Security in mobile devices is not an option or a handy feature, but a crucial aspect of protecting one’s sensitive data and personal information. Mobile device venders and carriers are aware of this fact, demonstrated by touting the security measures of their products. Nevertheless, the malicious attacks once focused on PCs have shifted to mobile phones. It’s now common for mobile devices to fall prey to attacks through their operating systems, applications and networks.

Mobile Device Attack Categories:

OS Attacks – Loopholes in operating systems creating vulnerabilities open to attack. Aware of this issue, vendors create and release patches.

Mobile App Attacks – Poor coding and development creates holes in security.

Communication Network Attacks – Third-party devices such as Bluetooth open mobile devices up to attack.

Malware Attacks – Malware in mobile devices is on the rise, deleting files and creating chaos.

The above categories above are a broad generalization of the types of attacks, but we will take a closer look into the issues that are currently plaguing mobile devise in the rest of this article. This is not a complete list by any means, but one will begin to understand just how at risk mobile devices are as malicious attacks continue to spread to mobile phones. For a deeper understanding of these risks, check out the mobile forensics course offered by the InfoSec Institute.

Physical Security

One thing that is common among all mobile devices is how often they are borrowed, lost and stolen. Even temporarily misplacing a mobile phone puts sensitive data at risk as there is no way of knowing what a person who finds the mobile device may do before the owner returns to reclaim his or her property. Designing mobile device OS systems and applications with defenses against unauthorized users can go a long way to ensure the worst does not happen.

Multiple User Logging

As similar to PCs as mobile devices are, the simple truth is mobile phones are not computers. This is all too evident in the fact multiple users on mobile devices, unlike PCs, do not have their own unique accounts. In short, what one user does on a mobile device, all users have access to, so sharing one’s mobile phone is not always advisable.

Secure Data Storage

Encrypting files may seem like annoyance, but considering the alternative, encryption is the smart way to go. After all, few can afford for the sensitive data often stored on mobile devices to end up in another’s hands. Not only can someone gain access to pictures and personal documents but passwords to bank apps, credit card apps and even business apps. However, by encrypting sensitive data, one ensures would-be thieves gain a whole lot of nothing.

Mobile Browsing

Perhaps one of the best features of mobile devices is the ability to browse the web on the go, but this also opens mobile phones up to security risks. The problem is users cannot see the full url or link, much less verify whether the link or url is safe. The result is one may just browse his or her way right into phishing-related attack. It is always wiser to avoid blindly going where one is led on mobile devices rather than dealing with phishing issues.

Application Isolation

There are mobile phone applications for just about everything, from social networking to banking. Unfortunately, as useful as many of these apps are, they can pose a security risk if granted access to other applications. Although the ability to isolate applications may come down to factors such as how the different platforms grant application access permission, if one can isolate apps – one should isolate apps.

Updates

People have a tendency to point fingers at mobile device vendors, but they are not always the culprit. The reason – updates and patches designed to fix issues in mobile devices are not quite as cut and dry as with computers. Operating system vendors for mobile devices often release updates and create patches when users report bugs in the system, but carriers tend to delay the release of updates or patches that may affect other applications.

Multifactor Authentication

Multifactor authentication, or the lack of, is a critical security issue with mobile devices. The sad truth is mobile phones are lost and stolen all the time. Just letting someone borrow one’s mobile device for a few minutes can pose a security risk when multifactor authentication is not implemented. Security measures such as these not only protect mobile phone users but companies offering extranet access to their network.

Mobile Device Coding Issues

The same weaknesses the Internet is prone to – mobile devices are just as likely to suffer. In this case we are referring to when developers fall short of security expectations and inadvertently create vulnerabilities. This can come about by poor coding efforts such as failing to implement encrypted channels for data transmission, the lack of password protection and the list goes on. Poor coding and development leads to security weaknesses whether in PCs or mobile phones.

