Protecting Your Digital Photos and Documents

 We all have a ton of data on our devices; important documents, photos of friends and family, stuff you just don't want to lose. Anything can happen though, disaster is always lurking right around the corner. Spill your coffee on your laptop, drop your phone into the pool, your devices can even just up and stop working, and poof, everything is gone in a flash. That's why you need to back up those important files, and you need to do it now. Do not wait until it's too late.

There's lots of ways you can do it, and they're all relatively easy. You can back your files up to the cloud, you can use a backup program that will copy your files to an external hard drive and then do incremental updates to the saved data every time you make a change on your device, or you can just copy and paste the files you want to protect to an external drive. You have lots of options, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Let's review a few.

Cloud backups can be seamless and easy, but the cloud can get hacked, so I'm not a big fan. I don't want any more of my data floating around in the ether for some bad guy to poach and resell on the dark web, there's enough of it out there already. I'm always getting a notice from some institution or other saying, "We regret to inform you that all of your personal information has been compromised. Not to worry though, we've signed you up for 3 free months of Experian Credit Monitoring Services and DeathGrip ID Theft Protection coverage. Enjoy it on us! (special terms and conditions apply)."

No thanks, I'm good. The best and most reliable way to safeguard your data is to back it up to an external hard drive. I don't like to use automatic backup software to do it though. It's always running in the background, and it slows the crap out of your devices. Plus, it backs up stuff that you really don't need to back up. The file structure it creates on your external drive isn't very intuitive, either. I 'm going to show you a relatively easy way to back up your files, and I guarantee it will take a little bit of the worry out of your life.

My preferred back up method is to copy and paste my primary file folders over to an external drive and then update it on a regular basis. It's quick, easy and painless, and the file structure is simple, it's just a straight up copy of your hard drive. The folders you want to back up (or copy) on a PC are shown below. Note: If you save a lot of stuff to your desktop, you should copy that folder over as well. 

These 5 (or 6) folders hold all of your personal data, and that's all you want to be backing up and storing, cuz that's what's really important here, protecting your stuff, not Microsoft's.

For a reliable external drive, I like to use a simple USB plug and play drive like the Seagate 2TB Backup Plus Slim Hard Drive. It's small in size but big on storage, and there's no power cords to fuss with. It works off of a built in USB 3.0 cable, drawing its power from whatever device its plugged into. It comes with preloaded backup software, but I don't use it. As I mentioned earlier, backup programs always seem to be running when you don't want them to, dragging your device down. I just plug in the USB drive to my device, open it up, ignore the preloaded software and create a couple of folders.

In this example, I've created a desktop backup folder and a laptop backup folder. Inside of each of those folders I create dated sub folders, e.g. "Laptop Backup 07 01 2025". There's plenty of room on these drives to do multiple backups of each device, and you should. Next, I copy and paste my main folders from the device's hard drive to the external drive's new dated folders. Simple as that. You can copy and paste one folder at a time, or do them all at once, your choice.

Once the external hard drive starts to get full, I delete the oldest dated subfolder before I create another one, this way I always have multiple copies of all my files on the external device, and I never run out of disk space on it.

But what about the pics on my phone, you say? The best option is to sync your phone, tablets and any thumb drives or SD cards you have with your PC or Mac on a regular basis. Then when you back up your PC to your external drive you catch everything in one neat package. It's the same principle as above, you don't need any fancy software or devices, just plug your mobile device into your PC or Mac with a USB cable and copy and paste (or drag and drop) the pictures and files over to the computer. Easy peasy. Synching your mobile devices also allows you to safely remove pics and free up storage space on them, something we all need to do.

Bonus Tip: For added peace of mind, I store my external hard drives in our little grab and go SentrySafe burn box. If disaster strikes, all of our docs and pics go with us, even if our devices don't make the cut.

