Your Toronto 'Computer Guy' - I.T. Consulting Services

I.T. Consultant – What Do You Do?

Marc Cizravi — Mon, 03 May 2010 17:36:28 +0000

People are always asking me: “You have clients? What do you do for them? Oh, you’re an I.T. consultant? What kind of I.T.? What can you do?”

The main thing to take away is that a consultant is someone who has answers in a specific field. People are always trying to narrow down exactly what it is I do and it’s sometimes a challenge for me to sum it up.

Right now, I have a little over two dozen clients that pay me for my knowledge and services. They value my expertise, my resourcefulness, and my advice and they count on me to steer them in the right direction. They pay me because I have answers to questions, and I facilitate what they would otherwise not be able to, or don’t want to put the time into. They pay me also because sometimes it’s more cost efficient, and I’m able to provide solutions at a much cheaper rate than the general consumer would expect from department stores or big business.

I strive to provide a service that’s superior in three main regards:

Cost: In the long run, I’m going to save you money. You’re not going to spend anything on the unnecessary, and you’re going to put money in the right place so you get the most value out of what you buy, and how you use it.

Efficiency: Every client of mine gets personalized treatment. I cater to your specific needs and put the extra time (without extra billing) to make sure the job is 100% complete. Examples being data transfers and personal setups are done to your satisfaction. GeekSquad, Futureshop, or the Apple Store won’t do it as well as I do. I’ve seen it done; I’ve seen them leave huge gaps in transfers leaving a customer completely unsatisfied. I guarantee you’ll be happy with my service, or you don’t have to pay me.
Knowledge Base: The reason I hold myself at a much higher esteem is that I’m well versed in numerous different subjects. Your Futureshop employee won’t have the greatest advice for your Mac purchases, your Apple store genius won’t have the answers to your home networking issues, and your GeekSquad will give you scripted answers that you would expect from a company, not a person. I’m the only resource you’ll need to handle your wide array of issues, and best of all, I’m honest, up-front, and direct. No run around, and no B.S. responses from me.

You can find small list of what I do on the services page, but I’d also like to share with you a list of the recent work I’ve done for my clients, to give you a better understanding of how simple (or complicated) the service I provide can be.

To protect client’s privacy, I’ll simple refer to each individual client as a number:

Client #1:
- This family had been filming their trips and vacations for more than 10 years, and had all their footage stored digitally across 3 different hard drives (2 external, and 1 internal). They wanted to backup all the footage, and make better use of the space. I helped them decide where/how made the most sense. After all was said and done, they had all footage stored on the hard-drive, a backup running every hour to make sure everything was safely duplicated, and an extra drive to make use of elsewhere.
- They wanted to be able to showcase their final-draft footage on their TV, and also share it on the Internet with friends, securely – I showed them how this could be best accomplished.
- Their son casually plays a game called Warcraft 3 on the internet. He was having issues with wireless dropping, connection slowing down, and the inability to host custom games himself. Based on symptoms he described, I was able to fix half the problem, and instructed them on how to resolve the other half through the support of their ISP (Internet service provider). Within 3 days, everything was running optimally.
- Their daughter was having problems with a Powerpoint presentation she was designing that wouldn’t play music properly. Certain files weren’t playing on the school computer, and I taught her a quick work-around that allowed her to present her final work as she designed it at home.

Client #2:
- When I first arrived at their home, they sat me down in front of their computer and showed me, rather than explaining to me, what the problem was. I turned on the PC and I was over-run by spam messages of what was obviously a virus that had taken over. The virus prevented task-manager, control panel, and other integral Windows processes from running (it would close them a split second after being opened). After taking a closer look, I found that the firewall was disabled and the machine wasn’t sitting behind a router, and was clearly exposed and vulnerable (regardless of the robust “Rogers Online Protection” software that her internet provider installed).
  I explained to her that because the virus had such a profound impact on the function on the computer, the safest (and most efficient route) would be to back up personal files, wipe the computer clean, re-install the operating system and all software, and restore backed-up files. This process typically takes me 3 to 4 hours to complete, and gives the client an added bonus of having a freshly formatted computer. I left with her computer, and returned 2 days later with the machine in its most optimal form, with all other files exactly where she left them.
  Special consideration: It’s important to note that with Windows XP and Vista, (I can’t speak to Windows 7 yet, hasn’t been out long enough) the operating system degrades over time. When I was playing video games professionally, I needed my computer running at 100% at all times. To be sure of this, I would format my computer every 3 to 6 months. Reason being, I noticed that after 6 months without a format, I would lose some performance (loss of frames per second, slowness in loading programs, and delay in simple functions). Now, you can imagine how slow a computer that’s had Windows XP running for 7 years can be. People think “Oh, well, my computer is so old; it’s obviously going to be slower.”
  This is a misconception; the computer’s hardware hasn’t changed – ideally a computer should run the same way it does on day 1 and day 1000. Software that comes out long after a computers inception date obviously won’t run optimally, but for the simple stuff, your computer should be performing to a certain standard.
  A re-format is usually the best course of action – you clean the computer completely (100% ridden of the virus), but also get the added bonus of a ‘fresh’ computer. A virus that can’t be removed with one simple scan usually requires hours of effort anyway – it’s a better use of my time to format the computer – more value for you.

