The Preferred Toronto Apple Reseller of MacMedics:
The Preferred iPod and iPhone repair shop in Toronto of MacMedics:
A Safe Way To Dispose Of Your eWaste – And Get A Tax Receipt Too!
My Preferred Canadian-Based ISP
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Feb
27
Gone Phishing
Filed Under Advice, Alerts!, MobileMe | Leave a Comment
There is a MobileMe phishing scam roaming the net in an attempt to get users to part with their credit card information. Basically, a user receives an email telling them their MobileMe account is about to expire or their credit information needs to be updated:
In another attempt to con MobileMe users into providing their credit card information, a scammer has sent out spam spoofed to appear to come from Apple, which directs users to a fake site designed to look like Apple’s. Users who follow the email link and enter their information on the poorly formatted, fake Apple web page will be sorry.
Please check out Apple Insiders expanded story on this: NEW PHISHING SCAM TARGETS MOBILE ME USERS
Feb
24
Surf’s Up
Filed Under Apple News, Apple Updates, Views | Leave a Comment
Some people have been asking me about the just announced Safari 4 beta and why it’s not appearing in the Software Update of Mac OS X. The important word is BETA i.e. trialware, try-me-out-let’s-see-what-happens software and this type of thing doesn’t appear in Software Update until it’s ready for prime time. This is for the bold and the silly (me). Do not put this on a production machine. Like all beta software, there WILL be blood, I mean bugs! So, users – beware! – you’ve been warned. There are some excellent fun new features and the application may come out of Beta before the release of Snow Leopard (10.6). Watch the reader reports before you leap or while you’re jumping and have fun.
Feb
22
MobileMe Gets iDisk Sharing – Finally!
Filed Under MobileMe | Leave a Comment
So, Apple finally made good on their promise of file sharing via the MobileMe iDisk. What is iDisk? iDisk is Apple’s online internet-based hard drive (or virtual hard drive) that comes with every MobileMe account. In addition to the many features of this service – calendar/address book/email syncing, iLife integration, internet backup (which utilizes the iDisk) etc…Apple promised an easy way to share files, small and large, easily with friends, colleagues or yourself. There are some great data sharing options out there – SugarSync, DropBox, Google Apps, Zimbra – but if you have a MobileMe account why not take advantage of what you’re already paying for?
Enter iDisk Sharing:
We’re pleased to announce that you can now use your MobileMe iDisk to share files with others simply and easily. Instead of attaching a large document to an email and hoping it’s not too big to be received, you can place the file in your iDisk and use the new Share File command in the iDisk web app. It lets you send your friends, family, or colleagues a link they can click to download the file directly. You can password protect the link if you choose to and even set how long it will be available.
Apple has even provided a tutorial movie on their site. To get a file onto your iDisk simply click on the iDisk in the side bar of the Finder and it’s contents will appear. You can use iDisk as you would any other folder – it just happens to reside on the internet and not your local machine – although there is a way to keep or cache a local copy of your iDisk on your computer within the iDisk area of the MobileMe system preference. You can drag a file of any size to your iDisk, create folders and then follow the directions on the tutorial. I’ve created a short video of how to drag a file to the iDisk from the desktop:
Feb
22
The Evolution Of The Mac Mini?
Filed Under Rumours | Leave a Comment
First pictures and now this. The Mac Mini redux:
Mac Mini 2009 Edition – video powered by Metacafe
Feb
9
Peace Of Mind
Filed Under 1. HOW TO..., Advice, Rants, Security, Tips, Views | Leave a Comment
As many of you who read this blog know I am constantly reminding people to back up their data – I never seem to get tired of pointing this out. Just as importantly is securing the data you already have. Security can mean different things depending on your concerns and approach. For some it’s ensuring that you have that basic backup of your important information – that’s one kind of security – against data loss.
