The MacValley blog
Welcome to the MacValley blog, your first stop for all the latest MacValley news and views.
|
The MacValley blog Editor: Tom Briant
|
|
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Senior Correspondent's Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Wrap-Up for October 24, 2015
Steve Jobs' reaction to this insult shows why he was such a great CEO
Forget the article. Just scroll down to the video of Steve and WATCH THAT VIDEO.
http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-reaction-to-insult-2015-10
Apple iMac with Retina 5K 27in (2015) review
http://www.stuff.tv/apple/imac-retina-5k-27in-2015/review
See how much tech giants like Apple and Google make per employee
http://www.businessinsider.com/see-how-much-tech-giants-like-apple-and-google-make-per-employee-2015-10
The Monthlification of Apple
Okay, so I just made up a word, but it’s the best word I can think of for one of the biggest new trends with Apple’s business — one that has the potential to dramatically change its relationship with its customers. The trend I’m referring to is the increasing move at Apple to establish recurring monthly revenue relationships with its customers, and move away from merely having periodic one-off payments for hardware.
Apple is tapping into a broader trend away from one-off purchases and toward monthly subscriptions.
There’s a risk that, as Apple embraces this “monthlification” of its business, it begins to occupy the same mental space for consumers as a utility.
http://recode.net/2015/10/23/the-monthlification-of-apple/
Apple's EULA Gives the Government a License to Invade Your Privacy – or so The Government Claims
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Apple both disagree.
in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the government is currently arguing that the way Apple licenses its software to users means that people don’t actually own their copy of code that powers their iPhones, and thus the company can be ordered to bypass the lock screen in order to get at data on those users’ devices.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/10/apples-eula-gives-it-license-invade-your-privacy-government-claims
"Absent Apple's assistance, the government cannot access that evidence without risking its destruction. But Apple can," states the court brief.
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/99132/20151024/justice-department-wants-court-to-force-apple-to-decrypt-iphones-because-apple-licenses-not-sells-ios.htm
Reader Comment:
Apple is not refusing to hand over the keys, they are telling the DoJ that there ARE NO KEYS.
How to use the app that can make browsing the web on your iPhone faster
by blocking advertisements with 1Blocker or Blockr or Crystal.
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-1blocker-iphone-ad-blocker-in-ios-9-2015-10
Macs attacked by waves of malware amid Apple enterprise push
research finds Five times more malicious software in 2015 than previous five years combined
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/macs-attacked-by-waves-of-malware-amid-apple-enterprise-push-research-finds-2015-10-14
Epic slide deck from former Yahoo board member lays out the future of tech and media
http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-wolf-predicts-what-will-happen-in-the-tech-industry-in-2016-2015-10?op=0#/#-1
How one Austrian student took on American tech companies over privacy — and won
Earlier this month the European Union's top court struck down a major trade agreement that thousands of companies use to transfer Europeans' personal data to the United States, ruling that it violates the privacy rights of Europeans by allegedly leaving them exposed to U.S. government surveillance.
The decision was a potential disaster for U.S. tech companies, who are now open to investigation by European regulators for their privacy practices and may need to restructure how they handle their European operations.
But for Max Schrems, a 28-year-old activist and student pursuing a law doctorate from the University of Vienna, it was a victory.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/10/19/how-one-austrian-student-took-on-american-tech-companies-over-privacy-and-won/
Facebook will now tell you if a state government is hacking your account
http://qz.com/528169/facebook-will-now-tell-you-if-a-state-government-is-hacking-your-account/
the web site TalkTalk.co.uk didn’t use basic security that could have protected its 4 million customers’ details
TalkTalk has admitted that it didn't protect customers' data with encryption, after a massive hack has led to the potential theft of 4 million UK customers' details.
Encryption is a method of scrambling data so that it can only be understood by someone with the correct key or password, and is considered standard practice in safeguarding sensitive data.
http://www.businessinsider.com/talktalk-didnt-use-encryption-hack-protect-4-million-customer-details-2015-10
Amazon is suing more than 1,000 people for writing fake product reviews on its website in exchange for payments of $5 per review.
Amazon also sued several websites and their domain owners in April for promising to write unlimited four- and five-star reviews on Amazon, according to court documents.
How can you sniff out fake reviews? Cornell University researchers developed the website ReviewSkeptic.com, in which users can copy and paste a hotel review and run a test as to whether it is fake or real, based on their research of language that indicates phoniness. Frequent use of adverbs and pronouns is a red flag, for example. And Wired has published a flowchart as to whether Yelp reviews are real or fake.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazon-sues-1000-people-for-writing-fake-reviews-2015-10-19
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer (Official)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGbxmsDFVnE
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Wrap-up for October 17, 2015
On October 13, 2015, Apple refreshed its entire iMac lineup, introducing Skylake chips and AMD graphics for the 5K Retina 27-inch models and adding Broadwell chips and a 4K Retina display to the 21.5-inch iMac line. None of the iMacs have received external design changes, continuing to offer the same "ultra-thin" slim-bodied design.
