12.04 - Why do I have to access software through a folder rather than in the dash?

In this case, the software is Blender. I followed the instructions on Blender.org, and it all works. But, when I click on Blender in the dash, it runs version 2.62, which is what I got with apt-get. If I want the latest version that I downloaded from the website (2.68a), I have to go into the folder that was extracted from the .tar.bz2 file and click on Blender in there. Isn't there a way to connect the icon in the dash with the last one I downloaded, so I don't have to keep going through the file system?