Contact:

Clay Pryor, nmCollector.net LLC

cjpryor@nmcollector.net

nmCollector.net LLC announces the latest release of NM Collector Software.

Albuquerque (February 2012) – nmCollector.net LLC, an industry leader in software development for hobby collectors, announces the release of version 2.5.1 of NM Collector Software. NM Collector Software is designed to support any type of collection on any computer. One purchase is all that is required for an individual to manage all of their collections on all of their computers.

Features of NM Collector Software of interest to the collecting community include: portable (can be run off of a USB flash drive), customizable (headings and contents can be adjusted to meet most collector’s needs), a variety of pre-defined collection types (including Guns, Knives, Japanese Swords, Coins, Stamps, Gems, and even Home Inventory), new collection types can be defined from scratch, extensive reports, ability to export and import data, and more. Details on this collecting software can be found at www.nmcollectorsoftware.com.

nmCollector.net LLC is a New Mexico company that specializes in developing software for collectors. Their vision is

“… to produce the most useful and flexible software available to the collector community at the most reasonable cost. nmCollector.net LLC recognizes the effort put into data entry and keeps the preservation of that data at the forefront of our development efforts.”

Thanks!

Here are some results of a performance comparison of Version 2.4.0 with the previous 2.3.1 release.

Notes:

• Not all possible combinations of  (Computer | Data | Program | Operation) were tested
• However, performance benchmarking is not yet complete.  As more tests are conducted the results will be posted here.

Observations

In general, overall performance is improved for any size database. However, the bigger the database the bigger the performance improvement. In version 2.3.1 performance degraded exponentially as the database size increased to the point that it became essentially unusable for large databases. In version 2.4.0 performance degrades in a linear fashion resulting in orders of magnitude performance improvements for large databases.

Benchmark Computer Setups

The following two computers were used for benchmarking:

Computer 1:

• Toshiba Satellite Notebook Computer with AMD Dual Core M300 2 GHz Processor
• 32 bit Windows 7 Home Premium
• 3 Gig Memory

Computer 2:

• HP Pavillion Computer with AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ 2.20 GHz Processor
• 64 bit Windows 7 Home Premium
• 3 Gig Memory

Benchmark Data Setups

The following two databases were used for benchmark testing:

Data 1:

• Just under 500 items
• Most with one to four pictures each
• Pictures stored in the database (not the file system)

Data 2:

• Just over 150 items
• None with pictures

Benchmark Program Setups

The program was run under the following conditions:

Program 1:

• Executed from hard drive

Program 2:

• Executed from USB flash drive

Benchmark Results

More to come.  As tests are completed I will update this page.

* Improvements to Tree View
o Data no longer lost when you make changes to your data and then make changes to the Collection Types.
o When you delete an item with other items indented below it the indented items below it no longer appear to be deleted.
o When you try to indent the first indented item below another item the system no longer moves it to the bottom of the list of items.
o When you try to outdent an item that is already as far outdented as it can go, the system no longer moves it to the bottom of the list of items.
o Drag and drop several items one after the other then try to indent one of them no longer moves some of the items to the bottom of the list of items.
o The horizontal scroll bar no longer centers when the tree is too wide to fit in the window causing irritating shifting.

* Other Improvements
o The items typed in field number 8 (on the identification tab)are no longer placed in the combo box of field number 2.
o New icon for Mac.
o Red x on find window no longer closes entire application.
o Addressed Find and Help window sizing and formatting issues.

http://www.nmcollectorsoftware.com/reports/UpdateReports.zip

In version 2.1.0 you can now choose where your pictures are stored.  Not only that, but you can have the program copy or migrate your pictures from your database to your file system and vise-versa.  If you copy your pictures they will remain in their original location after being copied to the new location.  If you migrate the pictures they will be deleted from their original location.  This provides an easy function by which you can take pictures that are scattered throughout your file system and migrate them to the same directory as NM Collector Software JE.  If that directory happens to be on a USB flash drive (which is the preferred method for running NM Collector Software) you will now have a copy of all of your pictures on the same USB flash drive.  Detailed step by step illustrated instructions for how to do this can be found in the examples provided at:  http://www.nmcollectorsoftware.com/examples/.

Of course, this release also provides new reports to support pictures located on the file system.  In addition, it provides other new features and bug fixes including the following:

* Eliminated excess save warnings when data had already been saved.

* Modified NM Gun Collector migration to default to storing pictures in the file system rather than the database.

* Provide guidance for when help won’t load – seems to be a Mac only problem.

At a theoretical level, the value of any item depends on the supply of and the demand for the item.  If an item is common and the demand for it is low, the value will be low.  Conversely, if the supply is low and the demand is high the value will be high.  Interestingly, and not necessarily intuitively, if an item is rare but the demand is low the value will also be low!  Of course, like the early Ford Mustangs in the 80′s, an item can be quite common but still command a high value because the demand is so much greater than the supply!

