April 2020 - Monthly Mini-Bytes

Information Technology is an Essential Service I think for all of us the last month or so has been tough, but the show must go on and work must continue. We wanted you to know that since technology, connectivity, and working remotely are so important right now, we are glad that we are considered an essential service so that we can be in a position to help you thrive and function during this time. We are available for both onsite and remote consulting -- whatever you may require or be comfortable with.

Tips for Awesome Video Conferences

When video conferencing first came out and was being widely used, I remember that the equipment was installed in a special conference room. We all piled in and up on the big screen was another large conference room filled with people. It was groundbreaking? Maybe? It wasn't like being there, and I remember feeling that I was on stage so I was conscious of things like fidgeting, letting out the odd smirk, or picking my nose. Now with social distancing in full effect, video conferencing from our computers and devices is more important than ever. But it still is not as good as being in person with one another. It never will. It will never replace business travel, the in-person meeting, or the handshake (when allowed again by government entities, doctors, statisticians, etc.). For now, we are stuck with it, so here are some tips to make your conferences extra special: Less is More: Don't have a video conference unless you need to. It's never a good idea to waste people's time -- especially now. Many things can be done in a good old-fashioned phone call. Just because it's possible, doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good idea. Use a Headset for Audio: The built-in mic oftentimes can produce feedback that can be disruptive. Using headphones or AirPods can make a big difference in the ability for others to hear you clearly. Upgrade Your Background: Take a look at what is behind you. Many apps have the ability to blur the background or add something to block out the room. Remember that whoever is on the conference will see the whole picture -- you and your dirty laundry. Check the Camera Angle: The up-the-nose shot is not the most famous in cinema, so think about raising up your laptop on a few books to get your best angle. It's okay to be vain. You're on camera. You're a Movie Star!: You are on camera, so go the extra mile by wearing something different than that old concert tee with moth holes in it; take a shower; or even comb your hair. Now, many of you who have video conferenced with me over the last month know that I take none of this advice, but I probably should. Even though many are working from home, it never hurts to dress the part. You May Be Recorded: The conferences can be recorded, so be mindful of what you say and be wary of the open-mic moment.

The New iPhone SE: Is it for you? No. In fact, I don't get this phone at all. It's basically just an iPhone 6 with iPhone 11 parts in it. For not much more money you can get the iPhone 11 with a bigger screen, better camera, FaceID, and all the modern benefits of an iPhone in 2020. The iPhone SE is built to a price to satisfy that crowd of none that love TouchID and the classic iPhone form factor. Our advice still stands: The best general use iPhone, and the best value in an iPhone ever (in our opinion) is the iPhone 11. If you take a lot of pictures and are into serious photography go for the iPhone 11 Pro or Pro Max. For more info on the iPhone SE: https://www.apple.com/iphone-se/ To learn about the iPhone 11: https://www.apple.com/iphone-11/

March 2020 - Monthly Mini-Bytes

Remote Consulting Amid COVID-19 I think about my grandfather who was born in 1910. He lived through World War I, the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, and World War II. It's hard for me to imagine living through such tumultuous times and remaining strong. But he did, and I think about what he went through before I get angry about the lack of toilet paper at Costco. Today, in 2020, we are faced with a global pandemic and its resulting impact to ourselves, our families, and our businesses. Fortunately, it is a different time than the early 20th century. The world is much more global. We are all very connected. Through technology we can be more informed on how to stay healthy. And one of those ways is through social distancing, but that means changes to how we work and interact. Many of us are now working remotely. Our Macs, iPhones, and iPads not only help keep us productive, but also enable us to stay in touch with loved ones from around the globe. Keeping your Apple Ecosystem healthy at this time is very important. We want to assure you that we are here to help with remote consulting options so that you can social distance like a pro! With a phone and our remote tools we are ready to consult with you on your technology issues so that you can stay connected and productive.

Watch Out for Scams! Times like these bring out the best in people -- without question. Yet, also, at times like these the dregs of humanity slither up from the swamp to take advantage of a bad situation. Not only is there an active dis-information campaign coming from bad-actors overseas, but the amount of rumor and just plain false information that is flying around the big social media sites can be misleading and frustrating. On top of all this, scammers are sending out phishing emails that have caused a lot of problems and compromised the personal data of thousands of Americans. Only visit reputable websites and avoid clicking on any links in emails. The FBI has information on these scams and how to stay safe: https://www.ic3.gov/media/2020/200320.aspx

Working Securely at Home Since more and more people are working at home right now, it is important to know how to keep your laptop secure. MalwareBytes have put together some best practices for working at home. You can view the article here: https://blog.malwarebytes.com/how-tos-2/2020/03/security-tips-for-working-from-home-wfh/

