Milwaukee remains in the top five, but are they really that good?
November 2023
Home Prices Predicted to Fall 1.7% in 2024. These Metro Areas Will See the Biggest Declines.
Latest on Mets and Yankees target Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Dodgers believed to be strong contender for Japanese ace
Here’s the latest news and buzz on Mets and Yankees target Yoshinobu Yamamoto…
A Reminder That Trusting Everything to Cloud Storage Can Screw You Over
So much of our digital lives now exist solely in the cloud. Companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft make it all too easy to upload our important files to cloud storage from the moment we set up our devices.
On one hand, that’s a good thing: If something happens to your phone, tablet, or laptop, that doesn’t mean you lose all your messages, photos, and documents—assuming all that info is properly backed up to the cloud. When you get your device fixed or replaced, you can sign back into your account and pull all that data down from the cloud without losing anything in the transition. In fact, I suspect that our collective data has never been more secured than it is today, thanks to the abundance and simplicity of cloud storage.
However, that’s not to say that our backup situation is perfect—far from it. Relying solely on the cloud for data storage can have disastrous consequences.
Google recently lost up to six months’ worth of data for some Drive users
You can see those consequences in play this week: Unfortunately, some Google Drive users are reporting missing files dating back to May 2023. Google has publicly acknowledged the issue and is investigating, but that investigation won’t necessarily bring back any of the files that have vanished from these users’ Google Drive accounts. (I guess they’d just have to take comfort in knowing that Google figured out why it happened?)
For your protection, one Google Drive team member did warn users not to click disconnect account on Google Drive for desktop, and to avoid deleting or moving data in the following folders:
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Windows: %USERPROFILE%AppDataLocalGoogleDriveFS
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macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Google/DriveFS
…but that’s not exactly a big comfort.
To be clear, this event is not common. Companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft host a lot of data from millions, if not billions, of users, without regularly losing any of it. Still, if it can happen once, it can happen again. Perhaps Apple announces next year that iCloud had an issue, and three months worth of photo uploads are now gone. Maybe Microsoft loses OneDrive user’s data next October. You can’t assume these services will be infallible forever.
That isn’t to say don’t use them. I use iCloud for just about everything I do in the Apple ecosystem. However, for anything important, you need to make sure you have a secondary backup in case something goes wrong.
That’s what’s likely playing out with these affected Google Drive users right now: Some of them will have used their Google Drive accounts as a secondary backup for their files, keeping another backup of them stored on a hard drive or another cloud service. They’ll be frustrated, but not panicked, as the lost files will still be in this alternate location. Unfortunately, any users that added these files to Google Drive and deleted them from their computer (or created them in Drive and never made a backup) are likely very unhappy this week.
How to securely back up your files
So let’s talk about a secure backup situation looks like. Say you have an archive of important documents stored on your computer. They only exist on your computer, so if your SSD goes belly-up, those files are toast. So, what can you do? One easy solution is to add a copy of these files to a secondary location, whether that’s an external hard drive or cloud storage. Now, these files exist in two places separate from each other. If the SSD breaks, they’re in the cloud. If the cloud glitches out, they’re on your computer. If the files are super important, making additional backups ensures that should an unlikely disaster strike, you’ll still have access. Having files stored in at least two separate locations is usually enough protection for most of us.
But let’s say your computer is running out of storage, and you don’t want to store the files locally anymore. Don’t simply dump them on the cloud or on an external SSD, delete them from your PC, and call it a day—one backup is no backup, after all. You’ll want to copy them to another cloud storage or external storage solution to ensure there are at least two copies of those files somewhere.
Be careful with automated cloud storage solutions
Where this starts to get a bit tricky is when using automated cloud storage options like iCloud. Apple makes it easy to connect all your data to iCloud so you never really need to think about constantly backing things up. When you take a photo, it stores on your iPhone and iCloud: When you send a message, same thing.
While you technically have two files in two separate locations, a service like iCloud is tied to your iPhone. If you delete a message from your iPhone, it helpfully deletes that text from the cloud too. If you delete a photo from your library, it gets deleted from iCloud (after a 30 day countdown, anyway). That’s by design, and it means your files aren’t totally secure against data loss.
What I like to do is rely on cloud storage solutions like iCloud for general backing up purposes (if I lose my iPhone, signing into a new one with my Apple ID brings all my data back), while also making a full backup of my devices to an external source. You can make a backup of your iPhone to iTunes or Finder on your computer, for example, while still having all your data stored in iCloud. That way, if you accidentally delete a thread of messages from your iPhone and iCloud at once, you can restore from your backup to get them back. The same goes for missing photos, notes, contacts, or anything else that gets lost.
