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Simplify

From the beginning one of the main selling points of computers was the promise of efficiency — one device that does everything.

From the beginning one of the main selling points of computers was the promise of efficiency — one device that does everything.

Then things got complicated; I currently have five separate e-mail addresses, a Facebook account, a MySpace page (just so I can see other pages), and probably more than 10,000 photos, documents and other files divided between hundreds of folders, divided between two computers and my Gmail Documents account. I have two calendars (Gmail and iCal), three address books, and four web browsers (Safari and Firefox) on the go with all my bookmarks divided between them. I have an eBay account, an Amazon account, a Futureshop account, an MEC account, and much, much more — all pretty much useless because I got a new credit card about a year ago, and my information changed. I’m also a registered user with Digg, Alternet, and Reddit. I’m registered with half a dozen newspapers so I can read the subscriber-only articles. I bank online at two institutions. I have different versions of the same software at home and at work, with different shortcuts and capabilities.

I frequently forget my user name and password to the sites I visit. Most websites will send me that information by sending them an e-mail, but I can never remember what e-mail account I used to register in the first place.

It’s safe to say that computers have added a degree of complexity to my life that I didn’t have before and would never have imagined possible.

It’s time to simplify.

 

The password issue

Mozilla Firefox has the ability to remember all your user names and passwords for you, providing you trust all your information to your browser. However, since nine out of 10 websites I’m registered to use are news websites I’m not really that worried that someone will hack my account. The banking websites are a little more serious, but they usually have secondary passwords that you set yourself.

To get Firefox to help, download the browser at Mozilla.com, then go into the Preferences and select the Security tab. There’s an option to remember passwords for sites, as well as the option of using a master password for all the sites you visit.

To make things even simpler, I could get another free e-mail account to go along with the master password option. That way my e-mail address and password will always be the same.

Of course that means re-registering for the websites I use, or changing my personal information, but it will save time and stress in the long run. The added benefit is that those websites will send all their flyers and promotional material (read: spam) to that new e-mail address, allowing me to quickly empty the Inbox without worrying about deleting important personal or work-related e-mails.

The one exception would have to be online banking. Although a thief would need to know my account number, password, nickname, and football number it’s a good idea to keep some of your information separate. Still, two passwords are far more manageable than my current situation.

If you have a lot of different passwords, including network and secure e-mail passwords, it might be time to think about getting some software to help out. There are dozens of programs out there that will remember your passwords for you, or will even let you read the letters and numbers hidden behind those asterisks. Visit www.download.com, and type “Password” into the search window to see what’s available.

 

Moving bookmarks

Moving from browser to browser is a royal pain because none of my bookmarks or toolbars are the same. The good news is that every browser can be customized the same way, if you’re willing to put in a little time to rebuild your toolbars and input your favourite web pages.

I don’t currently have a .Mac account, but I’m considering it. For one thing, it solves a lot of problems regarding backing up important files, and synchronizing between my computer at home and work to ensure that all files are up to date. For example, if I make changes to one document at work, .Mac will change the same document at home.

There’s also a feature in .Mac that lets you synchronize your bookmarks between computers, but only when using Apple’s Safari browser. That doesn’t help with Firefox, but fortunately you can import bookmarks from any browser under the file menu.

If you’re on a PC the best way to synchronize two or more computers is through third party software. Once again, a good place to start is Downloads.com, although if you have Vista you might want to see if Windows Vista’s Sync Center can handle your needs.

As for all my other files, it’s time to decide a place for everything, and settle on a file folder tree that I can duplicate on each computer. For my important files that I work on at home and work my plan is for them to live on my JumpDrive and back them up to the appropriate file folders whenever I make an update. That way I’ll always know which file is the most recent. At Tiger Direct (www.tigerdirect.ca) you can get 16 GB of flash memory for just $121.99 these days.