Apple Store's Customer Service A-Okay

Although I occasionally rant on here about some of Apple's inexplicable actions, you can see that I don't give up on Apple or their products. Quite frankly, they're second to none, even with the occasional tendency of Apple to avoid admitting fault at all costs. Well, I'm going to sing their praises right now.

My shiny, new iPhone 4S developed a short or glitch in the audio output of the Dock Connector. Everything else would work--charging, data. Just garbled or mono audio. So I made an appointment at the MacArthur Center Apple Store in Norfolk, VA. They were prompt, helpful, and friendly. Above all, they immediately REPLACED my iPhone with a brand new one at zero cost. Problem solved. So, in some respects, their customer service is second to none, especially at the local level. Way to go Apple. Thanks for taking care of me!

iPhoto No Longer Recognizing iPhone?

If you moved to iOS 5 on your iPhone and downloaded the latest version of iPhoto (that allows for Photo Stream using iCloud), you may have noticed that your iPhone is no longer recognized by iPhoto when you physically plug it into a Mac running Lion. iOS 5 brought all sorts of new features, including WiFi sync and automatic download of your phone's new photos over the last 30 days using Photo Stream (part of iCloud). But with that power comes the inevitable hiccups.

These new features and conveniences can create a problem if you had old photos hanging around on your iPhone that hadn't been transferred to iPhoto.

You might think, "Big deal, I'll just use the wang-bang new iCloud to transfer my old photos." Nope. Only new ones. What I did to fix this was to follow some of the information in the troubleshooting link below. The primary fix for me was unplugging and replugging the docking station from my Mac Pro. That seemed to fix it and now my iPhone is recognized by iPhoto, even with Photo Stream and WiFi syncing enabled. Time will tell, but always open up Image Capture to see if your computer is recognizing your iPhone's physical connection (via USB).

Try using the photo-management software built in to your computer's operating system:

Mac OS X: Open Image Capture (located in the Applications folder).

[From iOS: Unable to import photos or device not recognized as a camera]

OS X Lion: Syncing Contacts with iPhone

I guess you're thinking that this will be another commentary on OS X Lion's really ugly, new Address Book interface (along the lines of Lion's equally ugly, new iCal interface). No, it won't be that, although I am among those who don't like the change to the faux leather look (a GUI design idea that went stale about 10 years ago).

I'm talking about the Address Book's internal changes that costed me HOURS of work to get things functioning normally again…specifically, syncing information to my iPhone.

Here's the story: I thought I would be smart about my Lion upgrade. First, I waited until version 10.7.1 to go for it. Then, I ordered a brand new 1TB hard drive to install in my Mac Pro. I used Onyx to really clean up my Snow Leopard install, and then I proceeded to use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone my SL drive to the new 1 TB drive. Now I was ready to upgrade that new drive to Lion, keeping my original SL drive as a backup. Smart, huh? But Apple would get the last laugh.

I upgraded as described and everything seemed great! I love Lion's new zippiness and several of the features (though Launchpad is fairly useless for me). Then, I plugged my iPhone 3GS into the dock and synced normally with iTunes. A first glance and everything seemed fine. Wrong! I received a text message from my wife and noticed that it had her number listed instead of her name. What was this? I looked through my Contacts on the iPhone and noticed that NO CONTACTS HAD PHONE NUMBERS!!! All the other information was there: addresses, emails, notes. Just not the most important bit needed in a phone--the damn phone numbers!!!! A glance through the Address Book on the Mac showed that all the phone numbers were still there. They just wouldn't sync.

I tried all the usual troubleshooting stuff, to no avail. Realizing that my issue had something to do with syncing, I followed Apple's own guidance for advanced syncing issues. All of these steps did not help, initially, because they failed to take into account the iPhone itself. I also tried iTunes and replacing all the contacts on the iPhone, which also did not fix the issue…still no numbers. I even posted on Apple's community web site for help and got no takers. So, I went back to Apple's advanced syncing troubleshooting article and went about it from a different angle. As I touched on earlier, they never really brought the phone into the discussion much, other than saying sync normally after the troubleshooting steps.

