I purchased the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw in 2020 just before the pandemic. I purchased the print because at the office we had a Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE C5535i. The imageRUNNER scanned well, worked with Windows 10, Windows 11, Mac, and all our mobile devices. Scan to email never failed, and it was easy to manage through the web interface. I really liked this printer and I figured the imageCLASS MF743Cdw would work just as well. It worked almost as expected.
My home network is setup for DHCP, and I set the printer with a static IP address and made the reservation in the router. The MF743 is connected by a wired ethernet cable. The MF743 works great when the Mac can see the printer. However, when the printer reboots due to a power outage or maintenance, the printer add extra characters to it’s name and the Mac can find it. I think I found the answer on a Canon community post.
In the IPv4 Settings, turn off all the DHCP options and enter a specific name for the printer in DNS settings and mDNS Settings. I also used the updated Canon driver instead of Airprint.
So far, I’ve restarted the printer several times and I can print and scan with no issues. I do not have to remove and add the printer when the printer reboots. I still have a problem with printing from mobile devices when he printer is in power save mode. Someone has to tap the screen to wake up the printer and then it is listed under the available devices.
I like having the iCloud Drive on my MacOS dock. I do this for my personal and work accounts. Below are the steps to add the icon to your dock and your desktop
Open the Mac Finder and select Go and then select Go to Folder
Enter the follow path and press return /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Applications/
Drag the icon iCloud Drive application to your Dock or Desktop
I dragged the icon next to the Finder icon on the Dock.
Wednesday, December 1, 2021, started off like any more work day. I walked into the office and connected my MacBook Pro to my Dell port replicator as I’ve done for several years. I grabbed a coffee pod and headed towards the kitchen for a cup of coffee in my second favorite mug. I went back to my desk with a granola bar started my work day and enjoyed that cup of black gold.
My mug is a dark brown color
It was a great day, and I accomplished many tasks and was ready to meet my manager for my bi-weekly meeting to discuss my current work load, what’s coming up, and for me to ask questions. All in all it was a typical day. However, just before my meeting, my day was going to get worse.
I disconnected my MacBook Pro and headed into the conference room. I brought my second cup of coffee, sat down and waited for my manager. I opened the lid of my MacBook and there is was, a dead screen. No response from the mouse or the keyboard. Just a rainbow of color and missing rows of pixels. Nothing I could do but a hard shutdown. The computer to the same problem again. This was not going to be a good day.
After the meeting (which I had my notes on my phone and as reference), I went back to my desk and connected the computer to my port replicator. Success!! The computer was functional, but only in this state. It appears I have a bad video ribbon cable. I texted my wife the sad news, and she asked how much will it cost for repairs. That will need to be a call for Friday when I have time for Apple Technical Support.
I called Apple technical Support and they tried to connect to my computer with no success. I was amazed they were able to connect to my iPhone so I could show them the issue. Now the computer looks worse.
I was not in the market for a new computer. I was planning to purchase a new computer in 2023 after more testing and compatibility issues were worked out with the M1 chip. This new MacBook Pro M1 Pro is incredibly fast! I am very pleased with the purchase. I have installed almost all of my applications and my data was retained in Microsoft OneDrive and iCloud.com.
Something I didn’t think about when I made the purchase was my virtual computers I have in Parallels. The virtual computers were setup for an Intel based system and will not work on an ARM based chipset. So my Windows 11 Pro is now a Windows 11 Pro Arm based preview, which is good until Sep 2023. My Windows 10 Pro virtual computer I use for work is not available.
I do not have buyer’s remorse for my purchase. This is a great computer and I got some money for my 2017 MacBook Pro. Once I have the virtual machines resolved, I ca go back to my MacBook full time instead of the work provided computer.
I’m a Mac user and I prefer MacOS over Windows. I still have my Sager NP8690 with Windows 7 Ultimate 64 which I use once every four months. I run a Windows 10 VM on my MacBook using Parallels for work about twice a month. I also use my Lenovo work computer from time to time for remote support at work. I am curious about trying Windows 11 and comparing it to Windows 7 and 10.
Not that I plan on covering from MacOS. I like to try out different operating systems to see what’s new. Each OS has their strong points. I prefer MacOS over Windows.
