Happy V.D.

It's Valentine's Day.

Time for reflecting on those loved ones that are important in your life.

I'm more fortunate than most. I've had the privilege of spending the last 20 (give or take a few) with my long-suffering, wonderful wife. I mean, really, honestly - would YOU want to be married to such a cynical S.O.B?

I didn't think so.

I mean, I can be a real pain-in-the-ass. Really. Not kidding.

Those of you who know me personally, know what I mean. I have a VERY low s**t tolerance, I say what's on my mind, I tell the truth (from my perspective) whether you want to hear it or not, I've been known to drink like a sailor, I tend to piss people off by saying inappropriate things at inappropriate times (whether or not I'm "right" doesn't matter) and I'm generally grumpy around people most of the time. But, I say what I mean, and mean what I say. ALWAYS.

My idea of a perfect vacation is to be holed up by a pool or other body of water (or in a bar with nice, comfy couches) with a large rum drink and a stack of bulls**t mystery novels. The only people I want to "interact" with are: 1) a waiter or waitress to get me another drink and/or 2) my family who are with me at the time. The end.

No chit-chat with fellow bar patrons, no sight-seeing tours, no taking calls from "important" people on my cell phone, no checking voicemail, no timeshare spiels, no running, no horseplay, no gum chewing, no lifeguard on duty.

I even leave my laptop at home. What part of "unplugged" confuses you? Where's my drink? Are you GROWING that f**cking orange tree from a seed? Is that steak going to happen TODAY? You get the picture.

Quite a "dream" catch, huh?

This month also marks the 10th anniversary of ClickWare. Another love of my life, sometimes a mistress that I lavished too much money and time on. The lure of good business has sometimes clouded my judgement on the truly important. I spent a good deal of my twin children's first year (the toughest time in raising children - at least in my case) traveling 6,000 miles away making money for other people. I've been "this close" to revolutionary ideas that make a heap of cash only to be torpedoed by others who were more savvy (at the time) and who played a game that I didn't even know existed.

I started one of the first "membership" sites on the world wide web in 1996 to great promise. It faded just before the big cash "bubble" came into play.

I'm not a TOTAL loser - I've done pretty well over the years - there are just some things that hindsight have made too crystal clear. Things that sometimes keep me up at night. Things I wish I would have done or said. Things that I now know that I wish I'd known years earlier.

Some things can't be taken back. Some things can't be undone. Most things I would never change - even if I could.

The number one thing I would never change - is meeting my wife. I literally KNEW, from the moment I saw her - that someday she would be my wife.

I was 16 years old.

I got married to her at 25.

The 9 years in between were not the most pleasant in my life. We got together and broke up 4 times. Finally, a mutual friend invited both of us to her birthday party (without telling either of us the other would be there) - and we got back together - this time for good. I made the decision that it's time to s**t or get off the pot - and I didn't want to lose her (again). I asked her to marry me - and to my utter surprise, she said yes.

We married in the summer of 1990 - in the sweltering heat of beautiful downtown Bakersfield, California. We were young, thin, sexy (I even had a mullet!), dirt poor and happy as hell.

It's the single best thing I've done in my life. Bar NONE. Well, maybe except having children with her. But it's definitely in the top two!

My wife is a true friend. She's seen me make a total ass out of myself, she's been there to share in the triumphs and flops, been there "in richer and hopefully not poorer" (actual wedding vow I made to her), been there to encourage, to push, to help, to pull, and sometimes carry me to achieve things that others have said were "impossible."

She's been the most patient, loving and kind parent to our twin children. She has sacrificed her high-paying career and years of study to get her MBA to learn how to be the best mommy she can be. Then she kept on doing it. Full time. Day in and day out. For the past (nearly) 6 years. She is a truly remarkable woman - a truly unselfish person who has given up so much of her own dreams for the well-being of our family. I wanted her - and everyone else who reads this column - to know just how special she is to me.

To my wife, Brenda - I would be lost without you. I love you.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Thought for today: Tell the person that's special to YOU - how much you care about them.

Shop Different

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

Apple announced its line of retail stores this week with the slogan "Shop Different." I, for one, WANT to Shop Different. I'm tired of going into a super-mega, warehouse-style concrete behemoth and TRY to find anything I'm actually looking for. "Use the Web", you say. I do. A lot. However, there are time when I just need (or want!) something RIGHT NOW.

What did we ever do before the web? Maybe I'm showing my age here, but there was a time that one would actually (gasp!) drive to a store, walk down the aisles, pick out a piece of merchandise, pay for it and leave. If one had a question - there was (usually) an informed, knowledgeable person waiting (and willing) to answer questions (or even find out the answer if they didn't know) and, sometimes, help one to make a more informed buying decision by comparing the pros and cons of competing products. The salesperson (there were no "associates" back then) was usually a person who knew from personal experience what worked and what didn't. The good ones could (and would) offer tips, advice and helpful information based on their knowledge and past experience. In general, they actually wanted to help, and cared whether or not you, the customer, would be satisfied with your purchase. They valued your business, and really wanted you to come back in the future and buy more stuff.

In direct contrast, I went to 3 "brink and mortar" stores looking for a keyboard extension cable for one of my Macs. I was a man on a mission. It seems every time I mentioned "Mac" in one of these very well-established, well-known, national, we-have-everything stores - all I received in return was a blank stare. "We don't have Mac stuff." "A keyboard what?" "All of our cables are on aisle 426B." You get the idea. About 2 hours into my quest, I realized that I had unrealistic expectations about finding the cable, without, perhaps, driving to Fry's (a computer specialty retailer about a half hour away). In the end, I just logged on to Mac Warehouse and ordered the thing – and received it the next day.

On the other hand, I went to Home Depot (a massive warehouse chain with everything you need for home improvement) to try to find a replacement for the 15 year old kitchen faucet that had finally given up the ghost. I talked to an associate named Dave, an older gentleman (and ex-plumber) who went WAY above and beyond the call of duty to help me select an affordable, reliable faucet from the 50 models hanging on the display rack. He advised against purchasing the model that I was initially going to purchase because he said the manufacturer has historically had a problem with the plastic sealing washer, and suggested 2 other models (from different manufacturers) that were more reliable. I wound up buying the more expensive model, and went away totally confident that I made a good purchase.

On the eve of the Grand Opening of the Apple Store in Glendale, CA (about 45 minutes from my house) – I hope that Apple will provide a retail experience as great as its technology. I WANT to Shop Different. I'll let you know what I find out.

http://www.apple.com/retail/

Update May 20, 2001: I went to the store in at the Glendale Galleria and there was a LINE. Yep, I'm serious. There was a line that was at least 100 yards long! People waiting to get into a store! Who knew? The store (from the outside looking in) is beautiful, and was fully staffed with Apple folks and TONS of security people. There was also a whole lot of purchasing going on... Wow.

