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034: Interview with Ben Greiner, Inventor of Robot Cloud and President of Forget Computers

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034: Interview with Ben Greiner, Inventor of Robot Cloud and President of Forget Computers
Joe Saponare, Sam Valencia, Jerry Zigmont
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Interview Recorded on January 14, 2014; Intro Recorded on January 21, 2014


Intro:

- Sam's friend's lost iPhone

- 1Password's great security audit feature

- Mat Honan's epic hack

- solving the password problem

- MonkeyBox

- Apple's two-step verification


Topics:

- Robot Cloud is built on JAMF Software Casper Suite, customized for multi-tenant use, designed for Mac/iOS management; working closely with JAMF since early 2007

- Robot Cloud has been available as a product since 2013 and is designed for 1-100 seats

- Forget Computers employs 13 people, 10 full time, all but two are technical

- DeviceScout is offered as an add-on for consultants who already have a JSS (JAMF Software Server)

- Inventory & Alerts (JAMF "recon" + added alerting and ZenDesk integration via Support Menu app) @ $5/month/device

- Policies (automated patching, advanced troubleshooting) @ $10/month/device

- Ben's background in consulting: worked as a creative at an ad agency, de facto IT person there; started as a team of 1 in 1998 as Digital Logic, then rebranded as Forget Computers; ACN since 2001; merged with another company in 2005, and attempted to integrate the two companies without success; left with two other consultants at the end of 2005, rebirth of Forget Computers, based in Chicago

- more about Security, Certificates, Network Requirements, etc.

021: Interview with Jim Sherhart, VP of Product Marketing for Drobo

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021: Interview with Jim Sherhart, VP of Product Marketing for Drobo
Joe Saponare, Sam Valencia, Jerry Zigmont, Jim Sherhart
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Recorded Live October 8, 2013

Topics:

- Jim's journey: after three years at Drobo, he left with founding CEO of Drobo, Geoff Barrall, to run marketing at Connected Data, creators of Transporter. Then a year later, Connected Data was acquired by Drobo which brought Jim back to the company.

- Transporter's improvements over the PogoPlug

- cloud storage vs. private/personal cloud services; the benefit of controlling the device

- Drobo Accelerator Bay enabling large, fast, cheap SSD cache for Drobo 5D, Drobo 5N, or Drobo Mini, e.g. 64 GB mSATA drive

018: New iPhones: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

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018: New iPhones: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Joe Saponare, Sam Valencia, Jerry Zigmont
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Recorded Live on September 24, 2013

Topics:

- iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c

- Maker Faire

- Touch ID security

- the trouble with Activation Lock in the Enterprise; disabling Find My iPhone

- wireless network improvements; outdoor enclosures to extend a wireless network outside

- Joe's story of seeing iOS 6.1.3 running on an iPad and thinking it was much older

- Verizon reps recommending Android phones, receiving commission

Picks of the Week:

- Macwireless.com – Joe

- Inssider – Sam

- WiFi Explorer & NetSpot (See also this review from Glenn Fleishman at Macworld) – Jerry

 

002: Security, iCloud Keychain syncing, bookkeeping, growing your practice

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002 Security, iCloud Keychain syncing, bookkeeping, growing your practice
PsiMac, HCS, MacWorks
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Sam, Jerry, and Joe discuss topics related to growing your consulting practice: secure info sharing among team members and clients, bookkeeping, and administrative assistance. Includes a brief review of services we offer to clients.

Plus: a how-to for configuring multiple tax rates in QuickBooks.

Co-hosted by Jerry Zigmont of MacWorks, Sam Valencia of HCS Technology Group, and Joe Saponare of PsiMac.

Topics:

  • consultant security best practices
  • team secure info sharing
  • client security tendencies
  • proposed solutions for dealing with multiple Apple IDs
  • the promise of technology
  • iCloud keychain syncing
  • MobileMe war stories
  • Configuring multiple tax rates in QuickBooks
  • Billings Pro
  • redundant data entry in bookkeeping systems
  • hiring a part-time or full-time administrative assistant; or not

Memorable lines:

Regarding the presumably forthcoming iPhone 5S: "this time, the 'S' can stand for 'Secure'."

Great advice once given at the ACN Business Meeting regarding growing your technology consultancy: "do yourself a favor: the first person you hire should be an administrative person."