Bottom line, you don't have to do it my way, but you do have to do it. Choose whatever method you're most comfortable with and do it without delay. Do not be that person that calls me on a Monday night in a panic and says "Help, that new upgrade just bricked my device and now I've lost all of my family pictures." All I'm going to do is give you the number for the Geek Squad, and wish you Godspeed and good luck, because you're gonna need it, all of it. 

iOS 26 and the Disappearing Icons

 

Apple confirmed the shift in their Operating System's nomenclature at WWDC25 last week, all of their product's OS's will jump to 26, which while confusing, is understandable. It's good to have a standard that has a built-in benchmark, e.g. "Oh yeah, that change happened in 2026". It's strange that it took them 18 revisions to figure it out, but it will probably be a good thing. That may be the only good thing about iOS 26 though. Their new "Liquid Glass" design with its translucent icons and notifications is weird at best, and impossible to use at worst.

I'm not gonna lie, from what I've seen of it so far, my eyesight is definitely not up to the task. Care will need to be taken when selecting wallpaper as well, so's not to make them even harder to read. Plus, they've revamped the look of some of the app icons, which will be a learning curve unto itself.

Who thought this was a good idea? I know weed is legal now, but maybe the Apple product designers should cut back on their consumption just a little bit. I mean, have fun and all, but come up for air from time to time, it will help you stay in touch with reality. Not sure what I was expecting with iOS26, but this is not it. No sir, this is not it at all.

Hopefully we'll be able to toggle the translucent effect off. I'm also hoping that they work overtime to refine this version before releasing it. That, and that they smoke less weed. That last one is super important.

In the meantime, I'm going to make sure that automatic updates are turned off, and I'm going to keep on checking the setting, cuz those rascals are always turning things on behind my back. Cheeky monkeys.

Quick, What Comes After 18?

If you said 19, you'd be mostly right. Unless, of course, you were referring to Apple iOS, then all bets are off. Rumors abound on the interwebs that Apple is going with a new naming convention for all of their OS's, Mac, iPad, iPhone, literally everything. The scuttlebutt is that they'll all be making the leap to 26, as in 2026. Seems like they've decided to bring all of their various Operating Systems in line with a single naming convention based on the coming year.

Here's a link to a great synopsis from Macworld: Apple Is Reportedly Skipping iOS 19, they explain it much better than I can. I mean, what about the new iPhone, will that jump from 16 to 26 as well? I'm so confused. 

Anyways, we won't have long to wait, Apple's WWDC25 event is happening tomorrow at 10am PT, that's actually 1pm ET for all of us right coasters, and I'm sure they'll put all rumors to rest. Mostly.

If you're like me and you like to torture yourself by seeing brandy new shiny things that you probably can't afford, you can tune in here on their website: Apple WWDC25, or you can catch it on the Apple TV app. What other surprises will they have in store for us? Lord knows, but it should be interesting, and expensive.

 

Repurposing Old Tablets and Smart Devices

While I'm on the subject of iPods, I thought I'd share a few tips on repurposing old smart tech. I have a ton of older devices; tablets, e-readers, mobile devices, you name it, I have it, and I find they can come in handy around the house. You can trade them in when you're upgrading, but you're usually lucky to get 20 bucks for them, and if they're in reasonable shape, that's a bad deal.

 You're much better served repurposing them to play a role in your IoT (Internet of Things), or "smart house". Old iPads and tablets are a great addition to your kitchen or family room and can serve as calendars, notepads, cookbooks, security camera monitors, music players, or all of the above. My old iPad Air is still in great condition and is an invaluable addition to our kitchen counter. Look up a recipe, quickly respond to a text, check your calendar while you're on the phone and add or update an appointment, you can even see who's creepin' 'round your back door. So many uses. You can mount them on a wall, or just use them in a free-standing cradle, there are a plethora of tablet mounts and cradles on the market, something for every situation.

Same with old mobile phones or iPod Touch devices, they make fantastic smart remotes for your TV's and entertainment centers. My iPod Touch is the primary controller for my Man Town A/V setup. It has my provider's app on it which has a Cable TV remote function, interactive program guide and access to my DVR library. It also has an Apple TV remote app, my iTunes library, and it connects to my A/V receiver via Bluetooth, so my complete music library is always available through my big boy stereo. Plus, it's got a keypad and Siri, which makes searching the guide grids a piece of cake. It also has internet access via Wi-Fi so I can keep track of news and scores. Forget those pricey universal remotes, this puppy does it all. Pro tip: you can also use old mobile phones for the same purpose as long as they have Wi-Fi. Just cuz they no longer have dial tone does not make them useless; they'll still upgrade and be capable of downloading apps via Wi-Fi.

