Hopefully, receiving unwanted calls or messages is not a problem for you, but unfortunately, it is for many. It can start as a minor annoyance, but quickly turn into a major probem if it isn't addressed quickly enough. No one should have to put up with this.
There are two ways to mitigate this annoyance/problem. One way is to simply avoid answering the call or replying to the message each time. The problem with this method is you are still subjected to knowing that they are calling and/or messaging you. The alternative (and much better, long-term solution) would be to add that person to a list of blocked callers
Video-conferencing is extremely powerful and so readily available. FaceTime, Skype, GoToMeeting and other similar services are freely avaialble on just about any device or platform and easy to use. This makes it extremely powerful for keeping in touch with family, friends and colleagues that live and work in other parts of the country or world.
There are some things you should know before hosting or joining that next call. Here are 5 things to keep in mind (for your sake and others on the call).
Siri is AWESOME! I use it at home, at the office, on the road, at play… it’s safe to say that I use it all the time for lots of different reasons. One of my favorite ways to use Siri is to place phone calls and send messages hands-free (speaking of hands-free, you should also read this tip!). Sometimes, Siri makes me chuckle with the way she pronounces names. Usually, she’s pretty close, but sometimes, she is way off!
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to train Siri how to pronounce names the right way. How? By just talking to her, of course!
When Apple released iOS 9.3 on March 21, it included a slew of new features. One feature in particular has caught the eye of many people, literally. The feature is called "NIght Shift" and is pretty interesting.
So what is Night Shift and how does it work? Studies have shown that too much "blue light" in the evening is detrimental to our circadian rhythm. In other words, our bodies are designed to consume less blue light as we wind down for bed time, not more. Staring at a bright computer display (laptop, iPhone, iPad... you name it) doesn't allow for that natural process to take place. Instead, the excess blue light tricks out bodies into thinking it's still day time. Hence, the disruption to our circadian rhythm. Night Shift solves that problem (well, as much as it can) and here's how.
It seems to be more and more common that Safari seemingly randomly pops up with a message to let you know that your Mac has been infected with malicious or suspicious activity. In fact, it's not random at all, and is usually caused by accidentally visiting unfortunate sites (most commonly when we enter a URL slightly incorrectly).
Unfortunately, the message will make it sound ultra-scary and the only way to fix the issue is to call a number for immediate support. DO NOT CALL the number listed! They will tell you that they are contracted by Apple to resolve this issue when in fact, they are not. There is absolutely no connection to Apple at all. In fact, very bad things will happen if you do this (resulting in loss of data, compromised credit cards and other bank accounts). Fortunately, there is an easy fix for this that takes about 15-20 seconds.
The Notes app gained a major security feature when Apple released the free updates to iOS 9.3 and OS X 10.11.4,.. the ability to securely lock individual notes! This is a welcome improvement for many of us who store secure information in the Notes app.
Using this new security feature may not be obvious to many, but because I think everyone should know how to use it, I will walk you through it step-by-step. Here we go!
Apple quietly released an update to OS X (10.11.4) today to compliment and support the new features released with iOS 9.3. Both updates (OS X 10.11.4 and iOS 9.3) are available now as free downloads. To get your copy, visit the Mac App Store and click on the "Updates" tab.
Apple held their much-anticipated March 21 media event today. The event was held at their very own on-campus theater and streamed live. Below are notes from the event.
Mac OS X is designed to make our lives better in many ways. Most of the time, it works to our advantage, but sometimes, Apple includes features that don’t necessarily help, and even slightly hinder our productivity. Today’s post discusses one of those features.
When we restart our computer (by going to > Restart…), we are given one additional prompt before the computer restarts. If you look closely, you will see an option that most people quickly overlook (if they even notice it at all) before simple pressing “Restart".
Maybe it’s because I spend a LOT of time on a keyboard, or maybe it’s because I’m lazy, but I don’t enjoy handwriting. Not just longer documents like letters, but even short notes. That also includes envelopes (like USPS envelopes).
Many years ago, I decided to come up with a solution to this problem. Since then, I used it for myself and never really talked about it until the other day, I mentioned this simple idea to a friend, and he was blown away by it. It’s certainly not Earth-shattering, but it’s convenient and can help to add a touch of professionalism (great for small businesses).
I’ve had more than a few readers ask me the same question lately, so I thought I would use that question as the basis of today’s TechTalk post. The question is this: “What is the best way to share a list of tasks with a small group of people (either family members or work colleagues), without creating a complex system?”
It’s a great question, and quite frankly, one that I bet is on a lot of minds (if not already, I bet it is now!). So, here’s the answer!
The other day, I helped someone recover some contacts from a no-longer-accessible mailbox. These types of recoveries (like most recoveries) can be a little messy once you have recovered your data. As with many recovery jobs, it left us with duplicate data. Instead of 935 contacts, we had over 2,000 contacts. Ugh.
Being left with duplicate contacts can be a huge pain (to say the least), but not to worry… there is an easy way to find and remove duplicate contacts. The best part is, this clean-up feature is built right into OX X’s Contacts app! Here’s how it works.
This post serves more as a Public Service Announcement (PSA) than a tech tip, but it’s something that you should be aware of, especially for those who use the Ethernet port on your MacBook Pro or iMac. Apple recently released a minor update to OS X which adversely affected the functionality of the Ethernet port, to the extent of disabling the port altogether.
I personally wasn’t affected right away because I don’t use my Ethernet port very often, but it’s something that we should all be aware of to avoid the disruption. In this post, I will walk you through how to check to see if you are affected (not all users are affected) and how to fix it if you are.
Printing on plain paper is pretty straight forward. We invoke the “Print” dialog (by going to File > Print… or using the Command+P keyboard shortcut), adjust the quantity and click “Print”. That’s it.
When we print to speciality paper (glossy, cardstock, etc.), it’s usually advantageous for us to adjust those settings slightly to accommodate those paper types. Adjusting for cardstock, for example, will adjust the rollers and print heads slightly to allow for the thicker paper to pass through. Believe it or not, as subtle as these adjustments are, it does make a difference in print quality. Manually adjusting these settings once in a while isn’t too bad, but if you find yourself printing to specialty paper often, this post is for you!
There's no question, YouTube is an integral part of our lives. It serves as a great resource for literally anything and everything. From time-wasting videos to legitimate work-related stuff... it's indispensable.
There are, however, occasions where streaming video live from the site itself can pose a challenge. For example, if you were to use a video during an important presentation, you wouldn't want to rely on streaming it. Your Internet could be slow that day, WiFi acts funny... any number of potential problems could cause a disaster. In cases like that, a better idea would be to download the video to your local hard drive, and play it from there.
