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App Review
TechMom Tuesday: What the heck is my password? [Review]
1 month ago
You’re lucky this post exists. Because of what I’m reviewing, I was able to actually log into WordPress to post.
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It was déjà vu all over again when the blinky red indicator lit up my email inbox declaring that my password was about to expire.
(They leave out the part about how no matter what you do, you’re going to manage to lock yourself out of the system anyway. Also, you can’t repeat passwords. And the system knows!)
We’ve all heard the stories. A giant database gets hacked so your account (and thereby your identity) is at risk.
We’ve all heard the warnings. Don’t use 12345 or Password. And even if you have a super stealth security code comprising letters, numbers, symbols, wizarding runes and a strand of your DNA, for all that is holy don’t use it for multiple sites.
I’ll be honest with you. My brain is now full. I no longer remember my own phone number, much less continuous strings of essentially random typos. What’s that? You also want me to remember what account all those nonsensical numeric are associated with?
Not happening. Alas, there’s only so many times you can click the “Forgot my password” link on a site before it completely shuts down on you.
mSecure of Mac
And then I was introduced to mSecure Password Manager.
I was initially skeptical. Write down all my passwords in one place? DANGER WILL ROBINSON!
But then I realized that I have over 101 accounts and web logins that I use regularly enough to need to actually know how to decode the html cipher and retrieve my info. Let’s face it – it’s far easier for a hacker to access thousands of accounts than for me to remember if I’m TechMom, Tech Mom or techmummy with a password of 1f-U#ack_M3,Ple@$e.S#are!nfo
mSecure is available across all my Apple devices. But to calm the paranoid conspiracy theorist within, your account can only be synched across devices when you are simultaneously logged in on a single Wi-Fi network and, more importantly, only when you explicitly tell it to do so.
Organize your passwords into categories in mSecure
Adding a new item in mSecure for iPhone
With a single master password, you can store a plethora of tricky data – I use it mostly to record Web login information. It is also a great digital wallet that allows categorization for grouping personal, work and family account information. For example when one of our four medical record login credentials is inevitably forgotten by a family member (namely, me).
The layout is simple and easy to read. It’s not meant to be fancy, it’s meant to restore sanity when you really need to reschedule a doctor follow up visit but cannot for the life of you remember what your toddler’s login information is for Kaiser.
For each entry, input a description, username, password, URL and applicable notes. You are in complete control of the data though, so if you’re uncomfortable having the actual password stored, simply enter a reminder in the Password field – it’s a lot easier than trusting a site’s ability to remember you’re the school your mother’s maiden name went to with their favorite pet in the first car owned.
However if you’re fresh out of ideas, mSecure also enables you to auto-generate a secure password.
Creating a password in mSecure
It’s not free. You can download it for your iPhone, iPad in the App Store for $9.99. It is $19.99 for the Mac version, also in the Mac App store. But it’s totally paid for itself in time saved and meltdowns avoided. BTW, synchronization happens between the platforms when the devices are on the same WiFi network.
mSecure (Universal App) – $9.99 – Download Now
mSecure for Mac – $19.99 – Download Now
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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TechMom Tuesday – Remind Me to Review Something…
2 months ago
Did you miss me in February? (In my defense you did get two TechMom Tuesday posts in January.)
Nevertheless, it is with a heartfelt apology that I shall now regale you with my thoughts on Apple Reminders. (Because I totally could have used a reminder for the last TechMom post. And since we’re airing confessions – I’m writing this right now because a reminder just buzzed at me from my shiny iPhone 5 toy.)
I’ve been trying to go paperless for a while now. Between the terrific toddling twosome creating confetti out of receipts and other important papers and my giant dogs who seem to believe pulped paper products are a culinary delicacy, the precariously placed post-its weren’t cutting it any longer.
Also, I was forgetting things.
Managing my tasks as work (SHOCKINGLY, I am not a professional full-time blogger), tracking family commitments, remembering doctors appointments, calendaring my blogging exploits, random to-dos, a shared honey-do list, the grocery store checklist indicating whether or not we’re out of Cheerios, and of course noting the movies that my friends seem to be so incredulous that I haven’t yet seen. (Who am I? Where are we?)
I needed something that would ideally encompass all of the above in one fabulous app.
