IOS

Tackling IT Administration from a MacBook Pro

August 4, 2017 by Mike Ellis Leave a Comment

Recently, I was given the opportunity here at Tech Solutions NC to try out a brand new MacBook Pro as part of a focus group. This is something that really intrigued me, so I signed up for it. Last week, I received the MacBook Pro, and am now in the process of testing it out.

First, a little background information. The computer is a Mid 2015 MacBook Pro, with a 15″ screen, Retina display, 2.5 GHZ Intel i7 Processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.

For the computer itself, it is incredibly responsive, quick, and does just about everything I could ask of it.

Well, that was a short post, wasn’t it? Well, I’m not quite done yet.

Using a MacBook Pro in a Windows Environment

There are a few things related to the environment that I am in that do make things a bit problematic for the MacBook Pro. Most of these are common sense things, but still, if you are considering making the switch from a Windows system to a Mac system, and you manage any sort of IT environment, these are things you’ll probably want to consider.

Remote Administration

Like you would expect, on a Mac OS X system, the options for connecting to a remote system are suited primarily for connecting to other Mac systems. Fortunately, though, the Microsoft Remote Desktop app is available, it’s free, and it makes connecting to a Windows system pretty seamless. Search in the App Store for Microsoft Remote Desktop or click the link.

Office 365 Apps

For many businesses, Office 365 by Microsoft is the tool of choice for productivity software. Unfortunately, though, while Microsoft has released 2016 versions of their software through Office 365 for the Mac environment, not all the apps are created equally.

The biggest issues I’ve had with this new laptop is related to how Outlook 2016 for Windows works verses how Outlook 2016 for Mac works. There are some significant differences that I’ve documented here.

The CRM I use for my business is from Hubspot. I came across them over the Internet, and knew them from other stuff, but had never used their CRM. The good news with Hubspot is that they have a plugin that you can install in your Outlook 2016 for Windows program that will log the emails you send to your clients to the client account you have setup in your CRM. The bad news, though, is that, due to limitations with Outlook 2016 for Mac, such a plugin does not exist, so you can’t seamlessly log those emails to your clients.
One workaround for this problem is to just BCC the address that logs the email in your CRM. Doing so is fine, and is what I do right now, but I’d prefer a simpler way to do that rather than type it each time. Of course, I can set a rule that automatically BCCs the correct address, and I may do just that, but I’d rather not have to do that.
The only other thing with Outlook 2016 that isn’t quite up to my standards is the calendaring portion. Since my mail is driven through GSuite, my calendar is also, and the calendar for Outlook (either version, really) just doesn’t handle Google’s email very well. This is definitely something that Microsoft and Google should work on. The good news, though, is the the built in Calendar app for Mac OS X works all of my email and calendars really well, and I’ve not had any issues with using that.

Having just started working on this MacBook Pro, there are other things that I’m sure are not as good from an IT perspective as they are on the Windows platform, but I haven’t run across them yet. The great news is that, by and large, operationally, there has been very little I have had to do to utilize my MacBook Pro in a Windows environment, and still be able to perform the IT tasks that I need to do day in and day out. That, my friends, makes this testing a win in my book.

What do you all think? Are you able to perform IT administration work on a MacBook Pro or other Mac system? Let me know your thoughts on what works well and doesn’t work well, and thanks for reading!

Saving a Contact Group in Outlook 2016

February 14, 2017 by Mike Ellis Leave a Comment

Have you ever received an Outlook 2016 contact group from someone and weren’t sure how to handle saving it into your contacts so that you could use it? I know that I have, and others I’ve worked with have as well. You would think it would be as simple as opening the group (which usually arrives as an attachment in an email) and saving it. In fact, as this screenshot shows, “Save & Close” is one of the options available to you.

But the key here is at the top, with the red arrow pointing at it. It’s the dreaded “Read-Only” message, hiding in plain site like malware hidden in a steganography file. What that tells us is that, no matter how many times we click the “Save & Close” button — over and over and over again, we’ll never save that contact group into our contacts.

So, how do we get around this? Well, there may be multiple ways around this, but for me, the simplest way for me is this.

Open the message up in it’s own window. So, when you do this, you’ll have one window with your main Outlook program running, and another window with the mail message that contains the contact group.
In the main Outlook 2016 window, click on your contacts.
Switch back to the mail message with the contact group, and click and drag the attachment to your contacts in the main Outlook window. The contact group will be created in your contacts, and all of the names and their email addresses will be there.

So there you have it, a simple way to add a contact group from someone else into your Outlook 2016 contacts.

NOTE: Another option for doing the same thing is to drag the contact group directly to the contact icon.

Save

Update your iOS device to 9.3.5 today!

August 26, 2016 by Mike Ellis Leave a Comment

Today Apple announced an important update to their iOS software that is found on iPhone and iPad devices. This update is in response to a hacking incident whereby an attacker could remotely turn on your microphone and record your conversations without your knowledge. This is an extremely important update for obvious reasons, and I urge you all to take a moment and update your iOS devices.

Updating your iOS Devices

Updating your iPhone and iPad (aka iOS devices) to the most recent software version is not a hard process to do. To do this, follow these steps:

Before updating your phone, it’s a good idea to back it up first either to iCloud or to your computer if you are old school like me. This is a minor update, but it’s a good habit to be in to backup before updating.
On your device, go to Settings.
Next, tap on the General section.
After that, tap on Software Updates.
The system will automatically check for updates, and tell you if there is an update available.
- If there is no update available, the device will tell you, and also show you what version you are running. If you are running 9.3.5, then you’re all set!
- Note: Older iPhone models, such as the iPhone 4, can not run this version so will not show an update available to take it to 9.3.5, although there may be other updates available for the phone that are not installed yet.
- If you see an update available, click on the link to install the update, and click agree when prompted. If your device prompts you for not having enough battery available, connect it to a power source or your computer to complete the process.