Client #3:
- One of my long-time clients had decided she wanted to make some web changes to the site for her business (that was put together before we were in touch). I facilitated these layout, media, and text alterations, even though I was initially unfamiliar with the particular architecture of her website.
- After inquiring a little further, I found out that she was paying much too high a premium for her monthly hosting service (that gives her a custom@domain.com email and website services). I performed a total site and email transfer to a different server (cutting her monthly cost from $44 a month to $12 a month), saving her $384 a year, indefinitely.
- She also was looking to generate a little more traffic on her website – I advised her that Google Ads may be the way to go – we put a couple ads together and it’s helped to increase the traffic her website receives by up to 400% (on a good day). Granted she’s paying a small sum for the increase in traffic, but if she attracts new clients (like I have for this website) it’s well worth the advertising cost.

All this is a short description of some of the services rendered lately – there’s much more, but I don’t want anyone’s patience to wear thin. I wanted to share some of this stuff to encourage people to contact me for anything (small or large) problem or project they’d like me to help them with. As usual, if you have questions, feel free to contact me.

Until next time,

Marc

iPad to launch in Canada on April 24th 2010?

Marc Cizravi — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 05:55:43 +0000

**UPDATE April 14th: Apple has announced a delay due to a large number of sales in the United States. Whereever the bottleneck, Apple is unable to keep up and is delaying the Canadian (and international) release of the iPad by about a month. It’s been also announced that details of the availability will be made clear on May 10th, so stay tuned for more specifics as they develop.

“A magical and revolutionary product starting at an unbelievable price.” This is how Apple has chosen to market it’s latest invention, the iPad (www.apple.com/ipad). Will it live up to the hype? Nobody can say for certain… but we sure can speculate!

It’s been a buzz for a while, and everyone has been waiting patiently. Unfortunately however, everyone outside the United States has had to wait a little while longer before getting their hands on the device.

When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad in January, he noted that the first wave of devices (WiFi-only) would be available late March. This was eventually pushed back to early April and then set in stone for April 3rd, 2010. The catch was that the WiFi + 3G version of the iPad would be available sometime after the WiFi-only device, estimating about 30 days. At this point, we still had no idea when the device (either version) would become available to the rest of the world, and no intelligence to suggest that a Canadian launch was imminent.

A press release by Apple on March 5th, indicated that the iPad would be available outside the United States near the end of April. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK are the countries that made the cut for the “outside of the U.S.” list.

Until today, there has been no other confirmation, or specificity to when exactly the device would be ready. It’s come to my attention, however, that Apple retail store employees here in Canada have been instructed that the weekend of April 24th, 2010 will be a “blackout period”. This means that nobody is allowed to book the time off. I don’t think anyone could look at these two pieces of fact and decide on coincidence. This has also been rumoured/confirmed by iPadinCanada.

Will the iPad Succeed?

Steve Jobs showcasing the iPad in San Francisco on January 27th

There are a couple factors that could affect the iPad’s success, one of which will unfortunately rely on your geography.

Carrier rates and quality will play a heavy part. Thus far, the only confirmed carrier to host the iPad’s 3G wireless services in the United States, is AT&T. They offer two plans (that are both contract free) which you can sign up for directly on the device – you never need to phone anyone or spend more than 5 minutes to sign up or cancel. You can pay $15 a month for 250MB of bandwidth transfer per month, or $30 for unlimited data… an incredible offer. It’s a little upsetting for dense metropolitan areas however, that so far AT&T will be the only confirmed carrier, because there have been numerous reports of New York and San Francisco experiencing poor performance with their service due to congestion. In response to this, AT&T has been working tirelessly to improve network performance, and I imagine that since it’s been a known issue for so long, the worst is probably behind them.

On our side of the fence, wireless customers have been abused as 3G smartphone consumers. Rogers felt it could take advantage of it’s exclusivity of the iPhone and overcharge customers for small amounts of data. The prices and plans that were announced by Rogers when the iPhone was coming to Canada were outrageous. Extortion would be nothing short of appropriate to describe the communication giant’s initial approach to their newly acquired Apple product line. Shamelessly, they tried passing off their pricing scheme based on supply and demand and competitive rates and whatever other garbage industry terms they could throw to try to dupe the customer.

It didn’t take long for Rogers to respond to the online uproar of infuriated would-be customers and current loyal consumers; they quickly re-evaluated their plans and made available larger amounts of data (up to 3 times more) for a much cheaper price. At the time of launch, you could get 6GB of data month for an extra $30 a month to your plan, if you extended your term by another 3 years of course. While Canada still lags hard behind the United States and most of Europe in pricing, exclusivity no longer lies with Rogers – Bell & Telus are now running a joint network which supports the iPhone and other high speed GSM/HSPA devices. Those of us who do not miss being Rogers customers (amen), need not worry about our future with wireless technology.

iPad on display after the special event, shown in landscape orientation.

Application support and availability is another strong factor that will play a role. It’s no secret that the iPhone is a (and excuse me for this) unique and revolutionary device, but one that would certainly not earn the title without the beloved application store. Currently, there are more than 150,000 applications available to download. While I’m sure a small percentage of the apps (I’ll be generous and assume 20%) are less than attractive to the average consumer, it’s still an insurmountable amount of helpful, useful, innovative, and ultimately valuable utilities that make the iPhone as special as it is. While I can do the iPhone’s capacity as a whole no justice with one simple blog post, it’s without a doubt in my mind that the device is unparalleled in the smart-phone market.

