It's no secret that Apple makes some incredible products. Whether you're buying a MacBook Pro, iMac, iPhone or even the new Apple Watch, you're making a wise investment. Apple's products come with a limited warranty to cover issues with manufacturing defects, but there's also an option to purchase an extended warranty. Apple calls this AppleCare.
The question that I am often asked is this... "Do you recommend that I buy AppleCare with my new product?" While the answer to that question will vary depending on personal preference and circumstances, I do have some very definitive thoughts on the concept of AppleCare and extended warranties in general.
We LOVE to be social in our neighborhood. About 10 years ago, we thought it would be fun to kick off the first day of Summer (on the last day of school) by showing a movie on our garage door for our family and a few of their friends. We had so much fun with it, that we did it again... and again... and again! By the end of that Summer, we had shown about 5 or 6 movies on our garage for our family, friends and neighbors. We loved it, and they loved it. We loved it so much, in fact, that we decided to make it an annual Summer-time Allgaier tradition.
Fast forward 10 years, and while the technicalities and treats have changed (drastically), the concept is still the same. Each year, on the last day of school, we kick off the Summer by showing a movie on the garage. We show other movies about every 2 - 3 weeks throughout the Summer, until school starts again. We have officially called it "Movie on the Garage" (super creative name, right?). I've had so many people ask me what gear I use now. Interest has been so high, that I thought it would be fun to write a post about it.
Apple Keynote (part of the iWork suite of applications) is an amazing app for getting your point across to others in the form of a slide deck. It's simple to use, comes preloaded with lots of professional-looking templates and offers cinematic-quality animations and transitions. For the average user, pressing "Play" and going through each slide in sequence is perfectly acceptable. For those who command full control over their slide deck (including those who find themselves needing to jump around in the slide deck), there are keyboard shortcuts.
Most people think of keyboard shortcuts as a way to quickly navigate an app (in this case to build your slide deck). In this case, I'm referring to a special set of shortcuts that are only available during a slideshow. Because these shortcuts aren't necessarily easy to find or come across, I wanted to provide a nice cheat sheet of each available keyboard shortcut, as well as a short list of the ones that I use the most.
Today's Tech Talk post is from a reader. She asks, "It seems like my hard drive is always full and I can't seem to find what is using all the space. Can you help me understand this??" Absolutely, and that's a great question, Patti!
Understanding what your data is and where it's being stored on your computer is essential to enjoying your computer experience. If it feels like a big mess, then you will enjoy your experience far less than if you felt organized and in control. Here are some tips on gaining and maintaining control over your Mac's hard drive or SSD (from here on, I will just refer to these as "internal storage") usage.
Let's face it, an iPhone and/or iPad is a pretty hefty investment. Sure, it may only cost $200 -$400 (depending on the model) to purchase a subsidized iPhone from your cell carrier, but have you ever had to replace that phone before your contract is up? You can tack on another $300 or so (depending on your carrier). All of a sudden, a lost device becomes very expensive to replace.
It may not happen every time you lose a device, but in some cases, the finder actually does want to learn who the owner is so that they can return it. We've been taught (and it's good practice) to always use a passcode to protect the data on your device in case it does end up lost. But if the finder can't get into your device, how will they know who it belongs to and how to return it? Simple.
Apple's suite of online services (a.k.a.: iCloud) helps you to manage your digital life. From email to calendaring to photo-sharing, your iCloud account has the potential to be the center of your digital life. This is not only true for you, but it will likely be true for your children as well.
Even though they may not be ready to use iCloud right now, here's some advice that will help you (and them) when they are ready to use it.
I can't tell you how much time has been wasted over the years when trying to troubleshoot network issues because of poor network documentation. Regardless of the size or complexity of your network, it's always a good idea to have a showing the logical design of your network including information such as IP addressing schemes, devices, servers, etc. This not only applies to business, but also for home (yes, home).
For smaller networks (i.e.: home and small business) , it really doesn't take that long to go through the exercise of diagraming your network. It does, however, take some time to gather the information needed to generate said diagram. It's certainly better to spend that time when things are running smoothly, rather than waiting for a problem to arise. If you wait til then, it will take much longer to resolve your issue without a diagram than it would with a proper diagram.