Lots of information about features.
http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/imac/
Teardown Of 27-Inch iMac 5K Retina Reveals Support For Up To A Whopping 64GB Of RAM
Apple recently announced the introduction of the Retina 4K display for the 21.5-inch iMac and the Retina 5K display for the 27-inch iMac.
You can install RAM — max out at 64 GB.
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/95131/20151015/teardown-of-27-inch-imac-5k-retina-reveals-support-for-up-to-a-whopping-64gb-of-ram.htm
Apple’s 21.5-inch iMac with Retina is the least repairable yet
On the whole, the latest model represents a new low in iMac reparability. The current 27-inch iMac with Retina is not in as bad a shape. It includes a replaceable CPU and hard drive, and the RAM can be easily upgraded or replaced by opening a rear service door. RAM aside, though, the components are only accessible by removing the display,
http://www.digitaltrends.com/apple/apples-21-5-inch-imac-with-retina-is-the-least-repairable-yet/
Apple Updates iWork Apps On All Platforms With Major New Features
http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/16/apple-updates-iwork-apps-on-all-platforms-with-major-new-features/
7 Mac keyboard shortcuts that will help you get the perfect screenshot
http://www.businessinsider.com/keyboard-shortcuts-for-screengrabs-2015-10
Apple is learning an expensive lesson about universities
You may have heard that Apple's on the hook for $862 million in potential penalties after a jury ruled that it infringed on a patent owned by the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
the ruling represents a stinging rebuke for a company that has spent years accusing its rival, Samsung, of essentially stealing its hardware designs.
Universities account for some of the biggest intellectual property holders in the United States.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/10/15/the-university-that-just-beat-apple-in-court-isnt-a-patent-troll-but-its-behaving-a-bit-like-one/
IBM is smitten by Apple; orders 50000 Macbooks, to scale up to 200000 over the year
The reason, according to IBM, is simple. From the statistical data of IT support, 5 percent of IBM employees with Macbooks require support. In contrast 40 percent of employees on Windows require IT support.
Apple users need a lot less help than PC users, IBM finds
Apple says 50 percent of “active” users were on iOS 9 after just five days, though it appears they may have been somewhat optimistic in their claims
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/more-than-half-of-apple-users-are-now-running-ios-9-on-their-devices/
What I Saw Inside Apple’s Top-Secret Input Lab
An exclusive look at how Macintosh accessories are prototyped and tested
Hey Siri, Are You Being Controlled by a Hacker?
Your phone's virtual assistant may be doing some temp work on the side: Two French researchers have discovered a way to activate Siri or Google Now from afar.
There is a catch, however: Headphones must be plugged into a phone's microphone jack.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2493201,00.asp
Rejoice Researchers: Court Rules That Google Books Is Not Infringement
In case you've never used Google Books before, it's a searchable database of millions of books that Google has digitized through agreements with libraries. Many of the books are nonfiction and most are out of print.
Both the search function and the snippet function were deemed to be fair use by the court.
In addition to the clear ruling of the legality of Google Books, the court's opinion does a great job of explaining the history of copyright law and its purpose.
http://gizmodo.com/rejoice-researchers-court-rules-that-google-books-is-n-1737032695
http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/fda8f124-b1e9-45d3-91f0-ac17f42e3507/1/doc/13-4829_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/fda8f124-b1e9-45d3-91f0-ac17f42e3507/1/hilite/
The appeals court ruled:
"The purpose of the copying is highly transformative, the public display of text is limited, and the revelations do not provide a significant market substitute for the protected aspects of the originals."
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/10/16/449171616/more-fair-use-news-google-books-again-prevails-against-authors
An appeals court says Google's book-scanning project serves a public purpose and should therefore be allowed to continue.
The case is hugely important, not just for Google (now part of a larger holding company called Alphabet) and the authors whose works are being digitized, but for the principle of fair use itself. Copyright law may be murky and difficult to pin down at the best of times, but interpreting the concept of fair use often makes regular copyright law look like a day at the beach.
The appeals court, however, pointed out in its decision that the purpose of copyright law is not to guarantee authors a living, nor is it to give them exclusive control over who uses their work and how. The purpose of the law is to provide an incentive for people to create artistic works because doing this benefits society-and ultimately, the social benefit of Google Books outweighed the infringement aspect.
http://fortune.com/2015/10/16/google-fair-use/
How Google Won The PR Battle Over Search Engine Optimization (SEO), And Why That's A Good Thing
Larry and Sergey realized early on that they would never be able to destroy the SEO business.