Thinking I had an epiphany, I toyed with Address Book preferences--specifically the phone number format (which is a bit buggy at the moment); that was also ineffective. So, I decided to backup my Address Book into an archive, copy a vCard for all my contacts and groups, and then delete everything to do with Address Book from my Mac except the application--just as the article describes (remove caches, Application Support folder, and preferences). The difference is that--after doing all those steps--I also synced the phone and made sure that all my contacts were deleted from the Contacts app. I now had a virgin Address Book and a virgin Contacts app on the iPhone. From here, I reimported my contacts using the vCard into Address Book. Apple's instructions for recreating groups did NOT work; maybe it worked before Lion, but not now (this was really frustrating…trying to easily recreate groups as they described resulted in a huge amount of wasted effort, with groups that appeared reconstituted but with contacts that disappeared after restarting Address Book). So, I had to manually recreate my groups, which took HOURS (as I said). I used Quick Look to help me do this; highlighting a vCard in the Finder and pressing spacebar gives you a look at all the contacts inside each group. Then it's just a matter of searching for them in Address Book and then adding them to the recreated group. A huge waste of time!

I also need to add that I used my Address Book with Dropbox, but moving my Application Support folder back to the Library did not fix the issue either. Dropbox was not the culprit.

I imagine it's related to the coming iCloud and the changes required for syncing to that medium, but who knows. Ironic that the most important bit of information on a phone--the numbers--were omitted from the syncing process, leaving me with an essentially useless phone.

Orwellian Apple Censorship

Here's my comment on the story about Apple censoring its Discussion Boards over Consumer Reports refusal to recommend the new iPhone 4 based on reception issues. Part of the reason for this blog is document my own troubleshooting efforts and problems I've had with Apple hardware and software.

Apple discussion boards have done this for years. They have devoted stormtroopers on there who will edit or delete your posts in a flat second, if they deem the posts unflattering to their products.

What’s unfortunate is that I’ve had several negative things to write in those forums, usually about hardware. My Powerbook’s lower memory slot went out and I never got it fixed because mine wasn’t in the “range of serials” that Apple deemed to be the problem; no one told my Powerbook that. My current Airport Extreme has to be reset usually once each day…again, Apple’s response to me is to make an appointment and bring it in to the Genius Bar (not sure how they are going to replicate my issue there, since it’s random). If you Google it, however, you’ll see that it’s a common problem, and people get inconsistent help (some get products replaced straightaway while others don’t).

Same sort of censoring happened when Apple decided to remove pdf manuals and hardcopy manuals from Logic Studio and replace them with the cumbersome Apple Help system. Apple finally relented and quietly brought back the pdf files after all the complaints. But they never acknowledged the complaints.

I think Apple would do well to have a revamped hardware testing division: A group of folks to test a product for six months thoroughly, before Apple releases it. They’ve always relied on users and developers to QC their software just before and right after release, but it’s a mistake to use that model on hardware. There are certain things in hardware that simply can’t be fixed after the genie is out of the bottle. I’m afraid what happens is that users end up being guinea pigs for the hardware a lot of the time; Apple simply (quietly) fixes the issues discovered in the next iteration, but the original buyers are left out in the cold.

[From Apple Censoring Discussion Forums Ref. Consumer Reports | Cult of Mac]

Great iPhone Power Management Tips

Running out of juice too early? Here are some great ways to manage your battery between charges. I do all of these, but my greatest advice is to TURN OFF features you're not using--like Bluetooth, WiFi, Notifications (like Push notifications), auto mail fetching (do it manually), Location Services, and 3G. Unfortunately, some of these are spread out and need a little tapping to turn them all off. If you just need it to be a phone and iPod, turning off the previously mentioned services will greatly expand your battery mileage.

If you only need the features of an iPod or PDA, Apple makes it easy: Just flip the Airplane Mode switch under Settings.

Every iPhone user knows that the battery life isn't fantastic. Well, us heavy users anyways. If all you do is type out 10-15 texts a day or maybe make a phone call the iPhone will last easily. For those of us using WiFi, and browsing the web, and constantly reading our feeds, checking emails, testing out applications, and who knows what all day, the battery life can be a little bit on the lacking end. Here are a few of my personal tips to help you get a little bit extra out of your battery.

