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.

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!

One of the ways I use the MagicJack.com device is by sending it overseas to my team in the Philippines. I have virtual assistants in the Philippines who answer phones for clients in the US. In this way, they can initiate or answer calls from the comfort of their own homes. No need to drive or take the bus to the office. Clients who call in don’t even know that they are speaking to someone a world away. And, when the virtual assistants call the US, they are virtually calling for free.

I have MagicJack.com devices that also are essentially “shell” phone numbers. Think of it. For $19 per YEAR, I can have a phone number in practically every city that matters in the United States. Each number can be forwarded to one main number that can be answered by a receptionist. The receptionist, of course, can be anywhere in the world, like the Philippines. This makes your company “bigger” than it really is at a fraction of the cost of a brick and mortar company.

MagicJack.com devices can also be used in a call center type scenario. Imagine buying two, three, five Magic Jack devices. Each of them would be assigned their own unique phone number. Now imagine incorporating a virtual PBX software solution that can aggregate these numbers into one software PBX. In this way, you can make your small company look like a large corporation. The one receptionist can then forward calls to a person mobile number as if transferring them to their “extension.”

Now, I also have my own personal Magic Jack. I give out the phone number of my personal Magic Jack and tell people that this is my mobile number. Why would I do that? This way I don’t have to “give out” my real mobile number, except to my close associates. In this way, when I turn off call forwarding to my mobile, all calls go into voice mail or even call forwarded, again, to my virtual receptionist.

Here’s another example of using a Magic Jack for personal use. I have two daughters, both of which have their own mobile phones and computers. Now, I know not all kids have their own computers and mobile phones, but hey! We all know that the cell phone carriers are pigs. They milk you for every minute that they can. Well, I can give each kid a Magic Jack and a cheap landline phone and voila, I’ve saved myself significant money on cellular calls. Now each kid can call out from their broadband connection and also feel special because they have their own “landline” personal phone.

As you can see the Magic Jack really is a device for all times. It can be used in variety of situations that are bounded only by your imagination.

Let me recap how Magicjack.com works. Once you get your device(s) in the mail, you simply plug it into an available USB port, the software loads from the Magicjack device and installs on your computer. You’re asked a few questions, including what area code you’d like to use and voila, within minutes you’ve got a fully functioning VOIP telephone service, with voice mail, three way calling, caller ID, and more. The cool thing about Magic Jack is that you can be anywhere in the world and call back to the US … essentially FOR FREE. Well, for about $19 per YEAR.

Now, think about the possibilities with MagicJack.com as a virtual call center solution. For me, I have employees in the Philippines. These employees are outfitted with Magicjack devices. With these Magicjack.com devices my employees are able to both initiate and receive calls from the US. Again, the calls are so cheap (at $19 / year); the cost per call is literally micro cents on the dollar. Furthermore, my employees work from home, so overhead costs are extremely low.

Consider this concept. A company can aggregate their employees in one country, one city or even perhaps across multiple countries. Why would you consider multiple countries? … In order to leverage multiple time zones. Let’s say that you want to provide 24×7 support to clients. You can have people strategically located in different countries working different hours and even different languages, depending on the time zones that you need to support.

One consideration, then, is how to manage this team and the Magicjack.com devices. I think one cool idea is through software that can aggregate all of the Magic Jack numbers. Think of the possibilities. All of the numbers managed by one central software application. This will allow a company to answer all calls from a central location as if you were a huge corporation. The possibilities seem endless.

A more mundane question is how to manage your team’s productivity. The answer to this question is through processes and “timesheets”, as well as an instant message tool you can track productivity through an online project management tool and check to see if your employees are online via instant message.

There are plenty of other ways to increase your productivity and “presence” with Magicjack.com devices. In fact, you can also make your company look so much larger than a one person company by using this cool little product. The cost is nominal but the benefits are tremendous.