At an individual level, an item is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it.   However, the buyer and the seller must be able to find each other for the transaction to occur.  Sometimes this can be easy while other times it can be very difficult.  This ability of buyers and sellers to get together in the marketplace is addressed at a theoretical level by the economic concept of “market imperfections.”  However, for an individual seller of an item, which is generally the focus of most people who ask me the value of their item, this boils down to finding the right asking price given the potential buyers available to the seller (whether than be local, national, or international).

With today’s internet marketplace, it is much easier to sell nationwide or even worldwide.  In the past the value of an item often depended more on the local market than the national or international market.  For many items, such as firearms, where there are still substantial barriers to legally transporting items across state or international boundaries, that can still true.  Economically, these artificial barriers to trade often lead to illegal black market conditions but that is not the subject of this blog.

So, bottom line, how does one go about finding the value of a particular item they want to sell? 

Essentially, the seller needs to find a price that is acceptable in the marketplace available to them for their item.  There are many ways to go about doing that which I will discuss below.

1.  Take it to a local auction and sell it for whatever you get for it.  Local auctions give you a small subset of the local market.  Although the excitement of the local auction atmosphere can lead to over-bidding on an item such that it sells for more than it might otherwise have sold, there is a very great risk that it will sell for substantially less than it is worth.  Reserves can help mitigate that risk but they can be costly.  Also, the fees involved in selling an item can significantly decrease the net proceeds to the seller.   In my opinion, local auctions are not an ideal way to sell an item.  Of course, this also does not provide you a value for your item until after you have already committed to the sale of the item.  This is not an ideal situation for most people looking to value an item.

2.  Find an expert appraiser.  These can be local, national, or international.  This is probably the best option for determining the value of an item in a local marketplace.  However, these experts can be hard to find!  Once you find them it can be hard to find a time that they are available to help you.  Also, they can actually be wrong when it comes to your particular item simply because no matter how expert an individual is in any field they can still make a mistake!

3.  Purchase a valuation guide for the type of item you want to know the value of.  There are many guides available that come up with some sort of an estimate of value based on the author’s access to sales data.  Usually that access is based on historical (hopefully recent) auction results (usually auctions that specialize in the items that are the subject of the valuation guide) from across the country.  These can give you an idea of national marketplace values.  However, the data is often over generalized and can become stale.  These guides may over-estimate or under-estimate the value of your particular item.

4.  Consult asking prices of retail outlets (local, national, and international).  With the internet search engines this becomes really easy.  Just enter your item’s description in a search engine and see what comes up.  The only drawback to this approach is that it shows you what people are asking for items similar to yours but it does not show you what they actually sell for.  Also, retailers generally have broader access to the marketplace than any individual has.  They spend a lot of money to guide buyers to their items that they have for sale and, generally build up a reputation over time that is usually greater than any individual can establish for a single item they want to sell.  It is not likely that an individual will be able to get the price for their item that is asked by retailers for similar items.

5.  Consult realized prices from on-line auctions.  The actual sale price of items like yours in on-line auctions gives you actual data points of what price was actually paid for an item in the national and/or international marketplace.  In my opinion this is by far the best way to determine the current value of an item that you have for sale.  Of course, the drawback is that his is a hit and miss proposition.  Sometimes you can not find an actual completed auction for an item like yours in the condition that yours is in.  Often, however, you can find similar items to give you an idea yet, you may actually have a unique item that should be valued differently than similar items.

6.  A combination of the above.  Perhaps the ideal approach is to consult multiple sources and combine the best of all of them.  This is probably not worth the effort for a common item that you can easily find a match for in on-line auctions.  However, if there is anything unique about your item it should be worth the time to investigate several options for valuing it – particularly before actually selling it!

As a final comment, I have heard many stories, including first hand accounts, about dealers taking advantage of unknowing sellers.  It’s one thing for somebody to offer to sell an item for a certain price and the buyer accepting that price, even if it is a good deal.  However, it is quite another thing for a seller to ask a dealer how much an item is worth and then for the dealer to lie to them about the item and offer to buy it for a fraction of what it is worth.  Some would argue that even in the first case, a knowledgeable person should correct the seller of an item if they are asking too little for their item – however, how often does that happen? 

It is best for the seller to take the time to research their item and know its value before offering to sell it.  Hopefully this article helps in that regard.

There are many ways to let me know including my public support forum.  In it are two sub forums of particular importance for improvement.  One is for reporting bugs and the other is for submitting enhancement requests.  I value both!  Please use these forums!  Don’t be afraid to post suggestions or complaints publicly so other people can read and comment on them as well.  This will help me gauge what will be of the most value in future releases.

As for bugs, no matter how hard I try to eradicate them some inevitably make it through.  NM Collector Software is not simplistic so it is very complicated code to provide the rich features that set it apart from the rest.  However, that also increases the chances that some bugs will get through.  Help me stamp them out by reporting any that you find!  Publicly reporting them is the best so that others can be easily made aware of the bugs and any workarounds to use until they can be fixed.