[From iPhone Battery, How To Help Make It Last | iGadget Junkie | iPhone App Reviews & Giveaways ]

Why MobileMe ISN'T Worth It

Once upon a time, MobileMe was called ".Mac" (pronounced dot-mac). I bought this service for one year, and though it was cool having an exclusive email address like shane@mac.com, there wasn't much else that justified the $100 I paid. For one (then and now), the storage space was too minimal (you can get free space using DropBox that's the equivalent of MobileMe's paid space). For the same $100 a year, I have a business-level web hosting account with ixweb.

The real deal-breaker for me with MobileMe was the syncing between computers, which NEVER WORKED. My understanding is that it still doesn't work right. The iPhone now makes that irrelevant for me. If you don't have an iPhone then a normal cellular phone or Google probably makes that irrelevant for you too.

It's true that the Find My iPhone feature is tempting, but if Apple was smart about this, they'd recognize that most features they're selling with MobileMe are available free online. They should sell just the Find My iPhone and Back to My Mac features for a cheaper cost; they'd make more money. I'd subscribe for those features, if the price was right.

“Is a MobileMe subscription worth the money?”

Umm… It’s complicated.

[From Why MobileMe is really worth it | Web Services | MacUser | Macworld]

Slow iPhone YouTube Over WiFi Workaround

I discovered this problem on my iPhone too and it's annoying. Fix it Apple! Changing my Airport Express settings each time isn't an option.

Currently, the wireless network is set to G-Only since this was the best setup for our office. It was only when I switched the Wireless Network Mode to B-Only that YouTube videos began watchable again. None of the other settings had any effect.

[From YouTube Slow on iPhone through Wi-Fi - RESOLVED » Media and Internet Marketing Blog]

HandBrake + VLC = Movies on iPhone

Chris Breen gives some great advice for users wanting to move some of their DVD movies over to, say, an iPhone or iPod. Free software makes it easy.

If you’re a Mac user interested in ripping your commercial DVDs to a format playable on an Apple TV, iPod, or iPhone, the free video transcoder, HandBrake 0.9.3, is one of the easiest ways to go about it. With a copy of the free VLC installed on your Mac, HandBrake can rip most DVDs made today, and the results it produces are quite watchable.

[From Beyond HandBrake's defaults | Entertainment & HDTV | Playlist | Macworld]

iPhone Updating Same Songs Fix - UPDATED

The bottom contains the original post that I THOUGHT had fixed the problem; turns out that it didn't fix a thing. However, my frustration was apparently the frustration of many others, and the solution was forthcoming.

It turns out the culprit is jacked up ID3 tags. The solution is right in iTunes. Right-click on the offending files and select "Convert ID3 tags..." In the dialog, select the latest version of tags and then resync. Problem solved!

I updated the ID3 tags of my continuously re-synced 24 songs to the latest version 2.4 (you can do this in iTunes by right-clicking on the songs). It worked in 23 cases (1 song could not be updated as it is in .aac format because I had bought it in iTunes).

I must admit I didn't figure this out myself, this guy actually did it: http://www.kgarner.com/blog/archives/2009/07/15/itunes-keeps-syncing-the-same-44-songs-over-and-over-solved/

[From Apple - Support - Discussions - iTunes keeps syncing the same 4 songs ...]

::ORIGNAL POST:: (ignore this...it doesn't work)

This hasn't worked for everyone with this problem, but it did the trick for me. Once I reset Sync History, I stopped updating the same 20 songs from iTunes with each sync, which had been adding to the sync time and had ticked me off. All better now!

Thanks to Lynn at Apple Support

Basicall I had to reset the sync history. To do this:

Open iSync in applications
Menu item iSync / Preferences
Select Reset Sync History

The next time I sync'd my iphone it worked flawlessly (and didn't reload all my content, which I thought it might do).

[From why is my iphone "updating files"? - Mac Forums]

iPhone/Wii Video Streaming from Netflix

Coming to an iPhone, iPod Touch, or Wii near you!!! This is great news for my family. Will likely only be WiFi, however.

