OmniTech Newsletter 02

Hi!
It’s Tom Koch here, welcoming you to the 2nd edition of the OmniTech Newsletter!

If you feel you have gotten this email in error, or wish to stop receiving, please reply and let me know and I’ll remove you from the list. Also, if there is something that you would like me to cover in a future newsletter, please let me know.

Cox email transition:

Many of you have Cox as their internet provider and use the Cox-provided email address ending in cox.net. If you do, you are probably already aware that Cox is transitioning their mail hosting to Yahoo and may have already sent you a verification mail stating that your mail is ready for the transition to Yahoo. The emailed instructions only get you so far, helping you access your mail through the web browser-based mail.yahoo.com, which is full of very scammy-looking ads. The instructions do not help you get your mail set up via the Mac Mail application which requires a whole other set of steps. If you need any help with the transition to Yahoo mail, specifically in setting it up correctly for Mac Mail, let me know and we can schedule some time for me to get that working for you.

Let’s talk upgrades versus updates:

Upgrades: Apple typically releases new operating systems (Mac OS or iOS) for both Macs and iPhones/iPads every September with a new name (for Macs) and a whole number. For example: Mac OS 12 Monterey, Mac OS 13 Ventura, Mac OS 14 Sonoma on Macs, or iOS 16, iOS 17, iOS 18 for iPhones and iPads.

For Macs: I caution you to wait at least 4 months after the release of an upgrade to give Apple time to fix the inevitable bugs a new operating system brings. By the time you do upgrade, there should have already been a series of point updates (see below) that address any potential problems with the new OS release.

For iPhones and iPads: I recommend waiting at least a month or two before upgrading to a new iOS (the operating system for iPhones and iPads) version. Apple’s iOS version releases tend to be less bug-prone than Mac OS releases.

Updates or “point updates” are software improvements, security and general fixes to a given operating system (OS) or application.
For example: If on your Mac you are already on Sonoma OS 14.1, an update would bring you to Sonoma OS 14.1.2. On an iPhone an update would bring you from iOS 17.4.1 to iOS 17.5

I do encourage you to do your OS point-updates as Apple is very proactive with not only fixing bugs, but also addressing any security issues that may exist, patching potential holes or access that hackers and data exploiters may try to take advantage of.

So, just be cautious if you see a notification about an update or upgrade. If you are unsure, text, email or call me before you do any updates or upgrades and I’ll let you know if it is time.

Passwords are a pain.

Unfortunately we all have to deal with passwords for everything we do in our digital lives. Some services even require you to change your password every year, every 6 months, or more often.

Changing your passwords is not always easy, and every website has a different way of doing it. In general, you go to a website, login and find the “Account” or “Profile” area. There you should be able to find a place to change your password.

Once there, you’re presented with the challenge of what new password to create. I've includes a fairly simple procedure to generate secure passwords for each of your accounts in the Hint section below.

Apple is very proactive with letting let you know if your passwords have been compromised as part of a data breach, if your password is too simple, or if you’ve used the same password for multiple services (you have probably seen notifications on your iPhone or Mac). You should take those suggestions seriously and change your passwords, or let me know if you need my help to do so.

And, when you do change your password, always remember to write it down and note the date so you know when you changed it last.

Hint—Creating a secure password:

First start with the current year and split it: 20…24.
Then take the service name, Amazon, for example.
Remove all the vowels—if it starts with a vowel keep that—then capitalize the remaining 3rd letter.
Take the result and put it in-between the split date, then follow it with your favorite punctuation.
So, the password becomes: 20amZn24# (using the # for an example of punctuation).
Then, next year you can change the 24 to 25 and have a new password if your service requires it.
If you need to change it more often, change the punctuation.
You can also get tricky and swap the 20…24 to 24…20, or come up with a variation that works for you.

That’s it for this edition of the OmniTech Newsletter. I hope you found the info useful and enlightening. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or insights, things you would like me to cover in the future, or other observations.

Thanks for reading!
-t