Chained notes

I rediscovered a gem by former ATPM staffer Kirk McElhearn from the June 2004 issue of Macworld. In the Working Mac column, Kirk is discussing built-in ways to protect data in Mac OS X. I found the use of the Keychain as a storage place for secret notes intriguing.

To turn Keychain into your security guard, open Keychain Access (Applications: Utilities), and click on Note in the Keychain Access toolbar. Enter a descriptive title in the Name field of the window that appears, and then type or paste the data you want to protect into the Note field. You’re not limited to short things, such as a password or a credit card number. I pasted several megabytes of text into one secure note.

To access your secure notes later, open Keychain Access, find the note in the list of protected items, and click on its name. Select the Show Password option and enter your password; you’ll then see the note’s contents. To enter the contents in another program, click on Copy Note To Clipboard, enter your password again, and paste into any text field or document.

BBAutoComplete 1.4

Michael has released BBAutoComplete 1.4. BBAutoComplete gives you word auto-completion in scriptable applications like BBEdit, Mailsmith, Tex-Edit, and with the new version, Smile.
If I weren’t already using a combination of AutoPairs and TypeIt4Me, I would probably be using BBAutoComplete. The latter is “smarter” than TypeIt4Me in that TypeIt4me has to be “taught” the abbreviations and expansions to use in place of those abbreviations. BBAutoComplete guesses what you’re wanting to type by checking out expansions in your app’s open docs. For most of my typing needs, though, especially in the apps BBAutoComplete supports, I simply have no need for it. Programmers, however, will find it a boon.
BBAutoComplete is freeware, and be sure to check out Michael’s excellent commercial software, SpamSieve and DropDMG, while you’re at it. Both are Retrophisch™ Recommends selections, and you can support a developer who gives back to the user community.

Still no OmniWeb for this phisch

Michael’s analysis of OmniWeb’s shortcomings, and Gruber’s comment to the post, leave me wondering why I continue to download and install the thing, since I hardly ever use it.

Combatting spam for Movable Type users

His Gruberness has written, on behalf and with the input of, Six Apart, a comprehensive guide on weblog comment spam. This has given me some ideas for moving forward, though since I have instituted comment registration via TypeKey, I haven’t had a comment spam problem. Registration through TypeKey is free, easy, and fast, and it allows you to comment on any site which supports the protocol.

Next-gen camou

So do you recall the sci-fi tales of the wearable, adaptable camouflage that reflects the wearer’s environment back on to the environment, essentially rendering the wearer invisible? Think Predator. The United States military and its civilian research units are already working on such a next-generation of camouflage for the troops.

ATPM 11.01

The January issue of About This Particular Macintosh is now available for your reading pleasure. Ellyn resolves not to make resolutions, while Wes digs in to the ugly world of Apple rumors. Ted takes a break from the frenetic world of Mac outliners, but still manages an update column. Eric has a brilliant piece on the upcoming iTunes-compatible Motorola phone and what that means to the mobile music and mobile phone marketplaces. Sylvester explores the world of tech recycling, a public service for those who were lucky enough to receive new Macs for Ramahanakwanzmas.
Just in time for New Year’s, Lee has submitted Fourth of July photos for use as desktop pictures. Go ahead and use them, no one will know that they weren’t taken New Year’s Eve and immediately uploaded. Well, no one who doesn’t read about it here, that is. Cortland and iTrolls continue, and this month Frisky Freeware explores OSXplanet.
Lee runs down the latest darling of the Mac software world, Delicious Library, while Wes reviews the blogging tool, MarsEdit. Paul’s look at PhotoReviewer and Michael’s review of Kensington’s StudioBoard will likely have me spending some money shortly. Eric explores PreFab’s UI Actions, of interest to you script junkies out there.
Happy New Year from all of us at ATPM!