Assorted resources that I regularly use. You might find them useful too.
Do you see technology as a strategic asset or a necessary evil?
Whidbey Telecom Map of Fiber Optic Service
Whidbey Telecom List of Services
Apple’s System Status Page
https://www.watchmanmonitoring.com/timemachine-exclusions
Memorable Password Generator
Micro Digital’s memorable password generator
Apple Silicon
- New Startup Modes from Smalldog Electronics
- Eclectic Light’s Startup Mode summary
- Mr Macintosh Everything You Need To Know
- Revive or Restore using Apple Configurator
macOS
- OS X Application Compatibility Info
- Snow Leopard Application Compatibility Info (Mac OS X 10.6)
- Printer and Scanner Compatibility
- iCloud Status
- Apple still sells Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) and Lion (OS X 10.7) for $19.99 each. Buy Snow Leopard from Apple’s web site. To purchase Lion call AppleCare at 1-800-275-2273. They’ll reportedly issue you a code that can be redeemed at the Mac App Store.
- Apple’s Mail Server Settings Lookup
- Buy Mac OS X Snow Leopard install DVD for $20 from Apple
- History of macOS and major new features.
iOS
Technical Details about Macs and other Apple Products
- MacTracker, EveryMac and Low End Mac
- Identify your iPhone model and your iPad model
- Lookup your Mac’s Serial at AppleSerialNumber or PowerBook Medic or Chipmunk.
- EveryMac’s LookUp and Comparisons
- Geekbench benchmarks also EveryMac’s benchmarks
- Apple Developer Documentation
- How To Geek Mac Processes
Repairing Macs and other Apple Products
- Apple Exchange and Repair Extension Programs
- Apple Vintage and Obsolete Products-Apple will repair products for 5 years from the date the product was discontinued.
- Search Apple’s Knowledge-base
- Macintosh Take-A-Part Guides – iFixIt and PowerBook Medic
- Mac Parts – caveat emptor, read the detail and check the return policy: UsedMac, MacPartsOnline and MacPalace
- Component-level repairs: Computer Repair of Des Moines Iowa and Rossman Group of NYC
- Repairing iPhones, iPads and iPod Touchs
- iOS Data Recovery – Dr. Fone and iPhone Backup Extractor
- MacBook Pro Apple Repair Price Tiers.
Buying and Selling Macs, iPhones and iPads
- New – Mac Prices and Mac Rumors Buyer’s Guide
- Compare current Macs or iPads
- SellYourMac and RenewedMacs (products come with 12 month warranty) started by Brian Burke in Cincinnati, OH
- Used or Refurbished – LowEndMac Best Deals or UsedMac
- RefurbTracker (offers RSS feed) and RefurbMe
- Pricing Your Used Mac – LowEndMac Deals and Seattle CraigsList or Phobio
- Selling iPhones and Other Electronic Gadgets
- Buying refurbished iPhones or iPads from Gazelle
Hardware and Peripherals
- All HP Printers
- Finding Best Prices – Google Shopping
- Frequent Vendors – Provantage, Other World Computing and StarTech
- Cable, Adapters, Face Plates and More – Monoprice, Vetco Electronics, DeepSurplus, and CableJive
- Cable Management, Organizing and Labeling
- Hardware Reviews: Tom’s Hardware, The Wire Cutter and TrustedReviews
- Smaller Review Sections: Cult fit Mac and Ars Technica
- Scanners
- Custom Cables – DataPro in Ballard or Redmond Cable
- Hardware Stores – Aubuchon and Home Fix It Parts
- Ergnomic Resources – The Human Solution
- Synology Diskstations – DSM Support
- Pictures of the myriad of USB connectors
- Thunderbolt and USB-C explained by AppleInsider
- AppleInsider Thunderbolt cable recommendations
Networking
- Fast.com simple interface, starts automatically, made by Netflix
- Comcast’s speed test has a cute animation.
- SpeedOf.Me good if looking for speed fluctuations, interface cluttered with ads
- SpeedSmart.net clean interface, detailed results.
- SpeedTest.net has a good reputation but is cluttered with ads. Internet Health Test which is also made by Ookla
- Your IP Number
- UptimeRobot – free server monitor
- Check to see if ports are open or Measurement Labs
- WhoIs or DNS Toolkit, IntoDNS or aBongo
- Who’s DNS servers are these?