Wireless-Ish

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

Every consumer magazine, trade magazine, computer magazine, and ezine are hyping wireless "solutions" these days. Today's writers and software vendors are shouting the the new mantra from the mountain tops: "m-commerce" (Mobile Commerce). M-Commerce? Give me a break. I'm having a hard enough time getting a reliable CELL PHONE connection - never mind a secure, e-commerce connection. Seriously, there are parts of the metro Los Angeles area that don't have normal, plain old cellular coverage. And forget it if you're "off the beaten trail", or you're in the mountains, or you're - gasp - actually moving when using your wireless device.

Yes, I know, there are more and more towers going up all the time, and the phone are getting "smarter" and can connect to a wider range of signals (analog and digial) - but it just plain "don't work" too much of the time. Even if you had 100% clean, reliable coverage I'm not conviced that people will try to buy much of anything on phone with a 3 line display. I mean, really, are YOU looking forward to "tapping" your way through entering your name, shipping address, phone number, email, credit card number and expiration date out on a cell phone? Let's see...

22 = B
666 = O
22 = B
0 = space
222 = C
88 = U
7777 = S
444 = I
222 = C
55 = K

25 "taps" for my name. Rrrrriiiight. Homey don't play that. OK, you say, what it might not be practical on a cell phone - but how about a PDA. It's much easier to "type" on one of those. I agree - but no matter how much I love my Palm Vx (and I DO love it!) - and assuming I bought the $300 wireless modem and paid the $35 per month for service - I STILL wouldn't do it that often. Why? Too much work. Instead I'd just wait until I got to a wired public access point (another much-hyped, "didn't really work out" technology of two years ago) and use my computer to connect with a fast, secure connection.

You've gotta' crawl before you can run. Just because you CAN connect to the web on a cell phone or PDA - why would you? A more logical first step first step could be the implementation of BlueTooth and other wireless networking technology infrastructure in places I'm likely to be (airports, hotels, and in the home) - THEN having an alternative INPUT device would be great. But still, even then, people will will have to click, type, tap or scrawl to place an order. This is less than ideal. Generally, people want things to be easy - especially if they're parting with money for goods or services. We really need something as easy to use, as intuitive, as... oh I don't know... a phone.

For "m-commerce" - or anything wireless beyond stock updates - to become truely pervasive we need voice-activation. I mean, my parents (not the most tech-saavy people on the planet) have to be able to use it. I'm not talking about some super-charged voicemail-hell type of application ("...press 1 to order, enter your 16 digit account number followed by the pound sign...") but a true, voice-activiate, intelligent application ("...buy FileMaker Pro Unlimited using my American Express Card and ship to my home address..."). THAT will be the "killer application" of 2002 (?), not "m-commerce" on a cell phone.

Look Who's Talking Now

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

Whoa - I can't believe how fast time flies! ItÕs been quite a while since my last column... For those of you who read this column (bless you all!) thanks for your patience!

A lot has happened since the last time we spoke:

• My wife, Brenda and I had TWINS a boy, Brennan, and a girl, Brooke (yes, I know, 4 B's!)
  
• I've discovered the JOYS (and raw speed) of SQL-based databases coupled with a web front-end
  
• I've discovered the TERRORS (and pitfalls) of SQL-based databases coupled with a web front-end
  
• I missed my first MacWorld in 6 years (by choice)
  
• ClickWare un-merged with Stratisoft
  

Being a dad is a trip. It's really been "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" - and I'm less than a year into it. It's changed me as a husband. It's changed me as a businessman. It's changed me as person.

Now, prior to this whole experience, I knew about the birds and the bees - but I simply had NO IDEA how complex the entire ordeal of having a SINGLE baby was - not to mention having twins. Having a baby does very strange things to a person. For example, prior to my wife (and I) being pregnant (well...more her than I), I have probably used the word "vaginal" about 2 times in my life, and the word "breast" maybe a few dozen. Yet during the tribulation of pregnancy, I found myself comparing notes and talking about breast feeding and vaginal versus c-section deliveries with anyone and everyone I met - regardless of the social (or business) occasion.

And then there were the books. My god. There are color pictures in those books that would make Morpheous go back to a normal day in the Matrix. I mean, for the love of all that is human and decent - they don't need to publish that stuff! But, being faced with an unknown situation, we read. And read. And read. And read, and read and read. I think I have every book available on the subject of rasing twins, what to expect when you're expecting, what happens after you're expecting, what to expect when you least expect it, books on why you SHOULD breast-feed, books on why you should NOT breast-feed, books on dicipline starting in the cradle, books on starting dicipline in the womb, books on BOOKS about every issue a scared-as-hell-first-time-parents-of-twins needs to absolutely CONFIRM that they, in fact, ARE becoming their parents.

It all began on a completely "normal" day on March 24th, 2000. My wife ("I'm as big as a house!") Brenda wasn't feeling too well, so we went to the doctor's office. WHIZ-BANG he called over to the hospital to have another sonogram (our 8th) and some fetal monitoring done. We went in - and never came home.

Turns out Brenda (my wife), had been in labor for at least 24 to 48 hours. Funny, not how we pictured it. They check her in to a private room, hooked her up with more wires and contraptions than a server farm and then left and said "...it's all up to the babies, honey...". Well, sort of.

The fetal monitor was whipping up and down (like an EKG machine used on Squad 51) and after a while, I recognized those little "spikes" as the contractions. The bigger the spike, the bigger the contraction. The bigger the contraction, the more pain. The more pain, the less feeling I had in my left hand from my wife squeezing down with a super human vise grip. The doctors then decided that it would be a good thing to try to inhibit the labor (stop the contractions) to see if they could get the babies to stay in their mommy for a couple of more days. They started an IV, and introduced some heavy-metal chemical.

Then the barfing started. Not just any old barfing. I mean the really nasty, "I've been drinking Tequila shots for two days and want to curl up next to the toilet", gut-wrenching puking. The nurse was great - she gave me 6 kidney-shaped, pink plastic bowels to catch the vomit (that I had to rinse and re-use - only $20 each!). I STILL have a hard time eating jello and diced carrots...

Somehow, we made it through the night.

At 9:00am the doctor called to say that "today was the day" and that he'd be there in the next hour to perform a c-section. WOW. This WAS it. The next hour was a blur: harried cell phone calls to family, seeing Brenda wheeled out on a gurney to "prep", my family showing up, her family showing up, putting on "one size fits all" green paper surgical clothes... and then... waiting. Pacing. Waiting. Pacing.

Finally, The Moment had arrived... "Mr Cusick? Please follow me..."

I don't know what I expected, but I KNOW I didn't expect what I saw. There was a fairly large room with TONS of people in it (2 teams of 2 nurses and a doctor [one for each baby], 2 incubators, 2 surgeons, 2 nurses, my two sister in-laws [one on video and one on still camera], machines everywhere, and my poor wife hands strapped in a cross shape and barely conscience. As soon as I got in there and pulled up my surgical mask, a radio started, I sat down to hold Brenda's hand, saw the laser start up and smelled the first incision.

