Spotlight Doesn't Work To My Needs

The other day I noticed that I was not getting a hundred per cent 'find' results from Spotlight on my Mac running Yosemite. As I had always had no issues with Spotlight in the past, I assumed a simple reindex would take care of things. However, the reindex command in Terminal which always worked for me before, took an exceptionally short time to complete. Intrigued, I followed the 'drag hard disk to the Privacy tab' and then after a bit 'remove hard disk from the Privacy tab' advocated by Apple Tutorials.

Sadly this too didn't appear to work.

I decided to head on over to Apple's excellent Support pages to see if others too had a reindexing issue with Spotlight on Yosemite. It turns out there were several, but one post here was nearest to my case, so I read through this with interest.

The user was obviously furious as he'd just paid a hefty sum to upgrade his systems to Yosemite and Spotlight didn't work quite the way he was used to. A sample quote would be: "After 'downgrading' from Maverick to Yosemite Sam, I am TOTALLY unable to reindex with Spotlight. I have tried all recommendations from Terminal to doing the HD shuffle with Spotlight. I have never been able to get the progress bar to finish." You can read the rest of his post in the discussion link above.

What surprised me was one particular response from a level 10 Support Forum user named 'Kappy' who had always appeared to me to offer excellent advice (and seeing the name was one of the reasons I read the post in the first place.) Kappy advocated that the user "Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on solving Spotlight problems. This problem is one on your computer. It is not Apple's fault or the upgrades fault. Having tested this on three of my own computers where everything is working as expected. So, if you need slap someone silly for this start with the user," ends Kappy with a smiley icon. I don't know if the smiley took away what I thought was quite a rude response -- not quite what I'd expected from Kappy.

However, I followed the link given by Kappy, to see if it would help in my case. The XLab faqs indicate that by default, Spotlight indexes and searches a limited number of folders, specifically those listed in the AppleCare® Knowledge Base document "Mac OS X 10.4: Where does Spotlight search?" "Furthermore," claim XLab, "Spotlight will neither index nor search Hidden files, Invisible files, etc., under Mac OS X 10.4." Though "...System-related files or folders ... are indexed and can be searched under Mac OS X 10.5 and later." Nice to know, thought I and followed the link given by XLab. This page includes the following statements: "By default, Spotlight will index and search in the following locations:

    All Home folders (local and network-based, as well as FileVault and non-FileVault). This includes:
        The Documents, Movies, Music, and Pictures folders
        The Trash of all users and each mounted volume.
        ~/Library/Metadata/
        ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/
        ~/Library/Mail/
        ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.AddressBook/Metadata/
        ~/Library/PreferencePanes/

    Spotlight also searches these non-Home folder locations by default:
        /Library/PreferencePanes/
        /System/Library/PreferencePanes/
        /Applications

Can Spotlight search anywhere else? Of course! Any new folder you create in your Home automatically gets indexed so that it's searchable. If you connect an external storage device, such as a USB or FireWire hard drive, Spotlight will index the stuff on it, too."

Now I was confused. If Spotlight were able to search all of the above, why were my searches incomplete?

I went on back to the XLab page which also told me that "Spotlight saves all its index-related files in the .Spotlight-V100 directory at the root level of a volume it has indexed." I remember reading somewhere that, in case of a corrupted Spotlight index, deleting this directory would force Spotlight into a reindex. Accordingly, I tried to find this directory, using the Finder, as you'll see in the screenshot. After about an hour, I gave up. Nothing that I wanted showed up, probably because "Spotlight will neither index nor search Hidden files, Invisible files, etc."

Ah well... I decided to try Apple's Support page one last time, following all instructions to the letter.

"   From the Apple () menu, choose System Preferences.
    Click Spotlight.
    Click the Privacy tab.
    Drag a folder or an entire volume (your hard drive) to the list.
    If prompted for confirmation, click OK.
    Remove the item or volume you just added to the list by clicking it and then clicking the minus ("-") button.
    Close Spotlight preferences.

Spotlight will re-index the contents of the folder or volume."

It didn't work.

Faith

This is true faith, I believe...

Nostalgia, Thy Name is BlackBerry 8800

In the news today (sourced from The Independent -- post by Jamie Dunkley and Macrumors -- post by Mitchel Broussard -- both on Nov 25) is an interesting item: BlackBerry is offering its customers up to $550 to switch from their iPhones to the BlackBerry Passport, expected to launch as early as December this year. (Un)fortunately, this 'BlackBerry Trade Up' program is being offered only in the US and Canada and covers only iPhones 4S upwards.

BlackBerry's offer is another go at regaining at least a little bit of its lost global market share which has allegedly fallen to less than 1 percent.

