Passwords!?!?! Enough Already!

It is 2013. We've all been using computers and the internet for years, and even decades, by now. But I still see terrible, guessable, written-on-a-post-it on the monitor passwords. The same password used everywhere. A phone number as a password. The street address as a password. And no matter how gentle or firm, strong or subtle, zealous or casual, I am with my clients, most still have terrible passwords and password policies.

I am sympathetic; I get it that there are new passwords popping up everywhere, and that they're a PITA to manage. I get it. But having lousy passwords and password management is the single biggest tech boo boo that ordinary people make in the businesses and personal lives.

Just like brushing your teeth, changing the oil in your car, and carying your house keys around, it is just another "chore" that we'd be crazy not to do, and that we accept a level on inconveniece, becuase we've decided it outweighs the alternative. So it is with passwords, and password management.

So please, if you are one of the "bad" password people, or even if you think you're really good, read this one awesome ebook... Take Control of Your Passwords . Joe Kissel really makes things clear, readbale, not too long or too wordy, and gets to the heart of the password problem plaguing us today. I agree and advocate 99.9% of everything that's in this book. So do yourself a favor, and give it read. DOn't just take it from me, listen to Joe...

Expanding Daylite with Great Plugins

Since being released last year, Daylite 4 has added a ton of great features and enhancements to the venerable Mac & iOS CRM. But there are still many things it can't do. To fill some of those gaps, the developers at iOSXpert in Germany have been making great plugins and add-ons for Daylite. Here are a few of my favorites.

ProductivityTools

Just released today, ProductivityTools adds the ability to duplicate appointments, create new aapointments from an existing task, and send taks and appointments as an email, with user configurable templates. Take a look at the demo video...

MailChimp

The best email blast / email newsletter tool out there is MailChimp. And while Daylite 4 and MailChimp can work together without it, iOSXpert have made a neat little plugin that makes moving contacts to MailChimp a breeze.

WebConnector

WebConnector is a like a little web browser built into Daylite 4. It lets you do web searches on selected people and companies right from their card. With built in destinations like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, etc, it makes researching and adding data to a contact very fast and easy.

About Tech News and "Macs are vulnerable" Stories

Just yesterday, there was a widely reported news story about how Macs are vulnerable to a "zero-day exploit" of the new version of Java 7. The story is technically true, but all but the most nerdy tech nerds can completely ignore it.

Why? "Aren't you being cavallier with Mac securty by not reacting to this grave and serious isse?!?!" you may ask. No, I'm not, and I take Mac and Apple security very seriously. But this story, and almost every other one before it, is all smoke and no fire. Let me explain.

In this most recent story, some computer techs have set up a test case in which they've found a way that a Mac could be vulnerable if the parameters were right. But those parameters are so obscure, that 99.999% pf the Mac using public is never going to meet them.

By default, Java isn't installed on Macs running OS X 10.7 (Lion) or OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion). (Java is a programing language that can run on Macs, Windows and Linux machines. Read about it here). If a user installs an app on the Mac that needs Java to run, they're prompted to download an installer from Apple, which delivers the latest version of Java 6 -- a version not vulnerable to this exploit. For users of OS X 10.6 and older, the last version of Java that is installed by default is also Java 6.

This exploit would only affect those power users who skipped Apple's process for getting Java on a Mac, and replaced it with their own install of Java 7, AND who run their browsers with Java enabled. If you were one of those people who met those criteria, then you'd be vulnerable to this exploit. But you'd also likely be technical enough to follow/understand this sort of thing in the first place.

While technically correct, the real-world impact is almost non-existant. But any news story that has "Macs now affected by virus!" or similar sure gets the authors page views and ad revenue.

So the moral is; don't let sensational headlines worry you. There have been, and will be occasional flaws, bugs, and vulnerabilities, that can affect Macs, and when there are, Apple has been pretty good about addressing those. If something comes around that really is serious, you will hear about it in a big way, not a little "scare" story tlike this most recent one.

Also, if you happen to have Java 7 installed, you can still do something easy to limit the vulnerability; just disable Java in your browser(s). In Safari, go to Preferences --> Security --> and uncheck Java. In Firefox, go to Tools --> Add-ons --> Plugins --> Disable "Java Applet Plug-in Java 7 Update 6". In Chrome, browse to chrome://settings/content and select 'block-all' under Plug-ins.

MobileMe is RIP in 30 days

If you're a MobileMe subscriber, you've probably received an email from Apple today reminding you that MobileMe ends on June 30. If you're still using MobileMe, you need to heed this warning:

Download your photos and files. MobileMe ends June 30. Remember to download your Gallery photos, iDisk files, and move your iWeb sites before that date.

Apple is replacing MobileMe, a $99 per year service with iCloud, which is free. Since the announcement of iCloud last year, Apple has been reminding and prodding MobileMe users to upgrade to iCloud. But if you've been putting it off becuase you have been procrastinating, or you don't meet the iCloud system requirements, you'll have to take steps before June 30 to save any data you have in the MobileMe system.

For most people, upgrading to iCloud is the best solution. If you have older Macs that can't be upgraded to OS X Lion 10.7.2 or later, or older iPhones that can't upgrade to iOS 5, you've still got a few option to access your @me.com/@mac.com email and calendars, but they're limited.

To learn more, take a look at Apple's excellent "MobileMe transition and iCloud" document, which answers the common questions, and explains the feature differences between iCloud and MobileMe.

Daylite 4... is here!

At long last, Daylite 4 is here. This is a HUGE upgrade to the already excellent leading business productivity app on the Mac & iOS. Daylite 4 features tons of new features, many that had been requested for a long time. Take it from Marketcircle...

(Daylite 4 features) a drastically simplified interface and a much reduced learning curve, while still retaining the core of what Daylite does. We were also able to include many of the most requested features, such as the ability to view family or personal calendars inside Daylite, drag and drop re-ordering of tasks that can also now be assigned to specific stages in pipelines, external meeting invites, and so much more.

But with any upgrade, especially one this involved for an app that is the heart of many businesses, there's a lot to consider before jumping in. If you're still reading, then you're a Daylite user, and you'll want to make SURE you read the following links...

The announcement... http://www.marketcircle.com/blog/announcing-daylite-4/

The "whats new"... http://www.marketcircle.com/daylite/whatsnew/

The "tour" http://www.marketcircle.com/daylite/tour/

But most important, the "Before You Upgrade"... http://www.marketcircle.com/daylite/upgrading/

The super quick takeaway is: Mac OS X Lion only, $179/user to updrade, $279/user new (inludes everything), and recent license purchases (in the last 30 days) can upgrade for free.

I am deeply excited for myself and clients, as the improvements and changes add so much new stuff, and solve so many of the "work arounds" I've had to help my clients implement over the years. Don't get me wrong; Daylite 3 was a powerhouse, but it had its rough edges and legacy features that reflected the time when it was developed many years ago. Some of those didn't age well, and some didn't take into account new ways of working, new Mac and iOS updates, etc. But the arrival Daylite 4 blows the doors off those "legacy" shortcomings with a complete re-write, improving on so many things, I'm giddy.

I'll be posting more on http://ugutech.com/blog with my favorite new features and tips. I'll be talking to you more directly about your specific Daylite needs, how the new features will affect your setup (good and bad), and how to time transitioning to Daylite 4 and getting training and support.

Here's to a new and brighter era with Daylite!