January 2019 - Technology Mini-Bytes

New Year! Time for a Mail Cleanup! Large mail databases are not a good thing. The more mail that you have, the harder your computer and devices have to work to sync everything. Having too large of a mail box can mean delays in getting messages, lockups, the dreaded spinning wheel, or even database corruption, which means moving your mail to a new mail host will be very difficult. So how do you do it? Outside of just deleting everything and starting anew, there are some more surgical methods that we prefer: Empty the Trash and Junk Folders - It's amazing how large these can get. Keeping them cleaned out is an easy thing to do. Delete Old Mail - That sale on curtains from 2014 is long over. Archive Old Messages - If the messages are important, come up with an archive strategy. There are different options depending on your mail host. The choices available to you could be as simple as hiding the folders from the sync function, dragging to local storage, or even moving to an archive email account. And one other thing... It's a good idea to keep the unread count down. Having thousands of unread messages isn't good for you or your mail database. Most mail clients have a way that you can sort by unread. And here's a Pro Tip: Apple Mail and other clients give you the ability to create Smart Folders that can make cleaning up your mail much easier.

Be Spoof & SPAM Savvy Spoofing and SPAM have been around for as long as email has been mainstream. These attacks are not letting up and will not go away. The only thing that you can do is to be more email savvy. Keep in mind, too, that Spoofing and SPAM are not technical problems in and of themselves, but more of an opportunity for education. In fact, many big security firms provide training to companies to teach the staff tips and best practices to protect themselves and the business. But what can you do to protect yourself: Use a Decent Email Provider - Email services are not all the same. Some do a better job filtering out the bad guys. Mom & pop webhosts cannot keep pace with the likes of Google or Apple. Check the Email Address, not the Name - Spoofing emails very often have a mismatch between the name and the email. The name is there for your convenience. The email is the real thing that you want to focus on. If it looks funny, it probably is. You can contact the person directly via phone, or through their known and trusted email account to confirm if it is real or not. Don't Click on Links or Attachments - If you do not know who the email is from, do not click on the link or attachment or call the phone number. This is usually how they get you. If you see something from your bank or credit card, be safe -- do not click on the link, but go to their website as you normally would. Tighten Up Your Password - Make sure for your email account that you are using a unique password with numbers, letters, and symbols. Also, if two factor authentication is offered, consider using it. Having a weak email password can turn you into a victim. Don't be one.

Mac Slow? It May Be Your Hard Drive With all the updates that have come out in the past few months, we have noticed that all Mac computers with the old-style SATA Hard Drives have gotten slower and slower. If you use apps like Mail, Photos, or the Adobe Creative Cloud you are probably familiar with this phenomenon. The bad news is that there really isn't anything that you can do to speed up the process. SATA hard drives struggle with the larger files sizes and loads that a system like macOS Mojave puts on them. It is also a factor that our iPhones and iPads operate with Solid State memory, so the experiences we have on our mobile devices make the old SATA driven Macs feel, well, slow. Outside of getting a new Mac with a Solid State Drive, what can you do? Use Webmail vs. Mail - Working in a browser eliminates the database syncing that goes on when using Mail. Only Open One Application at a Time - Multiple apps use resources. Add RAM - If you can, adding memory will allow your applications to run in RAM space, vs. having to pull data on and off your old SATA Drive. Upgrade to a Solid State Drive - For many, this may not be an option, but if the Mac is only a few years old, it is a possibility. But keep in mind, if your Mac has a SATA drive and is from 2014 or before, it may just be time to replace it. The good news is that all new Macs, except the iMacs, come with Solid State Drives standard. If you do want to get an iMac, you will need to custom order one with a Solid State Drive. iMacs that they stock at the Apple Store only have SATA or Fusion drives. You don't want one of those. And just to be totally clear: We do not recommend purchasing a Mac with a SATA or Fusion Drive. With the complexity of systems today, only a Solid State Drive will give you the performance that you are expecting.