While Hurricane Earl will most likely spare the Mid-Atlantic area (MacMedics territory), it will hit somewhere and it will destroy some data in some way.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic area, MacMedics clients and friends should un-plug their computer and remove and store back up hard drives in a dry place if you’re not going to be around when the rain and wind hits us.

Power surges via power lines and lightning hits via Comcast’s network seem to be the leading cause of damages to our client’s Macintosh computers.

This might also be a good time to enhance your back up plan by adding an off-site back up. MacMedics is now a Mozy partner, so click here if you’d like to sign up for that.

For our friends north of the Mid-Atlantic, MacMedics recommends that you back up your hard drive via a “clone” use Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner, as that way you can “test” your back up to insure you have a good, bootable copy.

Take that back up put it in a Ziploc bag and have it ready to go with you, if you should need to evacuate. Also, hurricanes bring the rain with them, so plan ahead to protect your computer AND your back up. If you have to leave, put a garbage bag over your computer. If you have a light roof leak, that might be enough to save your computer.

The important thing is to PLAN AHEAD. Your back up is not complete if it’s not:

1. Automatic
2. Redundant
3. Off-Site

We have tons of posts on Time Machine and we even have a free White Paper on it If you’d like a copy, let us know. If you’re not using an automatic backup, your data is at risk!

P.S. If you are going to be where the hurricane is, then you DO need to go get a Ziploc bag right now, and put it with your iPhone. That way if you get caught outside or you’re checking out the surf at the beach, your iPhone is protected. Take my word for it, and you’ll thank me later!!

Update: Apple to live stream it’s own media event tomorrow (9/1/10). Tune into www.apple.com at 10 AM PDT. It looks like non-Apple devices won’t be able to watch. See the press release from Apple here.

Apple is holding a media event on 9/1/10 at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco, CA

There are several well placed rumors that Apple with be announcing several new items.

Most widely speculated is the Apple TV. A next generation Apple TV based on the same OS as the iPhone, in order to provide support for Apps on your TV. Rumored to be priced at just $99.

This turned out to be true, however it does not run iOS. It appears to pretty much the same as the old Apple TV which has a Front Row type of interface. Apple TV is now available for pre-order from Apple and will ship in about a month. It’s 1/4th the size of the old Apple TV and is based on a streaming data model, as it has no internal hard drive. You can rent movies and TV shows on it from iTunes, or you can stream music, video, and photos from your home computer.

Another pretty hot rumor concerns a redesign of the iPod nano that appears to have some backing from both some photographic and released protective case design evidence. It would appear that the new Nano will be smaller, square shaped designed device with a 3cm x 3cm touch screen.

This also turned out to be true. The new nano has a touch screen that is large enough to show four app style icons at one. It will be shipping from Apple in about a week.

Back to the rumor mill again after leaked photos showing a camera have popped up over the last year or so is the iPod touch. It’s new design looks to include both a back side camera and a front facing camera, microphone, updated footprint, possible 3G and even a Retina display as in the iPhone 4.

Again, also 100% true. The new iPod touch support Face Time and does have now include the Retina LCD, which is the same LCD that is in the iPhone 4. The iPod touch will also be shipping in about a week.

There also has been quite a bit of buzz concerning Apple’s desire to rent TV shows for 99 cents. I’m assuming that this will also include some tweaks to iTunes and the Apple iTunes store.

This also turned out to be true. TV shows can be rented from ABC and FOX for 99 cents and iTunes 10 was released as well to support this. Apple also announced Ping a new music based social networking site inside of iTunes where you can follow popular artists like Lady GaGa, U2, Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry.

You can watch the full event video from Apple’s own website here.

Due to our hugely successful iPod and iPhone repair programs, MacMedics is please to announce that we are now offering Apple iPad Repairs as well.

iPad Glass repairs are $199. If you’re a Facebook fan you can take $10 off.

Questions? Give us a call at 1-866-MAC-MEDICS or stop by our Millersville, Maryland office to drop off your broken Macintosh, iPhone, iPod, or iPad. We’re the only company in Maryland that fixes all Apple devices.

Reminder: MacMedics is an Apple Authorized Service Provider, and we can service your Macintosh computer that is under Apple’s Limited Warranty or AppleCare. iPhones, iPods, and iPads that are under warranty need to be serviced at the Apple Store or mailed back to Apple.

As Apple quickly picks up more and more dedicated Apple users, the Apple Store and their retail service offerings are frequently overloaded. MacMedics is often able to complete Apple Limited Warranty and AppleCare repairs in as little as 24 hours. See our posting on this topic here.

In the meantime we continue to collect excellent reviews from the anonymous Apple Service surveys as well as from Google and Yelp.

Here’s our most recent review from our client, Evan:

“I Had the toplid of my MacBook Pro replaced under warranty. Was effortless, they diagnosed it properly and gave me the time of day. The whole staff was very friendly and accommodating and the store was near empty, which is a welcome change from the busy and annoying Apple Stores and their notorious “Genius” Bar service in the back. Highly recommended!‎”

Thanks to friend of MacMedics, Mario Armstrong for inviting Dana Stibolt, Owner and Founder of MacMedics onto The Mario Armstrong on XM Radio channel 169 last week.

It was a fun talk about a really serious subject. The majority of the radio visit was focused on the MacMedics 5 Rules of Data Preservation and Protection, which can be reviewed at our web page, http://www.HardDrivesDie.com.

You can listen to the segment here. If you’d like to download the MP3 file and listen to it in iTunes, just hold down “Option” and click the link to download the file.

The interview starts at 7:45 into the recording.

