Hello There Macintosh User! If you are getting this email you have sometime been a client of mine — Thank you for your past custom!
Like the Mr Mac Facebook page for regular updates: https://www.facebook.com/mrmacbyronbay
Website/blog: http://www.mrmacintosh.com.au
HAVE A BRILLIANT CHRISTMAS BREAK — SEE YOU NEXT YEAR and look for present ideas in the last entry below…
1. IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR…
Anyone who has been receiving these emails over the years — decades?! — will already know my annual plea:
Backup your computer!
This is something that is both simple and essential. The software is built-in to all Macs, called Time Machine. To use it you need an external hard drive. Forget about cloud backup, until our internet improves dramatically cloud backup isn’t practical.
Any external hard drive will do that has enough capacity. If buy a new one it will have 1TB (1 terabyte) as a minimum, which is good for most people unless you have a hugehard drive with huge amounts of data.
Buy anywhere and don’t worry whether it is formatted for Mac or PC because your Mac will re-format it for you to be used by Time Machine. The Post Office has as good prices as anyone at about $90 for a 1 TB portable external hard drive.
Once you plug it into the Mac a box should pop up asking if Time Machine can use the newly inserted disk to backup. Say yes, let it Erase the drive if need be and away you go. As long as it is plugged into your Mac it will backup every hour, doing incremental backups of anything that has changed since the last backup.
Now you are safe. Your data is on the computer and a copy is on the external hard drive. It you like you can get two external hard drives and do two backups. When I go overseas or on any trip I take a backup of my data with me because you never know what’s happening while you are away…
2. SERVICE YOUR COMPUTER: Now that you are backing up a good idea is to get Mr Mac to service your computer at least once a year. This involves a 30 minute visit and will leave your trusty machine bright eyed and bushy tailed. Call me….
3. BACKUP AND CHARGE YOUR DEVICE: This is a cute little solution to backup your iPhone/iPad and charge it at the same time… Meem does both together with an app to manage the process. From US$50-60 depending on size. https://www.macworld.com/article/3232378/storage/meem-review-back-up-ios-devices-while-they-charge-with-this-unique-cable.html
4. FACEBOOK PLUGIN TO STOP ADS: FaceBook Purity is a free plugin to get control of FaceBook. Click on the link to install and reduce annoying ads. http://www.fbpurity.com
5. EFFECTS FOR PHOTOS: This simple and cheap plug-in for the Photos app on your Mac offers several cool effects to make your pics stand out. Photo Blur FX is only $4 so worth a try. https://profesionalsoftware.com/photo-blur-fx-image-blur-and-focus-effects/
6. FREE SCREEN RECORDER: This fully featured screen recorder, Iris, is free up to a point. It puts a banner across the bottom of the recording unless you spend a very reasonable US$15 to buy it. This means you can try it out and only buy if it works for you. https://staticz.com/iris/
7. WE ALL HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF: This is a personal home inventory program to take control of your stuff! Called MYStuff Pro it is very flexible and enables input of anything at all. Track your stuff, take photos of it, scan the bar code, — or just give it all away! Free for 30 days then a one off US$20. http://www.mindersoftworks.com/products/mystuff/
8. PRINT FROM YOUR DEVICE TO YOUR MAC’S PRINTER: Printopia lets your i-Device print to your Mac printer wirelessly. This is any printer connected to your Mac even if it’s not wireless but USB connected. Very handy maybe. Fortunately like much software these days it is free to try then US$20. https://www.decisivetactics.com/products/printopia/
9. INNER ORIGIN: I sent out a message about this health and wellbeing site that myself and Ms Mac are reps for. It is going from strength to strength because it has truth-on-labelling and health as it’s basis. We are Inner Origin Byron Bay and anything you buy from the link below gets me a tiny commission! Yay.
For Christmas presents it is specially useful as you know anything you buy is free from nasty poisons and chemicals. https://secure.innerorigin.com/byronbay
As an example and pertinent to computer users is a Health Technology page with Floww products from Holland which are proper (and quite pricy) anti-radiation equipment. These aren’t the usual bit of plastic that are claimed to cut out everything, but properly engineered devices that really work.
There is a personal one and that has protection around your body, approximately 1 square metre and devices for the whole house or business.
These unseen rays are getting more and more pervasive and impossible to avoid these days so a Floww device can help. Once you have bought it the device lasts for ever.
Scroll lower down on this page to see them: https://secure.innerorigin.com/membertoolsdotnet/shoppingcartv4/MainCartv4.aspx?MG=53&G1=186
10. A Reminder of My rates I charge $110 per hour including GST. No call-out fee or travel charge in the Byron Shire. Half hour minimum. Telephone support costs the same in 15 minute increments Email support is still free! Please include plenty of detail in your email inquiries.
Serving the Byron Macintosh community for over 14 years. Until next time, Thank you Tommi ;>) 0418 408 869