Maximizing 1Password Security (with a local vault)

Like most, I advocate a password manager. And have frequently recommended 1Password (for years). However, I have led something of a double life in utilizing 1password without a subscription to store “important” passwords within a “local” iPhone vault. Whereas, I’d place my less critical credentials (think: Netflix) in LastPass for efficient cross platform access, including … Read more

Echostar AirTV Looks A Lot Like Miracast

Another day, another interesting trademark to mull over. And like TiVo Bolt, we don’t have much to go on here with Echostar AirTV. Computer hardware and software for streaming audio and video content to a variety of network devices, namely, personal computers, mobile phones, tablet computers and stand-alone hardware decoders So it sounds a lot like … Read more

OneNote-to-WordPress Seems Cool, But Slows Workflow

onenote-wordpress

As one of the bazillion WordPress bloggers, I’m always on the lookout for tools to improve my efficiency. And, sadly, Microsoft’s surprising new OneNote plugin isn’t one of them. While Microsoft does seem to have intelligently integrated picture attachments into WordPress (including the Media Manager), the rest leaves something to be desired. The initial linkage is a kludgey exercise. Fortunately it’s just a one time thing — so, though it lacks polish and may seem somewhat arcane, the directions can be followed by most that first time. I was more concerned with the slightly dirty HTML and slow Notebook/Page lookup in brief testing.

Read more

Clearing Out The Cruft: Twitter Favorites

While I agree that tweets are largely ephemeral in nature, I appreciate my Twitter archive as a historical record and have no desire to join the ranks of the tweet-deleters. Yeah, I’ll delete the sporadic nonsensical, knee jerk, repetitive, or unfunny contribution. But I generally enjoy keeping my old stuff around. Exponentially so, as a blogger and since Twitter introduced native photos and video. However, Favorites, I just don’t get. I often star other’s tweets as an acknowledgement that I’ve read their 140 character note or as an ‘atta boy’ of sorts, if something is especially compelling — in which case, maybe I should have solely retweeted it to benefit my followers. Having these Favorite emoticon acknowledgements preserved for posterity seems like an exercise in noise, clutter, and perhaps misrepresentation. So I set out to delete the 8148 “likes” that I’ve anointed over the years.

No surprise: Twitter provides no mechanism to get this done. Fortunately, I stumbled upon Unfavinator which is the first and most important step in clearing the cruft.

Read more

Microsoft To Revamp OneDrive Logo?

Microsoft OneDrive iconography will shortly be refreshed, if this trademark filing is any indication. Alternatively, Ed Bott wonders if this logo might represent a subset of OneDrive functionality – perhaps hybrid clouds, for example. Building upon the existing OneDrive logo, the three-bump background cloud is replaced by a stylized two-bump cloud profile network cable moving from background to foreground, better visualizing a virtual storage service. This follows … Read more

Two Apple Software Deep Dives

cook-wwdc

Any geek (or developer) with even a passing interest in Apple surely is aware that the Cupertino company hosted their annual developer’s conference this past week. And what a doozy it was, with massive, meaningful updates planned this fall in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, emphasizing continuity and cloud. There’s a lot to digest. But even given a limited, initial analysis, I’m pretty stoked. Here’s an early breakdown of two compelling Apple software initiatives:

Read more

After A Million Years, Sonos Begins App UI Refresh

After what seems like a million years, Sonos has begun to refresh their app interfaces with something a bit more modern (and flat). Along with the updated visuals, organization is vastly different as well. And, having only spent a day with the beta Android app, I’m not quite ready to pass judgement. The app opens … Read more

LogMeIn Ignition Granted Indefinite Amnesty

It’s not clear if we collectively misunderstood LogMeIn’s original outreach or if the company has backpedaled amidst negative feedback from those of us who’d purchased their $30 Ignition app. As the story goes, LogMeIn abruptly dispensed with a Freemium remote access model, However, Ignition app owners were granted a complimentary 6 months of “Pro” access for their … Read more