Ben Gross

Tag: OSX

  • Password Managers Relieve Password Headaches

    Passwords Are a Hassle I’ll be the first to admit I can’t remember all my passwords. Most of us can’t, so we pick a few passwords that are easy to remember and then use them with multiple sites. This results in two immediate problems. A password manager can help with both of these problems. First,…

  • ForeverSave Prevents Lost Work on the Mac

    It’s happened to all of us. You are busy writing, entering data, or working on a slide deck and all of a sudden something freezes and then the application crashes. If either we recently saved the document all is well, otherwise the inevitable explicative follows. It is 2011 and there is no excuse for not…

  • Time Machine vs. CrashPlan for Backups

    Trouble in Time Machine Land In my recent article, A Simple and Effective Backup Strategy for Mac OS X, where I recommended a three part backup system: 1) a full disk clone, 2) local incremental backups with Apple’s Time Machine, and 3) networked incremental backups with CrashPlan. I found Time Machine problematic for my own…

  • A Simple and Effective Backup Strategy for Mac OS X

    Disk is inexpensive compared to the value of your time and data. My personal backup configuration consists of three types of backups. The following combination has proven itself over the last several years and I recommend it. It includes 1) A full disk clone, 2) an incremental backup, and 3) an online backup service. This…

  • iPhone Screenshot and Photo Smart Album Hack

    I take a lot of screenshots when I research products, both on the desktop and on the iPhone, so having some way to automate organizing my collection is important. The problem is that screenshots images taken with the iPhone have no EXIF metadata. This means there is no straightforward way to produce a list of…

  • Notational Velocity – Elegant Note Taking for the Mac

    Notational Velocity is a free and open source note taking application for Mac OS X that is extremely simple, fast, and stable. I find the minimalist interface very functional and pleasant to use. It is one of my favorite applications. I mentioned Notational Velocity’s ability to sync with the Simplenote iPhone note taking application in…

  • We Need Simple Backup Solutions for Complicated Data

    It’s that time of year when our thoughts of New Year’s resolutions are just beginning to fade. So let me remind you of one resolution you should probably keep. Do have backups of your irreplaceable data? Are those backups recent enough that you would not loose anything serious? If the answer to either of these…