Bluetooth Attacks

A serious risk to mobile device security and personal information is third-party drivers such as Bluetooth. As useful as Bluetooth is, it creates a vulnerability attackers use to gain access to one’s phone and everything stored within. In short, one can take every security measure in the world to protect their mobile device, the use of third-party drivers and Bluetooth undermining the best of efforts.

Malware on the Rise

Malware in mobile devices is on the rise. Unfortunately, as is the case with computers, malware is rather damaging to mobile phones. The news does not get any better, either, 2013 projected to be far worse, leaving industry leaders and mobile device users no choice but to become proactive about mobile protection.

Jailbreaking

An ill-advised tactic with mobile devices is Jailbreaking. This is a process that removes vendor restrictions placed on devices, permitting mobile device users to run unauthorized applications or run applications at no cost. However, by doing so, mobile device users expose their phones to a number of viruses and malware.

Serious Threats in New Features

New features can pose serious risks to mobile devices and personal information. The Neat Field Communication, or NFC, technology is a prime example. NFC is designed to allow people to use their mobile phones as a wallet to purchase products. Unfortunately, all one needs to do to take over the mobile device is brush a NFC chip embedded tag over the phone. As exciting as new features are, some come with a new set of security risks.

User Awareness

User awareness is just as important with mobile phones as computers. In fact, many of the precautions one takes with PCs are advised with mobile devices. This means one should never follow links from people one does not know. In addition, safety measures such as setting up a passcode and being wary of granting applications permission to access other features on one’s mobile is wise.

It should not come as a surprise that security is such a problem considering the wide variety of mobile devices available today. Every phone has its own unique security issues and one should always take precaution, especially as we become increasingly dependent on our mobile devices.

The post The Basic Challenges of Mobile Security appeared first on SLee And Topher.

The Ruby RailsInstaller is an excellent way to get Ruby on Rails installed on your computer. But if you’re on Mac OS X, you’ve probably run into this problem with the Ruby RailsInstaller:

There has been an error.
Error changing group of /opt to rvm
The application will exit now.

In most cases, there’s an easy solution. Read on to find out how we got here and how to recover.

Getting the RailsInstaller

The RailsInstaller is a package of tools you’ll need to create your Ruby on Rails app. The Mac bundle includes:

• Ruby 1.9.3-p392
• Rails 3.2
• Bundler
• Git
• Sqlite
• osx-gcc-installer
• JewelryBox
• RVM
• SM Framework

You can get it at railsinstaller.org.

Scroll down the page for the download link.

If you’re working on Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) or 10.8 (Mountain Lion) like I am, click the big green button for Mac OS X 10.7 & 10.8. Instead of downloading a .dmg file, the RailsInstaller file name is “RailsInstaller-1.0.4-osx-10.7.app.tgz”. The file is 336.1 MB, so allow yourself enough time to download it.

When the file is finished downloading, open it and Mac will unzip it for you.

Installing Ruby on Rails with the RailsInstaller

Open the file to start the installation.

Depending on your security settings in Mac OS X System Preferences, you might get this warning about installing apps that aren’t from the Mac App Store or identified developers.

Some might complain about this being a play by Apple to get more revenue through their App Store, but it is a legitimate security issue to allow installation of 3rd party apps. It’s up to you whether you want to take the risk, but I have enough faith in the RailsInstaller that I’m going to go ahead and open it.

If you don’t want to bother changing your security settings, there’s another way to get around the restriction. Instead of double-clicking on the installer, do a two-finger click or control+click. A menu pops up. Click “Open” from this menu. This time you’ll get a different warning:

By opening the file this way, your computer still warns you that the app is from an unidentified developer, but if you are sure you want to open it click the “Open” button.

One more security check before you can start installing: you have to enter an administrators name and password to give consent for the application to be installed.

Finally Installing

After going through the security hoops, the RailsInstaller finally gets to work.

First of all, you need to choose your language. You have plenty of options, so very few should feel left out.

With your preferred language selected, the RailsInstaller setup window opens. Do you really want to install Ruby on Rails? If yes, click “Next.”

