A Quick Guide to a Mac

Some of the people I talk to really are not all that familiar with the Mac. They might not even be all that familiar with Windows even if they came from a Windows background. MakeUseOf has provided a handy reference guide for those who are switching from Windows to a Mac, but this guide is also extremely useful for anyone new - or old - to a Mac. Take a look at it, please. You might be surprised how easy it is to master using a Mac.

John Carter

What About that Email You Just Got?

An email you received contains an underlined URL for you to click to see something online. But should you click to open something you’re not sure about?Hold your horses! Put your cursor somewhere in that URL, but don’t click. Quickly a little box comes up right there attached to the pointing finger of your cursor. It gives you the whole URL so you can decide if it is something you want to click and open, or not.

Elaine Hardt

How to Fix Bad iOS 9 Battery Life

Jim Hamm recently experienced an unusual battery drain on his iPhone, running iOS 9. He read the following article, and made several changes in various settings. He found the culprit for his heavy battery use -- an app "ClockRadio". He does not use this app, and recently turned it on just to see what it was all about. Unknown to him, once opened it started a lot of background activity, which consumes battery power. He shut it down, and hopefully it won't do any more background activity.

The following article gives some helpful tips on improving battery life on your iPad or iPhone.

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2015/09/24/how-to-fix-bad-ios-9-battery-life-2/

Computer Chips Made of Wood

Elaine Hardt found this short piece posted in the November issue just out from Popular Mechanics giving a few details about an biodegradable, environmentally friendly microchip. Why? How? When? It is on page 86 of the magazine.

Computer Chips Made of Wood

                                                                                                                   David Lawrence

Your TV, phone, and Xbox are hard to get rid of, and not just for sentimental reasons. The electronic devices we use every day are powered by microchips, and those microchips contain precious or harmful elements like silicon, gold, gallium, and arsenic. You don't want these things sitting in landfills, where the chemicals can leak into the ground. But right now that's exactly what many do. This issue prompted an idea from University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Jack Ma and his team: Why not make the chips out of wood? The crucial circuits are still made of silicon or gallium arsenide, but in a quantity up to five thousand times smaller than that of typical chips. Those circuits, about a hundred nanometers thick, are placed on a base of cellulose nanofibril—wood that has been broken down to the nanoscale, then reassembled into what is essentially a thin, durable paper. The result is a biodegradable, environmentally friendly microchip. Consumers won't be able to buy the chips directly, but Ma says that three major computer chip manufacturers could soon be making them. —Jake Cappucino

Will Your Next Mac be Biodegradable?

New York Times article recently appeared that once again claims that recycling is a waste (pun intended) of time and money. Is this something like the argument over global warming? What does make sense to John Carter is to increase the cost of collecting garbage and let some of that money go into research for developing better biodegradable products.

This has nothing to do with a Mac, unless you consider that sometime in the future it won’t matter if you dump your old Mac in the trash - because it will simply disappear as another biodegradable item. Just don’t let it get wet while you’re using it.

If you can get your hands on a copy of the November issue of Discover magazine, take a peek at the article on “Meet the Lean, Green, Flying Machine,” or how to make an almost fully biodegradable drone. Yep, we’re getting there.

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Why force quitting apps to save battery life is a terrible idea

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Jim Hamm found a very helpful and informative article on when/how to shut down apps in your iPhone or iPad.  Quick summary: it's best to just use the home button to shut down apps.  He was not doing this but was using the wrong procedure as outlined in the article. Shared from Zite: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2015/10/09/why-force-quitting-apps-to-save-battery-life-is-a-terrible-idea/

 

How to enable Wi-Fi calling on your iPhone 6s or 6s Plus | iMore

Jim Hamm said that although this article mentions turning on wi-fi calling with AT&T on an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, it will work with the iPhone 6 as well. He turned his on, and said It will be interesting to see if he ever needs this feature.  He cannot see a downside by enabling this feature. http://www.imore.com/how-enable-wi-fi-calling-your-iphone-6s-or-6s-plus