A new player is about to enter the arena: Netflix itself, who intends to bring "Watch Instantly" video streaming to the iPhone/iPod touch and the Nintendo Wii. At present Netflix streams over 12,000 movies and TV shows over a large variety of devices including Intel-based Macs.

Todd Spangler of Mutichannel.com speculates, and I agree with him totally, that when released, streaming will be limited to Wi-Fi only.

[From Netflix expected to release a Watch Instantly video streaming app]

MS to Copy Apple's Genius Bar With "Guru Bar"

What a shocker. First, Windows...then ultimately Vista, a poor OS X knockoff. Then the Zune, a hideous iPod copy. Then the decision to make a Microsoft store to copy the successful Apple Stores. Now, Microshaft plans to copy yet another Apple innovation. They're hapless and devoid of ANY original thinking. I'm waiting for the ZunePhone or something.

A leaked presentation has exposed Microsoft's tentative plans for its retail stores -- and the high degree to which they'll imitate Apple stores, down to their layouts and even the presence of a dedicated "Guru Bar" for help.

A leaked proposal for Microsoft from design consulting firm Lippicott immediately provides hints of an Apple connection with a bright, open layout where the center and edges of the store are dominated by computers showing the "seamless" link between Windows PCs and peripherals. Themed areas would push specific products, such as home theater PCs, netbooks or Windows Mobile and Zune devices.

[From AppleInsider | Microsoft stores to mimic Apple's with "Guru Bars"]

Ballmer: Macs are a $500 Logo?

This moron just won't get it, will he? Being notoriously WRONG about Apple (especially his blundering iPhone prediction), Ballmer continues failing to understand the nature of true innovation that his company must alway plagiarize and pass off as their own. There's a lot more under the hood with the Mac OS--far more than Windows has, including that latest OS X copy called Vista. The hardware is irrelevant; the little bitten apple logo is irrelevant, though admittedly stylish.

America is a consumer culture that buys a logo; Americans will also pay more if they GET MORE, dumb ass.

Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction," Ballmer said, via webcast. "The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be."

[From Ballmer: 'Tide has really turned' against Apple in computer market - TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News Source]

Ballmer to Apple: Don't Act Like Microsoft!

Yes, this is dripping with irony. Ballmer is actually asking Apple to delink it's software from hardware. I guess when a company is successful and you have no answer for their innovations, you should just accuse them of wrongdoing while ignoring your own transgressions.

Ballmer Pleads For Openness To Compete With Apple

"At the Mobile World Congress, Steve Ballmer took aim at Apple's closed iPhone ecosystem with an ironic plea for openness: 'Openness is central because it's the foundation of choice.' Ballmer has apparently forgotten his company's own efforts to vertically integrate hardware and software (Zune, XBox), its history of vertically integrating software (tying SharePoint into Office, IE, SQL Server, Active Directory, etc.), as well as years of illegally tying Windows to Internet Explorer that only the US Justice Department could undo.

Here's Ballmer's Sign

Here you go! I pointed out this stupid bumble months ago. Why not go ahead and admit this for OS X and the Mac. Here's your sign, Steve: "I'm stupid."

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, who once laughed off the iPhone, has now conceded to Apple's edge in the market while hinting at a very different future for his company's Zune players.

Ballmer told the Financial Times (registration required) that the iPhone and BlackBerry have "clear market momentum" in the smartphone business.

Shortly after the iPhone was announced at Macworld 2007, Ballmer lambasted the Apple handset as the "most expensive phone in the world" while noting that Microsoft sells "millions and millions and millions of phones a year" while "Apple sells zero."

[From AppleInsider | Ballmer changes tune on iPhone, says no Zune phone]

Ballmer: Google Android no competition

We all know that Steve Ballmer emanates endless assertions of accuracy, such as when he said here that the iPhone was-a nuthin'. And we can also see how M$ failed to recognize Google as a threat in other ways, such as searching.

Let's hope Ballmer continues as CEO of M$, so that he continues screwing up...like he did with Vista.

Ballmer doesn’t see Google Android as competitor yet | Macworld:

Google’s Android mobile platform doesn’t “bubble up to the top” of Microsoft’s list of toughest competitors to Windows Mobile in the market for smartphone OSes, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said this week.

