so for fast access we'd suggest using only numbers in the password.

Why would you want to bother? Well a simple example is to hide information in a barcode that only your staff (maintenance engineers, etc.) can read, as only they know the password. The QR code below is an example - scan it using Quickmark and it'll ask for the password, which in this case is "45678", before revealing the data - in this case a serial number and inspection date.

This is a rather trivial example, but encryption works equally well to hide things like phone numbers, or even combinations for door entry systems. Think about it - the code for the door is painted ON THE DOOR, but only your staff can read it! More functional is when the data in the code is a web address which does something (like posts a new entry to a database on your company server), as it stops some random teenager with a phone from hacking your system.

Quickmark allow the QR to be encrypted or not, but as you're using their software anyway, you can also exploit a really neat extra feature in their own Quickmark barcode pattern - that of partial encryption. Everyone scanning the QM code below will be told the non-encrypted part (in this case an ID badge number). With the password ("76543"), a security guard can also read the encrypted part of the code, which in this case confirms the badge number. As nobody else knows the password, nobody can fake a badge with a different number on it. Think of the possibilities!

ProGuide USAR Operations - errata

2009-05-01T13:19:00.001+01:00

It's come to our attention that there is a typo on some copies of ProGuide USAR Operations. Our policy is to highlight any issues, updated procedures and guidance so that owners of ProGuides can keep their copies up to date, either by altering the pages themselves, or obtaining updated inserts.

On page 12, the flowchart should appear as below, noting the highlighted boxes. If in your copy these boxes are reversed, you can either update the page yourself (ProGuide paper can be written on with any permanent marker) or contact us for a replacement sheet. The spiral binding is designed to allow ProGuides to be maintained and updated as required.

If you require a replacement sheet, please contact us or reply to your order confirmation email, specifying your original purchase ID, delivery address and the quantity you require (up to the amount originally ordered).

Ordering mixed packs of ProGuides

2009-03-31T22:45:00.001+01:00

Our website now allows you to mix an order of ProGuides (Line Ops and USAR Ops) into one shopping cart.

Orders for non-physical items (downloads etc.) must be placed separately as they're processed a different way. We haven't combined TSH and ProGuide book orders into the same cart as they will always be sent in different boxes, and so there's no saving in P+P by combining the orders. Of course as there's no per-order surcharge either by us or by PayPal, you're not losing out by submitting two payments.

ProGuide Line Operations now on sale

2009-03-27T13:28:00.001Z

The wait is over - Line Operations, the second in our ProGuide waterproof pocket reference book series, is now available from our website.

Covering every aspect of line and rope rescue from the core principles of safe work at height (SWAH) and risk assessments, through rope access, hauling, stretcher rescues, confined space, shaft and leading edge work, highlines and improvisation, ProGuide Line Operations is a unique and invaluable guide for both the emergency services and industrial rescuers.

It's based on the UK/European style of equipment and standards, and so is not intended for use in regions with markedly-different methods of work (such as under OSHA/NFPA). If there's sufficient demand we'll create a second version for those countries.

Line Operations will be added to our ProGuide Mobile series in mid-April.

ProGuide Mobile has arrived!

2009-03-25T10:44:00.003Z

We're thrilled to announce the release of our first title in the ProGuide Mobile series - USAR Operations.

ProGuide Mobile is designed to display our massively-popular ProGuide pocket reference books on a mobile device such as a smartphone, PDA or tablet PC. Packaged into a PDF/1.5 file, they can be read on nearly all modern PPC/Symbian/Apple smartphones using a pre-installed PDF reader or a downloadable app, such as Adobe Reader LE. Of course it'll also display on any desktop or portable PC.

The Mobile edition of each title uses the same crystal-clear graphics and content as the print version, with interactive bookmarks and artwork optimized for small screens.

Click here to watch a demo on YouTube.

A timely splash of QR

2009-03-14T09:53:00.003Z

With an article on QR codes in press, it's about time someone in the UK started using them within a cell-routed ad campaign. The guys at Pepsi UK have taken the first stab at saving me from retracting my prediction that even in good old Blighty, most people will see a QR code in their supermarket trolley within a few months.

