Do you know how fast your Internet connection is? What is the unit used for measuring Internet connection speeds? How fast does your Internet connection need to be if you want to stream a movie from Netflix or a similar service? Read More from “Understand Internet Connection Speeds”
Backups Don’t Exist Unless You Test Them
This week’s Tech Tip is a cautionary tale.
Backups Don’t Exist Unless You Test Them. This adage may not make immediate sense to you, but let me explain. It is extremely important to test your backups by actually restoring one or more files. If you don’t know that you can successfully restore a file from your backup, then you don’t know if you really have any backup copies of your data at all. I was recently reminded of this adage when an acquaintance lost all of her email messages and a client came close to losing all his data. Let me elaborate.
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia Gives Simple Definitions for Technical Terms
Do you get overwhelmed by all of the technical terms you encounter? Would you like to get simple definitions for USB, broadband, tether, Wi-Fi or big data? If so, check out the Computer Desktop Encyclopedia (CDE) web site. Read More from “Computer Desktop Encyclopedia Gives Simple Definitions for Technical Terms”
Learn More About the Strength of Your Mac’s Wireless Connection
Would you like to know more about the strength of your Mac’s wireless (Wi-Fi) connection? If so, hold down the Option key and click on the Wi-Fi menu located near the clock in the upper right corner of your Mac’s screen. You’ll notice that additional details about your currently selected wireless network are displayed. I should mention that Apple added these details in Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6. If your Mac is using an older version of OS X, you won’t see the additional details. Here’s a brief explanation about some of these details. Read More from “Learn More About the Strength of Your Mac’s Wireless Connection”
Troubleshooting a Slow Mac
One of the most common questions I hear from clients is, “Why is my Mac slow?” This seemingly simple question can have an array of possible causes. Below are a few things you can easily check. One of these could help you identify, or maybe resolve, the cause of your Mac’s slowness. Read More from “Troubleshooting a Slow Mac”
Regus Offers Virtual, Mobile and Full-Time Offices
You might be interesting in learning about Regus if you answer yes to any of the following questions: Read More from “Regus Offers Virtual, Mobile and Full-Time Offices”
View All Time Stamps In Messages On Your iPhone
Have you ever noticed that the Messages app on your iPhone or iPad doesn’t automatically display a time stamp for each and every message? I know that there are times when I’ve really wanted to know exactly when a message was sent. As it turns out, you can easily view the time stamp for every message. Simply pull the speech bubbles slightly to the left. The time stamp for each message appears on the right side of the screen. How handy!
Use PhoneView To Copy iPhone Voicemail And Text Messages To Your Mac
Have you ever wanted to permanently save a voicemail message that you received on your iPhone? Or maybe a text message or iMessage? While all of these messages are backed up to your Mac when you sync your iPhone, Apple doesn’t provide an easy way to view or extract these messages. Instead, you’ll need to use a third-party application like PhoneView ($30).
Update June 2014: I recently learned about iExplorer. It appears to do everything that PhoneView does and more. For example, PhoneView does not let you retrieve calendar data from an iPhone. I need to do this for a client so I will be trying iExplorer and its helpful tutorials. I bought iExplorer but it appears that the free version lets you extract text messages.
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Use Secure Empty Trash to Overwrite Your Files
When you put a file into Trash and then empty the Trash, you aren’t really deleting or destroying that file. If you really want to destroy that file, you should use Secure Empty Trash, which will overwrite the file. To do this, put a file into Trash, then click on the Finder menu and select Secure Empty Trash.
[Update: December 2015. Starting with OS X El Capitan (aka OS X 10.11), Apple has removed the Secure Empty Trash option because it can’t be guaranteed to work with solid-state drives (SSDs). This Intego article discusses the situation and the ways to securely erase files in OS X El Capitan.]
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Easily Email Safari Web Pages or Their Addresses
Do you frequently want to email either a web page’s contents or its address? If so, here are two methods to do this using Safari version 6. Visit a web page, then go to the File menu and select Share, then Email This Page. (In older versions of Safari you do not have to first select the Share command.) Your default email application will open and display a new mail message showing the web page’s contents. Simply fill in the recipient’s email address and send it on its way. If you only want to send a link to the web page then hold down the Shift key as you click on the File menu. Then the Email This Page command changes its name to Email Link To This Page. Read More from “Easily Email Safari Web Pages or Their Addresses”
Make iPhone Text More Readable
Here are a couple of ways to make text on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch more readable. If you’ve upgrade your device to iOS 7, which Apple introduced in the fall of 2013, you can turn on Larger Type and/or Bold Text. Read More from “Make iPhone Text More Readable”
Fine-Tune Your Google Image Searches
You probably know that you can search for images on Google. The easiest way is to visit images.google.com. You can fine-tune your search to view only images of a preferred size or style. After you have performed your initial search click the Search Tools button. Read More from “Fine-Tune Your Google Image Searches”
How To Remove An App From Your Mac
Deleting or removing an application from a Mac can be both deceptively simple and surprisingly complex. Many applications can be deleted by simply dragging them to the Trash. However, this method will often leave small, related files tucked into various folders on the Mac. Thus, it is useful to know about some other ways to uninstall a Mac application. This article covers a couple of options. Read More from “How To Remove An App From Your Mac”
When Should You Install Major macOS or iOS Updates?
When Apple releases a major update to the Mac operating system, called macOS, or the operating system used on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, called iOS, clients often ask me when or if they should install these updates. Read More from “When Should You Install Major macOS or iOS Updates?”
How To Completely Erase Your iPhone or iPad
If you buy a new iPhone or iPad, you might want to sell or give away your previous one. Before you do either, you should fully erase your old iPhone or iPad. Read More from “How To Completely Erase Your iPhone or iPad”
Use Sessions To Save and Restore Web Pages in Safari
I use and highly recommend Sessions, a Safari Extension, made by David Yoo. Sessions gives you an easy way to save and restore sessions–groups of Safari windows and tabs. Sessions can auto-save the windows and tabs that you have open. Then you can use Sessions to easily restore all windows and tabs if Safari unexpectedly quits. Read More from “Use Sessions To Save and Restore Web Pages in Safari”
The Easiest Way to Rename a File
There are many ways to rename a file in Mac OS X. It seems that the easiest way is not necessarily well known, since I regularly find myself sharing the following information. Simply click on a file or folder icon in the Finder, then press the Return key. The file or folder’s name will be highlighted when you press the Return key. Simply type in a new name and then press the Return key a second time to indicate that you’re finished renaming. That’s it.
How To Dictate Emails on Your Mac
You can dictate emails and other documents if you have OS X Mountain Lion or newer installed on your Macintosh. Many people have learned that they can use Siri on an iPhone or iPad to dictate text messages, email messages and for other purposes. Fewer people seem to have noticed that Apple added some of these voice recognition capabilities to the Mac.
Control Keynote With a Wireless Remote
If you use Keynote to give slideshow presentations, you might want to consider carrying a wireless remote with you to free yourself from your Macintosh’s keyboard. Instead of using the keyboard or mouse to advance the slides, use a remote. Previously, I wrote about controlling Microsoft PowerPoint using an Apple Remote. This Tech Tip is about controlling Apple’s Keynote using either an Apple or a Logitech remote. Read More from “Control Keynote With a Wireless Remote”
How to Print From An iPhone or iPad
Would you like to be able to print from your iPhone or iPad? There are a number of ways to accomplish this. Here’s an overview of some of them. Read More from “How to Print From An iPhone or iPad”