**Important Note for any customers looking to upgrade their current Adobe software:** Starting June 1, 2014, *Adobe Creative Suite (6, 5, 4, etc.) will no longer be available for purchase.* Your current software will continue to run, but will not be supported with updates.

So, on to the good: Adobe Creative Cloud is here!

Creative Cloud is the latest and greatest software from Adobe — they are joining the ranks of many other major software companies in making their services available via a downloadable app. Once you activate Creative Cloud, you’ll receive alerts when updates are available, and as long as you continue the monthly service, you’ll have access to updates and upgrades on a continuous basis.

There are also more choices with the Creative Cloud. You’ll need a membership, and the membership options are designed to best suit your needs. You can download a single-app or purchase the whole shebang. No matter which option you choose, you’ll still have full access to the cloud storage and sharing options. You’ll obviously need internet access to download the applications initially, but once installed on your machine, you can work offline.

Currently, we are only able to offer the “Team” version of Creative Cloud, which gets you 100GB of storage per user, administrative tools, and direct access to Adobe’s expert support team. You can grab this for as low as *$39.99*/month or *$479.99*/year **until May 30th.** Starting June 1st, the price will go up to *$49.99*/month or *$599.99*/year.

Ready to purchase? See the special below — we won’t physically send you anything in the mail. Instead, we will send you an Adobe invite via email with a form to fill out. Once this is completed and paid for, your subscription will begin and you can start creating!

“*To learn more about the Creative Cloud, check out Adobe’s site here.*”:http://www.adobe.com/products/creativecloud.html

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, so if you’re “*near a Small Dog retail store,*”:http://www.smalldog.com/retail check out some of the great gift ideas we have in stock for the modern mom. If you’re __not__ close to a store, we always say “better late than never” if you want to grab any of these for mom anyway or if you want to get a jump start on gifts for your favorite dad or grad.

Here are some of our favorites:

My “*last article*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/techtails/tt902/ detailed the arguments for and against anti-virus or anti-malware software on Macs. It turned out to be pretty popular because I got a good deal of feedback and further questions that fell into pretty much two groups; one set was about “beyond anti-virus,” which is what other measures can users take to keep their computers safe. The second group of questions were about pass-through viruses (e.g., infected attachments, documents and files that are harmless on a Mac, but if forwarded to Windows users or networks, can be harmful to the receiver).

For the first set, there are definitely some extra measures that aren’t time consuming and Mac users can take to enhance their security.

# *Don’t have your regular users running as Administrators.* This is really not a great inconvenience; if you need to install and update or make preference changes, you are prompted for the Admin user name and password. This is really easy; just create a single Admin account on your Mac in *System Preferences* under *Users and Groups* and then change your regular user’s account settings to *Standard User*. It means you’ll be prompted for any system changes.
# *Keep OS X up-to-date.* This doesn’t necessarily mean upgrading to the newest OS X version if you aren’t ready, but do readily check Software Updates *(Apple menu > Software Update > ??from there it depends on the OS X version you have, but it’s intuitive??).*
# *Keep non-Apple plugins and web browsers up-to-date.* When you get that notice about an update being available, let it run.
# *Confirm and legitimize links (this is for all personal computer and mobile device users).* This is a bit of social engineering — always be sure that a link is legitimate (whether in email or on a Web page) BEFORE YOU CLICK. In most browsers, you can confirm the root of the link (with the exception of more advanced hacks) by simply placing your mouse cursor over the link. Make sure it starts with amazon.com or keybank.com or paypal.com, etc. And never fill out forms directly in emails; go to the requesting site.
# *Avoid using secure websites on non-secure (read: public) connections.* Sniffers can easily monitor data flying over these semi-open networks. If you’re planning on banking or filling out taxes (it’s that time of the year) etc., on public networks (like at the local library, Starbucks, etc.) do that type of work at home on your own secure Wi-Fi! This is not just for laptops, but for phones and tablets as well.

Regarding passthrough malware, to answer the questions I received about this, there is really very little information about it being a vulnerability in my searching. Essentially, if you inadvertently send malware to a susceptible system (like someone with a PC) it’s really the responsibility of the receiver to have taken their own appropriate steps to avoid infections.

If it’s any level of corporate network that is receiving it, they will almost certainly have sufficient firewalls and internal malware filters running. Also, the type of malware any anti-malware software is going to be looking for on your Mac is not going to be checking for Windows vulnerabilities. So I’m completely unpersuaded that it’s a valid reason for installing anti-virus on a Mac.

__Note: This week’s news is a little less “news” per se and a little more “somewhat-substantiated-rumor-and-notable-software-update.”__

*Google Maps Releases Substantial Update to 3.0*
Good news for Google Maps users — an update was available in the iTunes Store on Wednesday for iPhone and iPad that includes several new features. Among them, turn-by-turn improvements, better visibility for travel time, distance and ETA, and my favorite in the list: the ability to save maps offline for travel in slow or no connection areas. Update also available for Android.

“*Read more…*”:http://www.macworld.com/article/2151704/offline-mapping-navigation-improvements-highlight-google-maps-update.html
“*Get Google Maps for iPhone/iPad*”:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-maps/id585027354?mt=8

*Is Apple Buying Beats?*
Those mills are churning, and it seems that a high-profile acquisition may be on the horizon for Apple. Beats By Dr. Dre has been a top-selling line of headphones and speakers for several years now, though some are speculating Apple’s main interest is actually in their streaming music service (“*about which Steph profiled a few months back*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/kibbles/kb866/)

“*Read more…*”:http://mashable.com/2014/05/09/dr-dre-apple-beats-acquisition/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link

_Dear Friends,_

I had a great ride north last week and managed to miss all the rain, too. I have to say that the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of my favorite rides for its beautiful country vistas, wildlife and few cars. It was a great time to appreciate the views and do a lot of thinking as I rode the Indian Chieftain through the curvy roads. I rode from all-the-time summer in Key West to spring to spring-is-coming soon. By the time I reached my home on Prickly Mountain, there was still a pile of snow at the bottom of my driveway. However, the daffodils were blooming, baby birds were chirping in the nest in my woodshed, and the trees were budding.

As I set up my network in Key West, it occurred to me that many people make some fundamental mistakes in equipping their home internet access. The first, most common mistake is the idea that one should lease (rather than buy) the DSL or Cable modem from their provider. Comcast offered to supply me with a modem for $8/month, but by purchasing a top-quality modem (a Motorola Surfboard) for about $70, it pays for itself in less than 10 months.

In most cases, the modem you buy will be better and newer than what the cable or DSL company will provide. Most of our customers use “*Apple AirPort*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?search=apple+airport equipment to provide wireless access. Most of the modems that internet providers offer also broadcast a wireless signal, and unless you intentionally turn that off, it could lead to some conflicts that might slow down your overall network if you’re using it in conjunction with your AirPort.

With Apple’s latest 802.11AC wireless protocol, you should always give preference to the faster wireless technology on your hardware. (Slower wireless protocols include 802.11n and 802.11g — read more on the differences between these “*here.*”:http://www.pcworld.com/article/254616/802_11ac_gigabit_wi_fi_what_you_need_to_know.html) If your modem has not been upgraded by your provider (regardless of that $8/month you are paying them), that could be a significant source of slowness.

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes special is a charging bundle for your iOS devices. It includes our Hammerhead Dual-Port USB 12-watt charger and two Black Hammerhead Lightning (made for iPhone/iPad) cables. This will allow you to charge two iOS devices simultaneously.

“*Purchase this deal here*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001409 — *only $48.99 for Kibbles & Bytes readers!*