In this article, I review Forté for Apple Watch, a luxury stand and charging dock made by Twelve South. The first stand I bought for my Apple Watch Sport was a Spigen Charging Dock made of aluminum. It looked good and was lightweight. Unfortunately, it could hold the Apple Watch only in portrait mode. When Apple introduced Nightstand Mode via a software … Read more
A bug in OS X El Capitan causes issues with Apple’s new Magic Trackpad 2. As a result of these Magic Trackpad issues, OS X intermittently doesn’t register clicks. While I was battling Bluetooth connectivity issues with Apple’s Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, I thought the problem might be hardware-related. When Apple released the new Magic Keyboard and Magic … Read more
In this post I’ll explain how to quickly select multiple photos from the Photos app in iOS using a simple swipe gesture. iOS Tips is a new category on my blog featuring little tips and tricks to make your life with iOS easier. The best camera is the one you have with you. That certainly applies … Read more
Have you ever noticed dark-brown or black slime on faucets, spouts, aerators, shower heads, in toilet bowls or other bathroom fixtures? Harmless manganese bacteria causes it, and in this post, I will tell you how to get rid of the black gunk. I will also list methods that do not, or only temporarily, work. Mentioned … Read more
Many users have reported that Microsoft Outlook for Mac keeps asking for the password of their Office 365 account. Thanks to readers of my blog, we have finally fixed the issue for most users. For others, we have at least a temporary workaround until Microsoft provides a fix. Outlook: Mail could not be received at this time … Read more
In this post, I’ll explain how to fix the pesky Calendar can’t save event X to Exchange Server issue with Apple’s Calendar in OS X or macOS. The issue occurs when the Mac Calendar won’t sync with Exchange and then refuses to accept the calendar data on the server. Calendar and Exchange Apple’s Calendar (prev. … Read more
Is the Apple Watch Sport worth it? After having worn the Apple Watch Sport for almost a year, I have reached my final verdict about Apple’s first wearable device and will answer this very question! I ordered my Apple Watch Sport on April 10th and was super excited when I finally had it in my hands. Time … Read more
Having a new baby is chaotic and stressful, even more so, if the baby doesn’t stop crying and you don’t know how to make him or her stop. Don’t worry; there are a couple of proven techniques that will sooth almost every crying baby. In this article, I will show you how to soothe crying … Read more
In this post, I’ll review the Plantronics Savi W745 wireless headset, which I have used for the past years. To learn how the Savi 745 compares to the newer Plantronics Voyager 6200 UC, check out my comparison. When I’m not visiting clients, I usually work from home, and one of the most critical tools I rely … Read more
Spam filters are a necessary evil and it’s annoying when they don’t work as expected. Apple offers junk mail filtering in Apple Mail as well as via iCloud.com. Unfortunately those two filters are not related to each other and thus can cause troubles and frustration. Apple Mail’s Junk Mail Filter Apple Mail has a built-in spam filter … Read more
Fitbit has made the decision not to support Apple’s HealthKit, and it thus doesn’t integrate with the Health app. In this article, I will show you a workaround to make Fitbit support the Health app via the workflow app. There are several ways to get Fitbit data into the Health app, but I did not … Read more
They say every pregnancy is different. I guess they are right. Our preemie Lucas was born prematurely and stayed in the hospital for almost two months. This is the story of our second pregnancy that ended abruptly in the NICU of Northside Hospital at week 30 and six days. Our Second Pregnancy This post is meant as … Read more
In this post, I’ll share my strategy on how to protect a real estate investment property. Ever since I started investing in real estate, more specifically residential rental properties, I was looking for ways to reduce risk and to protect myself for when something goes wrong. In the US, anyone can sue anyone for any … Read more
If you or your spouse is currently pregnant and if you’re as curious as I am, you may wonder about all the checks and tests you and your unborn baby will go through. During your pregnancy, you may hear a lot of new terms and not everything may make sense. That’s especially true if there are complications or … Read more
Juicing vs. Blending seems to be an ongoing battle. What what’s the healthier option and what’s better for losing weight? The answer is simple: Blending (or extraction) is the better choice and offers many advantages over juicing. Continue reading to learn why. Shop mentioned products Magic Bullet NutriBullet 12-Piece High-Speed Blender/Mixer System (Amazon*) Long before I … Read more