Yesterday I picked up on Amazon the Apple Magic Trackpad 2 in Space Gray (it was on sale). I’m sure I still paid too much for it. The Magic Trackpad 2 works great with my iPad Air 4. I shutdown my MacBook Pro at the end of my work day and used the iPad Air 4 with the new trackpad for several meetings and other things.
The Satechi Slim X1 keyboard and the Apple Magic Trackpad 2 work great together. It fun learning how to use the iPad as a computer replacement. A few months ago I worked my day job as an IT support using the iPad. I was able to complete most things without too much aggravation. A few things would be better, and maybe I just need to install Microsoft Company Portal and use Office365 apps to get a better experience. Still, if you had to, you can use the iPad as a replacement computer if needed. If only you could have dual screens.
Maybe next week I will work a full day or two from the iPad.
About a week ago I purchased a Satechi Slim X1 Bluetooth Backlit Keyboard for my home office. You can connect unto three Bluetooth devices to the X1 keyboard. Press and hold the fn key with one of the Bluetooth keys to program. I set the Bluetooth connections to match my Logitech MX Anywhere 2 mouse. Switching between the three connections is quick by pressing the fn key with the corresponding Bluetooth key. You can also connect the USB-C cable to the keyboard and computer and press fn Eject to switch to a wired connection.
You can adjust the back light of the keyboard by pressing the F5 to turn down the brightness and F6 will increase the brightness. The back light is nice, but I only used it twice, once when I pressed the keys and then for the pictures for this post. The light does bleed out from the keys.
One key that I was missing is the Mission Control on Apple Magic Keyboard (F4). The F4 key is now mapped to a task switcher. I checked the settings and found pressing ctrl and the up arrow ^↑ will activate Mission Control.
Satechi states it will take about 2 – 3 hours to charge the keyboard. Depending on the brightness of the back light keys, you can get anywhere from 8 hours to 125 hours and 13 days of standby time.
This is my favorite keyboard. I have it programmed to connect to my Lenovo T480 work computer, my MacBook Pro, and my 2020 iPad Air. It is comfortable for my ergonomic needs, responsive keys and switching between devices, and looks great. Plus the color is very close to the Space grey on my MacBook Pro.
I have an Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and needed to use this keyboard with my Windows 10 work computer. The keyboard works well with Windows 10 except for the numeric keypad. Pressing the keys will display anything on the screen.
What to do?
Just press the Clear key and start using the numeric keypad. Windows will remember the numeric keypad after a reboot.
Back in October 2018, I purchased a 15″ 2017 Macbook Pro and to use as my main computer for home and the office. To be compliant, I installed Norton Security on my Mac and enabled all the features including those pesky browser extensions. The browser extensions disabled my ability to search Google from my Safari home screen and disabled my password manager, 1Password (one of my favorite applications). So I removed the extensions and thought everything was good to go.
Every few days I would receive a pop-up asking me to install the Norton browser extensions. No matter what, you can’t get out of it. Your only options are to Remind Me Later or Add. I searched the Internet and found that nobody had a solution. So I reached out to Norton and had the issue fixed with 30 minutes. All you need to do is install the extensions for all your browsers and then turn them off. Here are the steps
Safari
Open Norton Security and click Advance.
Click on Safe Web and select Safari.
Install Norton Safe Search and Norton Password Manager extensions in Safari.
With Safari still open, click Safari from the menu bar and select Preferences.
Click on Extension and remove the check from the box.
Google Chrome
Open Norton Security and click Advance.
Click on Safe Web and select Chrome.
Follow all the prompts to install the extensions Norton Safe Web, Safe Search, and Password Manager.
Click the three dots on the menu and select More Tools and then Extensions.
Turn off the Norton extensions by clicking on the blue slider button.
Ten days and about five different Wi-Fi networks later, and I have not been bothered with extension pop-ups!
The other day I was looking for some new ideas for videos I make for my son’s Boy Scout troop, and I received an email from Pixel Film Studios about a new plug-in called ProFreez Comic for Final Cut Pro. Well the luck of the Irish was smiling down on me, everything was 25% off for St. Patrick’s Day! I ended up purchasing ProFreez Comic and ProFreeze Spatter.
So I created a test clip using a few selfies from my camping trips this year. I kept the clips at 5 seconds, changed the duration of the plug-in to just a few seconds, and saved to my Photo Library. Using my iPhone, I changed my Facebook profile to the video clips below ( I ended up keeping version 2). The music clip is not available in Facebook profiles.
ratedmaxpower 