March 2014 Edition – Monthly Mini-Bytes

Ansel Adams Probably Would Have Used an iPhone Some of the Best iOS Photo Apps Could you imagine being Ansel Adams, trudging deep into the wilderness with pounds of camera equipment, miles away from any Starbucks? I know that I can't. If only he had an iPhone. He could have snapped away and still had access to his Facebook page. Maybe in a century our ancestors will be purchasing some of the best "selfies" of 2014 to hang in their homes. To that end, as you snap away with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you'll want to take the best photos possible and attempting to navigate the App Store to find just what you need is most often a lesson in frustration. Luckily the folks over at GeekSugar.com have put together a list of '31 iOS Apps That Unlock the Photographic Power of Your Device.' It's a quick list to look through and find what you need to satisfy your photographic muse. You can view the full article at: http://www.geeksugar.com/Best-iPhone-Photo-Apps-22708988

iPhone 4 Owner? iOS 7.1 is Your New Hero! Speeding up your old, reliable phone Apple released the latest update to it's iOS operating system for mobile devices last week. That means that iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users have some more upgrading to do. The silver lining in all the enhancements is the fact that iOS 7.1 has sped up the venerable iPhone 4!   For more details, ArsTechnica.com has you covered with this writeup: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/03/ios-7-1-on-the-iphone-4-as-good-as-its-going-to-get/

Waiting for the AppleTV TV... Well Fahgetaboutit! The Apple rumor mill has buzzed for years about the potential of Apple entering the TV business. But a new book by Wall Street Journal reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane will crush the dreams of those waiting for that 72-inch AppleTV. Steve Jobs was never a fan of the TV business, so it's unlikely that an integrated unit will come out in the near future. What may happen is that Apple could partner with TV manufacturers to integrate the AppleTV operating system as the "Smart" component of their Smart TVs. We don't know for sure, but in the meantime you can read more about it in the article at The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/03/17/new-book-crushes-hopes-for-apple-branded-television/

February 2014 Edition – Monthly Mini-Bytes

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.

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.

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!

January 2014 Edition – Monthly Mini-Bytes

MacBook Air Flash Storage Replacement Program Impacts Airs Sold Between June 2012 and June 2013 If you purchased a MacBook Air with either 64GB or 128GB Flash Storage, you need to take heed. It has been determined by Apple that some of these flash storage drives may be faulty and require replacement. They recommend against installing any further software and reading the instructions at the following link: http://www.apple.com/support/macbookair-flashdrive/ Make sure that you have a backup of your system.

Apple and CES iStuff from the Consumer Electronics Show It's very true that Apple does not have an official presence at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In fact, a lot of the innovations presented by manufacturers at the show probably won't become mainstream. Need an activity monitor for your gold fish? Probably not. How about a game controller with heated massage or a 4K TV so big that you need FAA approval to install it? Chances are most of us will pass, but if you get that TV, please invite us over. Despite the fact that Apple is absent, the aftermarket manufacturers that keep us well stocked with i-add-ons are there in force. '9 to 5 Mac' has a list (with links) of some of the gadgets that caught their eye. You can check out the full article at: http://9to5mac.com/2014/01/10/ces-2014-iphoneipad-bluetooth-accessories-for-the-home-body-dominate-the-show/

Advanced User Corner: Slow Finder in 10.9 Mavericks A Fix for an Annoying Problem If you migrated to OSX Mavericks (10.9) from 10.7 or 10.8, you may be experiencing a problem while opening a Finder window whether in an application or from the Dock. Finder will be very slow to open folders and find files. It will also use a lot of CPU.  The good news is that there is a fix, but we only recommend it for advanced users since it requires deleting a preference or running code at the command line in Terminal. The other problem is that the current solution essentially resets your Finder back to factory defaults. If you have a specific way you like your Finder and Desktop setup, you will have to redo it after this fix is in place. Chances are very good that Apple will resolve this issue in an upcoming update to 10.9. So if you'd rather be safe than sorry, waiting is a good option. If you do want to try the fix, please perform a backup of your system and confirm that it completed successfully. Then visit this article with step by step instructions at OSX Daily: http://osxdaily.com/2013/11/13/fix-finder-slow-high-cpu-use-mac-os-x/