Enhancement requests are how I get new ideas that I might not have thought of myself!  I may not be able to incorporate all of them (for various reasons including technical and/or philosophical) but I value the suggestions.  Even though I may not be able to incorporate a suggestion directly it may lead to other improvements that I might not have thought of otherwise.  Please send your suggestions in! 

I know that my software can not be everything to everybody and there is no way that I can please everyone.  However, I do value feedback from multiple perspectives – every one has something to contribute, and, within reason, I do try to please every one who has decided to invest their time and money in my software.

Thanks in advance for your continued support in making NM Collector Software better!

Clay

“I have been using Penguin software in the past which is not supported on Vista so I must go through this again. I realize that you do not have a crystal ball but is it your intentions to continue to support your software with the ever changing technological world we are in today?”

This is spot on as to why I changed from a Microsoft-based software development environment to a Java-based software development environment.  My old NM Gun Collector Software was written using the latest Microsoft technology available in 1999.  Microsoft promised developers using their technology that their applications  would continue to run in future Microsoft Operating systems into perpetuity.  Well, that turned out to be only partially true.

The advent of Microsoft Windows Vista resulted in changes to the installation model for applications that broke the installation of NM Gun Collector Software.   At the time, the Microsoft solution for fixing the problem entailed purchasing the latest Microsoft Development tools (at great expense), which in trun required migrating the old applications into that new development environment (requiring a very large software re-development effort), and finally redeploying the newly redeveloped application using the new Microsoft development environment.

This was too much for me to bear.  Besides the simple fact of feeling betrayed by Microsoft (which should be no surprise to anyone but I am always an optimist and tend to believe the promises of others) if I was to go through all of that effort why would I commit once again to an environment that I could not be sure would be supported in future versions of Windows?  Since I would have to redevelop my application anyway why not take another look at the available development environments with an eye towards the future?  Well, that is exactly what I did.

As a result, I decided to create NM Collector Software JE (Java Edition) as a Java application.  This offers many advantages including the easy availability of many free or low cost software development environments, the ability to deploy NM Collector Software JE to  multiple platforms (including Windows, Mac, and Linux), and the promise of longevity.  Sure, as java grows and changes I might have to tweak my application to continue to fit within the Java environment but NEVER AGAIN will I have to recreate it from scratch as Microsoft forced me to do.

However, over the many years that it has been available,  Java has stabilized so much that I do not expect to have to make a lot of changes to my application to keep it running long into the future.  So, in conclusion, here is the email response I gave to the person who asked the question:

“No for NM Gun Collector Software (the page you contacted me from).  Because it is Microsoft based the technology has proven to be unstable over time.

“Yes for  NM Collector Software JE (Java Edition).  That is exactly why I abandoned Microsoft technology in favor of Java.  Java allows me to continue to support  NM Collector Software JE not only across multiple operating systems but into the foreseeable future as well.”

You might think that as a result I left my thousands of NM Gun Collector Software customers in the same situation this poor Penguin software customer is in.  Well, if so, you would be wrong.  One of my primary goals in writing NM Collector Software JE was to provide a path for my existing customers to migrate their data into the new system so they would not have to do it manually.  Early on in the development of NM Collector Software JE I was able to meet that goal ( please see http://www.nmcollectorsoftware.com/support/Import.htm for more details ) and several of my customers have already used it.

Why have only a few done it?  Because they love NM Gun Collector Software so much they do whatever they can to keep it working on new systems.  In fact, I have helped them to come up with work arounds so as to keep it running in Vista and Windows 7.  However, I don’t know how long we can keep that up so they now have a proven path to move their data to NM Collector Software JE when they can no longer keep NM Gun Collector working on future versions of Microsoft Windows.

Clay

Unfortunately, I recently received the following message from a user of NM Collector JE after he “applied” the latest upgrade.

” Great Stuff.  I now have the new software but not my database.  I am getting to the stage where I will give up on your product if I can’t get my data back.  It will be more trouble than it is worth.”

My guess is, despite all of my warnings on the downloads page, he installed the full application (which includes the default database) and not the upgrade.  This would have replaced his data with the default data.  Please don’t do that!

I asked a few questions to better understand the situation – it’s always possible he really did not lose his data – but he just responded with more vitriol towards me.  From his perspective it is entirely my fault that he lost his data.   He would not accept responsibility for his own data.

Of course he could have been nicer but the point is something went wrong and it seems he lost his data.    I can certainly sympathize with him as the whole point of the software is to gather data in a usable form and retain it for future reference.  Gathering quality data takes work and it is a tragedy to lose the fruits of your labor.

I hope that is not true of you.  Please, if you value your work and your efforts then protect your data.  There are many ways to backup and recover your data.  I am posting some of them in a new topic entitled “How to backup and recover your data” in my new “Best Practices” forum which is one of the NM Collector Software forums.

Please read it and be prepared.  I hope you never lose your data like this poor soul did but, if for some unexpected reason you do, please be ready to recover it with a backup plan!!!

Happy computing.

Clay