Archive for April, 2014

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Forget to Update Your Mac Apps? Use Automatic Updates in Mac OS X Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite

Apr 19, 2014 - 12 Comments
Update Mac Apps automatically

Many of us Mac users forget to update our installed apps to the latest versions, missing out on everything from newly added features, bug fixes, to important security improvements. Sure there are plenty of reasons for forgetting to update applications, whether because we’re too busy to remember, don’t know how to update, or simply don’t … Read More

Mac Setups: The VP of Projects Office

Apr 19, 2014 - 15 Comments
VP of Projects Mac desk setup

This weeks featured Mac workstation is the awesome setup of Jody R., a VP of Projects. There’s a lot of great hardware in this office, with four Macs, a couple of iOS devices, and a ton of displays… let’s dive right in and learn a bit more!

How to Disable IPv6 in Mac OS X

Apr 18, 2014 - 22 Comments
IPv6 Mac

Some Mac users may wish to disable IPv6 networking support on their machines. This may be desirable to avoid certain networking conflicts, or to increase security for users in higher threat environments, since IPv6 has been found by researchers to be potentially vulnerable to man-in-the-middle and other network attacks. Though most users don’t use IPv6 … Read More

Play & Manage iTunes Radio Stations with Siri

Apr 17, 2014 - 2 Comments
Siri iTunes Radio commands

Many users know that Siri can interact with the standard iOS music app, but did you know that Siri can also play and manage iTunes Radio stations for you? That’s right, among the huge variety of Siri abilities, the virtual assistance can also command your iTunes Radio music stations. This is particularly helpful with Siri’s … Read More

Search the Web for Selected Words & Phrases from Almost Anywhere in iOS

Apr 16, 2014 - 1 Comment
Search the web for a phrase, word, or term, anywhere in iOS

On the Mac, you may know that a right-click on just about anything can bring up a “Search the web” feature. When chosen, the selected term or phrase, whether from an app or from another web browser, gets quickly searched for using your default browser. This is great if you’re reading something and you want … Read More

3 Super Simple Finder Keystroke Tips Every Mac User Must Know

Apr 16, 2014 - 8 Comments
Preview a file instantly by hitting the Space bar

The Finder offers the primary means of navigating the file system of Mac OS X, and though most users will rely entirely on clicking, dragging, and dropping, there are no shortage of keyboard shortcuts to make things even better. If you’re not going to learn them all (and let’s face it, just about nobody does), … Read More

Make iOS Settings Toggles a Bit More Obvious (and Geeky) with Binary On & Off Labels

Apr 15, 2014 - 4 Comments
On and Off Labels in iOS Settings

Earlier versions of iOS used to make it very obvious when a Settings toggle was enabled or disabled by showing “ON” and “OFF” text within the button switch itself. While new versions of iOS have removed those word based cues in favor of color indicators (green for on, white for off), there remains an option … Read More

How to Disable iMessage on the iPhone Completely

Apr 15, 2014 - 23 Comments
Disable iMessage in iOS Completely

iMessage is the fantastic free messaging service from Apple that lets iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac users send each other endless free text messages, pictures, and videos. Because iMessage skips the standard SMS/text protocol from cellular carriers and relies on data transmission instead, it can often help you reduce your phone bill by cutting … Read More

How to Turn Off the Frequent Locations Feature on iPhone

Apr 14, 2014 - Leave a Comment
Frequent Locations on the iPhone

Frequent Locations is an intelligent feature on the iPhone that allows the device to track where you go and learn what places are frequently visited. Once the iPhone has determined some locations that are most common, say your home or work, the iPhone will then report to you some personalized data about that location, like … Read More

Get More Usable Screen Space on a Retina MacBook Pro by Adjusting Resolution

Apr 14, 2014 - 6 Comments
Display resolutions in Mac

The MacBook Pro with Retina Display takes an ultra-high resolution display and scales onscreen elements down to effectively double the pixel count, providing for ultra crisp images and text on the screen. While the default resolution settings are undeniably gorgeous, you can also choose to manually adjust the screen resolution to either show more space … Read More

Spill Water on a MacBook Pro / Air? Here’s How You Might Be Able to Prevent Liquid Damage

Apr 13, 2014 - 256 Comments
Save a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air from Water Contact

Spilling water or another liquid onto a one to two thousand dollar plus MacBook Air or MacBook Pro is a horrible feeling, but before you completely panic, you can take a few proactive steps which may help to preserve the Mac or your data. There is never a guarantee that the Mac will be saved … Read More

Mac Setup: The Desk of an Information Security Professional

Apr 12, 2014 - 18 Comments
Mac desk setup of an Information Security professional

This weeks featured Mac workstation is that of InfoSec professional Eric W., who uses a great Mac and iOS setup to secure networks and conquer system vulnerabilities for clients. Eric’s got a great Apple setup, uses a ton of interesting apps, and also offers some excellent tips and general advice too (don’t miss the complex … Read More

Messed Up Hosts? How to Restore the Original Default /etc/hosts File in Mac OS X

Apr 12, 2014 - 13 Comments
The Original, unmodified hosts file in Mac OS X is easy to restore if need be

The hosts file is included on every computer and used by Mac OS to map IP addresses to host names. Because users may choose to adjust, change, or otherwise edit the hosts file for a variety of reasons, it can be easily subjected to user error, leading to a variety of undesirable network problems ranging … Read More

Fixing a Scratched iPhone or iPad? Find Device Model Numbers in Settings

Apr 11, 2014 - 1 Comment
Scratched back of an iPhone

If you ever need to identify what model number an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is, typically the easiest thing to do is just flip the device over and look on the lower back panel. Alongside the trampstamp of regulatory details, FCC ID, IC, and the various symbols, you’ll find the devices model number. But … Read More

Change the Double Quote & Single Quote Style in Mac OS X

Apr 10, 2014 - 15 Comments
Quotes button on a Mac keyboard

The Mac has long used the straight quote style for double and single quotes, looking like ” and ‘ respectively. It’s been that way for as long as I remember, but if you’d like to change the quote style to something else, perhaps a bit more fanciful, you can do so through a settings adjustment. … Read More

How to Subscribe to US Holidays in Calendar on iPhone & iPad

Apr 10, 2014 - 13 Comments
Holidays shown in Calendar app for iPhone

Want to show US Holidays in your iOS Calendar? There are a few ways to accomplish this, and we’ll cover the two simplest methods. First is a direct subscription to the official US holidays calendar offered from Apple, and the other syncs the same calendar from a Mac that has the feature enabled. For the … Read More

Stop the Power Button From Turning Off the Mac Display in OS X Mavericks

Apr 9, 2014 - 13 Comments
MacBook Pro and MacBook AIr power button on the keyboard

The Power button on newer MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models has been turned into a button on the actual keyboard, located directly above the Delete key. For the most part, this isn’t an issue, but with the introduction of OS X Mavericks, tapping on that Power button no longer prompts the Sleep / Restart … Read More

Make Siri Search the Web with Google or Yahoo Rather Than Bing in iOS

Apr 9, 2014 - 2 Comments
Searching the web with Siri vs asking Siri to search Google or Yahoo

Did you know that Siri defaults to searching the web with Bing, rather than Google? Yes, the results that Siri returns when the assistant says “Here’s what I found on the web” are brought to you by Bing, but they used to be brought to you by Google. That change arrived quietly in iOS 7, … Read More

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