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A major transition

1/15/2019

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Over the last few years, the world has changed, the market has changed, and I have changed.

Over the past 20 years or so, my focus on this web site has been on Filemaker database services.  I first started using FileMaker back in the mid 1980s, shortly after it was introduced.  I was a member of the Boston Computer Society, so I started offering free advice to other members of the Society by listing my phone number in the "Active Window," the group's monthly magazine for Macintosh users.  With 10,000 subscribers to the magazine, I answered a lot of questions!

One day, someone asked me if I knew of a consultant because they found themselves managing the details of their database more and more while at the same time neglecting their core mission.  I jumped in.  By mid 1993, I was up and running with a full income just from serving as a FileMaker database consultant.

In 2014, I began writing a book called "a man wearing a dress" (see my Message Rain web site), which took me three years to complete and publish.  During that time, the market for FileMaker shifted from sole proprietors and small non-profits (my customer base) to more medium sized and larger businesses.  FileMaker, Inc. raised the price on their product (effectively) to over $500 per copy, unless you purchased a license for multiple "seats" (i.e. employees using it simultaneously).

At the same time, I had not been actively recruiting new clients, so the number of consulting assignments I was left with had dwindled to just a few.  I started to see my life mission shift from that of a database consultant to someone promoting the themes introduced in my book.

There was only one problem.  Writing a book is very unlikely to make much money!  Just as very few garage bands ever get famous or inner city basketball players become big stars, most authors labor in obscurity.  Don't get me wrong, I wrote a good book, and everyone who has read it seems to like it (all the reviews are 5 stars, so far). But it's clear that I need a "day job" to sustain me.

So, what do I do?  As I was pondering that, I kept hearing more and more stories of people who had lost all their data because their computer had died, or they lost their phone somehow.  Others approached me with questions about full hard drives, voicemail boxed that wouldn't accept any new messages, and so on.  it seems as if our technology, as wonderful as it might be, has left most people in the dust when it comes to managing their data!

At the same time, I seem to have been born with the knack of explaining technical terms to non-technical people in ways that they understand and can make use of.  And after years of practice, I've developed into being a good listener.

So, why not make myself available, at a reasonable rate (we negotiate) to help anyone with such problems?

​So today, I'm re-organizing my web pages to shift the emphasis from "FileMaker Only" to add "Computer Organizer."  I may not be the cheapest computer organizer out there, but I think my skills are better than average, so I hope you consider me for this kind of thing.  There is one caveat:  I'm much more experienced in Macintosh and products from Apple than I am with the Windows & Droid side.  But don't give up!  I have associates that cover those other products, so if you contact me, I can help connect you with someone.

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Today, I launch my "Computer Organizer" service.

10/3/2018

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Today's the day!

I'm introducing a new service that's actually something I've been doing for years by now. I've decided to call myself the "Computer Organizer." I'm kind of a cross between a computer expert and a household organizer who works closely with you to clear up clutter, solve problems, and get organized in a gentle, helpful way. I can help you organize the files on your computer, make sure you data is properly backed up, and teach you how to stay organized going forward.  My strength is in describing technical concepts in terms you can understand, because I start by understanding you: how you think, how you work, and how you learn.  Then I tailor my approach to what will fit you and your needs best.

I'll be adding details about this service soon, but please feel free to contact me as soon as you wish.

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WARNING regarding Mac OS "High Sierra" upgrades

2/24/2018

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WARNING: Yesterday, I attempted to install the latest "High Sierra" (10.13) operating system on a Mac mini (late 2014 base model) that had been running the "El Capitan" (10.11) system just fine earlier that day. The result was the screen shown at the right. 
Picture
This "screen from hell" persisted through numerous attempts to restart, including starting in safe mode & attempting to repair the disk with 'first aid' (which erroneously reported disk problems that said it failed to fix) and resetting the PRAM. It turns out that this "trap" is the result of a bug in the High Sierra installer that Apple has not been able to fix. The only recourse we had was to use Apple's Internet Recovery feature to restore the El Capitan system.
​
Lesson 1: This process burned up almost 5 hours of time, with Apple Care representatives on the phone throughout most of it. So if you want to try this upgrade on a 'mission critical' computer make sure you have plenty of time and know how to restore your computer to the previous system in case this kind of failure happens to you. (Use Command-option-R to invoke Internet Recovery.)

