开云体育

Last April, when I joined a web forum “X marks the Scot” the site owner messaged me and advised me to turn off iCloud Private Relay because in his opinion it was basically a flavor of VPNs that purport to increase user privacy by bouncing messages through a somewhat random list of servers so that the original poster is harder to discover. The site owner claimed that VPNs actually are TARGETED by hackers and actually can INCREASE the risk of a stop along the way being hacked or the original poster being attacked. Something made me review that warning again today, and I realized that no one here ventured a response to my original query. I turned next to Apple Web support, where the 2023 instructions regarding how to turn off Private Relay for a given site no long match what’s available in the current version of Safari for the Mac. I can repost the original message, but I’d be curious to know if anyone has affirmation or refutation to offer regarding the value of Apple’s means of trying to protect Safari users. Thanks so much, -- Jim Robertson

I have an iPhone 14 Pro, running iOS 18.3. I also have a Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd generation). The thermostat frequently displays “Offline” in my Nest Home app. My home router is an AmpliFi Wi-Fi 6 model, and when I check to see if my phone is connected to it, in the Settings that’s indicated, EXCEPT that on my iPhone’s home screen, often what appears in the upper left corner of the screen is “Spectrum Wi-Fi,” rather than the name of my home Wi-Fi network. Spectrum IS my ISP, but when I open Wi-Fi settings on the phone, I’m listed as connected to my own router by Wi-Fi (although some networks with “Spectrum” in their name are in the list (all of them PW-protected). Curiously, I CAN manually connect my phone to one named “Spectrum Mobile” (without entering a PW), but not to another named “Spectrum Setup 1714” (a PW is demanded). When I’m purposefully connected to the “Spectrum Moblile” network, Ookla Speediest results are dramatically inferior to when purposefully connected to my home Wi-Fi 6 router (confirmed in the Settings app and/or the phone’s control panel), whether or NOT the splash screen of my iPhone is currently displaying “Spectrum Wi-Fi” or just “Spectrum” in the upper left corner of the screen (DL rates approximating 70 mb/sec vs. 700 mb/sec when connected to my router. Why is this relevant to the issue with my thermostat? Because the embedded Google help screens reachable from the thermostat suggest that one reason for the thermostat being “Offline” is that my phone and the thermostat may be connecting to different SSIDs (and the thermostat’s connection needs to be specified manually (both network name and PW). On the other hand, the thermostat does also report that it’s battery voltage is < 3.8, and because the thermostat itself is aging (I bought it in 2018), it’s also possible it simply can no longer hold the charge it needs to remain on the network (Google’s “help” screens say that the device will disconnect from Wi-FI but keep receiving manual inputs in order to continue heating or cooling the house (the former VERY important at the moment because nighttime temps here in Bozeman, MT are currently < 0°F). Readers might be able to confirm that their phones are displaying the name of their ISP but connected to their routers even if they don’t have Nest thermostats. That would be useful information to me. -- Jim Robertson

This is a first world problem, and I’ve found a workaround, but I’m curious about other people’s experience. I’ve long known that I can’t get headers and footers on printouts of web pages with all browsers. You’d think that all browsers would give me headers and footers, but not all of them do, even when I check the “headers and footers” box. Browsers built on the Chromium code base are especially bad in this regard. Firefox does reliably give me headers and footers, but other than that, it renders pages in ways I don’t like. I often print out pages from the Seattle Times, my local paper, and the Washington Post. In a case like this, I definitely want headers and footers so I can put the pages back in sequence if I drop them. Under MacOS 10.13.6, Safari gave me headers and footers on printouts from these two sites. On my new M4 Mac mini running Sequoia 15.2, no headers and footers, even though I check the appropriate box when printing out an article—see the attached PDFs. Fortunately I found a workaround. I’ve had iCab browser, for which I bought a license, on my system for years, but used it only occasionally. I’ve discovered that it does give headers and footers on both the Seattle Times and the Washington Post. All well and good, but it’s a bit frustrating that I have to use a certain browser to get functionality that all browsers should have. Has anyone had better luck getting headers and footers?