While you can rely on full cloud backups for a similar approach, they tend to back up automatically and overwrite the previous backup, so your chances of restoring to a backup that also is missing the data you’re looking for is high. The tradeoff with external backups, such as to a computer, is they’re less frequent, so you may miss new messages and photos that were added since the last backup. It’s a balancing act, but the point is to protect your data in as many ways as possible.
Photos are probably the thing I worry about losing most, and would be devastated if something happened to Apple’s servers and I lost every photo I’ve ever taken with mu iPhone. So on my Mac, I choose the “Download Originals to this Mac” option in Photos’ settings under iCloud. That way, my Mac always has a backup of the full-res photos and videos in my library, while my other devices can pull from the cloud as needed. Should something happen to the photos on Apple’s end, my Mac has all my media saved securely.
This conversation can get a little in the weeds, especially as you start to focus on specific services. (OneDrive, Google Drive, iCloud, etc.) But the general rule of thumb for all backups is simple: You need to keep all of your important files stored in at least two separate locations. So long as you have another source to pull your files from, you can safely weather any disaster—digital or physical—that befalls your data.
What the sale of the stake in the Mavericks could mean for Mark Cuban and the Adelson family
There are many factors in play surrounding Cuban’s decision to sell such a big share of the franchise.
What sale of Mavericks stake means for Mark Cuban
There are many factors in play surrounding Cuban’s decision to sell such a big share of the franchise. But he still has big plans for Dallas. – Jake Fischer
MLB Free Agency Tracker 2023-24: Top players available, latest signings
Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Cody Bellinger, and Blake Snell highlight this year’s class of free agents.
MLB Free Agency 2023-24: Start Date, Largest Contracts, History, Team Payrolls and more
Here is a breakdown of everything you need to know regarding 2023-24 MLB Free Agency, including start date, history, players to watch, team payrolls, and more.
How to Groom Your Dog Without Traumatizing Them
Grooming your dog can be scary for them and difficult for you, but it just has to be done. Once a dog gets too smelly or shaggy, there’s only one way out: bath time. Professionals cost a lot of money and aren’t always necessary for maintenance, so you can do this yourself. You just need to know how to groom your dog the right way, for both of your sakes.
Prepare your dog for grooming
The first step in not traumatizing the dog when you groom them comes long before any bathing, shaving, or nail-clipping: You have to train and prepare your pet for the big moment.
“Remind them that everything is okay,” says New York-based dog groomer Heather Faulds. “Basically, pet them, reassure them that this is okay, take it slow, and show them the tools.” Letting your pooch sniff and examine the tools you’ll be using can go a long way. If you’re using a harness, for instance, leave it around for them to sniff for a day or two before strapping them in. If you’re using a distracting toy, like the ones you attach to the bathtub wall so they focus on that instead of their bath, try using it in a dry setting first so they really like it and don’t associate it with the horrors of bathtime.
Faulds says she goes the extra mile to make animals feel comfortable, baby-talking them and going really slow if a dog is feeling scared. Use the same techniques you use when trying to acclimate your pooch to anything new: Positive reinforcement, a calm tone, and lots of patience.
Assess your dog’s specific grooming needs
Don’t try to tackle everything at once, especially if some needs are significantly more pressing than others. For example, if your pet’s fur isn’t super matted but their nails are long, just reach for the nail clippers, not the fur clippers. Doing too much at once is bound to stress your pet out, so take it slow.
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Your pet may never look dog show-ready. Don’t stress them out by striving for something unattainable.
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“A grooming session with your pet should always start with a thorough review of your pet’s overall health and current skin/coat condition,” says Michelle Wildman, director of differentiated experience at Pet Supplies Plus. “Next, the actual ‘grooming’ process should start with a safe nail clipping and ear cleaning. Every groom should include a thorough bath and brush with quality shampoo that is made for your pet’s skin type and one that helps improve the condition of their skin and coat.”
If you look your dog over and see that they need a full haircut, but you’re not ready to do that on your own, make sure you communicate with your groomer about what you want the final style to look like—and whether it’s possible with your pet’s current coat condition. Whether you’re doing this on your own or calling in a professional, be realistic: Your pet may never look dog show-ready. Don’t stress them out by striving for something unattainable.
“Sometimes if the coat is too matted, it would be painful to have the pet endure a full comb out, so a close shave is better for the pet despite the ‘look’ afterwards,” Wildman says.
Be patient grooming your dog
“A lot of people think dog grooming is easy until they try it at home for themselves. Dog grooming takes a lot of hard work and dedication. People think us groomers just play with puppies all day but there is a lot more to it than it seems,” says Ashley Sacco, a groomer in St. Louis. This won’t be fast, it will take practice, and you and your fur baby will both learn as you go.