I am WAY out of my depth here.

Breathe.

Breathe.

Breathe.

"Here comes baby A - the boy!" The first team of three spring into action. I hear a nurse say "...he's not breathing..." Frantic activity to my right. "Here comes baby B..." The second team appears out of thin air. I hear a small, muffled cry to my right, and a small muffled cry to my left.

Freeze frame. Tears. Terror. Joy. Fear. Love. Compassion.

"...Daddy - do you want to cut the cord?"

"Huh?"

"Do you want to cut the cord?"

"Ummmmm... OK." Snip. My Son. Brennan. 4 pounds 15 ounces. Snip. My Daughter. Brooke. 5 pounds even.

They put the babies into a plexiglass incubator and were going to take them away without even showing Brenda. That is, until one of the nurses said "NO. She needs to see them, just for a second." She wheeled the incubator over to Brenda and briefly held up each baby (5 seconds). More tears. What do I do? I've been married to this woman for 10 years - in love with her far longer - and yet my children were being carted away. I stayed until Brenda told me to go with the babies.

They stayed in the hospital for the 10 longest days of my life. Everything was touch-and-go. We rejoiced at each additional ounce they ate, at even heart rates, un-assisted breathing. Then IT came. The day we got to bring them home.

Tiny, tiny babies who have been cared for 24 hours a day by 4 shifts of trained professionals are now left in the care of new parents whose puppy peed inside until it was 10 months old. Two completely helpless PEOPLE who are dependent for their every need on a mommy who can't yet walk right and a daddy who has absolutely no idea what he's doing. Yet, in the end, we got through it. Faced it head-on. 14-16 bottles and 14-18 diapers per day. Every day. Including weekends. At the end of the first three months, we had gone through over 1,500 diapers.

We're now on to the new joys of military crawling, saying "Da Da" and "Ma Ma" and teething. They change every day. They recognize me in the morning. They fall asleep in my arms at night. It's the hardest, most wonderful thing I've ever experienced.

Why 2K?

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

So it's a new year (and new Millennium - well, not until 2001, but close enough) and I just got back from the MacWorld 2000 convention in San Francisco, CA. I went to do a (free) session called "FileMaker and the Web - Just Do It!". The session went very well (250-300 in attendance - standing room only) - and hopefully they each learned something they didn't know coming into the session.

I've been going to this show every year since 1991. In the past it has been a great place to see other FileMaker developers, meet with FileMaker engineers, get the latest "buzz" on upcoming FileMaker releases, etc. I've also managed to do quite a bit of business either on the show floor, at a lavish FileMaker party, or because of personal introductions to potential customers by others. This year - not so much.

On the good side: I got the chance to see many old friends at the FSA dinner, had a lunch or two with some long-time FMI employees (and ex-Claris folks) and got a chance to talk with the FMI big wigs for an hour before the FSA dinner (at the Partner meeting).

On the room-for-improvement side: The show seemed small - although it still occupied both the North and South halls of Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. A lot of the booth space seemed to be cancelled at the last minute because there were lots of "blank" spaces in the middle of the aisles that were hastily filled with food court chairs. There were a lot of hardware vendors hawking everything USB. In horrible colors. Everywhere.

Although the Apple booth was interesting, and they had some cool Cannon digital video cameras above each of the DV iMacs lining the booth, there were no "drop dead sexy" showings of the Air Port, no announcement of the 17 inch iMac, no G4 PowerBooks, etc. They showed off the OS X "Client" software - and it was pretty cool. Transparent drop-down menus (so you can see the video you're playing in the background), HUGE icons everywhere, a new Finder that will do a scrolling view (to the right) of folder contents... oh yes, the three little "stoplight" buttons in the upper left; green for "open", yellow for "show title only" and red for "close." (http://www.apple.com/macosx/)

There were many major Mac software vendors who just didn't show up - and those who did seemed to have only incremental upgrades to their titles. The classic was Microsoft. The Internet Explorer 5.0 demo was 5 minutes - showing off the new COLORS on the browser ("Yes, if you want blueberry, you got blueberry. If you want Tangerine - you got it!"), a couple of very cool new drag-and-drop features, and 10 minutes playing a lame game show that asked questions like; "What product lets you create cells and columns" (answer: Excel). Internet Explorer 5.0 was also named best of show... 'nuf said. There was a woman in one booth dressed as a printer (NO KIDDING!) - and another booth had a live jazz band. Ouch.

Maybe I'm expecting too much. I long for the "good old days" where seeing everything in the show would require 2 or 3 days. Where you scoured every single booth because sometimes you'd find extremely cool software written by a couple of guys in their garage just starting out. Where ALL the major software vendors would hold their "big" announcements for the show. A time when computers came in two colors; beige and black (NeXT). A time when losing $5 million a quarter was a BAD thing and the only companies with over a billion dollar market valuation were names like Coca Cola, Time Warner, etc.

Maybe next year I'll just fly up for the day.

DevCon-A-Rama

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

Whoa - I can't believe how fast time flies! It's been five months since my last column... For those of you who read this column (bless you all!), I sincerely apologize for the long delay in getting "back into the swing" of things.

A lot has happened in the past few months:

• ClickWare merged with Stratisoft
  
  
• I've been shuttling back and forth between the Stratisoft headquarters in London
  
  
• I've been busy honing my skills with Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, ASP (Active Server Pages), IIS (Microsoft Internet Information Server), ColdFusion, Lasso 3.5... well, you get the picture.
  
  

Besides all of the great technology stuff I've been working with - I've had the pleasure of meeting tons of new FileMaker developers all around the world. It's extremely exciting to meet people from Holland, Australia, England, France, Sweden, South Africa, etc. and talk about the ins-and-outs of FileMaker. It's amazing that everyone I've spoken to has the same problems/workarounds and basically the same feature requests: faster, better, and SOON! More on that subject in a moment...

Also, I had the opportunity to speak at this year's FileMaker Developer's Conference in San Diego. I believe the official attendance was around 1,500 people (almost DOUBLE last year's attendance)! It was a truly amazing sight. Wall-to-wall FileMaker enthusiasts from every walk of life. I personally spoke to policemen, firemen, school teachers, state government officials, in-house corporate developers, well-known FMP developers, new FSA members all gathered in one place - AWESOME.

I spoke on several subjects - Beginning Web, Intermediate Web, and "16 FileMaker Pro Secrets You've Just Gotta' Have" (co-lead with famous and fabulous Marc Norman of Prefix). We had near standing room only crowds for all the sessions - and I HOPE everyone who attended any of the sessions learned something new and/or cool.

