A quick video illustrating the progression of information technology

So, if you and your organization are still on the fence regarding technical decisions based on old information, do you really think everything is standing still?  Call us.

Quick 2 Minute Overview of FileMaker 10’s New Features

This is a very brief overview of FileMaker Pro 10 produced by FileMaker, Inc. We recommend the upgrade.

Photocopy Security?

Interesting read by Sacramento’s News 10:

Who Else is Looking at Your Photocopies?

I imagine this is a huge potential threat given the number of small mortgage/loan origination businesses that have either gone out of business or have closed some offices.

Just another reminder of how much of our personal information is out there in digital format.

Use the Force to Manage Your Organization-Get a Holocron (aka FileMaker Database)!

“On the wall behind Leland Chee’s desk is a portrait of an Ithorian, an alien with a hammer-shaped head that you glimpse briefly in the famous Star Wars cantina scene. In its leathery, foot-long fingers, the Ithorian holds a cube decorated with elaborate metallic tracings, a device known as a holocron. Think of it as a Force-powered hard drive, capable of storing an enormous quantity of information. “It’s a piece of Jedi technology,” Chee says. “It tells you … everything.”

To Star Wars fans, Chee is the Keeper of the Holocron, arguably the leading expert on everything that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. His official title is continuity database administrator for the Lucas Licensing arm of Lucasfilm—which means Chee keeps meticulous track of not just the six live-action movies but also cartoons, TV specials, scores of videogames and reference books, and hundreds of novels and comics.

Keepin’ it canonical: Leland Chee, continuity database administrator at Lucas Licensing, maintains the Holocron — a vast FileMaker database that’s consulted to make sure that any new elements added to the Star Wars franchise fit within the existing mythology.

Of course, Chee’s Holocron isn’t a Force-sensitive crystal. It’s a FileMaker database, a searchable repository of more than 30,000 entries covering almost every character, planet, and weapon mentioned, however fleetingly, in the vast array of Star Wars titles and products.”

Vista Un-Usability

I don’t want to slide into the same old MicroSoft bashing that I hear so often in technical circles. But… I had “one of those days.”  This thanks to the collosal waste of time and money that is MicroSoft Windows Vista. It reminded me though of a leaked meno from Bill Gates back in 2003.  Sadly, things only appear to have gotten worse since then.  The memo is a good read though, and it’s focus on usability is right on the money.

Welcoming in 2009!

But I digress…One of the main complaints I hear regarding our choice of FileMaker as a database foundation is that it is not an open-source database management system, such as MySQL or PostgreSQL, or FireBird, etc…  While that’s true, it really isn’t a fair apples-to-apples comparison.  Most of those other approaches adopt more of a client-server architecture than a stand-alone application approach.  And while we do build a fair number of client-server style systems using FileMaker, having the ability to scale down to a single-user all-included package is great for small organizations or one-man bands.

I will be taking some of this to heart, however, and putting more resources into MySQL and PHP (most likely Symfony’s framework) in 2009 as some of my clients (and some that may become clients) simply will not have the budget for new proprietary software licenses in the coming year ~ for reasons given above. And besides, these technologies dovetail nicely with the FileMaker work we already do.

As I work on other frameworks and open-source projects, I will be documenting any progress (or retreat) here for anyone interested. Happy new year!

-Paul

Welcome to JuntoSoft!

JuntoSoft

Welcome to the JuntoSoft Site, sponsored by TightWire.net. All software released under the JuntoSoft moniker will be released under the “Artistic License 2.0,” a variant of the GPL.  In a nutshell, this licence allows for free use and distribution of any software, as long as such distribution is done free of charge. In other words, anyone is free to use or redistribute any released software, but it may not be sold. It also allows other copywritten works to be packaged with the new combined work subject to any restrictions of those other works, a bound run-time FileMaker solution for example.

If parts of the JuntoSoft logo appear familiar, they more than likely should. A  public domain portrait of Benjamin Franklin is the source of the eye image. and the font used is Poor Richard, one of Franklin’s pseudonyms under which he authored Poor Richard’s Almanack.

Benjamin Franklin, may seem an odd inspiration for a software project at first.  Franklin was, among other things, an inventor. He was responsible for the invention of the Franklin Stove, bifocal glasses, and the lightning rod, among other equally ubiquitous practical breakthroughs.Franklin placed his designs in the public domain and refused offers by others to obtain patents for him. In his autobiography, he said of his preference in such matters: “[A]s we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.” This excellent example of early “open-source” hardware serves as my inspiration for adopting the Artistic License for the core products we often include in work-for-hire applications. This saves time, money, and reduces confusion.