Next you must setup your Git configuration. Just enter your name and email address so collaborators can identify your work.

At this point, the RailsInstaller finally thinks that it’s ready to start installing.

You’d think that after all these windows that clicking “Next” might actually accomplish something.

RailsInstaller: Error Changing Group

Unfortunately, instead of installing Rails, the installer just gives you this error.

This error changing group doesn’t give you much to work with. Your only option is to click “OK.” True to the warning, the Rails Installer then immediately exits.

Looking around online you might come across various suggestions for how to fix this — everything from reinstalling Apple Xcode to reinstalling your entire operating system. Hopefully you’ve found this post before you did any of those things, though.

The IT Crowd has popularized the running gag that you can fix any IT problem by “turning it off and on again.”

In this case, this is absolutely the right solution. Don’t reinstall anything. Just restart your computer and open the installer again.

Since you’ve already gone through Apple’s security protocol, you won’t have to see those screens again, but you will have to — once again — choose your language, configure Git, and tell the installer that you do actually want it to install.

If all goes well, the RailsInstaller will finally install. However, it does take quite a while to setup all the packages in the bundle. (In my case it took about half an hour.)

With this little hiccup out of the way, it’s time to get started with Rails!

What app will you build?

Let us know in the comments below.

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A post by EA on Facebook today reads:

The decision to retire older EA games is never an easy one to make but in order to re-allocate servers and resources to more popular titles we are removing SimCity Social from Facebook. Players who still have a balance of in-game currency are encouraged to spend it before the game is shut down on 14th June and is no longer available for play.

What? Yes, you heard right. EA is closing down SimCity Social after a mere year on the scene despite millions of users.

Why? Read on to find out.

Why SimCity Social is Closing Down: It’s All About The Money

EA makes games for profit. If a game is making them money, players are happy and EA is happy. If a game is not making them money, it doesn’t matter if the players are happy or not. This is just the way the gaming business works.

But isn’t SimCity Social making money? What are the in-game purchases and advertisements doing if not lining EA’s pockets?

SimCity Social is most definitely bringing in some serious revenue (probably USD rather than Simoleons). Advertisers will pay you big bucks to put ads in front of over 1 million users. And the in-game “diamonds” that are for sale — they are fictional. Selling “diamonds” is pure profit for EA.

Overhead Costs

Just because EA is making some money doesn’t mean they are making enough money.

Running the servers to power an online game like SimCity Social for millions of players can get pricey.

Opportunity Costs

Even if SimCity Social is profitable, it may not be as profitable for EA as other projects are… such as the SimCity PC game that just came out. If EA is in it for the money (which they are) it doesn’t make sense to keep doing something that will make you less money than you could be making with something else.

Why can’t they just keep the game running and just not make anymore updates?

EA can’t use the same resources simultaneously for the same projects. Any computing power that’s going to SimCity Social is computing power that is not going to the SimCity PC game (which has had enough server problems already) or to any other EA project that might be more lucrative.

Also, they would still have to pay for the energy costs of running the servers as well as the staff to make sure that the game kept running properly.

EA has decided that this is too much — SimCity Social is closing down.

Yet, that Leaves a Lot of Questions

Here is an excerpt from the FAQ page on the SimCity Social PlayFish forum:

What is happening to SimCity Social on Facebook?

On June 14th SimCity Social will be retiring on Facebook which means the game will no longer be available for play.

Why is SimCity Social being retired?

We had to make the difficult decision to close down SimCity Social so we can reallocate development resources to other titles that we hope you’ll have just as much fun playing. We hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of the games and we thank you for everything you’ve added to the community.

When will SimCity Social be retired and no longer available for play?

As of June 14th, SimCity Social on Facebook will no longer be available to play.

Who will this affect?

Players of SimCity Social.

What can I play now?