QRs on drinks containers are positively quaint if you're from Japan, but here the ad agencies have always stuck to text (SMS) routed on-label code sequences, or just a URL. Finally someone has realized the extra label real estate for QR is worth it; playing on the curiosity factor and the ease of use. Texting an alphanumeric code is just a little too much like hard work, even for a kid.

BS7985 draft review is open

2009-03-10T08:45:00.002Z

The COP for industrial rope access, BS7985:2002, is being revised to cope with all the changes since it came out (not least the arrival of the Work at Height Regulations). You can see the draft version and comment on it via the BSI website until the end of April, but to save you hunting for the changes, here they are:

3.3.5 and 3.3.6 added to define rated max and min loads (byproduct of EN12841)
All legal sections (4,5,etc) updated to include CDM2007 and WAHR information
8.1.3 has been reworded to make it a little easier to understand prENs
8.2.4 has been expanded to discuss chinstraps (now also 8.2.5 and 8.2.6)
8.3.1.2 is added, talking about UV degradation
8.3.14 mentions EN795
8.3.15 has grown significantly
10.3 has dropped the weekly rules
11.3 is changed, mentioning UV again and moving some sections about
12.3.5 is extensively reworded

The Annexes are changed significantly:

A.1 now covers pre-use checking
A.2 covers backup devices
A.3 covers ascent and descent
B covers equipment inspection checklists (previously Annex C)
C covers "suspension intolerance" but it can't decide on the right term.
D covers the issues in EN795.A1 eyebolts and the need for twins
E has the wind speed table as before

The old Annex A "how LOLER relates" section has, for some reason, gone.

Adobe releases e-learning edition of CS4

2009-02-13T10:51:00.003Z

e-learning is a hot topic with us, as you'll be seeing later in the year. We also have a corporate soft spot for Adobe, though it doesn't run to paying for dinner.

Constructing e-learning in Adobe CS4 has always been a little fudgy, as the 'editions' of Creative Suite were built with "creatives" in mind - doing video, print or web stuff, but not specifically training materials. As a result you got some of what you needed, but things like Presenter were absent, and if you wanted Contribute and Soundbooth you had to take a chunk of apps you probably didn't want.

The new e-learning edition of CS4 is selected for training in the way we like to do it - you get the usual Photoshop/Flash/DW/Acrobat/AME apps to build 'stuff' and deploy it as a SWF or PDF, but also get Presenter 7 (to build rich-media seminars in Powerpoint), Soundbooth and Contribute. Fine, you say, we can buy them anyways.. but in this new suite, the apps (like Photoshop) get special extensions to help with e-learning-type-stuff, which you won't find in any other CS4 bundles. There's also a SCORM packager for people who like that kind of thing, and a workflow tool gadgingo to help you through the process of building a complete course.

Of course it doesn't include Connect Pro, as you can still only get the course-tracking features of CP through Adobe's subscription-based licensing, but if you want to push your training material out via your own website and not control access via CP, or use an existing SCORM framework, you won't care it's not included.

New book - Inspecting Personal Fall Protection Equipment

2008-12-27T12:00:00.001Z

Technical Safety Handbook: Inspecting Personal Fall Protection Equipment

ISBN 978-0-9560784-1-4

This 160-page full color A4 paperback is the first ever complete reference book for the inspection, maintenance and care of PFPE, and provides an invaluable guide to safety and UK legal compliance for users of fall protection equipment:-

• Industrial work at height and confined space operatives
• PFPE hire shops
• Training providers
• Sport users (cavers, climbers, canyoners)
• Extreme sports activity and experience companies
• Rescue and emergency services teams

It covers every type of equipment a user may encounter, from simple harnesses to rope access tools, ice climbing equipment, industrial anchors, helmets, ropes and karabiners. The latest 3D computer graphics are used to ensure the information is easy to understand without being brand-specific.

The 160-page full-colour book is divided into sections, with the first part describing in complete detail how UK laws relate to the manufacture, supply, inspection and care of PFPE, both for personal and workplace users; how to keep accurate records and the fundamental concepts of how metals and polymers are damaged. Part 2 covers each type of item in detail, introducing the concepts of operation, showing the standards they should comply with, markings to expect, a point-by-point inspection checklist and examples of safe and unsafe equipment.

All legal and standards information is fully up-to-date (as of end 2008) and aimed at the UK market; although many of the concepts are relevant to other countries - especially those using the EN system. Future editions for other world markets, including the US, are in development.

