Mac Geek Gab — Apple Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting

2016 is the Year of the Router (as crowned by John and Dave), and this week's episode includes some discussion about exactly how to choose the best router for your setup… especially if you're a geek. Bluetooth devices, too, are ubiquitous among us, and a few listeners are having trouble with theirs so John and Dave take to the mailbag to answer those questions, too. Plus, the entire episode begins with Cool Stuff Found. It's guaranteed to be entertaining and informative from beginning to end. That's infotainment, folks! Sponsor: PowerPhotos is the ultimate toolbox for Photos on the Mac. Merge multiple Photos libraries, eliminate duplicate photos, and more. Get 20% off with coupon code MGG. Sponsor: Go to Squarespace.com/mgg and click “enter an offer code” under the pricing and put in the code MGG for 10% off your first order. Also Tweet your SquareSpace-created site to @MacGeekGab with the hashtag of #squarespaceshoutout and we'll retweet it to everyone we know! Note: Shownotes are complete! Stuff mentioned: Easter (2:01) BatchGeo (4:00) MailtoSelf (5:11) Colossus (8:23) SizeUp (9:22) Think Broadband’s Uptime Monitoring (10:17) Synology Adds Native OS X Finder Searches and Offline iOS Video Transcoding with DSM6 HANDL Case (16:41) RhinoShield Case (17:42) Enable Wi-Fi Calling on your other devices (18:45)” Verizon Wi-Fi Calling FAQs iStumbler (33:29) 5 GHz Channel Distribution Netspot Site Survey SmartDraw Use Wireless Diagnostics to help you resolve Wi-Fi issues on your Mac Airtime Fairness AirPort Extreme 802.11ac (52:52) AirPort Utility software and firmware downloads NETGEAR R8500 – Nighthawk X8 Tri-Band AC5300 WiFi Router (1:00:25) Synology RT1900ac Wi-Fi Router DD-WRT TP-Link bows to the FCC The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app You're downloading today's show from CacheFly's network BackBeat Media Podcast Network MacGeekGab AAC Enhanced Feed – Thanks to Michael Johnston of The iOS Show and Applr.

Some great tips to start off here, including learning that cut and paste is possible in Finder. We also learn what Time Machine excludes natively, and what the most and least popular 4-digit PINs are. Plus, Apple had an event earlier today … Dave and John had an event right after it, Mac Geek Gab 597. Hear what they have to say about Apple's day, too! Sponsor: Visit proXPN.com/MacGeekGab to get your Free-For-Life VPN account. If you need more bandwidth than the free account provides, coupon GAB50 offers you up to 50% off their premium pricing, ALSO for life! Sponsor: Other World Computing provides innovative, high-quality performance upgrades for nearly every Mac, backed by incredible warranties and expert support. It's the first place John and Dave look for their upgrades. Make OWC your first stop, too!. Sponsor: BBEdit: BBEdit is the leading professional-strength HTML and text editor for the Macintosh. A text power tool for everyone! Note: Shownotes are complete! Stuff mentioned: Apple Special Event – March 21, 2016 (1:57) f.lux for Mac Swarm Mac Mini (refurb) (23:16) John’s new (refurb) MacMini ProXPN’s Canary Policy OS X: 3 Tricks for Moving Files Around (36:25) Thunderbolt Display Firmware Update v1.2 (37:37) What folders can be safely excluded from Time Machine backup? (38:18) Carbon Copy Cloner – Some files and folders are automatically excluded from a backup task 4-Digit PIN Analysis (42:36) Land of the Lost (From the 1970s) H.R. Pufnstuf MKVToolNix (46:53) Link speed vs. Negotiated Link Speed (47:56) Map My Contacts (51:34) Thunderbird (54:15) AirMail Outlook for OS X CloudMagic AVCHD (58:24) AVCHD to QuickTime Movie Converter GraphicConverter Handbrake Wireshark (1:03:22) Debookee Renew OS X Server Certs iOS Help: My keyboard shortcuts aren’t syncing after updating to iOS 8 (1:15:02) The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app You're downloading today's show from CacheFly's network BackBeat Media Podcast Network MacGeekGab AAC Enhanced Feed – Thanks to Michael Johnston of The iOS Show and Applr.

