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035: Interview with Mike Kingsley, Kingsley MacConsulting

Interview recorded January 21, 2014; Intro recorded on January 28, 2014

Intro:

- testing Mavericks Server; being Client 0

- using Profile Manager to easily configure CalDAV, CardDAV, VPN services; Sam's trick to save a profile without a user name

- the trial and error of troubleshooting a server leads to uncertainty

using authrestart to bypass FileVault 2 on next restart; installing software updates that require a restart now does this automatically

- force quitting fsck to allow mounting a drive that was failing to mount, even read-only, after letting fsck complete

- using the "security" command to read the contents of the user's keychain

Interview:

- Mike started his consulting practice in 2004, a great year for Apple

- first computer was an Apple IIe in 1984

- Apple Store has been great source of referrals; helps to think of Apple as a partner, and promote their services like AppleCare and JointVenture

- JointVenture can be a great supplement to help from Apple consultants

- first job was working at Disneyland; customer service was ingrained in the culture and top quality; out of five day training for new hires, three days are purely customer service; helps with consulting: owning issues, taking responsibility; e.g., customer drops ice cream cone, and employee walks customer over to the ice cream stand to facilitate the resolution; how to deal with people who are upset, hearing both sides; if you can't help, who can? 

028: Client Gifting and Consultant Go Bags

Recorded live on November 26, 2013

Follow Up:

Joe installed Knock app last week and noticed that it moved itself from the ~/Downloads folder to the /Applications folder without needing to authenticate despite being logged into a standard user account. Joe checked permissions on /Applications and found that the folder permissions were configured to give Everyone Read/Write access. Repaired permissions for the first time in forever and it corrected this and a few other things.

Topics:

New Mac Pro on December 3rd?  Expect Promise to release new Pegasus 2 alongside Apple's Mac Pro release.  Look for discounts on original Promise Pegasus models.

Jony Ive biography by Leander Kahney, recommended by Jerry

Fast Company Weekend Reading: An Oral History of Apple

Guest Pass app to generate iOS profile granting temporary access to a wifi network

KeyCard app to lock and unlock your Mac based on iOS device proximity

Indigo for home automation

Nest Thermostat and Smoke Alarm

Client gifts: how to select clients? Contract clients? Nurturing existing client relationships and rekindling old client relationships.

Client gift ideas: chocolate macaroons, iKlear kits, scotch

Tip from Ryan Powell: I gift throughout the year by giving new clients a "new client care package" with little Klear singles, microfiber cloth, referral cards  drive savers pamphlet and an explanation of my monthly support plan. The referral card is a little elevator pitch about the company, short link to the contact form with the promise of a free phone consultation, then when a client books an appointment I'm sure to give the referring client a small account credit as a thank you.

Sending a Thank You cards to new clients

Referral credit vs. something tangible like an iTunes gift card

What's in your Consultant Go Bag? Examples:

  • MagSafe to MagSafe 2
  • Thunderbolt to FireWire
  • Thunderbolt to Ethernet
  • USB to Ethernet
  • Ethernet cables
  • USB flash drive with partitions for Mac OS installations, diagnostics
  • FireWire 400 to 800
  • FireWire 800 to 800
  • USB, mini USB, micro USB
  • USB to Lightning
  • USB to 30-pin
  • iPhone Headphones
  • Tools including screwdrivers, spudger, putty knife
  • Memory assortment for all Intel Macs from lifetimememory.com

Joe's current bag: iBackFlip Somersault

024: Clients Plunging Headfirst into Mavericks

Recorded live on October 29, 2013

Topics:

- Clients upgrading to Mavericks, and then asking for help

- Jerry's medical practice client finds out MacPractice is not yet Mavericks compatible

- Joe's clients encounter trouble with Juniper VPN and SoftRAID

- Sam's client encounters problems with Zimbra, VPN Tracker

run Mountain Lion in a VM to run apps that do not yet work on Mavericks?