So, you’ve got your backup. Check. However, what happens if you lose or have your computer stolen? All that important information like your passwords, credit card information, writing, pictures, contacts, calendar – personal and professional information – all of it is at risk. It’s a very violating feeling to have your computer stolen. I’ve had this happen to me and it’s awful. Even if you have a backup the knowledge that someone may have access to your information is unnerving. You may have to cancel your credit cards, change all of your passwords, call colleagues or friends to be on the look out for any breached information you may have stored.
What can you do to make sure this doesn’t happen to you? These are my suggestions – each has advantages and disadvantages:
1. Give your computer a password! Many of my clients feel they don’t need a password because they’re the only ones using their machine. Please don’t get lulled into this trap. Give your machine a basic password – preferably something beyond 1234, your name or ‘password’.
2. Check out the Security System Preference Pane. There are some very basic things you can choose to do that can help dissuade a casual breach of access to your Mac – in an office or at home. Within this Preference Pane you’ll find the ability to require a password to wake your machine from sleep or a screen saver – someone passing by your machine will probably keep on going. You can also require a secure password to unlock other important Preference Panes – see screen shot.
3. Even with all of these built-in features if someone has physical access to your computer they can by-pass all of these measures by booting up your machine with a startup DVD or external hard drive. To prevent this you can utilize another free utility that comes with every Mac – a Firmware password. Each Startup Disk has on it a utility called Firmware Password Utility. With this you can implement a password at a deep level of the operating system. This will prevent someone from booting up your machine from another media, mounting the drive using Target Disk mode as well as other modes of starting up. This can also prevent diagnostic trouble-shooting modes so be aware of this.
4. Yet another security feature is Apple’s File Vault feature. This protects your Home directory with very sophisticated encryption standards. To you your data appears normal. However, if someone were to steal your machine your data would be secure, even if they booted up your machine from another source – unless they knew or figured out your password (hence no 1234 here)! An issue with Filevault arises with the use of Time Machine. Because File Vault encrypts your directory as a single secure image it will continually back up the entire image and not just the smaller changed files. This can fill up your backup destination much faster.
5. There are 3rd Party solutions as well some of which can help locate your stolen Mac, disable it remotely, take pictures of the thief, where they surf etc…Orbicule is one, MacPhoneHome another as well as Lojack.
6. One solution I’ve used in the past is Securikey – a USB security key approach. With this implemented, your laptop or desktop is only usable with the insertion of the specially formatted USB key – even if your password is breached. It encrypts your Home Directory like Filevault and the data is useless to a thief. If you lose your key the company keeps a backup set which you can get access to by identifying yourself properly with a prearranged authentication.
7. Backup is, as I’ve mentioned, security. An important step is to make sure that you don’t keep your backup and your primary source (computer) in the same location, especially when you travel. Thus, a diverse and secure approach to backup might include an offsite copy of important information using a service like MobileMe, SugarSync, iDrive etc…That way, in the case of loss or theft you will have recourse to those important files. All of these services encrypt their data on remote servers.
Feb
6
iPhone/iTunes Troubleshooting Tip
Filed Under Alerts!, Tips | Leave a Comment
Some people have been reporting iTunes quitting when trying to sync their iPhone to their computer following the application of the latest 2.2.1 firmware. If you happen to be affected by this issue check out the following note from Apple:
Dear Customer,
Recently, we uncovered an issue which was causing iTunes to unexpectedly quit when synced with an iPod or an iPhone. This issue impacted a small number of users, and we have identified your account as potentially being affected.
If you have experienced this issue, please follow these steps in order to sync your iPod or iPhone with iTunes:
1. Launch iTunes
2. Select “Deauthorize Computer” from the Store menu
3. Enter your iTunes Store Account ID and Password, then click the Deauthorize button
4. Next, choose “Authorize Computer” from the Store menu
5. Enter your iTunes Store Account ID and Password, then click the Authorize button
Once you have successfully deauthorized and reauthorized your computer, you should be able to sync your iPod or iPhone to iTunes.
I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced as a result of this issue.
Thank you for being an iTunes Store customer.
iTunes Store Team
Another tip to ensure the issue is remedied is to purchase a free app from the App store via the iTunes application before syncing your iPhone/iPod Touch. This should be done after the above actions been taken.