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 …
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 moreLow PAPP-A During Pregnancy – Do You Need To Be Concerned?
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 …
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 moreHow to share iCloud Photo Libraries with family members
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
A free Excel spreadsheet that can help you to estimate and calculate your federal and state income taxes. Feel free to customize the formulas!
A potential bug in early versions of iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 causes the appearance of fake missed FaceTime call notifications. I noticed that first when missed call notifications from my colleague Anne Marie appeared on my iPhone. Upon returning the call, she told me that she never called. I was puzzled but didn’t think …
Synchronizing keyboard shortcuts (text replacements) on iOS and macOS used to be incredibly unreliable. Often, deleted shortcuts kept coming back, thanks to a buggy and deprecated API called iCloud Core Data. Apple has mostly fixed those issues in recent updates to its operating systems. A few years ago, I started using keyboard shortcuts (text replacements) …
Read moreDeleted keyboard shortcuts (Text Replacements) keep coming back
Maintaining regular backups of your most important data is critical because, without it, you will suffer a data loss at some point. So in this article, I will share Mac tips about how to backup sensitive data to prevent data loss using a layered approach. Shop mentioned products LaCie 5big RAID (Amazon*) Corning optical Thunderbolt cable …
I always try to automate repetitive tasks, such as filing receipts and invoices. For exactly that reason I created a script using AppleScript to help with those tasks. Now I have discovered an even better way to do that using Noodlesoft’s Hazel. After download and installation, Hazel is accessible through System Preferences or through the OS X menu …
Under certain circumstances, the space bar, used for playback in Final Cut Pro X stops working. If you have experienced that issue, don’t worry as there is a simple solution. I use Final Cut Pro X (FCPX) for all my video editing and management, but I’m still relatively new to the product and have a …
Read moreFinal Cut Pro X – playback or space bar not working
In this article, I will demonstrate how to use Apple Script and Automator to create reminders in Apple Mail and any other application via a shortcut. I have tested the described technique works in OS X 10.9 Mavericks and macOS 10.14 Mojave and all releases in between. How to create reminders in Apple Mail One …
A bug in OS X 10.9 Mavericks causes the operating system to become unresponsive. In many cases, an error dialog appears claiming that your system has run out of application memory. A few days ago I noticed that my Mac Mini locked up and became unresponsive. So I power-cycled it but didn’t want to spend …
Read moreOS X Mavericks bug: Your system has run out of application memory
A bug in Apple Mail causes affected mail accounts to lose the outgoing mail server (SMTP) information. You can trigger the problem by making changes to the outgoing mail server configuration in Mail –> Preferences. Fortunately, there is usually no need to make changes to the outgoing mail server configuration after setting up an email …
To best prepare ourselves for the arrival of our daughter, my wife and I took a few baby and parenting classes, we read books on the subject and researched the internet. The amount of information (and misinformation) available to new parents today is incredible, so we had to be selective and hence didn’t pay too …
Read moreNewborn Screening Test Positive? It May Be A False-Positive!
I have had major Bluetooth audio issues with my BMW and iPhone. The issues affected both a 2013 X5 and a 2016 X4. Neither car supports Apple CarPlay.
If you have a first-generation MacBook Pro with Retina Display, you may have noticed the poor FaceTime video quality when making calls. As it turned out, Apple put a low-resolution sensor into the first-generation MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The second generation got an improved sensor and fixed the poor FaceTime video quality issue. Continue …
Read morePoor FaceTime video quality on MacBook Pro with Retina Display
In the following article, we will uncover the truth behind doping in sports and shed some light on why athletes dope in the first place. I’ll explain what doping is, cover common types of doping and performance-enhancing drugs, and I’ll give you some insight into what’s going on behind the scenes compared to what you …
I used to own two Nikon D7000 cameras, and with both, I experienced severe focus issues that would repeatedly result in blurry photos and unusable shots. I had struggled with D7000 focus issues for over a year and wanted to share troubleshooting steps, potential solutions and the ultimate decision to sell both D7000 bodies. Nikon D7000 …
Read moreTroubleshooting Nikon D7000 focus issues and potential solutions
Apple announced a new storage technology, called Fusion drive at an Apple Media event last October. Fusion Drive, which is available as an upgrade option in Built-to-order (BTO) iMacs and Mac Minis combines Solid State Disks with regular spinning disks, thus offering high performance and high storage capacity at the same time. Apple describes Fusion …
I’m very picky when it comes to organizing my workspace and that includes my desktop. One of the features that really helps me organize my screen is virtual desktops, which allows me to pin certain applications to certain virtual desktops, instead of having all application windows on a single screen. To add virtual desktops launch …
macOS used to be a solid operating system that required little to no maintenance. However, in the past few years, Apple’s software quality has dropped and issues occur more frequently. In this article, I’ll show you the 11 steps I take to fix common Mac problems.
I often get asked the questions why I shoot in RAW and what advantages shooting in RAW has. Before we get into that, let’s first clarify what RAW means. Nikon says “RAW image files, sometimes referred to as digital negatives, contain all the image information captured by the camera’s sensor, along with the image’s metadata …
Here are the top 6 tips and tricks on how to achieve better results when taking photos in low- or no-light conditions using a flash.
Passwords are a necessary evil that we all have to deal with. Depending on your online behavior you may be dealing with a handful to dozens of accounts requiring a password, such as your personal email (iCloud, Google Mail, Hotmail…), online banking, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc. How many of you use a different password for …
Read moreHow to choose strong passwords that are easy to remember
I love to photograph birds in flight and thought I’d share with you some photography tips and lessons I’ve learned. I’ll also show you some pictures that turned out good and also some that did not. And I’ll explain what I did wrong, so you won’t repeat the mistakes I’ve made. Towards the end, I’ll …