2021-11-22 MUGOO Zoom iMeeting

[AdminMan]

We are still unable able to have an in-person meeting at the library, so the following Zoom details apply.

Date: 2021-11-22 (Monday)
Time: 7:30 PM ET  You can join the Zoom meeting starting at 7:20.
Venue: A Zoom meeting that you can join on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Although Zoom works in many browsers we STRONGLY recommend using the dedicated app on your device with the largest screen for the best experience.
You do NOT need a Zoom account to join a meeting!
If you need instructions, go here: https://mugoo.com/index.php/Main/UsingZOOM

Agenda:

0 - Group chin-wag while folks log on                                                   7:20 - 7:30

1 - MUGOO Executive elections                                                            7:30 - 7:40

2 - Not backing up?  The road to hell is
     paved with good intentions                      with Jamie Johnson             
                                                          plus some members' methods
                                                                    and experiences             7:40 - 8:30

3 - Focus Hocus Pocus...
     Apple's Focus feature                               with David Rhynas
                                                                plus group discussion          8:30 - 9:00                                                             

4 -  Presidential invitation for Dec 13th
      Show-n-Tell presentations                     with Wally Kuzmicz           3 minutes

5 -  Black Friday Nov 26 and
      Cyber Monday Nov 29 ...
      What deals have you heard of?             open discussion -  to close the meeting

                                           

Unfortunately, no after meeting wings or desserts at the Royal Oak, but feel free to prepare your own snacks and share them with us on screen!

Zoom meeting details:   <---  will only work for this meeting! Join any time after 7:20, meeting starts precisely at 7:30!!
Meeting ID: expired
Meeting pass code: expired


Did you miss a meeting?
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Don't forget the Ottawa Public Library!
Even though we are unable to meet in person at the library, the OPL still offers a wealth of services you can access online. Go to https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en

[DavidR]

0 - Group chin-wag while folks log on
Wally mentioned that there is still no update from the Library as to when the space will be available to resume our in-person meetings.

1 - MUGOO Executive elections
The positions of President (Wally), Treasurer (Steve) and Secretary (David) were acclaimed for the coming year.  We are still seeking an appointment for the Membership Coordinator position.  Thanks to Jonathan for his many years of service.

2 - Not backing up?  The road to hell is paved with good intentions - with Jamie Johnson             
(plus some members' methods and experiences)
Jamie gave a comprehensive overview of his approach to backups.  With over 50TB of images, there is a lot to safeguard! You can view his slides at the link below.  We also enjoyed some background photos from his 2017 trip to Iceland. https://www.jamiejohnson.ca/presentations/backup-for-the-macintosh-users-group-of-ottawa

Jamie's main objectives are to never lose any data in the event of computer hardware failure, fire or theft AND to minimize the time required to do the backups.  To achieve this he always has three copies: one on his production drive, one on a separate local drive, and one off site (at a friend's or in the cloud).  His archives of original files (untouched) are also stored off site.

There were other interesting comments along the way. 

If you prefer to go with manual backups, you only need to back up as often as you are willing to redo the work since the last copy over.  For most of us, it's far better to automate the backup process as part of our workflow.

Value your time.  The reliability and reduced cost of the latest drives makes it easier to purchase more storage rather than have to frequently manage the remaining space on older drives.  LeRoy mentioned that Coscto is now selling 8TB drives for $170; these "green, more eco friendly" products may be a bit slower but are otherwise fine for backup purposes.

Wirecutter.com, now owned by the New York Times, is one of his preferred sites for recommendations on the best products and services. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/

Jamie and wirecutter.com recommend backblaze.com as the best online cloud service at $7.00 per month for virtually unlimited storage. https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup.html#af9ktr

It's good to enable Apple's Time Machine but recognize that it only backs up the internal drive and not any connected external drives.

Jamie has been using SuperDuper to make a bootable clone for the past 15 years and it has never failed. https://shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

Carbon Copy Cloner provides similar bootable clone functions. https://bombich.com

The other option is to go to with RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks).  His preferred system is DROBO. https://www.drobo.com

Jamie is continually moving data to new drives to avoid "bit rot."  It's generally a good idea to be moving forward to stay current with the technology.  Also, you have to periodically spin drives up to ensure that they are still functioning.

SoftRAID from OWC verifies that a drive is good.  You can also do a 3 pass secure erase with Disk Utility and if there are no error messages, the drive is good. https://www.softraid.com

LeRoy is using the freeware FreeFileSync for backing up his movie collection. https://freefilesync.org

Neil uses Retrospect to back up all machines on his network.  It backs up to both Backblaze and local drives.  https://www.retrospect.com/uk

You generally don't need to worry about email services such Gmail which use IMAP (Internet Messaging Access Protocol) since all messages are maintained on the central server.

Following Jamie's presentation David and Gillian each gave a short presentation on their own backup arrangement.  Many of the same principles can be seen here and you can view their presentation decks below.  They are also fans of SuperDuper.

A question arose about expanding the number of ports on the M1 MacBook Air machine.  Several products were suggested:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00SCE4E0I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/HMYE2ZM/A/satechi-aluminium-usb-c-multiport-pro-adapter?fnode=a4c59642c697687d98ee9fac572974ca5d6f8efa03d6e280a30630c9c55754c8accfd4221df5f7958659e60df7726c53d8b3d7cf1133688a6c3fcf419d9e1ba597d3622548ec6e32b6b187c96103916d7b7e1bdd5b80d2dc112718313f7f5b2d

https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/HMX12ZM/A/caldigit-ts3-plus-dock?fnode=9bee3ecac872875fdb5f078ff2715632b379d8569cc6d7e4a7f9de44195419d2b1de2608123348a606a8a8844136c38dba8f67ba8bd285a263161c96295de00c33f2e7de3223c750d975fba71c8bc09eb1045fc1cf237b84d8177f243aa19ee0

https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/HMX02ZM/A/caldigit-thunderbolt-3-minidock?fnode=d478591f5eb6d38f5d02f5f2f50bc2091523e1d544f6981a85914cd96d53591d03b89ebc8688d50b4f9d336ca13bc47f81e7d9d9e935d1d599644527a24d91c78b8e7d941ed4ffd2300f67e9db2965b3d405dbb6399f8b14ae11ac835d76dc72

3 - Focus Hocus Pocus ... Apple's Focus feature - with David Rhynas plus group discussion
During our Exec Planning meeting Wally had inquired where the Do Not Disturb toggle was now located on his iPhone.  It now part of the iOS 15 Focus capability and David expanded on his June overview on how this works.  You can see his presentation slides below.

Marc had been using the expanded Focus feature since the iOS 15 launch.  He likes that all of his Apple devices go in to the same focus mode automatically, which includes quiescing his Apple Watch at night.

Be ready for an "avalanche" of notices once the Sleep mode is over. Marc generally waits until breakfast.

Focus while Driving is a bit different from before.  It turns everything off unless specifically enabled.

Three of the Focus modes are automatic: Sleep, Driving and Fitness.

Marc generally likes these new capabilities but points out that it still needs some further streamlining.

4 -  Presidential invitation for Dec 13th
      Show-n-Tell presentations - with Wally Kuzmicz
Wally mentioned that December 13th is our annual "Show and Tell" meeting where members have an opportunity present projects that they've been working on.

5 -  Black Friday Nov 26 and Cyber Monday Nov 29 ... What deals have you heard of?             
(open discussion -  to close the meeting)
Neil recommended a site with some Black Friday recommendations. https://www.blogto.com/city/2021/11/black-friday-2021-deals-toronto-announced-so-far/

Marc uses Black Friday and Cyber Monday to get the best price for his annual subscriptions.