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January 1, 2023

January Tip: Choose an SSD instead of an HDD

Solid state drives, or SSDs, have been on the market for over a decade. Initially, they were exorbitantly priced — over 10x more than a comparable HDD. In recent years, their sky-high prices have come down to earth, and SSDs typically cost between 2x and 3x their HDD counterparts. Better yet, SSDs are faster and more reliable than they were ten years ago.

With SSD prices close to HDDs, it's hard to justify buying hard drives anymore. Case in point: I just ran a fresh Time Machine backup on my iMac Pro and backed up 1.6 TB of data in 80 minutes. That's 20 gigabytes per minute! My previous USB-C hard drive took about 10 hours. My USB-A drives took 1 to 2 days to complete the initial backup.

Notably, I used the fastest external SSD available — a 4TB SanDisk Extreme Pro, which supports up to 2000 MB/s read & write speeds. It would have been even quicker if my iMac Pro supported USB 3.2 instead of USB 3.1.

December 1, 2022

December Tip: Wait to Enter Your Email Address

🎄 Christmas shopping online? Chances are you've visited a site that pops an alert in the middle of the page saying something like:

"Sign up for our newsletter and save 10%!"

In most cases, these promotions are legitimate offers. It might be worthwhile to enter your email address and save a few bucks. I've signed up for several similar promos, then canceled my newsletter subscription shortly after my purchase.

November 1, 2022

November Tip: Cancel Your Subscription Immediately

Everything seems to be a subscription these days. From streaming services to in-app purchases, those monthly recurring charges can add up. Reviewing your credit card statement and realizing you've been paying for a subscription you're not using is especially frustrating.

One way to avoid wasteful spending is to cancel your subscription as soon as you sign up. If you signed up for a free trial or are unlikely to use the service long-term, you can cancel the subscription right away. Nearly all subscriptions allow you to use the service through the end of the trial period or for the time you've already paid.

I canceled my Apple Fitness+ membership last week, but I can still use it through March next year.

October 1, 2022

October Tip: Email Files as Compressed Archives

Need to email one or more large files to a friend or colleague? Make it easy for them and send a compressed archive.

Emailing a compressed archive has several benefits versus sending the original files:

1. It reduces the attachment size. The amount of compression varies widely between different file formats, but sometimes you'll reduce the file size by more than 50%. Maximum attachment sizes vary between mail servers, so it's best to keep attached file(s) as small as possible.
2. It saves disk space. Attachments fill up email accounts much faster than the messages themselves. By keeping them as small as possible, you'll save space in both your recipient's Inbox and your Sent folder.
3. It reduces clutter. If you're emailing more than two or three files, a single compressed archive is more manageable for the recipient.
4. It improves deliverability. Mail servers often disallow attachments with certain filenames and file extensions for security purposes. You can bypass most of these filters by sending a single .ZIP archive.

Both Windows and macOS make it easy to create compressed Zip archives.