Apple Going Green

Whether one is a Mac fan or not, certainly one aspect of Apple that causes admiration is its effort on 'going green'. For more on this, read this article.

Kudos to Apple for this effort.

What with the tremendous use of computers, smart phones, and the internet, it's difficult to imagine how many data centers there are around the world, each one consuming a significant amount of electricity and producing lots of heat.

Jim Hamm

Apple "Notes"

For your possible interest, following is an article, by Emily Dolloff, about the app "Notes" from the Kibbles & Bytes #1031 Newsletter from Small Dog Electronics. link . 

I haven't been a user of "Notes" previously, but plan to try the app out as it seems quite powerful.

Maybe this app is one you might find useful, also.

Jim Hamm

Notes!By Emily Dolloff 

I have been a fan of Notes for years! I started out using the Notes program on my mac and used it for everything, and sadly, I mean everything, including usernames andpasswords. Thankfully I learned many years ago safer means of account login storage and abandoned my sticky note ways on my Mac.

What I missed most about my sticky notes was a quick and all in one location for things I needed to jot down, hello and welcome notes! Notes has been out for many years and it’s certainly nothing new on iOS or macOS. Notes is an incredibly versatile program and one that I rely on heavily as another tool for keeping me organized and in order. I’ve written in the past about reminders, but I admit, try as I might I just can’t get away from Notes and find its versatility in features to be something that reminders just can’t compete with. There are several features within the notes program that go beyond just taking a simple note, and I want to share some of my favorite features.

Syncing

I think the ability to sync my notes across all of my devices is hands down the number one reason I use and just can’t break away from this handy little app. I can write a note on my computer and it automatically sends the note to my iPad and iPhone. With iCloud turned on and note syncing your notes update across all devices that are logged into your iCloud account. There is one catch to the auto syncing that is new in the last year or so. In order for your iOS devices and your Mac to get your notes you do need to make sure that in addition to to iCloud being turned on, all of your devices need to be running the latest OS. Last week I had an issue where my notes were syncing from my iOS devices to my Mac, but not from my Mac to my iOS devices. A quick look at my devices revealed I hadn’t run my most recent software updates.

Drawing

Did you know that you can draw within the notes program? Notes allows you to actually write a note in your own handwriting, but also allows you to draw and there is even a handy ruler so you can draw straight lines. There are a variety of colors to choose from to put a pop of color in and you have a choice of a pencil, and two marker options. The details aren’t as responsive or detailed as that of say the iPad Pro. But this little feature allows for handy on-the-go creations. You can easily and quickly sketch out an idea via e-mail, text and even social media. This feature only really works on the iOS, you can do some similar actions on the Mac via Mark Up.

Mark Up

Within notes you can insert a pictures from your photo library (on the Mac you can just drag and drop the image into your note) and then you can mark it up! You can draw over the image, add text, shapes and more. I recently used this feature specifically when I was working to re-model and paint a room in my house. We took pictures of the room and used the mark up feature to finalize what colors and changes we were going to make in the room.

Locking Notes

Another cool feature with the notes program is that you can lock the notes. The only information that is viewable in the note is the title. A passcode must be entered on the computer or iOS device in order to see what is in the note. This is a great way to keep things just a little bit more secure on your devices. While you should keep things like passwords and account information securely stored in your keychain, this is another option. Admittedly if you’re given a code or access to something and need the information temporarily, it’s more practical to jot it in Notes and lock it. Likewise if your a busy mom or spouse and you find yourself making notes about a special event or gifts it’s nice to know you can keep wondering eyes away from your information and keep the surprise.

Notes, the little app that does so much!

How a Solid State Drive Works

Should you have an interest, here is an article that gives a good explanation of how an SSD (Solid State Drive) works. One aspect of an SSD is that it has a finite number of times it can be written to -- which, realistically, isn't going to be a concern to most of us. Having said that, though, one thing I hadn't considered is that every time one uses the 'hibernate' function on a computer, this is a write function and reduces somewhat the life cycle of the SSD.

I've been doing this on my PC running Windows 10, but the hibernate function isn't available on my Mac laptop, running macOS Sierra. Both units have an SSD, but the hibernate function isn't supported natively on the Mac -- perhaps for the consideration of not adding extra write cycles to the SSD.

If you're going to be purchasing a new computer -- and especially a laptop, which is subject to movement and jarring --  I highly recommend getting an SSD. Yes, more expensive, but worth it, in my opinion.

Jim Hamm

VPN Software

Recently there has been a lot more discussion in blogs and newsletters about perhaps using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to increase the security of your browsing the web. If you have an interest in learning more about VPN's, following are some articles you may want to read.

These may be a bit on the 'techy' side, so be aware of this.

Jim Hamm

An introduction...read here

The PPTP VPN Protocol is not secure...read here

Best VPN services...read here

iOS Travel Apps

If you're planning to do a bit of travel, and would like a travel app to assist you,

here is an article describing the features of five travel apps that you can use on your iPhone or iPad. The article is quite informative and helpful.

If I were still working and traveling frequently, I'd use one of these apps. As an infrequent traveler nowadays, I'm not so sure I want to learn how to use any of them. It's just easier to ask my wife, "what time is the flight, and which airline?".

Jim Hamm

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Final Apple iPhone 8 Schematics Allegedly Leaked by Foxconn Insider

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If you are interested in a rumor on what the next iPhone might look like, click on the link below. The phone is speculated to have an OLED screen, which consumes much less power, and is flexible. More info on OLED's  in this link: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/oled5.htm .