One thing I have learned about myself over the years is that I prefer things to be organized and in order. Not only does it make it easier to find and use things, but it helps me to keep my mind clear. When I feel like I have a good handle on something (insert "control freak" joke here), I find I am better able to deal with the complexities and chaos of life. This approach most definitely applies to how I manage my Inbox. Email, after all, is a critical communications tool for me.
I work with many people who don't necessarily have the same philosophy, and quite honestly, I'm fine with that. "To each their own", as the saying goes. For those who would prefer to be more organized, however, but don't know where to start, I offer some insights into how I manage my busy Inbox.
Today's post is in response to a reader question: "Do you advocate installing virus protection on a new MacBook Pro Retina? I am new to Mac & am getting confusing feedback from other Mac users. Some say yes & others say it is unnecessary. What is your advice?"
This is a very good question, indeed. The answer will vary from person to person, depending on their preference. My answer is based on personal preference and 12+ years experience working with Mac OS X on a technical level.
Email is a great form of communication between family members and within teams at the office. It's efficient, cheap, versatile and nearly instantaneous. With so many positive reasons for using email in your personal and work life, however, it's important to remember that there are also negative aspects to using email. Spam is common for nearly all email users, which has potential to also introduce viruses.
In order to combat the negative effects of email, there are certain things that we should all be aware of. Here are 5 tips for staying safe when using email.
If you haven't learned something new today, then you must be dead or on vacation, but even on vacation, you should be learning something new. That's exactly why this "Tech Talk" blog exists... to help you learn something new every day.
When it comes to developing your skills and talents, there are plenty of ways to do this. The most common way that most people think of right away is a formal college or university education. This is obviously still a very valid option, but wouldn't it be nice to attend a college course here or there without the time and expense commitment that goes along with it? Good news... you can!
When Apple introduced FaceTime alongside the iPhone 4 introduction in June 2010, it was used very little. I believe this was the case for two reasons: 1) people had a hard time finding an application for its use and 2) at the time, it only worked over WiFi. Since then, AT&T and other carriers have relaxed their restrictions to the point that yu can now use FaceTime over 4G and LTE on the go. Now, it seems like FaceTime is used more frequently (I use it just about every day, and it's becoming more frequent).
When Apple announced availability of the Apple Watch, they told us that the battery would last a full 18-hours. Here's a copy of their marketing language: "Apple Watch is so capable you’ll want to wear it all day long. So we made sure we gave it a battery that lasts all day, too. Our goal for battery life was 18 hours after an overnight charge, factoring in things like checking the time, receiving notifications, using apps, and doing a 30-minute workout. And because everyone will use Apple Watch differently, we tested several other metrics as well."
So the question is this... is it all marketing hype, or is there merit to their claims? I decided to put the watch to the test for myself, and here are the real-world results.
The Apple Watch is finally here!!! I haven't been this excited about a new product since the iPhone was originally announced and launched in 2007. Primarily because this is a brand new market for Apple, as was the iPhone. You could argue that the iPad was as well, but because it functioned a lot like the iPhone did (just with a larger display), it wasn't a completely new experience like that iPhone was and like the Apple Watch is.
With that in mind, I wanted to give you my thoughts and first impressions. Before I do, a quick note on order my Apple Watch. In one word... easy! The Apple Watch was available for pre-order on Friday, April 10, 2015, starting at 12:00a Pacific. I was working with a client until about 11:30p (30 minutes prior to the pre-order availability), and rushed home so that I could begin the "refresh, refresh, refresh" ritual on my browser.
If you're relatively new to the Mac, you may not fully appreciate that Finder is very tightly integrated to the rest of OS X. Finder is the application that allows you to browse your hard drive's contents (files, folders, etc). Finder, itself, has some pretty amazing power under the hood.
Spotlight is also an amazing technology that's built into OS X. It allows you to quickly and easily find any file on your Mac. Combining the power of Finder and Spotlight can yield some amazing results. Here's just one example.