EA offers a variety of other fun and free games for you to try. As valued players, we plan on offering you something to show our appreciation. Over the next few days, keep an eye on this post where we’ll announce a special offer to thank you for playing our game.

What if I have an existing balance of Diamonds in SimCity Social on Facebook?

Players are encouraged to spend their remaining balance of Diamonds in SimCity Social before the game is retired on June 14th. As of that date, any remaining Diamonds left in the game will be invalid.

What if I have a Playfish cash card I have not redeemed?

Players are encouraged to redeem and spend their Playfish cash cards before the game is retired on June 14th. After that date, you will need to contact customer service regarding your Playfish cash cards.

Please go to Help.ea.com and select Contact Us to contact Customer Service.

What will happen to the forums for SimCity Social?

The forums will be officially closed and taken offline on June 14th

But is this really an unfair thing for EA to do?

Share how you feel in the comments below.

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There have been a lot of reports as of late regarding how video games can be beneficial for your children. But you may be shocked to hear that there is a lot for you to learn too. Parents can learn an awful lot about their children via watching them playing various free Ben 10 games, Scooby Doo games, Batman games, and alike. This proves to be highly beneficial because it is important to learn as much about how your child behaves from as young as possible. By doing this you will be better equipped to help them in all areas of life because you will become accustomed to their behaviour and the way theirmind works.

Discover your child’s level of emotional stability

When you watch your child playing video games you will see them experience an array of emotions. They will feel happiness, excitement, pride and anticipation, yet they will also experience frustration, annoyance, and even anger. You will be able to note how emotionally stable your child is. Are they someone whose emotions are erratic? Or, do their emotions only fluctuate slightly? It is important to be aware of this because you will be prepared for how they are likely to deal with things later in life. Furthermore, if your child is someone who gets very emotional then you may want to try and tame this. Alternatively, if your child seems unfazed by anything then you may want to bring them out of their shell a little bit more.

Discover how your child’s mind works

Most video games revolve around the method of problem solving. You will get to see how your child’s mind operates so that they prove victorious in the game they are playing. You will be able to note how they solve certain issues and problems. After all, there is no one right way to come to a certain conclusion. Take maths for example – there are many ways to come to the same one answer for a certain problem. If you learn more about how your child’s mind operates then you will be better equipped to help them with homework and alike. This is because you will be able to explain things in a way that are more likely to be easier to digest for your child.

Discover your child’s level of concentration

When your child is playing a game you should pay particular attention to theirlevel of concentration. Are they fully focused all of the time? Or, are they easily distracted? Do they read all of the instructions and pay full attention to the moves they are making? Or, do they simply press any buttons in a hit and hope sort of manner? If your child struggles to concentrate properly then this is an area you may want to work on. And don’t worry; lots of children find concentrating difficult, so your child will not be the only one. Nevertheless, if you can enhance their concentration levels then you will see an improvement in theirschool life and alike.

Next time your child is playing one of the free Ben 10 games or Tom and Jerry games then you should take some time to watch how they behave. You will learn a great deal about your child and this proves highly beneficial in theirdevelopment.

Author bio – Piter Thomas is a freelance journalist. He writes on varied topics, with cartoons and games being frequent subjects touched upon, including the likes of; free Ben 10 games and Batman cartoons.

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What would April Fools’ Day be without a gag from Google?

This year’s joke explores the search giant’s gaping lack of search data on smells with the beta product Google Nose.

There is a link to information about Google Nose on the Google home page (as shown above) and also at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) and off to the side as a suggested search.

“Nose” as an option in the Google results page.

Suggested Smells for Google Nose

On the suggested search results, searchers are also given the option to “Share aroma” — which means post it on your Google+ feed.

Clicking the link to “How it works” takes you to a landing page created with as much care as any other Google product. The page explains how Google nose is expanding Google’s search index with “15M+ scentibytes.” At the bottom of the page is a list of other Google products that will be enhanced by Google Nose:

• Scratch and sniff Google Books
• Food Doodles
• New car smell for the Google self-driving car
• YouTube nosed captions
• AdScent for Business (allowing smellable ads)

Some of these links connect to blog posts on the respective services blogs that tie in to the gag, but others disappointingly just go to the service’s main page. It would have been interesting to see a blog post or press release for each of these other services as well.

