Please indulge my venting for a moment. I disagree with the practice of making people sign up or login just to view a website. I want to be able to see what I am signing up for before I 'join.' I've noticed this trend a lot on fashion and home goods websites– they post a teaser image in an ad, but when you click on it, you can't view the site without logging in. Perhaps it's done to make the site seem more exclusive, but the only thing it does for me is drive me away. How about you?

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Syncing with iCloud

The greatest benefit of iCloud is keeping all your devices in sync. Add, edit or remove a contact on one device and it will automatically update on your other devices. But be aware, your master file is on icloud.com, so if you find you have duplicates, sign into iCloud and make your changes there.

For syncing photos, you must have iPhoto 9 ($14.99 in the App store) to automatically upload your Photo Stream to iCloud. To activate:

On your iOS devices, go to Settings > iCloud > Photo Stream, and turn on Photo Stream (or My Photo Stream).

On your Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud and check the box for Photo Stream.

Photos are uploaded only when you are connected via Wi-FI, not over cell connections. Once there, they will be stored for 30 days to give all your devices time to sync. Your last 1,000 photos will be stored in Photo Stream on your devices- to keep them permanently, move them into another folder. (Click the + at the top of the window, use "edit' to add photos.) Photos sent to Photo Stream on your Mac will remain without the need to send them to other folders.

You can see which photos are in your album by choosing the Photo Stream tab- at the top of the Photos window on my iPad 1, which runs iOS 5, and at the bottom of the window on my iPhone, running iOS 6. Read  more about using Photo Stream with iCloud here.

Learn more about iCloud here with specifics here.

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How to delete an app

This may seem basic to some, but I’ve been asked “How do I get rid of this app?” If you want to delete an app from your iPhone or iPad, hold your finger on it until it begins to shake. At that point, a red "x" will appear in the upper lefthand corner; touching the "x" will remove the app from your phone. If you have a folder with only one app in it, you need to choose the app and delete it, and the folder will automatically disappear. You still own apps you remove from the phone, and they can be reinstalled in iTunes.

You use the same method to move an app icon from one screen to another- when the icon is shaking, you can hold and drag it to another screen on your device. You can also perform either of these actions in the Apps screen of iTunes, where rearranging icons is easier. In that case, unchecking the box next to the icon in the apps list will remove it from your phone when you apply your changes. You can also sort apps by several methods in this screen- by kind, name, category, date and size. Sorting by size is especially helpful if your device is running short of room.

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Camera +

Are you happy with the default Camera app on the iPhone? Check out Camera+, now available for iPhone and iPad for 99¢— I highly recommend it. (And no, I don’t have any financial investment in it!) It’s difficult to be sure your iPhone is parallel to your subject, and Camera+ has guides that help you line things up, as well as a visual zoom bar and a host of other features. You can read more on their website: http://campl.us

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Passbook

And here's more about Passbook, which I was looking forward to using:

When you open Passbook, you quickly discover you can't really do anything except hit the "Connect to iTunes Store" button. All day it returned a "Cannot connect to iTunes Store" message, which I thought at first might be due to busy servers. When I looked it up on Apple Support, I was very disappointed to discover NOTHING. NO helpful info at all. (Really, Apple?)

But a quick Google search found the answer in Apple Support Communities- so bizarre I had to share:

Go to Settings> General> Date and Time> Set Automatically> Off. Then set the date one year ahead. (Which brings up an amusing alert telling you you haven't backed up to Cloud in 52 weeks!) 

Passbook will now connect (you can then go back and turn auto time back on) and show you the paltry few companies that are signed on to sync with Passbook. My airline was not among them, but I will keep trying now and then to see who is rolling out the service. In the meantime, I'm staying with CardStar.

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How to set up "Do Not Disturb"

Having trouble figuring out some of the new features in iOS6? Me, too!

Here's how to set up "Do Not Disturb," with info direct from Apple:

You can use the "Do Not Disturb" setting while your iOS device is locked to silence calls, alerts, and notifications.

• To enable, tap Settings > Do Not Disturb. When Do Not Disturb is on, a "moon" icon will appear in the status bar. 
• To make changes to your Do Not Disturb settings, tap Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb. Optional settings for Do Not Disturb: 
• Scheduled: Automatically enable Do Not Disturb between the hours you specify. 
• Allow Calls From: Allow calls from everyone, no one, your favorites, or specific contact groups. 
• Repeated Calls: If someone calls you twice within three minutes, the call will not be silenced.

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Phishing Scheme?