In addition to the conference sessions, I also co-taught a Stratisoft post-conference training session on ODBC with the Jan Aleman (better known as Taff) of PDM the makers of the ODBC Plug-In for FileMaker. After resolving some initial technical snafus - the class went well. I even learned something from Jan about the ODBC plug-in that I didn't know before! In the class we learned all about the plug-in technology; ODBC and how it works; and we even built a fully-functional, cross-platform user interface in FileMaker that searched, added, updated and deleted data in a SQL Server 7.0 database running on a NT machine. Cool stuff!

Enough about me. The absolute highlight of the show for me was when FMI demonstrated the new 5.0 version. Unlike other NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) sessions that were held in the past, FMI really delivered the goods in regards to 5.0. They showed the new Web Companion and all the groovy technology that it supported, as well as the new features of the 5.0 application, they even showed (via video) the new FileMaker Pro 5.0 Server. Now, since that entire session was under non-disclosure, I can't really go into heavy details about what was said - but if you read the rumors floating about on Mac The Knife or you were lucky enough to catch the stuff posted on the Apple Insider before it got pulled... all I can say that there was that and more.

On a different note, for those "propeller heads" (techno-geeks) out there - I find the new technologies supported by IE 5.0 (especially on the Windows platform and coming "in fall" to Mac OS) especially interesting. The new buzz is XML and if I were interested in using some cutting edge technologies - I'd run out an get a book on XML. Although only IE 5.0 on Windows (at the time of this writing) supports a XML parser on the client, there are ways to use XML with IIS and ASP to deliver HTML out to any browser. Since FileMaker 5.0 will support being a ODBC datasource (see the public beta of the new FMP ODBC drivers at: http://www.filemaker.com/products/odbc/preview.html) I predict that we'll all be seeing many more uses for XML in the days and months to come... so you might want to start learning about it SOON.

Thunder Down Under

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

G'day mates! I just got back from a trip to the land "down under", and let me tell you - there are some extremely excited FileMaker folks there.

Before I get to the details - let me apologize for the length of time that has elapsed since my last column. Between my newly minted Oracle skills and a whirlwind travel schedule, I allowed outside distractions (like keeping the lights on!) distract me from updating this homespun rant. I pledge to keep the updates coming on a more timely schedule in the future.

As I was saying, my wife, Brenda, and I just completed a two week adventure to the lovely land down under. After an extremely trying plane trip (3 movies, 4 sitcoms, 2 meals, 3 snacks and 14 hours) we arrived (at MIDNIGHT) to find out that the hotel was not expecting us for another three days. In typical Aussie customer service-driven fashion they leaped tall building in a single bound to accommodate us. We were granted a room with a hot shower (a GOD SEND) and a comfortable bed (chocolate mints on the pillows).

After sleeping a whopping five hours, my wife and I awoke to the full moon splendor of Darling Harbour (yes, I know - but that's how THEY spell it!). We walked out of the plush hotel (Park Plaza) across the street to the newly remodeled harbor boardwalk for a preliminary look-see. We were greeted by over 150 young people exiting a nightclub (quite sober - drinking WATER) at 6:00am and we instantly fell in love with the beautiful, tranquil city of Sydney. We walked around for about an hour, then had an "interesting" breakfast at a local eatery. When we asked for coffee, we were assaulted (in a nice way) by the dozens of choices ("short black, tall black, short white, capuccino, capuccino with milk, etc., etc., etc.). Being the Aussie "newbie", I asked for "just plain coffee". I received a nice steaming mug of... well... mud. I mean this coffee could strip paint! Normally a black coffee drinker, I doused my beverage in fresh cream and sugar (in neato pixie-stick-like packaging), and even then I was bouncing off the walls.

Being the consummate "tourista" we proceeded to the Sydney opera house, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the trendy boutique neighborhood "The Rocks", finally settling at the FABULOUS bay side restaurant "The Oyster Bar." We enjoyed a Lobster Salad (I mean fresh-off-the-boat 1/2 a Lobster and some salad) with an exquisite bottle of Australian white wine, a beer, coffee and dessert (about $50US), returned to the hotel and crashed.

We were met my by our most gracious FMI representative (Steve McManus) at the airport at 6:15 am and were on the plane to Melbourne at 7:00am. We arrived in Melbourne and were whisked away via hired car (a taxi with no sign on top) to our hotel (the All Seasons Premier Grand Hotel). I put my bags down, and caught another taxi to a customer meeting (with our friends at "Customers for Life" in Cantebury). From there it was back to the hotel for a quick in-room rehearsal and then off to the Melbourne FSA meeting at yet another BEAUTIFUL hotel in downtown Melbourne (the Rockmans Regency Hotel).

WOW. What a meeting! Let me tell you - these FSA members were dressed for success. FMI provided pre dinner cocktails (VERY nice touch!) in the hotel lobby bar and the INCREDIBLE PR team from Kinetics Pty Ltd (THANK YOU Jody Lennon and Matina "don't call me Matilda" Mrakovcic) set up our computers and arranged all the last-minute details that combined to make the evening a terrific success. There were over 30 hard-core FMP developers in attendance and we all had a very nice time.

After the meeting it was back into a taxi, back to the hotel (around midnight), and up the next morning for two FileMaker Inc Conferences at the Melbourne Convention Center. As I awoke at 5:30am in preparation for a 7:00 am rehearsal, I was met in the lobby by the tireless Steve McManus as well as the ever-ready Aussie Webmaster Steve McDonnell. These guys were FRESH and READY to go. I mean, my gosh, you would think they had 10 hours sleep...

We did two seminars in Melbourne - one at 9:00am, and one at 2:00pm. I was only one tiny part of the team - there were four presenters in all. I talked about ODBC connectivity (using my G3 PowerBook I imported data from an Oracle 8 Enterprise database and Excel to create a mail merge letter, and showed some graphic tips and tricks), I was followed by Steve McDonnell who showed off FileMaker to Web connectivity (using Instant Publishing and HomePage 3.0 - truly an INSPIRING DEMO!), followed by a "tea" break (coffee, tea, and cookies... ummm... I mean "biscuits"), then the trainer extrodinare Ardsley McNeilly and the talented CD-to-FMP team from Debrany's in Singapore.

After returning to the hotel at 7:00pm we took a taxi to the airport for the 8:15pm flight back to Sydney. Wednesday night I did a seminar at the Apple Headquarters in Sydney along with the presentation team - and fell into bed at 10:00pm on Wednesday night. I was at the Powerhouse Museum at 8:15am (I was supposed to be there at 7:00am but I had a BAD sore throat and head cold) only to find out that the AV completely screwed up (couldn't project the computers to the screen). Thanks to Jodi Lennon and her team from Kinetics Pty Ltd (AGAIN!) they had a cab waiting to get a projector from a local dealer (along with a technician) and got us back on track - all before the 9:00am deadline.

