by Terry McAdams | Oct 14, 2024 | How-To, iCloud, iCloud Drive, productivity
Apple’s online iCloud storage underpins many of the company’s services, including iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive, iCloud Backup (for iPhones and iPads), iCloud Mail, and Messages in iCloud. Numerous independent apps also rely on iCloud storage to sync data between...
by Terry McAdams | Oct 11, 2024 | Backup, How-To, Mac, troubleshooting
Macs are much more reliable than in the past, but it remains the case that computers and apps can fail in a wide variety of ways. And they’ve become so integral to daily life that an occasional failure is almost inevitable. Unfortunately, if you aren’t prepared for...
by Mike Hendren | Sep 30, 2024 | Tech History
September 30, 1980 On September 30, 1980, Xerox, Digital and Intel, released version 1.0 of the Ethernet specification called Blue Book. Ethernet works by breaking up information being sent to and from devices into different sized bits of info called frames. Today,...
by Terry McAdams | Sep 23, 2024 | iPad, iPhone, productivity, Tip
A friend recently expressed astonishment when she saw us using trackpad mode while editing text on an iPhone. (It works on the iPad, too!) So, even if you already know these tips, do your friends a favor and show them: Tap once to position the insertion point at the...
by Mike Hendren | Sep 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
September 22, 1986 Computer coding, at least the more modern era of coding that we would recognize, really began in the 1950’s. So, it’s a bit surprising that it took the courts this long to determine that computer code deserved copyright protections. In September of...
by Terry McAdams | Sep 20, 2024 | Mac, passwords, Security, Tip
Although paying attention to online security is of primary importance, don’t forget local security. You don’t want to go out for lunch and let someone wandering by your office poke through your email, messages, photos, and private files. To ensure this doesn’t happen,...
by Terry McAdams | Sep 18, 2024 | Security, Tip
We’ve written in the past about how Apple-only companies can protect themselves from ransomware (strong security, isolated backups, monitoring software), but realistically, it’s primarily a threat to computers running Windows and Linux. If you, or anyone you know, is...
by Mike Hendren | Sep 16, 2024 | iOS, Tech History
September 16, 1985 AND 1997 After a head-to-head boardroom battle with John Sculley, the former PepsiCo executive that Steve Jobs himself recruited to Apple, Jobs resigned from the company on September 16, 1985. Twelve years to the day later, Steve Jobs was back and...
by Terry McAdams | Sep 12, 2024 | privacy, Security, Tip
A few months ago, news broke about the latest massive data breach, this time from a company called National Public Data, a company that collects vast amounts of personal data about individuals from public data sources, including addresses, employment history, criminal...
by Terry McAdams | Sep 10, 2024 | AirPods, Apple Watch, News
It’s September, which brings the annual Apple crops: new iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods. At its recent Glowtime event, Apple unveiled the new iPhone 16 lineup, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods 4, alongside smaller announcements about existing products. As...
by Terry McAdams | Sep 10, 2024 | 1Password, Apple Watch, Backup, How-To, iCloud, iPhone, Tip, Upgrade
Are you planning to upgrade to a new iPhone 16? It’s exciting, we know, but it’s best to proceed deliberately when setting up your new iPhone to avoid causing yourself headaches. Follow these instructions when you’re ready to transfer your data—and, for many people,...
by Terry McAdams | Sep 5, 2024 | Tip, Upgrade
The calendar has flipped over to September, so Apple will soon release major upgrades for all its operating systems. iOS 18 and watchOS 11 will undoubtedly ship alongside new iPhone and Apple Watch models mid-month. iPadOS 18 is likely to accompany iOS 18, as are tvOS...
by Terry McAdams | Sep 4, 2024 | Camera, iPhone, Security, Tip
QR codes, those square, blocky codes you scan with your iPhone’s camera to load a Web page, have become ubiquitous. So much so that we seldom pause before scanning any QR code we see. But if you think about it, that’s the same as clicking random links in emails or...
by Terry McAdams | Sep 2, 2024 | iPad, iPhone, Mac, Notification Center, Tip, troubleshooting
iOS, iPadOS, and macOS all let you specify whether any given app should show no notifications, temporary banners, or persistent alerts: look in Settings > Notifications and System Settings > Notifications. Temporary banners appear briefly and then automatically...
by Terry McAdams | Aug 30, 2024 | Apple ID, Security
In the Apple world, the account that controls access to all your Apple-related online services is the Apple ID. Buying apps from the App Store, putting photos in iCloud Photos, and sharing data between iCloud-enabled apps—all these actions rely on your Apple ID. If...
