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Roboform – Instant Recall for Website Logins and Passwords

RoboForm: Learn more...

Roboform is one of those must have products, especially if you suffer from CRS (can’t remember stuff) syndrome. I used to sift through all kinds of stuff: loose papers, notepads, PDA, etc. trying to find the right login and password for that crazy website that I use for banking, ebay, craigslist, etc. I had all kinds of ways to keep track of my login passowrds: excel spreadsheet, SplashID, notepad, and many more.

Worse, my partner got me into blogging, website management, article writing. Every single one of these activities required me to create a new login and password. And, how many different email accounts do I have? So many that I can’t even remember what servers they are on.

Needless to say, I could not keep up with each and every one of these sites’ logins and passwords. Finally, my same partner suggested I get Roboform. And, just like that, my amnesia turned into instant recall … really fast.

Just to give you an idea of scale (I think my list is small, compared to others), I have over 260 websites for which Roboform manages my account logins and passwords. The beauty of this product is in its simplicity and ease of ease of use. Essentially you go to the website that requires a login and password, enter in the requested information and the software asks you whether you want to have it save the information for you. If you answer yes, you are then asked to enter a name for the login and that’s it!

When you return to the site, Roboform basically fills in your login information. You press enter and you’re in! Alternatively you can click on the website from within the software’s tool bar and have it navigate to the site and log you in. No muss, no fuss.

Let’s say you want to have the software save multiple login information for the same site but for different users. This is useful, for example, if you share a computer with your spouse and also save at the same bank, but have different accounts. Or, another example is if you manage accounts for multiple people in Twitter, Facebook and other sites.

Editing logins and passwords is just as simple and elegant. You simply click on the toolbar within your browser, select edit and you are now editing each login and password for each website. Again, no muss, no fuss.

Another useful utility within the application is the ability to safely store notes. How many times have you wanted to create a note and save it some place safe? Within the software you can open a notepad of sorts, put in your notes and “lock it” when you logoff.

Too many times I’ve lost logins and passwords to the varios websites to which I login. I can finally say that I don’t need to worry about that anymore. I simply store everything within Roboform and let it manage all of my login details from one simple application.

Apple iPhone WiFi Problems And The Palm Pre

iphone vs palm pre

For the first time since I bought my Apple iPhone 2G last year, I’m seriously considering switching from this half-beloved / half-hated device for the Palm Pre. I was recently on vacation in Cabo San Lucas carrying my iPhone and my laptop. WiFi connection was only available in the lobby of the resort we were staying at. I figured, sure no problem … hey I’m on vacation anyway … work only in the lobby.

The first morning, before the fam woke up, I tiptoed downstairs to the lobby with my Apple iPhone. I looked smugly over at the other travelers with their big bulky laptops furiously tapping away at email. While sitting on one of their luxurious leather couches I tried to connect to the hotel WiFi. To my dismay, I could not get a connection to any WiFi hub. I kept trying for at least 20 minutes, moving from seat to seat, and one end of the lobby to the other. I even sat next to one of those big chunky laptop owners … NO WiFi.

Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper. At that point I had NO idea what the problem was. Later on in the day I brought my laptop down and had NO problem whatsoever getting a WiFi signal – a good signal too. A couple of evenings later, I happened upon another proud owner of an Apple iPhone who had the exact same WiFi problem.

We eventually moved to another hotel later in our stay. At this point, I had no idea what was going on thinking it was only a signal problem. But, I had the same WiFi issue at this hotel as well. My laptop worked, but my Apple iPhone had a WiFi problem.

It was only a couple of weeks later, while trolling forums that I realized the issue. There were numerous posts from “proud” Apple iPhone owners who complained about their WiFi problem after upgrading to OS 3.0. How could Apple allow this to happen? To this day, it’s still unresolved, even on the three other iPod Touches that I upgraded to OS 3.0.

On another note, my partner, Alex, bought a Palm Pre about two months ago. Now, I’d been a Palm user for several years before switching to the sexy iPhone last year. There were 2 major reasons that I made the switch: big gorgeous screen (I’m an avid amateur photographer) and applications galore. It was just one cool device.

Alex boasted to me that the Palm Pre, with its oh so slightly smaller screen, was an Apple iPhone killer device. One of the main reasons is because of its physical keyboard and multi-tasking capability. I, of course, having already made the leap to the iPhone platform, was not easily impressed.

UNTIL I started experiencing first had this WiFi problem and investigating pricing structures. The WiFi problem, of course, did not happen with Alex. He was vacationing with his Palm Pre in Thailand and Laos, happily emailing me to his heart’s content from free WiFi providers.

So, I started comparison shopping based on pricing structures. AT&T requires a minimum $30 data plan, $5 minimum for 200 text messages a month and some minimum number of minute plan. Sprint, on the other hand (I also have a Sprint plan for the rest of the family), has a data plan for as low as $10 / month – all you can eat, and a $20 / month, unlimited texting for the whole family. Sexiness aside, doing the math on pricing alone, I’d save a bundle by switching to the Palm Pre and perhaps gain reliability, multitasking, and a physical keyboard all in a slimmer package.

How’s that for Steve Jobs’ declaration that the Apple iPhone is the new PC. Both Apple and AT&T need to get off their laurels and start thinking about the customer, before the customer starts thinking about thinking about the competition!


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