iOS 7 Comments

        Here's Jim Hamm's comments on upgrading to iOS 7.  "Realizing that it's better to wait for some time before updating to a new iOS, I, of course, ignored my own advice and went ahead just now and updated my iPhone 5, iPad 2, and iPad Mini to iOS 7. 

       "All went well, and so far no problems or bugs noted, but discovery still underway. iOS 7 is quite different visually, functionally, and aesthetically -- but so far I like it quite well. I'm listening to the new iTunes Radio as I type this, and I'm gonna appreciate this as I enjoy listening to music as I surf the net on my computer. I suspect iTunes Radio may well put a little hurt on Pandora and other radio apps."

        And now, what did Zee do?  "My wife was showing me a few tips after her update and one she liked was telling Siri to play James Taylor -- which Siri obligingly did. And she asked Siri 'what is the weather in Prescott?' -- which Siri kindly told her. Kinda cool."

        Jim winds up this report with, "I did the update by plugging my devices into my MacBook Air, and the process went much quicker than my wife's updates, which she was doing via Wifi only and not plugged into her Mac. If you decide to update to iOS 7, don't forget to do a backup first, just in case. I backed up both to iCloud and my MacBook Air -- belt and suspenders, don't you know...(grin)." 

Consider Waiting Before Updating

        A precautionary word of advice comes from Jim Hamm,  "Here's an article with suggestions to wait before updating to iOS 7 on certain devices. Certainly something to think about and consider. No harm in waiting and see what the blogs have to say about the update."   http://osxdaily.com/2013/09/16/wait-before-updating-these-to-ios-7/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+osxdaily+%28OS+X+Daily%29

Getting Your Money's Worth Out of Your iPad?

        John Carter will be presenting the answer to this question:  Are you getting your money's worth out of your iPad?  He announces, "If not, then you haven't discovered the many tips and tricks that the iPad has to offer. Not only that, a new version of iOS comes out on 9/18/2013 with some new features that you're sure to want to know about. Maybe you don't have an iPad, but you're thinking about it. Come to the Joint PCS/PMUG SIG and find out what you're missing!"

        Mark your calendar: the meeting date/time is 9/28/2013 from 1 PM to 3 PM in the Prescott Library Founders Suite.

Snooping at Free Public WiFi

        "If you occasionally use free public WiFi, say at a cafe or the library, here's an article you might read about what other people can see on the network," warns Jim Hamm.  

New Phishing Email

        Heads up for this latest warning from Jim Hamm.  He notifies us,  "Here's something just to be aware of."     http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/beware-of-new-phishing-email-claiming-to-be-from-apple
        After you check this out pass the word along to others you know.  

Routine Maintenance on Mac

Jim Hamm keeps finding helpful stuff,  "Here is a helpful website with information for routine maintenance on your Mac. It has been recently updated. 

        "If you leave your Mac shutdown at night, then the routine 'maintenance scripts' from Apple won't run -- but they will if you leave your Mac in a sleep mode. Normally, even if these scripts are not run you probably won't experience a problem with your Mac. I don't leave my Mac on at night, so the scripts have never run on my MacBook Air and I'm not experiencing any problems. Having said that, though, it is probably a good idea to have these run occasionally."

Gmail Bug Fixed?

        Got Gmail?  John Carter has info for you!  "It appears that Google has fixed an annoying bug in Gmail. I recently reported that it was next to impossible to delete a message from the All Mail label if it was visible in Apple Mail. I keep trying from time to time, and today I can report that I think it has actually been fixed.

        "If you have All Mail showing under GMAIL->[Gmail] in the sidebar of Mail (see image below), and there's messages you want to delete from that mailbox, give it a try. The messages should then show up in the GMAIL->[Gmail]->Trash, which you then have to highlight and delete, whereupon they will then show up in MAILBOXES->Trash, that you then have to empty. I know, pain in the ... . But that they best than can be done - for now.Messages deleted from All Mail will show up in the Trash mailbox just below All Mail. Messages deleted from that Trash mailbox will show up in the Trash mailbox at the top."

Type on Your iPad?

        Sent from his iPad, Jim Hamm writes, "If you do much typing on an iPad, here is an article about a text editor that might be helpful."
http://www.technologytell.com/apple/121924/editorial-the-best-text-editor-for-ipad-yet/

Back Up Your iPhone

        Here's info on bugs and fixes. "If you have an iPhone, here is an article   http://www.macworld.com/article/2046747/bugs-and-fixes-back-up-to-avoid-iphone-disasters.html#tk.nl_mwdaily  on ways to back it up so you don't lose everything in case of an accident with your iPhone," writes Jim Hamm. 