I wonder if I will ever consider going back to my old beloved device which I would use along with my 'original iPhone' way back in 2007-2009. Yep, those were the days when I would use the BlackBerry 8800 for 'work' and the 'original iPhone' for 'personal' stuff. The 8800 was so easy to clean and repair, too, and this site was one of my favorites, when I needed to clean the trackball (anybody remember those?) or the inside of my screen when I'd forgotten all those fingerprints I'd left behind! By contrast, the 'original iPhone' was almost beyond my capability for a long time until I purchased the required 'kit' for disassembly and managed to replace my own 'on-off' switch which had somehow stopped working.

Oh yes, I enjoyed tinkering around with those 'legacy' phones back in the day.

Sadly, they're both sitting in some drawer somewhere at home, hopefully protected from dust by the plastic bags I've wrapped them in.

Frost: The Best for me...

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.  
His house is in the village though;  
He will not see me stopping here  
To watch his woods fill up with snow.  

My little horse must think it queer  
To stop without a farmhouse near  
Between the woods and frozen lake  
The darkest evening of the year.  

He gives his harness bells a shake  
To ask if there is some mistake.  
The only other sound’s the sweep  
Of easy wind and downy flake.  

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep.

iOS 8.1.1: Follow-up

iPhone 4S running iOS 8.1.1

I briefly mentioned in this post that both Yosemite and iOS 8 had been upgraded. With regard to iOS 8.1.1, I stated that there appeared to be "...an improvement in speed of operations on both -- Yosemite and my iPhone, including a tad more smoothness in handling things."

I thought I'd do a follow up post on iOS 8.1.1 which seems to bear out -- on my iPhone 4S at least -- Apple's promise of "...increased stability and performance improvements." I did notice improved responsiveness and consistency over the previous builds (iOS 8 and 8.1), although I must admit iOS 7 'felt' smoother.

For me, scrolling between pages and within multiple 'screens' flows quite smoothly, compared to iOS8. There isn't any 'sticking' the like of which I'd been experiencing earlier. It isn't anything very great -- merely a minor annoyance -- and yet, the fact that I'd noticed it meant that others would have too and Apple, as usual, has responded to its customers' voices quite quickly.

I suppose others will have different experiences. All I can guess is that I have relatively few apps on my iDevices, and -- in order to 'help' my operations -- I close each one (double-click on Home button; swipe-up) almost as soon as I've finished using it, even though this shouldn't strictly be necessary, according to many. Force of habit, I guess.

All in all, I'm quite happy with the long-term speed and stability I now enjoy. In fact, iOS 8.1.1 -- for me -- appears more stable and performs well although I have, perforce, a meagre 512MB of RAM on my iPhone 4S.

I did notice, however that my service provider's signal still goes 'off the air' showing the dreaded 'SOS only' where five bars should be. At those times, my callers complain they receive a 'device switched off' message when they try to call me.

I briefly reported this here while my device was running iOS 8.0.2. But, perhaps, this is the fault of the service provider?

Only time will tell.

NBN Rolling Out in Our Locality!

For those of us who've been in online space for any length of time, accessing our websites, email, social networks, reference searches, and the like is just taken for granted. We fire up our computers or devices and just surf. Everything 'just works' to coin a popular tech buzzword. However, let's remember that nothing would work if it weren't for those hard-working service providers who strive to enable our 'connectivity' to our online space. There are many such all over the world, but hitherto they've been mostly able to provide conventional broadband access. High speed, no doubt, but still, conventional.

Enter NBN, or 'National Broadband Network' in Australia, which reaffirms that, "Connection is everything." NBN, as I wrote, is an Australia-wide project which aims to upgrade our existing landline phone and internet network infrastructure.

How? This page will help us understand more.

NBN aims to enable this really fast broadband service across the country by utilising the best mix of suitable technology -- specifically, migrating end-user services from the existing copper network to "...multi-technology NBN, which includes fibre to the node (FTTN) and hybrid-fibre coaxial (HFC) solutions..." to quote the Australian Government
Department of Communications.

Details about the Government Migration Assurance Policy Consultation Paper can be accessed here.

The pictures in this post show the two areas outside our home where steps were completed just yesterday.

We are all understandably excited about the prospect of really very fast broadband access to the internet in the near future; and wait with eager anticipation for the service providers to our home to 'flick on the switch' which would give us this access.

So, if you're interested to know more about the rollout in your area (Australia only,) be sure to check your address here, as preparation steps for installation differ for each location.

Happy surfing!

Email: For Better Or ... er ... Verse

Just today (Nov 19) I signed up for IBM's new email offering -- Verse. By all accounts (pun intended), Verse should combine the cloud, social networking, analytics and a fresh new design, intending to transform our outlook to mail (puns intended here too.) IBM's overview asks us to "Imagine email that works for you instead of email that makes you work..." and goes on to claim, "Guided by analytics, IBM Verse learns your behaviors to adapt to the way you work, wherever you work. And because it's built for business, it understands you have special security and privacy needs, too."

