Cisco AnyConnect VPN on Mac Not Connecting

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I have been struggling to figure out why the Cisco AnyConnect VPN on my MacBook Air stopped working a couple of months ago. Access from my iPhone and iPad were fine but from my MacBook Air, AnyConnect kept disconnecting. The Cisco support forum and Google search is only as good as the search criteria you enter. Well, finally I found the answer to this frustrating issue especially as I was planning to work remotely during the Christmas break.

The problem rears it's ugly head when you enable the "Back to my Mac" application in MobileMe or iCloud. Both the "Back to my Mac" and Cisco AnyConnect VPN use a virtual adapter with the same name "utun0". Since MobileMe or iCloud initiates when your Mac starts up, it grabs the utun0 interface first, causing the Cisco AnyConnect VPN to connect and then disconnect immediatly. I know many Mac users have had this same issue so hope this post helps. Have you had problems with the Cisco Anyconnect VPN?

iTunes 12 Days of Christmas

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Received an email from iTunes early this morning promoting iTunes 12 Days of Christmas which starts today and ends January 6. Each day you can download a free gift from the iTunes Store. The offer includes a selection of songs, music videos, apps, books, movies and TV episodes. The cool thing is the first free gift is an exclusive EP from Coldplay which is my favourite group. The free download includes three songs, three music videos and iTunes LP. The offer is available for 24 hours only, until midnight (ET) today, so hurry up and download it. Can't wait to see what the free download is for tomorrow. Thank you Apple and thank you iTunes. Apparently, the offer is only available in Canada and some parts of Europe. So have you downloaded the free gift?

Merry Christmas Posted from My iPad

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Merry Christmas to you all! If you want to give your iPhone or iPad that cool festive feeling you can change the background to a Christmas theme. You can go to Settings > Brightness & Wallpaper and change the background to any image in your Camera Roll or Photo Album. So have you changed your background to a Christmas theme? Try it, it's fun and brightens up your iPhone or iPad.

Tips on How to Optimize Your iPhone 4S Video

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If you spend any time watching adventure videos and films, then you know Camp 4 Collective. The powerhouse production team includes some of the world's best climber-photographers—Jimmy Chin, Renan Ozturk, and Tim Kemple, shooting in the world's most extreme, least seen places

Recently, Camp 4 conducted an experiment to understand stabilization and optimization when dealing with low light when shooting with an iPhone 4S. As Kemple indicates it's the perfect camera when you on the mountain, no setup and no setting down your backpack. So they shot a music video on the iPhone 4S. While normally this would sound like a waste of time for filmmakers of their expertise, that was not the case. Shooting on the iPhone 4S, with its 8-megapixel camera and 1080p hi-def video, the team produced great results.

Gillian Chase - iPhone 4s Music Video from Camp 4 Collective on Vimeo.

Tim Kemple mentioned as amazing as the new camera on the 4S is, iOS5 really let them play with the camera in ways they couldn't before. The new iOS let them lock focus, exposure and white balance. That really let them control the look of the footage they were getting. They edited the video using Final Cut Pro and the audio was created in Garageband. You can read the full article and interview at National Geographic Adeventure. So have you been taking HD video with your iPhone 4S, how have your results been?

Moving to Posterous Spaces

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I have been blogging on Posterous Spaces for about two months and I really like the simple clean web interface. The iPhone App is also killer. Currently, I create posts in Posterous and autopost them to Blogger and Twitter but going forward I have made the decision to migrate all older posts from Blogger to Posterous. It's going to be exciting times.

Apple Store Grand Central Station Opens

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Just in time for the holidays, Apple opened its fifth Manhattan store at NYC's world-famous Grand Central Station this past Friday, December 9. I can't wait to make another trip to NYC to see the store.The store overlooks the historic main concourse and features two genius bars, entire rooms dedicated to personal setup and training and has 315 employees. Wow that's amazing! Checkout the photos of the Apple Store Grand Central Station on the Apple site by clicking on the 'View more Photos' link. So are you looking forward to seeing the new store on your next visit to NYC?

Fixing a Weak Wireless Signal

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If you notice that the signal from your Apple Airport Extreme or Time Capsule has suddenly got weaker, it's not a hardware failure but very likely interference from neighbouring devices like a baby monitor, wireless phone or a neightbours router. You can change the Radio Channel Selection using the Airport Utility App on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Here's how you change it on your Mac. Go to the Applications > Utilities folder:

  • Double click on the Airport Utility.
  • Select your Airport Extreme or Time Capsule in the menu to the left.
  • Click on the 'Manual Setup' button at the bottom of the window. 
  • Click on the 'Wireless' tab to display the wireless settings.
  • Change the 'Radio Channel Selection' option to 'Manual'.
  • Click on the 'Edit' button which displays the different channels.
  • If you have the current version of the Airport Extreme it has two channels, the 2.4 GHz Channel for devices like your iPhone and 802.11b/g Macs and the 5 GHz Channel for devices like the newer Mac using 802.11n. 
  • Set the Channel to one of the Channel numbers. 
  • Click the 'Done' and then the 'Update' buttons to reboot your Airport Extreme. 
  • You should now see the signal strength on your Mac increase dramatically. 

If you still have a weak signal, change the 'Radio Channel Selection' until the signal strength has increased and there is no interference from neighbouring devices. Let me know if this helps to increase the signal on your Airport Extreme or Time Capsule?

Apple Promotes Aids Free

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Apple Retail Stores are promoting Aids Free day by drawing attention to their red products which raises money to fight Aids in Africa. Apple sells red Nano's, red iPad covers, red iTunes gift cards and red Beats headphones. In addition, Apple is promoting an Aids Free Generation and is supporting the cause by supporting The Names Project Foundation and the Aids Quilt. Apple has a link to 2015quilt.com on its home page where you can build your own panel for the 2015 Aids Quilt and make a pledge.

Apple Stores Get Ready for Christmas

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I was at the Apple Store over the weekend and it seems they are already getting ready for Christmas. How quick this year has gone! From the picture you can see the Apple Specialists in the background wearing red Apple T-Shirts instead of their traditional black. Even the iPad cover in the window is red. So are you ready for Christmas? Do you have some new Apple products on your Santa wish list?