Memory? Thoughts?

Have you ever wished you wrote something down or could remember something? I do all the time.

I found www.evernote.com probably a year ago. Their goal is to be “an extension to your brain.”

It’s a database program for your thoughts and idea’s. They have a program for Windows and Mac. All your data is encrypted and synced with their servers. I have a Windows and Mac computer and all my notes stay synced together. There is a website where you can post and read your notes. And the best part is they have iPhone and Android apps.

There are many ways to get a note into Evernote. When you create an account you are given an email address. You can send an email to your Evernote email and it will be turned into a note. It works so well.

I use it to keep track of tech idea’s, wines, restaurants, cigars, car repairs, and many other things.

The best full features is character recognition. If you have something written on paper, you can scan as a picture (JPG), then attach it to a note. The note is analyzed and they try to recognize what is written in the picture. I use it a lot for business cards. I’ll fill my flat bed scanner with about 8 cards and put it Evernote. It will take that picture of 8 cards and figure out what’s written on them. Then down the road if I can remember any little detail on the business card, I’ll be able to search for it fast and easy.

If you use the cell phone app (iPhone or Android) it will record the date, time and GPS location. You can search your notes by GPS. One example is going to a restaurant and searching for all notes within 1/2 mile. Then you will see any note you ever took at this restaurant. Maybe they had an awesome wine you noted or a good dish you loved. Now you won’t have to try and remember those details.

It’s free you can play with it and if you don’t use it remove it.

Please share your thought with me.

Lastpass

I’ve been using a great password tool for a little over 1 month now.  It’s www.lastpass.com.  I used an encrypted spreadsheet with all my passwords in the past.  That is slow, cumbersome and requires a lot of steps.  I ended up re-using passwords which isn’t secure.   From the experts I listen to Lastpass is completly secure.  All your passwords, notes, and form details are encrypted on your computer.  Your master password is the only thing that can decrypt the data.

The encrypted blob of data get’s synced with their servers.  That way you are always in sync.  They do have an iPad web browser that syncs with their service.  That way your iPad will have all your passwords on it.  If you use more than one computer all your passwords will be in sync.

They have plug ins for every browser and every operating system.  I use it on my Mac and a PC, then on Firefox and Chrome web browsers on each computer.  They are always in sync.  It’s so nice and so so much faster.  They even have a stand alone program that will keep all your Lastpass info.

If you want to learn more about their security check out this Podcast.  http://twit.tv/sn256.  The main guy is Steve Gibson.  He’s a serious figure in the security community.

You can try it and if you don’t like it just uninstall it.

Please share your thoughts with me.