In light of the recent malware scares, Apple has released 10.7.4 which will  fix previous vulnerabilities in 10.7.3 and will now encrypt your passwords. This will add an extra-layer of security.
We suggest you run a back-up of your computer. After your back-up completes, go ahead and run your software update by clicking the Apple icon in the top left of the screen, and choose software update. Your computer will need to restart, so be prepared!

Feel free to set up an appointment if you’d like us to help.

Here are the official answers!

Apple uses rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in all of their portable technologies.

Lithium-ion is pretty much the industry standard.

Why is this used?

Lithium is a light metal, but most importantly :

“You can…recharge a lithium-ion polymer battery whenever convenient, without the full charge or discharge cycle necessary to keep nickel-based batteries at peak performance. “

 source: Apple.com/batteries

 Yes, it is true. You won’t hurt your computer, or your battery, should you unplug, and re plug it as you please.

What should you know?

These batteries charge almost completely (they reach 80% capacity) in two hours time.

If you have an Apple laptop:

Best temperature range to work in is 50° to 95°

The first time you charge your battery, let it charge completely.

Running software updates will help with performance. Apple releases updates from time to time to help improve battery performance.

Leaving your laptop plugged in is not a bad thing BUT your battery should be drained fully once a month. This gives the battery a break (which it does need).

If you have a newer MacBook or MacBook Pro, you can expect for your battery to last 1000 cycles. A cycle is one full charge and discharge. After about 1000 cycles, your battery’s performance will noticeably deplete.

How much time is 1000 cycles?  

That greatly depends on how heavy a computer user you are. Most people need to replace their battery after about 2 years time.

NOTE: Older models (pre-2009) will have a significantly lower cycle count before they need to be replaced (Apple redesigned their battery technology in 2008 with the release of the Unibody laptop models).

Curious about where your battery stands? 

You can use the “About this Mac” function to learn more. Click on the “more info” button. On the left side you will see a list. Find the “Power” section, and click on it. In the right field you will see information about your battery!

For Your iPod, iPhone, iPad:

Best temperature range to work in is 32° to 95°

Just like with the laptops- keeping the software updated on your device will keep the battery performance optimum.

iPod and iPhone batteries generally last about 400 charge cycles. iPads last about 1000 cycles. After this- you will notice a depletion in performance

If you are concerned about conserving your battery, you can maximize battery life on your device with simple setting changes (source: Apple.com/batteries/iphone)

• Adjust brightness: Managing the screen brightness is the best way to extend iPad/iPhone/iPod battery life. By default, your device has Auto-Brightness turned On.  Auto-Brightness adjusts the screen brightness based on ambient lighting conditions; lowering brightness in low light conditions helps to extend battery life. You can adjust brightness yourself; go to Settings > Brightness & Wallpaper and drag the slider to the left to lower the default screen brightness.
• Manage the use of downloaded applications: Use of certain applications, such as games that prevent the screen from dimming or shutting off or applications that use location services, can reduce battery life.
• Turn off Wi-Fi: If you know you’re not going to be using Wi-Fi, you can turn it off to save power. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and set Wi-Fi to Off. Note that if you have iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G and use it to browse the web, battery life may be improved by using Wi-Fi instead of cellular data networks.
• Use Airplane Mode (Wi-Fi + 3G iPad model and iPhone) in low- or no-coverage areas: Because your iPad/iPhone always tries to maintain a connection with a Wi-Fi network or 3G data network (Wi-Fi + 3G model), it may use more power in low- or no-coverage areas. Turning on Airplane Mode can increase battery life in these situations. To turn on Airplane Mode, go to Settings and set Airplane Mode to On.
• Minimize use of location services: Applications that actively use location services, such as Maps, may reduce battery life. To disable location services, go to Settings > General > Location Services or use location services only when needed.
• Turn off push notifications: Some applications from the App Store use the Apple Push Notification service to alert you of new data. Applications that rely extensively on push notifications (such as instant messaging applications) may decrease battery life. To disable push notifications, go to Settings > Notifications and set Notifications to Off. Note that this does not prevent new data from being received when the application is opened. Also, the Notifications setting will not be visible if you do not have any applications installed that support push notifications.
• Fetch new data less frequently: Applications such as Mail can be set to fetch data wirelessly at specific intervals. The more frequently email or other data is fetched, the quicker your battery may drain. To fetch new data manually, from the Home screen choose Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and tap Manually. To increase the fetch interval, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and tap Hourly. Note that this is a global setting and applies to all applications that do not support push services.
• Turn off push mail: If you have a push mail account such as Yahoo! or Microsoft Exchange, turn off push when you don’t need it. Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and set Push to Off. Messages sent to your push email accounts will now be received on your phone based on the global Fetch setting rather than as they arrive. If the global Fetch setting is set to Manually, you will not be able to locate your iPad using the Find My iPad feature.
• Auto-check fewer email accounts: You can save power by checking fewer email accounts. This can be accomplished by turning off an email account or by deleting it. To turn off an account, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, choose an email account, and set Account to Off. To remove an account, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, choose an email account, and tap Delete Account.

Flashback is a trojan that has been installing itself on many machines throughout the world. Once installed on your machine, flashback can make your data more vulnerable. The trojan itself sets out to disable many security features that keep you safe, collecting passwords etc.

How does it get installed?

Adobe Flash is a widely used application- it helps with video playback on the web. Flashback pretends to be the latest version of Adobe Flash, and prompts the user to install it. Because it appears to be a legitimate piece of software, many users just go ahead and type their administrator password.

How can I tell if I’ve accidentally installed Flashback?

