If you're looking for a Mac specialist, you've come to the right place. I've been a consultant for over fifteen years in Western Massachusetts. My clients range from Personal Users to Medium-Sized Businesses in the Berskshire, Franklin and Hampshire county area. 
The Deal with Apple ID
Apple ID. You may have heard of it. You know that time when you were on vacation out of the country, when you tried to play your music, you were asked for the password to that thing, then you couldn’t find it, and then you spent a couple hours on the phone with Apple Support trying to change your password? Then you got home, and every other device you own was looking for that new password you scribbled on a scrap piece of paper that flew out the window at some point while you were cruising back on I-91?
Ring a bell now?
Apple ID is the roof under which many services from Apple live. You use the same credentials for iTunes Store, Mac App Store, IOS App Store and the mysterious iCloud. Apple ID is used when you register a new computer with Apple. It can also help you reset your computer password, if you’ve forgotten it.
It is the One Ring That Rules Them All, yet nobody really gets it, probably for that very reason. It does such a variety of things, it is hard to describe. Thus the confusion ensues.
Read more: Make Your Mac Sing! Newsletter 14 - Birdwaves Media
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| This is not the Michelin Man |
You may want to think twice about installing that Adobe Flash Plugin
Mac Adware on the rise
I'm seeing a lot of this these days. A client will ask me "Why did my homepage change in my web browser?". Or, “What’s this new thing in my menu bar?”.
That, my friends, is the result of Adware being installed on your computer. Who installed it? You did!
How’d I do that?
You did that most likely when you tried to update your Adobe Flash plugin. Unfortunately you didn’t get it straight from Adobe. You probably followed some link you Googled, and got it from a download aggregator like C/Net or some such. Or maybe you wanted to stream a sports broadcast or podcast stream and downloaded the app from an unofficial site.
If you are a Photoshop user, and it requires Java, that was another infamous vector. Yahoo, of all “people” attached some Adware to the free Java installer you needed to download in order to run an older version of Photoshop on the latest macOS.
Apple’s WWDC 2018; that thing about rebooting your router
WWDC 2018
On Monday the 4th Apple kicked off the 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference with it’s keynote address. On some occasions they use this platform to introduce new hardware.
This was not one of those occasions.
I’ve been advising folks who are looking for new laptops to hold off till now to see if there are any new developments. If you’ve been putting off a purchase, you may as well go ahead, because you probably won’t see anything new until the Fall. Right now you may picture me putting on my “Sad Clown” face.
I don’t know why the absence of new hardware affects me like this. I should be used to it by now. Apple has a thing about introducing new stuff. They don’t see a need. After all it’s not like the most valuable company on the planet needs the money.
“What about that update to the Mac Pro that was promised?” you say? Don’t hold your breath. They pushed it back to 2019.
I bet two dudes at Best Buy could assemble a modular Mac Pro with decent specs in about a week. Maybe Apple should give them a call.
Ok, I’m gonna quit my crying and cut to the chase. The WWDC is for software developers, and Apple did introduce a bunch of new “OS’s”:
- iOS 12 (iPhone, iPad) - Alternative Reality (AR) software, Siri improvements, iPhone addiction prevention (!?)
- macOS Mohave (Mac) - New Mac App Store, Dark Mode, iOS apps on Mac, security updates
- watchOS 5 (Apple Watch) - Walkie Talkie Mode
- tvOS 12 (Apple TV) - Dolby Atmos Surround Sound support
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What Birdwaves Media Does
Web Design
Is your current website mobile-compatible? I'm fluent in both Wordpress and Joomla!. Besides mobile-compatibility and higher Google rankings, a CMS also lets you update your own site using only your web-browser and without having to code. Let's get started!
Video Production / Editing
Small productions, all phases from planning to recording to editing. Editing in Final Cut X. Green screen available.
Mac and PC Support
While I prefer to work on Mac, and I only recommend them, I do work on PC’s as well. Got a problem? I’m here to help!
Music Recording / Production
At my recording studio here in Ashfield, I'm able to record groups. A sweet vocal booth is available for voiceover work. Audiobooks, voiceover, and poetry readings a specialty.