Mac Doc News – Summer/Fall 2020; Classes, and Craziness!

Greetings Apple device users! It’s been awhile since I posted, but seeing how the last six months have been unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, I hope you can forgive me for the radio silence. 😳

The primary reason for my post is to tell you about two new classes I’m teaching through the Ah Haa School in Telluride this month. They’re both virtual, 3 hours long, and only $50 ea.

First, this coming Saturday, Sept. 12th, from 1-4 pm, I’ll be teaching my popular iPhone Photography class:

Learn the art of capturing truly compelling photos with your iPhone. [Click that link to register. Cost is $50]

Learn the art of capturing great photos using your device. (Tip #1: Stop treating it like a point-and-shoot camera.) The best camera is the one you have with you, and with the quality of cameras and software improving with each new version of  iPhone, you always have a surprisingly good camera with you. Even so, do you struggle to get decent photos out of your iPhone, or would you  like to learn how to take your “iPhone-ography” to the next level? This class will include both technical instruction and outdoor experimentation, followed by an indoor critique session. As a bonus, the class will spend some time learning about the thousands of camera “apps” available for smart phones, from Instagram to the more techy HDR realm, and lots in between.

Next, on Saturday, Sept. 26th, from 1-4 pm, I’ll be teaching a class I’m calling:

Managing Your Apple Devices In The Wacky 2020’s! [Click that link to register. Cost is again $50]

Technology is changing faster than most of us can keep up with. As soon as you wrap your head around one system, everything gets updated again! Let John Clark, the Mac Doctor, help you get the most out of your Apple products, and learn how to keep everything organized. In this one-day workshop, John will help students make sure everything is syncing correctly, show them how to pick & choose what to sync, and detail how to manage their privacy settings, notifications and other functions. In the end, you’ll feel confident that your iPhone, iPad, laptop and iCloud are all doing exactly what you want them to do (at least most of the time)! [Registration for this class opens 9/17, but please call the school at (970) 728-3886 if you would like to pre-register.]

I really hope some of you will be able to join me for one or both classes!

Aside from those classes, and the general CovidCraziness™, there’s quite a lot of stuff going on. We’re at the time of year when new iPhones are just over the horizon, along with major macOS (Big Sur) and iOS (14) updates following closely. I’m sure there will be lots of changes involved with both, which will bring the usual frustrations. With any luck, those will be offset by welcome new features.

On the security front, things continue to just get weirder (and scarier). In general, my latest advice is to avoid clicking on anything that pops up while you’re using a web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc). Flash Player is going away at the end of 2020, so if you’re still seeing those “You need to update your Flash Player plugin…” pop-ups, for instance, you should ignore them. Same goes for most everything else in the way of random pop-ups on the web, as I said. In truth, you likely can’t even trust Google when trying to research the validity of many of these things, unfortunately. And one of the primary scam sources these days is when you do a search for something like “HP printer repair”, when your printer stops working. Chances are, most of the top search results are scam sites. When you need something like that, go to the manufacturer’s website (hp.com, epson.com, canon.com, etc), and initiate your search there.

I could go on and on, but I doubt you want me to. 🤪 Suffice it to say that I’m hoping to post more regularly now that we know what the “new normal” looks like (HA!). Seriously though, I have some fun new plans in the works, so stay tuned! Don’t forget to check out my video links in previous posts, and let me know if you’d like to purchase the recent Photos class ($20, details in the previous “Winter 2020” post).

Thanks, and stay well!