317: Working On & Working In

Topics:

-Joe kicks off the show bringing up leisure time and time management 

-Working ON the business vs working IN the business

-A challenge for Sam is meeting interruptions that occur when clients reach out. Not just for him but for his staff

-Sam may be on the lookout for a new hire but does he look for an admin or a tech?

-The CCP crew are very appreciative of the collective audience and their feedback/advice

-“This is not for everyone”. Sam comes to the realization that running a business isn’t something everyone can handle. 

-A continual question for Sam is taking on Windows clients. 

-Joe explores marketing new services to current clients as a method of increasing revenue. For instance, offering Ubiquiti installations for clients in need of upgraded Wi-Fi. 

-QuickTime screen recording to the rescue for Sam as he tries to see a message that quickly disappears on his screen

-Joe has some follow up to how he sets up his clients with individual Ubiquiti UniFi controllers. While Sam is moving to a central controller, specific logins per client is something they agree on. 

-Cloud Key stability has plagued all of us. After some research, Joe has dug up information about the Mongo database and how it is prone to failure during a power loss. To combat this, Joe discusses his backup power plan for the Cloud Key. 

-After a recent discussion with Christopher Stout on Episode 311, Sam is looking to setup a closed system like UniFi, Synology Surveillance Station or Security Spy

-Sam learns some interesting details from a SonicWALL vendor about true throughput 

-Friend of the show, Weldon Dodd points out a great write up by Rich Trouton on his site, Derflounder. It’s an interesting piece about enabling Touch ID for sudo commands.

316: Wi-Fi On A Stick

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Topics:

-Sam has a first run working with the ”Wi-Fi on a stick” method of mapping out Wi-Fi. He uses a product from wifistand.com and NetSpot to create a map":
https://wifistand.com

-Joe brings up a great tool called Magic Plan to create floor plans on iOS:
https://www.magicplan.app/en/

-The nanoHD is a particular Ubiquiti model that same used and likes to deploy

-Joe warns of things to be aware of when scouting out an environment for Wi-Fi

-Another new monthly service that Sam is offering is hosting a UniFi controller in his environment to manage firmware updates and alerts. Joe weighs the responsibilities that comes with such an offering.

-Joe throws Sam a curve ball explaining how he has a singular login for his clients

-Another issue in the long line of networking troubles that Sam has experienced: finding incompatibility between a SonicWall and WAN connection at a NYC client. The fix? A dumb switch!

-That story rings a bell for Joe who has a similar story to tell about a Zywall and WAN connection that turned out to be a multi pronged problem.

Thanks to our Patreon Sponsors!

315: The Skeleton Just Popped Up!

Topics:

-Jerry has a “non-technical” gripe about health bowls he wants to share

-Drink every time Joe says açaí

-To bring it back to technology, Jerry has issues with the motivational announcements on the Nike Run app

-Client perceptions and marketing terms often are deceiving

-clients that won’t spend money are nothing new. But Joe & Jerry dive deeper into the disfunctional relationships that persist through time.

-The “computer friend” is a red flag

-A potential customer approaches Jerry about doing project work or “cost plus” work before establishing an ongoing relationship

-A move to G Suite ends up being a challenge for Jerry as he gets bounced around support.

-Joe flips the conversation to show when clients can be correct and prove us wrong

-A shoutout to TidBITS Content Network (https://tcn.tidbits.com)

and all that they provide to us on a regular basis, as well as the bonus material during Apple announcements

-Joe compares directing a client to your blog to explain something as a customized “Let Me Google That For You”

-Sam wishes he was a part of the conversation as Jerry & Joe have a good ole’ fashioned gripe session about client habits

-“Oh no the skeleton popped up” - One of Joe’s clients saw Apple's branding for WWDC on apple.com and thought it was a result of her recent hacking, calling it a skeleton

312: The Sunk Cost Fallacy

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Topics:

-Jerry discusses the origin of the Jer-RE-SEND

-Jerry’s dad gets schooled on email security. His dad makes a statement that many of our clients share: “how am I supposed to know these things?"

