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How-To

How to perform a clean install of Mac OS X using Internet Recovery

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Clean install of Mac OS X to Speed up your Mac. If your Mac feels sluggish and experiences random crashes and glitches, it may be worth wiping your disk and starting over with a fresh install of Mac OS X Yosemite.

This will be especially beneficial if you haven’t done so in recent years.  Most people opt instead to upgrade their setup to the next version of Apple’s desktop operating system through the Mac App Store. This can slow down your mac.  While upgrades preserve your personal files and media, they also preserve other data and settings which negatively impact the performance, battery life and stability of your Mac.

In this guide we will use Internet Recovery to install a fresh copy of OS X on your computer. Check out our guide on how to make an OS X recovery USB drive if you’d like to recover OS X using a flash drive instead.

Performing a Clean Install via Internet Recovery:

Pros:

  • Straightforward
  • Doesn’t require additional hardware

Cons:

  • Requires a valid Apple ID
  • Requires a Wi-Fi connection, preferably a fast one

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Let’s start:
  1. Start up your Mac.
  2. While you’re hearing the boot-up sound, press and hold the Command key and the “R” key on your keyboard. Continue holding the two keys until you see Apple’s Recovery setup.
  3. You’ll be greeted by the OS X Utilities screen. Choose Disk Utility.
  4. Select your hard drive from the list on the left and click on the Erase tab.
  5. Enter a new name for your hard drive and format it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Press the Erase button to wipe the drive.
  6. Close Disk Utility and proceed to install Yosemite.
  7. Choose the newly formatted disk, enter your Apple ID and password when prompted and wait for the installation to complete.

Since Internet Recovery downloads the full 4GB Yosemite installer right then and there, expect the process to take an additional hour or so, depending on your network speed and the load on Apple’s servers.

Mac

Best document scanner for Mac

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Today most companies are asking us to go paperless and help the environment. Likewise many Mac users are seeing the benefits of going paperless themselves by scanning their important documents: bills, family records, copyrights, patents, insurance policies, identification paperwork, taxes and more. There are somethings you just can’t afford to lose, so in case of fire or theft, it’s always good to scan documents to a secure hard drive or cloud service.

Not to mention the fun part of scanning – going paperless! No more boxes of paperwork, bills piling up on the kitchen counter or forgetting where you put your car insurance information. When you scan your documents you can keep them organized and searchable. Let’s take a look at the best document scanners available for Mac.

Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Scanner for Mac

fujitsu-scansnap-ix500-document-scanner

  • Blazing 25ppm color scanning
  • Two sided scanning
  • USB or Wi-Fi connection to a computer
  • PC & Mac Compatibility

Hands down the ScanSnap iX500 is the most popular wireless document scanner on the market today. For starters it’s technology lets you scan a document to your computer or smart device. Imagine being able to wirelessly scan an important document to your iPhone or iPad and more. It scans business cards all the way up to A3 size paper. You can also generate editable PDF files, for example if you wanted to sign a document or mark bills paid. The main benefit to this scanner is it’s two sided scanning capability and speed. It’s the fastest you can buy. There are no complicated buttons making it the easiest to understand and use. Additionally the unit folds up for when it’s not in use. Some are put off by the price at ($417 USD), but when you compare it to similar models, it has a lower price range but has the most features. Not to mention if you use this in a home office on a regular basis it will pay for itself.

NeatConnect Cloud Scanner and Digital Filing System for Mac

neatconnect-cloud-document-scanner

  • Scan your important info straight to the Cloud, purchase includes 3 free months of NeatCloud (available for a nominal monthly fee after initial trial expiration)
  • Scan in receipts to create expense reports and searchable databases
  • Scan in business cards to capture information, send info to address book, sync contacts with your phone
  • Scan in documents to create searchable pdfs, capture editable text, organize your digital files
  • Send scanned items as attachments in one easy step right from NeatConnect to email, DropBox, Evernote, ftp, Box.com, etc

This is the best looking personal document scanner we could find but it generally only gets 3/5 stars on most review sites. The NeatConnect Cloud Scanner helps you scan and keep your documents organized. The product comes with a 3 month trial of the NeatCloud subscription, after that you’ll have to pay for the service. If you like the idea of having your documents scanned to the cloud, then this is the scanner for you. Many looking for an online scanner or app scanner end up turning to this document management system. Theres even a mobile app available that lets you download and view your documents on the go. If paying for the subscription doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, we recommend you scan directly to DropBox – the popular way to store and share files online. Additionally you scan to email if you prefer. To scan to your Mac you’ll have to use a USB cable as it is not wireless capable. For ($427 USD) this is a capable document scanner with a lot of cloud features. If you must have wireless scanning you can try the latest model which offers both the cloud and wireless functions but at a higher price ($499 USD).

