Lost iPad

About six months ago I misplaced my iPad. Not a terribly unusual event, I have an unfortunate tendency to lose things occasionally (ok, some might say frequently). Usually they turn up again pretty quickly. In this case though I could not find it anywhere. I had just returned from a business trip to Eastern Washington, and I thought I must have left it in a hotel or coffee shop (check out Pioneer Coffee in Cle Elum next time you’re there, great coffee shop). 

So, out comes ‘Find My iPad’ which should magically tell me right where the missing device could be found. I’ve used it many times to locate my iPhone around the house. If you have a Mac laptop or an iOS device, I strongly encourage you to get an iCloud account so you can use this feature when needed.

Unfortunately, my iPad appeared to be offline and couldn’t be found. I called the last hotel I stayed at, but they said they couldn’t find it.

I finally decided to send a remote wipe command to it, hoping to prevent any of my data from being available to anyone that might find the iPad (this can also be done through your iCloud account).

I ended up figuring that some tech savvy person had found it and re-initialized it in the week between when I lost it and when I sent the remote wipe command.

Well, I’m embarrassed (and glad) to say that the iPad turned up this week. I had apparently fallen asleep watching Netflix and the battery drained all the way and the iPad slid behind the bed. This was at our family’s vacation place on Whidbey Island (available as a vacation rental), so I’m not there that often and with the battery dead, Find my iPad couldn’t find it.

So, the lesson here… Don’t wait for your iPad’s battery to run all the way down before you decide to lose it.

--John Newhoff

(oh, and a big thank you to my sister, Mary, who outdid iCloud and actually found my iPad).

FedEx and FileMaker

As FileMaker developers, we are always interested in learning new tools and tricks to take a database to the next level. Recently we worked with a simple way to generate FedEx shipping labels from within FileMaker.

By using a 3rd party plugin and FedEx web services, this functionality is easily available in any FileMaker solution. We started by using the module for accessing FedEx Web Services that is a part of the ScriptMaster plugin from 360Works.

Designing and implementing this tool is pretty simple.

• The first requirement is to sign up for a FedEx developer account. 
• Next is to install the ScriptMaster plugin on each computer connecting to the database. 
• The third step is to create the FedEx required fields in the database. (These can be seen in the screenshot of the sample database below.)
• And lastly to create a button with one script step to generate the label. 

The screenshot below shows our sample database that generates the shipping label. The interface allows entry of all the required information for FedEx; shipment method, shipment date, weight, origin address and destination address. Once all fields are complete, clicking the "Generate Shipping Label" button will produce the FedEx shipping label and save it to your computer as a PDF.

~ Kate Wheeler

Key Ring 5.7.1

If you’re like me, your key chain has gotten increasingly heavier over the last few years, as more and more retailers offer rewards cards designed to be carried there rather than in your wallet.

Key Ring, a free app that scans in barcoded reward cards for Android, Blackberry, iOS, and Windows phones, has come to our rescue.

The Good News:

• Access your rewards cards from anywhere you have network access - backup is cloud-based;
• Scan others’ rewards cards and use them without having to sign up, so when I go to NJ to see the in-laws, for instance, and want to go shopping, I can use their cards to get price cuts, and they get the benefit of whatever rewards or points the club offers them; 
• Share your own with others;
• Print out rewards card info and your barcodes if you want a record;
• Join new programs quickly & easily.

Each scanned card has an easily accessed page with Notes, Click to Dial, and Find a Location buttons, along with links to the retailer’s Twitter, Facebook, and website. I’ve used Find a Location when out exploring the area with the dog - is there a QFC somewhere around here where I can pick up an easy dinner? Yes, just a mile away! I’ve also used Notes; do I get that one brand of dog food at PetsMart or Petco? Now I know and don’t have to wander the aisles hoping to find it.

Caveats:

Phone screen protectors can interfere with scanning; you might as well not even try with a flatbed scanner like those at your local grocery store. Between whatever has been grimed on the store’s scanner, and whatever my screen protector has picked up from my pocket or bag, I’ve never succeeded with one. (Back to the old-fashioned way of entering your phone number!)

The only card I had a problem scanning in was my King County Library System card, which may be a function of it being the outside card for a long time and perhaps getting banged around a bit. But I hear other folks have had issues, and it is best done in bright light with a steady hand.

There’s a “Join Programs” option that will bring up rewards offers near you using GPS, but you can’t search for one in particular, which is disappointing. Perhaps in the future.

If you lose your keys frequently, you might want to keep one of the cards on your key ring, so that it can be dropped in a mailbox or returned to a store and maybe get back to you (does that actually ever happen?), but other than that, I don’t really see a reason for carrying them all around anymore. There's a whole lot less jingling when I start the car these days.

For more information, see their website at http://keyringapp.com/get_started

~Alanna Clare

The IT Crowd

“Have you tried turning it on and off again?” 

Each time I hear this famous tagline from the British TV series, the IT crowd, it makes me laugh. The IT Crowd is a witty comedy set in the IT department of a London corporation. Moss and Roy are your “standard nerds”, answering support calls from their office in the basement of the building. They are portrayed as outcasts, shunned by the rest of the company for their nerdiness. Resentful at their lack of recognition but proud of their intellectual skill set, their world is thrown into a tailspin when Jen comes along.  She is hired as the IT manager but knows nothing about computers, not even what IT stands for (See season 3, episode 3)!  The hijinks that follow make this situational comedy where two worlds collide a complete joy to watch.  For a laugh and a look into the life of nerds, check it out streaming on Netflix or here for free.

- Kate Wheeler

Check out this clip from the first episode to see what I mean!