December 2013 Edition – Monthly Mini-Bytes

Cleanse Your Inbox with Sort Start the New Year with Slimmer Mail! It's time to make a commitment to clean up the inbox. That sale in July is long past, so you don't need the coupon anymore. That notice from your HOA about the dangerous squirrels from back in February probably isn't current, and the invite for last year's New Year's party could survive being deleted, too. But what to do when it's gotten out of hand? Sort it! Mail allows you to sort messages by date received, subject, size, attachment, who from and who to. Who knew? Now you do! There are two ways to sort. From the Menu Bar select 'View' then 'Sort By,' or right above the Message Window there is a small drop-down where you can do the same thing. Now that you have sorted the messages you can select bunches to delete or move to archive folders. And when you are done remember to delete your Trash by selecting from the Menu Bar 'Mailboxes' then 'Erase Deleted Items' in either all or individual accounts. Happy cleansing!

Is Your Backup Drive Ready to Retire? When the Spinning Platters Need a Break It's the end of the year and a great time to stop and assess whether or not it's a good time to replace your backup drive that you use with Time Machine. Those platters have spun at over 5400+ revolutions per minute, every minute of every day since you first set up that Time Machine drive. Cars can't sustain RPMs of that level for very long, so just think how reliable modern hard disk technology is! If your Time Machine backup drive is 3 years or older, consider getting a replacement drive to start the new year fresh. Set the old one aside as an archive of your older backups. You can always call upon it if needed to pull down saved files. And the good news is that your new drive does not have to cost a lot; 1TB external USB 3.0 hard disks have dropped in price and can be had for as little as $75.

Clean Out Your Old Apps with AppCleaner Freeware to Make Your Hard Drive Tidier If you've recently updated to Mavericks or one of the last of the cat-themed OSes, you probably noticed applications that now have a circle with a line running through it. Known as the "Prohibition Sign" or "Universal No" it means that the application will no longer run on your current system.  Well, what's the best way to clean out the old apps? If there is an uninstall as there is with big professional applications, then use that. If not, just deleting the app from your Applications folder is not enough as preference files and other tidbits are left behind. That's where AppCleaner comes in. AppCleaner is a free download (here) and an extremely simple application to use. Once you pull it down from CNET's website, move it over to your Applications or Utilities folder (your choice). To use, simply run AppCleaner and drag the application you'd like to delete into the window; then click the Delete button on the lower right. It will move all the associated files for that application to your Trash. Empty your Trash to finalize the delete. For some apps you may then need to restart your machine.  Need more help? A Tutorial on AppCleaner is available on the download page at CNET. (http://download.cnet.com/AppCleaner/3000-2248_4-10867510.html?tag=mncol;3)

November 2013 Edition – Monthly Mini-Bytes

OS 10.9 Mavericks is a Worthy Upgrade Our Thoughts and Quick Tips It's been almost a month since Apple released its newest and non-feline named operating system OSX Mavericks (Version 10.9). After loading it on our personal machines and living with Mavericks since it was released, we can honestly say that it's definitely worth a look. We've noted an increase in performance from machines that date back to 2007 to MacBook Pros with the latest i7 processors. And the best part is that Apple is offering it as a free (Yes, Free!) download through the App Store.  But as with all things, preparation is the key to success and harmony. Here are a few tips to remember before moving to OS 10.9 Mavericks: Backup Your System - Never, ever attempt a major operating system upgrade unless you have at least one current backup of your computer.  Check Your Software - Not all software is ready for the new operating system. If you have MS Office you need at least Version 2008; and check on anything that you use regularly, whether it be QuickBooks, Quicken, Parallels, VMWare Fusion, or Adobe products. Refer to the specific developers' websites for details. Be Patient - At over 5GB in size the download takes quite a while depending on your internet connection. Once the install begins, it will be one to two hours before it completes. Be Patient After the Install - After all is said and done, and you see your desktop, Mavericks still needs to index your drive and do some other optimization in the background. It's best to step away and let it be. During this period, which will be the first few hours after the upgrade, the system can be very slow.  For more detailed information about OSX Mavericks, visit Apple's site at: http://www.apple.com/osx/ Cyber Shopping Safety Have a Scam Free Holiday! It's that time of the year when retailers fight to relieve us of our hard earned dollar. But evildoers lurk in the shadows looking for a little payday for themselves, and the internet has become a playground for scammers, spammers, and con-artists.  Besides only visiting reputable websites, looking for the padlock when entering in payment information, and avoiding fishing-type emails, MSN Money has put together a comprehensive list of 10 Tips for Safe Online Shopping.  You can read the full article here: http://money.msn.com/how-to-budget/10-tips-for-safe-online-shopping