Old iPods or MP3 players can be useful as well, paired with non-smart music systems. I have a Sony HD table radio and a Bose Wave that are both still excellent sounding devices, but both lack any smart features. Rather than upgrade them and trash a perfectly good music system, I use my old 3rd gen nano with them. From an aesthetic and haptic point of view, the 3rd gen Nano, or iPod fatty, as I call it, is my favorite iPod; what it lacks in functionality it more than makes up for in rizz. It's got that old school click wheel and iconic early iPod chrome backplate, it's a sexy little beast. Unfortunately, it no longer holds a charge for sh!t, but it works just fine nestled in a 30-pin dock, which both radios have. It expands the radios functionality, and it's a design statement; it says, "Music lives here". It also says, "We're old", but meh, I could care less. I wear that like a badge of honor.

Anyways, the possibilities are endless, you're limited only by your imagination. Plus, you're keeping it green by keeping things out of our ever-growing electronic waste piles, or the land fill. Double bonus.

So, repurpose those old devices when you can, old tech needs love too.

Apple iOS/iPadOS 18.3 update - Security, Performance and Email Issues

 The iOS 18.3 update was chock full of surprises, not all good, and from the chatter I'm seeing online, I'm not alone in that opinion. It was a frustrating experience to say the least. Most notably for many, the mail changes were the worst part of it. Mail in iOS 18.3 now automatically categorizes your inbox for you and only shows you what Apple has deemed important in your inbox by default. You can change it back, kinda sorta, but life is hard enough without Apple making half of your inbox appear to disappear overnight. A change like this needs to be optional, not automatic, but it wasn't, so here's a brief summation of the changes you'll see, and some suggestions to regain order.

First things first though, a new update for iOS and iPadOS, 18.3.1, is already out, and you should install it immediately. It addresses both performance and security issues introduced by 18.3. According to Forbes, it's an emergency patch that fixes a security issue that’s already being exploited, and “an Apple Intelligence bug that may have been introduced.” the iOS 18.3.1 update fixes a flaw in Accessibility where a physical attack can disable USB Restricted Mode on a locked device. “Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals.” What this means in a nutshell from a security standpoint is that anyone could plug a device or cable into your USB or Lightning port and copy your data, even if your iPhone or iPad is locked. Yikes, this needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.

The 18.3.1 update also fixes recent performance issues introduced with 18.3. So far it seems quick and stable, but the jury's still out. Fingers crossed.

Okay, now let's get to the email "enhancements" that they've introduced. It reminds me of their threads change, Apple seems bound and determined to reimagine email, not sure why, but they are. I’m a straight up chronological inbox guy, anything else tips over my brain. If you're the same, here's what to do.

In the top right corner of your inbox(es), you should see an ellipsis (...), tap on that and change the setting to List View from Category View. This will repopulate your inbox(es) with all of your email messages. If you have more than one email account, you'll need to do this for all of your inboxes.

You can also get rid of those inbox category icons as well by turning off contact photos in Settings/Apps/Mail. They still show up in the emails themselves, but this gets rid of them in the list view. I don't need or want to see stars, moons and clovers anywhere other than in my bowl of Lucky Charms. Note, actual contact photos will still show up in your emails, as do their little category icons, this fix just removes them from your inbox for a cleaner view.

Next, emails that Apple deems "needs responding too" appear at the top of your inbox now. This is a similar fix to getting rid of the contact icons, go to Settings/Apps/Mail, then turn off “follow up suggestions” and they'll go away. Basically, turn everything on that page off except "notify before delete", unless you like living dangerously lol.

There's also a new feature, or bug, in Calendar. After entering a new event, Apple Intelligence picks up on any text messaging or email regarding the event and prompts you with calendar inbox messages. Ideally this is a good thing, but when I enter an event like "Lunch at 12:30 with John Doe", I don't need a message that says "Text from John Doe says lunch at 12:30" in my calendar inbox after I've created the event. It used to prompt me with the text details while I was creating the event, telling me after the fact is just superfluous and annoying. Perhaps the next update will return this feature's usefulness, we'll see.