Google's goal from the start has been to either convince or coerce SEOs into creating a modern internet Google's way.
For better or worse, the battle over SEO is over. Google has succeeded in shifting the focus of the SEO industry away from short-sighted SEO tactics and toward creating the best user experience with "high-quality content," which, of course, benefits Google.
http://searchengineland.com/google-won-pr-battle-seo-thats-good-thing-232761
Genius woman Periscopes herself while driving drunk, gets arrested
http://mashable.com/2015/10/12/drunk-driver-periscope/#bAPqgCTU2Pqi
For 1st time, MIT's free online classes can lead to degree
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has offered free online courses for the last four years with one major downside: They didn't count toward a degree. That's about to change.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/For-1st-time-MIT-s-free-online-classes-can-carry-6556128.php
Raiders of the Lost Web
If a Pulitzer-finalist 34-part series of investigative journalism can vanish from the web, anything can.
You can't count on the web, okay? It's unstable. You have to know this.
It's not a place in any reliable sense of the word. It is not a repository. It is not a library. It is a constantly changing patchwork of perpetual nowness.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/10/raiders-of-the-lost-web/409210/
the Department of Transportation plans to have all drones in the country registered by Christmas.
A handful of incidences have occurred in which drones have either gotten too close to commercial jets or hindered firefighting operations.
http://gizmodo.com/report-drone-owners-will-now-have-to-register-with-the-1737038255
We Don't Need Special Laws to Regulate Drones
Early American legal thinkers reveled in the notion that "laws are made for men of ordinary understanding, and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense." The law was intentionally imbued with the idea that democracy would be of little value if laws, especially criminal laws, went too far beyond that maxim.
A federal drone regulation scheme is probably less likely than a local judge and jury to reflect the common sense or community conscience in Ascension Parish, Louisiana.
If and when federal regulations are passed, Webre will face the same issue James Madison raised: How do we obey and enforce a law if it is "little known and less fixed"?
http://www.newsweek.com/we-dont-need-special-laws-regulate-drones-384138
If You're Not Paranoid, You're Crazy
As government agencies and tech companies develop more and more intrusive means of watching and influencing people, how can we live free lives?
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/11/if-youre-not-paranoid-youre-crazy/407833/
Saturday, October 17, 2015
How-To: Make your Mac run silent, cool and fast under OS X El Capitan
How-To: Make your Mac run silent, cool and fast under OS X El Capitan: ""
(Via.)
This is an excellent article from 9 to 5 Mac on how to improve your Mac’s operation. The two most costly steps-installing an internal SSD and adding more memory-may not be possible on your system. The other steps of making sure you’re not starting too many apps when you login, of turning off apps when you finish with them to free up memory and hard disk space, of checking for RAM-hogging apps with Activity Monitor, and of cleaning the cruft from your hard drive with an app such as Daisy Disk, Grand Perspective, or my own favorite, OmniDiskSweeper; well, you can do those at relatively little cost.
If you can’t or won’t install an SSD inside your system, see if it has at least a Firewire 800 or USB 3.0 ports. You can purchase external SSDs which can speed up your system. You’ll have to go to macsales.com, the online address of Other World Computing, if you want to find an SSD with a Firewire 800 interface.
But I don’t plan to buy another Mac until my current Macs can’t run the next OS X update. When that day comes, I hope to purchase a 27” iMac with 1 TB of SSD as a base line. Maybe 2 TB for another $200. The way that SSD prices keep moving down, I believe that Apple will stop using hard drives, particularly the slow 5400 rpm hard drives I now have in my Macs, and move to SSDs by the time I’m looking to buy another Mac.
Tom Briant
Editor, MacValley Blog
Monday, October 12, 2015
Pathfinder 7-It's worth the $40 and you should try it out
Macworld just published a list of 20 must-have free programs for the Mac. It’s a great list, but I noticed it didn’t touch the topic of file managers.
It didn’t touch it in my opinion because the file manager worth spending your money on is Cocatech’s Pathfinder. It’s up to version 7.2 and in my opinion after 15 years of using a Mac, beats all the rest in terms of features offered and sensible organization of those features. It runs under OS X 10.11 with no hiccups or crashes.
How to approach it
The sheer number of features offered can intimidate the user. 6 months into using PathFinder, you’ll find out it does something that you had thought about buying another utility for.
Let me run down the features that I use regularly:
1. Two-panel file manager. If you pay money for a Finder replacement, you should expect it to have that feature from the venerated Norton Commander of MS-DOS days.
