ArchiCAD 16 is almost here and I wish I was using it on the project I’m starting today

BUT… I don’t have ArchiCAD 16 yet. I did however just upgrade my key to an ArchiCAD 16 license via https://upgrade.graphisoft.com/. You won’t be able to upgrade your key for a few more days, but when you do here’s something you’ll want to be aware of if you’re a Mac user:

Error Message! Don’t worry, it’s an easy fix

Upgrade.graphisoft.com shows an error message and ‘Inactive Plug-in’ text appears on the upper left corner of the website when you look for your key. This is because Apple has disabled the automatic execution of Java applets with its Java for OS X 2012-003 software update for Mac OSX 10.7 Lion. Very annoying, especially if you are expecting everything to work effortlessly. Fortunately there’s a simple answer: enable the Java plug-in.

Read this archicadwiki article for more details about both the problem and the solution.

A Note from one of my two Favorite IT guys

If you’re in Minnesota and have IT problems related to ArchiCAD, I’ll tell you to contact Ryan. I’ll refrain from talking too much about his awesomeness. But I’ll say this: How many other IT guys read ArchiCAD blogs and come to usergroup meetings when they can? Anyways, after reading this post, Ryan had this advice to add:

I saw your post about Java error / keys and have an unsolicited FYI that I hope you won’t mind humoring. Apple was very deliberate about shutting down Java because it’s a security vulnerability. OS X is behind the crowd on getting off of Java because they have always been so anti-Flash. The Flashback virus variants that received a lot of media coverage a couple months ago use a Java exploit, and it wasn’t the first trojan to do so. Apple got a huge black eye from this, so they killed Java. The archicadwiki.com post is probably correct that the only way around is to enable it (since Graphisoft’s site is behind on the times), but it’s not really a good idea to leave it that way. 10.7 will re-disable it after doing a software update, but I’m not sure about older versions. Hope I don’t come across like an old hen. The hole really is pretty bad.

No Ryan. You do not come across as an old hen. Far from it. Thanks for the perspective on this. And here’s Ryan’s advice for turning Java back off once you’ve updated your key:

In 10.7- just go right back into Java preferences and uncheck “Enable applet Plug-in and Web Start applications”.

In 10.6 and earlier- there isn’t a button for that. There is a patch in the latest security updates that doesn’t make it as big a deal, but as a precaution some turn off Java SE 6 functionality altogether. That said, that could screw with peoples machines depending on what they use. I’d just tell them to have the latest Apple update.

Blogger’s Note

So this is the first post from my summer adventure in Boston. It also happens to be my 200th post on Shoegnome.com. I was hoping for something a little more dramatic, introspective or wild, like a crazy video tip that no one has ever seen before. But I posted more last week than I was planning to (as usually happens). And one of my daughters didn’t sleep much last night. And I took a 3 hour nap this morning. And I have a ton of work to do with Labhaus this week. So I’ll have to make post 201 or probably 207 the big ‘We made it to 200 without missing a week in almost 2 years! Here’s to 3 years and 300 posts‘ post. I for one can’t wait!