Brother Printer ADS2500W Document Scanner for Mac

brother-printer-document-scanner

  • Scans up to 24ppm B&W and Color
  • Network Connectivity – Wireless and Ethernet. Scan to Cloud, USB flash memory drive, Android phone or tablet, E-mail server, FTP, Network, PC/Mac (Image, OCR, E-mail and File).
  • Simple, intuitive user interface with 3.7-Inch Color TouchScreen
  • High quality color and mono scanning up to 600 x 600 dpi (optical) / 1200 x 1200 dpi (interpolated)
  • TWAIN, WIA, ICA, and ISIS compatibility enables easy setup to scan documents into a variety of applications

The Brother ADS2500W Document Scanner features a bright color touchscreen display, wireless connectivity, cloud scanning, duplex (two-sided) scanning and OS X compatibility. It includes Presto! PageManger for Mac that lets you merge files and monitor your scanned documents to help you get the most out of the scanner. As with most of these document scanners you don’t have to use included software but it’s nice if you like to try the advanced options available to you. At ($599 USD), it’s hard to suggest this scanner over others but if you are used to or familiar with the quality of Brother products this could be for you.

Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S80 Color Document Image Scanner for Mac

epson-workforce-pro-document-scanner

  • 40 ppm, 80 ipm scan speeds1; scans both sides of one sheet in just one pass
  • 75-page Auto Document Feeder
  • Front control panel with up to 10 user-definable scan jobs including scan-to-PDF, email and more
  • Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S80 Document Scanner – 48 bit Color – 16 bit Grayscale – 600 dpi Optical
  • Mfg #: B11B194081

The best feature of the Epson WorkForce Pro high volume document scanner is the 75-page auto document feeder. If you have to scan a lot of documents at once this is the product for you. It doesn’t allow for wireless scanning but what it lacks in that area it makes up in others. It should be called the WorkHorse because it lets you customize everything from resolution to file type and can scan up to 1800 documents per day. If you are dealing with financial or legal documents this scanner should be given some thought. At ($664 USD), it’s considered the most expensive but it is meant for a heavy workloads.

Bottom Line

There you have it the most popular document scanners for Apple computers. If we had to pick the most versatile all-around document scanner to buy it would be the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500. The ScanSnap has the speed, wireless functionality and most importantly ease of use. As we mentioned before going paperless, by scanning your documents, frees you from paperwork and helps you and your family create a secure place for your important life documents. These document scanners are especially important for people who work at home or run a business and need to know how to scan a document. Have you bought a document / receipt scanner recently? How has it affected your business or productivity?

News

Apple reportedly agrees to security inspections by the Chinese Government

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A rumor was sparked recently with an article published in The Beijing News and later covered by IT World where an anonymous source claims that Tim Cook has agreed to have Apple products be subjected to spontaneous inspections. Those inspections would have the goal of verifying that there are no backdoors and that the data stored on Macs and iOS devices is indeed secure.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook met with the head of China’s State Information Office Lu Wei last November to discuss Apple’s products and the Apple Watch in particular as well as China’s security concerns when it comes to Apple and its software and hardware. The anonymous source cited in The Beijing News article has revealed that Tim Cook had openly stated: “We do not, and will not provide a back door”, while Lu Wei has insisted that “We need to draw conclusions, so that consumers must be assured”. In the end, the Cupertino CEO is said to have agreed to spot checks that should:

Ensure information security and privacy of users, while maintaining national security.

While we have no solid evidence that Tim Cook has agreed to such inspections, it is not as outlandish as it may sound. Even though letting Chinese government officials in on Apple’s secrets is a big risk due to China’s lax copyright law enforcement, the Chinese market is a crucial one for the Cupertino company’s long-term success since it provides a lot of potential consumers and is projected to grow in the next several years. So in that sense the rumor falls into the realm of possibility, if not probability.

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For the last few years Apple has been pushing to increase its appeal to the Chinese market in every way they can – from just recently opening their largest Apple Store on the Asian continent in Hangzhou, China, to releasing new products in China on the same day as Apple does in the US, to introducing new Siri languages and features aimed directly at the Chinese consumers such as the addition of Baidu as a search provider, an improved Chinese input method, a new dictionary, sharing capabilities to the Sina Weibo microblog as well as the Youku and Tudou video sites.

So what are the implications if the alleged agreement turns out to be true? The bad news for Apple is that it will be sharing private code and internal hardware designs with multiple Chinese officials assigned to investigate its products until they are satisfied that there are no backdoors or other unwanted software that endangers the consumers’ privacy. The silver lining, at least for us consumers, is that such an investigation will add a layer of transparency to Apple’s internal procedures and possibly reassure us that our data is secure.

