Graphisoft on BIM LaiserinLetterLetters™ Laiserin's Lemma™—Wag the Dog Today's Top-Level Take-Away—Federated Data > "...instead of building one massive database... a virtual database is created that links to all the relevant data stored in other databases. Proponents maintain that the federated approach enables data to remain in the format and location where it best fits... 'We believe this is a very significant shift for the data management industry,' says Nelson Mattos, director of information integration at IBM. 'This is going to cause databases to move from the notion of managing data that is only physically stored within (them) to a federated approach.' " (CNet News.com Jan 13, 2003) Graphisoft on BIM Expanding our debate on Building Information Modeling (BIM) as the successor/superset to "CAD" in AEC design, modeling pioneer Graphisoft—makers of ArchiCAD—stake out their position. Vice President for Architecture Chris Barron argues Graphisoft's case. More... LaiserinLetterLetters™ An occasional sampling of reader electron-mail, or "keep those waves and particles pouring in, folks!" More... Laiserin's Lemma™—Wag the Dog (lemma: a short theorem used in proving a larger theorem) The January 19, 1998 release of "Wag the Dog"—a film about perception and reality in communication media—warned against the tail wagging the dog, or the medium determining the message. While not as momentous as national interests satirized in the movie, the risks posed to the AEC community by then-new communication technologies raised similar concerns: was the Internet �tail� indeed wagging the design and construction �dog�? Five years on, with the intervening "dot-com" bubble inflated and burst, how are the AEC, FM, plant/process and infrastructure industries faring in the communications revolution? More...