What is it you've been saving your fourth finger for? John and Dave share a tip with the answer. Lots of tips today, in fact, including more about pasting plain text, finding SSD firmware updates, a NEW tip for deleting pesky files and much, much more. Download and enjoy! Sponsor: HelloFresh is the meal kit delivery service that makes cooking fun, easy, and convenient! Use promo code MGG to save $35 off your first order! Sponsor: Gazelle is the fast and easy way to get cash for your used iPhone, iPad, and more. Sell your used Apple products at Gazelle.com and make it easier to trade up to the latest devices! Sponsor: Betterment: The largest automated investing service, empowering you to achieve your goals. Get up to six months free with our special Betterment.com/MGG link. Note: Shownotes are complete! Stuff mentioned: Tau Day (2:06) How to take a screenshot on your Mac (4:57) Eight ways to save time with the Proxy Icon (5:57) OS X: About OS X Recovery (7:19) Mailbox size and message sending limits in iCloud (9:30) Shift+Command+I used to create a mail message using Safari (12:23) Safari 9 (El Capitan): Safari keyboard and other shortcuts How to Recover Missing Hard Drive Space with OmniDiskSweeper (13:24) DaisyDisk VoLTE Interoperability … Coming? (20:07) Phones supporting VoLTE f.lux (for Mac) (29:00) Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac (30:47) How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac System Integrity Protection (41:31) Use TotalFinder and SIP SaneBox (54:45) NETGEAR Gigabit Web Managed (Plus) Switch Series (58:46) TextExpander (1:08:22) DriveDx (1:11:02) SIP Prevents File Deletion (1:12:49) How to use the keyboard as a trackpad on your iPhone 6s (1:15:01) SmartDraw (1:20:45) The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app You're downloading today's show from CacheFly's network BackBeat Media Podcast Network MacGeekGab AAC Enhanced Feed – Thanks to Michael Johnston of The iOS Show and Applr.

The apps you choose to run on your MacBook can have a significant impact on your battery life; learn which ones pass John and Dave's muster. Then learn what they have to say about listeners' questions about a dirty Mail sandbox, router recommendations, firewalls and more. Cool Stuff Found starts the episode, too, folks! Sponsor: Casper makes an obsessively-engineered mattress at a shockingly fair price. Latex foam and memory foam come together to make for better nights and brighter days. Visit www.casper.com/mgg and get $50 towards any mattress purchase! Sponsor: Harry's provides guys a great shaving experience for a fraction of the price. High quality blades, shave cream and accessories shipped to your door on your schedule. Visit Harrys.com and use coupon code SHAVE5OFF to save $5 off your first purchase! Sponsor: Meet the PDFpen family: powerful PDF tools for Mac and iOS. Edit, sign, scan, and OCR at your Mac or on the go. Note: Shownotes are complete! Stuff mentioned: HazeOver (2:09) DriveDx (3:03) OS X SMART Driver Belkin’s Screen-Shield Machine in Apple Stores (5:14) ABBYY FineReader Pro ScanSnap Goes Mobile with the S1100 WD’s new Helium-Sealed Hard Drives (9:27) Bauer’s Woodpecker-inspired neckband to prevent brain injury (10:37) Public key cryptography – Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange (full version) (14:38) Public Key Cryptography: RSA Encryption Algorithm Which services hold the keys to your data? (17:38) Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Dual Band WiFi Router (22:08) Netgear Nighthawk X8 AC5300 Tri-Band WiFi Router LINKSYS EA7500 MAX-STREAM AC1900 MU-MIMO GIGABIT ROUTER Synology RT1900ac Router MU-MIMO TP-LINK AC1900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router (Archer C9) (32:02) TP-LINK AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router (Archer C7) Use Activity Monitor on your Mac (pay attention to CPU and Energy) (47:13) iStat Menus 5 FruitJuice ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail (Mail.app sandbox, may be dirty and need cleaning) (1:00:02) Apple’s Application Level Firewall (1:06:59) Using pf on OS X and ‘sudo pfctl -s info’ to see info about pf Murus OS X Firewall OS X Server NGINX MAMP The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app You're downloading today's show from CacheFly's network BackBeat Media Podcast Network MacGeekGab AAC Enhanced Feed – Thanks to Michael Johnston of The iOS Show and Applr.

