Back when the Mac first came out, when screens were only black and white, when graphics had no transparency, no gradients, not even textures, we had pattern fills. They were rudimentary tools for giving 2D, black-and-white graphical objects some flair. Phased out from just about every software product by the mid 1990s, those patterns persisted in FileMaker Pro and became emblematic of the long-neglected interface tools known as the “design surface.” With version 12, FileMaker finally ditches the ’80s patterns and gives users the tools for making good-looking databases in no time at all.

Many moons ago, I installed an iPhone app called TwitFire. All it did was send a tweet without showing me the Twitter timeline first, but it was surprisingly useful, enabling me to broadcast a single thought to the world without getting distracted by all the other messages. QuickMailer does the same thing for email on your Mac. The idea is that you use a keyboard shortcut or click a menu bar icon, bang out a quick email, optionally add an attachment, and then send it. Since you don’t have to open Mail itself, you can avoid getting bogged down replying to other emails that might cry out for your attention.

I’ve never been too paranoid about privacy. I use a club card in the grocery store, fully aware that my purchase habits are being tracked--but I don’t care if I can save a dollar on cereal. My car flies through the tollbooths at the Bay Area bridges thanks to my FasTrak device, which I guess could be used to track my movements if I ever murdered someone. Don’t worry; I’m not planning to--it’s just that I remember that happening on Law & Order once.

Upgrading a file from one version to another has always been a crucial aspect of any application update—until Final Cut Pro X came on the scene, that is. This latest version was so different that there was no way to import your old Final Cut Pro 7 projects into it. The fact that migrating from iMovie was well integrated merely rubbed salt into this wound.