This Saturday [at launch], the iPad will have access to almost all existing iPhone/iPod applications, but will also offer 1000 iPad-specific applications to choose from. Due to it’s larger size and longer battery life (amongst other hardware improvements over the iPhone/iPod), it will have the capacity to run newer, more elaborate applications. Access to the iBookstore (60,000 books currently available, half of which will be free at launch) is an added incentive to purchase the new device, one that can’t be overlooked. Continuing development for the iPad will be an integral part of it’s success; Apple will need developers to feel the next gold rush, so to speak, to fuel a real boom of iPad applications that make the device really worth buying, because as it stands now, no matter how magical, it’s still a luxury device that I view as an unnecessary purchase if you own a decent laptop.

What Else Do I Need To Know?
It’s been a huge topic of discussion: Will the iPad replace the laptop? Is it competing with netbook computers? What ‘category’ do we place it in? Who has this device been designed for?

Numerous questions beg for numerous answers: The iPad, while new and innovative in design, doesn’t have the full function of a laptop or desktop computer. You can’t run Adobe CS4, play real video games, manage or edit your iTunes library, video chat (although it’s rumored to be in a revised edition of the device) and there’s no upgrading from the meek storage. You wouldn’t find someone sitting for a couple hours typing on the virtual keyboard – it’s good for a couple quick emails and small document edits, but if you’re doing real work, you’ll either want something that sits on your lap, or easily on a desk with a full functioning software set. The applications you can install are also obviously limited, but that’s a idea – you’re not supposed to be able to install Firefox or Bit Torrent software – it’s a different niche. For all these reasons and more, the iPad will not be replacing your computer.

Who will get the greatest value out of the iPad? Commuters, travelers, loungers, and those with some extra pocket money who want to be part of the newest-toys club. Commuters who spend anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes (or more) on public transit every day are wasting a lot of time if just sit there waiting to get to work/school/destination. Assuming a normal work schedule, 60 minutes of commute time a day turns into more than 250 hours spent on the bus. Even after subtracting a little for sick and vacation days, that’s a lot of time that goes to waste. At the very least, you could at least waste the time entertaining yourself (playing games, watching movies or TV shows), or you could choose to read a book, surf the internet to learn or inform yourself, or be productive through the many outlets that the iPad provides. Do you know that the average university course is about 80 hours in length? Think to yourself, if you’re not putting that commuting time to good use, you’re burning 3 classes worth of learning a year… that’s a lot.

People who travel will be quite impressed to say the least, that preliminary hands-on testing of the iPad reveals greater than 10 hour battery life while watching movies; this is incredible. A gorgeous display that will let you watch a movie, work, read and play for the duration of a trans-Atlantic flight… and then some. Think of how long your iPod or iPhone lasts while watching movies and how much less of an experience it is on those small-screened devices. In addition, battery life is more than double some of the top portable DVD players and other entertainment device – the iPad is easily an industry leader as far as that’s concerned.

For those who enjoy sitting in Starbucks reading the paper, or having a beer on a Patio just to enjoy the sun and some light reading, this device may be for you too; add 3G connectivity or a WiFi hot-spot for even greater results. You’re able to hold the iPad in your hands so comfortably (from watching Steve Jobs’ keynote) that being out with the iPad can still feel casual and calming. Even when you’re in the living room watching TV, and you need a resource for checking… anything! The family room iPad is a handy well rounded device for those households which are technology driven, and love having gadgets strewing about for… again… anything!

The iPad surfs the web, checks your email, stores your contacts and calendar events, showcases your pictures, lets you watch movies and T.V. shows, browse YouTube, has a built in iPod, lets you purchase media, applications, books; it has Google Maps built in, lets you write notes, or use iWork to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations… does anyone else think it isn’t worth the money? The value is there, it’s definitely there. Have you seen how hospitals take advantage of iPhone technology? Just wait and see what new and innovative uses are developed for the iPad…

At this point, it’s difficult not to admire and respect the potential for good that Apple has released to the world with this new invention. Will the iPad succeed you ask? Without a doubt in my mind.

Setup Chinese Input on Mac OS X

Marc Cizravi — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:45:47 +0000

One of the new refinements released with Snow Leopard, was Chinese character input. This does come standard with any install of Snow Leopard, but isn’t enabled – you need to take a couple further steps to have it functioning and ready.

First, you’ll need to make sure you have one of Apple’s laptops that is equipped with the glass trackpad (the one without any buttons), and running 10.6 or later.

Second, open your system preferences, and choose Language & Text option under ‘Personal’.

Under Language & Text, choose the ‘Input Sources’ tab, then on the list on the left hand side, scroll down and choose either Chinese – Simplified or Chinese – Traditional. You’ll notice that when you do this, the right hand side of the preferences window will show “Show/Hide Trackpad Handwriting Control + Shift + Space” no longer greyed out. This is the key combination you’ll use to toggle the handwriting input dialog.

After doing this, you can toggle the control window/handwriting input dialog by holding Control + Shift and then tapping the space bar. Once it comes up, you will write with your fingers on the trackpad. On the right hand corner of the dialog, you’ll see the computers best 4 approximations of what it is you’re trying to input, and you’ll choose accordingly. Since the trackpad is now dedicated to your handwritten input, you’ll have to imagine that the far right of the area is divided into 4 squares, and tapping either on the top, slightly high, slightly low, or on the bottom, will choose one of those four character approximations.

This same process is available on desktop Macs as well, but you need a third part input device.