It is also rumored that IBM Verse gives us a glimmer of what may come from IBM's much-hyped announcement earlier, of a tie-up with Apple.

Carolyn Pampino, Design Director for IBM’s Enterprise Social Solutions indicates that they "...are certainly talking with Apple around this and setting up some meetings to work with them on this particular app."

So, having signed up, I received a quick 'Welcome' email acknowledgement from the IBM Verse Team, confirming receipt of my sign-up. For the discerning readers of this post, it will be evident that I've used Apple's Mail client to download this particular email. Yes, as I briefly stated here, I still use Mail, Outlook and Web clients to check my quite voluminous email, having evolved a comfortable way to keep myself organized to a certain extent. (More on this, perhaps, in a future post...)

Meanwhile...

If you need to contact me
Sit down; Sway on; converse.
It mayn't be always Mail you use...
Your Outlook could be Verse.

Yosemite Updated -- As Predicted

A few days ago I predicted here that Apple would release "...an update to Yosemite 10.10, iOS 8 and, maybe even iTunes. Perhaps even as soon as Nov 17..." Well, to cut a long story short ... it's happened ... at least for Yosemite. On Nov 17 Apple released OS X Update 10.10.1 (Yosemite). Improvements should include Wi-Fi reliability, Microsoft Exchange connection and Mail, according to the App Store Update page.

I initiated the download and, as it warned me that it could take over an hour, including a restart, I took a break, made myself a cup of tea, had a shower and returned to discover that the system was just about to reboot.

Excellent timing!

Meanwhile, on a hunch, I had also checked my iPhone Software Update settings and, sure enough, 8.1.1 was waiting for me to download. (I always choose not to update anything automatically, just in case...)

So, while Yosemite was updating, I also began the download of 8.1.1 (about 43MB) and, this too happened during my shower break, I'm happy to say. Almost immediately after the OS X update finished, so did my iPhone's. All looks good so far. I do imagine there's an improvement in speed of operations on both -- Yosemite and my iPhone, including a tad more smoothness in handling things. I'm afraid I can't be clearer than that for now. Let's hope it also solves the few memory problems reported, including that of Safari which appeared to hog quite a bit while it was in use.

Meanwhile, as I finish this post, my iPad has just rebooted itself after installing 8.1.1.

Hopefully it will be less jerky than before, just like my iPhone. I'm happy for now. Thank you, Apple!

What's New With Outlook for Mac -- the Office 365 Release...

As I wrote here last month, Microsoft has issued a new version of Outlook for the Mac -- currently available only to Office 365 subscribers. As I am not yet an Office 365 subscriber, I must, of course, first check out what to look forward to in the new version of Office, to be issued -- possibly in the second half of 2015. The new version only works on Macs running OS X between Mavericks (10.9.4) and Yosemite -- or later, whenever that may be released.

Accordingly I scoured the net for more information (as I briefly mentioned, I've always been a Hotmail -> Outlook user, whether on Windows or now, on my Mac, and am thus interested), and found this clear article (with screenshots and all) published by Macworld.

Changes, write Macworld, are few. Hmm. The cosmetic ones that interested me were just a new Theme -- quoting Macworld: "...In line with Apple’s Yosemite design, the new Outlook’s interface is flatter, uses gray more extensively than solid black, features slimmer fonts, and has removed the color from folder and mailbox icons in the sidebar. It also discards the yellow theme from Outlook 2011 in favor of the blue and white tones Microsoft now favors for its Outlook products..." -- and Signatures for each account (not that I have many of these, but still...) Digging deeper, (although these are not really 'cosmetic' changes,) what could interest me, I thought, was Macworld's claim that the new Outlook showed improvement in both stability and speed. This is something I would really like, I thought.

Microsoft have apparently removed the import/export function -- meaning no contacts export, for one. The old 'drag-and-drop' of your mailboxes from Outlook to the desktop as mbox archives, still remains, though. Further, while import of olm or PST archives is still possible, old Entourage archives is not. Thankfully, to me, Sync Services functionality is no longer supported.

Having said all the above and stability and speed notwithstanding, as there don't appear to be too many changes of interest to me now, I guess I'll wait for the new release of Office for Mac in the latter half of 2015 and stick to my existing 2011 version.

Microsoft Updates Office for Mac 2011

Something appears to be happening with Microsoft Office for Mac 2011. I opened up Outlook, as usual and my AutoUpdate informed me that update version 14.4.6 was available. Again, as usual, I unhesitatingly clicked 'ok' and the download (about 114MB) began.

Curious as to what the update would bring, while the download was going on, I checked out the Microsoft Office for Mac Support Page here and read that critical issues being fixed include those "... that causes a subscription to Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac to change from full retail license mode to trial mode." Also, "... that delays Outlook from reconnecting to the network after you resume a MacBook from sleep mode."

