COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE & SECURITY BLOG

A: When purchasing a broadband connection from your DSL, cable, satellite, or another provider, you are sold a package with an estimated top speed–such as 20Mbs download. But it is exceptionally rare to get this speed. We receive complaints from clients almost every day about this, asking how we can fix the slow speed problem. Unfortunately,…

A: Most people know they need a router to connect to the Internet. Few understand what a router is or does. The primary purpose of a router is to connect one network with another. In most cases, this is to connect the network of your Internet Service Provider (ISP) (cable, DSL, microwave, etc.) with your…

A: Depending on the computer, operating system, applications used, and amount of RAM, a computer will need to be power-cycled (not restarted) once a day, once a week, maybe as rarely as once a month. Think of it like this: If you are anything like me, my car is washed (power-cycled) once a month. After…

A. There are a couple ways to do this (extend your home network to another building) economically: Extend an Ethernet cable from the router in the home to the pool house. This should be done by an electrician, either by trenching a cable or running it overhead (not recommended - risk of being hit by…

Every single day my staff and I battle criminals, enemy agents, malware, and wackadoodle ex’s from compromising your security and privacy. I think we do an excellent job of it. There is, however, a limit as to how much we can do. One of those limits just hit you and me, and in a way…

A: WiFi routers can be scanned for by their wireless signal (the electromagnetic frequency that is easily triangulated), and can by way of device type on the network. Improperly configured, such a router could easily be a potential security vulnerability to the network and the devices connected to it. Even if properly configured, it would…

Apple released iOS 12 today–the most advanced mobile operating system ever. It is recommended that all iPhone and iPad users upgrade to take advantage of all the new features, including: 50-200% performance improvement FaceTime now supports video and audio with up to 32 people at once Personal Animoji The most advanced Augmented Reality Do Not Disturb can…

Many of our clients have recently noticed a new alert appearing when opening files in Adobe Acrobat (both Reader and Pro). The alert reads: Content Preparation Progress. Please wait while the document is being prepared for reading." Adobe support says this alert should normally not appear, but may with large (number of pages or file size)…

A. Every operating system recognizes some set of characters. In the earlier days of computing that set was called ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange). This consisted of 255 characters including a-Z, 0-9, special characters such as !, and control characters such as carriage return. And then someone realized that some places on the planet didn't use…

A: Properly repairing the macOS directory isn't quite as easy today as it was in previous systems, but still doable by the end user. First, let's discover what is a directory. We can think of a computer storage device (hard drive, flash drive, solid state drive, thumb drive, etc.) as the digital equivalent of a…

A: Without knowing the details of your email server, a definitive answer isn’t available. But here are some issues to think about: You do not “own” your work mail. Your employer does. If you permanently delete work mail, this very likely has legal implications that you would not want to deal with. If your work…

A: This depends on your company IT Policies and Procedures. For most organizations that deal with sensitive information, that information is not permitted to leave secure controlled company IT infrastructure. Your home network and computer have not been through a security audit. It is almost certain there are significant security vulnerabilities (in 37 years of IT,…

A: Simple! Take a screenshot of how you want the lock screen to look. If needed, edit the image to your taste. Set your screensaver to that image. Configure your screensaver to have a password.

A: First, although my career has been dominated by Mac, my organization also supports Chrome, Linux, and Windows. This is to say I don’t have a dog in this race. COST People that point out that Mac’s are significantly more expensive than PC’s are comparing (literally) Apples to oranges. Comparing a BMW to a Yugo.…

A: In large part this depends on the specific needs of the telecommuting job, but here are the basics required by any telecommuter: A reliable computer that is faster than you. If your computer is a performance/productivity bottleneck, your employer will likely notice and find someone else who can be more productive. The software mandated…

A: If the smartphone is for business, and your own productivity can be improved with a quality device, it is more cost-effective to replace the premium unit every year, and then sell your old device. Think of it this way: If a premium phone costs $800, and a low-end phone costs even $0, you replace…

Years back, Business Week magazine published a study on what personal computer IT upgrade provides the biggest return on investment. Issues such as faster cpu, more RAM, larger storage (they didn't have "faster" storage back then as we do now with SSD and Flash drives), and monitor size were evaluated. The study prompted me to…