Google did go as far as to create a promotional video, though.

With all the possibilities for this new search technology, what would you like to smell?

The post Google Nose: April Fools’ has Never Been Smellier appeared first on SLee And Topher.

Redbox recently joined the ranks of online streaming video providers with their Redbox Instant service. After a one-month free trial, I’ve decided to opt out.

Program Overview

Like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Video, this new service called Redbox Instant is primarily a video streaming program. Users can stream movies from their website or through the Xbox 360 app (at the time of my trial, this was the only system to have an app for Redbox Instant).

In addition to online streaming, the default subscription also includes 4 credits for one-night DVD rentals from Redbox kiosks. Using the credits is a little bit confusing at first, but it’s actually pretty simple.

How to use your Redbox Instant Credits:

1. Pick out your movies on the Redbox kiosk like normal.
2. When you go to check out, tap the button to use credits before you pay.
3. The kiosk asks for verification of your credits, so you just swipe the credit card associated with your Redbox Instant account.
4. Enter your ZIP code and you’re all set.

The one-month free trial that they are offering right now is on the 4 credit plan. These credits are not good for video games or for Blu-ray movies — only DVDs. Which brings us into pricing.

Redbox Instant Pricing

The default plan includes the 4 DVD credits for $8 per month. You can also choose from a plan with Blu-ray credits at $9 per month or a plan with no credits at all — just streaming — for $6 per month.

This is on par with Netflix (streaming only) and Hulu. Both of those streaming services run at $7.99 per month. (Try Hulu Plus – Get 1-week FREE.)

An important difference is that the Redbox Instant catalog isn’t completely available just because you have a subscription. Granted, there are thousands of movies available at no extra cost for subscribers, but there are also many that cost extra to rent or buy.

This aspect of Redbox Instant is similar to Amazon Instant Video. If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can watch some movies for no extra cost, but many of the newer movies or the movies with weird contracting issues require additional payment.

On this point, Redbox Instant doesn’t seem to be as good of a deal. Just as an example, the movie 500 MPH Storm is available for rent or purchase through Redbox Instant and through Amazon Instant Video. But while Redbox Instant charges $4.99 for a standard definition rental and $16.99 for purchase, Amazon Instant video is only $3.99 and $14.99, respectively.

Take into consideration the subscription price. Amazon Prime costs $79 annually. That works out to approximately $6.58 per month. Amazon doesn’t offer any physical disks, so we are comparing with the diskless Redbox Instant plan which is $6 per month.

If that were the end of the story, Redbox would be a better deal. But you have to keep in mind that Amazon Prime also includes free two-day shipping on many items (everything I’ve bought from Amazon since I joined Amazon Prime has fallen into the free two-day shipping category). If you shop much with Amazon, this can wind up being significant savings.

Also, Amazon recently added a “lending” feature with participating Kindle ebooks. Amazon Prime subscribers get one free “lend” per month.

All that to say the benefits of Amazon Prime extend far beyond video streaming.

Redbox Instant Service Quality

Now that we’ve covered what the program promises, let’s look at how the service actually performed.

Excellent Customer Service

Before I make any other comments about Redbox Instant, I want to say that they did a great job with customer service.

When I first went to their landing page and saw that you had to sign up for an invite, I thought it was going to be another Pinterest and I’d have to wait days if not weeks before they let me in.

You can imagine my surprise when I was immediately sent a code to join the beta program. Though they didn’t really have to do anything special to create this positive experience, exceeding customer expectations is an excellent way for a business to ingratiate itself with its customers.