Speaking at an investor day hosted by Australian telecommunications carrier Telstra on Thursday, Ballmer said that it’s too early to tell if Android will ever be a serious competitor in the mobile market, where others have already marked considerable territory.

Ballmer, MS, and their cronies at their stupidity again

I really need to write about something else. This blog is turning into a "I hate Microsoft" column. But they're just so hateable.

The iPhone whining from Microsoft is apparently ceaseless. Too bad the iPhone WAS A SUCCESS, eh Ballmer and Allard?

MacNN | MS Zune chief: iPhone is a "lousy" iPod:

"It’s a lousy iPod," Allard explains. "You can’t skip a track without looking at it. You can’t go running with the thing."

Ballmer bawls out Apple iPhone as 'no hoper':

Microsoft's boss Steve Ballmer slammed the iPhone last week, saying it has "no hope" of gaining a foothold in the mobile phone market.

Ballmer clearly hasn't heard much about the one million AT&T customers in the US already signed-up for information on the new product when it ships.

On the security-and-utter-bull-crap front, Computerworld magazine published this gem from a hacking contest winner. Obviously, MS is trying their damnedest to reverse the PR image that their pathetic OSX-wannabe is not the malware slut it once was:

Vista more secure than Mac OS:

I have found the code quality, at least in terms of security, to be much better overall in Vista than Mac OS X 10.4. It is obvious from observing affected components in security patches that Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) has resulted in fewer vulnerabilities in newly-written code. I hope that more software vendors follow their lead in developing proactive software security development methodologies.

It wasn't all bad, though, in that he actually had some good security advice for Macites:

I recommend that Mac users make their primary user a non-admin account, use a separate keychain for important passwords, and store sensitive documents in a separate encrypted disk image. I think these are fairly straightforward steps that many users can take to better protect their sensitive information on their computer.

Mmm hmm...oh yeah, it's real secure (and energy-friendly). Later we read:

Vista Battery Problems and Microsoft Security Update:

A Domain Name System (DNS) zero-day bug had been found that could expose vulnerabilities throughout Microsoft's entire server line. There are indications that Microsoft will also include a DNS patch in the Tuesday round.

Yep, it's just plain more secure than OS X. We then read this:

How Internet Criminals Will Evade Vista's Safeguards:

Think malware will fade away with Vista? Sorry. There's about as much chance of the thriving throngs of online criminals packing up shop as there is of Microsoft doing the same.

And MS's gobble-everything-up mentality hasn't gone away, seeing that they are unable to muster any innovations of their own accord; when someone is actually competing with them, they'll just work at acquiring a service or product that they just can't seem to deliver well on their own:

Reports: Microsoft pursuing Yahoo:

Microsoft is feeling increasing pressure to compete with Google, which plans to beef up its portfolio with a $3.1 billion purchase of online advertising company DoubleClick Inc. Microsoft currently trails both Yahoo and Google in the lucrative and growing business of Web search, even as Google increases its development of Web-based software that directly competes with Microsoft's lucrative Office suite.

Technorati Tags: vista, news, opinion, osx, apple, macintosh, tip, gmail, microsoft, security, google

Microsoft bullcrap of the month

Microsoft Excel fails math test - Yahoo! News:

In a blog pst, Microsoft employee David Gainer said that when computer users tried to get Excel 2007 to multiply some pairs of numbers and the result was 65,535, Excel would incorrectly display 100,000 as the answer.

Gainer said Excel makes mistakes multiplying 77.1 by 850, 10.2 by 6,425 and 20.4 by 3,212.5, but the program appears to be able to handle 16,383.75 times 4.

“Further testing showed a similar phenomenon with 65,536 as well,” Gainer wrote Tuesday.

He said Excel was actually performing the calculations correctly, but when it comes time to show the answer on the screen, it messes up.

Remember this? Steve Ballmer said the iPhone would be a failure. Obviously, he's a genius...because it sure has been a big failure, LOL! Now, we can see the Zune looking more and more like the iPod:

Microsoft is upgrading its Zune line and testing a website where owners of the MP3 players can socialize as the technology giant strives to wrest market share from Apple's beloved iPods.