Many workplace inspectors of PFPE are sent on training courses, and this book will integrate with those course seamlessly, providing a one-stop reference for the hundreds of facts and figures an inspector is faced with. Personal sport users, or those responsible for kit within a club or volunteer rescue team, are rarely given any formal training, and for those people this book is a vital addition to their toolkit. Urban myths and guesswork are common within the world of PFPE inspection, and lives depend on an inspector making the correct decisions.

The book is available retail from our own website, all major bookstores, and online retailers with an RRP of £29.95. Trade customers can order the title through Bertrams or Gardners, or direct from UVSAR.

For sample pages or to order this title now, please visit our website.

Version-sniffing for inline PDF files

2008-10-31T09:03:00.005Z

The inline object below contains a PDF file with a 3D interactive model. Because 3D only works in Adobe Reader 8.5 or above, the PDF uses two filtering stages to ensure the 3D element is only displayed when the correct plugin is available. If you have Adobe Reader 9 (or Acrobat 9) then you will see the activated 3D model open below, after a second or two delay.

The first thing we do is insert the PDF using the 'Stirfry' method - a standards-compliant bit of HTML code which works in the main browsers, but ensures that if the user has no PDF viewer plugin, something else appears (in this case the 'get Adobe Reader' image and hotlink:


<object type="application/pdf" 
 data="http://www.uvsar.com/downloads/PDFsniff3D.pdf" width="320" 
 height="240">
 <div>
  <a href="http://www.adobe.com/reader" title="Get Adobe Reader">
  <img border="0" 
  src="http://www.adobe.com/images/shared/download_buttons/get_adobe_reader.png" 
  width="158" height="39" /></a>
 </div>
</object>

If the PDF loads, then we use a single line of Javascript inside the PDF itself to handle versioning (we can't access the version number for Adobe Reader directly in a web browser). The PDF has two pages - page 1 is a "you must upgrade" message, and page 2 contains the actual 3D object, so all the Javascript does is move to page 2 if the viewer version is greater than 8. The Document Javascript therefore says:

if (app.viewerVersion >8) this.pageNum++;

You can download the above PDF directly from this link (right-click and Save As), if you want to poke about inside it.

Horizontal Matthew Walker knot and cowstails

2008-10-18T13:02:00.002+01:00

Following a suggestion by the great tyer of string Mr 'Paddy' Morris, we've recently looked at a new, and intensely obscure, knot for making up the harness-end loops on a set of cowstails. The 'horizontal Matthew Walker knot' has, as far as we know, never been used for anything even remotely related to climbing and rope access, and instead has been the knot of choice for salt-encrusted sea-dogs wishing to fashion rope ladders and impress The Ladies. It appears in Ashley (#800) but not a lot since then, and that's a shame.

It turns out that the HMWK is rather a good choice (compared to the usual figure-8 loop knot) and is equally strong, well-behaved even under expansion, but an utter beast of a knot to learn. If there is one knot that you won't be able to get right twice in a row, it's this one - but if you can, it's a damn good knot. It looks nice too!

You can download our report from the link below, which includes test data and background info. It's a 4.8MB Adobe PDF with embedded videos, so you'll need to have Adobe Reader 9, or Acrobat 9, installed in order to open it.

http://www.uvsar.com/downloads/bulletin_0810_HMWK.pdf

P3DF USAR Timber Shoring now available

2008-10-08T11:36:00.003+01:00

We're pleased to announce that our first P³DF document package is now available from our website. Covering timber shoring systems for Urban Search and Rescue, the P³DF system uses the latest interactive 3D features of Adobe Reader 9 to deliver a unique and captivating learning experience.

The package contains every standard timber shore pattern, from simple rakers to complex column and sloped-floor systems, and is suitable for use by anyone trained under the US FEMA/USACE/TEEX systems or the UK New Dimensions program.

Single-seat licences are available right now for instant purchase and download - group and academy licences are available on request for those wishing to circulate the documents amongst their employees or students, including the option to add your own logo and styling.

Head over to our website for a free sample!

3DS Max and hard drive migration

2008-08-29T10:54:00.004+01:00

A terminally humorous SATA disk on a client's network needed to be replaced, and it so happened to hold a copy of 3DS Max 9 (SP2) running on Windows XP. No problem, we thought - clone the drive to a new one using Acronis True Image, pull the old one and collect our fee.