2. File Compress and DeCompress. Pathfinder licensed the code from Stuffit for compressing and decompressing a lot of compressed formats. You can decompress just about any compressed format you’ll find. Tabs above the File Panels that you can click on to move between folders. - Simple Image Editor. You’ll find that under the Commands menu
- Simple Text Editor. You’ll find that under the File Menu
- Hex Editor, in case you want to flip bits at the binary level. Commands
- Optical Disk Burn and Erase. Now that Disk Utility in 10.11 doesn’t give you easy access to these two features, Path Finder helps you use optical media such as CDs and DVDs.
- File Finder. You get options that Finder doesn’t give you, such as the ability to select from a set of menu just what you want to search for. You don’t have to type arcane command lines. Go under the Edit Menu
Here are the menus I’ve described. They probably have the option you want.
View
Go
Commands
Window
Saving the Best for Last.
I’ve found the handiest feature, though, in Pathfinder is its Menu Bar icon. This Menu Bar icon lets you
1. Launch programs from a pseudo Start Menu
2. Launch recently used Programs and Documents.
3 Access Recently Used folders.
4. Access the Folders on your Mac you most often use.
5. Do Screen Captures
6. Shows you which apps you are using.
This gives you 80% of the power of PathFinder at your immediate reach.
Try for 30 Days Before Committing $40
Cocoatech generously offers you a 30-day trial period before you have to commit to paying $40. Take the time to try it out. It’s the file manager for OS X that every other file manager is compared to.
No, it’s not available in the Mac App Store. Pathfinder does stuff that Apple doesn’t allow sandboxed apps to do.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Wrap-up for October 11 2015
Apple is actively blocking Chinese access to the News app shipped as part of iOS 9
Without official comment Apple's motives remain unknown, though it is speculated that strict Chinese laws dictating Internet content censorship are to blame.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/10/10/apple-disables-ios-news-app-in-china-amid-censorship-concerns
Apple has allegedly turned off Apple News for anyone in China. You can open up the app, but Apple News says: "News isn't supported in your current region".
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2492924,00.asp
The situation puts Apple, which has branded itself as a progressive corporation that champions human rights and innovation, in a tricky position as it looks for growth in the world’s largest internet market, but one in which strict censorship rules exist.
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-disabled-the-apple-news-app-in-china-2015-10
We pitted the iPhone 6S camera against Samsung's Galaxy Note 5, and there was a clear winner
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cameras-on-the-new-iphones-set-a-new-standard-for-smartphone-photography-2015-9
Apple quietly made the iPhone 6s a lot more water resistant
Apple added a gasket around the new iPhones' frame, as well as silicone seals around important components, according to iFixit.
Apple's waterproofing measures for the new iPhones were never designed for extended water submersion or swimming. But the measures do help with some real-life situations where your iPhone could become damaged from water-based accidents, like dropping in toilets.
http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-new-iphones-are-surprisingly-resistant-to-water-2015-9
Apple Pencil, the company let animators at Walt Disney's Feature Animation studio take its upcoming tablet for a spin. Interestingly, the artists commented that the device's screen surface has "tooth," or textured roughness, to augment drawing feel.
Overall, Disney's animators seemed impressed with what Apple accomplished in iPad Pro, especially paired with Apple Pencil.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/10/06/disney-animators-test-apples-ipad-pro-reveal-screen-has-roughed-surface-for-drawing
Apple has a new, easier-to-use “two factor" system to protect your login if you’re running the latest major OS release and the latest iTunes on every device connected to the same iCloud account.
The new two-factor authentication (2FA) system requires that whenever you log in to a new device or browser, you have to enter not just your password but a confirmation code from another piece of equipment you’ve established is under your control. A second factor prevents someone from stealing or guessing your password and gaining access to your account.
http://www.macworld.com/article/2988668/security/apple-s-new-two-factor-authentication-bumps-up-security-and-ease-of-use.html
Apple iPhone 6S and 6S Plus specs fully revealed
http://www.technologynewsextra.com/apple-iphone-6s-6s-specs-fully-revealed/1831.html
Apple shoots down ‘Chipgate’ claims that its new iPhones have huge differences in battery life
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-responds-to-chipgate-controversy-over-a9-chips-battery-life-2015-10?r=UK&IR=T
New York Court Orders Apple to Unlock their Security on an iPhone (& Judge Defers Ruling in Surprising Twist)
Apple was issued an order by the New York Eastern District Court, Brooklyn Office, to disable the security of a device (likely an iPhone) in New York.
Later, the court deferred the ruling to seek more information from Apple Inc. about technical feasibility and burden.
U.S. Magistrate James Orenstein said in his ruling that "Congress has done nothing that would remotely suggest an intent to force Apple, in the circumstances of this case, to provide the assistance the government now requests. Several of its members have introduced legislation to prohibit exactly what the government now asks the court to compel.”
President Obama has at the moment decided to not legislate a forced back door solution on tech companies regarding the issue of encryption for now. He's still hopeful that the two sides on this issue will be able to find a common ground solution.