How To, Using Preview

     Our PMUG Prez Art Gorski found this helpful info.  He says,  "One of the many useful 'tricks' of Apple's Preview app: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57598295-263/how-to-fill-an-uneditable-pdf-form-in-os-x/?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=MacFixIt 

FREE and Reduced-price eBooks

        Again Jim Hamm keeps us posted on FREE and inexpensive stuff!  "eReaderIQ is back, and now offers one free eBook and several reduced-price eBooks from Amazon. If interested, you might take a look and perhaps subscribe to their offerings."
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=ed09bb8384b4b40c482babf93&id=1d37388ea9&e=3e18e2b6bf
Here's this:  http://www.ereaderiq.com

Save 50% on Take Control Books

        Like to save money and get good stuff!  Jim Hamm passes this along,  "I've got it open on my iPad.  For a few days the Take Control ebooks are 50% off." 
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/catalog?cp=CPN30806BTSSALE&pt=TB1186 

Explaining the SSD (Solid-State Drive)

                   This is just in from Mary Ann Clark, the webmaster of the PMUG site.  She's now posted a piece from Jim Hamm that points us to a series of articles telling more about SSD (solid-state drive).  Check it out here,   http://pmug.us/benefits/tips-n-tricks/

More on Chrome & Passwords

        Here's more from Jim Hamm on Chrome and Passwords adding to what was posted here below.  "Recently I wrote how Chrome stores passwords entered via the browser in plain text, even without asking if you want them stored or not. As a follow-up, here is an article that explains how this was known some years ago and yet Chrome has become a very popular browser.  

        "Unfortunately, I didn't realize this and have entered passwords in Chrome and, yes, they're stored there in plain text. Google has clearly stated they have no intention of changing this policy, or even alerting users that Chrome does this." 

        So, Jim, what to do?   "Of course, you could discontinue using Chrome. However, I like Chrome and plan to occasionally keep using it, but will no longer use it when I need to log in to a secure website with a password. I'll use another browser. 
        "Also, I will go into Chrome and delete all the passwords stored there. Do this by entering  chrome://settings/passwords in the browser."   

Be Informed About Chrome Browser

        Here's important info from Jim Hamm,  "If you should use Chrome as a browser -- as I do occasionally -- and have guests at your house and they should want to use your computer a bit, you might take a look at this article. Chrome apparently saves your passwords whether you wanted them saved or not. You may not want your guests having access to your passwords saved in Chrome.

      "Out of curiosity, I took a look at which passwords were saved in Chrome on my computer -- a lot, but none of serious consequence. Just to see if Chrome asks me if I want to save a password or not, I tried logging into a couple of sites using a password. Chrome didn't ask me if I wanted to save the password or not -- presumably Chrome just saved it.

      "This is not good if, say, you're on Chrome and logging into your bank account. Keep this in mind if you use Chrome as your browser. Other browsers will ask you if you want a password saved." And here Jim signs off with his customary grin. 

Before You Sell or Give Away Your Mac

        Jim Hamm provides this very important information.  Before you sell or give away your Mac there are definite steps to take to protect your information that's now on the computer.  The article here http://macdailynews.com/2013/08/05/apple-explains-what-to-do-before-selling-or-giving-away-your-mac/ also tells how to return your Mac to its original "out-of-the-box" state.  Read this from Apple dated 8-5-13:  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5189 

What's Hogging the Bandwidth?

        "On a Mac forum I participate in a fellow posted a problem he was having, all of a sudden, with excess bandwidth usage," is how Jim Hamm begins.  He explains, "He normally uses about 40GB per month, but in the last 3 days he has downloaded 120GB! So far he has not been able to identify the culprit, but the following information has been provided to him for further analysis.

        "If you should ever have a concern with or want to know more about bandwidth usage, here is an article explaining how you can open the nettop command program in Terminal to see which processes are generating the most network traffic."  

Calendar Tip

        "I just solved a problem with a Mac user who was having problems with her Calendar on the iPad," John Carter informs us.  " Every calendar entry suddenly disappeared, but it was all there on her laptop. Every trick I knew was tried to no avail. Ultimately, there was only one trick left. The solution was to delete the iCloud account on the iPad and then recreate it. This deleted all iCloud related information on the iPad when the account was deleted, but it came back again once she signed back on to iCloud on the iPad. I am sure the same applies to laptops and desktops.

        And John signs off with this reassurance, "Unlike dangerous stunts, you can try this on your own."

Auto-Dialing Phone Extension: How To

        Got iOS 6? Here's a tip from Prez Art Gorski,  "I don't regularly dial phone numbers with extensions, but if you do here is a great tutorial on how to automate the process on your iPhone.  http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/ios-6-auto-dialing-phone-extensions

Happy Computer = Happy You

        Hope it doesn't happen to you!  The latest posting at Tech Tails gives you some remedies for food/water accidental damages. It's a Small Dog Electronics newsletter  http://blog.smalldog.com/techtails/tt879  
         And while you're in the vicinity check out another of their weekly newsletters http://blog.smalldog.com/kibbles/  .  Here's their phrase:  “that spinning data depository in your Mac could suddenly become little more than a good doorstop,”  speaking of your hard drive inside your computer.  Read about the Time Capsule that's on sale.