How to Sync Your Apple Devices with a Windows Computer

It is getting quite warm down here and I have had to fiddle with my solar heating system for the pool to get it turned down so I don’t have a hot tub instead of a refreshing plunge pool. One thing that is surprising here in Florida in my estimation is the lack of solar energy installations. Seldom do you see solar PV arrays either on rooftops or as a solar farm and even my rudimentary solar heating system for my pool is somewhat unique. You would think with all the sun down here…

I am doing some upgrades and maintenance on the motorcycles this weekend. I do enjoy motorcycle mechanics, well, most of the time. It may seem frustrating to some but freeing a stuck bolt or troubleshooting that backfiring is actually relaxing for me even as I sweat it out. Anyone need a really clean 2009 S150 Vespa?

Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

_Don, Emily & Hadley_

You have a password for the online banking, one for your Apple ID, one to log into your retirement amount. Your password for your bank has to have have at least one numeric number, but can’t start with a number and it can’t have any more than two of the same characters found in your username. Your retirement account must include at least 3 numbers and one special character but they can’t be consecutive.

Does this sound familiar? In the perfect world we would only need one password, but unfortunately for security purposes and as hackers get better at what they do password strength has become critical and part of our everyday lives. The hassle with this is that most sites have their own sets of rules for password strength leaving many of us to peck away at our keyboards or devices in a sometimes endless game of “remember how you manipulated your favorite password 16 different ways and can’t remember if your banking site used the password with the capitalization or the one with the ampersand”.

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For a very long time I will admit my method of keeping track of my usernames and passwords was the stickies program on my Mac, much to the dismay of our IT manager! While stickies are easily accessed they are not secure and I do not recommend this method. Where you should keep them is in your keychain. You can access your keychain through applications and then utilities. Once you are in your keychain you can manually add preferred sites, accounts and passwords you wish to store. Another huge benefit is secure notes. Secure notes allow you store additional confidential information. Keychain is safe and secure because in order to view any of the passwords stored there you need to enter your administrator password. Within keychain you can make sure to safely and securely keep your passwords, and when you forget if you needed that capitalization or ampersand in your password you can simply open keychain and enter into the search field the website for which you need to confirm the password.

Now what if you don’t have a mac? The loss of passwords, and most often your Apple ID password is a huge concern with users of iOS devices only. Luckily there is an easy solution for that, iCloud and “iCloud keychain.”:https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204085 Simply go to settings, iCloud and then select keychain. Your iOS device will begin to store your logins and websites. Additionally you can add specific websites and passwords manually to your phone or iPad under **safari** and then selecting **passwords**. This is also where you would look if you can’t remember login information.

Recording safely your logins and passwords is an often overlooked step, especially when users of iOS devices accidentally have the device damaged or lost. Saving your passwords safely and using iCloud keychain can avert your being logged out of accounts.

_Dear Friends,_

I have become super aware of mosquitos with all the news about the Zika virus. For some reason biting insects just love me whether they are super tiny no-see-ums here in the Keys or slightly larger ones in Vermont they seem to be attracted to me. The first thing that I noticed about the mosquitos down here is that they are tiny compared to the ones that come out every year in Vermont. Seriously though, this Zika virus seems like a very serious health epidemic with the World Health Organization calling it a crisis. They have a pretty serious mosquito control program down here with guys that go door to door to look for standing water and spraying year around.

Apple announced their holiday quarter financials and they beat the estimates on the street and posted the most revenue and profit ever for Apple and in a truly remarkable factoid, the most profit generated in a quarter by any public corporation, EVER. I will talk about the financial results below but let’s just say if Apple has reached a plateau it sure is a lofty one! Just to contrast that a bit against the other guys, Samsung reported a 40% decline in profits. They posted about a $15.8 billion profit for the entire year which Apple crushed in a single three month period!

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive features the “**Apple Certified Reconditioned 21 inch iMac**.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002135/special-apple-certified-reconditioned-21-5in-imac-2-7ghz-w-applecare-for-1099 This iMac is configured with a 2.7GHZ i5 processor 8GB of ram and a 1 TB hard drive. This model has the latest 802.11ac wireless protocol and comes with the same 1 year warranty as new iMacs. We are bundling it with Applecare so instead of a 1 year warranty you get 3 years and instead of 90 day days of free Apple technical support you get 3 years too. Kibbles & Bytes readers can purchase this special bundle for “**$1099!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002135/special-apple-certified-reconditioned-21-5in-imac-2-7ghz-w-applecare-for-1099 That’s the lowest price ever for a warrantied iMac with Applecare!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

_Don, Emily & Dean_