Well yeah. XP may be happy with that, but Max has a pecadillo for hardware-matched license keys, so when it found the disk's ID had changed, it wanted to re-authorize the license. Perfectly fine, the install was legit and the network was up.. if only it actually RAN the authorization page properly we'd have been done in 30 seconds.

What we found was the usual 80's-style "Authenticating..." popup, which in a sensible world would lead to the Autodesk "OMG! License broken! Re-authorize?.." window. A quick burst of network traffic and all would be well again. Our client could return to designing teapots, or whatever..

We forgot that Microsoft made IE7 more paranoid than the people who camp outside Area 51 of a night. A popup appeared, informing us politely that "Windows Internet Explorer" could not find a file, namely C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temp\~RT7D.tmp\RTEaseReAuthBeginReg.html (plus a parameter pointing to the installed Max9/Webdepot/ folder).

Fine, we thought, click the OK button. And again. and again. Would it go away? Would it hell. At 20 clicks it vanished for all of 5 seconds, but then, like the cat, it came back.

So after killing Max through XP's process tree (the only way out), we took a peek, and found the file wasn't actually there. Logic kicked in, as well as some coffee, and we ran Max again, but at the first error copied the files from the Max9/Webdepot folder into the temp location it was trying to find. Sounded sensible, and indeed IE7 woke up. Man, did it wake up. We lost count at 50 open blank tabs, all with blocked ActiveX errors, and this time killing Max took a large hammer and some cursing in Swedish.

It seems that RTEaseReAuthBeginReg.html really annoys IE7. IE6 was OK with it, but even using the "you must be off your crazy head!" security settings in IE7, it still refused to accept the file, instead prefering to make tabs faster than the UI could repaint.

Anyhoo.. long story short, we took the code in the Webdepot folder apart, and found that it's the specific 'automatic re-submission' code that IE7 won't allow. The other types of authentication (for no license at all, or a deleted file, or even an expired one) are fine. Autodesk, in their "wisdom", coded the license verification DLL to never give up loading the webpage into the popup until it returned status. Never. It'll still be trying when the roaches rule the world.

Solution? Delete the contents of C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\Software Licenses (which holds references to the authenticated keys). Re-run Max, and this time we get a "license deleted" error - which displays just fine, TYVM, as it loads different files. Re-authenticate (the license number itself is still there as it's in the registry.. killing the .dat files just makes the DLL treat it like a half-finished new install) and we got out of there in time for lunch. Just.

Adobe Acrobat 9 SDK released

2008-08-19T15:15:00.003+01:00

Finally, after much fun with the beta, the rest of the world can now get their hands on the SDK for Acrobat 9 and Acrobat 9 Pro Extended - just click here.

The updated documentation for Acrobat's Javascript (now inside the main HTML help ZIP file, so don't go looking for the old API reference PDF) is still a little.. vague.. in places (good luck working out how to navigate inside a Portfolio), but if you squint hard enough you can work out where most of the new stuff has been bolted on. Javascript examples are given in a PDF, but frankly aren't all that exciting to people familiar with Acro8 and 8.3D.

Preview time

2008-08-04T16:58:00.002+01:00

A sneaky peeky at some of what we've been working on these past months is now possible, via

http://www.uvsar.com/books/

We hope to bring the first series of publications to market within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

BS8513 - slipping by in the shadows

2008-07-20T13:25:00.002+01:00

The long-standing EN product standards for fall arrest lanyards (EN354 for the 'lanyard' and EN355 for the energy absorbing element) are well-known by everyone working with fall arrest. Some of us happily agree they're a little vague to interpret, mostly because of the way the load-bearing (but not energy-absorbing) concept of a lanyard is covered by one standard, and the energy absorber by another. It means a commercial product has two numbers printed on it, but it's intentional - as there are many cases where you want a lanyard without an energy absorber. Indeed, EN354 is designed to be so vague that it can even apply to swivels and chain links.

There is however an 'issue' with EN355, namely that as with all other EU-harmonised fall protection standards, it assumes a user bodyweight of no more than 100kg. A manufacturer may want to design a product for use by someone over that bodyweight, but EN355 can't certify it for more than 100kg as under clause 4.4 the test mass has to be always the same. EN354 doesn't actually care too much about user weight, as it's only the energy absorber which would react differently in a fall.