Using a Mac without Snow Leopard?

Marc Cizravi — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:27:54 +0000

It’s a documented fact that (and excuse the lack of references, you’ll have to take my word for it) Apple has been on the rise as of late. There are more Macs than there have ever been, and with exciting new announcements about Apple’s iPad, and other looming upgrades to other devices (iPhone, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro), it’s a good time to be an Apple groupie.

Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard

I’d like to shine the light on a release that was made more than 6 months ago, because I’ve recently encountered a few people who were very much of the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” opinion. While in theory, this mentality typically does hold true, in practice it sometimes seems… a little less than practical (har har).

Snow Leopard is/was Apple’s most recent release of their Mac OS X operating system (10.6) that was available to the public as of August 28th, 2009. For those of you who are less familiar with Apple and Macintosh computers, think of Snow Leopard in congruence with Microsoft‘s latest release of Windows, 7.

A new operating system’s (OS) release usually commands a lot of attention; it’s a new and exciting time to marvel at the cool new features, fancy aesthetic renovations, and hopefully added functionality.

Normally, with a new OS comes the need for faster, stronger and better hardware. The new operating system takes up more room, needs more memory, and a faster processor or it doesn’t run properly. This is sometimes a cause for concern. “You’re telling me I need to pay a couple hundred dollars for this new version of Windows that is going to make me want to buy a new computer because my two year old machine all of a sudden doesn’t match up?”

A new OS is supposed to be an upgrade right? Normally an upgrade doesn’t turn into a burden, it’s supposed to make things easier. For some of us, upgrading ram or clearing hard-drive space is an arduous and costly task. If only someone out there would try to break the trend…

Apple did.

To name a few:

Snow Leopard was the first-ever operating system that actually cleared up hard-drive space after you installed it – users reported anywhere from 5GB to 15GB of additional free space on their drives after installing.
A lot of the essential applications and processes that run have been recoded from 32bit to 64bit. What this means is that applications make better use of the hardware (mainly memory) in your computer to function MUCH faster. This means that the computer you bought 2 years ago, runs faster after you install Snow Leopard, than it did when it was brand new out of the box. No need for new hardware, just a $29 upgrade gets you a face lifted computer.
Safari 4 (Apple’s internet browser), officially released with Snow Leopard, sets a new industry standard in performance; six months later, it’s still leading in load times and benchmark performances vs. other popular browsers. Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Internet Explorer all pale in comparison.
With Snow Leopard, users could experience faster start-up, shutdown, and wake from sleep times than ever before no more wasting pesky seconds, we’ve got stuff to do!

If you want to learn more about Snow Leopard, visit Apple’s current Mac OS X page on their website. note: this link will be valid until the day Apple releases (presumably) the next version of Mac OS X.

For those of you who have not yet upgraded and are trying to decide if it’s worth it – take it from me, it is. For those of you who are actively opposing the upgrade because “10.5.8 works just fine for me”, you’re not getting the full value out of your computer. For $29, you could turn your computer into a faster, more efficient device, and keep up with an industry that demands you be up to date to function with the newest and best this world has to offer.

One objection that may have held you back from upgrading immediately, would be third party support: printers, cameras, old software that might not operate properly… right away. Now, 6 months later (even 2 weeks after I upgraded) you can rest assured that anyone who’s anyone, has caught up.

note: Apple released the latest version of Snow Leopard, 10.6.3, yesterday which was accompanied by many improvements and bug fixes. Read more here.

10 Must Have iPhone Applications

Marc Cizravi — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:05:22 +0000

Facebook – FREE
This one goes without saying. You’re probably using facebook, and if you have an iPhone you may as well have the Facebook app so you can respond to messages or view them quickly in a pleasant interface. While viewing www.facebook.com is pretty seamless through their ‘mobile’ version, or even the full site through Safari, the Facebook app sometimes makes it faster and easier to do what you want to do!

Shazam – FREE; Shazam Encore/RED – $4.99
Shazam is an application that will listen to music that is playing (for about 15 seconds), creating a ‘tag’, and then scour it’s database, and give you an artist, album, and title (if it can find one. So, you’re in a bar, club, or in your car listening to the radio, a song comes on that you wish you knew the title to. Instead of trying to remember lyrics, asking friends, or searching the internet later, just pull your iPhone out, click Shazam, click Tag, and let it do the work for you.

I have a 95% success rate with this, and very rarely is Shazam unable to tag the music that’s playing. This app used to be ‘unlimited’, but recently the free version became a limit of 5 tags per month. Those who ‘purchased’ the app when it was unlimited, still have the benefit of that feature even with updates, but new users have to pay $4.99 for the ‘Encore’ version. They also have a RED version, in case you would like to donate money to help fight AIDS; a worthy cause.

Things – $9.99
I very rarely buy paid apps, it’s a slippery slope. However, Things for iPhone and Things for Mac make it really easy for me to manage my upcoming tasks. This is an application that I’m far from qualified to fully describe, as I use it in a very rudimentary fashion, but I do however find great value (at least $10 worth) being able to organize my to do list, add/remove/check items completed, reminder and other such tasks that were left out of the Calendar app.

Air Mouse – $1.99
This is a really cool app that lets you use your iPhone (or iPod) as a trackpad (like on a laptop). Two different functionality modes which allow to use it traditionally, or take advantage of the device’s accelerometer. You must be on the same WiFi zone as the computers, and need to install the software (free) for your computer, PC or Mac, and have it running for this to function. I have it setup at home with 3 different computers, and can control them all from the comfort of my bed, with my phone. Can also be used in boardroom presentations or other such scenarios.