These apart, the 'Known Issues' page detailed quite a few known issues in Word 2011, Excel 2011, PowerPoint 2011, Outlook 2011, and Communicator 2011. As I was informed about the update while using Outlook 2011, I thought I'd read up on the known issues here. As these appeared to have been last updated in September 2013, I decided not to go through them in detail. Also, I have not encountered any issues since the last update.
   
Back on the Update Status page, I read "Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section." This section lists the third-party products -- Article ID: 3016338 - Last Review: November 12, 2014 - Revision: 2.0 -- applied to:

Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011
Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 Home Use Program
Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011
Microsoft Office for Mac Standard 2011
Microsoft Office for Mac Academic 2011
Microsoft Excel for Mac 2011
Microsoft Outlook for Mac 2011
Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac 2011
Microsoft Word for Mac 2011

So, if you possess any of the above, this update is definitely for you.

Meanwhile, I forgot that I had OneDrive running in the background so, while attempting to install the update, the software politely asked me to close it. After I had complied, everything moved quickly and surely to completion. I now have an updated Office for Mac 2011 14.4.6. Haven't noticed anything different yet.

If I do, I'll be sure to write about it in here.

Apple Seeds Safari Betas Too

Yesterday I wrote here that Apple had updated Thunderbolt Display firmware 1.2. Apparently, according to many tech websites, including Apple Insider, that was not all. Apple Insider note here that Apple had at the same time also seeded new Safari builds for developers for Yosemite, Mavericks and Mountain Lion as well.

Intriguing to me.

Well anyway, I decided to update my Thunderbolt Display firmware and headed over to the Apple Support pages, from where I could download the dmg file.

Of course, I first checked whether my MBP was compatible and whether I did indeed have the requisite Thunderbolt Display port on my machine.

Having done so, I initiated the download, which went smoothly and very quickly, in no time at all landing up in my Downloads folder.

I double-clicked the dmg file and again double-clicked the pkg file it contained. But, as I don't currently have a Thunderbolt Display attached, the software alerted me and I closed on out.

I wonder whether I'm being too dumb here, but perhaps Apple's Support page should have told me (along with the machine requirements) that I needed to have a Thunderbolt Display attached. This would have, possibly, saved me some download time and bandwidth.

Anyway, I hope this helps somebody who may have also read about the update and, like me, decided to go ahead and download it, even though the whole requirements were not met.

A Perfect Operating System?

On Nov 3 this year, we heard that Apple issued the first OS X 10.10.1 Yosemite beta to developers -- the first update coming less than three weeks after the latest Mac operating system was released.

On Nov 10, we were told that Apple had issued the second OS X 10.10.1 beta to developers, asking them to continue focusing on Wi-Fi and Mail issues.

We know that Yosemite has had numerous user complaints regarding WiFi performance. We know that Apple's Mail App -- which worked well before Yosemite -- has been alleged to 'hang' or 'crash' by many users. Mark Rogowski tells us here about the alleged issues with iOS 8; and, of course, we all remember the disastrous -- to some -- iOS 8.0.1, which necessitated a very quick update to iOS 8.0.2 and then on to iOS 8.1. This too, while delivering some fixes, also allegedly broke features and settings inside iOS 8. For instance, some iPhone 5s users reported random reboots after iOS 8.1.

Yesterday (Nov 13), we read that Apple released Thunderbolt Display Firmware Update 1.2, for the Thunderbolt Display released four years ago. The release notes indicate that this update improves reliability when connecting devices to the Apple Thunderbolt Display and addresses an issue which may cause a blank display. The Thunderbolt Display update can be downloaded from the Mac App Store.

All of this possibly hints that an update to Yosemite 10.10, iOS 8 and, maybe even iTunes. Perhaps even as soon as Nov 17?

Coming so soon after major OS releases -- ostensibly extensively checked by deemed experts -- does it indicate, perhaps, a lack of awareness by testers as to the links between each that Apple is endeavoring to establish?

Perhaps the time has come for Apple -- indeed maybe all major OS corporates -- to take a leaf out of Microsoft's book. It may be recalled MS allowed any member of the public (with a Microsoft Account) to download and test Windows 10. Of course, all legal warnings and disclaimers were stated up-front. "Install on your main PC at your own risk..." "This is a Preview OS..." etc... The important thing is, each interested member of the public gets to contribute to the test and thus -- hopefully -- when the OS is finally released, it will have very few bugs.

I assume quite a few users would volunteer to contribute to this sort of testing, sending feedback on a daily basis, if necessary. Perhaps, if the corporate wished, one could even negotiate an "over-the-air" feedback 'without user intervention' to them provided, of course, issues of security and privacy were guaranteed.