If you are having difficulty with this, reach out to me — we are here to help! I can be reached by phone at 919-606-6725, email at mike@techsolutionsnc.com, or you can make an appointment online.

Alert: Phishing Attacks via Text Message

July 22, 2016 by Mike Ellis Leave a Comment

Today I received a very unusual text message. In the message, I was notified that my “account” was disabled, and that I should go to the link in the text message to unblock the account. Just like any email phishing attempt, there are things here that you can decipher to give you clues about the message to determine it’s legitimacy.

Look to the following tips when determining whether a message is legitimate or not:

First of all, I turned my phone sideways in order to realign the screen in order to pick out more details.
Ask yourself whether or not you have a Wells Fargo (in this example) account.
Take note of the information — the domain is actually cityinno.com, not wellsfargo.com. That’s a red flag right there.
Look at the account ID — usually an account ID is a username, not a series of numbers. Of course, that’s not always the case, but usually it is.
Note that, while the link in the text message does reference wellsfargo.com, it is not an encrypted website. The link is http://, not https://, and thus, isn’t secure.
Lastly, one trick you can do on your smartphone is to hold your finger on the link. This will show you whether the link referenced actually goes to a different website. In this case, it doesn’t, but if it did, you would see a window with the domain listed.

Most people realize that a smartphone often has an email address associated with the phone number. So, while this message came in via my text message app on my phone, it was actually emailed to me, as the email address in the details screenshot reveals. Despite that, the message reminds us that we can receive phishing attacks from any device, whether it is our laptop, desktop, smartphone, even something like an iPod Touch or an iPad. Anything that can connect to the internet can be susceptible to a phishing attempt, so keep that in mind when you see a link in a message.

Do you seem to receive an unusually high number of phishing attempt emails? If so, I can help — just reach out to me via email at mike@techsolutionsnc.com, phone at 919-606-6725, or make an appointment via our online appointment page.

Choosing the right Internet Device for your child

July 12, 2016 by Mike Ellis Leave a Comment

In today’s world, our children are going to be exposed to technology at a much younger age than we were as kids. I remember my daughter as a toddler being given a LeapFrog type system which she loved to play with and did a great job helping her to learn some stories. While this wasn’t an Internet device, it was her first exposure to technology, and was definitely a precursor to her exposure to the Internet.

In this day and age, there are a lot of different options available for everyone to get connected, so what type of Internet device should you get for your child so they can connect? This post will explore some of the options you have available and what you should look for in a device.

Computers and Laptops

For most users, when it comes to a computer or a laptop, the main question becomes “Do I want a desktop or a laptop?” After that question, the followup usually revolves around whether to use Windows operating system or Mac OSX. The answers to these questions often revolve around such thoughts as the amount of desk space, whether or not your computer will travel with you, and whether or not you want a bigger display than a laptop screen can provide.

Desktop Pros
- Permanent setup
- Bigger display
- More natural keyboard and mouse
- Cost is usually cheaper
- More easily upgraded as needs evolve
Desktop Cons
- Space constraints
- Mobility — can’t easily transport to other locations.
- Usually requires either a computer desk or home office setup
- Usually requires hard wire connection to network
Laptop Pros
- Small form factor, can work from anywhere
- Battery power source, less need to be constantly plugged in to wall outlet
- Wi-Fi enabled
- All shapes and sizes, very flexible configurations
Laptop Cons
- More rigid in terms of upgrades
- Price is sometimes more because of small components

Tablets and Phones

When it comes to tablets and phones, the options are many and varied. In the one corner you have the Apple products — the iPad series of tablets and the various iPhone models. In the other corner you have the Android line of devices, which includes a whole host of manufacturers. Then, in a smaller third corner, you even have some devices that are built based on Windows operating systems.

For me, my tablet and phone of choice is from the Apple side of the ring, primarily out of experience and the past history I’ve had with them. I’ve worked with and on both Apple and Android products, and for me, the reason I choose Apple over Android is because the components work better. For example, in my experience, on an Android phone inevitably there will some issue with the email and calendar setup that will cause the calendar to stop syncing data with the server. On Apple devices, I’ve not experienced this issue.

I know that there those that swear by both platforms — those that love Apple products and those that love Android products. I also know that you aren’t going to change the minds of one over the other very easily, if at all. So, in the end, the best advice I can give for this is to do your homework, check out multiple products on both sides of the aisle, and try them out to see which one you like best. When you have that figured out, go with it, and don’t look back.

Other Devices

Lastly, there are other devices besides desktops and laptops, tablets and phones. There are also internet ready gaming systems such as the Nintendo 3DS, music devices such as iPod Touch, and others. These devices will also provide access to the Internet, although in my experience that appears to be more limited in scope, although I haven’t explored these as much lately. For a device that you are going to be using for your schoolwork, though, I would imagine that these wouldn’t be the best choice.

Conclusion

In the end, the device you choose for your child’s Internet activities for school or other use will in large part be determined by three components:

The cost of the device and your budget to spend
The requirements for the school, if any.
The durability and length of use you’ll expect to get out of it.

For my family, when it became time to get an Internet device for our daughter, we ended up going with the Apple MacBook Air. She has had it for approaching 3 years, and it has been a great system for her. She uses it for school, she uses it for writing, and by following the rules that we have in place for online safety, I expect that it will last her for several more years. While it is a more expensive up-front cost, the long term value has been realized and then some.

What Internet device do you have for your child? Please let us know in the comments, and thanks for stopping by today!

IOS