After a rip-roaring two seminar sessions (ending at 5:30pm), we got in yet another taxi, and went to yet another beautiful hotel (the Park Hyatt Hotel) for the Sydney FSA meeting. These folks are FIRED UP about FileMaker! I met a lot of fun, interesting, and TALENTED developers who were (and are) true FileMaker fanatics. We had a wonderful pre-meeting cocktail hour, followed by yet another great presentation by Jodi Lennon and Steve McManus. Then it was my turn.

In typical style, I was a bit BRASH (I know, it's hard to believe), but I hope the presentation was relevant. Many thanks to Bob, Charmaine, and Patrick of BCP Distribution (the outfit that fulfills all the FileMaker orders in the Pacific Rim) - you were all incredibly good sports and I thank you for the great conversation and your incredible hospitality. At the end of my Robin Williams inspired diatribe, Steve McManus was kind enough to present me with an EXTREMELY COOL FileMaker watch. Needless to say, I was AGAIN completely blown away by the kindness, hospitality, and excitement from both my hosts and the FSA members. After a quick nightcap at the Marriott bar next door it was back to the hotel and a good night's sleep.

The next day (Friday), I wasn't feeling my best, but Brenda and I "managed" to have a great lunch at a local pub (don't order a burger with "the lot" or they'll put an EGG on your burger!!) and then explored a local casino. Las Vegas - look out! This air-conditioned mecca (which is why we even bothered in the first place) is very much like Las Vegas - except you have to pay for drinks (even when gambling) and the slot machines (called "Pokies") are DIFFICULT to figure out (even for a programmer!) - we had a great time. Brenda even won $350 AU! Cool!

From there, we were the guests of Steve McManus (and family - including dog "Buddy") and I was fortunate enough to be part of the crew for the final yacht race of the season (Steve is a HUGE sailing fan). WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! Two minutes of hell (when we "tacked" into the wind, or put up the big "kite" sail) and ten to fifteen minutes of heaven (sailing between the course pylons).We came in 4th (out of 32 boats) and FIRST in Steve's club - which was good enough to earn him the club championship! Boy, what a FANTASTIC experience!

As soon as we got back to the dock, Steve and I jumped into the car and met our wives at the "Footies" (Football or "Rugby" as my Aussie friends refer to it). Now, I must tell you - this is a no-holds-barred ballroom BRAWL! This makes the NFL look like a game for WOMEN. Basically - you get 6 "downs" and there are NO TIMEOUTS or breaks. Once you get tackled (and I mean TACKLED! - there was literally blood flowing from heads, knees, lips and arms!) you immediately pass the ball to a team mate and they then get their asses kicked, and so on and so on. What we call a "touchdown" is not as easy. You have to PLANT the ball in the endzone - no plant, no "TRY" (touchdown). WOW.

The beers were COLD and the pies (like Swanson Pot Pies - just no tins) were HOT, and the action was great. The only wrinkle was that the entire event was sponsored by Pepsi - and in typical YANK fashion - they overdid the sponsorship bit (i.e the sky divers at half time and the Pepsi cheerleaders with painted-on uniforms and a Pepsi logo on their asses...).

On Sunday we went on a "Bushwalk".. and I thought it would be a nice nature walk of a mile or so... but NO! It was a LONG walk (took 4 1/2 hours!!) and I was bushed. On Monday morning Brenda and I flew to Coolangatta (an hour north of Sydney) on the Gold Coast of Australia. Steve and his wife (name concealed to protect the innocent) graciously lent their timeshare condo to Brenda and I for the week. WOW!! Now I can't tell you the exact place we stayed (I'm under strict non-disclosure for fear that everyone in the WORLD would mob the place), but I CAN tell you that the bay we overlooked was FABULOUS. The water was 78 degrees and crystal clear. The surf was 4 to 5 feet and was excellent. I can also report that the food, surf, wine, local beers and Steve's EXTREMELY tolerant and FUN friends were without question the HIGHLIGHTS of the trip.

In conclusion, if you haven't been - GO TO AUSTRALIA - it's lovely! To my new mates down under - good onya and thanks for a fair dinkum time!

Out With the Old, In With the New!

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

Happy New Year!!!

As the pre-Y2K festivities around the world begin in earnest, and every single show on television features its Year-In-Review episode, I too wanted to take a moment and reflect on the past, revel in the present and prognosticate on the future.

1998 brought a lot of change:

As the winter leaves fell from the trees, so Claris dropped all its consumer products and became FileMaker Inc. (FMI), and FileMaker Pro became 4.1. Along with the new name and logo came many new faces, and lots of changes within the organization. The painful transition caused quite an upheval in both the developer community as well as marketplace. Seeing many of my friends and cohorts at Claris being laid off by the dozens was very difficult. However, the resulting company is now focused on a single product, and, in theory, should be a lot more responsive to the developer community and the general marketplace. I caught a small glimpse of this new focus at the HUGE turnout for the third annual Developer's Conference in Monterey. The conference goers were (and are, from what I can tell) enthusiastic and the mood was optimistic about FileMaker's future (both the company, and the product).

The Web - basically everything changed. From tools for developing content to servers, to mergers (AOL and Netscape - who knew?), to Mr. Bill being center stage in yet ANOTHER Federal probe, the only thing consistent about the Web in 1998 is that it was (and is) a constantly changing landscape.

At ClickWare, we left behind our "terrible twos", released our most popular product to date - ClickStats Pro, created the ClickWorld web site, folded the ClickWorld website into this site, completed the technical editing of the first year of the FileMaker Advisor Magazine and in general, had a great year.

1999 will continue to be a year of change:

The merger fever of overvalued Web companies will continue, as well as the bevy of newly incompatible browser versions.

FileMaker Inc is rumored (according to MacTheKnife - http://www.mactheknife.com) to have a new release in the works - including a new Server version and a new Developer Edition. Hopefully, FMI will "lift the kimono" a bit higher at the upcoming MacWorld in San Francisco, to give us all a glimpse of what the new version will look like.

Hopefully, 1999 will see XML will catch on and the good folks at FMI will give us a way to use XML with FileMaker. Again, hopefully, FMI will also provide more ODBC functionality (i.e. FileMaker as an ODBC data source, FileMaker WRITE OUT SQL, etc.)...

ClickWare has a number of new products in development - slated for release by early summer. We are also on verge of becoming an Oracle Certified Applications Developer - so watch for more SQL tips and goodies (also contact us if you need Oracle and/or FileMaker Pro custom development).

And finally, I want to thank the thousands of you who continue to visit this site, and for all your great suggestions and comments. We want to continue to be a leading resource for FileMaker information in 1999 and beyond - thanks for your continued support.

Virtuosity

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

So I'm in day 3 of a 5 day, $2,000 Oracle training class in Costa Mesa - between the packed classroom, complimentary expresso and deli-fresh bagels - I have an epiphany: FileMaker ROCKS!

