Archive for category Latest News

StruCalc has released a new patch today StruCalc 8.0.103 that includes the 2010 California Building Code. This patch is free to all current users and can be downloaded through the program itself and its auto update feature or by going here.

After listening to user feedback we have finally been able to change our internet licensing policy to something much less restrictive than was previously in place. For the small amount of overall users who caught in the server crash a few months back and also for those who gave us feedback in our StruCalc survey sent last spring we have listened.

Due to immense online piracy and theft we must have some security in place, otherwise our company would go out of business, and none of our loyal customers would get to continue using StruCalc either. Please keep this in mind when you run into security issues and res assurred that we will always keep our loyal users needs first and fix them in as timely manner as possible.

That being said, StruCalc 8.0.102 has been released and is a full security patch that allows YOU to decide how you want StruCalc to keep it’s license up to do date. We have given you the ability to unlock and register and then disable the internet for up to 1 full year. For security reasons we couldn’t let it go any longer than this.

Read further to see how these new and exciting features work…

First you need to install the patch which is easiest to do through the program, when it next launches it should prompt you to install the new patch or you can download it and run it directly from our website at http://www.strucalc.com/patches/

After installing the new version 8.0.102 you will see on the bottom toolbar a new button -

StruCalc License Info

 If you mouseover as I have done in this picture you will get information as to the status of your license. As this was a fresh installation I have a full year before I have to connect back to the internet. You can then click this button or using the menu go to Settings > License. This will bring you to a new exciting License interface that allows you to manage the internet connection capabilities of StruCalc.

StruCalc License Settings

On the upper left is the new Disable Internet box. If you select this box and hit Save Changes near the bottom StruCalc will no longer check the internet everytime you open the program. You will see a quickstart up screen flash and then the program will start running. Other features of this screen are the Internet Connection bar which shows you if you are connected to the internet as well as expiration information for your current license. If your license has expired you can come to this screen, enable the internet, and then hit Renew Licenses Now to get another year of use without requiring the internet as long as your license is still valid.

We hope this meets our user requests as closely as possible and that is as intuitive as we try to make all StruCalc features. Please feel free to call our technical support line at anytime if you are having trouble with your license 1-541-753-6112.

Stay posted soon for some new features that are coming to StruCalc 8.0 at no additional charge to our current users!

Adam Wilson, President
StruCalc, Inc.

Google has partnered with a new company to make web browsing safer for users of the internet. While we support any and all actions taken by companies to police the web for malicious activity sometimes there methods catch sites they shouldn’t.

Currently we are experiencing this problem and are working with Google and StopBadWare.org to be cleared. StruCalc is committed to protecting your security and web experience. We will NEVER allow malware, spywayre, or malicious code of any type on our website, and never engage in this activity.

In the meantime we have been cleared by McAfee, Norton, and our hosting service www.lunarpages.com.

Website cleared safely

Visit http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/strucalc.com

to verify this report yourself. We hope to have Google clear our site soon and will report as soon as this has happened. You may note in the report as well as checking with Norton that all of our downloads are free of malicious code, and their are no malicious posts on any pages of our website.

Additional information from: http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http://www.strucalc.com

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, www.strucalc.com did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

How did this happen?

In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.

We are very sorry for this inconvenience and remain committed to

Thank you for all those who were understanding during the last week of service interruption. We are happy to announce StruCalc servers are back up and running.

If your license got invalidated you may need to unlock your software once again. This is simply done by entering the serial number you received with your original order and renewing your license. This should only affect a small number of users. If you require assistance please call our sales line at 1-800-279-1353 starting Monday August 9th at 8AM PST. The servers were rebuilt with zero data loss, however some licenses that were past the 30 day expiration date could have been cleared by their own computers and need to be re-registered with the server.

We have taken drastic actions to beef up our backup systems so that a crash of this magnitude will not happen again in the future. Also, to answer the number one question users have had in the last week which was “What are you going to do to ensure this doesn’t happen again?”

First, only a small number of users were affected negatively, these are the ones who were caught in the “hadn’t connected in 30 days license expiration”. For those users we are extremely sorry for your lost productivity time and appreciate you continuing to use our software to meet all your design needs.

Secondly, we will be sending an email with updates that will arrive in the next patch that reduces the security control that StruCalc maintains. While the current system was deployed to reduce serious piracy issues, the new owners remain committed to evolving with user demands and needs. This will be apparent in the next patch where many new features are added that were available in previous versions of StruCalc, as well as the new security options which will let users maintain their own level of internet connectivity.

Again thank you all and we here at StruCalc look forward to developing new and exciting features for all of you.