- according to VMWare, "Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server, 10.6 Snow Leopard Server, 10.7 Lion client or server and 10.8 Mountain Lion client or server are fully supported on VMware Fusion while running on supported Apple hardware"

- Sam mentions CNET article: External drives experiencing data loss after Mavericks installation

- using Roaring Apps to determine app compatibility with Mavericks

- Sam and Jerry advise us to back up (archive) our OpenDirectory databases; this is built into Time Machine starting with Mac OS X Server 10.7.2 Lion

- Mavericks Prep service? flat rate to review installed apps, check file system, and advise client along a self-guided upgrade

Promise Pegasus 2 and SANLink 2 announced

Follow up:

- John Siracusa tests battery life improvements from Mavericks on 2007 MacBook Pro and finds 25% improvement

020: Client Anecdotes & Rates

Recorded Live October 8, 2013

Topics:

- Quicken 2007 for Lion; migrating from Quicken 2003

- Sam's story about his client's self-help attempt: the client diagnosed a server's startup disk failing, erased the Time Machine backup, cloned a copy of the data to it, and then when the clone wouldn't boot, they called their trusted advisor (Sam) to swoop in and heroically save the day.

- liquid spills, and the accompanying story

- what to do when a client declines a backup recommendation

- Jerry's story of the need for a consultant to support legacy equipment

- Joe raised his rates recently; here's how

- new services; group class offering; break-even analysis

Memorable Lines:

"Step 1: Diagnose drive failure; step 2: erase the backup." - Joe

Picks of the Week:

PowerBookMedic.com 

SignMyPad.com  

019: Interview with Elaine Kwok, Product Marketing Manager for Promise Technology

Intro Recorded Live on October 1, 2013; Interview Recorded on September 24, 2013

Jerry, Sam, and Joe are pleased to be joined this week by Elaine Kwok, Product Marketing Manager for Promise Technology.

As with the original release of Thunderbolt in 2011, Promise will be first to market with Thunderbolt 2 peripherals to be released alongside the forthcoming Mac Pro redesign later this fall.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Elaine for taking the time to discuss the Promise product line with us, especially during this busy time as the company gears up for Thunderbolt 2.  Stay tuned for exciting updates from Promise!

But first, listen to Joe recount his recent data recovery success through his MacGyvering of a hard drive with a broken mini USB connector on the bridge board of a WD MyBook for Mac. The tools at his disposal were as follows: a USB connector salvaged from a non-working donor enclosure; a pair of needle nose pliers; a rubber band; a plastic dust cover from a mini-DVI to DVI adapter; a spare 3.5" hard drive; and a spool of kapton tape. Go!

Topics:

VTrak E-ClassVTrak A-Class SAN solutions

SANLink Thunderbolt to Fibre Channel adapter

Pegasus R6 RAID Storage

Pegasus J2 portable Thunderbolt SSD & Pegasus J4 2.5" Thunderbolt enclosure

 

Update – here's just the Elaine Kwok Interview.

017: Client Relationships

Recorded Live on September 17, 2013

Topics:

- when clients become friends, and friends become clients

- recommending AppleCare+ as an alternative to using a case: $99 for two years, plus $79 service fee per incident, up to two incidents; vs. $649 replacement cost of unlocked 16GB iPhone 5S

- vacation coverage and income when on vacation; "coopetition" as Kim Manitt calls it

Follow up:

- commando vs. case: Joe mentions experience with a client's Body Glove case affecting WiFi performance of iPhone 5; tested with SpeedTest.net

iCloud Keychain removed in iOS 7 GM; to be added back when Mavericks is released?

Picks of the Week:

Tunnel Bear – Jerry

Quick Sig – Sam

Track by 7sols – Joe

Tips:

- buy AppleCare at B&H to save around 30%

Memorable Lines:

"Type it out or leave it out." – Joe

Sam: "This afternoon I was in four different machines at once and I was doing a pretty good job of it." Jerry: "Did you have to pinch yourself?"