Practical Paranoia macOS 10.13 1-Day Workshop with Marc Mintz Secure your Mac OS 10.13 computer from malware, criminals, snoops, and the whackadoodle ex. Concerned about being hacked? Your identity stolen? Your precious data stolen or encrypted? You should be. Hacking is a billion-dollar enterprise and everyone is a potential target. At risk are your personal and business messages, emails, photos,…

What are you looking for your server to do? For just under $20 you can get Apples server app, which gives you DNS, DHCP, mail, print, ftp, vpn, file, netinstall, netboot, network user accounts, and more (not that you can run all services concurrently on a laptop - ram and cpu resources come into play.)…

First, I’m a bit pressed to see Apple’s Mail as a basic software solution. I believe it has hit the sweet spot of performance, features, and stability. Ignoring that, yes! Outlook, Thunderbird, and almost all (maybe all) mail clients allow for multiple accounts. Where you will see the one-account limit is with web-based email (hotmail,…

Myself. He has a long track record of being on target more often than not, understands when I need time off, fairly smart, more than his fair share of empathy and leadership skills, and lets me sleep with his wife.

If you were to gather a group of 100 IT consultants and pose this question to them, you would likely receive 100 different answers. Bottom line is that if the house is large (2000sq’ or larger), or has thick walls (such as adobe), metal mesh in the walls, or significant metal objects in many of…

I may well have missed the memo, but as a Certified Apple Consultant and Apple Developer, I’ve never heard that Apple had such a motto, and it is nowhere to be found in their mission statement (I may not have the current statement). When would you like Apple to move to the next generation technology?…

When I started in the IT field (31 years back), I created a computer animation company. One of the first to use Macintosh systems. My Macs cost around $8K-$10K (in 1987 dollars). This was a bargain in a few ways. First, the competing systems started at $50K. My systems were faster. These blazing (for their…

Should you reside in the US (and similar is true for many countries), doing this is a felony, and one that in the US may fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security.

Just do it! There isn’t a law (at least here in US) that mandates certification to be called a consultant. That said, talk with an attorney, as there may be a client expectation of expertise, education, or certification. If so, you need to know how to preemptively deal with this before a lawsuit hits you.…

The answer is in your question. If you permanently deleted a file, it’s deleted, and you cannot get it back. iCloud is not a “business-class”, redundant storage system. Apple doesn’t provide backups for you - that is left to you, the user. There are backup or cloud services that will allow you to recover "permanently…

According to Apple (and the substantial evidence we have at hand), throttling is done based on the performance of the battery. As the battery ages, it is less able to provide for peak current demands. This can result in the phone shutting down. To help prevent such events, iPhone 6, 6S, 6 SE, and 7…

Without getting esoteric options, we have: magnetic hard drives Least expensive Slower than RAID or ssd Faster than online Solid state drives Most expensive Fastest RAID (comprised of multiple magnetic hard drives or solid state drives) Faster than hard drives Can be faster than solid state if combining multiple SSD’s Less expensive than a single…

A: Your premise is in error. Independent testing has been performed that determined there isn’t any code within newer iOS systems that makes older units slower. However, as with almost every OS and app upgrade, there are significantly more features and functions (most under the hood), requiring more cpu cycles. This can have the effect of…

Q: AS A CTO WITH OVER 8 YEARS SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE, IS IT A PROBLEM THAT A JUNIOR DEVELOPER CAN WRITE BETTER CODE THAN ME? A: As the President and CISO of my organization, both I and my company do well not because I can do my job duties better than my other staff, but…

Q: APPLE PAY DOES NOT YET SUPPORT MY CREDIT UNION, HOW CAN I LET APPLE KNOW? A: It isn’t that Apple Pay doesn’t support your credit union cards, it’s that your credit union has yet affiliated itself with Apple Pay. The credit union needs to do this, not Apple. Contact the leadership of your credit union…

Q: I WANT TO START A LIBRARY SO THAT ANY ONE CAN READ, BUT WHERE DO I FIND FREE BOOKS? A: If you are thinking digital books, the work has been started for you at Project Gutenberg. If you are thinking physical books (paperback and hardback), these can be acquired from bookstores (damaged copies, overstock), and book…

Q: HOW CAN YOU PLACE YOUR EXTENDER TO YOUR ROUTER IN THE MOST PERFECT SPOT TO GET THE BEST WIFI FROM FAR AWAY? A: The only proper way to use an extender is to connect it to the home base station via Ethernet. In this way you will realize full speed from the extender from up…