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2015/10/new-york-court-orders-apple-to-unlock-their-security-on-an-iphone.html
Andrew Crocker, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said he believed that Orenstein was the first judge to question the government's legal authority under the so-called "All Writs Act" to compel Apple to unlock a phone.
http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/federal-jurist-won-t-force-apple-to-disable-security-on-device-seized-by-u-s-1.10943147
An interesting analysis of how Apple’s new iPhone Upgrade Program will affect Apple’s future profits
The plan effectively helps to shorten the upgrade cycle for the iPhone, encouraging customers to upgrade every year, rather than the current estimated 2+ year cycle, while up-selling the high-margin AppleCare+ service plan.
After every 12 months, customers will be eligible to trade in for a new iPhone, as long as they extend their agreements for another 24 months.
Apple would be building a pool of customers who upgrade more frequently compared to its broader user base.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/10/08/how-the-iphone-upgrade-program-impacts-apples-financials/
7 social media apps your kids are probably using
And 4 apps you can use to make sure they stay safe.
You probably already know about Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But what about Tinder? Or Whisper?
Beyond the usual safety precautions of not giving out personal info to strangers, kids need to be reminded that what happens online, stays online — forever. There is no such thing as a disappearing message or a permanently deleted picture.
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/gadgets-electronics/blogs/7-social-media-apps-your-kids-are-probably-using
Google says mobile searches now surpass those on PCs
“This summer, world-wide Google searches on mobile devices surpassed those on personal computers for the first time” said Amit Singhal, head of search at Google parent Alphabet Inc.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-says-mobile-searches-now-surpass-those-on-pcs-2015-10-08
Australian engineers say they have cleared the final hurdle for making a silicon quantum computer, a new device that in terms of power, blows away existing computers.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/breaking-news/unsw-in-quantum-computing-breakthrough/story-fnn9c0hb-1227558494455
Why we're better off with fewer [facebook] friends
we have gained the powers to build relationships with people all over the world, and to maintain those relationships with hardly any contact. We never need to lose touch with anyone, ever again, as our Facebook friends and Twitter followers grow by the day.
Surely more friends equals more happiness? Not true. The growth in the number of our friends has actually been accompanied with an increase in social isolation, as Sherry Turkle describes. We are more connected, yet more alone.
http://qz.com/515255/why-were-better-off-with-fewer-friends/
How I found an amazing apartment near San Francisco with only my phone - and without using Craigslist
http://www.businessinsider.com/3-apps-to-find-apartment-in-sf-2015-10
The paranoid's guide to the Internet: 13 easy ways to make sure you're not hacked or tracked
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-avoid-being-tracked-online-2015-9
Use Google Chrome to fill in fields on a PDF with Linux
Pro tip: If you need to download PDF forms and fill them in, use Google Chrome with Linux.
Someone I know uses Linux that I installed on their old laptop. The Linux distro was Zorin Core 9, derived from Ubuntu; but what I’m about to tell you works for many Linux distress.
They needed to fill in court papers because they intend to sue someone in small claims court. The court forms comes as fillable PDF forms. But Firefox, the Web browser that comes with Zorin, doesn’t support filling in forms.
Doing a quick Google search found someone who recommend Chrome for this.
Now how to get Chrome installed on your computer if you don’t already have it.
From the other Web browser’s Web search box, just enter “google chrome” It’ll be the first or second item to come up.
This Web site for Google Chrome will automatically recognize that you are running Linux and put up four choices for you.
Those four choices are:
32 bit .deb for Debian or Ubuntu based distros
64 bit .deb for Debian or Ubuntu based distros
32 bit .rpm for Open Suse or Fedora based distros
64 bit .rpm for Open Suse or Fedora based distros.
Now if you use Ubuntu or any distro with ‘buntu in the name like Xubuntu or Ubuntu or Kubuntu, you want the .deb extension on your installer. Similarly if you use Fedora or Open SUSE, you want the .rpm.
As for 32 bit or 64 bit, that depends on your computer’s CPU. Look it up, as my Dad would say.
Once you have downloaded the installer to your /home/downloads folder, you double click on it. The installer manager should pop up to guide you through installing Chrome. Give it time if your system is slow, Google Chrome is a pretty big app.
Once it’s installed, use the Google Search window to get to your on-line forms.
Bring them up on screen.
Now start filling them in.
Conclusion
I know I didn’t cover every possible situation, so use Google from Firefox to look it up.
And if you do install Linux on a friend’s old windows laptop, I recommend you install Chrome as another browser besides Firefox.
If you use Zorin Core 9, take advantage of the Zorin Web Browser Manager under the Internet section of the launch menu. This gives you four choices of browser: Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Midori, and makes it dead simple to install or uninstall one of these four browsers
Tom Briant
Editor, MacValley Blog
How to deal with a supposed call from the IRS
I just saw a report on CNN.com where people get threatening calls from the IRS, panic, and do what they tell them to do.