As I shared in my previous post about Redbox Instant, I first became aware of the service through a trivia game that Xbox Rewards runs every Friday. Even before I went to the Redbox Instant website, I knew I wanted to use the Xbox 360 app. I was frustrated to find out that the code I got to join the beta program was not the same kind of code that’s used to download the Xbox 360 app.

I looked around on their website for a while and couldn’t find any clear instructions in their support pages as to how I could get the code. At the end of one of the support pages, there was a comment box asking if the article had answered my question. I left feedback — more out of spite than a belief that anyone would respond — explaining how the article didn’t help me find what I was looking for.

Again, my expectations were blown away when I got an email from a customer service rep apologizing for the difficulty. Included in the email was the access code that I needed to download the app.

The Redbox Instant Xbox 360 app in action.

The Rest of the Program

I’m sad to say that the customer service was the only part of my experience with the Redbox Instant beta program that made me want to keep it.

The program has thousands of movies, but they are mostly B movies or documentaries that I have never heard of, featuring actors I don’t know. And having so many movies that I don’t care about makes it that much harder to find one that I want to watch.

The lack of organization doesn’t help. The categories range from the typically broad “Horror” and “Drama” to the ultra-specific “Unfit for Duty” or “Just for Kicks.” That’s helpful for those who want to watch a movie about karate, kung-fu, ninjas, or ineffective authority figures, but I don’t think I’ve ever started off looking for a movie thinking about any of those things.

The rating system is also years behind their competitors, especially Netflix. You may have heard that Netflix uses a complex algorithm to determine what movies viewers will enjoy based on their previous likes and dislikes. So if I were someone who loved karate movies, Netflix would suggest those to me because of my demonstrated interest. If I hated karate movies, Netflix wouldn’t suggest them.

Redbox’s system is merely a user-generated rating. Anyone in the program can subjectively rate movies however they would like. The average of that user feedback determines the movies’ ratings. There is no personalization.

But as underwhelming as that is, it’s not half as important as the service’s ability to actually deliver the video. When I watch a movie online, I want it to be as clear as watching a DVD. That would have been considered an absurd request even a few years ago, but the success of the other businesses in this space has created that expectation.

Because of that expectation, I was disappointed when I tried to stream a Redbox Instant movie on my computer and the video would periodically pause while the audio track continued at normal speed. Then the video would either jump to where it should have been, or it would go too fast, like I was fast-forwarding, until it caught up.

My experience on the Xbox 360 app wasn’t much better. My wife and I watched Dumb and Dumber one evening, and we were both frustrated that the playback was choppy for the entire movie. It looked as if half of the frames had been taken out of the movie.

Clearly it was not a very enjoyable viewing experience on my computer or on the Xbox.

My Recommendations

I was very unimpressed with Redbox Instant. The service is still in beta, though, so perhaps a lot of these issues will be resolved before they roll out the final version.

The good thing is you can try it out risk-free. In the words of LeVar Burton, “Don’t take my word for it.” The best way to know what you think about it is to try it out yourself. Head over to RedboxInstant.com and take the one-month free trial.

But while you’re at it, you might as well check out the other providers as well:

Netflix frequently offers a one-month free trial. I first got Netflix to watch movies, but in recent years they have added a lot of TV shows that are very entertaining. Click here to sign up.

You can also try out a 1-week free trial of Hulu Plus. Netflix is good for older shows (e.g. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer), but they don’t have new shows like Hulu does. New shows are usually up on Hulu within a day or two. They also have a ton of films from the Criterion Collection. Click here to sign up for a free 1-week trial of Hulu.

And of course, Amazon Prime is a clear winner. I recouped my costs for this program last year within a month with the free 2-day shipping alone. And again, there are tons of movies and shows that are included with Amazon Instant Video and free Kindle books. Click here to start a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime.

The post Redbox Instant Review appeared first on SLee And Topher.

Wouldn’t it be nice if your MacBook was faster? No more pinwheel of death. No more lag when running too many programs. Just a well-running machine that does what you want, when you want.

You can make your Apple laptop be just that smooth with these tips for how to upgrade MacBook RAM.