February 2020 - Monthly Mini-Bytes

Is it time for a Password Audit? A few weeks ago there were a flurry of reports of Ring cameras being hacked. Panic ensued. Tech talking heads immediately piled on Ring and other similar service providers as evil, unsecure, and heartless capitalists who could care less about their customers. They said that children were in peril, privacy was over, and small flightless birds were soon to rise up and become our overlords. It was classic fake news... except for the birds, of course. The truth of the matter is it was the customers who failed to configure their devices with secure passwords on a secure infrastructure. Hackers look for soft targets. Having no password or not changing the default password (the one that came with the device) is like putting a bird feeder on the ground and not expecting squirrels to plunder the seed. It's not the device's fault. It's not the fault of the company that built the device. It is totally the fault of the end-user (consumer) who chose not to take their security seriously. Passwords are a pain. They are hard to remember. They cause confusion and lost productivity. Well, until a better system is developed, we are stuck with them, so it's best to learn how to co-exist and maybe even love your passwords. (Okay, maybe not.) Here are the rules for good passwords: At least 10 characters. 12 is better. 14 or more is awesome. Use a mix of numbers, letters (capitals, too), and symbols if allowed. Don't use the same password for everything. It's like having no password at all. Do not make the passwords similar to others. Once one is compromised, the rest will fall quickly. Write down your passwords, or save them somewhere. No one remembers their passwords. It is okay to use fowl language when talking about the subject of passwords with others. If you use iCloud Keychain and save passwords in Safari, you can "audit" the state of your passwords by going into Safari, choosing Preferences from the Safari drop-down menu, and selecting the Passwords menu tab. It will ask you for your computer password. Here you can see what you have saved. Accounts with passwords that are reused or easily guessed will show a symbol on the right. Happy auditing!

How To Clean Your Stuff There's a lot of advice on the news about staying healthy, and although it's not possible to encase oneself in hand sanitizer, there are things that you can do with your computer and devices to keep them clean. There was a study several years ago that a computer keyboard has more bacteria on it than a public restroom toilet seat. Seriously... ick! Fortunately Apple has created a page on how to safely clean everything from a keyboard, to an iPhone, and even the Apple Watch. You can check it out here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204172

Old Speakers, the End of Music, and You I think there is a subset of Americans who love their Sonos Systems more than their children. The wireless speaker system has made it easy to play all types of music around the house. The systems are expensive, and with that type of investment you can understand the anger when Sonos announced in January that it was ending support for older speaker models. Of course, since then the CEO backtracked, but it still brings up an excellent point on devices and longevity, especially when it comes to music. It used to be that purchasing a good stereo system meant that it could last a lifetime. Older speakers from 40 years ago arguably sound as good as anything today, and who would turn away the opportunity to own a tubed amplifier -- technology from the 30s! But now that $3,000 invested in a digital music system does not have the longevity. At some point it will not be supported. As file systems change it will have a difficult time playing music that you want to hear. And it will break. Then, good luck trying to find someone to fix it. Digital products are expendable, and once they go through their lifecycle, then the only thing that can be done with those systems is, well, recycle. Sonos backed off for now, but they will have to end support for older systems at some point. This is also true for any smart or connected device imaginable including doorbells, alarms, refrigerators, home automation systems, or even those fancy connected lightbulbs. It's food for thought.

January 2020 - Monthly Mini-Bytes

The Truth About Business Email Today we will be talking about email for business. For consumers we like iCloud or Gmail for mail, but we can go into that later, but a lot of the same reasons we like those two for home users, we like Google's G-Suite or Microsoft's Office 365 Exchange for business. In 2020 email has become a minefield of spammers, scammers, spoofers, and otherwise bad folks trying to impersonate your employees, fool customers, or get back-door access to your systems. It takes a large organization like Google and Microsoft to dedicate the resources both in staffing and technology to build a firewall of protection around business email. It's not to say that they are 100% secure -- no system is, but by having the manpower focused on gray-listing and blacklisting domains, it helps give business owners one more layer of protection. Smaller ISPs cannot compete, which is why you see such organizations as Go Daddy reselling Microsoft Office 365 Exchange. We usually recommend purchasing Office 365 Exchange directly from Microsoft, as some ISPs will resell older or their own server-based versions of Exchange that we do not recommend in 2020. Again, no mail system is even close to 100% secure. You and your company need a good, solid set of policies around passwords, access, and account criteria in addition to a robust email system. Even then, it still takes a savvy and well-trained staff to further your business' protection. One other thing to note: These two products offer a lot more than email. From calendars, to notes, to apps, to cloud storage -- both offer full business suites. To learn more about: Google G-Suite for Business: https://gsuite.google.com/solutions/ Microsoft Office 365 Exchange: https://products.office.com/en-us/exchange/exchange-online