Here’s my advice if you get an unsolicited call from the IRS.
Ignore the IRS phone call. It’s not the real IRS. The real IRS mails people first. You have to call them.
From my painful experience with the Real IRS of Washington D.C., the real iRS in Washington, D.C. will send you a letter in an official Treasury Department envelope. You call them, not the other way around.
Listen, I’ve gotten calls from a scammer who said he was from the IRS and threatened me with the worst consequences if I didn’t call back. I ignored them. I knew that then real IRS mails people.
If you’re really afraid, look up the IRS at irs.gov and find a phone number. They will help you.
But don’t send money to a PayPal account supposedly run by the IRS. That’s a scam.
Tom Briant
Editor, MacValley Blog
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Microsoft unveils its first ever laptop - Oct. 6, 2015
Microsoft unveils its first ever laptop - Oct. 6, 2015: ""
(Via.)
Well, now I have more reasons to walk across the bridge connecting the Apple Store at Topanga Mall to the Windows Store.
Microsoft’s goal is to “reinvent” products and "move people from needing Windows, to choosing Windows, to loving Windows," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. That’s a tall order.
I’m sticking with the Mac for now.
Tom Briant
Editor, MacValley Blog
Sunday, October 4, 2015
How to increase the size of the screen text in Windows 10 and OS X
As our eyes grow more “mature” and our optical prescriptions get stronger and stronger, what can we do about our computer monitors? I have some tips on how to do this in Windows 10 and OS X.
Windows 10
I have a client in Woodland Hills who asked me about raising the screen text size in their new Windows 10 laptop. I have to admit that Windows 10 does this better than OS X, because you have to change just one setting to increase the screen text size system-wide.
How to do it? Start by right-clicking on your Windows 10 desktop. You see the following menu:
Second from the menu’s bottom, you see Display Settings. Left-click on it (the normal kind of click) to bring this up:
Although you see a slider, you just have four settings.
You have 100%, the default.
You have 125%, the Medium size.
You have 150%, the Large size.
And if you have a big screen such as I do (1920 x 1080), you can even go to 175%.
Slide to the setting you want. Then click on Apply
Apply will then tell you to Sign out/Log Out of your computer for a moment. Then sign in/log in again.
Voila! Your text has increased in size.
Now what about OS X?
Kirk McElhearn, a senior writer for Macworld, is over 50, as he acknowledges. He wrote an article for Macworld.com about increasing the size of text in OS X.
No system-wide fix exists for increasing the size of the screen font overall. You have to do it on an app by app basis. Kirk gives the details here.
Tom Briant
Editor, MacValley Blog
Appleworks 6 running under OS X 10.11-how to do it
Hi all you diehard Appleworks fans. You want to know how to run Appleworks 6.2.9, the last version, under OS X 10.11. Here’s how to do it. Follow these instructions on this blog here.
Nothing like quoting your own work to give yourself a lift in the morning. Anyway, the Chubby Bunny OS 9 emulator works under 10.11 and you can still download it. Jon in Texas, take a bow. You’ve done lifesaving work for Classic OS enthusiasts all over the world.
Tom Briant
Editor, MacValley Blog
Your Nerd Brother-in-Law on OS X El Capitan and the Necessity of having a back-up clone
Welcome, Apple fan men and women. This is the Editor of the MacValley Blog, whom you may refer to as “someone’s nerd brother-in-law”. And I am going to give you my thoughts about OS X 10.11 El Capitan.
My own experience has been positive. The apps essential to my workflow worked:
- Quicken 2007. I would suggest you install the latest updates.
- MacJournal 6. Works fine.
- Microsoft Office 2011. Works fine.
- MarsEdit 3.7.1 which I used to write this post.
I depend on those programs daily. I’ll report on the apps I don’t use that often.
Now from reports, the biggest show-stopped bug occurred in Office 2016 for Mac, Microsoft’s marquee app. Users flooded user forums with reports that MS Office 2016 for Mac kept crashing on them.
From what I’ve read, Microsoft acknowledges they have a problem with Office 2016 for Mac and they don’t know when they’ll have it fixed.
This sounds like one of those bugs that just drives programmers nuts. Please, if Office 2016 displays buggy behavior, give MS all the information they request. What looks like gibberish to you might contain the nuggets of data necessary to fix the problems. Our fights with MS involve their upper management (Ballmer, in particular) and not some unknown programmer tearing their hair out over a bug that happens only to some people occasionally. A rogue variable whose value someone forgot to define, probably.
