Author Archives: Dirk Reynolds

About Dirk Reynolds

Hacking away at computers of all sorts since early '80s. Developing data-driven websites and custom Filemaker solutions since mid '90s. Wondering if a blog is a good idea after all since late '00s. Now that we're in the '10s, I guess it's time to find out.

Bento 4 Release

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Dirk Reynolds

Filemaker just released the newest version of Bento, its entry-level database solution for the Mac, iPad, and iPhone. The perfect tool for everyone who needs a database, but hates programming and/or the costs of hiring a bunch of geeks to … Continue reading →

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Phone Formatting Trick – Case & Let Function

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Dirk Reynolds

If you have a database, chances are you have a phone number field in there somewhere. Alongside names, emails, and address info, the phone numbers pop up all the time. However, the manner in which phone numbers are entered vary … Continue reading →

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New iPhone & iPad Database Resource.. on Facebook.

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Dirk Reynolds

Filemaker set up a handy new online resource for all of its iPad and iPhone database developers, pro and amateur alike. Instead of putting it on their own site though, they started up a Facebook page instead. Odd, but perhaps … Continue reading →

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CAPTCHA’s – The Good, Bad, & Evil

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Dirk Reynolds

Even if you don’t know what a captcha is, you know what a captcha is. It’s one of those odd and annoying little boxes at the bottom of a web form that has a few squiggly hard to read letters or … Continue reading →

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The perils of Google’s omnipotent algorithms

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Dirk Reynolds

In the business world, both real and virtual, it’s all about location, location, location. Rule number one for the vast majority of commerce is the ability to make yourself known. After all, if customers can’t find you, how will they … Continue reading →

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Data Wrangling – This is your brain on silicon

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Dirk Reynolds

It should come as no surprise, that as a professional data wrangler, I am perpetually intrigued by data management systems. Anything from boring old lists (still love them) to ultra cool sci-fi holodeck databases, complete with snarky AIs. As we … Continue reading →

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Apple Buying Cycles

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Dirk Reynolds

Everybody loves a shiny new gadget. Getting the latest, coolest, fastest, shiniest toy is always fun. What’s not so fun is when, only a few months or even weeks after buying your new drool worthy tech toy, a newer better … Continue reading →

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Quality Filemaker Coders

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Dirk Reynolds

Just because Filemaker is relatively easy to program with doesn’t necessarily mean that it also makes everyone into a good programmer. There is a very large difference between having a simple (and powerful) tool at your disposal, and actually knowing … Continue reading →

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Filemaker Go in the real world: Acorn Car Rentals

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Dirk Reynolds

Filemaker Go is increasingly becoming the little app that could. Although Filemaker Go is technically nothing more than just another thin-client version of Filemaker Pro, its iPad and iPhone ‘platforms’ are making all the difference. Pushing full fledged Filemaker solutions … Continue reading →

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iPad2 Announced – Faster, lighter, thinner

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Dirk Reynolds

As expected, Apple announced its second generation iPad earlier today in San Francisco. Poor health notwithstanding, Steve Jobs made an appearance to weave his well-known reality distortion field, and hype about all things Apple and iPad. Fortunately, the good news … Continue reading →

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