Creative Cloud pricing varies as follows:

COMPLETE INDIVIDUAL

Complete package: $49.99 per user (one-year subscription commitment). If you are currently a CS 3 or later user, you can get Creative Cloud for $29.99 per month for the first year.

Single app: $19.99 a month (one-year subscription commitment).

BUSINESS AND EDUCATION USERS

Separate packages exist for businesses and education at discounted rates.

Businesses: $69.99 per month, per user Team edition, which includes 100 GB of cloud storage per user for file sharing and collaboration. For businesses using CS3 or later, Adobe is offering a special offer of $39.99 per user per month.

Students and Teachers: $29.99 per month, but Adobe is currently offering a special for $19.99 per month, which is good through June 25, 2013. Education Teams have an annual plan for $39.99 per person per month.

More information on purchasing Adobe Cloud products can be found through Adobe’s site here.

Don’t hesitate to contact us to help set up Adobe Cloud for your home or business, or help you transition to the Cloud subscription service.

When using Safari 6.0.4 (Mac OS X 10.7 and 10.8) and Safari 5.1.9 (Mac OS X 10.6), if you should go to a site that attempts to load a Java applet, a dialog box will appear on your screen to ask if you want to block or allow the Java applet.  You can also view a list of websites that have attempted to load Java applets by going to Preferences in Safari, clicking on the “Security” tab, and then clicking “Manage Website Settings…” You can then choose to block or allow these sites to use Java plug-ins.

There’s also a Java for OS X 2013-003 update that provides improved security by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_45.  Per Apple’s notes:

“On systems that have not already installed Java for OS X 2012-006, this update disables the Java SE 6 applet plug-in. To use applets on a web page, click on the region labeled “Missing plug-in” to download the latest version of the Java applet plug-in from Oracle.”

We’ll keep an eye out for a statement from Apple on the issue, but in the meantime, here are some simple tips to follow to get the most out of your iPhone battery:

1. First, take a look at your usage. Settings icon > General > Usage. Scroll to the bottom and find “Time since last full charge,” and you’ll see 2 things: “Usage,” which is the amount of time your iPhone has been up and in use since its last full charge, and “Standby,” which is the amount of time your iPhone has been powered on since its last full charge.

2. Turn off push notifications (unless you really need them). Settings icon > Notifications. Look at the items “In Notification Center” and click on the ones that you don’t need push notifications from. Slide the “On” to “Off.”

3. Turn down the brightness on your screen. Settings icon > Brightness & Wallpaper. Move the bar closer to the dimmed sun icon.

4. Turn off location services that you don’t need. Settings icon > Privacy > Location Services. Go through all the applications that you don’t really care about (does IMDb really need location services on? Fruit Ninja?).

5. Go through at least one charge cycle per month. Apple defines this as charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down.

Above and beyond all this, you can always pick up a mophie juice pack air, which is a case that gives up to an additional 8 hours of talk time on 3G (10 hours on wifi).

The iOS 6.1.3 update fixes a bug that could allow someone to bypass the the passcode (and also adds improvements to Maps in Japan) .  The Apple TV 5.2.1 update fixes a number of security issues that are addressed by Apple here.  The Hulu interface has also been redesigned so users will see this after the update.

Security updates should almost always be run, but this update is particularly important because it disables the Java plug-in on all Mac browsers. Apparently, hackers used a hole in Java to infect the employees’ machines at Apple (more info on this story here).

• Little Pocket Book for iPhone 5: iPhone case and wallet in one! Super thin case with beautiful leather interior and exterior. The soft, durable leather provides protection for your iPhone. All this and it’s handmade in the USA by Pad & Quill. The Little Pocket Book is $59.95 at Pad & Quill and is available in black or brown exterior with different color interior.

• HyperJuice Stand: There are iPad stands, and then there are IPAD STANDS. The HyperJuice Stand for iPad is the perfect combination of form and function. It’s got a built-in 16 hour battery pack, and 2 rubberized slots, which hold the iPad at 18 degrees and 45 degrees (portrait and landscape positions) with and without a case. The HyperJuice stand can be found at the HyperShop for $129.95.

• PLAY Video Memo: From Native Union, the makers of the POP Phone, the original retro handset. The PLAY Video Memo is a high quality recording video memo pad with color playback on a 2.4″ screen. It holds multiple messages up to 3 minutes in total. It also has a magnetic back so you can stick the PLAY on your fridge (or any other metallic surface)! The PLAY Video Memo is $49.99 through the Native Union website.

Please feel free to contact us if you have recommendations of any local organizations that can help or use help.

NEW YORK CITY WIDE ORGANIZATIONS

• New York Cares – Ways to help with the relief efforts from the effects of Hurricane Sandy.
• New York Blood Center – The storm has made the need for blood donations even greater. This link provides a list of donor center locations in Manhattan, Staten Island, and Brooklyn.
• Food and Water Distribution Locations – Provided by NYC.gov.
• Interoccupy – List of citywide drop-off and volunteer locations.

ORGANIZATIONS BY BOROUGH:

BROOKLYN

• Red Hook Recovers
• Red Hook Initiative

BRONX

• Volunteer at a Bronx Park – The Parks Dept. is looking for volunteers to help clean up the parks this weekend.
• World Vision – World Vision is an organization with a focus on children and families in need that is seeking help in cleaning out its Storehouse this weekend.

MANHATTAN

• Lower East Side Recovers
• CAAAV – Chinatown
• The Bowery Mission – Donate money to help The Bowery Mission provide shelter and food to homeless and displaced New Yorkers.

QUEENS

• Astoria Recovers – Lists of drop off locations where Astoria residents can donate food, water, batteries, cleaning supplies for the Rockaways
• Powhatan Democratic Club in Astoria is also accepting donations this weekend. Donate:
  Blankets, shirts, socks, sweaters, jackets, sneakers
  Non-Perishable Food (such as Canned Soup, Canned Food)Drop-off location:
  Powhatan Democratic Club
  41-05 Newtown Road, Astoria
  Friday night 6:30pm-8:30pm
  Saturday 1:30pm-4:30pm
  Sunday 12pm-3pm
• Occupy Sandy  – Rockaways: Drop-off Locations, Needs and Volunteer Info

STATEN ISLAND

• Staten Island Recovers
• Snug Harbor Cultural Center – Donate to their clean-up and restoration efforts.

NEW JERSEY ORGANIZATIONS:

• Community Blood Services – New Jersey Blood Bank
• NJ 2-1-1 – Hurricane Sandy response and recovery information. Scroll to the bottom for volunteer information.