I just came across a clever little phishing scheme, at least I'm pretty sure that's what it is. I have The Weather Channel app on my iPhone, and was looking for the radar when I noticed a blinking globe icon at the top, with a red "1" on it, similar to the 'Alert' number. It had the same color scheme, so I didn't realize at first that it was a banner ad; it was designed to look like part of the app and had opened at the same time. (The ads change and had there been a different one before that one, I'd have been reminded that the top space is for ads.) The next screen told me I had been selected for a survey and would get an iPad 2, an iPhone or a ($500) Best Buy gift certificate if I completed it. As soon as I saw the "Thank You" 'gifts,' my suspicions were raised, but I clicked through to see where it led. There were only three questions, all innocuous, and at the end, you chose your 'gift.' They even went to the trouble of saying there were only a few left of each, just to hurry me into doing something rash. When they asked for my email (I mean, how else are they going to deliver my gift?) I backed out. Very clever, very thorough, and, I'm fairly sure, crooked as a Shepherd's hook. No one pays you $500 to know whether you're Male or Female and how often you watch videos online or share them. Come on, people, if it sounds too good to be true, IT PROBABLY IS.

I've filled out a contact form for The Weather Channel iPhone app and will let you know if there are further developments.

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iPhone/iPad tips and tricks

iPhone ©Apple Inc.

Did you know you can take a screen shot of your iPhone or iPad screen? This little tip comes in handy; I used it to take a photo of the bottom of the "About" screen with the Serial Number on it. You must hold down the home button and the on/off button together- do it quickly in sync and release, and you'll hear the familiar shutter sound. The photo is automatically saved to your Camera Roll. (Did you know?: The Camera Roll stores photos permanently, the Photo Stream holds only your most recent 1000 pictures.)

The same key combination reboots your device when it's behaving badly. To use it to reboot, hold the keys down until you see the "slide to power off" at the top of the screen. Then release the keys and swipe across the message. Your device will shut down, showing a white 'pinwheel.' Powering it back up won't do anything instantly, but when it's ready, you'll see the white Apple icon and it will restart, all fresh and ready for use.

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when you can't wake your mac

I loved the old mac days when you could go into the system files and customize/tinker with them. As iPods, iPhones and iPads became more commonplace, more people moved to using all Macs (yay!) and Apple thought it advisable to hide some of the system folders to keep new users from inadvertently - or incorrectly - changing them. That’s great for families and casual users, but for pros, it meant giving up some control.

I work off a MacBook Pro connected to a Cinema display and this morning I couldn’t wake it from sleep. I had been advised to leave my laptop plugged in when using the Cinema display, but always working from direct power isn’t good for the battery, so my compromise has been to unplug my MacBook when I’m not working and it’s asleep. When I couldn’t wake it this morning, I carted it off to the Genius Bar to see if they could help me, and that’s exactly what they did- something I don’t think I could have done from home.

One of the new features of Lion is that your mac will start up every program you had open when you shut it down- a nifty feature if you tend to se the same programs every day. Your mac will start up and bring you back to just where you left off the previous session. But the more programs & windows you have open when you put it to sleep, the more your mac must remember each time. The only way to clear out all these remembered items is to actually turn the mac off and restart it, and if you never turn your mac off, eventually the space allotted for remembering items will fill up and your mac won’t wake up at all. The folder for this sleep data bank is hidden, so most users will need to bring their laptops to the Genius Bar to have the folder emptied. To avoid this eventuality, just remember to shut down your laptop sometimes and restart it, instead of always putting it to sleep.

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You should know these numbers

I listen to CBS Newsradio 880 in the morning, and I usually catch the Small Business Report when it airs. One morning I heard an interview with Google VP and former congresswoman Susan Molinari with some stats that really struck me. She stated the 97% of people look online before the shop. 97%!! Yet 53% of NYC businesses have NO web presence; that’s slightly better than the national average of 60% of business without a web presence, but still quite a disparity between those looking for products and services and those selling them. Molinari  stated that if you put two businesses side by side, selling the same product(s), the business with a website will be twice as successful, hiring twice the number of workers and making twice the money.

The numbers in this article by WebVisible are slightly lower, but they are still startling.

“Though 63% of consumers and small business owners turn to the internet first for information about local companies and 82% use search engines to do so, only 44% of small businesses have a website and half spend less than 10% of their marketing budget online, according to research from Webvisible and Nielsen.…This disparity, according to Webvisible, clearly illustrates the reasons why consumers have difficulty finding small business information. Many consumers report that they have struggled to recall the name of a business in their area or wish to quickly check the website for store hours, directions or a phone number, Webvisible said. However, when using a search engine to find a business they know exists, only 19% of survey respondents report never or rarely encountering trouble locating that business online and 39% say they routinely have difficulty.”

With so many people now using smart phones, meaning they can search on the go, not having your company represented online is like actively turning business away. It’s not necessary to spend thousands on a website, either; a simple one page site with basic information and a contact number can be inexpensive and will pay for itself in increased sales.

If this entry has you thinking about creating a web presence for your business, or upgrading your current efforts, contact me @ Canzani Graphics and I’ll give you a free one hour consultation.