- Global DNS Propagation check at WhatsMyDNS
- Netcraft Site Report including SPF, DKIM and DMARC, name servers, hosting company and much more
- MailTester.com for SPF and DKIM.
- Check SPF, DKIM and DMARC records
- Kiterman SPF Test or SPFSyntax, ORF Tools, Dig Web Interface
- Web Site SSL Tester
- Determine which web server (Apache, SquareSpace, CloudFlare) is being used
- Specs for CAT5 – CAT7 cabling
- IP Calculator IP converter
- Check to see if an IP number is blacklisted at MXToolbox or SenderScore
- Router Emulators
- PFSense – Open Source Firewall
- Configure wireless router as an access point
- Extending Airport Networks
- DNS Servers and who operates them
Training, Learning and Education Resources
- Lynda.com – hundreds of topics. Some freebies. Subscribe for about $30/month.
- NoteBook Productions – General Mac Training
- Apple’s YouTube video channel
- PC Classes Online – free online video training
- The Mac U – buy their Mac-related training apps for $2-$10 at the App Store
- ScreenCasts Online – membership-based online training
- CommonCraft – -blog, twitter, hardware, software, web browsers, QR codes and others
- Adobe Creative Suite Training Luminous Works, School of Visual Concepts, and American Graphics Institute
- SimonSezIT – Adobe, Microsoft, QuickBooks, Web Development, macOS training
- INE in Seattle – Bootcamps, classroom and online training. CompTIA, Linux, AWS, Google, Java, VMware, WireShark, SolarWinds, etc
Software
- Software Discounts – Academic Superstore
- TechSoup – Technology and Software for Non-Profits
- Microsoft Office – Cortig. Also: Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Office system requirements
- Microsoft Product Lifecycle for Office 2016 (and other products)
- Download Office Updates
- Microsoft365 Home and Personal or Business Subscriptions
- Microsoft365 Exchange Online Plans
- Quickbooks Desktop 2019, 2020 and 2021 work with macOS 11 Big Sur
- Office 2011 for Dummies, Daily Dose of Excel
- Remove Office 2016 licensing
- Remove Office 2016 completely
- Office-Reset.com free Office removal tool
- MacAdmin’s Office download links
- Office End of Support, End of Life info
- Old Java for Creative Suite
- Sketchup Compatibility
- Pondini’s Tiime Machine
- UNIX
- Mac OS X Server – AFP548
- Recommended Secure Email Companies, ProtonMail and Hushmail.
iOS Tools
iOS Apps
- AppShopper – provides price history
Adobe Creative Suite
- Download Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop app
- Adobe CS 6 Macintosh System Requirements and here also
- Adobe CS 6 Product Matrix
- Adobe CS 5 Macintosh System Requirements and here also
- Troubleshot Adobe Creative Cloud installation issues
- Download Adobe CC Cleaner Tool – The tool removes installation records for prerelease installations of Creative Cloud or Creative Suite applications
- Download installers for Adobe Creative Suite, Acrobat & Photoshop Elements.
- Download installers for older Adobe Creative Suite and other products
- Download trial versions of Creative Suite
- Adobe anonymous FTP server (Acrobat 9 and other stuff)
- Blog about Acrobat update
- Lion – known issues with Adobe products
- Mountain Lion compatibility with Adobe Creative Suite
- Creative Suite compatibility with OS X Mavericks (10.9)
- Extensis Suitcase Fusion compatibility info
Color Calibration
- Using Apple’s Color Calibration Assistant
- Monitor calibration explained
- Choosing Adobe Color Workspace Settings
Keyboard Shortcuts
- Apple’s list of keyboard shortcuts
- Common keyboard shortcuts presented in a user-friendly way
- Another list of shortcuts
- How to create keyboard shortcuts
- How to manage keyboard shortcuts
- iOS 7 keyboard shortcuts
Domain Registrars, Email and Web Hosting
- Registrars: Hover offers a clean and simple web site. See if domain is available. Buy it if you’d like it. Their documentation is clean. Their support techs are helpful.
- Website hosting: SquareSpace, Wix, Weebly, Big Mountain
- WordPress hosting: WPengine, MediaTemple, Big Mountain and many others
- Email hosting: Microsoft365, great option for 1 or 2 email accounts, Rackspace IMAP or Exchange with min $10/month charge,
- Cheap or Free Static Website Hosting
Other
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