Category: Apple

syncing BlackBerry and Mac

I’ve been using Missing Sync with my BlackBerry Storm, just to sync my contacts and calendar from my Mac. I’ve had problems with it, on and off, but it’s mostly worked OK. Since I’ve switched to the new MobileMe Calendar though, the calendar sync doesn’t work anymore. Mark/Space has a KB entry acknowledging this, but there’s no indication that they’re planning to fix the problem.

I’m eligible for a “new every two” discount from Verizon soon, and I’m wondering if I should stick with BlackBerry. If Verizon really does get the iPhone, that would really simplify the sync situation for me. On the other hand, if I switch to an Android device, that’ll make it more complicated. I’ve been playing around with options for syncing iCal and Address Book on the Mac with Google contacts and calendars. It turns out to be really easy to sync the address book with Google — the option is right there in the preference screen. There’s no such option in iCal, but it seems like I ought to be able to subscribe to a MobileMe calendar in Google calendar, though I apparently would have to make the calendar public to do that.

I’m wondering if Spanning Sync would be worth looking into. It’s kind of expensive for what it does though. And I occasionally think I should switch over to using the calendar that comes with my Backpack account. I could use that as the source, and subscribe to it in iCal and Google.

Meanwhile, I’ve ordered my usual Moleskine calendar for 2011.

DropBox

I finally decided to switch from Windows Live Sync (aka FolderShare) to DropBox. I’ve got it installed on my desktop, Dell laptop, MacBook, and Acer netbook now, and I’ve moved everything from FolderShare to DropBox.

The main problem with FolderShare is that it doesn’t actually store any of your stuff, it just enables you to sync a folder between shared computers. So, to sync two computers, for instance, you need to have them both turned on and connected to the internet at the same time. For me, this has been leading to occasional problems, where I wind up with two versions of the same file, or I need to turn on my desktop computer to get the latest version of a file down to my laptop, for instance.

DropBox stores your stuff in the cloud, so it shouldn’t be a problem to get a shared file from one computer to another without needing them both on at the same time. We’ll see how it works in practice, but so far, so good.

iPad password management apps

I spent some time over the last couple of days reviewing password managers for the iPad, so I figure I might as well write up my notes here, in case they might be of use to anyone else. (I should mention that I gave up on iKeepass, which I mentioned a couple of posts back.)

I limited myself to applications that had an iPad app (as opposed to just an iPhone app) and a Mac app that could synchronize with its iPad counterpart.

  • DataVault is a $10 universal app. It has a Mac desktop version that also sells for $10. (There are also Windows and BlackBerry versions.)
  • SplashID has a $10 iPad app and a $20 Mac desktop version.
  • MSecure is the cheapest app I looked at. It’s only $3 for a universal iPad/iPhone app. There’s a desktop version available for Windows or Mac for $15.
  • Password Wallet is a $5 universal app, so it’s another cheap one. The Mac desktop version is $20 (but you get a 25% discount when you buy the iPad app, so it’s really $15.)
  • 1Password is a pretty well-known app. It’s $7 for an iPad-only version or $15 for a universal version. The Mac desktop app is fairly expensive, at $40. (I actually own an older version of the desktop app from an old MacHeist bundle, so I could upgrade for $25.)

I would probably have gone with 1Password, except that recent reviews in the app store seem to be pretty mixed, so I just wasn’t sure it would work well. All the others seemed to be pretty decent, and any of them would likely have worked ok.

In the end, I decided to go with DataVault. I liked the look of it, and the reviews were pretty good. I’ve got it all set up now, on my Mac and iPad, and it’s working OK. It’s not great, but it’s good enough to manage a handful of passwords. I’m not going to use it to replace KeePass; rather, I’m just going to keep a subset of my passwords in there, just stuff I think I’ll need on the iPad.

The Mac desktop client has a few shortcomings. The program window, strangely, can be resized horizontally, but not vertically. And it doesn’t save its size and position, so it always launches in a mode where it’s taking up most of the screen. Also, it’s not very keyboard-centric. I couldn’t find a keyboard shortcut to delete an entry, for instance.

The iPad app also has a few annoyances. For instance, all the fields are set up so that the first character will be capitalized by default on entry. That’s fine for a first or last name, but not really useful for a user name or password. There are other minor annoyances related to item entry, such that I don’t think I’ll be doing much entry on the iPad itself. (That’s fine, though; I plan to do most of the entry on the Mac side.)

The synchronization process is pretty simple. You just launch the desktop app and make a selection from the menu to put it in server mode. Then you launch the iPad app and hit the sync button. This should bring up a list of devices on your wifi network, including your Mac, which you can then select. The sync process just takes a few seconds. By default, you’ll have to verify deletions (on the desktop side). (The verification can be turned off.)

I think if I could do this all over again, I’d give SplashID a try. DataVault definitely isn’t quite good enough to replace KeePass and KeePassX for me. But it’s good enough to keep track of a handful of passwords that I may need on my iPad.

iPad note-taking and password management apps

I’ve been messing around with note-taking and password management apps on my iPad a bit today, so I thought I’d write up some notes.

First, for note-taking, I have Evernote and Satchel. I use Backpack on the web to keep track of a bunch of stuff, so Satchel is a good thing. As mentioned in my last post, it works well. I really don’t need Evernote too, but it’s free, so I’ve been playing around with it. I like the fact that it’s got desktop clients for Mac and Windows, in addition to the web client and the iPad/iPhone apps. I don’t think I’d give up on Backpack and move everything over to Evernote though.