Don't get me wrong - if you want to run an ATM, or you have a million or so records to process - a SQL based RDBMS (Relational DataBase Management System) is the way to go. For EVERYTHING else - just use FileMaker.

Take a class in one of these gigantic database systems - and you'll find out how much we take for granted in FileMaker. Like finds. Like WYSIWYG (mostly) reporting. Like data entry screens. Like the ability to assign elements different colors. Like ScriptMaker. Like defining calculation fields. Like... well... everything else!

For example - do a find in FileMaker for all customers in California or Florida with a balance due greater than $5000. The FileMaker way: Choose "Find" from the "Mode" menu - enter "CA" into the state field and "5000" in the "Balance Due" field, choose "Duplicate" from the "Mode" and change "CA" to "FL" - click continue. Done.

Now the Oracle way - first, go to the COMMAND LINE program (SQL*Plus), and enter the following:

select * from c.customers, i.invoices where sum(i.bal_due) > 5000 and (c.state = 'FL' or c.state = 'CA') and c.customers = i.cust_num

This is assuming you know what the fields are (you can use desc customers and desc invoices), and you have to know how to do an equijoin... etc., etc.

Now, TRAIN all your employees and customer's employees to do this kind of query. Even IF you do get the syntax correct - that's not the report - it just "prints to screen". If you want a report (god forbid!), there's another 3 day class on how to write SQL to get the report back. And, if you want a "Data Entry" layout - there are TWO more 4 day classes for the "easy-to-use" forms designer... OUCH!

Of course Oracle can run on just about anything - minis, Unix, NT, Linux, etc. (NOT Mac OS) and it can support 25,000 users (PLUS), and has the ability to manage up to 512 petrobyes (512,000 GIGAbytes)... BIG iron, BIG development costs and time, BIG databases. Which brings me to the point of this column:

The beautiful Oracle training center had Dell NT Workstations connected to a Sun server (in the Bay Area) via multiple T-1's and T-3's. We learned, then practiced our little examples, and the performance was VERY good. However, due to the fact that it was TWO people per computer (and my "training buddy" was less than cooperative) - I wanted to practice in my hotel room. I got back to the hotel, fired up NT Server 4.0, fired up Oracle Enterprise Edition, and was able to practice to my little heart's content. Did I mention that I don't have PC laptop? I do, however have an APPLE G3 PowerBook - and that's what I ran Oracle and NT Server on! Yep - Virtual PC 2.01 does it again. You can bet that lugging ONE computer is THE way to go. I'm planning on loading Linux and BeOS as well...

FileMaker Sequel

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

That's "sequel" as in SQL (Structured Query Language). For those of you "on the fence" - wondering if you should upgrade to FileMaker Pro 4.1 - the answer is - kinda'-sorta'-ish.

If you don't know what SQL is - don't bother upgrading. However, EVERYONE should upgrade to 4.0v2 which is available on the FileMaker, Inc. site (www.filemaker.com).

Mac OS Users - the upgrade will clean up some bugs, speed network file opening, and other GREAT fixes - so upgrade when you can.

Windows 95 or NT Users - DO THE 4.0v2 UPGRADE NOW! FMI fixed some HAIRY BUGS in 4.0v2 (which is actually the same code fixes and updates in 4.1). For example - after working in ScriptMaker for a while - if you move around script steps - the machine would HANG (the first time). If you restart and edit the same script again (i.e. moving around script steps) and it HANGS again - there was a HIGH probability that your file would be PERMANENTLY destroyed. This bug has been fixed. There are a number of other bug fixes, speed enhancements (replace works MUCH faster), etc. It's well worth the time and effort of updating.

Also new to 4.1 are (from the FMI Web site):

EURO CURRENCY SUPPORT - FileMaker Pro 4.1 now provides cross-platform support for the new European currency symbol. To use the Euro symbol with FileMaker Pro, you must also be using an operating system and font that support the new symbol.

SUPPORT FOR CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS - In FileMaker Pro 4.1, you can see and use features enabled in the FileMaker Pro Developer Edition application, such as Kiosk mode, custom script menu name, custom help and about menu options and the removal of master access. For example, if a solution has been created using the FileMaker Pro Developer Edition to run in Kiosk mode then FileMaker Pro 4.1 will also run the solution in Kiosk mode.

I still haven't gotten the Kiosk mode thingie to work yet... maybe I'm just doing it wrong - but as you can see - most of the improvements have been "under the hood."

Back to the issue of SQL... the biggest (and only VISIBLE) update to FileMaker Pro 4.1 is the addition of the ability to IMPORT data from a SQL database via ODBC. If you don't know what ODBC is - don't bother to upgrade to 4.1.

For those of you who DO know what SQL and ODBC are - here's the "skinny" on ODBC/SQL integration in 4.1:

• You can IMPORT from a SQL datasource via ODBC (cross platform) by using the traditional "import" menu item in the File menu (choose the new "ODBC" file type from the pop-up menu [or combo box] when you're choosing the file to import from);
  
  
• You then select the datasource alias (has to be pre-configured with the ODBC control panel) and enter a username and password;
  
  
• You CAN specify the SQL select statement by either typing it in - or by using a 3 panel "assistant" to select the datasource, choose the column(s), and structuring the SQL where statement;
  
  
• FileMaker then does an IMPORT of the data (just like any other import) you specify the order and matching fields in your FileMaker db (just like any other import);
  
  
• You CAN script the auto-importation of data from a datasource (it stores the SQL select statement, data source, username and password with the import order - so DO click the "Restore" checkbox in the "Import" script step).

However there are some SERIOUS limitations with the released SQL plug-in in 4.1:

• You CANNOT WRITE back to a SQL datasource;
  
  
• You CANNOT use a FileMaker database as an ODBC datasource (i.e. no "READ" capabilities);
  
  
• You CANNOT specify a field for the SQL statement (i.e. each import from each datasource for each set of columns for each "where" statement must be scripted SEPARATELY);
  
  
• You CANNOT script the datasource name, username or password (would be able to make import connections "on-the-fly").

If you need the ability to WRITE back to a datasource - check out the EXTREMELY COOL SQL plug-in developed by Professional Data Management and Rumora Automatisering en Advies (http://www.profdata.nl/pages/english.html). From their website:

"The ODBC/SQL plug-in, available for download on this site, allows users to send any SQL-92 command from within their Filemaker Pro database to an ODBC datasource. In doing so, they can create, modify and delete tables and/or rows. Data can be sent to and retrieved from the ODBC datasource. The upcoming version 1.2 of the plug-in even allows users to import pictures, sound and movies from an ODBC datasource into a Filemaker Pro database. It will furthermore have support for ANSI and OEM character sets."