So, if you're too heavy, you may rip to the very end of the energy absorber, and potentially suffer an injury. If you're too light then you may be arrested too quickly, and also suffer an injury. The generally-accepted working range for an EN354/355 lanyard is 80kg to 100kg. "Outside that, you cannot use them. Period."

Well.. not exactly. It's true that an overweight user could run to the end of the absorber, but only if they fall in an unbelievably extreme way. Manufacturers always design the absorber to have extra capacity, so even a 100kg person falling in factor 2.0 would not expect to get anywhere near the end. A heavier person would get closer, but is still unlikely to hit the buffers - and besides, a FF2.0 event is hardly ever going to happen if the worker is using their equipment in accordance with good practice.

If you drive your car into a wall at 120mph, the airbag may not deploy in time. That's not an airbag fault.

The good thing about this "working outside the paperwork" system is that although the lanyard may only be "rated" for 100kg, if you weigh a bit more you will still only feel the agreed safe 6kN peak force during arrest. You'll travel a bit further, but 600kg is the limit. That's important, as most of the other stuff you're using, from the harness to the karabiners, eyebolts, wire systems etc. all assume that figure is as high as forces can get. The actual value of 6kN was chosen almost at random - military tests post-WW2 showed that 12kN was the point of survival, and so the EU regs simply halved it. In the USA, they use 8kN and there's no evidence they experience more injuries as a result of their choice.

So, background lesson aside, what's BS8513? Well, it's a draft British Standard for twin-tail fall arrest lanyards, being written by PH/5 and available for comment online at the BSI Drafts website. Most of it is a copy of EN354/355, but it has one crucial difference, which I am not at all happy with. It allows 8kN.

Rather than using the EN logic of "your body will fit our range", BS8513 defines three new types of lanyard, based on user weight:-

For users under 80kg, the arrest force must not exceed 5kN
For users 80kg to 100kg, the arrest force must not exceed 6kN (equivalent to EN355)
For users 100kg to 140kg, the arrest force must not exceed 8kN

Sounds sensible - but think about it for a minute.

'Users under 80kg' is what it says it is. A user of 20kg must be able to use this type of lanyard, and that's simply impossible to engineer, especially as the standard also demands that below 1.5kN the absorber cannot deploy. There has to be a lower limit, even if it's a small one. PH/5 clearly don't understand this.
If I weigh 101kg, why should I be subjected to more force than if I weigh 99kg? Surely I'd prefer to fall an extra foot, at 6kN, than stop in the same place but with more energy applied to my internal organs?

Ahh, you say, but the USA system allows 8kN! Yes it does, but only on the back attachment point. They are almost religious in their affirmation that 8kN on a sternal attachment point is hideously unsafe. They should know - they've done the tests. The UK has not.

Aside from this question of "is it safe" - changing the limit to 8kN also means all the other stuff you're using has to change too. BS8513 even goes to the trouble of defining special types of connector for these heavyweight lanyards. Is a user actually going to know how to work like that? You've got to be kidding. Weighing yourself every morning to decide which lanyard to use? Not likely.

And what of EN354/355 lanyards? The EU regulations mean their sale cannot be restricted, so someone in the UK can buy and use them, even if they don't have BS8513 approval. Do you need to throw them away and buy new ones? Should workers now all be issued individual lanyards or be forced to diet?

BS8513 started off with good intentions, but there is a good reason why the EN standards are vague. By trying to fill in the details, they have created a monster.

What should they have done?

If they want weight ranges, then overlap them, so people will never be on the limit between two.
Forget 8kN entirely, and simply allow a longer drop distance for heavy users.

Will they?

...was that pork outside your window?....

2008-07-17T17:46:00.005+01:00

We've been working on a range of new products for urban search and rescue training, details of which we will be giving out in a few weeks. Meanwhile, to keep people happy we've added a new AED model to our 3D collections. The design is unique to UVSAR and is not based on any existing real-world product.

Available from all our normal distributors, such as Flat Pyramid and TurboSquid, for a very reasonable price!

How well do you know your PPE Regs?