In the meantime, I hope you made backups of OS X 10.10 Yosemite. I refer to both the backups done by Time Machine in the background automatically and to making a clone of your Mac’s main hard drive or SSD. If you haven’t made a clone of your hard drive before, I strongly urge you to do so. Right now. Certainly before you commit to overwriting your current installation of OS X 10.10, 10.9 , 10.8, 10.7 or even 10.6. Do it!
They both have trial periods, so download both of them and try them out.
Download Super-Duper from here.
Download Carbon Copy Cloner from here
Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth has always told us OS X isn’t really ready until version 10.x.3 arrives. I would advise you strongly to have that clone ready. Practice booting from it.
Tom Briant
Editor, MacValley Blog
Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Wrap-up for October 3, 2015
iOS 9 is turning out to be one of Apple’s most troublesome launches. Two dedicated bug fixes have been released in the last week to combat the growing list of user problems and now the second has come with a somewhat nasty (and risky) surprise…
With iOS 9.0.2 Apple has stopped signing both iOS 8.4.1 (the last version of iOS 8) and iOS 9.
‘Signing’ is what allows a device to go back to a previous iOS version (Apple’s servers sign off permission to install each software version) and is commonly used when a user experiences trouble with new software version. Consequently with the release of iOS 9.0.2 Apple has taken away the escape route back to iOS 8. It’s iOS 9.0.1 and 9.0.2 now or nothing.
I strongly advise you to wait a while before upgrading to iOS 9.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/10/02/apple-ios-9-0-2-risk/
5 reasons business users will love the Mac's newest OS, El Capitan
1. An updated Mail App
2. An updated Notes app
3. An updated Spotlight search
4. Apple improved a feature for making MacBooks work better with corporate I.T. departments
5. Apple has improved its Volume Purchasing Program
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-business-users-will-love-el-capitan-2015-10
12 'El Capitan' features that Apple totally ripped off from Windows
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2988233/windows/12-el-capitan-features-that-apple-totally-ripped-off-from-windows.html
The 14 best Mac apps for making your life easier
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-apps-for-mac
Here are the secret apps that only Apple employees get to use
http://www.businessinsider.com/apps-only-apple-employees-get-to-download-and-use-2014-11?r=UK&IR=T
Video: How to make browsing on the iPhone 500% faster
The latest version of iOS includes a way to block ads, trackers, and widgets many websites use. BusinessInsider.com — an ad-supported site — recommends that you keep the ads but consider blocking some of the other things. Here's how to do it.
http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-safari-content-blocking-apps-2015-9
Movie Review: 'Steve Jobs' an electric depiction of Apple's enigmatic founder
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/10/03/review-steve-jobs-an-electric-depiction-of-apples-enigmatic-founder
Some of the new features of Apple’s latest Mac OS
http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-el-capitan-mac-features-release-2015-9
Your Mac is going to change this week
Here's a quick breakdown of the most important changes.
http://www.techinsider.io/mac-os-x-el-capitan-review-2015-9
A hidden feature in the new iPhone is going to make it a lot easier to copy and paste text
This new way of interacting with your phone is thanks to 3D Touch, a new feature that comes on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-has-revolutionized-highlighting-text-2015-9
People are complaining that the new iPhone fingerprint sensor is too good
Some users have been reporting that Touch ID is so sensitive that it unlocks the device before they have a chance to check the notifications on their lock screen.
http://www.techinsider.io/touch-id-on-new-iphones-is-faster-than-you-can-read-2015-9
Apple's iPhone 6S is one of the best smartphones I've ever used — but here's why I wouldn't buy it
Apple's latest iPhone more powerful and easier to use than ever before.
The overall experience is better, but it hasn't changed substantially enough to warrant an upgrade from an iPhone 6. However, if you have an older iPhone such as an iPhone 5S or iPhone 5, it's a great choice, and it'll feel like a huge change.
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-6s-early-review-2015-9
Apple has reportedly inked a deal to build a massive SECOND spaceship-like campus in Silicon Valley.
Apple is also in the middle of completing its futuristic 2.8-million-square-foot campus adjacent to its current headquarters in Cupertino.
http://qz.com/516390/a-sneak-peek-at-apples-new-spaceship-campus-in-sunnyvale/
Apple Blows Up The Concept Of A Privacy Policy
Part of the reason for this is that the privacy policies of most major corporations (Apple included) are written by lawyers, not by someone whose purpose it is to make the companies’ policies actually clear to end users. The reasons for that are many fold, but you can probably suss out the most likely; first, companies like to cover their asses in case of privacy breaches. Second, if you actually saw the privacy policies of most companies laid out in plain verbiage you would want to crawl into a cave.