Apple today released Safari 5.0.1 to enable Safari Extensions for all users and introduced the Safari Extensions Gallery so they can quickly find and download extensions. Safari is available for both Mac and Windows.

Safari Extensions are created by third-party developers and add powerful new features to the browser, from toolbars that display live web feeds to sophisticated programs that filter web page content.

The Safari Extensions Gallery is accessible from the Safari menu or at http://extensions.apple.com. Users can download and install extensions with a single click, and there’s no need to restart the browser.

Use Software Update to download version 5.0.1.

For more information about Safari, go to http://www.apple.com/safari.

To view the Safari Extension Gallery, go to http://extensions.apple.com.

Lots of places that offer nationwide Macintosh, iPhone, or iPod service will try to you lure you to their website by saturating their webpage with geographic keywords that make it appear that they are “in” your area.

If you’re looking for “local” Macintosh, iPhone, or iPod service or repair that’s really local to the Baltimore, Maryland or Washington DC areas, then you’ve found the right place.

MacMedics has been repairing Macintosh computers in Maryland since 1989.

When you’re looking for local Mac, iPhone, iPod, or even iPad service from a reputable service provider, come see us at MacMedics.

Thinking about going to the Apple Store for service? Our service is faster, usually less expensive, and carries our full MacMedics 1-year service warranty. See our Blog post about that here. The majority of our our Apple warranty repairs are complete and ready to return to you within 24 hours. Need a rental while your unit is in the shop? We can do that too!

Be sure to see our Blog post on why shipping your broken Mac or iPhone off to parts unknown is something that you should really think twice about.

My 30-second elevator pitch has evolved to include ATM repairs.

So someone in the elevator will see my MacMedics jacket, shirt, or tool bag and asks, “What exactly is MacMedics?”

I say, “MacMedics is an Apple Authorized Macintosh service and consulting business. We service and maintain Macs at ad agencies and other places where pre-press and graphic design happens like corporate graphics or marketing departments. We like to say we’re in the ATM repair business, because when your Mac is broken or slow, you’re not making money.”

I got a huge dose of this wisdom this recently. A guy who lives and works near our shop has a video production business. He’s been asking about maybe getting a new Mac for the last year or so.

We exchange e-mails every so often when he has a question about his Mac or to ask if we need any video production help. I saw him at Subway not too long ago and he let me know that he might be getting a new Mac soon.

He came into the shop with his older MacBook Pro that was really sick. He had tried to run a Firmware update while he was in the middle of a project and it failed, thus making the unit inoperable. It’s not a common occurrence, but we do see it from time to time. As soon as it happened he ordered a new MacBook Pro from somewhere else, and then brought that in so we could transfer his data from the old unit to the new unit. Sadly, we could have saved him even more time if he had purchased the new Mac from MacMedics.

Normally this is not a big deal. We set it up the new MacBook Pro to migrate and it failed about 75% of the way thru. We tried a few other things and tried again, and it failed a second time. We then began to suspect the drive might be failing as it was getting kind of noisy and it was getting pretty hot as well.

I decided to go ahead and clone the drive on our data recovery equipment, so I could copy the data off the drive quickly. I then had to fix that data in order to get it into to shape to migrate it. His hard drive was a huge mess. The report on the drive was seven pages long! The total process ended up taking several hours and it delayed him over 24 hours from the point where his old unit blew up.

So, he’s a professional guy who makes his living with this MacBook Pro, and he had no back up, and he’s never had the unit serviced or looked at. This MacBook Pro is really his ATM cash machine as it provides him with all of his bread and butter for his business.

This is a fantastic case study in why a little preventive maintenance goes along way. If you treat your Mac like your very own ATM machine, you’ll never have these problems. Let’s get real here? Are you going to let your ATM degrade to a point where it stops dispensing cash.

1. This client’s MacBook Pro is well over two years old, so if we had seen it at any point recently, we would have most likely replaced the unit’s hard drive proactively and serviced the unit.

4. A little bit of annual maintenance and an automatic and tested back up system pay for themselves very quickly.

We’re friendly with this fellow, so if had stopped and called us on the phone, we would have been able to tell him all of this. We love to talk shop. If you have questions about how to treat your Mac like your very own ATM machine, just pick up the phone and give us a call!

This iBook hard drive came into the MacMedics Lab for data recovery. The hard drive came out of an iBook G4. Sadly the client did not have their data backed up. This hard drive has a serious problem and it now sounds like a chicken!

Please ensure you have an automated, functional, and fully tested back up system in place. Hard drives can die at any time. See our website www.HardDrivesDie.com for more information.

As Apple Authorized Service Providers, we perform quite a number of Macintosh warranty repairs on behalf of Apple’s customers. We also do so for many of our own customers whom have purchased their Apple gear from MacMedics.

Over the last six months or so, our Apple service business has basically doubled. The Apple Stores in the area are so overwhelmed; many Apple owners are finding out that there is an alternative to making an appointment or waiting around in the mall for a face-to-face with a Genius at the Genius Bar. See our recently updated Blog post on why it makes sense to come visit MacMedics in either Lanham (1 mile from I-495 at RT 50) or Millersville (5 minutes from BWI Airport or 10 minutes form the Annapolis Mall)

When we perform an Apple Warranty or AppleCare repair for someone, Apple sends them a survey to ask how well we performed the service on Apple’s behalf.

Apple then forwards these remarks and the accompanying scores to us with the idea that they will help improve our service.

In the latest round feedback from Apple, these anonymous comments praise MacMedics in such a level of detail it almost looks like we wrote them ourselves.

These are direct from Apple, and we’d like to thank our loyal customers for supporting us. THANKS!

-Very customer focused.

-Matt at Mac Medics knew right away how to resolve my problem.