NOTE: THIS IS AN APPLE ISSUE AND NOT AN INBLOOM ISSUE. This relates to a low-level problem with this printer on the Mac.  It works fine on Windows XP or greater and is OK to use with InBloom on the Windows side.

With that said, all other users of InBloom using a Dymo or other label printer are fine as always!

I also found a great presentation which documents various techniques for really securing your installation.  Below is the embedded slideshow:

“If we want users to like our software we should design it to behave like a likeable person: respectful, generous and helpful.” — Alan Cooper, The Inmates Are Running the Asylum

I recently found an article on Viget Advance that nicely reviews what separates frustrating software from good software.  It summarily reviews designing “polite software”.  In the context of Apple software such as iPhoto or Pages, or web-based software such as Basecamp / Highrise / Backpack by 37signals.  Politeness is the secret sauce.

I don’t think Filemaker Pro is perfect in this respect but it is better than a slew of databases out there, and surely they’re questioning a lot of things at Filemaker Inc. with the successful release of Bento.

Polite software:

• Is interested in me
• Is deferential
• Is forthcoming
• Has common sense
• Anticipates my needs
• Is responsive
• Is taciturn about its personal problems
• Is well informed
• Is perceptive
• Is self-confidant
• Stays focused
• Is fudgable
• Gives instant gratification
• Is trustworthy

This says it quite nicely!

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” -John Muir

“The web of our life is of a mingled yarn…” -William Shakespeare

We couldn’t have said it better

Most InBloom users I’ve helped directly have small sets of data: a couple of thousand Inventory records, 300+ Contact records, and all of the sales and payment records that go along with that.  But, on the engineering side, InBloom is always tested and developed with a significantly larger set of records.

During development, we use a data file that is significantly larger:

• has 75,000 Inventory records
• 40,000 Contact records as consignors & buyers
• 10,000 Check Payment records
• 28,000 Sales records
• and the file is approximately 500 megabytes in size

This helps us see the bottlenecks and optimizations that are needed before InBloom ever makes it to you in a public release.  It also helps keep us focused on the simple side of what you want InBloom to do in helping you find, add, print, and manage inventory, consignors, buyers, check payments and sales.  The takeaway point is that InBloom is still wonderfully fast.

If you’re even more observant, you’ll note that our demo videos actually use this sample file so the performance is fast even though we’re recording video through video capture software on the same machine the InBloom database resides on – such video capture is notorious for slowing down computers, but you’ll see that InBloom hums along beautifully.

I had the opportunity to meet and listen to Scott Thomas discuss his role managing the Obama campaign, the experience, the design insights, and the analytics that went in to the whole thing.  It’s absolutely impressive.  He’s launching a book on the experience named Designing Obama and funding the original printing through KickStarter.

Regardless of your political beliefs, I think this is a worthwhile book to have on a book shelf and I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so!

Thanks to Neatorama.com

Per NY Magazine