Flashlight – FREE
Simple application which will turn your entire screen into either a solid or flashing or patterned colours. Handy when you’re in a dark spot and need a flashlight. Turn your iPhone or iPod’s brightness all the way up, launch flashlight, and find your way through a dark room or alley easily!

Urbanspoon – FREE
You’ve no doubt seen this one advertised on T.V. With urbanspoon, you can just shake to find a new place to eat tonight. You can set region, (or have it find you automatically), price range, style/culture of food, or have it shuffle all three categories. You can lock it to low priced Greek food, and find all the cheap Greek places in your area – really handy for couples who are looking to eat someplace new every night! Information returned includes phone number, address, reviews and an easy link to bring up the maps application so you can direct yourselves there.

Bump – FREE
This one is super cool. All you need is a friend with an iPhone, with Bump also installed. You both launch the application, bump your fists while holding your phones, and it will exchange your contact information (as much as you’d like to share). Ideal for people who have iPhones who want to quickly bump their phones to exchange contact information. Share phone numbers, pictures, addresses, emails, web addresses and anything else you can fit on your profile. Really unique application that makes the iPhone worth having.

WhatsApp – $0.99
The equivalent of “BlackBerry Messenger” – free texting through data anywhere in the world. It’s a good App WITH push notification, but it’s only here because Blackberry users are always crying about how amazing BBM is and how they don’t have to send any text messages. I’ll tell you something, it’s 2010, if you have a blackberry or an iPhone, 99% change you’re paying for more text messages a month than you could possibly use. For those of you who enjoy “knowing when they’ve read my message”, you’re insecure, and you need to get a grip.

Traffic Rush – FREE
A game where traffic is traveling in four directions and you’ve got to be the one to govern it’s speed and make sure to avoid all collisions. A good time waster in case you’re on the bus or in the doctors office and need to kill a couple minutes.

The Imbecile Test – FREE
This one is actually indescribable, you need to play it to understand. A series of random questions (and sometimes not) designed to trip you up and make you feel the fool. Learning curve of about 30 seconds, and that’s probably how long it takes you to lose your patience and decide you need a 3 week break before playing some more. Still, a real popular application that deserves your attempt.

Change Default Font in Microsoft Word

Marc Cizravi — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:54:22 +0000

I recently had a friend message me asking how to change the default font, and I had to explain it to her quickly. Wouldn’t it be nice if all I had to do was link her to a post on my website showing her detailed descriptions and images, which would in turn save me time, and make the process easier and clearer for her?

This *should* work for all versions of Microsoft Word from 2002 onward.

The format menu on Microsoft Word 2008

On the menu bar, you can choose the menu ‘Format’, and then choose ‘Font’.

From here, you’ll have a dialog window open with all the font related options. Color, style, size and such. You make all the changes you want, and then choose the default button in the bottom left corner of the screen, and you’ll get a pop up saying “Do you want to change the default font to (Default) Verdana 16pt etc …. This change will affect all new documents…” Choose yes, restart Microsoft Word, and you’ll notice that all new blank documents will have the font properties you previously specified.

The font dialog window, with 'default' choice in the bottom left, and the pop up you'll receive on the bottom centre of the image.

Show Hidden & Search System Files Windows & Apple Mac OS X

Marc Cizravi — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:03:04 +0000

Recently I was looking to delete some files off my Mac, that were albeit being difficult to find. It was a little challenging, so I thought I’d put together the solution for you all to take advantage of.

As usual, I’ll explain Apple’s Mac OS X platform first. The two functions (searching system files and showing hidden ones) are independent.

Terminal Application within the Utilities folder (Mac OS X)

You can see the effect the two commands I describe has had it's effect, as files from my hard drive have been revealed.

To reveal hidden files in the finder you’ll first need to open an application called Terminal. You can find it under Applications\Utilities. Once it’s launched, you’ll presumably need all three of the following commands.

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
Killall Finder

Once you have terminal open, you can copy paste (command + c, command + v) any of the commands above into the prompt. The command #1 (ending in TRUE) will write to a preference file on your computer, telling it to reveal ALL files, including hidden ones. Once you’ve typed that and hit enter, you’ll notice nothing will have actually changed. You’ll have to run the command #3, (Killall Finder) which will re-launch the Finder, and doing so with the new preference in place. You’ll see the immediate result, as some hidden desktop files become visible right away. You’ll be able to tell which files are otherwise hidden files because they’ll be a little translucent.

I should warn you that altering hidden/system files can lead to disastrous results, so be sure to proceed only with instructions from a professional, or if you absolutely know what you’re doing.

At any point, if you need to reverse the changes you’ve made, you can type command #2 (ending in FALSE), then #3 again to re-launch finder, and you’ll see all those hidden files disappear.

A Finder search in which system files are not included.

To search system files, you can first use spotlight (command + Spacebar), then click the ‘Show All’ function that offers itself immediately before any of your results. Once you do this, you’ll have a new Finder window open showing all the results of your search. You can also just open a new Finder window, and use your spotlight dialog in the top right to start a search, hit enter, and view the results.

