Remembering More than just the Milk

Despite the funny name, Remember the Milk may be the best tool available to help you keep track of things that you've promised to do. After using the free version of the application for about a year, I decided to pay $25 per year for the professional version because it adds features that I find to be well worth the small fee.

Remember The Milk has been around since 2005. You can use it to manage your to-dos via the website or connect to it with Android, IOS, and Blackberry apps. Remember the Milk runs on desktops, notebooks, tablets, and phones. It can be integrated with G-mail, Apple users can have Siri add tasks, and it synchronizes with Google Tasks so your tasks will show up on your Google Calendar.

Although most of the program's features are available for free, the $25 annual fee opens the door to what the developers call "professional" versions of their mobile apps and also adds Outlook task syncing.

You can start each day with a list of tasks that are due and birthdays or anniversaries that are coming up, complete with priority ratings (1 through 3), how long a task should take, whether it's repeated and on what schedule. You can also specify a category, a location, or even a URL.

The task categories are represented as tabs so you can view just your personal tasks, just your business tasks, just birthdays and anniversaries, or everything. The names of the task categories are under your control.

I'm particularly impressed by the repetition function. Remember the Milk is able to understand something like ^tomorrow 15:00 *every other Friday. Assuming you make this entry on Thursday, the event will be scheduled for 3pm (you can use am and pm if you don't like 24-hour clocks) and will then be repeated at the same time every second Friday.

The use of symbols to categorize bits of information about the task may seem a bit overwhelming for the first day or two, but it quickly becomes second nature to type Lunch with J ^May 5 11:30 #pers @cafeteria *every month on the first monday =90 min !2 to schedule lunch with J on Monday, May 5 at 11:30 on your personal list in the cafeteria and to allow 90 minutes for the event and repeat it every month on the first Monday with an importance level of 2. You can also fill in a form, but typing is faster. Note, though, that Remember the Milk doesn't always get things right. In this case, the repeating events were scheduled on the last Monday of every month, not the first Monday. I've talked with the developers about this and they're working on it.

Remember the Milk allows users to link e-mail accounts so that the program can send reminders. You choose the date and time format that you prefer, the placement of tags, and whether you want to see task cloud or not.

One good security feature allows you to specify that Remember the Milk will always use a secure connection (HTTPS instead of HTTP) when you're using the Web interface.

The help features are well designed and comprehensive. Help topics, videos, forums, and e-mail support are all available. As you use the application, come back here from time to time and check out the Tips & Tricks section.

When you set the application up, you'll be provided an e-mail address that you can use to import tasks and other that can be used to import e-mail addresses. Several other options are provided so that you can share calendar and task information with friends.

There's also a feature that integrates Remember the Milk tasks with Google's Calendar.

If you enable pop-up reminders, the application will tell you when a task is due ...

... and you can also have Remember the Milk send reminders by e-mail.

Other options for reminders include most instant-messaging services such as AIM, Google Talk, MSN, Skype, GaduGadu, ICQ, and Yahoo. Facebook is notably absent. You could also have Remember the Milk send a reminder to your phone.

Co-founders Emily Boyd and Omar Kilani refer to themselves as being "hopelessly disorganized". They were fed up with constantly forgetting things ("Yes," they say, "including the milk.") So they decided, in 2004, to build a Web app that would help them end their disorganized ways. It launched in 2005.

The Remember the Milk website says that apparently there are a lot of other disorganized people all over the world and, as a result, the app grew and eventually became more than a web app. Today Remember The Milk is available for all browsers, Android, Iphone, Ipad (including support for Siri), Blackberry, and has extensions that allow it to work with applications such as Evernote, Gmail, Outlook, Twitter, Google Calendar, and more.

If you ever forget a task, don't try to blame Remember the Milk

This is an application that missed a 5-cat rating by just a whisker. The component that tries to convert plain language to a repetition schedule makes the right choices more times than not, but it still makes enough mistakes that users would be well advised to double check every entry. Except for that, this is one well-crafted application. The free version has a lot of features, but the paid version unlocks more than enough features to be well worth the small cost.
Additional details are available on the Remember the Milk website.

Using G-Mail's SMTP Server

If you use the e-mail account provided by your Internet service provider, you may find it impossible to send e-mail when you're traveling because you won't be connected to the Internet via your ISP. There's a better and more reliable way to send e-mail and it's not just for those who are blocked when they're on the road.

My domains are hosted on a shared server at BlueHost in Orem, Utah. The service is reliable and the operators quickly remove spammers, but that doesn't mean there aren't any on the system.