And Apple Reminders is a standard app on all my iDevices (and my MacBook, but I couldn’t figure out a clever iPhrase for that one).
The Good:
- It reminded me of stuff to do.
- Integrates with Outlook tasks for work purposes. (I couldn’t test Apple Mail notes, because, well – that died.
- I can share lists. And everyone with an iPhone already has the app. (Honey…I’ve got a great idea! Also, Clinton can cull my crazy ideas long before they’re threatening to go live on the AlliOSNews site.)
- I am restricted to one folder (“Tasks”) for my work tasks.
- If you aren’t a complete Apple shop, you miss out on desktop access – which could be a pretty big pain for work items.
- There is very little space for in-depth notes about the task.
The Ugly:
- Can you see my shopping list? We’re out of toddler snacks AND wine! (APOCOLYPSE NOW!)
Overall, Reminders is okay. It’s not great; I don’t think it sucks.
It served its purpose – blinking up reminders of the items I entered in. However, Reminders very much works best as a straight series of lists, not a comprehensive life organizer.
Now, because I know “meh” isn’t really a review you can do much with, I’ve gone a step further to look at some of the other productivity apps available.
It’s a free (highly rated) app that syncs across all your devices – including a Web portal and PC desktop plan – and also sharable provided your desired share-ee also has the app.
With a more comprehensive notes section as well as sub-tasks you can enter, WunderList is a much cleaner option for paperless life task organization.
If only one of the apps could now remind me what direction my iPhone toddled off… (FYI – Find iPhone app does not share which toy bin your shiny toy has been stashed in.)
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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Instalicious brings Instagram to your Mac’s Desktop [Review]
3 months ago
I am a big fan of Instagram, the photo sharing meets social networking app and service. I use it constantly and it has become the way I share photos on Twitter and Facebook. Viewing my Instagram feed however from my Mac has been a bit of a pain as I have to navigate to the not-so-intuitive Instagram website. Fortunately that has changed thanks to Instalicious. Instalicious is a Mac app that allows you to see your Instagram feed, comment and like photos of those you follow or find, search Instagram and see what is popular throughout the service’s millions of users. It is a simple,
Instalicious for Mac Instagram Feed Page
lightweight app but effective and one I have been using daily since its released last week.
Instalicious installs on your Mac running OS X 10.7 (Snow Leopard) or later and consumes a small 1.5MB of hard disk space on your Mac. Once installed you provide the app with your Instagram credentials to give it access to your account. Then the simple UI populates with your Instagram feed where you can immediately begin interacting with it. If the UI for Instalicious looks familiar, it should. The app is developed by Said M Marouf, the developer behind the popular Twitter app Osfoora. It is not hard to see the similarities in the UI design of the app but even the subtile, easy-to-use features of the app show in this latest app from Marouf.
The User Interface of Instalicious is intuitive with your Instagram feed dominating the display with a simple, five feature menu on the right side of the UI. As you look at your feed you can scroll up and down to view photos while hovering your mouse pointer over an image will show you the description of the photo from the poster on Instagram. Above each photo you will see a speech bubble icon which is where you can click to add a comment to a photo. There you will also find the heart icon that you can single click to show that Instagram user that you like their photo.
Clinton
Clinton is the editor of AlliOSNews.com. He has been writing opinions, reviews, how to's and anything related to the mobile communications market since 1999. You can follow Clinton on Twitter @AlliOSNews
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Jurassic Park Builder is fun, addictive world building game
8 months ago
Jurassic Park Builder is a role playing, world building game that allows you to create your own Jurassic Park based on the popular movie series. The game, which is a universal build for both the iPhone and iPad, allows you to build your own park to attract visitors, from which you collect funds to further expand the park and its resources. It’s simple in principle but like many similar games, attention to detail is a must in order to be successful. Still, the game is fun and not-so-easy to put down once you start playing it.
The object of Jurassic Park Builder is to create your own Isla Nubiar for visitors to see. However, it isn’t just about plopping dinosaurs down on the screen. You have to discover their DNA in amber, research it and strategically place them in your park. Not only that, you have to raise them from infancy to adulthood by making sure they are fed an appropriate
Jurassic Park Builder
diet. As you place more dinosaurs in your Jurassic Park, you have to make sure you have enough grain and meat to keep them fed which is done through the docks and markets in the game. These, of course, cost you gold and/or money which you collect through the game by completing various missions such as expanding the park, introducing a new species of dinosaur and so forth. You can also purchase gold and money through in-app purchases should you need to do so.