2008-04-24T12:12:00.005+01:00

Question of the week - what does Regulation 9(3) of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 say, and does your company actually follow it?

Negative points for anyone who says "there isn't a part 3". There is no spoon. There is always a part 3.

And the answer is

9(3) says "Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1) the employer shall, where appropriate, and at suitable intervals, organise demonstrations in the wearing of personal protective equipment."

It was added to the PPE at Work Regulations by paragraph 5 of the Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002, which also added some extra text required for ergonomics. Very few people noticed as the main Regulations linked above don't mention the changes, and so you can count on one hand the number of companies who run PPE "demonstrations". They're pretty pointless for something like washing-up gloves, but for a harness they can be life-saving as a two or three year training ticket is easily long enough for people to pick up bad habits or forget things.

2008-04-14T10:43:00.005+01:00

We've added an RFID implantable transponder to our public collection of 3D models, as it's a pain in the ass to photograph something reflective and only 12mm long.

EU vote to block block of Web access for copyright infringers

2008-04-12T07:49:00.004+01:00

The EU Report on Cultural Industries in Europe by Guy Bono sparked a lot of Webside debate with a French-supported call for a "3 strikes and you're out" rule for copyright. Although the implementation of such a rule was always going to be controversial, and almost impossible to enforce given the international variation in copyright law exemptions, we've been saved from the prospect of having our online life curtailed due to a few questionable copies of Eurovision Jazz Greats Vol. 4 by two amendments narrowly accepted by a vote in the Parliament.

The wording of the amendment(s) has been taken by some bloggers to mean that "access to the Internet is a human right", but that's not the case at all. The wording could've been better, but what it actually says is that blocking Internet access would go against the policy of the EU Commission to avoid adopting measures which aren't proportional. It certainly doesn't say that having Web access is a human right, but it says that having the freedom to choose to use the Internet is one of the civil liberties of a citizen of the EU, and because the Internet has so many possible benefits for the user (aside, of course, from access to copies of Eurovision Jazz Greats Vol. 4) to remove all possible access to it would be disproportionate.

Personally I support the amendment, as if nothing else it would've made the lives of IP enforcers and legal experts a living Hell, as not only would illegal downloading become such an important crime we'd all be spending hundreds of hours on each case, but it would also put the EU in a very different position to the rest of the world, so pushing the problem elsewhere. That's not to say the original intent wasn't valid - policing copyright is essential lest the entire concept of IP dissolve into a gray goo - but being too draconian with the recipients of data will only turn the attention away from the real issue, which is how to make the concept of intellectual property work in everyone's benefit.

The important point of course is how I referred to the original document - it's a Report and so carries no weight in law. Member States within the EU are free to implement national laws which include the "3 strikes" rule if they wish, and France seems intent on doing precisely that. The MEPs may have decided they don't like the idea, but can't do a whole lot to stop it.

Manual handling video clips - AVI version added

2008-04-07T10:27:00.003+01:00

We've added AVI versions of our free manual handling video training clips to the site, so they're easier to insert into Powerpoint presentations on Windows. If you want versions without the watermark, contact us for prices.

Tracing the cause of the "missing external files" dialog in 3DS Max

2008-03-24T15:27:00.003Z

Something random for fellow 3DS Max users: When someone sends you a scene and you get the dreaded "Missing external files" dialog on opening, politely informing you that there are some bitmaps or photometric files missing, you usually face a long struggle to find out why.

If you're lucky you have the files, and you can just 'Browse...' to them; problem solved. But what if you don't have them? You don't actually care as you can stick something else in, but where in the name of Hell are they in the scene??? You've got 300 objects, 200 lights and the material editor slots don't seem to be showing anything with those filenames - so whoever created the scene must have merged in objects from another scene, which you know to your cost places the merged materials in a slot outside the editor window.

The solution is, believe it or not, a documented feature of Max (but documented by a mention of a quote of a suggestion in the user manual... so you're excused for missing it).

Cancel the dialog box, allow the scene to open, then click the Utilities tab on the rollout panel (your little hammer is finally appropriate as we're getting ready to whup some ass with it).
Press 'More' and load the "Bitmap/Photometric Paths" module.
Press 'Edit resources'.
A dialog opens, which lists all the external files the scene is trying to find.
Click 'Select Missing Files" to see which are actually missing. Hopefully there aren't that many.
Click once on your (first) missing file, then press the 'Info' button.
You now see a list of which nodes (shapes, lights etc.) use that file. Bingo. Write it down. No, you can't double-click it. This is Max. Stuff isn't sensible.