For those of you who purchased the almost irresistible M4 Macintosh mini, you might find this hub/stand to be the perfect thing to go with it. The hub/stand fits under your mini, and it provides the missing USB-A ports that you will likely need to attach legacy printers and scanners. Plus it allows you to add an internal NVME SSD (including up to a wildly fast 40Gbps NVME), perfect for those who purchased the base-spec Mac mini! RayCue New M4/2024 Mac Mini Hub & Stand with NVMe https://www.raycue.com/products/raycue-type-c-stand-hub-with-ssd-enclosure-for-all-new-mac-mini-m4-m4pro?variant=44636968911004 __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice http://www.macattorney.com/welcome.html __________________________________________________

A few months ago I purchased two Segate external HDs for my MBP. I designated one as my Time Machine B/U on one partition and additional storage on another partition. I haven’t plugged in the second HD yet. Two days ago the drive I had plugged in just quit. Nada. Nothing. Even disk utility can’t see it. The power light is on but there’s no access. I even tried swapping cables to see if it was a cable issue. No joy. I’m going to return the drive to Amazon and demand a refund. But I’m concerned about all the data on the drive. Since I can’t access it, I can’t erase it. Outside of taking a sledge hammer or a .45 to it is there anything I can do to prevent the data from being accessed? Frank R. Parth

Hi: I have an HP OfficeJet Pro 8020 Smart Printer. It’s a few years old but functions very well. Except one problem — it uses a lot of ink, and that ink costs big bucks. Apparently I can’t use ink refills with this printer, as I used to do in past with a different printer. So I am considering getting a new printer. Recommendations appreciated for a printer that I can buy refilled ink for. Thanks lots. Carol

The past 3 days I’ve been staying at a dear friend’s condo on a beach in Watsonville, pancake-flat and renowned for “Strawberry Fields, Forever.” (The fruit, not the song). However, each day when I walk along the beach the tiny shorebirds have no difficulty racing up the inches-high variants between low and high tides. However, when I’m done and look at the walks I’ve taken in my iOS Strava app, I see that it’s recorded altitude changes exceeding 1,000 feet! Typically I use Strava to chart bicycle rides, and (using a Garmin GPS device) the data recorded seems remarkably precise. But these walks are recorded either by my Apple Watch or my iPhone (I think the former is actually taking the readings). I have NO idea what’s amuck here. Anyone have any ideas? -- Jim Robertson

Hello, Soon I will be upgrading from my Macbook Pro (2017, High Sierra) to a Macbook Pro M4 and will appreciate information about the best way to do this. With all the changes since 2017 I am uncertain about how to proceed. In the past I was moving everything to the new machine, for this transfer will files, photos. videos and a few non-Apple programs. Will the current ignore the older Apple programs and only transfer the items I want? Will the migration remove tabs, erase history from the browser I use. Also I have external backup drives for my Macbook Pro, is it possible to use these with the M4 machine or should i have separate drive for it? Thank you all your help. Regards, Hec MacBook Pro (2017 2.9 GHz, Intel Corei7 16 GB ram Macos 10.13.6

You can now get a third-party internal storage (SSD) upgrade kit for the new M4 Mac mini! (The M4 Mac mini has a slotted and upgradeable internal SSD.) How to upgrade the SSD in your M4 Mac mini https://appleinsider.com/inside/mac-mini/tips/how-to-upgrade-the-ssd-in-your-m4-mac-mini When purchasing an M4 Mac mini, a 2TB SSD adds a $800 premium to the total when purchased from Apple. This upgrade is far less than that, at $259 shipped to your door! However, the upgrade requires some skill, and the ability to see extremely small screws. __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice http://www.macattorney.com/welcome.html __________________________________________________

Does anyone else see the following? When I move up and down messages in a message thread, organized by conversation, the message in the Preview window is not always the message highlighted in the list. This is not consistent, but most often it is one of my replies that is “stuck". One particular email, often the last one I sent, will repeat over and over as I move up or down the thread while other peoples replies will change as expected. Or Mail will ignore my replies and show the previous recipients mail instead of my reply. As a result, I can’t follow the actual conversation. This has been true for a long time though many iterations. I have found no particular pattern or cause. FYI, my replies in the thread are BCCs to myself, not emails from the Sent folder though this does happen with emails from the Sent folder as well. Cheers, tod Tod Hopkins Video Producer?Editor?Technologist

