At blist, we think about three core scenarios as relates to working with data: getting data in; analyzing, massaging, querying and generally working with data when it’s in blist; and getting data out.

We’re happy to introduce blist PDF printing via this blog post. It’s a big help in the “getting data out” category. For those who don’t know, most browsers have the a built-in print method which can be invoked programmatically. It takes about 5 minutes to wire up. Candidly, the output you get from the browser looks like it took about 5 minutes to wire up and that’s why for most of our beta period we haven’t supported printing at all. Who wants to spend a lot of time getting the data looking visually compelling only to have it look like a garbled mess when it prints?

What we did at blist was take the long road toward investing in creating exceptional paper output. We’re happy to introduce high fidelity PDF output. To print any blist or lens, click on the [Print] icon in the toolbar:

You’ll see a print dialog that allows you to configure basic output options:

After you click the print button, we’ll generate a PDF file and stream it back to your browser. It’s very fast and the output looks terrific. Here’s an example:

Click on the image above to see the actual PDF. Because the output we generate is PDF, you can do all the normal things you can do with any PDF: email it, save it to your hard drive and of course - send it to your local printer.

Many of you have commented that you like the dashboard and are enjoying seeing how other people are using blist. Some of you have asked why some of the activities have pictures associated with the person using blist. Those people have updated their blist profile with a photo, image or caricature. So how can you update your blist profile photo?

It’s easy. Just follow these steps.

Step 1: Click on the profile link in the upper right hand corner of blist:

Step 2: Click on the Change picture link in the profile page:

Step 3: Browse around the files on your computer and select the file you want to use as your picture.

Step 4: While you have the profile page open, perhaps you want to update some of the other fields. When you’re done, click [OK] to save your updated profile page.

That’s all there is to it. Your blist profile page has been updated. On the dashboard when somebody hovers their mouse over the thumbnail image, they’ll see your picture.

By uploading your profile picture, you make blist more your own and give others a glimpse into your personality. Would you really want to borrow Alfred E Neuman’s blist as your starting point? What - you worry?