Just the Tips - Restore Deleted iOS Contacts, Calendars and Files

Apple quietly added a long needed feature to iCloud.com which allows you restore previous versions of your backed up iCloud content including photos, contacts, calendars and files. About a month ago this would have been a huge help as I was searching for a number I had deleted from my contacts back in January. Luckily I was able to restore that number by finding an old text message conversation I had with this number on my iPad. Quick Tip: If you delete an SMS/iMessage thread on your iPhone it will ONLY be removed from that device. You can still access that thread on other iOS devices such as the iPad and even the Apple Watch. I digress.

Now when you login to your iCloud account via iCloud.com you can access previous revisions of your data. While you can't specifically restore a contact, photo or calendar individually you can restore a copy from a set time period. So in order for you to restore the data you are looking for you would need to have a good idea of when you actually removed it from your device. Here are the steps you need to take in order to make this happen:

1. Login to your iCloud account through your web browser at iCloud.com.
2. Navigate to the Settings and scroll down to the Advanced section
3. You will be presented with options to restore Files, Contacts, Calendars and Reminders.
4. Select the option you want to restore and you will be presented with a list of dates you can choose to restore from.
5. Scroll to your date and select the restore button.  
6. Voila. 

Throwback - Roc Raida 1995 DMC World Champion

Back in college I got my hands on a CDR (remember those things?) that was circulating amongst friends that contained a treasure trove of DMC videos including DJ A-Trak, Craze and Q-Bert to name a few. I was so fascinated by the turntablism genre and I watched those videos on repeat essentially wearing out the CDR like it was a cassette tape. 

One of my favorite videos from that disc is the one you see above. Roc Raida was a part of the legendary X-Ecutioners turntablist crew which included Total Eclipse, Mista Sinista, Rob Swift and the now deceased Roc Raida.

Check out the video in full above and also check out a few of my other favorites at the links below.

DJ Q-Bert - World Champion 2012
DJ A-Track - World Champion 1997
DJ Craze - World Champion 1999
DJ Swamp - DMC Final 2002

Soulection Radio - Episode 223

Considering how many different styles of music I like I can only listen to certain types in the office. This selection gets even more fine tuned on Mondays where I need to block out the everything around me without having something heavy blaring in my headphones.

Soulection radio is the perfect fit. Listen to this past weekend's episode featuring special guest Kehlani. 

Weekend Vibes #3

Sir Jarlsberg - All's Faire (feat Aesop Rock, Kimya Dawson, Blockhead, Lateef, Jon Gibson and ALL CHUMS)

I can't recall exactly when I discovered Sir Jarlsberg. I was most likely diving into a YouTube or Soundcloud rabbit hole for Aesop Rock material I had never heard before. I stumbled upon the Sir Jarlsberg - All's Faire video which had the subtext "THE MOST INSANE POSSE CUT IN ALL OF HISTORY!". I knew I had to immediately dive in. 

All's Faire may indeed be one of the most insane posse cuts I have ever heard. Jarlsberg used to go by the name Jer Gibson when he was with the now defunct label Definitive Jux and transformed himself into Sir Jarlsberg which is a comedy rap group that raps about dragons, archery and the like. 

I'm not sure what the most insane part about this song is, the song itself or the video. Either way enjoy and feel free to follow along with the hilarious lyrics on Rap Genius.

Have a great weekend.

Interesting Links

Here are some links I found interesting this week. You may or may not agree. That's your prerogative.  

• As Pigeons and Planes points out the long awaited Meow the Jewels project has been completed. It's currently being sent off for mastering. Expect the release sometime in September.
• By way of The Platter comes a breakdown of the new features in Pocket version 6.0. Most notably Pocket introduced a Recommendations feature.  
• Techcrunch penned a great article explaining the 9 features that Apple Music needs to win over power users. I agree with them all.
• As I've mentioned previously I'm a huge fan of Soulection. Most notably the Soulection Beats 1 show. Billboard did a fantastic profile on the collective. 
• Another week, more 9to5Mac iPhone 6s rumors. This time we learn about the possibility of a 12 megapixel camera, 4K video recording and a flash for the front facing camera.
• Grantland has a great feature on Mac Miller. It's a long read but one of the better articles I've read on Mac. 
• Miami HEAT owner Micky Arison wants you to let him know if you are down with a Miami Vice themed alternate jersey. Leave a comment on his Instagram.  

Apple Invites Media to September 9 Event: 'Hey Siri, Give Us a Hint'

As expected invites went out for the yearly Apple event to announce new products. No secret the next iteration of the iPhone is involved and possibly an updated Apple TV. Not sure about iPad Pro announcements but you never know what's in store.

If I had to guess the chain of events is as follows:  September 9th event > September 11th preorders > September 25th release date.

Hey Siri, give us a hint?

