Living Digitally

How to use more than one computer

If you use more than one computer on a regular basis, here are five tips to make your life easier:

1. Consider replacing desktop apps with web apps. Some desktop apps can't be replaced (especially on Macs), but some can (especially on Windows). If you're willing to sacrifice a few features and little performance, check out Writely (word processing), meebo (instant messaging), Num Sum (spreadsheets), Backpack (to-dos, notes, photos, files), Bloglines (RSS aggregation), and Yahoo! Mail or Gmail. What do we still need? A good calendar application (actually, personal information management in general), HTML WYSIWYG editor, and a good cross-platform, streaming music solution.
2. Move your bookmarks online. Use del.icio.us, the Firefox bookmark synchronizer plugin (needs to be updated for 1.5), or get a .Mac account to synchronize your bookmarks across Macs (Safari only).
3. Move your files online. I'm actually not sure the best way to do this. I'm using a Mac these days, so .Mac is one solution. I tried using Xdrive when I was using Windows more often, and it was a complete disaster. Omnidrive seems to have potential, but I've never used it, and it's still in beta.
4. Move your music online with something like Rhapsody. Rhapsody is the first service like this I've tried, and it was great. Worth every penny. Until I started using a Mac again. Their Mac support doesn't really even deserve to be called such. I don't know of a good cross-platform solution except to just cary around a high-capacity MP3 player in your bag. If all you use are Macs, and you are usually on the same network, you can always just share your iTunes playlists.
5. Work off a USB flash drive. If you need a lot of capacity, use a high-capacity compact flash card and a PCMCIA adapter, especially if you need your computer to be more easily mobile (a PCMCIA adapter sits flush with a laptop case while a USB flash drive obviously needs to be ejected and removed before your computer can be packed up.) For sensitive information that you're afraid could get lost, create a small encrypted partition on the flash drive. I carry a Swissbit Victorinox USB flash drive everywhere I go. You can even run several applications directly off of flash drives like Firefox and Thunderbird.

Any other good suggestions?

Replace lost USB flash drive caps for free

I use USB 2.0 flash drives for a lot of different things: backups, moving files between machines, playing music files on different devices. I also tend to lose their caps which drives me nuts because I'm afraid they'll get damaged in my pocket or backpack. Then I discovered that the plastic USB caps that come on any Apple USB product make nice (and free) replacements. Just use a pair of sharp scissors or a knife to remove the plastic prongs designed to hold the cable, and your USB flash drive is safe and secure once again.

The #1 reason why I love the Sidekick II

I bought the Sidekick II the day it came out, and I've been using it almost everyday since. I tried replacing it with a Treo 650 and a Nokia 6680, but both times, I ended up switching back. I've used all kinds of phones, PDAs, and personal information management system, and I've found that the Sidekick II offers the best overall experience of them all. But as impressed as I've always been with the Sidekick II, I recently gained an entirely new appreciation for it.

Without getting into too many details, my Sidekick got destroyed the other day (let's just say that Sidekicks are tough, but cars are tougher). For a brief moment, I thought I might try to wean myself from the Sidekick and go with something like the Motorola RAZR which I've always really liked, but I ended up walking out of the store with another brand new Sidekick II (I had pretty much worn my old one out anyway, so I didn't mind replacing it). I took it into the office with me, plugged it in to charge, and that's when the magic happened.

All I had to do was insert my SIM card, log in, and wait about 30 minutes, and my new Sidekick II was, as far as I can tell, 100% restored to its former glory. All of my PIM data, applications, settings, and configuration had been completely restored, right down to my custom sound profiles and POP email accounts. I knew my PIM information (address book, calendar, etc.) would be preserved, but I had no idea all the additional applications I purchased would not only be automatically restored, but with all the data from my previous Sidekick -- every birthday, high score, and preference. I don't know of any other device in the world that would have made that process so painless.

A couple of things to think about...

• Why isn't it that easy to migrate from one computer to another? When I get a new computer, it usually sits in the box for a couple of days until I can find the time to do the painful manual migration.
• As much as I love the Sidekick, I'd still really love to have a smaller phone like the RAZR for certain occasions. Why can't I have both (without the pain of switching SIM cards, which is far from ideal)? I'd love to have multiple mobile phones on a single account so I could just grab whichever one is more suitable for the day's activities.