Once you get your park started you then need to make it attractive to get visitors to come to it. This is done through adding facilities such as restaurants, hotels, security and beautification of the park. You also must lay down jeep tracks for visitors to go through your Jurassic Park and see the various dinosaurs that you have created in it. The more you can attract the more you will be able to collect from them – thus expanding your park even further.
Clinton
Clinton is the editor of AlliOSNews.com. He has been writing opinions, reviews, how to's and anything related to the mobile communications market since 1999. You can follow Clinton on Twitter @AlliOSNews
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Video review of the new GateKeeper feature in Mountain Lion
10 months ago
by Clinton
in App Review
One of the many new features of OS X Mountain Lion is GateKeeper. GateKeeper is a security feature that allows users or administrators to control where applications are installed from on Macs. The idea being that if the app is installed from a non-secure site (the App Store) or a non-certified developer, it could be malware. GateKeeper, as the name suggests, prevents things from non-certified developers from being installed if users so chose.
In this video overview I highlight the functionality of GateKeeper and how it can be configured.
Clinton
Clinton is the editor of AlliOSNews.com. He has been writing opinions, reviews, how to's and anything related to the mobile communications market since 1999. You can follow Clinton on Twitter @AlliOSNews
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Video Review of Weather HD for Mac
11 months ago
by Clinton
in App Review
No matter where you live in the world there is always the need to find out what the weather is going to be for that day or night. This is particularly true for those of us who travel a lot or if you are in cubicalville and rarely get to see the outside world. Knowing the weather, especially if there is severe weather in the forecast, is important.
One of my personal favorite weather apps for Mac is Weather HD from Vimov. The app provides you weather information for your current city (leveraging Location Services) or you can enter in cities to get their local weather. Weather HD can be configured to give you alerts when severe weather is happening and can alert you when temperatures have gone above or below a threshold you set.
In the video review of Weather HD, I highlight some of the fantastic animation the application has as well as how to configure and use the application.
Weather HD for Mac is $3.99 and available in the Mac App Store
Weather HD is also available as a universal app for iPhone and iPad for .99 Cents in the iTunes App Store
Clinton
Clinton is the editor of AlliOSNews.com. He has been writing opinions, reviews, how to's and anything related to the mobile communications market since 1999. You can follow Clinton on Twitter @AlliOSNews
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App Review: Wheels on the Bus HD
11 months ago
My very first computer was an Apple IIgs. I called it the Apple Igloo. I was 7. And getting a family computer was a BIG. DEAL.
Today’s small people are exposed to technology from birth. (My kids had sensors and monitors attached to their tiny persons for three months, so I am totally not exaggerating.) My friend’s 3-year-old daughter recently melted down over a children’s picture book because the illustration wasn’t enlarging as she swiped the page with her thumb and middle finger. (I am not making this up.)
Our family is no exception. Our Silicon Valley household has suited up the original iPad in an Otterbox Defender case and set it forth upon twin 2-year-old toddlers. What apps will keep their attention? Grabbing their attention is key, because otherwise the device is going to get flung across the room. And that would be a bummer.
So while we’ve looked at colors, numbers and storybook apps, the one that seems to be the winner (as judged by little boys named Search and Destroy) is Wheels on the Bus HD, an interactive musical playbook by Duck Duck Moose.
Warning: Your little loves will love the constant repetition of each verse of the well-known children’s song on every play-along page. You will think it’s cute the first time you play along. Then you will hate it. (This will make kids love it more.)
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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Review of FIFA 12 for iPhone & iPad
1 year ago
by Clinton
in App Review
Whether you call it football, soccer, the “beautiful game” or something else, the most world wide watched sport in the world is Soccer (or football). An estimated 19.4 million people in the United States watched the World Cup final last year even when the US team had been eliminated in the round of 16. Compare that to the 19.1 million who watched the Super Bowl and the 18.4 million average for the World Series and you get the pictures – and this doesn’t even count more soccer crazy countries such has England, Italy, Mexico and Brazil to name just a few.