Lastly, these updates will toggle on Apple Intelligence by default, even if you previously had it switched off. If you'd like to keep it off, go to Settings/Apple Intelligence and Siri, and toggle it off. It's still in beta, so I keep it off. I did turn it on briefly when I test drove one of the new intelligent features, Image Playground. Kinda cool, it generated a pretty funny profile sketch for me that's mostly right. Mostly. Lord knows how intelligent it actually is, and what info it reports out (see bug notice above), so I turned it back off. I'll be sticking with my own lack of intelligence for now.

It shouldn't be this hard, Apple. Offer me things, don't force me to recover from them.

That is all.

The Ultimate App for Pats Fans

Whether you’re on the move, camped out in the man cave, or at the game, you need the Patriot’s smartphone app to stay in the know.

The smartphone app runs on both the iOS and Android platforms and provides you with a wealth of information. Pats news and videos, team and league stats and scores, photos, blogs, schedules, you name it, they’ve got it. My favorite feature though, is the Gameday section.

Gameday has a tab for up to the minute Play By Play action, another for a Live Blog with PFW Editor-in-Chief Fred Kirsch, so you can kibitz during the game, a Game Stats tab that breaks it all down by team, player and drive, and a Scores Tab that keeps you up to date on all of the games that week.

Not only is this app a must have if you’re away from both TV and radio on game day, it’s also indispensible when you’re actually watching the game. Let’s face it, we all need the occasional bio break or snack run, and you inevitably return to your seat saying “WTF just happened? How did they end up with the ball, and how did they score so quickly?”

I keep the app open to the play by play tab on my Touch when I’m home, or on my phone when I’m out, and if I miss anything, there’s a detailed play by play description of the action constantly updating on my device. “Ah, Big Vince with the fumble recovery, now it makes sense…”

Nice.

You can get the app at both the iTunes store and Google Play, or you can just go here, to the Patriots Media Center, where there’s a link to both. There’s also a Patriots Football Weekly app available for the iPad, and a link to the Patriots Mobile Site so you can browse a mobile version of the Official New England Patriots site on your portable devices.

The Pat’s have done a fantastic job on both the apps and their websites, but I'd expect no less from the franchise that's been at the forefront of the NFL’s foray into cyberspace since day one. You’ve gotta love the Kraft family, always on the cutting edge.

That is all.

Apple TV

I think Santa reads my blog. Last week I mentioned that both the Roku and Apple TV boxes were great tech gifts for under $100, and sure enough, there was an Apple TV under the tree on Christmas morning. Thanks Santa!

I’ve had a week to play with it now, and it’s a great little device. It’s small and sleek, not much bigger than an iPod dock, and it has both Wi-Fi and a wired Ethernet port for network connectivity. For outputs, it has an HDMI and an Optical Audio port, which is key if you plan on sending the audio signal to a separate sound system.

Apple TV delivers up to a 720p video signal and Dolby 7.1 surround to your devices, and it automatically seeks out any iTunes libraries on your network that have home sharing enabled. This allows you to use iTunes through your TV and home theater audio system, as well as to see the contents of your My Pictures folder (note; you need to be running iTunes 10 and have configured the picture sharing tab to use this feature). I’ve set my pictures to be the Apple TV default screen saver, so while I’m listening to music they appear as a slide show on the TV screen.

Performance is great. I have full functionality in iTunes; playlists, shuffle, cover flow, and the quality of both my pictures and the video is stunning, even running wirelessly. No hesitation or jerkiness, just smooth high quality video, and as well as having access to all your own media, and everything the iTunes store offers, you can also connect to Netflix or YouTube. An added bonus is using the iTunes internet radio feature through the stereo. Crystal clear reception from any station in the world! And if that's not enough to sell you, there's also an app available for your touch, iPhone or iPad that turns it into a remote!