Hopefully, at some future date, we may thus see a perfect OS evolve.

AirDrop: Not For Me ... Yet

Macworld today added to its 'how-to' tutorials with this step-by-step post on "How to copy items between your Mac and iPad using AirDrop", emphasis being given to Yosemite, of course.

"With Yosemite, Apple has tried to make it easier for you to move files between devices," writes Macworld. Apparently, (and I use the word because I can't do this on my so-called older iOS devices, even though they're running iOS 8...) you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see an AirDrop entry, by tapping on which you can manage your AirDrops.

On our Macs (hurray, I am able to see this one!) AirDrop is visible in the Finder. By clicking on this, you should be able to see other people who are on your network and who have enabled AirDrop on their iOS devices or Macs.

Transferring files between iOS devices and/or a Mac, should now be quite easy. However, as I mentioned, it is not yet possible for me, may be because my devices are of the older generation.

But Apple's AirDrop Support page states, "In order to transfer files between a Mac and and an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, your iOS device needs iOS 7 or later installed and your Mac needs to be a 2012 or later model. To transfer files between two Mac computers, you need one of the Mac models listed below and OS X Lion or later." The Mac models work for me, but not the iOS-running devices, even though -- ostensibly -- they meet the criteria defined by Apple -- (to reiterate: "...your iOS device needs iOS 7 or later installed...")

Something isn't right. Or am I misunderstanding simple English?

But for those of us in a similar "predicament," there is an equally easy and free alternative. I'm talking about Microsoft's OneDrive. (Of course I realise there are other equally attractive options, but this one works for me.) All you need is a free Hotmail (now Outlook) account for OneDrive to work together with -- if you need to access Office files -- the equally free MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint; all downloadable legally from the Apple Store.

OneDrive for me works almost exactly the same way as AirDrop. I create my document (in this case a dummy one), place it in my OneDrive folder on my Mac...

... open it on my iOS device...

... choose to share it, if I wish (I did in this case,) and it works! Between all my devices -- older and newer -- plus a Windows laptop and Ubuntu (although this needs a bit of extra work to view the file. Perhaps I'll write about it in a future post.)

And oh yes. I got the iPad screenshots onto my Mac by using iCloud's photo-sharing option and downloading them from iPhoto.

So there you have it. The older devices too can make use of modern technology ... provided one is prepared to share this technology, be it Windows, Apple or Linux.

Don't despair.

Apple Pay and AliPay

This morning I chanced upon a CNBC article with the headline: "Jack Ma is tired, and doesn't like being rich" And I thought, echoing the CNBC post, "The richest man in China is unhappy?"

For the few who don't know, Jack Ma is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba. CNBC also reported here on Sep 23, that he had now become the richest man in China. Alibaba is not the Amazon of China, despite what we may have read elsewhere. "Amazon and eBay are e-commerce companies, and Alibaba is not an e-commerce company," said Jack Ma last year. "Alibaba helps others to do e-commerce. We do not sell things."

Ma recently claimed he has not been happy; being his country's richest man, to him, is "a great pain."
According to CNBC, Ma said, "This month I'm not very happy -- I think too much pressure. I try to make myself happy no, because I know that if I'm not happy my colleagues are not happy, and my shareholders are not happy, and my customers are not happy."

Meanwhile, though, it looks as though Alibaba and Mr Ma may become even richer, if his talks with Apple end up in a partnership.(via MacRumors and Apple Insider -- to quote just two articles.)

MacRumors, quoting an Alibaba executive and The Wall Street Journal, said "... the Chinese e-commerce company and Apple are currently in talks over a partnership to provide a payments solution for China." Details, apparently, are being discussed.

Should Alipay (Alibaba's third-party online payment solution -- reputed to be China's leading third-party online payment solution) integrate with Apple Pay, it could help Apple expand its presence in China. Apple Insider too reported, "After officials from both Apple and Alibaba publicly expressed interest in forging a possible mobile payment deal, Alibaba confirmed on Tuesday that it is currently in negotiations to bring Apple Pay to China." It was "...suggested that an Apple Pay-Alipay deal could use Alibaba to provide back-end services for Apple Pay, and users would pay for transactions with money from their Alipay accounts..." the Apple Insider article continued.

Today, however, readers of the CNBC article on LinkedIn commented, (sample below) many of them tongue-in-cheek: "Money in excess can always be donated."
"I would be happy to take 1 or 2 million dollars off your hands. If it lessens your burden."
"He can send some money this way, I can help him that situation."
"I'd rather be stressed and wealthy, than stressed and poor."
"Please hire me."

I was, however, intrigued to read one commenter who said, "I see a humble man."

Well, that's a new thought...

(Screenshot composite from images on Apple Pay and AliPay)

Apple iOS Devices Still Vulnerable to Attack?