As of this writing - this is your only option for using a FMP database as a SQL or ODBC Client. Hopefully, FMI will add true ODBC compatibility in the near future.

DevCon - WOW!

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

So now that I've caught up with the 300+ emails while I was away at the 3rd annual FileMaker Pro Developer's Conference (DEVCON) in Monterey - I can sum the experience up in one word: WOW!.

This year's attendance was AMAZING - over 900 FileMaker Pro fanatics from a dozen countries! WOW.

In years past, I have presented a number of the sessions (4 the first year and 6 last year) - but this year I decided to be just an average shnook attendee. WOW. It was mind-blowing.

I've been doing this a long time - but never, never, have I seen 900+ people in one place ALL talking about FileMaker. WOW. I mean it was great - people huddled over PowerBooks and ThinkPads in the lobby, people talking about scripting techniques in the elevators, all 900 people sitting down for lunch to help complete strangers with any advice they could... WOW.

The conference sessions were also pretty good. They don't quite get a "WOW" - but hey, that's the way it goes some times. I particularly liked the session by Chris Moyer on "Intro to ODBC" and Rich Columbre and Brian Yoder's session on "The Business Side of FileMaker". I also got a lot out of Jay's session on "WinBatch and FileMaker" - he's done some AMAZING stuff (even if it IS on the platform controlled by the "dark side").

Yes, the sessions were good, but the PEOPLE were GREAT. I had the opportunity to meet (and drink heavily with) a bunch of good folks from Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. It turns out that several of these people had even HEARD of ClickWare - WOW! Not only that - but I discovered that they had come up with the same methodologies for the same problems that I've faced when doing custom development. WOW.

I also learned that you don't EVEN want to get into a contest to see who can be the last person standing when it comes to alcohol consumption... OWW... I mean - WOW. Were else could you get the opportunity to talk FileMaker, meet interesting people, have the cocktail of your choice, and wind up talking until 6:00am - EVERY NIGHT? Let's just say "sleep" wasn't high on the priority list for the entire event!

People helping people was the overriding theme. I would run outside to grab a smoke, and would wind up talking with 10 or 15 people on everything from the best way to dynamically sort a portal to uses for FileMaker that boggle the mind. I talked with people from Fire Departments, State Legislators, elementary schools, independent developers, in-house developers, hobbyists, first-time users, plug-in developers, and FileMaker, Inc. technical support folks.

I also had the opportunity to get to know several very important (and high-ranking) people from FileMaker Inc. Yes, it's true! They made themselves available and were anxious to gain input on how to make the product even better than it is today. Specifically, David Aune (Executive VP of Marketing, Technical Support and FSA manager) and Christian Thomas (a FileMaker Product Manager) were extremely generous with their time, energy and efforts in soliciting people's opinions and gathering input on a wide variety of topics.

Beyond the parties, beyond the actual sessions, beyond the food, beyond the beautiful surroundings, beyond the lack of sleep, the thing that made the conference for me was the people. A true Community. The FileMaker community. All I can say is WOW!

Viva Las Vegas

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

So I went to Las Vegas with some friends to celebrate my birthday. I hadn't been there in four or five years so, needless to say, there were five or ten new "mega attraction" hotels just waiting to swallow my hard-earned money.

We stayed at the Tropicana. When it was built - it was one of "the" places to be. Now, not so much. Although the pool is great - the food sucks and the slots are tighter than a... well, let's just say they don't pay off very much.

I'm convinced that the casino business is the best business model on the face of the planet. Where else in the country can you go and not see one single clock or calendar? It's true. All the flashing signs shout the praises of $4.99 prime rib, show video clips of upcoming concerts, and some even display ADS (like they're not making enough money!) - but there's not a clock to be found in the entire city.

Not only that - but I personally witnessed several people playing $5 and $10 slot machines. This means that for each "spin" it would cost $5 to $25 (1 to 5 "coins" per "spin"). And people would sit at these machines for HOURS. I also saw people playing at the $100 minimum blackjack tables. That's $100 PER HAND, mind you. All these suckers (myself included) kept throwing good money after bad - absolutely CONVINCED that they would win "the big one." Sheesh!

I wish that the software industry used the casino's business model. First of all - it would cost you money just to visit a web site (say, $10). Once you got on to the site, each link you clicked would cost you 25 cents... and there was a CHANCE that you would actually win the "big one" and go to the link you wanted.

Buying software would work the same way. You plunk down a small fee - say $10 and you can get started. You then insert money, pull the handle, and if you get a certain combination (say three cherries) you get a certain feature enabled. So, if you need email capabilities, you would have to keep pumping in money and trying your luck. You know it's possible, because you hear the sounds of glee and actually KNOW PEOPLE who have won. If you win the "big one" (odds are about 1,000,000,000 to 1) - you actually win the entire software with all the features intact.

Hmmmm... I wonder if I have Bill Gates' home number...

CH-CH-CH Changes

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Internet stocks (especially Yahoo), have changed - they've gone through the roof!

Apple's profitability has changed - they actually have a profit (at least on paper).

At FileMaker Inc, a few people (some who are close friends) have resgined or been moved to Apple.

The proliferation of FileMaker Plug-Ins continues to grow (Troi's Plug-Ins are AWESOME, and so are the new ones from Waves In Motion).

New browsers are brewing from Netscape and even the people we love to hate, Microsoft.

Why even this very site has gone through some dramatic changes in the past month.

I'm all for change. Change can be great. But change can also suck - BIG TIME. Sometimes change is a good thing (like the internet stocks, Apple's profitability, the changes on this site, and the proliferation of new FMP Plug-Ins). An example of when it sucks - who the hell needs yet ANOTHER browser version that is totally incompatible? And for what? So that each browser developer can force people to choose either their browser or the competition's. Each browser developer is also forcing webmasters to choose to support one browser ("Optimized for IE" or "Optimized for Navigator") over another - while completely ignoring the scores of folks who still use the AOL 3.0 browser (which, itself, is incompatible with EVERYTHING).

The bad news is that you can't control change. The good news is that you control how much these changing events affect you. I use Netscape Navigator 3.0. Yep, that's right, 3.0. Why? It WORKS. It hardly crashes. It supports JavaScript fairly well. It is friendly with 99.9% of all sites. It handles QuickTime 3.0, ShockWave, and RealPlayer flawlessly.

Sure, we have the "latest and greatest" versions of all the browsers on our server (NT 4.0 - who knew?) - but I like what I like, and I like 3.0.

The newer versions CRASH like hell, and give nice, ANNOYING "features" that no one in their right mind needs. I mean, come on, how many sites use DTML? When was the last time you just HAD to go to the latest VRML site? Unless you're in a corporate setting with LOTS of co-horts in far-flung places - do you REALLY need "whiteboard" capabilities in a BROWSER? I'm not a big fan of the Windows 95 User interface - but are you telling me you think it's a GOOD idea to have people use a BROWSER for the interface on a desktop computer?

