Ipad For Genealogy–Pt 3–Password Overload!

This is the 3rd installment of a series I’m doing on how I use the iStuff (iPhone/iPad) for genealogy and general research. You can read the first posts here: Part 1 - Calendars and Part 2 - Free Cloud Storage.

How many different internet sites or apps do you have password protected? If you are like our family, there are countless numbers from bank accounts, emails, kids internet sites, school internet sites, etc... As family historians, we only add to the number of passwords with the internet and database sites that we may subscribe to. We have to keep track of those passwords and keep them close by when we need them while also keeping them protected. We started using one of those solutions about a year ago, it is called Cozi Password Vault.

There are lots of password vault apps out there and all pretty much do the same thing, they are the keeper of your passwords and other sign-in information that you need on a daily basis but just can't always remember. What separated Cozi Vault for me was the ability for it to sync between devices. I wanted to use it on my iPhone and iPad and also my wife's iPhone, and it works great.

In order for it to sync between devices, it is ultimately setup in the cloud so that may be scary for some. It is not that scary for me because I read reviews of things like this and also look at their security issues, I was impressed with what people had to say so we started using it and have not looked back.

Here is a list of things that we like about it:

1. Syncs between all our iStuff so I add/change a password for our bank account on my phone or iPad, it updates on my wife's phone automatically. This syncing does not have to take place on Wi-Fi, Cozi will use cellular service to keep everything in sync.
2. Not just for passwords, you can customize menus and data so you can store login information or just about anything that you want to remember for a site.
3. The database has places for the url for the site so you can access your password and then open up the site right from within cozy
4. It has a password generator - I have some accounts where I have to change passwords every 30 or 60 days and I cannot use a password that I used before so this generator comes in very handy.
5. With on click, your password is copied to your clipboard so you can paste it right into the site when needed.

This is not a free app, I think it costs $1.99, not much when you think about the hassle it saves trying to remember all those passwords and login information.

I know there are plenty of these apps out there; which one are you using and why? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks for reading and keep diggin' for that family.

Technorati Tags: Ipad,Iphone,passwords,password vault

Ipad For Genealogy–Part 2 FREE Stuff

I started off with Part 1 talking about calendars and you can read that here.

For this post I am going to talk about FREE stuff when it comes to online or cloud storage.
Everyone likes free stuff.

I have been a longtime user of Dropbox and just not for my genealogy stuff; I use it for everything that I want to access across my digital platforms. However, the Dropbox free account only offers 2GB of storage (with referrals you can get more) and I have been pushing that limit. So, I have recently been exploring other options to add to my free cloud storage because I just don’t want to pay for it. So, here is what I am doing and how I now have 32GB of free cloud storage.

1. Dropbox (2GB). This is my goto storage just because I have been using it for so long and am comfortable with it and it plays very nicely with everything. However, like I mentioned, it only comes with 2GB for the free account. I am pushing that limit.
2. Google Drive (15GB). Since I use Google, I have free storage with them called Google Drive. I have not really used this too much in the past and I really don’t know why. However, I‘ve linked my storage to all my devices and will now play with it. My initial thoughts is this is where I will store word processing and excel spreadsheets that I need to update on a fairly routine nature. Research logs, biographical sketches, research notes, etc… Google drive is the the goto place so you don’t have to buy Microsoft Office. I’m beginning to like it a lot.
3. SkyDrive (7GB) by Microsoft. I’ve had this for awhile but did not like it in the past because it seemed glitchy and didn’t seem to play nice with others. The primary purpose of this was to sync Microsoft product specific information and I didn’t use Microsoft stuff for portability, I have Apple stuff for that. However, Microsoft has updated something and it is working a lot better and more like the other cloud storage products. After linking my account and downloading the app it seems to be a great place to store things that you want to have access to but may not update – static pages of information. I am a den leader for one of my boys Cub Scout dens so I am using this for all that information. Seems to be working great so far.
4. SugarSync (5GB)– this is the newest to my cloud storage apps. It seems to be very comparable to Dropbox, just a very different interface but not too difficult to work around. I am using it the same that I use Dropbox just with different stuff; I put all my schoolwork and military history research sources in here. The hardest part of SugarSync was actually getting the free storage, it isn’t obvious on their website. You have to first download the desktop application and then create an account from there. You then get the option to accept their free account – although it keeps defaulting to try and get you to opt for the paid version. But, 5GB of storage is perfect for what I need it for.

So, there you have it – I went from 2GB of free storage with Dropbox to 32GB of cloud storage in just a couple of days. It may seem inconvenient because stuff is located in different folders or apps, but it only took me a day or so to get used to where I put stuff – I don’t even have to think about it now.

Do you use free cloud storage? Did I miss a good one? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Thanks for reading and keep diggin’ for that family.

Chris

P.S. I will be making periodic updates to this post to let everyone know how each is working out.

Technorati Tags: Ipad,Cloud Storage,Genealogy,Family History

iPad/iPhone for Genealogy and Research - Pt. 1

I am assuming that I am not alone when I confess that the search for technology which will make my life easier is an addiction for me. I'm convinced that there is some form of new technology that will improve every part of my life and my workflow. I can spend hours researching different technology which will improve my workflow and make me a better researcher, more organized, a better time-manager, etc... you get the picture.

So, I figured I would try and pass on some of the apps and other technology stuff that I use in this digital research age.

The first thing to talk about is the general stuff everyone gets with the iPad/iPhone - the synchronization of your calendar and emails.

I have an iPad (obviously, or I probably wouldn't be writing about using it for research and genealogy) and I also have an iPhone as does my wife. We use gmail as our main email provider and have a family email address in which we also use the calendar. Before we got our istuff we did not use the shared google calendar very much since we had to be on a computer to look or add anything - it just wasn't very convenient. Once we both got our iPhones the convenience was there so I synced our gmail accounts and we were able to share a calendar real-time. I can update from my iphone while at work and within a minute or so my wife sees the update to our calendar. But, it is more than a real-time sharable calendar.

Probably like most, I have more than one email. I have the family email but I also have a personal email and also one for my genealogy. These are all gmail based and all attached to my istuff so I can review and respond to emails anytime. I also use the calendars associated with these different gmail accounts. I use one for my blogging editorial calendar (I'll talk about this in another post) and I also use another calendar for my day job. Using my istuff to link all these together, all my emails and all my calendars are with me whenever and wherever I go - very convenient and very portable.

If you are using some of this istuff and you do not have your calendars and emails synced up, I would highly recommend it and it is really easy - any google search will bring up instructions on how to do it.

Like I said, I use google for mail and calendars and find it really easy - if you use some other calendar and email provider with your istuff let me know how it works in the comments.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for another post about how I'm using the iPad and iPhone for my research. Keep diggin' for that family.

Chris

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