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Category: Uncategorized

  • Snags

    What follows are random solutions to one-off issues I’ve run into, lost & only barely found again. Posting for any other poor souls, or future me, to find!

    AEServer: AEServer is the Apple Events Server. It is used to control Apple Events that come in from other Macs.

    gamesd daemon in System Preferences (Settings) > Privacy: Game Center needs your contacts for gaming with pals.

    It promises multiplayer games with your friends, or at least the ability to share scores, achievements etc. Your identity on game center, and those of your gaming buddies are stored in Contacts– which it needs access to.

    JeremyAndrewErwin

    .CFUserTextEncoding

    I came across this cleaning up my user directory.

    ~/.CFUserTextEncoding stores the default text encoding and preferred language for a user.

    Mac: What’s ~/.CFUserTextEncoding for?

  • Spotting Phony Emails

    Having worked in various technical positions over the years, I’m no stranger to Email. But I still get questions from people asking if something looks legitimate to me; you probably won’t be surprised that I’ll usually reply “No”.

    What follows is going to be an evolving document outlining how anyone can better answer this question for themselves. Let’s dig in.

    What matches up?

    When we find ourselves in front of a questionable email, a few things are worth checking before replying or clicking on any links in said email:

    • Is the sender someone you know; can you see them in your contacts?

    What you can do

    • Report the phony to the person or company they’re claiming to be; some organizations have dedicated lines of support for this. If this is someone you know more personally, tossing them a text asking them to confirm they sent that email could be a way to get to the bottom of this quickly—if not to let them know their account may be compromised.