Today a plethora of websites, including Yahoo Finance reported the news that yet another attack ('Masque Attack' -- so-named by cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc, who published details about the alleged vulnerability here on Monday --) enabled 'hackers' access to iOS devices. FireEye, according to Yahoo Finance claimed, "...the bug enables hackers to access their devices by persuading users to install malicious applications with tainted text messages, emails and web links."

Based in Milpitas, California, the firm said that Apple has been notified of the vulnerability and is fixing it.

Meanwhile, FireEye advises iOS users to refrain from installing apps from sources other than Apple's official App Store. Further, do not click "install" on a pop-up from a third-party web page, should you see one.

The security firm claims to have verified this vulnerability on iOS 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 8.0, 8.1 and 8.1.1 beta, on both jailbroken and non-jailbroken devices. They have succeeded in demonstrating 'Masque Attack' by replacing the Gmail application with a fake.

However -- and this is what I have been advocating all along -- please do take the excellent advice offered by FireEye: Only install apps from from Apple's App Store and/or their iTunes Store. Don't click "install" on any third-party pop-ups.

Seems simple, but I'm surprised at how many people unthinkingly do this.

(Screenshot composite includes pictures from Apple's iPhone page and their iOS page)

Outllook for Mac: My iMap Puzzle

The other day I read a quite humorous post by Pascal Derrien on Linked-In on his "affair" as he calls it, with Outlook. I was afterwards moved to comment: "I've been using Hotmail since before Microsoft buy out. I've been using Outlook ever since it came bundled with the Office suite. Am really happy they're now one and the same. I also use Apple 's Mail. Agree with you. Where would we be without email?!"

The Outlook for Mac 2011 version, though, has a few quirks. One of which has been on my mind for ever so long. As it is too long to write as a comment in Pascal's post, I decided to make a post of my own -- with screenshots and all -- to illustrate my point.

You will notice from the first screenshot that I am hoping to create iMap sub-folders from within the Mac Outlook client, so that I can squirrel away my email neatly into pigeon-holes. It is not that easy to do. And for me at least, it has been impossible to figure out how to do it!

As always, I did extensive online research into my issue and discovered that I wasn't alone in my quest. Quite a few users had similar -- if not really identical -- needs to mine. Many knowledgeable websites, including Microsoft's own Forum, advocate clicking on the Hotmail Inbox and creating an iMap folder there. But I don't want to create a folder within my Inbox! I want it to be a separate folder, as we can do quite easily in Gmail, for instance, within Apple's Mail client.

Another Forum posting suggested clicking on "Tools > iMap Folders" on the Toolbar in the Outlook for Mac client. In my case, as the screenshot will also show. There is no such 'iMap Folders' option! I even tried going into the Preferences and having a look at the Advanced option there. As you'll note from the second screenshot, only the basic iMap folder options are there.

All of this is just one puzzle to me. I know I can go into the web interface of Outlook and do what I want there. Any folder I create there will probably show up in my Outlook for Mac client. But I don't want to risk spoiling my already-almost-functioning-as-I-want interface. Perhaps somebody out there can guide me?

Meanwhile, I'll continue to follow the saying of the wise man, who once said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Quota Limits: iCloud

The other day I needed to have access on the road to a particularly important email. Unfortunately, I'm one of those individuals who like to keep all my email neatly organized into folders -- Personal, Official, Writing, Drawing, etc., etc. Too organized, as it turned out; because I'd carefully stored the particular email in its allotted folder -- on my Mac! Now that was dumb!

So back home when I was meddling around with things on my Mac, I thought, "Why not move all recent email into folders on iCloud?" To me, to think is often to act. So I created folders on iCloud from within Apple's Mail client and moved all my recent email -- each to its slotted folder. I then remembered that email would count towards my meager 5GB of space so I thought, "Let's take a look at my Quota Limits." There weren't any! At least, not that I could see. No little green spirit level, showing me how much  space I had left (though each individual mailbox did show me how much I'd used.) Search as I might, I just couldn't discover how much space was allotted to me to use within mail, Perhaps, as far as Apple was concerned, I could use the whole of my 5GB for email and nothing else. I couldn't accept this, as I needed space for Music, Photos and what not -- (and I just can't afford to buy additional space.)

I turned to Gmail instead and created a few dummy folders there, moving a few emails into each to see if it would work. Guess what? It did!

Here's the screenshot of what I'd expected to see with iCloud ... but didn't.

"Never mind," I thought. "The Gmail option has suited me."

For now...

Malware ... For Sale?

The other day, Apple Insider and other tech websites informed us that a "new 'Wirelurker'" virus targeting Mac and iOS users in China was discovered in the wild.

Barely a day or two later, Apple Insider let us know that Apple was now blocking 'WireLurker.' Other websites, including the WSJ blog confirm this.

