CyberKen Blog

If you visit a lot of websites in your daily work you might like to try these three free internet time saving tools:

• Instapaper
• Last Pass
• Now Do This

Instapaper

Instapeper is a free service that instantly copies the content of a webpage you are viewing and pastes that content into a running list of saves at your Instapepr account.  After you have opened your Instapaper account, install the Instapaper extension for your internet browser.

For Firefox use these instructions:  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/instaright-social-bookmarks/.

For the Safari browser, use these:  http://safariextensions.tumblr.com/post/679928743/instafari-06-09-10.

For the Chrome browser go here:  https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/instapaper/ldjkgaaoikpmhmkelcgkgacicjfbofhh.

For Kindle:  A service similar to Instapaper can be set up using these instructions:  http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/browser_extension_week_send_kindle.

Last Pass

Logging into websites can take a lot of time, especially if you can’t remember where you recorded your password or user name.  Last Pass is a free online password vault which keeps a secure record of your user name and password for whatever websites you want it to remember.  Not only that, when you decide to change a password or user name at any site already in your vault, Last Pass asks whether you want to record the change.  Last Pass provides an option of logging you in automatically as soon as you visit a site.  This saves lots of time!  Skeptics may wonder whether keeping passwords in the cloud is safe. To be as safe as I can be I change my Last Pass password every two weeks and sporadically change other passwords and record the changes in LastPass. With Last Pass you need remember only one password:  your Last Pass one which gives you access to all the others.  MAKE SURE TO WRITE THAT MASTER PASSWORD DOWN and keep the paper in a safe place, because Last Pass does not provide master password retrieval.

Some pointers in crafting your LastPass password:

Don’t use any dictionary words.  These can be easily hacked by powerful computers which run through options exceedingly fast.

Don’t use a password or part of a password from another website. 

Don’t use a password containing your name or your user name. 

Use a short phrase or sentence as a memory aid.  I find that an excellent way to craft a secure password that’s easy for me to remember is to make up a sentence or phrase of about eight to ten words which relates to something very personal, something which no one else is likely to know.  I use the first letter of each word in this sentence or phrase for my password.  Then, I throw in a number, a punctuation mark, and capitalize at least one of the letters.  Then, of course, I write down the password on paper, and also write down the sentence or phrase.  Very soon, by remembering that sentence or phrase I commit my master password to memory.  I repeat this procedure every two weeks to insure that I have done as much as I can to make Last Pass very secure.  I might also mention that I do not use Last Pass to log into any site involving money transactions.  If I get hacked, I don’t want my pocket picked!

Now Do This

Nowdothis.com is a website where you enter to-do items in a window.  As you accomplish an item you click “done” and it comes off the list, showing you the next thing to do in the stack.  Very quick, very easy.  Now Do This works well for me when I pin its tab in my browser (accomplished in Firefox by right clicking on its tab and selecting “pin tab”).  This reduces the width of the tab, and prevents my accidentally closing the tab.  I slide my pinned tabs to the left where I can click on them to see their content.  If I want to close a pinned tab, I right click on it and select “unpin tab.” Then I can close that tab in the usual fashion.