Armed with the 'node' info, you can either delete the object(s) from the scene, or if the missing file is a photometric map you can select the object(s) and stick a new IES file in via their rollout. If you're dealing with a broken material you can select one of the nodes, open the Material Editor and use the "get from object selection" icon to push the broken material into an editor slot, from where you can fix it.

The only remaining action required is to call the fool who sent you the file and explain why their salary just dropped...

EN363:2008 released

2008-03-13T11:30:00.004Z

For those people who like to collect EN standards (yes, there are such people, and they may well need a life) you may be interested to note that BS EN363:2008 (Fall Protection Systems) has just been issued, replacing the 2002 edition.

It's a little fatter, and brings EN363 up to date with the changes in dependent EN standards (EN12841 etc.) plus drops in a citation of the UK Work at Height Regulations (always nice to see a normalized EN standard stray off course by referencing national law). As usual it's available from BSI at a suitably-large price.

Falls from vehicles

2008-03-12T17:15:00.003Z

It's always good to see people taking notice of the HSE's recent Falls from Vehicles campaign, especially when they're working outside our office window...

It was pouring with rain so it's understandable the guy wanted to rush.

Question of the week: The legal status of rescue equipment

2008-03-12T14:04:00.006Z

If you have a rescue or escape device which lifts a person, but is only used in an emergency by the person subject to that emergency (such as a fixed-rate descent system for a tower crane, or the lifting straps on a stretcher), is it PPE, or LOLER lifting equipment, or both, or neither?

We regularly get asked this question as it makes a crucial difference to how the equipment is inspected and certified. LOLER seems to imply inspections every 6 months. If it's PPE then that changes to every 12 months. If it's neither, inspections under PUWER can happen as (in)frequently as you want, leaving the device untouched for years in some cases. How about the need for a CE marking, or a safe working load?

...and the answer is...

They're work equipment under PUWER, and so require inspection in accordance with regulation 6:-

Puwer 1998: Inspection: Reg 6:
(2) Every employer shall ensure that work equipment exposed to conditions causing deterioration which is liable to result in dangerous situations is inspected -
(a) at suitable intervals; and
(b) each time that exceptional circumstances which are liable to jeopardise the safety of the work equipment have occurred

If the equipment is stored correctly (sealed against moisture, light, etc.) then it isn't "exposed to conditions causing deterioration", and so reg 6 ceases to apply. If it's stored in a way that could lead to deterioration (exposed to rain, sunlight, used for training, rattling about in the back of your car, etc.) then reg 6 kicks in, and you need to do recorded inspections. The 'suitable intervals' will be defined by the product manufacturer, and we generally consider 'exceptional circumstances' to include use of the equipment in a real emergency event.

Despite this, rescue equipment is most certainly not PPE, as it's only used after an emergency has happened. This is useful, as it avoids hitting the 12-month inspection rule from EN365. If the manufacturer says a 'suitable interval' is ever 4 years, then every 4 years it shall be.

But what about LOLER? Is this stuff lifting equipment?

Yes. Unfortunately, LOLER doesn't give a crap about why you're using something - if it lifts a person and it's used in a workplace, then it's covered by LOLER, irrespective of how much that person is bleeding. Why should we care? Well, because although LOLER regulation 9(3) has the same 'subject to degradation' wording as used in PUWER and so we can ignore inspections of perfectly-stored equipment, when we do decide an inspection is needed it must be a LOLER Thorough Examination, and the hulking great report that goes with one - not just a tick in a box or an initial on a sticky label.

Spring springs and another blog opens

2008-03-07T16:16:00.004Z

This blog will be playing host to all the latest news and offerings from UVSAR along with the usual cascades of lore and law on health and safety, graphics and IP. It's an eclectic mix, but so are we.

As this blog forms part of the corporate output of UVSAR, we do not display comments from other users nor will we engage in affiliation or link-sharing schemes other than with our business partners.

All postings and associated files and atachments are copyright ©2008-2009 UVSAR, all rights reserved. Publication and reuse of such materials is prohibited prior permission.