Apple-Putting your devices to sleep, shutting down & waking them up..

When you put your apple product to sleep, your session can quickly be resumed and you can also bypass the startup process.  This feature is excellent if you will only be away from your device for a short time. If you will be away from it for an extended period of time, it is best to shut it down.

MacBook

To put your MacBook to sleep, you may do any one of the following:

·        Shut the display.

·        Choose the Apple and then select Sleep from the menu bar.

·        Press the power button and click sleep in the dialog box that will appear.

·        Choose Apple, then select System Preferences, click Energy Saver, and then set a sleep timer.

To shut down your MacBook, you may do one of the following:

·        Choose Apple and then select Shut Down from the menu bar.

·        Press the power button and click Shut Down from the dialog box that appears.

iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch

When you are no longer using your device, you can lock the display to save battery. When your device is locked, nothing happens if you touch the screen. If you are playing music, you can still listen to it while the device is locked and you can also adjust the volume by using the buttons on the side of the device.

·        To put your device to sleep simply press the Sleep/Wake button.

·        To power your device down, press and hold the Sleep/Wake button. A slider bar will appear at the top of the screen. Release the Sleep/Wake button and drag the slider to the right power the device down.

These devices are set to automatically sleep after a minute or two of inactivity. To change the Auto-Lock setting, go to Settings> General> Auto-Lock.   

Waking up Apple devices from Sleep

MacBook

·        If your display is shut, open it to wake your MacBook

·       If your display is already open, press the power button or any key on the keyboard.

iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch

·        If your device is locked, press the Sleep/Wake button or the Home button, and then drag the slider to the right.

·        If your device is powered off, press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple appears and then release the Sleep/Wake button.

 

 

Cloud Computing - Continued Discussion

Several times earlier this year (in Feb. & May) we discussed Cloud Computing, but things are changing and there are more and more companies offering us the ability to store on their clouds (which means on their servers) So- the discussion continues...

There is no doubt that cloud computing is here to stay.  Many of us have been using "cloud computing" for years without realizing it - If you use a hotmail, yahoo, AOL or Gmail account" for your emails, you go to the specific company's website, via the internet, enter your user name & password (from any computer in the world) and your email messages appear. You can then write/compose new emails - all the while the computer you are sitting at, is simply a vehicle allowing us to see and type - but all of our emails are actually being stored and/or written on/from their computers....hence "cloud computing"

Today many of these same email vendors are providing us with additional free space, so that in addition to our emails we can also store our documents, photos, movies & music in another part of our "email account" - like having an additional file cabinet...  Why would we do that?

Well, like your emails, you can access any of these items stored on their "cloud" when you are away from your computer (home or work) because remember it's stored on their computer - in their cloud...

If you have multiple devices - you may want to "sync" them, so that when you enter information on one device, it appears on all your devices...   

For example:

You have a Windows based computer, a Smartphone & a tablet - if you have a Gmail account and use the Google Drive Cloud - whatever is entered in these on one computer shows up on the rest

Or You have an iPhone, iPad and MacBook - by simply having an iCloud ID and password (and the iCloud ID can be your existing email address w/hotmail, Gmail, etc..) you can select in the settings of your iCloud what you want to share among your devices-Photos, emails, contacts, calendars, etc..

Or maybe you have a Windows PC, an Android Smartphone and a MacBook - you could simply choose to have the Apple iCloud on all your devices to share your music, data & moves...

And the combination goes on and one..

If you have been using hotmail/live/msn accounts - you have "SkyDrive" which is their free cloud computing for us to store data and photos - but anyone can go to SkyDrive.com and download the app and receive a certain amount of storage for FREE - Gmail users have the free Picasa Web Albums and Google Drive cloud; and again anyone can use this or Apple/MAC's iCloud or any of the other hundreds of companies... most allow some free storage - others charge an annual or monthly fee - some based on the amount of storage, some are by computer - it varies..

Shop around and remember you can use multiple "cloud services"; I know some people who store all their music in iTunes synced with the iCloud; and use their SkyDrive for their documents; maybe DropBox for their data from work; Google Drive w/Picasa Web Albums for their photos and Carbonite, so everything is backed up every time they are on the computer (no limit) but this service doesn't allow you to use a syncing feature (yet)!

