July 17, 2018

268: Peaves Or Gripes?

July 17, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

This week we are proud to be sponsored by FLEXdesk, an offering from our friends at Rooted Consulting. FLEXdesk - Help Desk support that grows with you

Topics:

-Joe has some questions about content caching and working with multiple WAN IP addresses. Sam makes an attempt at discussing while on the road.

-Sam encounters an issue when attempting to download a full macOS High Sierra installer. With content caching enabled on another computer, the App Store only downloaded a small 15 MB file. Only when turning content caching off would it download the full installer.

-Jerry is in the midst of a remodel in his home office so he talks about the struggles of being uprooted and moving equipment

-He recommends theTP-Link PowerLine Adapters as a good alternative to ethernet when that’s not possible:https://amzn.to/2N6vX6P

-After Jerry was talking about how an Apple TV reset worked to correct issues, Joe suggests a change in our motto to “Have you tried resetting it?”

-Joe recommends these fans he found on Amazon for spot cooling. He specifically uses the AC Infinity Multifan
S2: https://amzn.to/2NcQhmP
S7: https://amzn.to/2uo5t8U

-Quick tip from Jerry about a client that took their Mac into the Apple Store and were told that it needed a new logic board. He saves the day by unplugging the battery and the client is ecstatic that it turned on again.

-A reminder from Jerry to have your clients put reviews on Google or Yelp

-Joe has some Safari gripes to talk about. At times, when clicking on a link in Apple Mail, it will open a new tab in one of his minimized windows in the Dock. Jerry wonders if it’s more of a peeve than a gripe.

-Another annoyance is making exceptions to invalid certificates in https sites. He also noticed that the password dialogue box is for the current logged in user’s credentials. Sam thinks this is because it is placing an exception in the user’s keychain. Jerry wonders if it’s a router’s config page with an expired certificate. An older version of Firefox is the workaround.

-Joe attempts to hold Sam to his keychain thought and he cannot verify as he is careening down the highway at high speeds

-A connection to John Gruber and Daring Fireball - he declares the Menu Bar as the Mac’s greatest invention. Joe says Command+Tab is the greatest keyboard invention. Sam wonders what came first, Command+Tab or Windows key+Tab?

July 10, 2018

267: Microsoft Turd Polishing

July 10, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

Topics:

-Jerry mentions Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin's show, Back To Workon the 5by5 network, and we try our take on their "Odds and Sods" concept.

-One of Jerry’s clients, an architect, has issues with Dropbox and syncing symbolic links. He offers a solution in the form of an application called Dropbox Any: https://www.sebthedev.com/macdropany

-Jerry also calls out a Dropbox support article that describes performing a manual uninstall: https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/uninstall-dropbox

-This same client has a debacle with an Aura drive and an experience where the Apple Store wiped the customer data!

Article on third party SSD compatibility:
https://blog.macsales.com/42466-a-note-on-high-sierra-compatibility-with-third-party-ssds

-Sam has been working closely with a client to develop a proof of concept to roll out iPad Pro devices and finds challenges with the Microsoft Office products for iOS

-He has also had a very positive experience working with the business team and their measured approach when selling products to the customer

-Joe finds it funny that one of Sam’s solutions is to use Web Clips, an idea that Steve Jobs himself described as a “sweet solution” 11 years ago, a fact that John Gruber periodically jokes about

-In our “I should have known this” segment, Joe realizes while attempting to do a backup that he cannot backup using Time Machine to an APFS volume. He also finds that he cannot encrypt a Time Machine destination after completing an initial backup.

-Jerry has some follow up from the 10,000 Songs on Four Wheels Show and using the “Fuzzy Slipper Method”, coined by Jerry himself. He talks about needing WAN access when setting up a network for a customer in your office.

-Joe has a straight WAN port in his work bench area so he can truly setup a network for clients using unfiltered access

-Joe calls back to Dan Benjamin & Merlin Mann and how he used to listen to them constantly

-We had the pleasure of sitting in on Jeff Porten’s presentation at ACEs 2018 and he has a new book out in the Take Control Series. The book is called “Take Control of Your Productivity”
https://www.takecontrolbooks.com/productivity

July 03, 2018

266: 10,000 Songs On Four Wheels

July 03, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

We welcome our VIP Patreon Sponsors:

Topics:

-Joe continues to name drop as he is near Point Reyes National Seashore at the time of recording

-Jerry suggests a drinking game for all of Joe's California location mentions

-As some follow up to Jerry's Drobo fan story, he finally had to bite the bullet and move to a new enclosure

-Cellular modem troubles became an issue for Joe so he spins a yarn about the steps he took to troubleshoot

-Restoring a configuration file became a topic of discussion and a word of caution

-Joe talks about the logistics of shipping equipment for "general delivery" or using an Amazon Locker when on the road

-Now that Joe has a fancy cellular modem/router, he discusses his wish list for things like prioritized traffic

-Seeing a business opportunity, the group starts talking about options for working with RV and boat owners

-Billing for the aptly named "fuzzy slippers approach" comes up. Sam contemplates making it a line item on his invoice.