Nah... all this stuff is pure B.S. It's designed to force you, the weary daily surfer to choose one browser over another. Why? Money. Once they give you the "free fix", they're betting that you'll "protect your investment" in browsers by PAYING for an upgrade down the road. As for me, personally, I'll keep using NN 3.0 until I can't browse my favorite sites anymore. At that point, I'll switch to my cell phone which will browse in TEXT ONLY mode...

The Truman Show

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

I saw the movie "The Truman Show" this weekend... what a COOL movie!

Yep, if you liked the previous "The Crucible" review I did... you're in for another treat. If you hated the previous "The Crucible" review I did - then you can stop reading here.

OK, for those of you still here - the basic idea of the movie is that a human (yep - Truman Burbank played by Jim Carrey) was legally adopted by a large broadcasting company (OmniCam Corporation) for the sole purpose of providing a "real" TV show.

This poor person goes on about his life, without knowing that EVERYTHING in it is being controlled and manipulated by the "mad genius" Christof (played by Ed Harris) the person who conceived and has directed, produced and supervised it through it's entire 30 year run. Christof observes (directs) the entire show from a control room that is disguised as the moon (as in "man-in-the").

Truman lives in a beautiful beach side community called Seahaven. It's a typical picture-perfect little town, compete with beach, picturesque beach cottages, a small downtown including a bank, restaurant, hardware store, etc. However, the entire picture-perfect town of Seahaven is actually a gigantic sound stage. Truman's friends and family - everyone he meets, in fact - are actors - INCLUDING his WIFE, Meryl (played by Laura Linney).

To top it all off he lives every moment under the unblinking gaze of over 5,000 hidden TV cameras. I mean they have these things everywhere from the radio in his car, to behind the two-way bathroom mirror, to the bedroom, kitchen, and thousands of spots all over town. Literally, Truman's every move is caught on tape, and he doesn't know it.

Because it's a live TV show that's on 24 hours a day, seven days a week (including a live international feed) - WITHOUT any commercials. Everything in the show is "for sale." His wife, Meryl (a Carol Brady/Donna Reed/Shirley Jones combo), extolls the virtues of the coffee drinks, the house they live in, the car they drive... holy product placement, Batman!

I know what you're thinking - why the hell doesn't he just get in the car and drive away? Ah ha! It seems that there's only one bridge out of town - and that bridge crosses water. When Truman was a kid, his "father" drown so he's terrified about anything having to do with water, over water, etc.

Fast forward a bit.

He has received clues from some of the "actors" that his life is really a TV show. Of course, he doesn't believe it (I mean come on - would YOU??)... but then he realizes that it's all true. He still has no idea he's actually on a giant sound stage - and when he takes a route out of town, all of a sudden there's an instant traffic jam. He makes a U Turn, goes around the block, comes back to the same intersection and there's not a car on the street.

Good stuff! I won't ruin the ending, but it didn't suck nearly as bad as I thought it would.

So, this is the part of the program where I try to tie this movie into the computer industry... here's goes.

It might as well have been called "The Windows 98 Show." No matter what channel you tune to, or what magazine or newspaper or ezine you read, Windows 98 is the top story. No matter what country you live in.

Although "Christof" is a much cooler name than "Bill Gates" - they are both playing the wizard behind the curtain. Gates, like Christof, is the man behind the conception, production and direction of the entire show. There have been well over 5,000 cameras with "live" coverage of Windows 98, and there will no doubt be more as time goes on.

Like the product placements in Truman's world, everything on the Internet Explorer Desktop (oops, I mean "Windows 98 desktop") is for sale: IF #1 - you're NOT Netscape, #2 - you want to give exclusive content to Microsoft, AND #3 - they don't actually buy your company first.

Gates hasn't yet bought the moon, but he does have a $50 million home on Puget Sound from which he can control the entire show. The picture-perfect setting that Microsoft is trying to portray for Windows 98 users costs about as much as a huge sound stage, but thankfully, we're all free to leave at any time.

FREE - but at what price?

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

Ok, Ok, I know. It's been a couple of months since I've been able to update this column (in fact, the entire damn site!)... I deserve 1000 web lashings.

There's been a ton o' changes to the FileMaker Pro landscape (and computing in general) since the last column. Claris has become FileMaker, Inc., Apple Computer has announced an all-in-one mac called the iMac, Rapshody has become Mac OS X (ten), and we've been entertained by Mr. Bill's courthouse antics. At ClickWare, we launched ClickWorld (the definitive FileMaker Pro resource) in January, and so far have almost 10,000 registered users of the site.

But growth comes at a price...

For FileMaker Inc, the loss of ALL other products other than FileMaker Pro also meant the loss of some fantastic people (and some real JERKS) at the restructured company. It was with an extremely heavy heart that I slowly lost touch with some of the people who were with me at the beginning of my FileMaker journey.

For Apple... well, you know the story. If not, you can check it out here.

For ClickWorld... alas, I feel the end is near. We currently have a Macintosh G3 (233 mHz) computer running WebStar and Lasso 2.5 - that powers the ENTIRE site. The performance has been excellent! The problem comes down to dollars and cents. When we launched the site, we launched it in cooperation with an ISP in the Bay Area (Infoasis). They were creating a FileMaker Pro Hosting service, and in exchange for a connection to their T-1, we provided free banners on certain pages forever.

Well, this week, the "other shoe" dropped. It seems Infoasis is now re-thinking their hosting business, and therefore do not need the banner ad. No banner ad = no "free ride" on their network. Translation: either we have to pay $350 per month to co-locate the computer, or ClickWorld goes away. Now, if you've cruised this ClickWare site - or you've surfed on over to ClickWorld, you know that we provide tons of free tips, free software, and resonably priced tools for FileMaker folks. You also may or may not know, our web presence is for YOU. We strive to be a resource, a depository of information, tips and files that are of use... all for free.

The ClickWorld site is free, the discussion area on ClickWorld is free, the international developer on ClickWorld is free, you can quickly locate and purchase the latest FileMaker Pro books (in association with Amazon.com), there are articles (including this one) that are free.... well, you get the idea.

We don't make any money from our web sites. The product sales simply help to cover the costs of the web presence - we make our money by doing custom FMP and Web development. The reality is that since the ClickWorld site has taken a considerable amount of time and money to implement, it's simply not possible to continue dumping money into a "free" resource.

UPDATE 6/13/98: Shawn Hogen from Data-Point Software has arranged for an ISP to co-locate the server. THANKS Shawn!

Whatever the fate of ClickWorld, rest assured that THIS web presence (ClickWare) is NOT going anywhere. We're committed to keeping it up and running as long as ClickWare is in business. We want to update the site according to what YOU want. Tell us what you LIKE and HATE about this site - and I promise that we'll do everything we can to help.

Thank you all!