Breathing New Life into an Old Mac
The Solid State Fountain of Youth
Macs are not cheap, and when the time comes to replace your beloved machine, sometimes the piggy bank is a little light. But thanks to the wonders of modern technology, you can make that old iMac or MacBook Pro last a few more years.
What's the key? More RAM and a Solid State Drive. RAM is your machine's workspace and the more RAM the faster it can access and keep information at hand. A Solid State Drive, or SSD, doesn't spin round and round like a record player -- there are no moving parts. Data is accessed virtually immediately, making your machine seem like it found a way to turn back the clock!
So where do you start? Visit Crucial.com and enter in your machine's specifications. You can also download their handy app that will scan your computer. You'll be presented with options for an SSD upgrade and RAM. If you do upgrade the RAM, max it out, but for the SSD, you can gauge the size based on how much hard drive space you currently use.
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| Data Security, Passwords, and You Tips To Help Keep Away the Bad Guys
With high profile data breaches at Target, Neiman Marcus, and Yahoo over the past two months, just about everyone is asking about how to keep personal information safe. The bad news is that in today's digital society no one is 100% secure, but there are things that you can do to hedge your bets against the bad guys.
Change Your Password: Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. If you hear about a system being breached, and you have an account with that specific company, go ahead and change your password. It won't help with the information that was already taken, but it may make it harder for those evildoers to access your account further.
Vary Your Passwords: Don't use the same password for every account. Once that one is stolen they potentially can access all your other accounts that have the same credentials. Also, make sure that your passwords are at least eight characters long with a mix of numbers, capital letters, small letters, and special characters.
Credit Monitoring Services: Another thing that you can do is sign up with a credit monitoring service like the ones offered by LifeLock or one of the three credit agencies like Experian or Equifax. They provide different types of active monitoring, and offer a way to review your credit reports.
Reconcile Your Statements: Every month make sure that you reconcile all your bank and credit card statements. If you see anything that looks funny, you will be able to react to it quickly.
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Using Your iPhone 5s as an Activity Monitor
Look Mom! It's a Fitbit!
If you have an iPhone 5s and you want to get in on the Activity Monitor craze, you'll be very happy to know that you can use your phone to get started. The M7 Motion Co-Processor Chip is the key, and only the iPhone 5s has it. So if you have a 5c or a 4s, you're out of luck.
But for you iPhone 5s owners who want to track your steps, you can! Wendy and I have been using the Fitbit app, which is available in the App Store. It's a lot of fun and very easy to setup. We have the whole family using it! Here is the link: Fitbit app
You can also read this article on how to set it up over at CNet.com: http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57616460-285/use-the-fitbit-app-iphone-5s-to-count-steps-without-a-tracker/
Happy Stepping!
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