Sometimes the IP address that belongs to the server my e-mail originates from is listed on a blacklist. When this happens (as you can see) messages are rejected.

Although this doesn't happen very often, it happens enough that it's frustrating. Although I have a G-Mail account, I don't use it because I don't care for webmail interfaces. But G-Mail can be made to work with standard e-mail clients (Thunderbird, Eudora, Outlook, and The Bat, for example). So couldn't I use the BlueHost POP3 server to receive mail and G-Mail's SMTP server to send mail? The answer is yes, but it requires a bit of work.

The example images you'll see here are from The Bat, but the same settings are available in any e-mail program.

Start by funding where your e-mail program keeps its SMTP settings.

These are the settings that tell the application which server it it should use to send messages. The existing settings will look something like: smtp.yourisp.com. You need to modify this so that it points to G-Mail's server: smtp.gmail.com.

Next, find a setting that deals with "connection" or "security" and set it to use TLS. TLS is the successor to the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and is composed of two layers: the TLS Record Protocol and the TLS Handshake Protocol. The TLS Record Protocol provides connection security with encryption.

The existing port setting will probably be 25 or 26, so change it to 465. Now you need to separate the SMTP authentication process from the POP3 authentication process. Find the authentication area of the settings section. In The Bat, it's a separate panel.

Typically, you'll need to select a setting that specifies explicit SMTP authentication. This setting may reference RFC 2554. Enable this setting.

Currently, your e-mail program will probably be using the credentials it uses to receive mail when sending mail. Select the option that tells the program to use different credentials when sending mail and then fill in the following:

• Your G-Mail user name (complete with "@gmail.com").
• Your G-Mail password.

Your e-mail program will now be able to receive mail sent to your normal address, but will send mail via G-Mail's server. There are 2 primary advantages of doing this:

• G-Mail's SMTP server is available from any location.
• G-Mail's IP addresses seem never to show up on black lists.

You should make one final addition before sending mail, though: Be sure that you fill in a "reply-to" entry. Most e-mail programs leave this blank by default, but you want replies to your messages to come to your regular e-mail account and not to be routed to G-Mail.

Filling in your standard e-mail address here will ensure that responses go to the address that you want them to.

But you may encounter a small problem.

When you send a message, G-Mail will fill in your G-Mail address in the "from" line. Even though responses will be sent to your regular e-mail address, the presence of the G-Mail address in the from line might confuse some people.

One simple change will fix that.

Log on to your G-Mail account and go to the settings panel. Your default e-mail address will probably be the G-Mail address, but you can change this to your other address simply by clicking "make default" at the right of the address. It will then be shown as the default. Note that when you use G-Mail directly to send messages, those messages will also be sent showing this as the originating address.

After you've made the changes, your messages will be sent via the G-Mail SMTP server, replies will come to your standard e-mail address, and your standard e-mail address will be shown as the originating address.

Success!

Short Circuits

A Convincing Fraud

Although most phishing schemes are obvious, the crooks who run these cons are getting better. Late this week I received what looked a lot like a message from American Express. It purported to be promoting a new security feature. The explanation was clearly written and seemed plausible. It even explained that my browser would be "redirected" when I clicked the link provided in the message. I didn't click.

The message looked like it had originated at American Express. In part, it said "American Express uses 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. This means that when you are on our secured website the data transferred between American Express and you is encrypted and cannot be viewed by any other party. The security of your personal information is of the utmost importance to American Express, please click here to create your PSK (Personal Safe Key)."

Instead of clicking the link to create my "personal safe key", I examined it. The destination was not an address that belongs to American Express. Then I noticed that the message was sent to "mcfarland" and not to the account that I use for American Express. The clues were there and examining the routing headers would make the ploy obvious, but the fraudsters are getting better.

You can't be too careful!

In the Suit Pitting Apple Against Samsung, Google is a Factor

It's Apple versus Samsung in the court room, but much of the discussion this week was about Google. As you may recall from countless other reports over the years, Apple and Samsung like to sue each other. Perhaps they find this more entertaining than inventing hardware. This week Samsung struck back at Apple using a different tactic.

Apple, according to Samsung, is terrified by losing market share in the smart phone marketplace. Android devices are currently by far the market leader even though Apple largely invented the smart phone market in 2007.

Apple says Samsung is liable for more than $2 billion in damages as a result of patent violations that Apple says Samsung used in phones such as the Galaxy S3. Samsung's attorneys told the federal jury that's watching the latest skirmish that Apply has simply launched a "holy war" against Android and Google. Google is not represented in the case.

To make that claim, Samsung's attorney, John Quinn, showed the jury a 2011 document from Steve Jobs promising exactly that, a "holy war".