Jim Hamm

 

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Final-Apple-iPhone-8-schematics-allegedly-leaked-by-Foxconn-insider_id93157

HDD vs SSD

No doubt you've been sitting there wondering how a spinning hard drive (HDD) compares to a solid state drive (SSD). Well, wonder no more, just read this article. Not too worry -- it's not too technical, and really quite interesting to compare the two technologies.

Both are amazing devices in their own right, and computers have come a long way in just a few short years. It's amazing that a platter can sit there, spinning at 7200 rpm, and the head can search for and find just the document or picture you were looking for. How do it do that?

Jim Hamm

Tablet and Smartphone Technical Assistance

For your possible interest, following is a note from the Prescott Computer Society (PCS) about help for your electronic device at the Prescott Public Library. The intent is to provide a free public service for members of our community.

Jim Hamm

Beginning on May 2, PCS will be assisting the Prescott Public Library with their new program entitled "Technology Help Hour" which will be held on Tuesdays from 10:00-11:00 AM in their Computer Lab which is located on the third floor. The official PPL blurb states "Ask a technology question and get help from members of the Prescott Computer Society. Bring your own laptop or mobile device or use a library laptop. This is a weekly, drop-in service and registration is not required."

In essence, you can bring your device to the session and some of our members will be there to help fix your problems. The technicians will be JB Burke, Ray Carlson, Dick Mason and yours truly (Ray DeCosta) for the Android side and Jim Hamm and Bobbie Pastor for the Mac folks. Attendees will be served on a first-come-first-serve basis and if we can't get to you in the allotted time, you will be first on the next week's list.

 

Keeping Records as a PDF File

I like to keep records of my monthly bank and credit card statements as a PDF file on my computer. It’s been really handy to be able to go back to review transactions. The one issue that I have with the monthly statements that I download is that there are always several pages in the PDF file that are quite useless to keep.

To trim the unnecessary pages from a PDF document, open the document with Preview. In the View menu, select Thumbnails (if not already selected). Select the pages (from the Thumbnails) that you want to delete. Then select Edit -> Delete in the menu bar.

You can also rearrange pages of a PDF file by dragging a Thumbnail image into a new position.

Did you scan a document and one of the pages is in the wrong orientation? You can rotate a page by selecting the Thumbnail image, then click on Tools -> Rotate Left (or Tools -> Rotate Right) in the menu bar.

I often need to fill in a form or add notes to a PDF document. Click on the Markup icon 

PastedGraphic-1.png

and then click on the Text icon 

to add a text box which will show up smack in the middle of the document.

PastedGraphic-4.png

Click on the word ’Text’ to change the content of the text box. It will resize automatically as you enter text. You can also click on one of the blue dots to change the size of the box.

Change the font type, size, color and justification by clicking on the ‘A’ icon (to change the existing text, it must be highlighted):

Click outside the text box to finish the entry.

To drag the text box to an appropriate position, hover over the text box until the mouse pointer turns into a hand. Click and hold to drag the entire text box.

John Carter

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Computer -- On or Off?

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In the evening, should you turn your computer off or leave it on? That question has been posed many times in the past, and here is yet another article on the subject. The author is Tom Nelson, and I have a lot of respect for his opinion on questions relating to computers.

When my computers had spinning hard drives, I turned them off in the evening when I was done computing for the day. My reasoning was that I didn't think it was good for a hard drive to sit there spinning 24/7.  Give it a rest, was my thought so as not to wear the bearings out. Now that all my computers have an SSD, I don't think it matters much, and it's the same conclusion Tom draws in his article.

Jim Hamm

World Backup Day

 April 1st was "World Backup Day". The website says something like 'don't be an April Fool, no way, backup today'. Regardless of the day, I'm a big fan of backing up your electronic device, whatever it is. Here is an excellent article, from iMore, with tutorials on how to backup all your Apple devices. 

You'd hate to lose, for example, all those pictures you've taken of your travels, family and friends. Backing up is simple, and is relatively inexpensive. For my Mac I use the program 'Super Duper' and an external hard drive. This does a full clone of everything on my hard drive, including the underlying OS. If a disaster should happen to the Mac's hard drive, after it was replaced, I would be able to boot from the external drive and reload everything I had on the drive.

The iMore backup guide is a good one, so I suggest you take a bit of time and read the tips -- and most importantly, do a backup.

Jim Hamm

Apple File System

When you update to iOS 10.3 on your Apple device, you are going to have Apple's new file system (APFS) installed. Will you notice, or even care? To learn more about what and why Apple is doing this, here is an article worth reading. 

I've done the update on my iPhone and iPad, and did notice the install process took longer than usual. I didn't give it much thought at the time, but, after reading the article, I now realize a lot was going on. It's difficult to comprehend all those 0's and 1's being switched around to a new file system, and still working correctly afterwards.

Congrats to Apple's Engineers. Next up for conversion to APFS will be our Macs.

Jim Hamm

How to Stop Robocalls and Telemarketing Calls

Bothered by robocalls on your mobile phone? I haven't been so much, but my wife has been getting lots of them for some reason. Quite aggravating. The following article explains a couple of steps one can take to try to deflect robocalls. I checked, and AT&T (our carrier) does support "nomorobo". However, this service doesn't work on landlines. 

If your carrier doesn't support "nomorobo", another option to try is the TrueCaller app for the iPhone. Read here. It looks to be a bit more work to use, but maybe this is better than getting a robocall.


http://www.komando.com/cool-sites/254740/stop-telemarketing-calls-for-good

Jim Hamm