Looks like old Santa knew what (s)he was doing. Although the Roku can deliver a 1080p video signal and 7.1 surround, the ability to integrate your iTunes libraries with Apple TV makes it hard to beat, especially if you’re already firmly entrenched in the iTunes camp.

Not Such Deep Thoughts, Part IX

You know the drill by now; every time my head gets filled to overflowing with random thoughts, you get one of these, so let’s get right to it:

Speaking of drills, how about this mess in the Gulf? It turns my stomach to think of the devastation that’s in store. Now, I’m a realist, and I know that we can’t get along without oil, and that you can’t get oil without drilling, but we need to do it correctly despite the cost. There should have been an acoustic switch installed as a fail safe on the Deepwater Horizon, and the fact that the US doesn’t require them on all offshore rigs is ridiculous. We need to get regulations in place right now. We also need to start supplementing our oil usage with alternative energy sources yesterday. I don’t want to hear the argument that projects like Cape Wind will spoil the views in Nantucket Sound; this spill isn’t doing too much for Gulf property values, now is it? Or, that it won’t make a dent in our energy needs. Hey, it won’t power the entire state, but powering ¾ of the Cape is nothing to sneeze at. Just think, every barrel saved is another barrel for your SUV. It’s all about conserving our resources any way we can now, while we work at developing real alternatives.

The Red Sox really, really, suck this year. They looked great on paper coming into the season, and their come from behind win against the Yankees in the home opener had me all jeeped up, but they’ve been on a downhill slide ever since. On the bright side, they’re pounding the Angels this week, so maybe they’re waking up, and last year I thought the Yankees were toast when they were battling with similar suckage, but look how that turned out. Hey, ya gotta have hope…

The Celts and the B’s, on the other hand, are both doing very well. Both have made it to the second round, and the games have been hard fought and exciting (Tuuuu-kka!). Who would have guessed? We’re really pretty lucky to have such a wealth of pro sports around here, and who knows, maybe by the time these guys finally wind down their respective seasons, the Sox will have gotten back in the groove. Maybe.

I finally got to play with the iPad the other day, and while it’s definitely slicker than snot on a doorknob, its just not the right device for me. I’ve already got a Touch and a laptop, what the heck am I gonna do with an iPad? The way it’s tricked out right now, its only purpose is as a cool but expensive coffee table gadget.

I’m still working on my Peeps stash, and the ones that are left are aged to perfection.

My buddy Steve sent me a picture from his phone the other day of an album he was buying (see above). It was a vinyl copy of the 1968 Muddy Waters album “Electric Mud”, and it got me to thinking. Although I love the instant gratification that is iTunes, I really miss browsing through all the albums and CD’s in a real brick and mortar record store. The little thrill you get when you find a gem like Electric Mud amidst all the clutter, the heft of the album in your hands as you turn it over to check out the play list on the back, you actually felt like you were buying something substantial. I couldn’t wait to get home and unwrap it, pop it on the turntable, and then sit back and read the liner notes as my 301’s engulfed me in audio bliss. With iTunes, I usually end up having my first listen on my computer, which is a less than satisfying experience. April 17th was National Record Store Day, and there were a lot of vinyl releases to coincide. Matter of fact, there’s a 7” Beatles remastered vinyl coming out on May 18th , featuring Paperback Writer and Rain. Check out this website for more info on vinyl releases and to find a record store near you. My personal favorite is Aboveground Records in Edgartown, I could (and have) spend hours in there.

I was totally impressed by the speed, skill and determination of the MWRA workers that fixed the Aqueduct failure this week, and by the way the whole thing was handled in general. Good job people!

I really like the way the Patriots drafted this year; big and beefy. Last season when it came down to physicality they were getting their butts handed to them, and that just won’t cut it in the hard fought AFC East. I think the big tight end Gronkowski is going to make an instant impact. I can see him becoming a short yardage binky for Brady. If Welker comes back and Hernandez works out, that would give them a lot of options. My only regret is that they didn’t pick up a running back. Hopefully they’ll bring in a veteran or two before camp. LaDainian would have been interesting, but that boat’s already sailed. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

One last thought before I go and I think I’ll have cleared out enough free space for now;

I love getting out in the yard in the spring. Raking, planting, fertilizing, planning my little projects for the season, improves my disposition. I tend to get a little grumpy and cranky towards the end of the winter and spring yard work helps pull me out of my funk. Looking out over the yard at the end of a hard day’s labor, thinking about those long, lazy summer days that are coming; priceless.