App Your Way to a Happy Holiday Put your iPhone to Work! This may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it also is the busiest, and finding tools to make holiday shopping easier is something that we can all use. Business Insider has put together their list of 7 Apps That Will Make Holiday Shopping a Breeze.  You can read the full article and check out details on their recommendations here: http://www.businessinsider.com/7-apps-that-will-make-holiday-shopping-a-breeze-2013-11

October 2013 Edition – Monthly Mini-Bytes

Pump up your Device's Battery Life Tips Post iOS 7 Update iOS 7 has many features that can streamline your workflow, save you time, and drain your battery to zero if you're not careful. Take charge with four easy steps: Perform a Hard Reboot: Charge your iOS device to 100%, then hold the Home and Top Button down simultaneously until it restarts and you see the Apple. This resets your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and seems to help with how iOS 7 manages the battery. Turn Off AirDrop if Not Needed: AirDrop is cool, but it will chug through power looking for other friends or iOS devices on the network. It's easy to turn off and on in Control Center. Manage Background App Refresh: Turn off apps that you don't want constantly pulling data. Do this by going into Settings -> General -> Background App Refresh. Reduce Motion: We like the 3D background effect, too, but it does take power so if you can live without it, your battery life will be much improved. Go into Settings -> General -> Accessibility and enable Reduce Motion by turning it on. Getting Control of Your InBox Be an Email Wrangler! Don't let the stampede of email clog up your inbox! It's time to take control! No matter who you are or what you do, chances are that your inbox has the temperament of an untamed stallion, running you down with clutter. Well, the good news is that there are some simple best practices that you can apply to any email program to help you on the path to inbox equilibrium. Tip 1: Don't be afraid of the delete key: That's right! The simplest way to clean out the inbox is to delete anything that is old, unimportant, or something that you don't intend to get to. If new mail comes in and you don't want it, just delete it. Don't let it sit around taking up space.  Tip 2: Folders are your friend: Every email program allows you to create folders. With folders you can organize to-dos, reminders, payment receipts, or family pictures. When you get in a new piece of mail, you can move it to a folder to save, or for later consumption.  Tip 3: Rule your mail with Rules: Don't want to see all those adds in the morning? Then rules can help. Rules allow your mail program to automatically move certain types of emails to your folders (see Tip 2). It takes a little bit of setup, but virtually all email systems have Rules or a variant of the capability. Email management is hard and volumes have been written on how to handle the daily flood of electronic communications. But you can, with these three simple steps, go a long way to taming that stallion, and even freeing up some of your time so you can take him for a ride.