News

Apple files SEC Report, detailing executive team income for 2014

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On January 22, Apple filed a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in which it detailed the monetary and equity compensations that have been paid to the top ranking company executives. According to the report, which is available for online viewing here, Tim Cook took home $9.2 million which is twice as much as last year. While the basic salary of Apple’s CEO was $1.75 million, he was also awarded a non-equity incentive compensation of $7.45 million.

Peter Oppenheimer, the company’s former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, had a base salary of a little under a million and $3.4 million in incentives for a total of $4.5 million. His successor, Luca Maestri, started off with a base salary of $711.211, an incentive package of $1.6 million and $11.3 million in Apple stock. This made his total income for the year a little over $14 million.

Often seen on the keynote stage, Eddie Cue was awarded a total of $24.4 million. With a base salary just shy of one million, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services was given an additional $3.4 million in non-equity incentives as well as $20 million in stock. The Senior Vice President of Operations, Jeff Williams, saw a very similar reward for his work – a total of $24.4 million. Starting off with a base salary just under one million, he was given a non-equity incentive compensation of $3.4 million as well as $20 million in stock.

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Source: SEC

The newest addition to company’s executive team, Angela Ahrendts started her career at Apple with a base salary of $411.538, a $500.000 bonus, a non-equity incentive plan compensation of $1.6 million and a whopping $70 million in Apple stock. Leaving her old position as the CEO of the luxury clothing company Burberry, Ms Ahrendts joined the Cupertino team in May of last year as the Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores, becoming the first female in Apple’s top ranks and making $73.3 million in the process.

If you haven’t paid (pardon the pun) much attention to the earnings of Apple’s top executives, you may be surprised to find out that Tim Cook, the CEO, isn’t the one getting the most money this year. In fact, he’s fifth on the list. And to make things even more bizarre, the newcomer Ms Ahrendts made eight times more. There is, of course, a perfectly reasonable explanation for the difference in numbers: whenever a new employee starts his or her contract, they are given restricted stock units (RSUs). These are stocks that become unlocked over time as the contract of the person progresses. For example, in previous CES filings we can see that Tim Cook was awarded an astonishing $376 million in stocks alone when he was named CEO back in 2011.

That explains compensations of Angela Ahrendts and Luca Maestri, but what about Jeff Williams and Eddie Cue? They both received $20 million in stock despite being with the company for a while. It comes down to talent retention. As observed by John Gruber of Daring Fireball and Guy English, since the release of the iPhone and iPad, many very talented people have left Apple in search of the next big thing. In that sense, it is perfectly understandable why Apple would attempt to retain its most talented employees by giving them more money and stocks, making them literally invested in the company.

News

New Mac OS X vulnerabilities publicly disclosed by Google’s Project Zero Team

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Ars Technica reports that Google’s Project Zero team has made public three security vulnerabilities found in Mac OS X. Fortunately, Apple has been made aware of the issues prior to their public release and has already fixed one of the vulnerabilities while the other two will be fixed in the upcoming release of Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 which is currently in beta.

Project Zero is a white hat hacking group formed and funded by Google that attempts to breach the security of all major systems that everyday users depend on. Once the group finds a system vulnerability, they get in touch with the company that maintains the software, informs them of the problem and even gives them proof-of-concept source code that demonstrates the issue. The developers of the software product then have three months to implement patches and release them to their customers. As soon as the three months expire, Project Zero publishes the “0day” vulnerability on their website along with the proof-of-concept source code.

Apple is not the only company that has had their vulnerabilities publicly released. Microsoft has also recently experienced the uncomfortable situation of having unpatched Windows bugs in the wild. Fortunately for Apple customers, the issues discovered by the Project Zero team are rather isolated since they require the attacker to have local access to the Mac. In other words, either someone needs to have physical access to your machine in order to hack it, or they need to combine the 0day exploits with other vulnerabilities that will grant them local access.

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The three exploits found by the Project Zero team are the following:

– The first issue has to do with a sandbox bug.

– The second vulnerability exposes an exploitable NULL pointer in the kernel.

– The third 0day bug has do to with a security loophole in Apple’s Bluetooth stack.

Leaving aside whether it’s good of the Project Zero team to publicly release information about vulnerabilities that will soon be patched, these recent events have once again raised the question: Is Apple doing too many things at once and not devoting enough time to solidify the performance and security of its platforms?

A growing number of users support the opinion that Apple has too many balls in the air and the amount of time it can spend on each one is very limited. Between the annual software release cycles of iOS and OS X (and possibly Watch OS going forward), Apple engineers have less and less time to iron out bugs and streamline the operation of the operating systems. The solution brought forward is that Apple needs to take a year during which to focus not on new features, but on making sure that all the features and functionality “just work”. We’ve already seen the Cupertino company do this with the move from Mac OS X Leopard to Mac OS X Snow Leopard.