Ringtones in iTunes--no longer free?

So, it looks like a new cat-and-mouse game has erupted between Apple (trying to gouge folks for another dollar) and savvy users who want to load their iPhone with ringtone music they already own. This is quite similar to the DRM wars, where users have continued trying to remove the protections from AAC files they have purchased from iTunes.

How to sync ringtones for free under iTunes 7.4.1 – iPhone Atlas:

Apple’s release of iTunes 7.4.1 put an end to the free transfer of current AAC tracks as ringtones to the iPhone — for a day or so at least.

Of course, other tricks continue to work for adding ringtones to cellphones using Bluetooth, like the Motorola RAZR v3, especially using music from your CD collection or other mp3s.

MS always just responding to Apple

MacNN | MS aims at iPhone-like browsing:

Microsoft today issued a response to the iPhone's mobile version of Safari with Deepfish, the codename for a new technology designed for Windows Mobile 5 or 6 smartphones to provide a more desktop-like web browser experience.

Here we go again. MS thinks Apple's iPhone is a mistake, but yet we see this move???

And just the other day, MS was bragging about how much safer Vista is than OS X and other UNIX-flavored OSes. Now, we see this:

Microsoft Investigating Windows Zero-Day Bug - Yahoo! News:

Microsoft Corp. has confirmed a new Windows zero-day bug that is already being targeted by attackers.

And this:

Microsoft: Attacks on Windows flaw rise - Yahoo! News:

SEATTLE - Hackers stepped up attacks Friday on computers running some versions of Windows, a day after Microsoft disclosed a hole related to the mouse cursor. Microsoft Corp. sent out a security advisory Thursday warning customers that a vulnerability in ".ani" files — used to change the cursor into an hourglass while a program works, or into a dancing animal or other animation on specially designed Web sites — was allowing hackers to break into computers and install malicious software.

The folks at MS are either really stupid or really bad liars. Or both...

Microshaft = Xerxes (The REAL battle of 300!)

The rantings of Clinton Forbes:

Today a former Microsoft employee, a very disgruntled former employee, revealed to Wired Magazine why the company encountered such a large number of problems delivering their latest operating-system release - Apple Computer was to blame.

And later on, the disgruntled MS employee stated:

Gates employed an 'industry research' firm, a company specializing in corporate espionage, to steal the source code of Apple's work-in-progress, OS X version 10.2. He planned to beat Apple to market with Apple's own new features. It was a very strange plan considering that Microsoft already owned over 90% of the desktop market.

How ironic! MS stealing ideas (even code) from Apple?? No way! Not MS! But wait, there's more!

Macworld: News: Ballmer questions business strategy of Google:

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer criticized rival Google, saying it is devoted primarily to ad-supported search while Microsoft has reinvented itself many times over.

So here we have that dolt Ballmer publicly putting down other companies, like Apple and Google, that are kicking his company's butt at certain aspects within the tech industry. No surprise there. But, just as Ballmer does this (as one might expect), he's conspiring to destroy the competition through bribery. I guess MS hasn't learned that its Mafioso tactics aren't very sublte:

Microsoft promises rewards for search engine use - Yahoo! News:

In a move intended to wrest users from rival search engines such as market-dominating Google, Microsoft will give business customers service or training credits based on how much employees use Live Search.

Well, dumpy ol' Ballmer and Gates have a reason to worry. They will NOT wrestle control away from Google (nor Apple), because they're only capable of copying and stealing the technology invented by others. Here's an example of how they're losing the battle:

US university dumps Windows to go all Mac - Mac - Macworld UK:

Wilkes University announced on Wednesday that it has pulled the plug on PCs in favour of Macs, saying the move - which actually began last year - will save the Pennsylvania liberal arts college more than $150,000 while letting students and faculty continue to run Windows applications.

So, I think companies like Apple and Google are playing the part of the Spartans and King Leonidas to Microsoft's Xerxes of Persia. The 300 Spartans stood up to Xerxes at Thermopylae and eventually lost, after taking a lot of Persians with them. But in the long run, they kicked Xerxes' butt. His butt was too big for his own breeches! Sounds like Ballmer...I mean Microsoft...I mean Xerxes!