Capturing the game play of soccer in a video game is difficult but EA Sports has managed to do this with FIFA 12 for iPhone and iPad. The FIFA franchise for Electronic Arts has done well for them on a variety of platforms and they have had an iOS version for a couple of years now. Last years FIFA 11 was good but FIFA 12 is all-that-much-better. With smooth game controls, great graphics and the ability to play in multiple game modes – Quick Play, Daily Challenge and Manager Mode – this is a game every soccer fan should have and even the casual fan will enjoy.
All those fantastic graphic come at a price in the size of the download – a whopping 1.06GB. To get FIFA 12 you really need to download via iTunes if you can or have your iPhone or iPad connected via WiFi. But if you are patient I think you’ll find it well worth the time and space on your iPhone or iPad.
Clinton
Clinton is the editor of AlliOSNews.com. He has been writing opinions, reviews, how to's and anything related to the mobile communications market since 1999. You can follow Clinton on Twitter @AlliOSNews
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New Year Resolution to Lose Weight? Check Out MyFitnessPal HD for iPad
1 year ago
by Clinton
in App Review
2012. A new year and a fresh start. Many of us will resolve to do many things in the new year with the vast majority of us wanting to lose weight and have a better exercise regiment. Fortunately there are a lot of apps in the App Store to help you keep track of your calories and food intake as well as your exercise. One of my favorites is MyFitnessPal, a comprehensive app that ties into the MyFitnessPal.com website. MyFitnessPal is a free service that allows you to track your diet and exercise, set goals and share your results with friends and others on Facebook and Twitter. What is great about MyFitnessPal is that it is user driven. If you search for a food item and can’t find it, create it and it is shared with everyone who uses MyFitnessPal.
MyFitnessPal has had an iPhone app for some time now and last week they released MyFitnessPal HD for iPad. This isn’t a refresh of the iPhone version. It is written for the iPad exclusively (it is a separate app) and it utilizes the screen real estate of the iPad phenomenally well. And since everything you enter into MyFitnessPal HD syncs with the MyFitnessPla.com site, you can enter information on your iPad and you will see it on the website and on your iPhone as they all stay in sync. It is a great service that allows you to access your information from virtually anywhere and from any iOS device.
MyFitnessPal HD for iPad
MyFitnessPal HD requires that you have a MyFitnessPal.com account which is free. The app itself is also free. If you want to have the app on both your iPhone and iPad, you will need to download the proper version for the device (I’ve linked them below).
Give MyFitnessPal a try and see if it can help you keep the weight off in 2012.
MyFitnessPal for iPhone app in the App Store
MyFitnessPal HD for iPad app in the App Store
Clinton
Clinton is the editor of AlliOSNews.com. He has been writing opinions, reviews, how to's and anything related to the mobile communications market since 1999. You can follow Clinton on Twitter @AlliOSNews
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Review of Procreate – stunningly fast drawing app for iPad
2 years ago
As the iPad and now iPad 2 have taken a dominant position in the tablet market, along with it came a wide range of drawing and art creation apps. These apps, usually found in the Lifestyle or Entertainment sections of the App Store, range from the ultra sophisticated and complex to the simple but not so powerful. It seems that a happy compromise was difficult to find.
Last week I announced the release of Procreate from Savage Interactive here on AlliOSNews and they were kind enough to send me a review copy to try out. Keep in mind that have very little drawing skill and even less when it comes to digital drawing. I have to say though that Procreate has been a joy to use and is very impressive. With a wide range of brushes – both in size and shape – and the ability to work in layers, this app gives those with talent than I possess to create some impressive works of digital art. But that’s the great thing: You don’t have to have a load of drawing talent to enjoy Procreate. You can create drawings from a blank canvas or import your own photos and enhance them. It is a well designed and fun app to use and at only $4.99, one of the better values for this type of application.
I’ll start by saying that I found using Procreate to be much easier with a capacitive stylus with my iPad than my finger. This is simply me and not a requirement. I just find that I can be in more control with a stylus than I can my finger (no jokes please). There are a wide range of stylus out there if you decide to go that route for your works of art using Procreate.
Clinton
Clinton is the editor of AlliOSNews.com. He has been writing opinions, reviews, how to's and anything related to the mobile communications market since 1999. You can follow Clinton on Twitter @AlliOSNews
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