Lesson 2:  Few AppleCare representatives have access to the latest information on nasty bugs like this. That's part of the reason we ended up wasting so much time! The first representative we had was diligent and suggested trying many things, but did not know we were still headed for the same dead end. I believe this to be a side effect of Apple's tradition of secrecy (not that other large companies are much better!). The company seems loathe to admit that their software has any bugs once they release it, so the burden rests on the user to waste time and effort beating a dead horse, so to speak. The right information would have saved us hours of wasted time! Please, Apple, please just admit there is a problem in the first place, and we'll be free to explore alternatives instead of wasting time and patience doing things that will ultimately only result in frustration and bad feelings. Please?
Alas, computer systems are provided by a duopoly (market dominated by only 2 alternatives, Mac & Windows), so we the public are kind of stuck.  (Yes, there is Unix, but history shows that it's essentially for the very tech savvy only.)

Although the last Applecare representative we talked with said there might be other things we could try, we had had it. My client decided to just go out and buy a new Mac mini with High Sierra already installed and have them transfer the data over instead of wasting any more time (and his cost to pay me) on this endeavor. We can't go back to running 10.11 (El Capitan) because we need MacOS 10.13 to support FileMaker Server version 16, which requires the latest Mac system. Filemaker is a subsidiary of Apple itself, by the way. (Although that's true, I don't subscribe to the theory that this is some kind of conspiracy to waste our time. That would not serve any purpose, really. High Sierra is a free upgrade and is supposed to just work.)

By the way, note the illogical wording of the last sentence in the alert box pictured above. 
It says "Quit the Installer to restart your computer and try again." Well, there is no way to "quit the installer" because there is no menu bar to quit anything, just the box shown, sitting in the middle of an otherwise dark blue background. When you click the "restart" button (the only thing you can do), the installer tries all over again, fails in exactly the same way, and ends up right back at this screen. Your computer is now a "brick" unless you download and revert back to the previous system, as described above. We were left to stare at screens saying things like "48 minutes remaining" etc. as a progress bar slowly crawled itself from left to right, first while downloading the huge files, then again as it ran through the "installation" process.
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Products are now available!

2/12/2017

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We are now offering database files that you can download and use.  Right now, we are developing this service and our first product, Travel Expenses.

So far, we are using an honor system.  That is, all our products can be downloaded without paying anything.  We ask that you try something out, and if you find it useful, return here and donate something to compensate us.  We will use donations received to improve existing products, develop new ones, and for general expenses to support existing products.

If you have any ideas for products or want to provide feedback, please contact us.
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Scheduling

8/9/2015

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Earlier this Summer, as is sometimes the case, I had very few client assignments.  Demand had dropped to a trickle.  Then, suddenly, in mid July, some new clients contacted me and some existing clients with projects that had been on hold called & said the green light was now on.  Suddenly, my appointment book was full for the next few weeks, with more time to be spent in the future, not yet specified.

Meanwhile, I was already scheduled to be out of town from the 18th through the 30th of August!  This trip is in connection with an important event and cannot be changed at this late date.  My only option is to schedule around my trip as best as possible.

There are two lessons here, one for me, and one for you.  For me, it's the ongoing experience of being the owner of a small (often single person - me!) consulting business.  For you, it's the necessity of calling ahead as much as possible, whether you are a new client or an existing one.

Historically, the Summer has often been a busy time for me, as some of my clients are departments within academic institutions, and they are typically interested in certain upgrades and feature changes before their students return in September.

As always, please feel free to contact me whenever you are considering an assignment, even if you don't yet know exactly when we can schedule.  That way, I can keep you on my 'active' list and prioritize our work together when the time comes.

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Introduction

8/9/2015

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This blog is intended for occasional information about FileMaker use, my consulting practice, and similar related topics.  For other topics, such as politics, religion, cultural change, etc., please see my sister sites.
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    Glenn Koenig is the owner of Dancing-Data

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