You Have to Pay to Play There is a cost with trying to save money when it comes to technology. You pay for quality and reliability. You pay for security and longevity. And the cost stays the same whether you wait to upgrade or delay it down the road. Nowadays with all the security concerns it is important to keep as up-to-date as possible to make sure that you are taking advantage of the best security. Do we recommend refurbished Macs, iPhones, etc? No. Absolutely never. Macs and other Apple devices retain their value as long as they can run a current system. For a Mac you may save one or two-hundred dollars, but you never know if it is actually "refurbished" and you may just be buying someone else's problems. A well-configured Mac purchased new with Apple Care covers you for three years and can hopefully last well beyond that. What about subscriptions for Adobe or Office? Pay them. That's the way that tech is going. It's frustrating, but with your subscription you have 24/7 support (in most cases) and the apps will always be up-to-date. If you don't like the subscription model that these companies are implementing, you could always buy their stock and show up to the annual meetings to complain. It won't help, but you may get some tasty snacks. What if my iPhone/iPad cannot run a current system? Get a new one. For mobile devices it's important to always be on the current system. If you can't run it, replace it. iPhones have a lifecycle of about 2 years. That's what the industry says. You may get longer, but if it won't run the current iOS, then replace it. A little money spent over a consistent period is better than a lot spent all at once with massive updates to software and systems. Staying current and up-to-date, at the end of the day, is the cost-effective solution to level the technology costs.

Big Changes to Cox Email and Others For many of the reasons stated in our article above about business email, ISPs like Cox are pulling back their offerings. As of August 2019 you are no longer permitted to add additional email accounts. We have also learned that Cox is limiting new customer's emails to one. https://www.cox.com/residential/support/cox-email.html And Cox is not the only internet provider to start pulling back on email. Now is the time to think about moving your primary email address to a different service. We have found iCloud and Gmail to be two attractive options. Remember that moving to a new primary email means changing all logins that use the old @cox.net email address.

December 2019 - Monthly Mini-Bytes

The 16-Inch MacBook Pro: Why it's the Best Value Last month Apple announced it's much improved 16-inch MacBook Pro. It is a major improvement over the previous generation 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros. The keyboard has been fixed and the problematic butterfly design replaced by a scissor-style mechanism that has many of us sighing in relief. The butterfly keyboard of the old MacBooks (13 Pro. 15 Pro, and Air) has been a controversial design with problems of sticky keys and an unusual feel. In fact, Apple has an open Keyboard Service Program for these laptops, meaning you can purchase a new 13-inch MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air with a soft recall right out of the box. You can learn more about this program here: https://support.apple.com/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks That's not fun, but Apple is set to refresh the 13-inch MacBook Pro in such a way as the 16-inch version, bumping it up to 14 inches and blessing it with the new and improved keyboard. This means that if you want a smaller form factor, it may be prudent to wait until the smaller 14-inch MacBook Pro is announced. We would. The second thing that makes the 16-inch MacBook Pro so good is the fact that Apple has enough real estate in the new laptop to provide adequate cooling so the processors can run at their proper output, without being throttled. This is a big deal as if you purchase an 8-Core i9 processor, you want it to run like an 8-Core i9 processor. The last thing is cost. Yes, talking about a $2,400 computer as a "good deal" is a first world issue, but hear me out. The entry 16-Inch MacBook Pro at $2,400 can be less expensive than a 13-inch that has been "beefed-up." And at that price you get a 6-Core processor, 16 GB of RAM, a 512 GB Solid State Drive, and a real AMD Radeon Pro video card. So what are we saying? If you need a new MacBook Pro right now, consider the 16-inch model. If it's just too big, then wait if you can for the refreshed 14-inch that will be hot on its heels. As for the Air, it will probably get its day with the new keyboard hopefully just as soon.