That is all.

iPad 2.0?

As I mentioned in a post last week, the new Apple iPad is a thing of beauty, with a boatload of potential, but it falls a little short in the value and function department, and it’s recent unveiling was met with a plethora of lukewarm, “If Only”, reviews.

Fear not, fellow geeksters, the tech world is already abuzz with rumors of an iPad 2.0 being in development, and possibly being released as soon as this coming June.

An authorized Apple repair shop, Mission Repair, has documented pictures of an iPad replacement frame that contains a berth that the webcam from a MacBook fits into perfectly, and TechCrunch is reporting that not only will the 2.0 sport a camera; it will also be slightly larger and will be running a version of OS X. Holy multitasking Batman, this could be the perfect tool!

We’ll see. At worst, this is just another good reason to look forward to spring.

The iPad: A Thing Of Beauty, But…

The new Apple iPad is a very slick device and it has the potential to be a real game changer. I say potential, because this version doesn’t have what it needs to appeal to the masses. I’m sure sales will be respectable, but it won’t be until the 2nd or 3rd gen of this device that we see it come into its own.

Basically it’s a Touch on steroids. I love my Touch, around the house it’s a fast and easy way for me to check my personal mail or look something up quickly on the web. Press the on switch and 20 seconds later you’re at the desktop and it’s downloading your mail. When I’m on the road, its all things for me; music, video and game player, repository of calendars and addresses, photo viewer, web browser and mail station. All that, and it fits in my pocket to boot.

Although I’ve often wished for a bigger screen, I really can’t see myself carting around a device the size of the iPad. I’ve already got my laptop that I have to lug around, and the iPad can’t replace that from a business standpoint, plus I’d never pay for a 3G plan for something like this. I don’t for my laptop, if I’m out of WiFi range, I just use my Blackberry. And speaking of Blackberries, could you see trying to use the iPad for a phone? Please…

I just don’t see it as a useful mobile device for me.

What I do see it as is the perfect coffee table companion. The ease of popping it on to show someone your photos, read the paper, check your calendar or just look something up on the web makes it a solid around the house network appliance. It puts the current offerings like Chumby to shame already, flesh this baby out a little with that function in mind, and I can see it becoming as ubiquitous in our lives as the iPod. Here’s what I think it needs to reach that status:

First and foremost, it needs a webcam. Picture this, you’re home watching the big game, and instead of twittering or texting your buds on your phone, you pick this bad baby up and have a face to face with them via Skype, all while remaining planted on the couch watching the game. Now we’re talking.

A built in memory card slot. If you want it to be a picture viewing device, it has to have a built in slot. I can’t see having to dock it to use the photo kit add on when somebody shows up with some fresh pics on a card, it defeats the whole purpose of it. If you’re gonna do that, you might as well just load them on your PC.

It also needs an IR port. Bluetooth is great, but can you imagine if it had an IR port and an app that would let you download the latest codes for your TV, cable box, DVD player and stereo components via WiFi? It's already capable of downloading the current TV listings. No more multiple remotes, no more ruining everyone else’s viewing experience by popping the onscreen guide. Bye-bye Harmony, you were good to me, but you’ll always be a one trick pony.

More onboard memory and better price points. It won’t be long for these two, remember the iPhone?

A lot of this stuff may already be in the works. Their first version of everything they make is always stripped down, probably so they won’t waste their time and money on features that no one wants. They listen to the buzz on release, and then add things that fit. Apple also has a penchant for putting the guts for new features in place ahead of time, so that they’re able to roll things out with just a firmware upgrade. Someone will be taking one apart as soon as they hit the stores, so we’ll know soon enough where their heading with this one.

I’m not ready to buy one just yet, but as I said earlier, this baby has serious potential. With a few tweaks and a price drop or two though, I'll be on board.

That is all.