RoboForm for iPad

Church communicators often have multiple online account logins -- web site administration, email administration, blog accounts, YouTube accounts, etc. These can be a nightnmare to remember if you adopt good security practices of using multiple user name s and different passwords everrywhere.

The solution is to use good password mamnagement software. Roboform is one such program.

RoboForm Everywhere 7 now is available for iPad 2, iPhone, and iPod Touch. It requires purchase of an annual subscription to RoboForm Everywhere. RoboForm Everywhere is a "cloud solution" that keeps your web site, login name, and password data on a remote server.
I wanted to know how the app compares with the Roboform Desktop/laptop edition. Here's what I found so far...

• Tough to contact. I had a hard time finding out how to contact the RoboForm developer (Siber Systems) by email to ask some questions.
  Here's the tech support URL -- they reply by email.
• Annual ssubscription fee. The 1-yr. subscription cost is currently discounted to $10. Added years are the normal $20. I'm not sure I like that. The Desktop edition lets you keep one version for several years and get updates for the version you buy free. New version upgrades cost $20. I guess that their rationale is that the RoboForm Everywhere edition can be used on multiple computers. Also, this cloud subscription service is in keeping with the software industry cloud service fee schemes. But to me it smacks of a way to keep the dollars flowing for the developer.
• App security issue. I do not like being limited to a 4-digit PIN for access to the RoboForm app itself. It should allow at least the option to use a strong password (upper case letters, lower case letters, numerals, and symbols). After all, this one app password opens up a storehouse of all your key web sites, login names, and passwords. The reply to my question about this from Siber Systems is that PIN to access the app is in addition to the complex password you can use to access your actual Roboform data stored online. But since the iPad iOS 4.0 and higher lets you choose a 4-digit PIN or a complex password, as an app dealing in information security, I'd like to see RoboForm adopt that option too.
• Data protection. Like with many cloud services, the quality of protection your data gets is at the mercy of the company that stores your data. Banks, credit card companies, and other businesses keep showing up in the news as getting hacked. So if you always keep your own computer patched and always practice safe computing, you may want to use the local desktop/laptop version. 
• Convenience vs. security trade-off. Using Roboform Everywhere to store information at a remote server and be able to access it from anywhere may be too tempting to pass up.

Related links

• Roboform Everywhere 7 overview
• Roboform Everywhere 7 Review (PC Magazine, Feb. 2011)
• Roboform Desktop 7 review (PC Magazine, Feb. 2011)

Managing a lot of passwords

I have tons of web sites that require logins and passwords. Remembering them all is not really feasible, since I use a different name and password for most sites. So I researched password manager programs.

I like RoboForm for managing web site login names and passwords. The program is available for the below Operating Systems:

• Windows
• MacOS
• Linux

RoboForm also has three "flavors":

• RoboForm Desktop.
  This edition is for one desktop or laptop computer. The encrypted password-related files are stored on that computer. If you use this solution, remember to "back up" your lengthy site, login name, and password data and store it somewhere other than on your computer.
• RoboForm Everywhere.
  This is a cloud solution. Your login and password data is stored on remote servers. Since the solution is a cloud one, your login and password data is available from any computer with Internet access. I'm personally hesitant to blindly trust most companies' information system security, but the choice is there. Using RoboForm on a mobile device requires this edition.
• RoboForm2Go.
  This is portable solution for one USB flash drive. This may be a handy solution if you use both a desktop and a laptop, as you could use RoboForm2Go on the USB drive on each computer. The license is per USB drive, not per computer.

Platforms supported by RoboForm:

• Desktop/laptop
• Internet Explorer
• FireFox
• Chrome
• Opera
• Safari (MacOS)
• USB Drives (RoboForm2Go)
• U3 flash drives
• Mobile (app is free, but use requires the RoboForm Everywhere edition)
• Android
• iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
• Blackberry

There are other program managers on the market, but I'm fond of this one. It also originally came recommended by Fred Langa (Senior Editor, Windows Secrets newsletter), which encouraged me to check it out.

I'll report on RoboForm for an iPhone/iPad/iPod in a future post.

Password tips

Anyone associated with a church web presence usually has a slug of sites and passwords they need to remember.

Some cautions and tips for login names and passwords.

• Use a different login name for different web sites.
• Avoid using your real name as any part of your login name.
• Don't use the same password for multiple web sites. Use a different one for each.
• Make passwords strong (8 or more characters plus a mix of upper case letters, lower case letters, numerals, and symbols such as ^). Ideally, use 13 or 14 total characters.
• Don't use any part of your name, birthdate, pets names, etc. in your password -- nothing a criminal could pull from some part of the web (including a social media profile you think is "locked down").

To help you remember passwords, use a long passphrase, then adjust for the character mix as above. A password/phrase that is at least 13 characters is very hard to crack.

Example: Thyrpualptaftcmaa is the first letter of each word in the prior paragraph's first sentence. We can then adjust that and change some to characters, insert numerals, and remove a couple letters to set the total here to 14: ThYrPu^13ptae$

If you feel the need for good password manager software, stay tuned for a future post "Managing a lot of passwords".

Sentence Sermons - part 2

In his book "701 Sentence Sermons", L. James Harvey gives several excellent tips for excellent text for church signs and wherever else the church uses that sentence sermon -- see Sentence Sermons - part 1.

Below are are a few tips based on Volume 1 of Harvey's book.

• Condense the English.
  You don't need to include every word of every saying or quote. You can even rearrange the messages to better fit the sign. Most signs have only 3 to 5 lines for brief text.
• Consider line breaks.
• Decide what wording makes the separate lines read better. Revise the wording as needed, but keep the meaning clear.
• Use a line break for natural speach pauses.
• Use a line break for most commas.
• Consider the speed of passing cars.
Even passengers in a moving car have only a few short seconbds to read and understand the entire message.
• Consider your church's theogical views.
  Don't use sentence sermons that run contrary to your church's views.