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All content ©2011Canzani Graphics

How social media has changed everything

Today I want to address something that's been weighing on my mind of late–how social media has changed, well,  everything, and not all for the better. It's true that the emergence of social media has given businesses a way to connect to customers, and of promoting a dialog with them, but it has also placed an additional burden on already-stretched budgets and staff. Because social media exists, there is an expectation to use it, and that takes time and manpower. Someone has to sit and think of something to tweet several times a day, or to write the blog, and to address post commenters. While this has given rise to new jobs for young grads, is it really translating into increased sales? Or is it just straining resources even further? I believe this is why Facebook and google+ are popular—it doesn't take long to post a sentence or two or pass on a pertinent article, but it might take the better part of an hour to write a blog post. Certain industries are profiting more than others through social media– photographers and authors do well. But while it may be popular, posting on Facebook may increase exposure, but not always lead to more sales.

What do you think? Has social media advanced or hampered your business?


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How to clean your mouse

mouse©Apple Computer

This may seem like a silly little tip, but I use it all the time. I have an Apple Mouse- the kind with a small scroll ball in the top of it. I find that sometimes it won't scroll in one direction or it's jumpy. I wish I could remember where I read this tip, so I could give the writer credit, but their answer was to turn it upside down and rub it on a piece of clean white paper. I know Apple wants you to use iKlear, but this works just as well and it's a lot faster!

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The pros and cons of being able to work anywhere

We've all faced the double-edge sword of being easily accessible, because that also means we are almost always accessible, but another situation has come to the forefront of late. Aside from feeling bombarded and overwhelmed by the pace and sheer mass of information flying at us, the ease of being able to collaborate with anyone anywhere means we are also grappling with different time zones, with information arriving at all hours of the day and night.

There's been no such thing as a 40 hour week for the self-employed for quite some time, as free-lancers are often hired precisely for their ability to pick up where employees left off at the end of the day/week. But more and more these days we are working on projects with people around the globe, and information and requests come in 24/7. I may be sleeping when someone else is having morning coffee, or making dinner when another is hitting their stride after lunch. When I am collaborating, either with a client or another team member, I try to respond as soon as possible, since I know the feeling of having my work flow interrupted waiting for an answer to a crucial question. So I am answering email as soon as my eyes can focus and even as they are ready to close for the day. But regardless, it beats having no work at all, right?

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caveat emptor- RF images

The only good thing that comes out of bad experiences is often a helpful blog post that serves as a warning to others.

Today’s post is the result of a client choosing an image from one of the many inexpensive “royalty-free“ websites that are so popular now. I’ve had good experiences with some sites, but was unfamiliar with the site they chose. Despite my objection to clients driving the direction of a design to that extent, I designed their project around the image they chose.

The problem occurs because the preview images on websites are of such low resolution that you cannot see imperfections. I once bought an image of a large building only to discover a corner had netting over it due to renovations- you just couldn’t see it on the thumbnail low res version.

Since I do not purchase an image until the design is approved, asking for a refund and finding another image would require redesigning the entire project. It’s apparent these sites don’t scrutinize submitted images for potential problems, but I believe they should either (a) not accept images that have imperfections, (b) require the photographer to correct problem areas, or (c) alert buyers to problem spots before they purchase, either by pointing them out or by severely discounting such images.

I can, and did, retouch the image myself and am awaiting a printed proof while I write this. But even though the image was not as expensive as one purchased on say, corbis.com, I object to the surprise of paying for the rights to an image that isn’t in usable condition as is. This is the difference between paying a premium to a highly regarded site and “getting a good deal.” You may save money on the image only to find out you have to pay to have it retouched, or have the project redesigned in the end.

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social media part 2

Is social media the new, kinder, gentler advertising?

At its core, it is shared experience, but in practice, it is marketing masquerading as a group of friends discussing products, services and/or trends they've learned about. It is kind of creepy on some level, that companies we choose to do business with then use their knowledge of us for marketing. But perhaps that is preferable to every business bombarding us with all their advertising whether we're in their target demographic or not?

Directed marketing saves companies time and money by focusing their campaigns to interested users, rather than the "throw it at the wall and see what sticks" approach. Their social media efforts encourage them to impart information we might not ordinarily encounter and allows them to highlight expertise in their area. They may be reading trade publications we wouldn't come across, and can explain implications that affect us as consumers.

We can't all read everything researched and published on every subject- there just are not enough hours in a day. But if we read something of interest and post it, we expose our social network to what we've learned. This expands our horizons- but only if we want it to.

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jobs in social media

On reading the article "How Timeline Radically Changes Your Facebook Marketing Strategy"  this morning, I got to wondering— At what point does promoting your business on social media take so much time that you can no longer work at your business?


If small businesses need to post to their fb pages more often, it wil inevitably lead to many new full or part-time jobs for social media 'experts'. Are we expanding this new classification of job openings? Will all today's 'social media mad' tweens and teens be able to actually make a living posting to fb and twitter all day? Does it being a 'real job' that take all the fun out of it, or is it everyone's dream job? Maybe it will lead to whole new lines of bunny slippers and pjs that look like real clothes. A redefining of "business casual" can't be far behind…


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