Granular volume adjustmets, recovering deleted files from the cloud and advanced dragging from your menu bar are just the three Quick Tips that start this episode! Then it's on to a few Geek Challenges (do YOU know how to strip formatting from text on iOS?) and a few regular questions. MGG always promises to entertain and inform. Do you like either of those things? If so, download and press play! Sponsor: PowerPhotos is the ultimate toolbox for Photos on the Mac. Merge multiple Photos libraries, eliminate duplicate photos, and more. Get 20% off with coupon code MGG. Sponsor: iMazing: iMazing is the ultimate iPhone manager, it lets you take control of your music, apps, backups, contacts and more. Manage Your iPhone Simply, Get iMazing. Coupon code MGG saves you 20%! Sponsor: Betterment: The largest automated investing service, empowering you to achieve your goals. Get up to six months free with our special Betterment.com/MGG link. Sponsor: Go to Squarespace.com/mgg and click “enter an offer code” under the pricing and put in the code MGG for 10% off your first order. Also Tweet your SquareSpace-created site to @MacGeekGab with the hashtag of #squarespaceshoutout and we'll retweet it to everyone we know! Note: Shownotes are in complete! Stuff mentioned: How to Set Precise Mac Volume Levels in OS X (2:21) Boost Quicktime Volume (doesn't look to work with current version) Eight ways to save time with proxy icons (4:54) Dropbox Help Center – How do I recover deleted files? (6:59) How to recover deleted files, contacts, calendars, and photos from iCloud OCZ SSD Guru (9:06) Keep your Google Voice Number Active (13:43) Download iCloud for Windows (15:08) Set up and use iCloud for Windows Photo Album Sharing Geek Challenge (20:53) Passing Data and Power Simultaneously Via Lightning Geek Challenge (25:24) Novation Audiohub 2×4 How to Apply Metadata/Keywords to Photos Geek Challenge (28:15) Tom’s Hardware Mac AntiVirus Guide (31:29) Avira (free antivirus for Mac) BitDefender If the Ethernet connection on your Mac stopped working recently ClamXav (35:30) Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac PlainText 2 (38:44) How to back up your devices using iCloud or iTunes (40:11) iTunes Gift Card Deals (52:29) iCloud Drive FAQ (58:49) iCloud Service Status Use iTunes on your Mac or PC to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings (1:08:46) iCloud storage and backup overview Use Touch ID on iPhone and iPad (footnote mentions items that may interfere with fingerprint recognition) MacBook Pro Support – Wireless (1:16:41) Move your content to a new Mac (1:23:06) Time Machine: How to transfer backups from a current backup drive to a new backup drive The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app You're downloading today's show from CacheFly's network BackBeat Media Podcast Network MacGeekGab AAC Enhanced Feed – Thanks to Michael Johnston of The iOS Show and Applr.

Unresponsive apps explained, Favorites returned to the sidebar, unrelated startup issues that might just be indicative of a larger problem and, yes folks, migrating and sharing your photos on your Mac. Those are just a taste of the topics touched upon in today's episode, and a few Cool Stuff Found entries are there, too. Sponsor: proXPN is a leading VPN service offering free accounts, excellent premium features, and an outstanding commitment to privacy and security online. Sponsor: Betterment: The largest automated investing service, empowering you to achieve your goals. Get up to six months free with our special Betterment.com/MGG link. Sponsor: BBEdit: BBEdit is the leading professional-strength HTML and text editor for the Macintosh. A text power tool for everyone! Sponsor: Other World Computing provides innovative, high-quality performance upgrades for nearly every Mac, backed by incredible warranties and expert support. Note: Shownotes are compelte! Stuff mentioned: Piezo 1.5 Arrives; Piezo Exits the Mac App Store (2:12) New Mac Geek Gab Phone Number is (224)-888-GEEK (which is 4335) (3:23) Volume Mixer (6:57) Phrase Express (7:56) Breevy iCatcher! Podcast Player (9:09) Simple Radio (10:11) TuneIn (and Mac Geek Gab on TuneIn!) Tidy Up (13:01) TripIt (14:00) TripAdvisor CityMapper Rome2Rio HolidayPhone PrepaidSIMCard.org Mac mini (Mid 2010) – Technical Specifications (19:18) OZC Vector 180 – SATA 3 2.5″ SSD How to choose a startup disk on your Mac Beware Media Downloader (26:53) TMO Daily Observations 2016-02-17: FBI, Apple, and Privacy (38:23) CleanMyMac 3 (43:34) Rebuild the Spotlight Database (48:51) How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac Move your data from a Windows PC to a Mac (57:05) iCloud Photo Sharing FAQ (1:06:20) How to use iCloud’s Family Sharing with Photos for OS X Quality of Service (QoS) (1:13:43) Importing/Exporting Preview Signatures on OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) (changed with El Capitan) (1:24:18) PDFPen The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app You're downloading today's show from CacheFly's network BackBeat Media Podcast Network MacGeekGab AAC Enhanced Feed – Thanks to Michael Johnston of The iOS Show and Applr.

