June 2009 – 40Tech

June 30, 2009

Password Manager Shootout – eWallet vs. KeePass vs. LastPass

pwkey

I initially intended for this post to discuss my disappointment with password managers. After a few years of hearing tech sites and other tech geeks praise password managers, I finally jumped on the bandwagon last week. A password manager is software that helps you organize and remember passwords, PIN codes, and sometimes even bank account and credit card information. I wanted a password manager that would work across multiple platforms – PC, iPhone, and U3 (SanDisk’s thumbdrive technology). For that reason, I started with eWallet. From there, I also looked at KeePass, which is the manager I have seen discussed the most in tech circles. In both cases, I was disappointed. I was wondering whether my expectations had been too high. It was then that I discovered LastPass.

For another password manager comparison, check out our showdown between LastPass and 1Password.

Photo by Mirko Macari
Read more

June 26, 2009

10 Free Programs I Can’t Live Without, Part 2

In the previous post, I discussed the first five of ten free applications that I find to be essential. As mentioned in the first list, Evernote is conspicuously absent from the list. That’s only because I have upgraded from the free version of Evernote to the the paid version. Otherwise, Evernote would be at the top of my list. Here are the next five free applications on the list. If there are any applications you find to be essential, let me know in the comments.
Photo by fontplaydotcom
Read more

June 25, 2009

10 Free Programs I Can’t Live Without, Part 1

It really is amazing how much free tech is out there. Scanning over my desktop, I realized just how many of the programs that I use on a regular basis don’t cost me a dime. Some of them, I couldn’t live without. That means it is time for a list of the free applications that I find to be essential. To qualify for my top ten list, a program has to be installed on my machine, regardless of whether its functionality uses the internet or not. I’m leaving Evernote off of the list, because I’ve upgraded to the paid version. At some point in the future, I’ll take a look at cloud applications. Without further adieu, I present the first five. In a later post, I posted the next five. Photo by Robert S. Donovan. Read more

June 23, 2009

Combine Readability and Evernote Clipping With One Bookmarklet

I’ve talked about Evernote a few times here already. At the risk of suffocating you with another post about it, I want to call some attention to a time-saving tip from Elldove over in the Evernote official forums. Elldove posted some javascript for a bookmarklet that combines the Readability bookmarklet and the Evernote web clipper bookmarklet into one bookmarklet.

Readability is a tool, in the form of a bookmarklet, that removes the clutter around what you’re reading and presents a page in a format that is easy to read. Here is a before and after look at a page formatted with the Readability bookmarklet (images have been resized to fit the page):

June 21, 2009

Find Out When Sites Talk About You Online

Your reputation is important, especially if you are established and have a job that depends on public perception. At the same time, the internet can be a dangerous place for your reputation, as one false story or news item can spread like wildfire. Two tools that can help you keep tabs on what people are saying about you on the web are Google Alerts and Backtype. With Google Alerts and your Google account, you can enter search terms, and have emails automatically sent to you when there are new Google results for those terms. I’ve set up alerts for various permutations of my name (my whole name in quotes, first name and last name in quotes, etc.), as well as for each one of my websites (to track when my sites are mentioned elsewhere). I imagine this would be less handy if you have a common name. You can schedule alerts to be sent once a day, once a week, or as they happen. You can also configure an alert to be accessible via an RSS feed.

Month: June 2009 (page 1 of 3)

Password Manager Shootout – eWallet vs. KeePass vs. LastPass

10 Free Programs I Can’t Live Without, Part 2

10 Free Programs I Can’t Live Without, Part 1

Combine Readability and Evernote Clipping With One Bookmarklet

Find Out When Sites Talk About You Online

Search the site

Subscribe to Blog via Email

RSS Feeds