The AirPod Apocalypse This Holiday Season it's going to be easier to get an officially licensed Baby Yoda plushie than Apple's AirPods, apparently. According to multiple news outlets Apple has sold out of AirPods at it's retail stores, but if you do an internet search other outlets may have them available. Yet, whether they ship over the next week it is hard to say. Still, if you are looking at picking up the regular AirPods or AirPods Pro, you may want to get shopping! For more info, check out this CNBC article: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/17/apples-airpods-pro-are-sold-out-online-ahead-of-the-holidays.html

Secure Your Mac Before Your Next Party This time of year it's so great to have friends and family come by your home to celebrate the season. But celebrating doesn't mean opening up your Mac to nosy neighbors, know-it-all relatives, or grandkids that will load up the computer with more malware than a library PC. Make sure before your next party or get-together that you take a couple of steps to make sure your Mac is all cozied up and secure: Log Out or Shut Down - Logging out of your account by going up to the Apple in the upper left and choosing "Log Out..." is a good way to lock down your Mac. In order to get back in you'll have to enter your computer password, but that's what's keeping it safe. Shutting it down works, too. It's your choice. iMac or Mini - Hide the Keyboard and Mouse. This is an easy one. With no input there will be no access. MacBook Pro, Air, or just MacBook - Lock your computer in a drawer or put is somewhere secure.

November 2019 - Monthly Mini-Bytes

macOS 10.15 Catalina and You macOS Catalina has been patched a few times, but we are still recommending holding off. Catalina is a major change to the Mac operating system as it is now focused on 64-bit programs, meaning your older apps will no longer work. If you have been seeing those "your app needs to be optimized" messages, then those are the ones that will not function in the new system. Take close inventory of your software before upgrading. We have been on Catalina for a while now, and there is a lot to like about the new system, especially under the hood. The ".1" release fixed a lot of issues, but if you haven't upgraded yet, then waiting for the next ".2" patch may be the way to go. To learn all about the new features of macOS Catalina visit: https://www.apple.com/macos/catalina/

The 16-inch MacBook Pro is here! 16 is the new 15! Apple released an all new 16-inch MacBook Pro with an improved keyboard and cooling capability, all in a package that is about the size of the old 15-inch model. The design foreshadows the upcoming refresh of the 13-inch MacBook Pros to, you guessed it, 14 inches. To learn more about the new MacBook Pro, visit: https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-16/

New AirPods Pro The big news about the AirPods Pro is noise cancelling! If you liked your old AirPods, the new model also has a new fit that is supposedly much more secure. To learn more, visit: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MWP22/airpods-pro

October 2019 - Monthly Mini-Bytes

macOS 10.15 Catalina - Should you update? macOS Catalina has been released so should you upgrade? No. Not right now. We'd recommend waiting. This is a major release of the Mac operating system and is compatible with machines from 2012 forward. But, it is a new release and our normal recommendation is to wait a few weeks until upgrading. Once a new system is out in the wild issues will crop up and waiting gives Apple time to patch up any bugs that appear. Also, Catalina does not support many older applications. If you have been getting by with an ancient version of Office or Creative Suite, it is almost assured that they will not work in the new system. Be very careful about your critical applications and their compatibility with macOS Catalina. You don't want to be stuck outputting hundreds or thousands of dollars on unplanned upgrades. The good news is that our initial impressions of Catalina are excellent. From what we have seen, there is a noticeable speed improvement over Mojave. But our advice to wait and check your applications still stands. It's better to be stable and working than cutting edge. To learn all about the new features of macOS Catalina visit: https://www.apple.com/macos/catalina/

Your iPhone Decision Matrix The new iPhones are out, so the big question is which one to get? First off, as we have always suggested when purchasing a mobile device get the latest-and-greatest... period. With that being said Apple has introduced three versions of its flagship iPhone 11. To make this easy, if you want the biggest screen, then the iPhone 11 Pro Max is the way to go. It is the biggest. But for most the smaller screen sizes work fine, which means it's a choice between the iPhone 11 or 11 Pro. The good news is that it comes down to photography. If you are really in to photography then the three camera system on the iPhone 11 Pro with its software enhancements make it the iPhone for photographers and videographers. For the rest of us, the iPhone 11 is a great deal. It has the same processor and internal bits of the Pros, but comes in at a much more palatable price. So in summary: Need the biggest screen: iPhone 11 Pro Max Heavy in to photography and videos: iPhone 11 Pro Just need a really good phone: iPhone 11 To learn more about the iPhone line click here: https://www.apple.com/iphone/

Slow Mac with Old Hard Drive? If you have a Mac from 2015 or newer that has the old style SATA hard drive, you know how much they have slowed down in recent years. The only way to fix the issue is to get a new machine with a solid state drive, but there is an unsupported yet workable option that we have seen used out in the field. Macs give you the ability to run the system from external hard drives. This is not the best option, but it is possible to purchase an external solid state drive, migrate to it, and then run the Mac from it. Does it work? Sure. Is it the best idea in the world? Not really. It's a bit like towing a new engine behind your car and using that to drive. Hmmm.... bad analogy, but that's all I have. The thing is that in order to take advantage of the speed and efficiencies of new systems like macOS Catalina, you need the hardware to be able to handle them. A solid state drive is critical to this.