ODESZA - NO.SLEEP MIX.10

ODESZA shared a new mix with us in their NO.SLEEP mix series. I actually discovered this one in the Connect section of Apple Music. I'm glad I never decided to remove the connect tab for the playlist tab otherwise I would have never discovered this.  

Stream the mix below and check out the tracklisting.

Tracklisting

pools – coffee in the morning
swim good x Merival – since u asked
KAN-G – Weak
Zuper – Glide
Mura Masa – Lovesick Fuck
Scavenger Hunt – Wildfire (Bee’s Knees Remix)
Nick Benet – Foolture
Saje – Who I Am (feat. Sabina)
Jungle – Time (Darius Remix)
Flight Facilities – Heart Attack (feat. Owl Eyes) (Snakehips Remix)
Esta – U Know I Need Ya
Sango – Pôr Do Sol Parte 2
RÜFÜS – You Were Right
Jamie XX – Loud Places (John Talabot Remix)
Lehvi – Pineapple Pool Party (Sango Taught Me)
Nora En Pure – Come With Me (Radio Edit)
Sam Gellaitry – Waiting So Long (CRNKN Remix)
stolensnares – Solace
Snoop Dogg – Drop It Like Its Hot (Fiinesse Edit)
James Blake – Limit To Your Love (Cazzette Bootleg)
San Holo – Victory
TRACE – Heavy Shoulders
Hundred Waters – Show Me Love (Big Wild Remix) (unreleased)
Lana Del Rey – High By The Beach (Katuchat Remix)

Site News - Connect

A few small changes I made to the hierarchy of the contact page. I decided to create separate pages so you can connect with me more easily. The old style had a single page that to me was a bit too busy and included all the ways you can connect up with me in one location. 

Now you will find separate pages for the site newsletter, social links including the RSS feed and the contact page itself.

Enjoy the new layout. 

Just the Tips - Extend Your Cable Internet Using MoCA

I had a head scratching issue I was presented with when trying to extend a wireless network for a friend onto a second floor of his home. The initial concern was the wireless router, which was located downstairs, would provide a weak wireless signal to his desktop computer. The desktop computer was his media server and needed as much bandwidth as possible to provide the highest quality stream possible. I first thought about using a second router. The challenge was bridging the router with the downstairs one. The signal would not be optimal like a wired connection would provide. Since the room upstairs that housed the desktop computer did not have an active coaxial port for internet I dreaded having him pay Comcast an exorbitant amount of money to make this happen for him. I set out to find a low cost, user friendly solution that didn't require ripping open walls and installing new ethernet cable.

Hello Hello, MoCA

After doing some research I discovered a product by Actiontec called a MoCA Network Adapter which is designed for cable broadband subscribers and makes it easy and affordable to add a wired internet connection through the home's existing coaxial cable setup. I purchased a set (you need 2, one on the front end and one on the back end) from Amazon. At the time it was $119.99 but you can currently get them for $84.00 for the pair.

The setup could not have been easier. The plug n play units come with everything you need including the MoCA adapters themselves, two ethernet cables, two coaxial cables, and one coaxial splitter. There are four simple steps in order to get your MoCA setup rocking and rolling:

1. Plug an Ethernet cable into the Ethernet port of the adapter and into an Ethernet port of the device to be connected to the network.

2. Plug a coaxial cable into the coax "in" port of the adapter, and into the coax wall port nearest to the device to be connected to the network. (We had to use the 2-way splitter since we needed to hook up both the router and the DVR box.)

3. Plug the power cable into the Power port on the back of the adapter, and into an electrical wall socket.

4. Make sure the coax and Ethernet lights on the adapter are both illuminated solid green.

There you have it. Four simple steps and you now have wired ethernet in any room you want as long as you add a MoCA adapter in each room that requires connectivity. The best thing about this setup is their is zero loss in terms of bandwidth. Since the adapters are powered you can experience up to 270Mbps. On a 50MB Comcast line we were testing we were able to experience maximum speeds at 60 Mb/s down and 11 Mb/s up. The Actiontec adapters support any device that has an ethernet port including Blu-ray, XBOX and PS3/4. For our installation I actually chose to connect the front end adapter to a five port gigabit ethernet switch to provide multiple ethernet ports in that upstairs room.

Grab a pair or single units over on Amazon.

Apple Music: The Ultimate Guide

One of my favorite tech blogs, iMore, has been doing some killer work covering Apple Music since it launched. From longreads to how-to guides they have been providing an amazing amount of detail about the ins and outs of the service. Over the past few months they have written over 70 articles and recently compiled them into a handy eBook.

Naturally, such an ambitious service isn't without its complications. If you want to love Apple Music, but it’s got you scratching your head, we've got the guide for you. In this book, we cover Apple Music’s basics, the difference between Apple Music and iTunes Match, what iCloud Music Library is (and what it does), and how to use iOS 8.4’s Music app, Apple Music Siri commands, and iTunes 12.2.

Available on iTunes now, grab your copy from the source link below for $5 and check out iMore here.