Apple won an earlier round 2 years ago. A federal jury awarded almost $1 billion in damages to Apple and Apple's lawyers repeated previous claims this time. Only the model number had been changed in the presentation. Apple has tried to reduce the impression that the battle is about Android even though Samsung manufactures primarily Android-based phones.

Don't expect an end to this anytime soon.

As It Turns Out, a New York Man Doesn't Own Facebook After All

Paul Ceglia says he owns Facebook, but a New York judge granted Mark Zuckerberg's motion to dismiss a suit by Ceglia. It's been a year since a previous judge recommended terminating the suit because key parts of the contract the plaintif presented had been faked.

Ceglia will spend some time in court, though. He faces charges that are related to his suit. He has pleaded not guilty.

Ceglia claimed that he had a contract with Zuckerberg in 2003 that gave him half ownership of Facebook. Zuckerberg agreed that a contract had existed, but said that it had no relationship to Facebook.

Facebook's attorneys said that Ceglia modified the contract by inserting passages relating to the social networking company. This week's court decision officially ends Ceglia's attempt to obtain half of Facebook.

Netflix Prepares for France, Netherlands, and Belgium

Netflix started hiring translators last year localize its service in Europe. The company will soon begin offering a streaming service in France, Netherlands, and Belgium. Future expansions apparently are planned for areas that are further east because the company also hired translators who are fluent in Turkish, Korean, and Hindi.

The streaming service to France will not originate in France, though, but from Luxembourg. By choosing to originate programs from outside France, Netflix is able to sidestep a law that would require the company to invest in French content and provide a certain amount of French content. France is particularly protective of its language.

Previously Google ran afoul of French laws and Netflix is hoping to avoid that fate while still being able to provide services to users in France. The company's European headquarters were already in Luxembourg anyway because of its friendlier tax laws.

Netflix will start streaming video content to France in the fall and already provides some European services from Luxembourg.

Privacy Seems More of a Hot Button Issue in Europe

An article by James Ranter in the New York Times this week described a call by Peter Hustinx, the European Union's data protection supervisor, for member governments to update privacy laws by the end of this year to restore public trust in the Internet. Hustinx also said that President Obama needs to carry though on his pledge to review US privacy policies.

Kanter writes "Legislation to revamp European digital privacy law has been in the works since November 2010, when the European Union's justice commissioner, Vivian Reding, first proposed updating rules set during the mid-1990s in the early part of the Internet era. She presented her version of the legislation in January 2012."

The NY Times article notes that separate legislation that's intended to provide equitable access for companies and consumers is now being considered by the European Parliament and on Thursday the European Union once again showed that it's willing to move ahead of the United States in the area known as Net neutrality. The EU's parliament voted in favor of robust rules that would promote more equal access to the Internet.

Kanter says that the European Parliament gave preliminary approval to a strengthened version of Reding's rules last month. The new version sets higher fines for inappropriate access to data belonging to Europeans. Some of those fines could be in the billions of dollars.

Germany has taken the lead in privacy issues, Kanter writes, and Germans view their own laws as better than what the European Union is considering.

The full article is available on the New York Times website.

Why Consider a Solid State Disk Drive?

When buying a new computer, whether desktop or notebook, you should consider a solid-state drive. Many notebook computers now come with solid-state drives, but the Lenovo that replaced an older Toshiba came with a hybrid 1TB hard drive — a standard drive with a considerably larger amount of cache to emulate SSD-like performance. Well, it didn't.

So I replaced the hybrid drive with a 500GB SSD. I had updated the hard drive in the Toshiba and, even though the Lenovo had a faster processor and more memory, it was crippled by a disk drive that, by comparison, was too slow. Boot and program load times were unacceptable.

But 500GB SSDs, until recently, were priced at about $1 per GB and I didn't want to spend that much. When I found that Amazon was selling Samsung 500GB SSDs for about half price, I stopped and looked. That's still expensive if you compare it to a standard drive (some 3 TB drives sell for about $100), but the price was low enough and I had enough points to cover most of the cost.

Cloning the old drive to the new took about an hour, then came the complicated part: Removing the bottom cover from the notebook. Fortunately, a YouTube video showed which 9 screws needed to be removed and how to pry the case open. After popping the old drive out and putting the new drive in, I replaced the bottom cover and all 9 screws before powering the system on. Although I thought about the danger of tempting fate, everything worked as expected.

Boot time is now about 12 seconds instead of 2 minutes and I spent another $9 to buy a case for the old 1TB drive. I'll hook it up as an external drive on the system.

Happiness is a fast computer.