Tag Archives: Macs

Office for Mac 2016 – Software Updates

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It seems that the software updates for Office 2016 for Mac are pretty big. Around 500MB per update per application. This means, on average, a 1.5GB download for what essentially should just be bug fixes.

Come on Microsoft, get your act together and start offering in-place updates! Office 2011 did this, downloading 150MB or so per update and then launching an updater to patch the files. It’s totally unnecessary to download the entire Office 2016 suite every time you update it. Not everyone has fast internet, and many people are still on capped data plans.

 

iTunes Store – Connection Problems with SSL

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I have to connect through a corporate proxy server from where I am at the moment. I recently discovered that my iTunes was not connecting properly to the store – I couldn’t buy anything and I wasn’t able to check for downloads! It was incredibly infuriating – all my https proxy settings were correct, and it had been working for the past couple of months. Of course, there was always the chance that they had started to block the iTMS. But, it was still working on other people’s computers (macs).

It had to be something to do with the SSL security chain. Pushing https through a proxy never works well; somehow, all of my SSL connections are routed through the proxy server by using the proxy’s own certificates(?!)

Anyway, to solve the problem, quite simply, I had to visit the following sites in Safari, and when the warning popped up about the SSL connection not being trusted (because the proxy was intercepting it, I guess?), just click continue. Because in Mac OS X, all certificates are kept in one place for all apps to access, allowing it in safari will allow it for all other default applications.

Simply visit the following sites with the https:// prefix:

  • itunes.apple.com
  • ax.itunes.apple.com
  • ax.init.itunes.apple.com
  • albert.apple.com
  • gs.apple.com
  • ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net

After clicking continue a few times on the popup, it started working!

You’d think that iTunes would have realised there was a problem and come up with a window itself, saying “SSL error”, but instead it just times out.

 

New MacBook Pro

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I finally decided to get a new mac as my old 2008 model has suffered the fatal Nvidia graphics card failure. The screen just went black, and now it won’t turn on, though you can still use Target disk mode and it makes the startup chime; just no video! Hopefully it will be covered under apple’s extended warranty.

Back to my new one then. I went for the 15″, Core i7, with High res antiglare display. The choice of display was a tough one: I couldn’t decide, like so many others, which one to get. Glossy or Anti-Glare? Well, I can now announce that A-G is definitely worth it. The colour is WAY better than my ’08 A-G display and it has good blacks still. But, NO nasty glare. Also, the silver bezel looks a lot more professional than the black glass border. Plus, less fingerprints..

Other thoughts? Well, the front edge of the mac is really sharp with the bare metal. My wrists are getting slightly red from typing, though maybe it’s just bad posture? Anyhow I hope the metal wears slightly as I use it. Another issue I discovered was opening the lid. I have to apply a lot of force in order to overcome the magnet which holds the lid down. It’s almost too strong, as it lifts the front of the laptop slightly off the desk by a few millimetres until the lid opens.

Other than that, so far, so good. It’s a great machine to work on, really fast and it’s lighter and thinner than the old models.

Waiting for Apple’s new laptops

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So, you’ve probably heard from somewhere that Apple are expected to release new Macbook Pro’s any day now. But the thing is, they should’ve released them months ago. In fact, it’s been almost 10 months since the last update (which in itself wasn’t that major), and many apple fans are starting to wonder whether apple have all but forgotten that they make products other than the iPad.

While everyone on various forums and internet sites are speculating about which Tuesday it will be released on, I can predict with 100% certainty that they will be released before 2012….

You might want to pop over and look at www.macrumors.com. Their forums are overflowing with speculative rumours and guesses about when the arrandale MBP’s will arrive.