There are two hardware components of a computer that really affect how fast it runs: the processor and the RAM.

If your processor is a lot slower than your RAM, the processor will be the bottleneck, and it won’t matter how much RAM you add because none of it will make the processor go any faster. On the other hand, if you don’t have enough RAM, your processor will have to pull information out of virtual memory — drastically slowing down your computer.

SLee had been thinking about upgrading the RAM in his MacBook Pro for a while, but someone told him that it wouldn’t make any difference because it was really the processor that was slowing him down. I convinced him to upgrade the RAM anyway, and it’s a good thing I did: now his Mac is running at least twice as fast.

We increased the memory from 4 GB RAM to 8 GB RAM, and while we were working I realized that there were a few tricks we were using to simplify the process that may not be well known to others in the same situation. So without further adieu, here are some tips to help you out:

How to Get Cheap Mac RAM

RAM can be absurdly expensive, so getting our RAM for cheap was an important thing to consider.

The first part of upgrading your RAM is being able to upgrade in the first place. We started off with a MacBook that wasn’t already at maximum capacity. When you purchase a new MacBook, you have options for customization and can order the maximum amount of RAM right off the bat. There are two problems with this:

1. You won’t get the best deal buying a new MacBook. SLee’s past two have been refurbished models. Both worked just like new and both were at least 30% off retail price.
2. If you get a MacBook with the RAM maxed already, you will be paying a premium for Apple RAM.

Apple RAM is not cheap. To get 8 GB for SLee’s MacBook Pro would have cost $200.

The same amount of RAM from a non-Apple brand is often 75% less. We wound up getting this “Apple-certified” Corsair RAM from Amazon for $48.98.

You might be wondering what “Apple-certified” means. We certainly were.

After looking through the product information we found “Apple-certified” means the RAM was tested at Apple’s compatibility lab to ensure functionality with all current products that have official Apple support for 8GB SO-DIMMs. (So this means that it could also work as iMac memory.)

This RAM also comes with a limited lifetime warranty so even if it is faulty, your downside is minimal.

All that to say, just because your MacBook is an Apple product doesn’t mean that you have to get Apple RAM. Shop around some and you can find a much better deal. In addition to Corsair, you can also consider Kingston RAM and Crucial MacBook RAM.

Pick the Right RAM for Your Machine

Before you purchase any RAM at all, it’s super important to make sure that you are buying the right kind. The good thing is that checking your specs on a Mac are as simply as making a couple clicks.

To be specific, click 1 is on the Apple icon at the top left of the screen and click 2 is on “About This Mac.”

The “About This Mac” screen shows which version of OS X you’re running, your processor specs and your memory specs. You can get more information by clicking the “More Info…” button (obviously), but this is all the information we need. (The screenshot above shows 8 GB of RAM because I took this after we had already upgraded; before it showed 4 GB.)

Now that you know the current status of your Mac, it’s time to find out what you’re upgrading to.

Even though you’re not buying your RAM from Apple, you still need to go to Apple.com to find out what kind you need for your particular model. Go to Apple.com and click on the “Store” button in the navigation bar. In the left sidebar, look for “Memory” under the “For Mac” heading. (Or you can just click here.)

Choose your type of Mac on this screen. You can get iMac memory, Mac mini memory, MacBook memory or Mac Pro memory. The model we were working with is a MacBook Pro (Winter & Fall 2011), so we chose that option. On the next screen you just match up the specs you got from the “About This Mac” screen with the options in the Apple Store.

When you have selected the correct page for your Mac, take note of the specs. For instance, SLee’s MacBook Pro can only take up to 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM. If we purchased 1600 MHz RAM, it wouldn’t work or at best would be unstable. On the other hand, if we got 1066 MHz RAM, it might function, but it would be much slower.

Determining Your MacBook RAM Capacity

The information in the Apple Store will also help you determine if you have the capacity to upgrade your MacBook RAM. If the specs listed on the “About This Mac” screen are identical to the results in the Apple Store, you don’t have the capacity to take any more RAM.