Q: HOW CAN I INSTALL ANDROID ON THE IPHONE X? A: In a world over-populated with terrible ideas, this ranks in the top 10%. The primary reasons for buying an iPhone include: Security Stability Continuous updates to the OS (for security and stability) Working in the Apple ecosystem And you want to toss all of this…

Q: HOW MANY SIMULTANEOUS USERS CAN A SINGLE ACCESS POINT SUPPORT? A: This varies by device model. Some low-end units can only support 10 concurrent connections. Mid-range consumer units around 50. Prosumer models such as the Asus RT-AC5300 can have a bit more than 200. Once you move up to professional model - such as…

Q: WHICH OS, UBUNTU OR WIN 10 WILL MAKE MY LAPTOP LAST LONGER? A: I hope you will forgive that I am side-stepping your question, as I think it is the wrongquestion. Computers are tools. The purpose of a tool is to extend or expand your reach, power, speed, capabilities, so that you can do things…

Q: WHAT ARE SOME TACTICS YOU HAVE USED TO TAME YOUR EMAIL INBOX IN ORDER TO NOT BE OVERWHELMED? A: The first step is to get a handle on where the overwhelm is coming from. Are you on a spam list? Did you subscribe to unnecessary newsletters? Are you simply wildly popular? Basically, where is…

Q: WILL MY MAC RUN FASTER ON AN EXTERNAL SSD DRIVE THAN ON THE LOCAL HD DRIVE? A: Performance is a matter of weakest link. The factors to consider are: Speed of the drive Speed of the bus connecting drive to machine Speed of computer cpu Amount of installed RAM versus amount of RAM desired…

Equifax Cybersecurity Breach Announced today via the Equifax Cybersecurity Incident & Important Consumer Information page https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com, between May and July, 2017, criminals were able to access the Equifax database. The criminals harvested Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver's license numbers, credit card numbers impacting approximately 143,000,000 consumers (don't you just love being identified as…

SPEND AN EVENING WITH MARC L. MINTZ AT UNM CYBERSECURITY: DOES IT MATTER? UNM presents a special opportunity to learn how to make your business smarter and more secure. The intelligent use of technology can be a defining point between those who succeed in business, and those who fail. Think Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Steve…

PRACTICAL PARANOIA SECURITY ESSENTIALS WORKSHOPS AT UNM CONTINUING EDUCATION You don't need to be a Microsoft Engineer, Apple Genius, or Google Guru to know state-sponsored system penetration, ransomware, malware, hackers, pranksters, and even a whackadoodle ex or two are out there to get you. You includes your data, intellectual property, financial information, personal communications, web activity,…

PRACTICAL PARANOIA SECURITY ESSENTIALS WORKSHOPS AT UNM CONTINUING EDUCATION You don't need to be a Microsoft Engineer, Apple Genius, or Google Guru to know state-sponsored system penetration, ransomware, malware, hackers, pranksters, and even a whackadoodle ex or two are out there to get you. You includes your data, intellectual property, financial information, personal communications, web activity,…

Free Upgrade to Practical Paranoia macOS 10.13 Security Essentials In case you have been living in an ice cave the past few months, ransomware and hacker attacks are increasing faster than ever. A vulnerability on one computer can almost immediately lead to compromising all computers. Apple will be releasing its latest operating system–macOS 10.13, High…

Q: How do I trust a VPN service provider? It doesn't matter whether or not you trust them. Unless you do an onsite visit if their facilities, and are permitted full administrative access to their system, no way to have certainty. What matters is: Is the VPN provider located in a country that has no…

Q: Why does Apple charge more to repair an Apple Watch than what it is sold for? The cost of out of warranty repairs to Apple watches are posted at https://support.apple.com/watch/repair/service/pricing. Depending on model, out of warranty repair is as much as $100 less than replacement cost, up to 25% the cost of replacement. Original Post: https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Apple-charge-more-to-repair-an-Apple-Watch-than-what-it-is-sold-for/answer/Marc-Mintz-4?share=701ab32f&srid=hFp4n

Q: Could the FBI have requested a subpoena if Apple claimed a First Amendment right for not unlocking iPhones? Theoretical legal arguments are the domain of fools. Dozens of potential paths of argument. Zero potential to reach a conclusion. Apple has no need to risk a costly constitutional law battle. They had no back door.…