iPhone Personal USB Hotspot & Windows 7

Have seen a number of description of how to connect a PC to the internet via an iPhone, but none quite described the procedure I had to follow (maybe I didn't search hard enough). Anyway, for my personal reference, as much as anything else this is what worked for me for my iPone 4 on Windows 7

On the iPone

1. Connect iPhone to PC via USB Cable
2. Settings -> General -> Network -> Personal Hotspot: Personal Hotspot = On. 

On the PC

1. Start -> Control Panel: Search Control Panel for 'Network Connections' -> choose View Network Connections
2. Select the Apple Device AND the the Local Area Connection.  Right click and choose: Bridge

After removing and then re-connecting the phone I found it necessary to manually "Remove from Bridge" and re-add things.

Pasword Managers

Passowrd managers are a must. For years I have been using Password Safe (passwordsafe.sourceforge.net). It's open source and does not require installation (i.e. can be carried around on a USB stick). However, as computing moves away from the PC and onto mobile devices (e.g. Phone, tablet) I have been looking for a cloud based solution with mobile integration.

Thinking back, wouldn't it have been nice if, back in the day, Microsoft Passport (aka Microsoft account, Microsoft Wallet,.NET Passport, Microsoft Passport Network, Windows Live ID) got some tracktion. Obviously, renaming your product every five minutes doesn't help to build a following. But it is interesting that, in retrospect, Microsoft who all too often appears one step behind when it came to  Web innovation, might have actually got it right, at least in in principle,  when it first envisaged its single sign-on service. But I, like most other user and websites, simply didn't take to it. And in the absence of any real de-facto standards (you know what I mean!), many sites are relying on Facebook’s Connect for one-click login. Trust Microsoft with my login details? No way. We'd rather let Mark Zuckerberg take care of it. The power of consumers perception.

I might be happy for Google to manage my passwords. And maybe my wish will come true (Is Google planning an integrated password management service?). But in the meantime I will have to find another solution. 

Requirements are as follows:

• Import from PassWord Safe: Who wants to re-type 254 passwords spread accross 20 groups!?
• Open source: Companies come and go, but if its open source there is hope that somebody will keep it alive;
• Work on a variet of devices: Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, Linux

While my search was reasonable extensive, it certainly was far from exhaustive. But KeePas (keepass.info) appeared to tick most of the boxes.

KeepPas has a number of iPhone/iPad ports, which is the main reason for my desire for a new password solutions.

When it comes to choosing iPhone/iPad apps, I don't mind paying a couple of buck to get what I. Having said that, experience has thought me that when it comes to software, there is not always a direct relationships between price and functionality.



to be continued...

References & Resources:

• Microsoft Becoming a Failure: 12 Brand Mistakes with High Costs (merriamassociates.com)