Scary, right?

The malware hides in downloaded apps from a so-called 'unofficial' Maiyadi App Store in China, for users of Macs. When users connect their iDevices, the virus jump on via the USB connector and is then able to access any data stored on the device.

Credit for discovering the malware goes to the Silicon Valley security company Palo Alto Networks, who published details in a research paper. The malware apparently combines many techniques to "... realise a new brand of threat to all iOS devices ... It is only the second known malware that attacks iOS devices through OS X via USB (and) is the first malware to automate generation of malicious iOS applications, through binary file replacement."

In one of its rar-ish public statements, Apple said on Thursday, "We are aware of malicious software available from a download site aimed at users in China, and we’ve blocked the identified apps to prevent them from launching."

TechCrunch, in quite a tongue-in-cheek post here alleges that "Malware discovered in China could herald (a) 'New Era' of iOS and Mac threats." They further allege that, ironically, "It wasn’t long ago that Apple was being labeled a pirate in China. Now comes word of a pirate version of Apple’s App Store, selling iOS apps that let iPhone or iPad owners skirt iTunes and install apps, no jailbreak required." However, continue TechCrunch, "...the website is available only within China, likely to dissuade Apple lawyers coming down like a ton of bricks."

In a statement, Apple warned users to download only software from “trusted sources." The experts are clearer, suggesting that iOS and Mac owners only download apps from the official Apple app store, and that they make sure to keep their software up to date.

For me, the prevention appears so simple. Like Apple and the experts say, only download apps from the official Apple App Store and/or iTunes Store. Only use Apple-supplied chargers and USB connectors. Period.

I Fear the "Guest" Account

Just yesterday, something scary (to me) happened with my old dual-boot laptop (Windows and Ubuntu.) My wife and I share this -- she to work on, and me -- well to "research" on... Anyway, she started the machine boot-up and, while this was happening, was distracted with something else. She didn't remember that Ubuntu was the first choice on the Grub boot-up menu and would automatically be chosen after 10 seconds of inactivity (no keypress.) When Ubuntu booted up, she didn't recognize that it wasn't Windows and -- after she'd tried her Windows password, found it didn't work, and assumed I'd changed it -- logged into the "Guest" Account.

(Now before I write anything more, I'd like to state that I have absolutely nothing against OSes which provide Guest access to their systems. I am sure they have good reason for this. However, I must admit that I am extremely careful about anything over which I, personally, have no control. In my opinion, the "Guest" account on any machine falls into this category. I admit that I have no idea what it does, where it stores its files, whether there are any back-doors open there or, indeed, any keyloggers logging my every keystroke. I am suspicious to the point of paranoia about this.)

To resume, as I passed by, I noticed that she was working on Ubuntu! Perhaps for the past hour or so!! To say that this upset me, is putting it mildly. Anyway, we quickly logged out of the guest session and I immediately did some research as to how to disable the guest account on Ubuntu. (I know you can do this quite easily in Microsoft and Apple's Mac OSes.) It turns out that Ubuntu is equally easy, provided one isn't leery of using the terminal. While I am not "afraid" of using it, I avoid it because I do not know enough to use it comfortably. However ... here's what I did ... (Remember, I mentioned here that I'm now using Ubuntu 14.10.)

I checked with a number of websites first and found the quite easy to follow Ubuntu Handbook instructions on how to remove the guest login and the white-dotted background from the login screen on Ubuntu 14.10. As I wasn't interested in removing the background dots (I think they look quite nice, actually,) I proceeded to do the following in order to remove the guest login:

1. Opened the terminal. 
2. Typed "sudo gedit /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-ubuntu.conf" without the quotes. (To explain, 'sudo' gave me root rights -- without which I couldn't modify the conf system file at '/usr/share...')
3. Keyed in my user password, which Ubuntu requested. (There was no visual feedback when typing my password -- the same security as with the Mac Terminal -- the idea being, I presume, to prevent anybody looking over my shoulder to count the symbols in my password, thus making it easier for them to 'crack.')
4. Rebooted and, yes, there was no Guest option in the new login screen!

Hope all the above helps somebody who may be in a similar situation...

Yosemite ... And 'Rootpipe'

On November 3, MacRumors and other websites, including Apple Insider reported that Apple had seeded the first beta of a Yosemite update to developers. Coming about three weeks after the first public release of the OS, it puzzled me. The first question that popped into my mind was, "Why so soon?" Everything appeared to be running reasonably well on my machine at least. I did some online research and realised that many other users had complained about issues with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Perhaps that was it, I thought, although -- according to both MacRumors and Apple Insider, Apple had asked developers to focus on Exchange accounts in Mail, and the Notification Center as well.