Adding system files to your search comes next. Whenever you open a Finder window with search results, you’ll receive an option near the top right of the window which will act as a filter, or give you additional options for your searches. By default, you should see (Kind) is (Any) – you can change that to (System Files) (are included)

The same search, except with System Files INCLUDED

Windows XP

It’s out of character, but it’s actually a lot easier to reveal hidden files on the Windows platform (I swear, that’s all that’s easier when you’re using a PC). Open up a fresh window, and at the top on the menu bar you’ll see File, Edit and then eventually Tools. From the Tools menu, choose Folder Options.

Windows XP Folder Options

Windows Show Hidden Files & Folders

This next dialog that pops up will have 4 tabs; choose View, then you should see a bunch of items on a list. Near the bottom of that list (without scrolling) choose “Show Hidden Files and Folders” and then choose Apply on the bottom right corner, and all hidden files will be revealed in the finder. Just like on your Mac, you’ll see those files to be slightly translucent.

You’ll be happy to know that this process is identical on Windows Vista, and Windows 7, but from me to you – if you’re using either operating system, I’m sure you’ve been handed more problems than solutions, with a bloated operating system that eats at your computers resources, and demands more and more from your hardware.

Search System Files & Hidden Folders

Open a search dialog. You can do this by hitting F3 while having any Windows Explorer window open, or click Start > Search.
On the bottom left corner of the window you’ll see ‘Change Preferences’. (underlined in image)
Choose ‘Change files and folders search behaviour’. (image)
Choose ‘Advanced – includes options to manually…’ (image)
Finally, back to the ‘Main Menu’ of the search dialog. Check mark the ‘Search hidden files and folders’, and anything you search will now include your elusive files. (image)

Until next time… if you need more help, you know who to go to!

The Truth About: AppleCare

Marc Cizravi — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:19:35 +0000

AppleCare Protection Plan

I’m going to apologize in advance for the lack of visual stimulus, I don’t have any repair invoices to scan, or any helpful aids to break from all the words. I unfortunately have to fit all my experience on the matter in one post, which is unfortunately going to come close to 2000 words.

If you’re reading this, I will hope that you’re fairly familiar with Apple as a company, and AppleCare as a service. Having spent a couple hundred hours in an Apple store, I can tell you that I’ve had lengthy discussions on the matter, and I’d like to clear the air. I hope that my words can now come as an impartial as I have been both an employee and customer of Apple in the past. I can also let you know that I currently hold no shares of Apple‘s stock (AAPL), so there is no hidden agenda… I promise!

The Facts

AppleCare is more commonly known Apple‘s extended warranty, or “extended coverage plan” for their hardware. In case you’re curious, the reason they call it an “extended coverage plan”, and not an extended warranty, is for liability purposes. Let’s say you buy a Mac today, and with that Mac you purchase AppleCare, and Apple goes bankrupt tomorrow and decides to close up shop, they don’t hold any legal liability – it’s not an extended warranty, it’s a service plan as long as Apple is in business; sneaky eh? To be honest, Apple is such a powerhouse that you’ll never have to worry about it, but it’s still interesting to know.

iPods, iPhones, Computers can all be covered by AppleCare. This service extends the 1 year limited manufacturer warranty of the hardware, and 3 month complimentary phone support that you receive when you purchase an Apple product. For iPods and iPhones, AppleCare gives you 2 years total of hardware coverage, and 2 years total of phone support. For all Macs, you get 3 years total of hardware coverage, and 3 years total of phone support. It should also be known that for iPods and iPhones, the phone support is a single incident, you get charged if you have to call about two different issues.

The prices vary, with AppleCare for iPods and iPhones pricing from $49 to 79$ (different devices and models), and AppleCare for computers pricing between $179 and $399.

note: AppleCare for computers comes with an education discount if you qualify, making the range $119 to $279.

They also have AppleCare that provides training and software support. Meaning you can get AppleCare Professional Video Support which will essentially give you access to your own trainer over the phone, whenever you’re having an issue – however, not something that’s typically for the every day user like you and me, so we won’t talk about it today.

You can buy AppleCare at point of sale, or up to a year after your purchase. Once your limited warranty expires, you can’t get AppleCare anymore for your device. Exceptions have been made; but they have to be made by headquarters; you have to call 1-800-MY-APPLE and plead your case. If you’ve spent a lot of money with Apple, if you’ve just missed the 1 year mark by a week, you can tell them that you’re a loyal customer who doesn’t even have anything wrong with your device, and just want to be pro-active and be protected. I’ve done it, and I’ve had it done for friends – it’s totally possible.

If your computer is stolen, or broken beyond AppleCare‘s scope (water damage, physical/accidental damage) you can get the remaining amount refunded, which is a perk. Call AppleCare in your region to do so.

Does my computer need it?

You should know that labour alone on any repair that your Apple computer will need, costs more than AppleCare itself – a simple hard-drive replacement breaks the $500.00 mark. There’s no sense buying a computer for $1500.00 and then needing to put another $500 (and that’s one of the cheaper repairs) to keep it running. If your computer needs a new logic board, it breaks the $1000.00 mark – would you repair your computer? No, you’d probably buy a new one – prematurely.

Now… I’ve made it clear that it’s necessary for your computer, but the initial cost of your computer should also be considered. If you buy a MacBook for $1,049.00, you might think that spending $299.00 (a third of the price) to cover the computer for an extra 2 years might not make much sense. You might be right (I did the same thing, I have a MacBook, and because I didn’t have the money at the time, I didn’t buy AppleCare right away. I also let the 1 year pass without purchasing it. If you’d rather gamble and have the computer potentially break down, and put that money towards a new machine, you can do that. It’s risk taking, however, remember that. My MacBook is going to be 2 years old in May, but the hard-drive gives me trouble sometimes. I’m able to manage it because I have the know-how, but someone else might be more troubled.

