Technology is always in motion and is always changing. 3D Printers will soon be able to print our body parts. But with any change, comes growing pains. Apple is no exception to this rule. Apple wants everything you create in their Cloud and everything you buy to be a throw away item. No upgrading hardware any longer. They also expect you to have a super fast and unlimited Internet connection to get all your stuff into their cloud and to get patches and updates. Not everyone has the luxury or know how to do all these things. That is when you will feel the pain of the technology you can't go without. I will discuss some options for those of you who have these problems and how you can get the most out of everything.
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Cloud Computing: Saying that all your data was in a cloud a few years ago would have resulted to a trip to the funny farm. Today that's where all the Tech Companies want you to be. Here is what you need to know.
- What is a Cloud?: It's just a fancy word for a computer sitting somewhere else that uses the Internet to connect your computer, iPhone or iPad to their computer called a Server. All Tech companies have a cloud and they would love to sell you space on it. Apple calls their's iCloud.
- Why do we need a Cloud?: Computing devices such as your iPhone have gotten smaller and smaller but our digital world and what we do there has gotten bigger and bigger and you need somewhere to put your stuff.
- Pros of using a Cloud:You don't need a big hard drive to keep all your stuff on and you don't need to backup anymore. You can get that cheap iPhone or Mac, turn on iCloud for Documents, Data, and the iCloud Photo Library and the Cloud now becomes the Master. Everything will be stored on Apple's Servers and your devices just access the data. All your data will be available everywhere by everything and it will be safe and sound somewhere else. If your devices are stolen or destroyed, no problem, your data is in the Cloud.
- Cons of using a Cloud: You are trusting someone else with all of your stuff. The world is a scary place. The Dark Web is real. Hackers are getting better at hacking. Phishing Emails are getting harder to tell the fake from the real ones. Browser hi-jacks with perpetrators pretending to be Apple are getting more wide spread, harder to detect, and harder to get rid of. What about a terrorist attack on a power grid or server farm? The scary list could go on and on. The question is, do you want to trust it all to someone else?
- Living in Both Worlds: It is possible to enjoy Cloud services and keep copies for yourself. This option will take some money and know how to accomplish. The painless and brainless option is iCloud all the way. Here's your other option: An iMac with a big hard drive works great as a storage device. You dedicate that Mac for local backup and storage with limited Cloud services. Then use your iPad, iPhone or Mac laptop to connect to iCloud. Turn on Photo Stream instead of iCloud Photo Library or upload photos directly from your phone. Make sure you have two backup drives. One using Time Machine and the other using Carbon Copy Cloner. Make sure you store the second drive off site incase of fire of flood.
There are other Clouds such as Google and Amazon but both don't encrypt your data and they can do weird things with your stuff so I do not mention them here. If you use Apple products, drinking Apple Kool-aid is good for you. I hope this helps you to understand where technology is going as far as cloud computing is concerned.
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Passwords and 2 Factor Authentication: The days of having just one password are over! Hackers are well aware that baby boomers hate passwords! That's how they get you. If you want to use the Tech, you must have better password management than that little book you keep next to your computer!
- How Hackers get your Password: So, you have one password for everything. That's just how hackers like it as they hack data bases all the time and steal your user names and passwords. They also send you an authentic looking Email that tells you that your password has bee compromised and to follow the link to fix it. Well, that is how is was compromised by you following the link. Once they get your one password, they try it everywhere else. What they are looking for is fast money.
- How to Protect yourself: You must get a password manager. 1Password is my favorite and is still free. The paid version keeps your passwords encrypted in their Cloud and syncs across devices. Encryption means that they cut up your usernames and passwords in tiny pieces so that if a hacker did get them it would be almost impossible to put them together. Having 1Password on your phone gives you the ability to leave home with out your little book of passwords that you can easily leave somewhere.
- 2 Factor Authentication: Apple really, really wants you to activate 2 Factor Authentication. In fact, if you haven't activated it already, they are going to bug the crap out of you once you upgrade to iOS 10.3 on your phone. What 2 Factor does is it sends a code to one of your other trusted devices that is registered to your account when you try to log onto your Apple ID. This is a great level of protection but it can also be a PITA until it settles down. Do not activate 2 Factor if you only have one device. You must have more than one device for this to work. I recommend 2 Factor Authentication if you are storing all your data in iCloud. It is more secure and will keep your Apple ID and data safe from hackers.
- Creating your own passwords: My recommendation is to let your password manager create passwords for you then store them in your iCloud keychain. But if you must, create a pass phrase. Make it long with characters and numbers. Example: SheSellsSeaShellsbytheSeaShore#656 All the Ss are capitalized and the numbers could be a PO box. This is the hardest type of password for hackers to crack.
I hope this helps you to understand that old way of doing things is not up to par on the new Internet and it's only going to get worse. Protect yourself now!
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Buying New Devices: Buying a nice new shinny Apple anything is exciting! Before you buy, ask yourself this simple question, Why to you need it? Is it replacing an older item? What was wrong with the previous one? Is it a new addition? Can an iPad do everything you need? Read on to find out more...
- Check it out: The first thing you are going to do is to go to the Mac Rumors Buyers Guide and see if the item you want to buy is up for a refresh. No one likes to purchase an expensive computer and have a new one come out the next day that is better than the one you just bought.
- Buy the Biggest and Best you can Afford: Changing the memory in an iMac use to be easy. All you had to do was loosen 3 screws and stick them in. Now you have to remove a glued screen and it's 55 steps in the repair process to get the memory from underneath the logic board then 55 steps back the other way to get it back together and then glue the screen back down and you only have one shot. It is an absolute time consuming nightmare that I won't do and if you can find someone to do it they are going to charge you a whole lot of money. So, max out memory. On an iPhone or iPad get at least 128GB on storage space. Also always get a Wi-Fi and Cellular iPad. It is well worth the extra $100 to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.
- Get Apple Care: I've had several flash memory chips (hard drive) go out of a one year old MacBook Pro and it was $500 to replace it. I tried looking for cheaper options and there were none. Apple Care would have covered the cost.
- 3 Year Shelf Life: Apple only supports it's products for 3 years. It doesn't mean that it will self destruct but it will start getting harder to support it and almost impossible to repair it. Think long and hard before you buy.
My stances on many of these things have changed. As technology changes we must also change or get lost in Cyber Space which is not a good place to be.
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Browser hijacks are getting worse. These creeps are embedding stuff into your system that can not
easily be found. Here are ways to protect
yourself.
- Never visit Porn sites. Most of the bad stuff is planted here.
- Never download anything except from the App Store.
- Keep your operating system current and up to date. Apple patches these holes but not in older operating systems.
- Get MacScan 3 by Secure Mac to get rid of this stuff once and for all!
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The SWMMUG presents Spring Training. Part 3 is June 6th at 6:00pm on how to Sell on eBay. You won't want to miss it! But just in case you do, go to Lakeshoremac.com and you will find YouTube videos on how to do everything. See you there!
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I have been working in Technology for over 35 years. It's who I am and I really don't know how to do anything else. I love helping each and every one of you. Many of you know that I have Cystic Fibrosis and many other lung conditions and my lungs are at 32%. I just went through 6 months of costly injections to see if they would help but they have failed. One cold or the flu virus could kill me, so I will soon retire. Thank you for believing in me. I couldn't have asked for better people than you. Maybe that 3D printer could print out a new pair of lungs for me. That would be awesome!
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Jodi Spangler | Lakeshore Mac | 269-214-2356 | jodi_spangler@lakeshoremac.coml | www.lakeshoremac.com
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