For instance, SLee’s computer currently shows 8 GB RAM. That is also the only option in the Apple Store, so we know that the MacBook RAM capacity has already been met. However, before we upgraded his computer, the “About This Mac” screen showed 4 GB currently installed, so we knew we had some room to work with.

Doing the Deed

So, you’ve checked your specs, picked out and ordered the appropriate RAM, and now you’re ready to do your upgrade. The good news is that it’s a relatively simple process. The bad news is that it varies a little bit from model to model.

Good news again: you can find written directions and diagrams for whichever model you have here on the Apple Support site. If you would prefer color pictures, you can follow the instructions on iFixIt. Just find your model, and click the link for “RAM.”

There are a few important tips that I want to point out here.

First, in addition to a tiny phillips head screwdriver, you probably will also need a Torx bit – especially if you are also planning to replace your MacBook Pro hard drive or do some cleaning while you’re in there.

Which brings us to the second important tip. Since you already have everything exposed when you upgrade MacBook RAM, it’s a good idea to go ahead and do some cleaning while you’re in there. For the fan and some other solid parts, you can just take an old (clean!) toothbrush to brush off any dust, dirt, or grime you find. You can use some air power dusters like these on the areas where you can’t use a brush.

One last tip that really makes this process easier involves something you probably have in your fridge — a carton of eggs. An empty carton to be exact. If you don’t know already, you will soon find out that the screws in your MacBook are never the same size. There are several different shapes and sizes that hold your computer together, and to put it back together you’ll need to know which screws go where. The best way that I’ve found to keep screws of the same type together but separate from all the other types is to put them in the chambers of an empty egg carton.

Enjoy Your Faster Mac

With these tips you can upgrade MacBook RAM cheaply and easily. Your computer will feel like a brand new machine. Enjoy!

The post How to Upgrade MacBook RAM: Tips for Your Success appeared first on SLee And Topher.

For years, it has been the best RSS feed aggregator — which, like many Google products, has been available for no cost to its users. In the very near future, this service will sadly no longer be available, at any cost, because Google is retiring Google Reader.I was working on some internet marketing tactics this morning when I suddenly got an alert from Google Reader:

Google Reader will be retired on July 1, 2013. If you’d like to download a copy of all your Reader data before then, you can do so through Google Takeout.

I was immediately in shock.

What will I do without Google reader? I currently have several feeds from news sites, blogs, and Google Alerts that I review daily.

It wasn’t immediately clear why Google would axe such a wonderful product, so I looked further to find the rationale behind it.

As it turns out, Google has been doing “Spring Cleaning” since 2011. The goal is to reduce the number of projects so that more energy can be put into the most important ones. The most recent wave of cuts brings the Google product death toll to 70.

The official Google Reader blog also stated, “usage of Google Reader has declined,” which is another reason why this product made it on the hit list.

What You Can Do

I’m not the only one who’s disheartened by the news. There is a petition on Change.org asking Google to keep Google Reader alive. Who knows if Google will actually listen or not, but it can’t hurt to try and let them know that we value the product.

Click here to view and sign the petition.

If you have data in your Reader that you’d like to keep or move to another aggregate, you’ll need to download it from Google Takeout. In the event that Google doesn’t decide in our favor, you’ll need to do this prior to July 1, 2013. When you log in to Takeout, the service will compile your feeds into an xml file. You can download the file and import it into another service.

Then, of course, you’ll have to find another service to use.

Since Google Reader was such an outstanding product, I hadn’t bothered shopping around for another reader. If you’re like me and have no idea where to turn, there’s a brand new site “Replace Reader” that has a list of alternative providers and their rank by popularity. Find yourself a new provider here.

Hopefully this petition works and we won’t have to switch over to anyone else.

We’ll just have to wait and see…

The post Why Google is Retiring Google Reader and When appeared first on SLee And Topher.