“Challenges owners might run into if grooming at home could be anything from an ugly at-home haircut or skin problems from not properly prepping the dog for grooming. I’ve seen some bad cases of at-home grooming where people have cut the dogs with scissors and had to rush the dog to the vet. Using sharp objects on moving targets can be very dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. Dogs are unpredictable; you never know what can happen working with live animals,” Sacco says.
Wildman says the same thing: “Grooming pets at home can be very dangerous as pets are very unpredictable. They can move without warning which could result in an accident with the scissors or shears.”
Don’t make fast movements, get frustrated if your dog is getting distracted or nervous, or keep going if, at any time, it feels like you’re losing control of the situation. Saving money and time by knocking out a big task at home is great, but not if it puts your pet’s safety in jeopardy.
Recommended grooming tools
Make an investment in the tools you’re using for this. Sacco says that any successful groomer has high-quality shampoo and products, including professional equipment like a table, dryers, clippers, scissors, combs, and brushes.
To make this as easy as possible, pick up items like these before trying to groom your pooch:
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This pet dryer attachment that stops you from putting direct heat too close to your dog ($18.99)
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This mat that holds peanut butter and can be suctioned to your bathtub to distract your dog ($11.99)
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A quick-dip paw cleaner to handle post-walk messes without a full bath ($8.39)
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A highly-rated buzzer to help you trim while avoiding dangerous shears ($41.99)
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A hanging harness setup to immobilize your dog—as long as you think they’ll be OK with it ($37.99)
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A cleansing and conditioning pet shampoo, like this one with a 4.5-star rating ($8.99).
There are a ton of specialty products for dog-grooming, some more niche than others. It might be expensive to amass an arsenal of tools, but you’ll save money in the long run—and not endanger your dog, which is key. If your pooch has an overly negative reaction to any of these tools, try something else or just take them to a pro.
Sacco even has a phrase that sums this idea up: “Humanity before vanity.” Remember to be careful and patient. A bad haircut is temporary, but a bad experience can stick with your dog forever.
Maintain your pet’s fur between grooming sessions
Even if your dog hates bath time, it’s important to keep them clean. This is especially true before you groom them. Sacco says she washes each dog twice and makes sure they’re fully dried before trying to cut their fur.
Cleanliness and maintenance are important even when you’re not preparing for a big grooming session.
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Don’t wait so long to take care of matted fur or long nails that the process is infrequent and scary for your pet.
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Sacco says, “Get the dogs in when they are young so they realize grooming is a way of life and not something they are scared of. I recommend frequent visits to the groomer for puppies so they learn to trust the groomers. A dog that only comes to the groomer twice a year for a matted shave-down thinks we are trying to hurt them when in reality we are just trying to help. Dogs that come frequently to the groomers end up loving it and wagging their tails the whole groom.” Faulds agrees, saying it’s best to start bringing a dog to the groomers when they’re still a puppy, so getting clipped, primped, and washed becomes a normal part of their lives.
That’s true for at-home grooming, too. Don’t wait so long to take care of matted fur or long nails that the process is infrequent and scary for your pet. Tackling these issues often prevents them from getting bad and prevents the experience from being scary for your dog.
“At home, owners should brush their pet’s coat daily with the right tool for their fur. They can also brush their teeth, and keep their nails clipped. When bathing at home, ensure you have the right shampoo for your pet and the right combs, brushes, and other tools needed for a complete groom,” says Wildman.
How to Print Documents From an Android Phone
We spend a lot of time on our phones, which means we’re always looking for ways to make our lives just a little bit easier. If you’re anything like me, then you’ve probably done your fair share of document editing while on the go using a tablet or a phone. Well, if you’re working off an Android phone, you can actually forego the need to email the document to yourself and just print it right off your phone.
How to print a document off an Android phone or tablet
In recent years, it’s become really easy to print documents from your phone, iPhones included. In fact, most apps offer a built-in way to print directly from the app. If the app doesn’t have a built-in printing option, you can always print from the File Manager on your phone. All you need is your phone, a document you need to print, and a printer that has Bluetooth capabilities (which is pretty much every printer released in the last five years or so).
The easiest way to print a document from your Android phone is to do it through Google Drive. Chances are, you’re probably already storing your files in Google Drive, and if you’re editing them on your device, then you’re probably using Google Docs, Google Slides, or Google Sheets.
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Make your way to the Google Drive app, and then find the document you want to print and open it.
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Now, look for the hamburger menu, which is usually symbolized by three horizontal lines on top of each other. (Some phones might offer three dots instead.) Tap on this to open the menu.
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Scroll down the list until you find the Print option and tap it.
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Next, you’ll need to select your printer from the dropdown list that appears, and then tap Print. Voila: You’ve now learned how to print your document on Android phones and tablets.
Printing from the file manager on your phone is just as easy, too. Find the document, open it, and then select the Print option from the menu.