iTunes spring cleaning, solving Error -43, revisiting Wi-Fi extensions and monitoring .plist files live as they're being written by apps are just a few of the topics that John and Dave discuss and demystify for you today. Join your two favorite geeks as they wrap up the week with this special Friday episode! Sponsor: Betterment: The largest automated investing service, empowering you to achieve your goals. Get up to six months free with our special Betterment.com/MGG link. Sponsor: Carbon Copy Cloner has been helping you create bootable backups of your Mac since 2002. Now with SafetyNet, Carbon Copy Cloner ensures you never lose files during a clone. Use coupon code MGG10OFF to save 10% today. Sponsor: Go to Squarespace.com/mgg and click “enter an offer code” under the pricing and put in the code MGG for 10% off your first order. Also Tweet your SquareSpace-created site to @MacGeekGab with the hashtag of #squarespaceshoutout and we'll retweet it to everyone we know! Sponsor: Gazelle is the fast and easy way to get cash for your used iPhone, iPad, and more. Sell your used Apple products at Gazelle.com and make it easier to trade up to the latest devices! Note: Shownotes are complete! Stuff mentioned: Weatherman Lite (2:22) Dark Sky Storm Redownload or transfer your iTunes Store purchases from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod to a computer (6:58) OWC Voyager (9:35) Toshiba Canvio USB 3.0 Hard Drive Enclosure OWC Express Black 0 GB USB 3.0 2.5″ Hard Drive Kit OWC Express Silver 0 GB USB 3.0 2.5″ Hard Drive Kit iTunes 12 for Mac: Create a Smart Playlist (18:38) Find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library TuneUp (what’s their status?) List Of Mac OS X Error Codes (27:56) AirPort Time Capsule 802.11ac (35:04) AirPort Extreme 802.11n (1st Generation) – Technical Specifications Resetting an AirPort base station FAQ AirPort Utility 6.x: Export and import base station settings Mac Basics: Calendar keeps your appointments (1:03:12) BBEdit (and TextWrangler) OS X El Capitan: Choose preferred wireless networks Deleted preferred networks reappear, Apple Support Communities Frequently asked questions about iCloud Keychain (relates to iCloud Keychain, if turned on, storing preferred networks) DOCSIS Bandwidth tables (1:14:35)d Comcast Bandwidth Chart Arris SURFboard 6141 The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app You're downloading today's show from CacheFly's network BackBeat Media Podcast Network MacGeekGab AAC Enhanced Feed – Thanks to Michael Johnston of The iOS Show and Applr.

JBOD, Airtime Fairness, Quality of Service (QoS), and RAID are just a few of the mysteries your two favorite geeks help you unravel this week. Add to that some answers about resetting pesky OS X passwords and photo storage plus a few Geek Challenges and a cornucopia of Cool Stuff Found and you've got Mac Geek Gab 591. Enjoy! Sponsor: Betterment: The largest automated investing service, empowering you to achieve your goals. Get up to six months free with our special Betterment.com/MGG link. Sponsor: PDFpen for iPad from Smile: Don't wait to get back to the office to edit your important PDFs! Sign contracts, make changes, fill out applications, and more. Sponsor: Casper makes an obsessively-engineered mattress at a shockingly fair price. Latex foam and memory foam come together to make for better nights and brighter days. Visit www.casper.com/mgg and get $50 towards any mattress purchase! Sponsor: Harry's provides guys a great shaving experience for a fraction of the price. High quality blades, shave cream and accessories shipped to your door on your schedule. Visit Harrys.com and use coupon code SHAVE5OFF to save $5 off your first purchase! Note: Shownotes are complete! Stuff mentioned: Narro (1:58) Copied (3:01) Duet (3:52) Bartender Jumpcut Keyboard Maestro f.lux Amazon Gold Box Deals (7:12) Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 for Mac Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 for Mac (Amazon) Yandex Translate (11:07) Ultralingua Dictionary Bookshelf (11:52) Coach’s Clock (12:20) MobileDay Airmail Helix NovaMind Merlin Mail Plugin Manager (14:21) MoCA (15:55) MAPS.ME (17:32) EARIN (19:18) JBOD (27:30) Sans Digital 4 Bay SATA to USB 3.0 JBOD USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure RAID (35:16) OWC Thunderbay 4 RAID How to Create RAID Volumes in OS X El Capitan SoftRAID Lite Drobo Synology What is airtime fairness and why do I need it? (50:32) How MU-MIMO Wi-Fi works to improve the speed and capacity of home networks (58:00) Quality of Service (QoS) (1:00:05) The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app You're downloading today's show from CacheFly's network BackBeat Media Podcast Network MacGeekGab AAC Enhanced Feed – Thanks to Michael Johnston of The iOS Show and Applr.