-Quoting for those jobs is also something that becomes a talent over time

June 19, 2018

264: On The Road With Joe Saponare

June 19, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

Topics:

-Joe is reporting from the streets of Boulder Creek, CA #vanlife

-Joe talks about the unglamorous life of living in a camper (down by the river)

-He actually references Marco Arment discussing camper stories on Accidental Tech Podcast: http://atp.fm

-Cellular difficulties creep up as Joe discusses using his cellular modem

-As a board member of a non-profit, Joe discusses his ability to score an unlimited data plan with Sprint: mobilecitizen.org

-Joe's transition has been surprisingly smooth after going on the road, largely due to his staff at PsiMac

-The disasters of Kerio / GFI are brought up once again

-Both Joe and Jerry have hosted CrashPlan PROe for clients. Joe is slowly migrating his users to BackBlaze. Jerry has decommissioned his PROe server.

-Since the root level Library is excluded from BackBlaze by default, Jerry provides a solution to use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy the data to the Documents folder, which would then be backed up.

-Joe's MacBook Pro had a bit of damage when purchased from a client. Now it is reporting "service battery". After deciding to send it to depot for repair, he shares his dealings with the process.

-As Jerry comments on Joe's name dropping in California, Joe recalls the SNL sketch called "The Californians" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jIBZjL8G5s

June 12, 2018

263: Two Guys Pointing To A Mac, Looking Interested & Intrigued

June 12, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

This week we are proud to be sponsored by FLEXdesk, an offering from our friends at Rooted Consulting. FLEXdesk - Help Desk support that grows with you

Topics:

-Jerry talks about his recent experiences working with out friends at TidBITS Content Network: https://tcn.tidbits.com

-Sam is disappointed in our train show on the way to ACEs won't make it to air

-Sam has some interesting follow up from a story he shared about iCloud backups not appearing. Jerry's idea to rename one of the phones was based on an older issue relating to Time Machine backups.

-The FBI telling users to reboot their routers caused a bit of panic for some customers

-Repairs is how Jerry spent his Memorial Day weekend and he laments about the latest iMac glue strips from iFixIt. He also had a heck of a time with a fan repair in a Drobo FS

-privnote.com is the latest recommendation from Jerry for securely sending password information

-Time management seems to be a weak point for Sam as he describes preparing for meetings or presentations

-Jerry talks about dressing up for a new client and a snazzy tie

-Sam discusses a client that pays a lump sum annually and the stress that comes with it

-There is some CrashPlan PROe follow up for Jerry as he recently moved to a Linux hosted solution running virtually

-Somewhat on the heels of recent discussions at ACEs, the guys talk about marking up hosted services if you are doing the legwork to set it up and manage

-Contract discussions come up again and Sam talks about being specific about what is NOT covered just as much as what is

-Jerry has to deal with a family member second guessing his work and making his own recommendations

June 05, 2018

262: How Would A Normal Person Do This?

June 05, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

Topics:

-One of Jerry's local clients needs assistance with updating the OS. He ends up working on it off-site and doing his magic to bring it back to life.

-The guys discuss working off-site vs in front of the client's eyes as well as keeping equipment like external monitors on hand

-Sam talks about setting up Ubiquiti equipment in his office to be in his comfort zone and coming to the client with a fully configured Wi-Fi setup

-Sam realizes a downside to having an office...spending money on lunch!

-The topic of nutrition comes up again, when the work day gets away from you. Sam likes the Clif Bars and Jerry is a fan of the Lara bars.

-Jerry loves the podcast How I Built This and interestingly enough, they had Lara on to talk about how she started her business.
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this

-Right up to the start of the show, Sam was working on an iPhone with water damage with a good friend of the family. An odd situation came up with relation to iCloud backups. Jerry has a suggestion based on an old trick to resolve Time Machine backups. Stay tuned to the next show to find out what happens!

-A pet peeve of Jerry's is when he might shave off some time to be nice. A client pays and then keeps you around to enter information in the register, delaying you even more.

-Sam recalls that awkward moment when a client was opening a safe in front of you and trying to make sure you aren't able to see

-As Jerry is running, he listens to podcasts. He shares another pet peeve for playing sound effects that scares the heck out of you while running on the road.

-Working with SonicWall is nothing new to Sam but he had a moment of frustration setting up the SSL VPN client on Windows 10

-While on the Windows topic, Jerry has problems with a computer that ended up being Windows Home Edition

-The dreaded employee or friend that gives a client bad advice that makes them second guess you

-Jerry deals with Windows 5?? (Windows NT) and trouble with UPS

-Sam shares a funny story about hanging out with Adam Rice at ACEs and learning that Reachability actually does exist on the iPhone X! Chalk that up to something he should have known.

-We have probably all been there before: Jerry talks about a client that swears that a feature existed before when it actually didn't.