-One of Joe’s clients thinks Touch ID will be “hacked”

-While on the topic of security, 1 Password is highly recommended by us but the built in iCloud Keychain has come a long way and may fit the bill for some customers

-Jerry’s dad provides some additional comic relief during a modem upgrade

-This story reminds Joe of The Print Shop software by Broderbund and the “tractor feed” paper

-Sam gets a little salty when describing a day that went sideways when attempting to adopt Ubiquiti Unifi equipment on site.  Something he aways recommends against.

-We discuss the important concepts of the sunk-cost fallacy, or escalation of commitment. How can we know when we're being tenacious, and when we're succumbing to commitment bias?

-Joe's issue connecting to public WiFi, captive portal login page doesn't load. There are workarounds, like closing the popup login page (which displays "A problem occurred: The web page couldn't be loaded.") and then manually loading captive.apple.com in Safari, and refreshing the page repeatedly when necessary. Or loading the router's IP address in Safari. But it turns out that it's a bug in Sophos Home that affects Mojave, and they are working on a solution: Captive Portal / Login Page does not load on MacOS when connecting to a Public/Guest Wi-Fi Hotspot. 

- Joe uses a resource by Matt Coneybear to automate the process of connecting to VPN when on non-secure networks:
http://matt.coneybeare.me/how-to-setup-an-auto-reconnect-script-for-an-ikev2-vpn-service-on-your-mac

309: The Tech Power Of Magnets

Topics:

-Sam discusses the work/life balance when he’s on the road

-Jerry describes being in “BusyCal Hell” with a small medical office. Joe & Sam weigh in with their thoughts

-As Jerry describes this situation as a hornet’s nest, it reminds Joe of Apple Knowledge Base Article HT201657 where they describe sync services “as if it were a swarm of bees”.

-Jerry reminds us of how BusyCal/BusyMac has changed hands some time ago

-The former “IT guy”. Trust is large part of our relationships and Sam spins a yarn about how that trust was completely broken with a new client relationship.

-An episode of Command Control Power wouldn’t be complete without a gripe from Joe. Safari suggestions is his latest target.

-In some truly amazing sleuthing, Joe shares a client story where he diagnosed an issue with a Mac going dark at seemingly random moments. From afar, he appears to have correctly pointed towards a multitude of magnets that the customer wears. He also recounts a similar story from episodes of the past where he diagnosed an issue with lighting and solar powered keyboards.

-Jerry shares a PSA about Startup Security Utility on Mac computers with a T2 chip: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208198

-Joe has real time follow up! While recording the show, he heard back from the magnetized client who confirms that he was right on the money with his diagnosis.

305: I Have Some Cookies In My Kitchen

Topics:

-Big thank you to Michael Thompsen and Viktor Glemme for guest hosting a recent episode of Command Control Power. Thanks as well to their guests Will O’Neal and Luis Giraldo for mixing it up with them. 

-Sam & Jerry express their disappointment in the cancellation of AirPower. 

-Sam shares some exciting news about office space. His group is on the move again. 

-Jerry has incredibly useful and relevant advice for marketing your business with Google and how he uses the TidBITS Content Networkto deliver information to potential customers.

-Reselling additional services is a subject that has come up in previous episodes. Sam has some thoughts to add and talks about how he is bundling up some services that he hasn’t offered in the past. 

-JumpCloud is one such service and Sam mentions their partner program

-Sam describes a conundrum that a consultant might find himself/herself in: pay me more to allow me to do less work. 

-Jerry finds a great site for picking the right Mac for your needs 
Picking the Best iMac to Buy in 2019 - https://www.macrumors.com/guide/best-imac-to-buy/

-The guys lament over Safari responsiveness lately 

-One of Jerry’s education clients has a need for a product called Inkscape. He describes his challenges dealing with X11 and the installation process. 

-Big shout out to Shawn Maddock of Envision Design. Envision is the company of friend and supporter of the show, Richard Wingfield. 

-Sam has some cookies in his kitchen