Switchers' Blog

How to Sync iTunes Playlists with Treo (on Mac)

I am subscribed to a few podcasts and I use Treo and Pocket Tunes to listen to downloaded MP3s while I am on the go.

iTunes downloads podcasts automatically, but then I had to manually copy the new files onto the SD memory card—tedious process. Now, Apple’s iPod is integrated nicely with iTunes and you can easily synchronize selected playlists. Is there anything similar for Treo users?

Yes, there is! Doug Adams created an apple script called “Sync Playlist Files to Folder”.

1Passwd Goes Beyond Firefox Password Manager

Several users have asked about the built-in password manager in Firefox and how 1Passwd compares to it. While Firefox does come with a built in Password Manager that is quite nice, it has several limitations that 1Passwd aims to fix. You can read the full 1Passwd vs. Firefox password manager story, but here are the highlights:

1. 1Passwd keeps information synchronized between Safari and Firefox to allow easy switching.
2. 1Passwd integrates directly with the OS X keychain to allow easy backups and synchronization between machines.
3. 1Passwd is secure by default — a password is mandatory and there is a built in inactivity timeout.
4. 1Passwd can handle complete forms, not just user ids and passwords.
5. 1Passwd has identities to allow automatic filling of form fields.

I hope this helps to clarify how 1Passwd goes a step beyond the Firefox Password Manager. As always, comments are welcome!

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—Dave Teare
Co-creator of 1Passwd.

Lesson Learned

We learned a hard lesson today, but a good one. Our new password manager for OS X had some some harsh feedback today. The user said that the SIMBL.pkg “phoned home” during installation, and therefore our “Malware Free” advertisement on our website was a lie.

Password Manager for Safari & Firefox with Keychain Integration

Coming from a Windows background, we missed the convenience of a browser integrated password manager and form filler. The built in Password Manager of Firefox is nice, but it is not compatible with Safari and it only manages passwords, not complete forms. We have been looking for a tool that offers the convenience of RoboForm and leverages the unique capabilities of OS X.

ifo AppleStore

Gary Allen provides live report from new Apple Store in NYC: http://ifostore.cachefly.net/fifth_avenue/index.html

Do not miss his photos and videos.

UnRar for Mac

“UnRarX” is a nice little utility that extracts RAR archives.

UPDATE: I had a few problems when UnRarX just hang trying to unrar certain archives. SimplyRAR does much better job.