password

1Password 2.5.9 adds Password Strength Meter and more

1password 20080124 212424 1Password 2.5.9 adds Password Strength Meter and moreIf you bought the MacHeist bundle this year, you got 1Password and you should be using it. If you didn’t buy the MacHeist bundle, it’s too late but not like I didn’t try to tell you. At USD$29.95, 1Password is still a steal for what it does.

How many password protected web services do you use? Dozens?

How many of them have pathetically simple passwords based on dictionary words or pet names?

How many of the use the same pathetically simple password? Too many, I’d bet.

1Password is perfectly designed for the majority of people who can’t come up with, let alone remember, difficult and strong passwords. It works with the system’s keychain and allows you to use “one password” to unlock a vault of impossibly difficult passwords. It integrates with most browsers so that when you sign on to a new web service, you can generate a new nasty password and 1Password does the remembering for you.

The new update evaluates all the password currently in use and rates their strength so that you can go to that web service and change your wimpy password to one that is much more secure. It even syncs with your iPhone, Palm or Treo.

1Password is one of those applications every Mac user should have. It makes the list.

Note:

Twitterpoll– Choices for ”must-have” tiny Mac apps? See what made the list!

I posed the question last night on Twitter: Mac Users what are your “must-have” non-Twitter-related tiny Mac apps? Several people dropped their tinsel and wrapping paper to weigh in their votes.

This is by no means a “Top 10″ kind of list–for one thing, there are over 40 items on it. The nature of asking questions on Twitter means that the only people who will receive the question are people who follow me or follow the public stream. I don’t necessarily agree with all of the choices for the must-have apps, but they are listed here without identification one way or the other. Votes were sent in by prefacing Twitter posts with “@rickmacmerc” or “d rickmacmerc”; this allows me to receive the posts almost as if they were emails addressed to me. Missing from the list are the favorite applications of those who didn’t get the question. This means, if you don’t agree with the list or think some application has been omitted unfairly, it kind of your own fault. The people have spoken.

All that having been said, here’s the list…

1Password – Password keeper, generator and form filler. USD$29.95

Adium – IM client for AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, and more. Freeware.

AppZapper – The uninstaller Apple forgot. USD$12.95

Butler – “The Original Many-Tricks Pony.” Donationware.

Camino – Alternative web browser. Freeware.

Coda – Web development app. USD$69

Colloquy – IRC, SILC & ICB client. USD$15 Donationware.

Default Folder X – Open and Save dialog enhancer. USD$34.95

EagleFiler – Archive and search mail, Web pages, PDFs, chats, and more. USD$40

ecto – Blogging client. USD$17.95

Firefox – Alternative web browser. Freeware.

FruitMenu – Apple menu and contextual menu customizer. USD$10

Handbrake – DVD to MPEG-4 converter. Freeware.

Hazel – Housekeeper for the Finder. USD$21.95

iPulse – All encompassing system gauge in a single “window.” USD$12.95

Journler – Idea keeper and organizer with iLife integration and blogging support. USD$10 Donationware.

Linkinus – IRC client. USD$20

LiteSwitch X – Keyboard application launcher. USD$14.95

MailPlane – GMail desktop client. USD$24.95 (USD$19.95 until Dec. 31, 2007)

MarsEdit – Blog publishing desktop client. USD$29.95

MenuMeters – CPU, memory, disk, and network monitoring tools in your Menu bar. Donationware.

Money – Personal accounting app. USD$39

NetNewsWire – RSS reader and browser. USD$29.95

Paparazzi! – Web page screenshot utility. Donationware.

Quicksilver – A unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data. Freeware.

Skitch – Screen shooting, annotation and sharing app. Currently in an invitation-only private beta.

Snapz Pro X – Full motion screen capture application. USD$29 for image capture only. USD$69 for video screen capture.

SOHO Notes – Digital note-taking application (successor to StickyBrain). USD$39.99

Soulver – Notepad for the mathematically inclined. USD$17.95

SpamSieve – Bayesian spam filtering add-on for almost every Mac email client there is. USD$30.

SuperDuper! – Bootable backup and recovery utility. USD$27.95 (Free with fewer features)

svnX – GUI for most features of the Subversion client binary. Freeware.

Synergy – Menu bar controls for iTunes. See site for licensing costs.

TaskPaper – To-do list app. USD$18.95

TextExpander – Keystroke automator. USD$29.95

Transmit – FTP client. USD$29.95

TypeIt4Me – Keystroke automator. USD$27

Vienna – RSS reader. Freeware.

Vim – GUI editor. Freeware.

VisualHub – Video conversion tool for apple tv, iPhone, DVD, iPod, PSP, Tivo, AVI, WMV, FLV, etc. USD$23.32

VoodooPad – Wiki-based note pad. USD$29.95 (Lite and Pro versions also available)

WebnoteHappy – Bookmark manager with note taking and del.icio.us support. USD$29.95 (Freeware version also available)

Xee – Image viewer. Freeware.

xScope – On-screen tools for graphic designers. USD$14.95

Yojimbo – Information organizer. USD$39

Well, there you have it. Be sure to follow me on Twitter and keep an eye out for the next Twitterpoll. Thanks to all of the participants in this poll for their great suggestions. I’m sure people are going to discover some awesome applications they hadn’t played with before.

Note:

Adium X 1.1.4 plays better with Leopard

adium 20071105 205612 Adium X 1.1.4 plays better with LeopardAmong a buttload of revisions to Adium X, the popular multi-protocol chat client, version 1.1.4 adds a number of tweaks that improves the overall user experience while using it under Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. For a full list of revisions, click the “read more” link.

Version 1.1.4 (11/5/2007)

  • Compatibility updates for Mac OS X 10.5:
    • Removed the ability for the contact list to ignore exposé, fixing a number of issues with Spaces (#7862)
    • Fixed contact dragging (#8202)
    • Fixed the image picker for buddy icons (#8180, #8184)
    • Fixed translation issues in the menubar (#8211)
    • Fixed the typing notification icon in the message window
    • Fixed Contact List autohiding’s interaction with Spaces. When hiding on screen edges, it will respond on all Spaces.
    • (Bonjour) Fixed an issue causing a warning message in the system logs
  • Improved the logic used for picking the folder to download file transfers to (#8145)
  • Changed the invalid password dialog to not clear the existing password from the keychain (#4627)
  • OTR encryption no longer causes chats to spontaneously reopen (#6664)
  • Possibly fixed a crash when receiving file transfers
  • Fixed update checking for people with profile submission turned off
  • Fixed an issue in which toolbar icons could remain on screen after the window closed (#8042)
  • Fixed a crash when quitting Adium while the preferences window is open
  • Fixed clearing the file transfer window
  • Fixed searching logs while indexing is in progress (#8223)
  • Fixed a bug that resulted in some logs not being indexed
  • (MySpace) Clarified that MySpace uses the email address for login, not the username (#8085, #8147)
  • (MSN) Fixed Hotmail mail checking (#7610)
  • (Gadu-Gadu) Fixed status messages while using the iTunes status
  • Fixed overlapping buttons in the German localization (#6143)
  • Localization updates
  • Updated to Growl 1.1.2

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