December 06, 2016

184: New MacBook Pro Observations -Be Fun All The Time

December 06, 2016/ Jerry Zigmont

- Joe's setup: MacBook Pro USB C connected to OWC USB-C Dock: connected to Gigabit Ethernet and two USB devices (speakers and iPad charger). Also powers MacBook Pro. Includes USB-C port on dock, to which I intended to connect AllSmartLife USB C Type to Mini DisplayPort adapter, but it doesn't work when plugged into the dock (but does work when plugged directly into Mac).

- OWC is accepting pre-orders for OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock which adds mini DisplayPort built-in, as well as FW800 and digital audio out.

- Joe observes: Touch ID on the new MacBook is great, and perhaps worth the difference in price vs. the "MacBook Escape" but it doesn't seem to know about Standard users. It prompts for Touch ID when system needs admin authentication, even though I run as a Standard user and my admin account isn't yet set up for Touch ID. 1Password integration is great.

- Joe observes: Touch Bar is a bit distracting, but maybe it's based on the way I type. It keeps changing from text formatting to word suggestions because I have a habit of selecting and deselecting blocks of text when I'm typing and editing.

Rocket - Quick launcher for Touch Bar

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November 22, 2016

182: Tell Me About The Cloud

November 22, 2016/ Jerry Zigmont

Recorded November 15, 2016

Jerry revisits thin iMac upgrades and procedures. He offers some “pro tips” based on his experiences and what he has learned from Sam’s mistakes. He highly recommends the Anker USB 3.0 to SATA 3ft Converter Adapter Cable:
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Converter-Adapter-Cable-included/dp/B005B3VO24

Jerry and Joe discuss an interesting special consideration when upgrading a 13-inch MacBook Pro 2011: see OWC's original blog post and followup; Joe has had good luck using OWC's thermal sensor cable in all iMacs since 2009; we've previously used SSD Fan Control with good results, but generally prefer a hardware solution.

Jerry recounts a Contacts issue he was having with iCloud and third party contact syncing. He uses the opportunity to quiz the CCP crew on the issue.

Sam is currently struggling with an issue related to syncing his own calendar data ever since upgrading to Sierra.

Joe has a tough go trying to watch Netflix on his Apple TV and airs his frustrations.

After cloning, Jerry hits an odd issue with Apple Remote Desktop refusing to launch:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/30474023#30474023

November 15, 2016

181: Solutions For The Apple Consultant / LSD- What A Long Strange Trip Its Been

November 15, 2016/ Jerry Zigmont

Recorded live on November 7, 2016

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- Synology File Server Solution
Network Attached Storage Product Selector - https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/ nas_selector

Synology "Disk Station" Operating System - https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/6.0/features

- Ubiquiti Enterprise WiFi System
Ubiquiti Networks UAP-AC-PRO-5 UniFi Access Point Enterprise Wi-Fi System
http://macs.ws/2bYGLlc

Ubiquiti Networks US-48-750W UniFi Managed PoE+ Switch
http://macs.ws/2cCnN9f

Ubiquiti Networks UniFi Cloud Key B&H # UBUCCK MFR # UC-CK
http://macs.ws/2bYH1AN

- Joe's positive LSD story:
A Possitive LSD Story on The News - Bill Hicks on Drugs.

iMac 27-inch Retina 5K initially failed to log into user, finally logged into user but app icons were generic, apps wouldn't open, system very slow; after deleting user account, preserving home folder, and then recreating user account and reclaiming home folder, the user account would log in and work properly but system wouldn't restart or shut down, getting stuck on black screen with arrow cursor; system log showed repeating messages about com.apple.lsd process crashing; tried safe boot and re-installing 10.11.6 with no luck; tried rebuilding LaunchServices using the following command with no change:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -seed -r

Thanks to Apple discussion forums, Joe learned a command to list the open files associated with a given process:
pgrep -u `id -u` lsd | xargs slof -p
which listed a file in /private/var/folders/kv/2kk40mdv5wdccq6hb7y3rgk80000gn/0/com.apple.LaunchServices-134501.csstore

Deleting that file didn't work, but after researching whether it was OK to delete folders in /private/var/folders/, Joe deleted everything inside /private/var/folders/ and restarted. Sure enough, the system restarted successfully and has worked properly ever since.

November 08, 2016

180: Watchman Monitoring Proactive Support Professional Certification / "Cupertino, We have a problem!"

November 08, 2016/ Jerry Zigmont

Recorded on November1, 2016

TOPICS:

Allen Hancock joined to discuss the new Proactive Support Professional Certification.

The certification is aimed at building upon best practices, and aims at making Proactive Support an expectation, rather than something which needs explaining.

So often, people only see the value of Proactive Support after the fact. This site aims to help consumers of IT perceive the value even before it's too late.

IT Professionals are encouraged to submit their own stories if Proactive Support at

https://www.proactiveprofessional.com/submit-story/

Stories will be credited to you and link back to your site. There are no fees or affiliations required to have your story posted.

Certification as a Proactive Support Professional is granted after attending the 1.5 hour course and passing the exam.

Attendees of the course will receive Certified Proactive Support+ designation, use of the PSP Logo, and a listing in the upcoming Proactive Support Professional Locator.

Online certification will be available in the future with similar benefits, but will lack the "+" designation.

To be included in the initial Proactive Support Professional certification, register today at

https://www.proactiveprofessional.com/register/

Use coupon CCPSENTME and get 1/2 off the certification exam, which also includes dinner Tuesday at MacTech Conference.

PART TWO:

- http://bgr.com/2016/11/01/macbook-pro-2016-ram-specs/

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November 01, 2016

179: No Followup

November 01, 2016/ Jerry Zigmont

Recorded on October 31, 2016

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October 18, 2016

177: Peeling An Orange WIth A Plastic Knife

October 18, 2016/ Jerry Zigmont

Recorded on October 11, 2016

TOPICS:

- QuickBooks 2015 is macOS 10.12 Sierra compatibile

- Joe discusses the benefits of LogMeIn Hamachi for remote access to QuickBooks, Lightspeed Onsite, and Printer Sharing – which helped work around an issue using Canon printers over an L2TP-over-IPSec VPN connection detailed in two Apple discussion forum posts.

Sam discusses configuring VPN on a Synology and the need to send all traffic over VPN in OS X.

https://www.synology.com/en-us/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/Application/How_to_connect_to_Synology_s_VPN_Server_using_a_Windows_PC_or_Mac

Unleash Your Router - https://www.dd-wrt.com/site/

PPTP Client For Sierra - https://www.shimovpn.com

- iOS 10 adds the ability to auto configure macOS Server account

- Tom Bridge Newsletter Technobits https://tinyletter.com/technobits

- pop quiz: can you name the Mac display sizes, including decimals? which is the only Mac model with a whole number display size?

- using a Verizon iPhone on AT&T

- Verizon Phones are unlocked bacause of the agreement when AT&T acutioned off the 700MHz "C Block” frequency spectrum

http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/25/3405610/verizon-iphone-5-unlocked-open-access-fcc

- Enjoy Command Control Power and want more commercial free programs? Please visit our Patreon Page where you can support Command Control Power and help us bring you more commercial free programming.