Adam Wilson
President
StruCalc, Inc.

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010, the area our servers are stored, experienced a large scale power surge. At this time we do not know if this caused the server crash or some other unrelated event. We assure you that StruCalc technicians are working night and day to restore service as soon as possible. 100% uptime is impossible to guarantee and we take pride in the fact that to this date we have had only two days of downtime in the almost two years that StruCalc 8.0 has been online.

In the meantime, let me answer some general questions that our tech support staff is receiving:

1. Does this mean I cannot access my software or projects while your servers are down?

Absolutely not! StruCalc was developed with full knowledge that this type of even may occur. StruCalc retains a 30 day license on your local machine in case your internet or our servers go down. In this case when you open StruCalc you will see a variation of this picture -

Simply click the “Click Here If You Agree” link and continue using StruCalc as usual.

2. When I run StruCalc it says my license is expired!

Some users may be seeing the picture below -

Unfortunately, this means your computer was not connected to the internet in the last 30 days and therefore can not run off its license. Rest assured that StruCalc technicians will contact you as soon as you can begin to use your license.

In the worst cases, those being where user’s were not connected to the internet in the first place, users may be required to be sent a new serial number and download a patch in the coming week to restore there service. This will be as painless as the original installation was.

3. I have ordered StruCalc 8.0 or am trying to register a free trial and can not open the software?

During the server downtime event no new orders can be processed or free trials registered. We will release new purchases as soon as possible and if you were in the middle of a free trial or were trying to download a free trial, please contact our sales line at the number below for a free extension to a 30 day free trial as soon as the servers are online.

We are truly sorry for anyone experiencing a disruption of services. New management is taking drastic steps to ensure that in the future downtime like this will be less painful for every one of our users and ensure that the length of the downtime is guaranteed not to last as long as this.

Adam Wilson
President
StruCalc, Inc.
1-800-279-1353

StruCalc is pleased to announce that an agreement has been completed expanding the ownership of the company to include the lead developers of the software. Adam Wilson and James DiNardo have joined founder Pete Bambe in a new ownership arrangement designed to allow StruCalc, Inc. to accelerate its innovative product development plans.

What does this mean for you today?

To all of our loyal users, we would like to extend our thanks and gratitude for your commitment to our product which has provided the growth opportunity our company has enjoyed.

During the tumultuous financial cycle of the past two years, like all businesses, it has been difficult for StruCalc to maintain its growth rate and the pace of development to which you have become accustomed.

It is our intent that under this new ownership arrangement, our loyal users will start to see the immediate impact of the new company’s development power in soon to be released upgrades to our current version 8.0. This upgrade will address many of the features missing from StruCalc 8.0 that you were accustomed to in StruCalc 7.0.

Development will also begin on new features for StruCalc 8.0 that were planned for development before the current economic conditions took hold. Please look forward to these exciting upgrades to be available at no charge delivered via download to our existing users in the next few months. As a user you will experience no loss of service or additional fees for StruCalc 8.0 or for a previous version you are currently using.

What does this mean for the future of StruCalc?

The expanded management team at StruCalc heartily thanks our users that took the time to fill out our survey sent earlier this spring. We have diligently reviewed your responses to formulate a plan for future development that is designed to address your most pressing needs on a priority basis.

It was clear from the responses we received that a majority of the users of StruCalc desire new features, not an expansion of existing features. As engineers and designers we understand the effect the current building crisis has had on our industry and realize that parts of the country may not return to pre-recession business levels for quite some time.

However, as the economy recovers and creates new opportunities for our users and to make future StruCalc developments economically viable for everyone, we have committed to developing and distributing a modular version of StruCalc 8.0, to be called StruCalc Pro, which will allow our users to select from a menu of features that fit their business needs and not investing in features that do not add value to your business. This is keeping with our tradition of expansion as the industry requires it but not forgetting that there are many small engineering shops out there that require access to easy to use software at a reasonable price, and not be charged for major features they will not need.

This new version will include the current core beam, column, and footing design modules and include several new and improved features at its release. Additionally new niche products will be available as modular plug-ins to this new platform. This will allow you to create your own custom program that fits your needs exactly, saving you time and money since you only pay for what you need.
We anticipate releasing multiple new products in the coming years, with StruCalc Pro coming in spring of 2011. We are looking forward to once again providing the products you will need as the market gains momentum opening up opportunities for us all, and again thank to all of you, our loyal users for your continued support of StruCalc.

We remain committed to providing intuitive, low cost, software solutions to make your business more profitable.

Adam Wilson
President
StruCalc, Inc.