In this post I’ll explain how iCloud Mail Aliases influence the way the Calendar app handles invitations on iOS. The other day my wife and her good friend Yeni were planning weekend activities for the kids and invited each other to certain events using Apple’s iOS Calendar app on their iPhones. Some of the invitations … Read more
In this post, I’ll describe a quick and dirty way to move contacts from the famous “On My iPhone” account to iCloud. On My iPhone I’m sure you have seen those dummy accounts called “On My iPhone” or “On My Mac” when working with Contacts, Notes or Calendars. Or maybe, you have wondered why some … Read more
AT&T has finally started rolling out its Wi-Fi Calling feature after having received the waiver from the FCC. Unfortunately some users get an error message saying: We can’t turn on Wi-Fi Calling for your account. Think this message is a mistake? Ask the person who can make account changes to call us. The number is … Read more
Many users have reported Mac Bluetooth issues that cause connected devices to behave erratically. These problems resulted in my Wireless Keyboard, Magic Trackpad and Mouse not working correct fly (i.e., erratic cursor movement) and disconnecting frequently. In this post, I describe the steps I took to troubleshoot the Bluetooth issues I have had on my Retina 5K iMac … Read more
In this post, I’ll share how to upgrade to first class or business class using miles, upgrade certificates or money on Delta Airlines and its partners. Before getting into the details, I’ll give you some general information about Delta’s frequent flyer program called SkyMiles, which is a prerequisite for most types of upgrades. You can skip that … Read more
Have you ever wondered how iOS and more specifically the Health app handles and prioritizes data from multiple sources? I have an Apple Watch and an iPhone and both devices, if worn or carried at the same time, record the number of steps I take, among other data. Yet, the Health app reports the number … Read more
Up until macOS 10.12 Sierra iCloud Photo Library poorly managed available resources while synchronizing its database. More specifically, the Photos app would consume all available bandwidth, rendering your internet connection unusable. The result is a terrible synchronization performance. Apple has considerably improved its iCloud Photo Library since it became available as part of OS X 10.10 … Read more
When my wife Kathy was pregnant with our second baby, her OBGYN detected that she had low PAPP-A levels. In this article, I will explain what PAPP-A is and why low levels often result in additional tests and monitoring. None of that should freak you out! Scientific studies have yet to establish a clear connection … Read more
I have used Drobo as part of my backup and disaster recovery strategy for several years. But no matter how hard I tried, my Drobos never delivered the performance I was looking for. So it was time to find a better backup storage solution, and in this article, I will compare Drobo vs. LaCie 5big Thunderbolt … Read more
Since our daughter was born over three years ago, I have thought about how to share iCloud Photo Libraries between my wife and I. Both of us have taken a lot of photos and videos of our kids and every couple of months I create a slideshow or a video trailer. I do that because the … Read more
I have been a long-time MacBook Pro user but recently had the chance to work on a MacBook Air for a couple of days. The MacBook Air impressed me, and I wanted to buy one, but then Apple released the 12″ MacBook. I ended up buying the first-generation MacBook and wanted to share my impression … Read more
If you are unable to empty the trash on your Mac, no matter what you try, don’t worry, there is an easy and bulletproof solution. Causes of a corrupted trash There are a variety of reasons that could render macOS unable to empty the trash. In my case, I had to forcefully delete Time Machine … Read more
My MacBook Pro is equipped with a 1TB Solid State Disk (SSD), which I figured would offer plenty of space for months to come. When I decided to migrate from Aperture to the new Photos app, I took a close look at my storage requirements, knowing that my photos alone could take up ~400GB of … Read more
Workflow, a productivity app that Apple recently acquired makes iOS automation incredibly easy. In this article, I would like to share how I automate tasks and workflows with the Workflow app. One of the things I love about macOS is the ability to automate tasks, such as filing receipts. iOS was pretty limited in this … Read more
I’m not a huge accessory fan, but from time to time I come across something that is worth writing about. The Kenu Stance (Amazon*) for the iPhone (now also available for Android and Windows phones) is one such accessory. The Kenu Stance is a super versatile mini tripod that plugs into the lightning port of the … Read more