AT&T's WiFi calling feature is now available

If AT&T is your carrier and you have an iPhone with iOS 9, here is an article you may want to read....Jim Hamm Shared from Zite: AT&T's WiFi calling feature is now available Engadget - It's been just a few days since the FCC granted AT&T's waiver request that allowed the company to finally turn on its WiFi calling feature, and now WiFi calling is officially live. AT&T confirmed as much in a blog on its site, and it works just as you'd expect. Right now, only an iPhone with iOS 9 will work, but as long as you're on a WiFi connection, your phone will route calls through that connection if your cellular signal is bad. It's a feature that T-Mobile and Sprint have provided for a while now, but regardless it's good news for a select group of customers on the USA's second-biggest wireless network. We're hoping that other phones besides the iPhone soon, but if you are among that select group of compatible customers, you can give it a try now.

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Wi-Fi Assist

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If you are running iOS 9 on an iPhone or iPad and have purchased a cellular data plan, here is an article you will want to read. There is a new "feature" in iOS 9 that automatically switches your device from wifi to cellular if iOS 9 deems the wifi signal to be too weak. It is called "wi-fi assist". Jim Hamm does not like this "feature".  He travels frequently, and wifi signals are often weak in hotels and RV parks.  He does not want his iPhone or iPad to switch to cellular without his OK since he could easily burn through his cellular plan data cap and not even realize it.  Fortunately, this "feature" can be turned off.

El Capitan Installed

Jim Hamm installed OS X 10.11 -- El Capitan -- on his MacBook Air on September 30, when it was released. It took about 30 minutes to download the 6 GB program, and another 40 minutes to complete the install. All went well as far as he could tell at the time. His MacBook Air has an SSD, and it must have been working hard as the cooling fans were blowing hard to cool the Mac down during the install. Normally he does not hear the fans. According to Gizmodo (here) there are 11 things that can now be done that could not be done with Yosemite.  Another recap of the new features of El Capitan is given here from  MacRumors.

One new feature is the ability to find the cursor by just shaking the Mouse.  It is sometimes difficult to see where the cursor is located.

Microsoft has said there will be no more major updates to Windows 10 -- just continuous improvements.  Will Apple follow their lead?

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El Capitan - worth getting

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He loves me, He loves me not. He loves me ... El Capitan debuts on September 30. A modest upgrade to OS X, but all suggest it's worth getting....Jim Hamm

Now if you want to know what others think, read this article. Here's an excerpt:

"After testing El Capitan for a few weeks, most sites agree that while OS X 10.11 isn't a massive overhaul, its performance enhancements and speed boosts make upgrading to the free new OS essentially a no-brainer."

El Capitan is really getting overwhelming approval.

ATM - not all good.

Jim Hamm reminds us, "if you travel, and particularly overseas, you probably use an ATM machine. Well, beware, because tech thieves are now focusing their malware efforts on ATM machines. Read the article here.
"When we travel and need to use an ATM, we try to do so only at a bank, and only during business hours. One time, some years ago, an ATM grabbed Zee's card and wouldn't return it. Fortunately, it was at a bank, the bank was open, and Zee got her ATM card back. A few tense moments, though, before the bank returned her card. We're not sure what happened. Perhaps an incorrect PIN entered?
"Anyway, if it's electronic -- whether it is your computer, the internet, an ATM, or? -- you can bet malware thieves are looking at it and wondering how they can get ahold of some your money....Jim"

Jim Hamm submits the following news about the iPhone 6S.

"Apple’s job every year is to bring out a new iPhone with enough improvements to justify an upgrade, a new purchase, or a switch from a competing phone. This year, the company has done it again with the iPhone 6S, adding core new features including a screen that detects the pressure of your touch and uses that knowledge to make navigation easier and faster.”
 
See the full article here.