QuickTips, including offline dictation on iOS, audio sync with AirPlay and 25 hidden iPhone features. Then your questions are answered, including moving backups from one drive to another, a strangely-starting MacBook, what the best small desktop speakers and what to do with lost+found items. All this and more, just for you! Sponsor: iMazing: iMazing is the ultimate iPhone manager, it lets you take control of your music, apps, backups, contacts and more. Manage Your iPhone Simply, Get iMazing. Coupon code MGG saves you 20%! Note: Shownotes are complete! Stuff mentioned: Quick Tip: Offline Dictation with iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus (5:12) How to Use the Command Line to Make the Dock Appear Faster on Your Mac (7:04) Use AirPlay to wirelessly stream content from iTunes on your computer (8:31) 25 hidden iPhone features that are really, truly hidden (10:31) Download your past purchases (13:22) How to use QuickTime Player (15:46) Disk Utility (El Capitan): Restore a disk image to a disk (19:06) Plex (27:30) OS X: About OS X Recovery (33:14) Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac Audioengine A2+ Speaker (40:47) A5+ Speakers Downcast Overcast iMazing Designate a System Photo Library in Photos (54:00) Getting started with Apple’s Photos PowerPhotos kmttg OS X Installation (1:05:13) pyTiVo OWC Retina MacBook Pro SSD upgrades OS X Terminal file(1) command (1:12:25) The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app You're downloading today's show from CacheFly's network BackBeat Media Podcast Network MacGeekGab AAC Enhanced Feed – Thanks to Michael Johnston of The iOS Show and Applr.

Cool Stuff Found dominates the start here, including some travel tips, some iOS support tips, sorting out how iOS chooses its WiFi network, headphones for your eyes and one of your geeks' favorite utilities that is now available for El Capitan. Then it's onto diagnosing Safari CPU usage, Mail inconsistencies and more. Don't worry, Dave's headcold only makes him loopy in a good way for this episode. You'll love it and learn from it! Sponsor: Go to Squarespace.com/mgg and click “enter an offer code” under the pricing and put in the code MGG for 10% off your first order. Also Tweet your SquareSpace-created site to @MacGeekGab with the hashtag of #squarespaceshoutout and we'll retweet it to everyone we know! Sponsor: Harry's provides guys a great shaving experience for a fraction of the price. High quality blades, shave cream and accessories shipped to your door on your schedule. Visit Harrys.com and use coupon code SHAVE5OFF to save $5 off your first purchase! Note: Shownotes are complete! Stuff mentioned: Huff Duffer (5:50) Trash It (6:48) Bash It (7:31) TeamViewer QuickSupport for iOS (9:00) How iOS decides which wireless network to auto-join (12:17) Downdetector for iOS (14:37) Signed SAT-SMART Driver (thanks DriveDx) (15:59) Speak & Translate (19:00) HooToo HT-TM05 TripMate Versatile Wireless N Travel Router (21:56) HooToo HT-TM05 TripMate Versatile Wireless N Travel Router (Amazon) Wi-Fi Powered by The Cloud (23:42) City Maps 2Go Pro » Offline Map and Travel Guide (24:27) Avegant Glyph (25:08) Airfoil (27:31) UploadCam (30:25) MailButler (31:26) Default Folder X 5 (32:48)/a> Safari (39:45) Workarounds for Safari Not Opening t.co Short Links from Twitter Mail (El Capitan): Rebuild mailboxes (49:10) Download your past purchases (54:30) The TSA actually allows 3.4oz Time Machine: How to transfer backups from a current backup drive to a new backup drive (1:05:03) HiDef Radio (1:13:10) TuneIn VLC The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app You're downloading today's show from CacheFly's network BackBeat Media Podcast Network MacGeekGab AAC Enhanced Feed – Thanks to Michael Johnston of The iOS Show and Applr.