When is your Mac overripe? You know you need an upgrade when... We are often asked: When is a machine ripe for replacement? Well, the answer is always a personal one for you. Now, if the hardware is broken, then the solution is apparent, but often you find yourself sitting in front of a seven year old computer that seems to work just fine. Here are some things that will definitely tell you that it's time for a new machine: Cannot Run a Currently Supported Operating System: If your machine can only handle an older version of Mac OSX, then it's time for an update. You will have a difficult time accessing websites and your web browser will become a security vulnerability since it is no longer supported. Also, staying current with newer peripherals will not be possible, since software and drivers are no longer made for older systems. Currently Apple supports OS 10.6.8 Snow Leopard through OS 10.8 Mountain Lion. Keep in mind that a new system is coming out this fall. If you can only run 10.5 Lion, then... Software You Need for Your Job No Longer Works: Need the latest version of Adobe Creative Suite? It won't run on your current operating system and you cannot upgrade? Then... Features You Want are Only Available on the Latest Version: iCloud is fully intertwined with iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. To take advantage of iCloud you need to be running at least 10.7 Lion and preferably 10.8 Mountain Lion. If you want the iCloud integration and your system won't run at least Lion, then... Setting your old loyal Mac out to pasture is hard, but if you've enjoyed three or more years of service from your laptop or desktop, then know that you've done better than what the industry expects.

September 2013 Edition – Monthly Mini-Bytes

Are You Ready for iOS 7? Pre-Release House Cleaning The new operating system for Apple mobile devices called iOS 7 is scheduled for release on September 18th. It will be available for iPhone 4 and above, iPad 2 and higher, and also the 5th generation iPod Touch. To see about all the new features you can visit: http://www.apple.com/ios/ What should you do before the update? Back up your device. Do not install iOS 7 unless your device is backed up. Also, plug your mobile device into power while performing the update. Follow these steps and you'll go a long way to a happy upgrade. iOS Only Gets 0.7% of Malware Attacks Good News, but Think Safety  We have to be extremely careful on the Internet to protect ourselves from all the ne'er-do-wells out there. But iOS users can breathe a little sigh of relief that only 0.7% of malware attacks currently target Apple mobile devices. This compares to a whopping 79% of hits against Android powered phones and tablets. You can read the full article from The Independent at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/android-devices-attract-79-of-malware-attacks-ios-gets-just-07-8788158.html  It's good news, but it's still important to be cautious. Here are three ways to keep your device safe from the bad guys: Back up your phone frequently. If attacked by malware, you can restore your settings from the backup. Make sure that your iTunes/iCloud passwords are easy to remember, but hard for someone to guess. Throw in a few numbers, capital letters, or characters and ensure the password is at least eight characters long. Keep it somewhere secure so you can refer to it (and trust us, you will absolutely need to refer to it). Do not "Jailbreak" or "Hack" your device. Apple equipment comes with safeguards built-in, and "Hacking" your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch leaves it open to malware.

The iPhone 5s is the Real Deal 'S' Stands for Stupendous! Apple again has introduced a phone that raises the bar--not with screen size, or umpteen gigapixel camera, or even a built-in micro subwoofer. They have innovated the old fashioned way, by first tinkering under the hood and making the already awesome iPhone 5 even better. And under that hood is the first 64-bit processor in a phone. It is even being called "Desktop Class." When it is released on September 20th, the iPhone 5s will reign as the only 64-bit phone on the planet. The new phone coupled with iOS 7, which has been built as a 64-bit operating system, will make the iPhone 5s the most powerful phone on the market today. What does that mean to you? Speed. Apple claims the 5s is 40 times faster than the original iPhone, so apps, games, and camera functions will be faster.  The other big deal is that the increase in processing power does not come at the cost of battery life. Apple claims an increase in battery performance, even despite the requirements of a more powerful chip. As we all know, your mileage may vary. We'll have to wait and see real world results. The camera is the same 8 megapixels, but those pixels are larger. More light equates to better pictures, and the larger pixels capture more light. There are also two LED flashes, with the second being amber in color. Apple refers to the feature as True Tone Flash. It allows the iPhone 5s to match the color temperature of the room, much like expensive professional photographic equipment. That new 64-bit processor enables the iPhone 5s to offer another first that Apple calls Touch ID. Your fingerprint on the Home button unlocks the phone. It also is your ID for purchasing apps, music/movies from the iTunes store, and books from the iBooks store. Your finger becomes your password! It will make life easier, but it's still important to always know your iCloud/iTunes password. For more on the iPhone 5s visit: http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/