Video Training

We had a good FileMaker Pro User's group meeting in Seattle this week with the topic centered around video training presented by Wendy King.

Here at Portage Bay we've produced a series of video 'screencast' training modules for E-Com, our special ed software written in FileMaker, so a lot of the information wasn't new for me, but I really appreciated Wendy's enthusiasm for the value of video based training. I came away with a greatly renewed interest in expanding our use of this technology along with three pages of notes on ideas I'd like to try.

At Portage Bay, we've done our videos using Camtasia Studio. While we generally prefer to use Mac applications, the Mac version of Camtasia is not as fully featured as the Windows version. In particular, I really like the way Camtasia Studio automatically focuses and zooms on the relevant parts of the screen while you're capturing video. Its save a lot of time vs manually adding the zooms after capture. The other item we've found essential is an external microphone to get more professional sounding audio. We use an external USB microphone on a small desktop mic boom.

--John Newhoff

Seattle FMPug Meeting

This month's Seattle FileMaker Pro User's Group meeting will be this coming Tuesday, the 11th, at 6:30pm.

Details can be found here:  http://fmpug.com/blogs/seattle/

Looks like it will be an interesting case study of a FileMaker Go application.

-- John Newhoff

Taste of Summer

The recent heat wave in Seattle left me looking for either air-conditioned restaurants or easy "no cook" recipes. While thankfully the heat is gone, I'll be using at least one of the recipes I found again and again. It was easy, beautiful and very tasty.

Watermelon-Jicama Salad

1/2 of a medium jicama, peeled
1 "personal size" watermelon, rind removed
6 strawberries
Juice & zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Salt, pepper, & ancho chile powder to taste

Chop, slice or otherwise cut up the fruit
Mix together in large bowl with other ingredients
Chill for about an hour before serving

Prior to tasting it, I thought that there might be enough for 3-4 people, but the two of us finished it off with only a piece or two of watermelon going to the dog! I recommend doubling it if you're feeding more than 3.

The great thing about this recipe is its flexibility. I decided to add strawberries because our watermelon was yellow, and I wanted more red, and they were great. Don't like strawberries? Leave them out, or substitute a peach instead.

All out of limes? A lemon or even an orange would work.

The thought of chile powder on fruit gives you pause? While I would urge you to try it - I'm a convert - you can chiffonade some fresh mint or basil and use that instead.

~Alanna Clare

Seattle FileMaker Pro User's Group Meeting

The monthly Seattle FMPug meeting is tonight. There will be a recap of the recent FileMaker Pro Developer's Conference, held in Miami a couple of weeks ago. Full details.

Coimbatore Space Festival, India

Vanakkam! (That's Tamil for "hello and welcome!")

My name is Rin Scherrer, and I am the most recent addition to the Portage Bay team. I join the group as a developer, but I thought I would introduce myself with a story of my recent excursions to Coimbatore, India for the first ever Coimbatore Space Festival! 

The Coimbatore Space Festival is the first of its kind in India - held at Bharatiar University in southern India, the festival was a collaborative endeavor between NASA (USA), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), and DRDO (Defense Research and Development Organization).  The goal was to provide inspiration for children interested in astronomy, rocketry, and other space related fields. There was workshops for both students and teachers, lectures by prominent scientists on topics such as Women in Science and The Sun and Us, and hands-on activities designed to teach and inspire.

As its contribution, NASA sent 9 scientists and educational specialists with an astounding variety of workshops and activities. Two of these - myself and my partner - come from Grove of Hope, a non-profit educational group whose mission is to spread hands-on science education around the world.  I have been a volunteer scientist with Grove of Hope since 2009, participating in science caravans primarily in Morocco. Our contribution to the Coimbatore Space Festival was a workshop about Rockets! Aided by 20 english-speaking college students as translators, we discussed rocket theory, Newtons Laws, rocket structure, rocket uses, and many other topics. This was rounded out with demonstrations of different types of model rocket launches. Who doesn't like to shoot off rockets?! 

The other NASA scientists and educators brought activities relating to robotics, structural engineering, solar viewing, UV light, the solar system, and much more. 

For 6 days the festival brought in thousands of students, families and the interested public. Around 80,000 people visited the festival - nearly double what we expected! Most of these were school groups ranging from elementary to high school.  College students came on their own. Some buses drove students from over 6 hours away just for the chance to meet NASA scientists.  

I was blessed and honored to be involved with such an amazing adventure. I can only hope that our presence helped inspire young minds to pursue greatness in the sciences. 

Nandri! (Thank you!)

-Rin Scherrer

Rin and some of the fantastic volunteers!

Indian schoolchildren eagerly learn about rocket theory