But then I remembered another small piece of information I had read much earlier -- October 31, 2014, to be precise -- on Macworld and other sites, which reported that a Swedish "hacker" had allegedly found a "'serious' vulnerability in OS X Yosemite" and earlier OSes as well. This vulnerability the gentleman had privately named "Rootpipe," refusing to discuss further details, as he'd already reported the 'bug' to Apple and was keeping anything related to this close to his chest until he'd received the go-ahead from Apple. Of course, if one takes reasonable precautions, one should be reasonably safe, write the websites, quoting the 'hacker.'

Today, those same websites, including Apple Insider reported: "Speaking at the Øredev Developer Conference in Malmö, Sweden, Emil Kvarnhammar of security firm TrueSec demonstrated a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting OS X 10.8.5 through the newest 10.10 Yosemite." Does this mean, I thought, that he'd now been given the go-ahead to talk about 'Rootpipe' from Apple? Could the impending release of the new update to Yosemite -- together with Wi-Fi and other issues -- include a fix for the vulnerability found by Emil Kvarnhammar?

Who knows? All we can do is hope that, while we wait for the fix to be issued, no person with illicit intentions gets into our systems.

The "Clouds" And You...

The whole tech world apparently is talking nowadays about cloud storage and how it benefits customers -- you and me. Just today, Mashable gave us some valuable tips on which "cloud brand" -- for want of a better term -- would benefit us the best. The article mentions a few such as iTunes Match, iCloud and Google Play for Music; Dropbox Carousel for Photos; iCloud for Documents; and ExpanDrive for an all-in-one package -- all of which come at a cost. Sure, we can 'Earn' Free Space, claims Mashable, but this too would appear to have some other option -- "If you do this, we'll give you something else" -- tagged on (earning free space by referring family and friends, for instance.)

In addition to Mashable, BGR.COM mentions that iDrive offers unlimited mobile backup for up to 5 mobile devices, for a reasonable-sounding $4.99 per year. “We are living in a mobile world, pictures and videos are being taken every second of the day, and protecting those cherished moments is important not only from phone theft or damage, but from prying eyes,” iDrive's Raghu Kulkarni is reported to have said.

Many users like you and me, though, while agreeing that "cloud storage" is a great concept, feel that they wouldn't want to recommend any of these unless one has some means of protecting one's identity and information that is being uploaded in the cloud.

(C) Russel Stevenage, 2014

Another thing that Mashable would appear to have omitted to mention is OneDrive, which currently offers 15 gb or more for free. That is a huge amount of space and this option is what I currently use more than any other. Also, with the introduction of "unlimited" space for Office 365 users (read the OneDrive blog for more details), OneDrive is surely becoming a force to reckon with.

Whatever cloud storage option we decide on, we must ensure that we don't miss the wood for the trees. All we now see are cages and clouds. We often don't realise that freedom, for us, is but a wish away. All we need to do is fly.

Dark Mode in Yosemite -- Nice, But ...

I have always had a liking for a darker appearance of my desktop -- be it Windows, Ubuntu, or the Apple Mac OS -- as far back as I can remember. The first thing I recall doing after getting a new system or OS was to tweak it so that it appeared in darker hues -- Menubar, Taskbar or Dock; Wallpaper, Menus ... the whole tweakable lot. With my Mac, however, apart from the Graphite theme and my own personal desktop picture, one couldn't do much without resorting to third party apps or tweaks, and this I was reluctant to do.

That's why I was reasonably happy to learn that one could turn on a "Dark Mode" in the current Mac OS -- 10.10, Yosemite. Apple Insider has a clear article here on how to activate it, so I will not dwell on it in too much detail. Merely quoting Apple Insider, "While a seemingly minor addition, Apple's inclusion of a so-called "Dark Mode" in OS X Yosemite, which basically flips the translucent menu bar and dock from light gray to black, answers the call of many longtime Mac users..." about sums it up for me.

Hold on, though! My Menubar seemed to be missing something after I turned on Dark Mode. Puzzled, I turned it off and back on again. And then it struck me -- Where's My OneDrive Icon?

... Where's My OneDrive Menubar Icon?

Apparently, according to Apple Insider, "...most third-party apps are left unchanged. Because most menu bar icons come in black, or at least feature black borders, Apple's system applies a sliver of white on the bottom edge of each graphic." I was quite prepared to accept this, but there was no white on the OneDrive icon -- at least on my MBP.

I know I can dig into OneDrive's icons folder and change all 32 of the dark icons there to white; but, as I said earlier, I'm not prepared to meddle too much with any OS myself -- especially one that is working quite well otherwise.

Also, while not a huge "bug" or indeed a "slight" on either Yosemite or OneDrive, it is an annoyance and, until either Microsoft OneDrive or Apple help out by tweaking something themselves, I guess I'll live with a guess-and-click (instead of a point-and-click) to access my OneDrive's drop-down menu for now.