The list of companies offering cloud computing is growing every day.  Each has their own features, it depends on what you are looking for... I always think it's better to begin with the FREE services while you learn, and once you've mastered that and understand what it is you are using, then you can always switch to or add another service if needed...Here is the link to an article recently published about some of the popular "cloud computing companies" -

http://www.consumer-rankings.com/online-backup

Smartphones – 3G, 4G, Data Plans, Wi-Fi And More…

Recently in our classes (back east) we’ve been discussing “Smartphones” and these are a few of the questions that were raised which might be of interest to you... 

What does the G mean in Cell phones – 3G, 4G etc?  That’s easy, the “G” stands for the “Generation” for cell phone technology…with new generations coming out about every ten (10) years – the technologies were introduced as follows but usually were marketed by cellphone companies a year or two after introduction…

·         1G was introduced in 1981 (analog)

·         2G was first transmitted in 1992 (digital)

·         3G which offers multi-media support came out in 200, but came to the US in 2003

·         4G introduced in 2010 but widely used by cell phone carriers now in 2012

If you live in an area that doesn't have 4G coverage, there's no advantage to a 4G phone. In fact, you'll have serious battery life problems if you buy an LTE phone and don't disable 4G LTE, as the radio's search for a non-existent signal will drain your battery quickly…  Before you buy any cellphone “smartphone or not” be sure to check the coverage offered by the different carriers…one of the most important considerations before you decide who to go with, so you know you’ll be able to send/receive calls where you normally live, work or visit..

What does all this “data” stuff mean on a cell phone?  Most activities on “smartphones” will consume data – the exceptions are making a phone call and sending a text messages.  Remember, voice and texts require a very small amount of bandwidth, as opposed to data, which requires carriers to continuously build up their networks to support exploding demand from smartphones and tablets..

That is why activities, such as browsing the web, reading and sending e-mails, browsing Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, or sharing photos, downloading applications, downloading music, listening to online radio and watching videos on YouTube, viewing maps, instant messaging applications such as Skype, BlackBerry Messenger, WhatsApp, Google Talk and Facebook Messenger – all of these activities use up data and quickly…

Many phones consume data in the background even when you’re not using it – maybe you have the weather widget on your homescreen, so periodically it’s downloading the latest forecast from the internet or your email app, might be checking for new messages..  it all adds up.

What if I use the Wi-Fi with my phone?  Good news-Any data transferred over a wi-fi network will not count towards your download limit.  Data transferred over a wi-fi network does not pass through your mobile operator and so it won’t be counted towards your monthly download limit. So it’s best to use a wi-fi network for all of your bandwidth-intensive activities such as listening to online radio, making calls over Skype and watching online video. But be sure you know if you have a separate download limit with your home broadband connection.  You can set your smartphone to find available Wi-Fi networks for you…

What about the data plans that say they are unlimited?  According to some experts, “Paying for an “unlimited data plan” (even if your carrier offers this, which many don’t anymore) doesn’t mean you get unlimited access to your carrier’s bandwidth. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless “slow down or what is called throttling” data users after they reach a predetermined limit. Sprint is the lone hold-out, but rumors point to the possibility that the carrier will begin to throttle data on its Virgin sub-carrier plans. The justification for this process involves regulate network traffic and minimize bandwidth congestion. And with the rise in 4G data usage, carriers claim their networks are jammed, so what this means to all of us – the consumers – is that we may not get to take advantage of all the speed promised by our new 4G smartphone” quoted from PC Net Magazine – Feb 2012

No doubt, all of this will continue to change – so keep your questions coming and we will help you find the answers – remember there are no foolish questions – all of the technology today is changing so rapidly that it’s a challenge for all of us to keep up with what’s happening, never mind understanding all the ins and outs entirely…  It’s simply a constant learning experience..

Apple iTunes, iPods, iPhone, iPads & Music...

So many students are now using various Apple devices – such as iPod, iPad, iPhone etc.. and the questions we receive are as varied as the devices themselves.

Bu the most popular question I receive is “how do I get music from my computer to my iPod, iPad, iPhone etc”…all of which use Apples iTunes…

Apple has a wonderful instructional site that answers every conceivable iTunes questions you might have – The site walks you through (in English) the various aspects of everything and anything you might want to do with these and other Apple devices… And trust me, it is easy…

So if you have created an iTunes library and/or you have one of the iPod, iPad, iPhone devices - visit this website. The website boasts “It will answer all your questions from burning CDs to watching HD TV, everything you always wanted to know about iTunes"

I would recommend that you save the website to your Favorites/Bookmarks or better yet, add it to your Favorite Bar, because I’m sure you’ll visit it often…

http://www.apple.com/itunes/features