Apple is blowing that up a bit today by expanding on its privacy page and presenting its policies in clear language, with extensive supporting data. Whether it’s government information requests (94 percent of that is trying to find stolen iPhones, and only 6 percent is law enforcement seeking personal information) or how consumer-facing features like iMessage, Apple Pay, Health and HomeKit are set up to protect user information; the sense is one of confidence in its stance.
http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/29/apple-blows-up-the-concept-of-a-privacy-policy/#.jxarnt:GacR
Apple removes iPhone app that reports US drone strikes
The move spotlights the complicated issues Apple and its customers face trying to strike the right balance between a safe environment and one that's been too sanitized.
Apple purposefully left its guidelines vague, flexible and open to interpretation. Citing the Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's famous 1963 opinion about pornography, the guidelines say: "We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, 'I'll know it when I see it.' And we think that you will also know it when you cross it.
http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-removes-iphone-app-that-reports-us-drone-strikes/
Apple pulls iFixit's app after it tears down the new Apple TV
The team at iFixit is learning a hard, hard lesson about the importance of honoring developer agreements. Apple has banned an iFixit developer account (and consequently, the iFixit app) after the repair-it-yourself outfit tore down a PRE-RELEASE Apple TV sent out to developers, violating Apple's terms and conditions.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/30/apple-pulls-ifixit-app/
http://www.macrumors.com/2015/09/30/apple-bans-ifixit-developer-account-apple-tv/
Edward Snowden just joined Twitter — and he is already trolling the NSA
http://www.businessinsider.com/ed-snowden-twitter-nsa-follow
On Tuesday September 29, 2015, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden joined Twitter.
24 hours later, Snowden has already amassed more than one million followers.
http://www.businessinsider.com/edward-snowden-joined-twitter-24-hours-ago-he-already-has-a-million-followers-2015-9
Meet the 24 MacArthur 'geniuses' who were each awarded $625,000 to change the world
http://www.businessinsider.com/2015-macarthur-grant-fellows-2015-9
The new 'Yelp for people' app is a psychologist's nightmare
You've probably heard about Peeple, the new app that lets you rate any person you know
But several psychologists we talked to think it's a terrible idea. Here's why:
1. It totally removes the human element
2. It takes things out of context
A recommendation is only as good as the recommender
3. It may be easy to scam people
4. As with any review, it's subject to bias
5. It could be pretty bad for users' self-esteem
http://www.businessinsider.com/peeple-app-is-a-terrible-idea-2015-10
The US is way behind much of the world when it comes to internet speeds
The U.S. is in 24th place.
Romania, Latvia, Bulgaria, and the UK all have, on average, faster internet than the United States.
See the list of the 25 top “internet speed” nations.
http://www.businessinsider.com/akami-global-internet-speeds-rankings-2015-9
13 awesome tricks your Mac just learned with El Capitan
http://www.cultofmac.com/390769/13-awesome-tricks-your-mac-just-learned-with-el-capitan/
Video:
Apple's next-generation Mac operating system, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, is now available as a free download, and compatible with all Macs that run OS X Yosemite. AppleInsider offers a quick rundown of a couple of the things you can do with your newly updated Mac.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/09/30/first-look-video-split-view-new-mission-control-in-apples-os-x-1011-el-capitan
Black Hats Offer Million-Dollar iOS 9 Bug Bounty
A number of high-tech companies offer bounties to help plug holes in their software programs. They may pay $10,000 to $15,000 for a significant exploit. Those amounts face tough competition, though. "I've seen some hackers claiming to have a $400,000 budget for bug bounties and willing to pay two to three times what's offered by a company bounty program," said Damballa researcher Loucif Kharouni.
Zerodium last week posted a million-dollar bounty for juicy iOS 9 bugs or jailbreaks. Anyone who tried to collect the bounty will want to remain anonymous, whether he gets paid or not [due to illegal considerations].
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/82547.html
The Apple trade is officially over.
I love my Macbook Pro ...... but good companies see stock prices fall, too.
the psychology of the stock market and [Federal Reserve] shifts in liquidity have caused the Apple trade to change.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-apple-trade-is-over-2015-10-01
Why Peeple, the 'Yelp for people,' is a bad idea
While users are vulnerable to legal risk, Drechsel says, Peeple is protected from such lawsuits under the Communications Decency Act, which immunizes interactive computer services from defamatory posts on their platforms.
In addition to legal pitfalls, the ability to review people, no matter how positive the reviews are, creates social dangers. Teenagers, for example, are already subjected to online bullying through social networks and even dating sites.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-peeple-the-yelp-for-people-is-a-bad-idea-2015-10-01
Is finding your calling as easy as taking a personality test? This company thinks so.
Though there are a plethora of career and personality tests available online, Find Your Calling sets itself apart by pulling in data from federal and local government resources that gives students a sense of the average salary for each job and likelihood that a given industry will grow, Ferguson said.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-finding-your-calling-as-easy-as-taking-a-personality-test-this-company-thinks-so-2015-10-02