I also use DEVONthink on my Mac and OneNote on my PC for note-taking. I should probably try to move away from both of those, and get all my info into Backpack and/or Evernote. Oh, and I use Google Docs too, though usually I’m using that for more structured documents rather than random notes.

For password management, I use KeePass on the PC and KeePassX on the Mac. I keep a single database in sync across all my computers via Windows Live Sync. Alas, there doesn’t seem to be a good KeePass client for the iPad/iPhone. I tried iKeepass today, but I couldn’t get it to work. It could open my KeePass file, but it wouldn’t expand the main tree to show me my passwords. I might be able to get around that, but I’m not sure I want to spend a lot of time on it.

There are a few good password managers for the iPad. I used SplashID on my Palm many years ago, and they have an iPad client now, so that might be a good choice. 1Password is pretty popular on the Mac. I’m not sure about their Windows client though. There are a few other programs, too, but I don’t know much about them.

I’m hesitant to go with anything that isn’t compatible with KeePass database files, but there just doesn’t seem to be anything good that works with KeePass on the iPad. If I decide to go with a different program, I’ll have to decide whether I want to switch over completely to that program (on Windows, Mac, and iPad), or just use it as a supplement to KeePass, and keep copies of my most frequently used accounts in there.

more iPad notes

I’m home sick today, so I might as well write a blog post on some iPad stuff, following up on my last post.

My Marware Evo-Vue case arrived in the mail yesterday. It’s well-made and fits the iPad well.

I bought Satchel, and have used it to update my Backpack account a few times already. It works well. There are a few interface quirks, but nothing big. I wish it had the ability to detach a file from a Backpack page, and send it to GoodReader though. I’m really liking GoodReader. It’s easy to get files into it (from a computer via wifi, or from Google Docs, or GMail, or MobileMe…) and it works well as a PDF reader and file management tool.

The one other app I’m thinking about buying is PrintCentral. I don’t really need to be able to print from the iPad, but it would be nice.

iPad

So I succumbed to peer pressure and got an iPad. I reserved it on Saturday and picked it up on Monday. It’s the 32GB 3G model.

Surprisingly, the unlimited data plan from AT&T was still available (even though it was supposed to disappear last week, I think), so I went ahead and signed up for that. I don’t know if I’ll keep the data plan turned on; I may only need it occasionally.

I haven’t found a killer app for the iPad yet. Nothing I’ve played with so far really makes me think, “yeah, I needed one of these.” I’ve been using an app called FrontPocket on my iPod Touch to access my Backpack account. I checked to see if there was an iPad-specific version of FrontPocket out, and was surprised to see that the app appears to be discontinued entirely. It’s no longer in the app store, and there’s no mention of it on the developer’s web site anymore. There is, however, a new app for accessing Backpack from another developer, and they have an iPad-specific version. It’s called Satchel and it’s from Stand Alone Software. If I remember correctly, these guys have been around since the days of the Newton. (I vaguely recall using one of their apps on my Newton, but I don’t remember what it was.) So, I’m probably going to download that and give it a whirl. I don’t know if that’ll be my “killer app”, but maybe it’ll be useful.

Oh, and I ordered an Eco-View case from Marware. As usual with these things, I spent far too much time looking at cases on the web. If they’d had the standard Apple case in stock when I picked up my iPad, I probably would have settled for that. But they had *no* cases in stock at all, so I went nuts on the web, and decided that this one looked good.

WonderCon 2010

Packed show floor image – WonderCon 2010 draws in S.F. (photos) – CNET News

Well, I’m not in SF at WonderCon this weekend. Maybe next year.

Nor did I buy an iPad today, though I did go to the Apple Store with a friend when he picked up his. I’ve almost justified getting myself an iPad, under the theory that attending WonderCon would have cost much more than an iPad, between the plane fare and the hotel, so I can spend some of the money I would otherwise have spent on WonderCon on an iPad. Yeah, I know the logic doesn’t quite hold up.

Snow Leopard

Windows Live Sync finally works on Snow Leopard. As does the SonicWall NetExtender VPN client, if you follow the instructions at this page. Lotus Notes 8.5.1 works a bit better than 8.5 did under Snow Leopard, but it’s still not perfect. So, I’ve now got everything I need running on the Mac under OS X 10.6, though Notes still needs some work.

Snow Leopard

I have a bunch of stuff I’ve been meaning to write up and post, but I just haven’t had a chance to do it. For now, just a couple of observations on Snow Leopard, since I upgraded my MacBook on Friday. The upgrade was smooth. I’ve got two semi-important programs that don’t work anymore though: Windows Live Sync and SonicWall NetExtender. I’m hopeful that both will be updated, but I’m not holding my breath. Meanwhile, on the list of stuff that *does* work, there are a few oddball programs I use that are working fine: KeePassX, Lotus Notes 8.5, and Missing Sync all work. I *think* Fusion and TechTool Pro work, but I haven’t really tried anything crazy in either of those yet.

stupid boot camp

So I decided to mess around with Boot Camp tonight, and maybe install Win 7 on my Mac.
First problem: I figure out that Boot Camp Assistant isn’t installed on my Mac. So, I have to get the OS X install DVD, and figure out where the installer is, and run that. OK.
Next problem: When I set up my new 500 GB drive a couple of weeks ago, I used 400 GB for my Mac partition, and left 100 GB for a possible Windows partition. Thinking ahead is good, yes? Apparently, no. Boot Camp Assistant doesn’t recognize that. It cheerfully offers to subdivide my 400 GB partition, so I can use part of *that* for Windows, but it doesn’t even see that 100 GB unpartitioned space.
So, now I’ve re-sized my main partition to take up the whole drive. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll run BCA again and see about breaking it back up into two partitions.