Hi everyone! I'm excited to announce that my most popular Web site: FREE MACINTOSH SOFTWARE at: http://www.macattorney.com/free.html has been extensively updated, and there are now 210 pieces of free software listed!! It is an embarrassment of riches! (Or lack of riches, depending on how you look at it!) Among the updated listings are several exciting new programs which utilize artificial intelligence, business collaboration programs, an app that will allow you to run iOS apps on your Macintosh, an app to teach you keyboard shortcuts, an app that's always available to allow you to take notes, an app that will instantly transcribe dictation, etc. If you haven't gone through all of the listings recently, it's worth looking through them again. There are sure to be free apps that you will find that will prove to be invaluable, for newbies and graybeards alike. Please spread the word about the Web site to others! __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice http://www.macattorney.com/welcome.html __________________________________________________

More detail under “You’re a mean one” on the SuperDuper blog: https://www.shirt-pocket.com/blog/](https://www.shirt-pocket.com/blog/ I found this out the hard way. :(

In November 2023 I bought this hub for use with my 2012 Mac mini: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G8S324L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 I didn’t really need 16 ports, but I was running out of ports on my previous hub, and I figured there was something to be said for being sure I’d always have enough ports. The hub has worked fine with the Intel Mac. Yesterday I dropped off the 2012 Mac and my new M4 Mac mini with my local Mac tech so he could migrate my user account and data to the M4. I got the M4 Mac home tonight, and it works, but items plugged into the USB hub simply aren’t recognized—printer, USB thumb drive, you name it. When I plug things directly into the Mac, they work. Naturally I’m using these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNK3YK1J?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title My Mac tech said he doesn’t know of any case of a hub working with one computer and not with another. Since the hub is the common denominator, I figure trying another one can’t hurt. This would be my chance to get a hub with a USB-C male connector to plug into the Mac, but I’d still need some USB-A female connectors for my legacy peripherals. I don’t have any Thunderbolt peripherals, so I could theoretically plug items into the Thunderbolt ports, but 5 ports total is still not a lot of ports. Any recommendations as to specific USB-C hubs? Thanks.

OK, this is just a minor annoyance, but still…. I could swear in the past when I modified a single instance of a repeating event it was no longer considered a repeating event, and I could modify it again and not have to select whether to modify only this event or all future events. That no longer appears to be the case on my Mac (Sequoia) or iPhone (18.2). Is it just me? Thanks. Jim

Near the end of last winter, my wife and son purchased me Nordic Skiing equipment, but last winter was mild enough that even in February and March I’d been able to get out on my road bicycle for exercise so didn’t start using the skis, and just a few days after the skis, boots, and poles came home on one of those unseasonably warm days, I turned left and south onto a street where the late afternoon sun at almost 50° North latitude produced almost impossible glare, that turn taking me right through a sunlight-obscured pothole, and the resulting crash and facial injuries sidelined me for a few months from getting EITHER onto the saddle or on to the skis. But this winter is different. I’ve had yet another bicycle crash, and I’ve been forbidden by you-can-guess-whom from bicycling outside, but now that it’s snowing again I’ve discovered some delightful winter Montana recreation (hiking the surrounding hills on packed trails AND spending time on the immaculately groomed trails at the local Nordic Ski center, another 1500 feet “up” in altitude from Bozeman. This is serious stuff. They actually train Olympic athletes there in the winter sport of “Biathlon” (let’s just say it’s even MORE arcane than “Curling”–look them both up if you have to). All the regulars at the Crosscut Mountain Nordic Center use a website that permits them to log their activities via GPS and the dates/times of their visits on a scanner that sits outside the warming hut. It’s not an app, but many regulars seem to have found a way to wrap the site in something that makes it BEHAVE like one. Is that something that’s easy to do in iOS; e.g., creating a home screen icon that will launch the phone’s browser and open the site? -- Jim Robertson

I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to OS 11.7.10 Big Sur because so many websites didn't function right with the older system. One thing that popped up that might be a catch 22 is that I cannot print on my old HP Laser Pro 200 color MFP M276nw. I follow the instructions from the video on the site but for some reason I have downloaded the update file 4x and I get the message “HP_Easy_Start.app.zip-4.download” doesn’t appear to be a valid download file." and after several attempts to try to install it the system simply cannot see the printer. I'd hate to have to buy a printer if the only thing was ignorance on my part. Has anyone else had an issue like this and how did you resolve it? Jim Foster Santa Barbara