You can use the following tools:

VirusBarrier- This is an antivirus program that checks for viruses and trojans on the Mac, you can purchase it at the Apple store. You can use this program to find and remove Flashback.

Flashback Checker- This is a free program which will check to see if the trojan is on your computer. It will only find the trojan- not remove it however. The program is free and can be found here: https://github.com/jils/FlashbackChecker/wiki

What if my computer is infected?

Apple has already released two updates that patch the security holes that allowed your Mac to be vulnerable in the first place-  so run that software update. However, once you do that, you will need to still remove it.

The best way to remove the trojan can be found on F-Secure’s Website:

http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-downloader_osx_flashback_k.shtml

Removal is possible for a home user, but can be tricky if you are not familiar with computers. If you are at all uncomfortable, give us a call here at Geeks of Gotham. We can make an appointment to get your Mac cleared off.

Phone:
347-GEEKS-OF
347-433-5763

Business hours:
9 AM-9 PM Monday-Friday
10 AM-5 PM Saturday and Sunday

Under this agreement (which you must agree to in order to continue to use any google services i.e. Gmail) users will agree to allow Google to take the data that is collected about them through their searches, including your web browsing history. Google will also attach your name to this data that they collect.

This means there will be a record of every search, and every website you’ve visited, labeled as you.

Read the policy here:

http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/preview/

If you are concerned about how your information might be used, there is a way to delete the information already collected. It also will pause your web history, meaning it will no longer track and log your searches and web history.

How to delete your history:

I have circled in orange where you should click.

Flip Scam

The message comes from info@info-emailer.com but is made to look like it is coming from a friend of yours. The subject of the message gives your friend’s name and then says “sent you a friend request on Flip ”. The body of the message says:
“If you can’t see this email please click here to respond
*YOUR FRIEND’S NAME HERE* has added you as a friend
Is *YOUR FRIEND’S NAME HERE* your friend?
Yes No
Click here to block all emails from Flip, 440 N. Wolfe Rd MS# 153, Sunnyvale, CA. 94085. Privacy Policy”

Although technically this isn’t exactly a virus or scam or information phishing scheme, it sure seems like one. Flip, Flipora and Infoaxe are all the same company. The service they apparently offer is to track your web browsing habits and suggest ads and search results based on what sites you visit. It is like voluntarily signing up to have spyware or malware on your computer. The worst thing about this service is that when you sign up you inadvertently give them access to your email address book and they use that information to send all of your friends, family and co-workers junk mail inviting them to also use Flip, Flipora and Infoaxe. They may also sell your address book information to third party spammers. There is no social media site called “Flip”. The bottom line: do not follow any of the links in the message. If you did click on the links then do not type in any of your information. If you did type in your information then you should change your email password right away.

The links in the email bring you to:

http://login.flipora.com/

http://invites.info-emailer.com/

Don’t enter your information on any of these pages.

The IP addresses that they have been using for sending emails are in the 74.86.42.* range. The two messages I received came from 74.86.42.174 and 74.86.42.170. If your email service allows you to block spammers based on their IP address then you can use this information to block Flip from sending you messages.

http://pitchcreative.marketingweek.co.uk/awards/winners2011/design.html

In this scam you are directed to a website in your Safari web browser that is designed to look like a Finder window. In front of that fake Finder window they present you with a pop-up window saying:

Apple security alert
To help protect your computer, Apple Web Security
have detected Trojans and ready to remove them.

Spyware is a type of malware that can be installed
on computers, and which collects small pieces of
information about users without their knowledge.

There are two buttons “Cancel” and “Remove all”. Below the pop-up window in large type it says:

Apple security center.

Of course this is not a real Finder window on your computer and of course there is no such thing as the “Apple security center” and you do not have any Trojans on your computer. This is just a graphic made to look like it is doing a virus scan of your Mac but in truth is doing nothing except generating the pop up window and asking you to download their malicious program (malware).

If this comes up on your screen do not click the “Remove all” button because you will be prompted to install software on your computer claiming to “fix” the problem but which will actually ask you for your credit card information so they can run up their own purchases on your card. The program will also act like a virus (but isn’t) and automatically open pornographic websites on your computer screen.

Remember, do not click the “Remove all” button, simply force quit Safari. You can do this by going to the Apple menu, clicking on Force Quit, then clicking on Safari and clicking the Force Quit button. You can then reopen Safari and just be mindful to not click on any links talking about viruses, trojans, malware or spyware in the future.

If you did install the software you can follow the instructions here to remove it: http://geeksofgotham.com/2011/05/10/macdefender-scam/

Basically:
Do not open or install anything called MacDefender and if you do so by accident do not give them your credit card information. If you did give them your credit card information you should call your credit card company right away and cancel your card.

The way it works:
After doing a Google Images search a window may pop-up on your screen asking you to install “MacDefender”. If you install the program then it will pop up another box saying you have a virus (you don’t) and then it will ask for your credit card information to pay for them to remove the virus. It will also open pornographic websites on your computer screen every few minutes.

To ensure you do not automatically download the app, uncheck the following box in Safari’s preferences: Safari > Preferences > General > uncheck “Open “safe” files after downloading”.

For those infected with the MacDefender malware, follow these steps to remove the program:

1. Open Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor and quit the process called MACDefender.

2. Delete MacDefender from the Applications folder by moving it to the trash

3. To ensure you do not automatically download the app again, uncheck the following: Safari > Preferences > General > uncheck “Open “safe” files after downloading”.

If you would like to set up an appointment to have me remove MacDefender from your computer just call or email me and we can schedule a time.