On the other hand, if you buy a 15″ MacBook Pro and spend more than $2000.00, it makes sense to buy AppleCare. You spend $399.00 (or $279.00 if you qualify for the education discount) and you triple your computers lifetime. You get more value out of your money if you spend the little extra on AppleCare. Divide the cost of your computer by the amount of days it’s guaranteed, and you can see how your money is working for you. Would you rather spend $2399.00 for a guarantee of 1068 days, or $2000.00 for 356 days?

Does my iPod or iPhone need it?

note: Keep in mind that AppleCare for iPods and iPhones only lasts a total of 2 years – and that no iPod or iPhone has gone a year without being updated/re-invented.

The iPod Shuffle costs $69 (2GB), $89 (4GB) and $109 (4GB Special Edition), Shuffle AppleCare costs $49, it’s not worth it – under any circumstance – you’re throwing money away.

The iPod Nano costs $169 (8GB) and $199 (16GB), and Nano AppleCare also costs $49. This also covers battery replacement, which can be handy. If you plan on keeping your Nano for 2 years and want it to function after 2 years, it’s a good idea to have it. If you’re ready to buy a new iPod after a year IF this one breaks, then put the 49$ towards that. Remember, it’s not necessarily going to die after a year – I’ve known iPods to last for five or six, it’s a gamble and it’s about how you treat the device. Still, if you ask me, not worth it.

The iPod Classic costs $279 (160GB) and AppleCare costs $69 – this one I think is a little worth it. If you’re using your ipod every day, chances are your battery is going to die within 2 years. The AppleCare covers the replacement (which would otherwise be more than $100) and in the meantime any other failures are also taken care of. Worth it if you ask me.

The iPod Touch costs $219 (8GB), $329 (16GB) and $429 (32GB), and again AppleCare costs $69. This one is a tossup – if you’re buying one of the lower end models, I’d say no, if you spend $429 + taxes, you may want to consider it. Just ask yourself: A year from now, will the $69 be better spent towards a new iPod, or extending it’s guaranteed lifetime?

The iPhone… $599, $699, $799, at least without a contract. If you purchase it at it’s subsidized price with a 3 year contract, and your phone breaks after a year and a half, you have 18 more months of an expensive monthly contract, without a phone to take advantage of it. Now you have to spend money on another phone before you’re eligible for an upgrade – that’s costly, much more than $79. For gods sake, if you have an iPhone, go purchase AppleCare… now.

Customer Objections

Customers would always come into the store and throw an array of objections my way when they didn’t want to pay for AppleCare, I’ve got an answer for them all. The only time I agree with someone who doesn’t want to buy AppleCare, is when they have a cheap computer (MacBook), and have enough money to ‘gamble’ if the computer fails and needs to be replaced.

“Apple is a superior brand, nothing should go wrong.”

First of all, whether it’s Apple or Dell – it’s still electronics. Spontaneous failure isn’t common, but it’s not unheard of either. The stuff is designed in California, but it’s assembled in China. You think that Mercedes or BMW never have issues? Stuff happens, you can’t blame defects or problems in the future on Apple; it’s life, shit happens. It’s less likely to happen when you buy Apple, but that’s why it’s so expensive to repair them, and that’s why it’s a good idea to have AppleCare when it does.

“Something is either going to wrong right away, or never at all”

This is a common misconception – it’s true that some machines will go a lifetime without any problems, BUT, don’t be fooled; people would come into the store with a year and a half old machine or two year old machines – failing hard drives, logic boards, dead pixels on the LCD, usb or ethernet ports not functioning. Lots of AppleCare, and lots of not. The people who didn’t have it would be leaving upset, and the people who had it would be receiving our congratulations because they avoided a land-mine. It can happen after 2 weeks, after 2 months, and after 2 years. It’s improbable… but again, not impossible.

My brother’s uncle’s mother’s husband’s son’s brother runs a computer store. He can handle my repairs.

You do NOT want someone other than an Apple Store or an Apple authorized service centre handling your repairs. Replacing a hard-drive, or upgrading ram is easy, and simple but anything else requires the insider training that can only come from California. Having an amateur handle your equipment can only lead to further damage.

All other objections about price, worth, value have all been previously explained, so I won’t repeat myself.

When Should I Buy AppleCare?

Since you get 1 year hardware coverage with all your products, there’s no point rushing to this purchase. The only thing you miss out on, is the 9 months of phone support between the beginning of month 4, and the end of month 12. In all honestly, AppleCare phone support is amazing, but it’s very rare that you need to use it if you have an Apple Store nearby, or if you have an internet connection with which you can just Google an answer.

The benefits of buying AppleCare at point of sale are as follows:

Auto enrollment: If you buy AppleCare when you buy your device, it gets automatically added. No need to call in and ‘register’ it or have it activated. It’s done for you, saves you the extra work.
Additional Coverage: If you buy a Mac and decide to also purchase an Airport Extreme Router, or an Apple Cinema Display, they also are covered by your computer’s coverage – an added bonus. If you buy AppleCare after the fact, it only covers your singular machine.
Save Time: You don’t have to worry about coming back to the store and purchasing AppleCare on it’s own. Some people resent the feeling of having to spend money on something without actually physically getting anything. You walk in and out having spent X amount of dollars, but don’t go home with anything… apart from ‘peace of mind’… pfffft, scam I tell ya!
Extra Phone Support: If this is something you value, then all the more reason to jump in.

That’s all for now… contact me if you have anymore questions!

Old White Macbook Cracked Case

Marc Cizravi — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:10:14 +0000

Old White MacBook Cracked Case (bottom)

If you purchased a MacBook between the time it was released in 2006, and the latest refresh in November of 2009, you’ve most likely experienced the cracking case. It’s an unfortunate defect that leaves the interior of the computer vulnerable. Liquid, dust and dirt, and even moisture is more likely to sneak it’s way in if you’re not careful. This is something that is uncharacteristic of Apple, but it can’t be anticipated because it’s a result of many months of usage.

The cracking case can occur on the top or the bottom of the interior casing. It’s caused by closing the top of the computer too quickly; repeated attempts will start cracking the case slowly, on top or bottom… or both.

When this started happening, numerous complaints were made about lesser quality and poor craftsmanship to be held responsible, and maybe that was the case. However, after copious amounts of people started coming in to get the repair made (for free if they were still under their limited warranty, or had purchase the AppleCare protection plan), they issued a statement telling all MacBook customers, that they were eligible for the replacement, regardless of their warranty or AppleCare status.

Old White MacBook Top Case Cracking

This was wildly accepted, as you could imagine, and was a quick and timely repair, should you be close to an Apple retail store. The repair involved replacing the entire top case (this means new keyboard, new casing, new power button) which is essentially a facelift for your Mac. When I got my machine back from the store, it looked like it was brand new, a nice surprise and something that I greatly appreciated.

If you currently have a cracking case on your white MacBook, head to the nearest Apple retail store (after making an appointment), or your nearest Apple authorized service centre, to get this manufacturer defect taken care of. Make sure that the service provider you lookup, supports service; some of them are iPod only, Mac only, etc… make sure you choose the right one, and be sure to call before you drop in for a visit!

Old White MacBook

In case you’re having trouble identifying your machine, look on the bottom right – if you have a black circle like the image displayed above, and your case is cracking, you’re in luck – you’re eligible.

Full List of iPhone 3GS Voice Commands

Marc Cizravi — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:46:21 +0000

iPhone 3GS' Voice Control Screen

When I first got my iPhone 3GS, it was a little bit of a mystery to me, all the voice commands that were available. I knew “call”, and “play music”. Some other random ones would swipe across the screen, but still, I didn’t have a complete list, and I wanted one; It took me a little more effort than I wanted it to, so I thought I’d post it here for future use, so it could be easily found.

To activate the voice control screen, simply hold your home button for 3 seconds or tap the middle button on your headphones. Whether it’s on the standby screen ‘locked’, or in use in any app that you’re currently running, it’ll pop up (like you see on the right). Once you hear a tone, the phone is ready to accept commands; be sure to wait for it, or it’ll only listen to a part of what you’ve said, and may misinterpret your command.

Telephone Commands
“Call Marc Cizravi” will look up the name ‘Marc Cizravi’ and dial the number you have listed on that contact profile. The phone will prompt you back by speaking “Calling Marc Cizravi”. Remember that pronunciation is a little robotic. I know how to pronounce my name, but the iPhone mangles it when repeats it back to me – if you sometimes have trouble calling someone with a strange name, try listening to the pronunciation that the phone uses, and mimic that. If you happen to have multiple numbers for ‘Marc Cizravi’, it will tell you that. “Marc Cizravi – Home? Mobile? School?” to which you’ll respond (after the tone) “Home” – and it will repeat back to you “Calling Marc Cizravi, mobile“.

“Dial 416 111 1111” will dial that phone number, make sure you’re speaking loudly and clearly, and not too quickly, and remember to wait for the tone before starting your command!

Music Commands
Follow the same instructions, waiting for the tone, and use any of the following commands that relate to your music:

“Play Music” or “Play” – start playing your music, from the last song played, or beginning of your library if you have synced your phone recently.
“Play Songs By Blink 182” or “Play Artist Coldplay” will start playing music by Blink 182 or Coldplay.
“Play Album Take Off Your Pants And Jacket” will start playing songs from the Album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, by Blink 182.
“Play Playlist My Top Rated” will start playing music from your ‘My Top Rated’ playlist.
“Play More Songs Like This“, “Play More Like This” and “Genius” will activate the Genius playlist function from the song that’s currently playing.
“Next“, “Previous“, “Pause“, “Shuffle, “Next Song“, “Previous Song“, “Pause Music” “Shuffle Music, are also all functioning commands. What’s funny (and don’t ask me how I found out) but “Boobs” is also a command, but only when music is playing… try it!
“Who Sings This Song?“, “What Song Is This?“, “What’s Playing?” will have your iPhone speak the artist’s name and song’s title of what’s currently playing back to you.

If your iPhone ever gets part-way to a command you’re trying to execute, and for some reason it’s made a mistake, you can always say “no“, “wrong“, “never-mind“, “not that one“, “nope“, “cancel” will stop the voice control all together. Even if you were just to activate it by accident, you could just say “no” and it would just revert to the activities before it was accidentally activated.

Enjoy a little demo from me below, and if you want you can also have a look at the iPhone voice-control demonstration video on Apple’s website.