378: Boxers Or Briefs?

Topics:

-Sam has a rough start to a phishing campaign he was preparing.

-A recent visit to the dentist left Jerry thinking more about cleanliness.

-A round table discussion brews about protection measures.

-While working with a client, Jerry has some issues dealing with an OWC ThunderBay and SoftRAID. Meanwhile his client becomes confused about how the technology works together.

-Not surprisingly, another client becomes confused about mail storage vs local disk storage.

-Sometimes people’s computer habits can get in the way of when we need to troubleshoot issues.

-Do you use tabs or new windows in your browser?

-Sam has really struggled with setup and working with Sonos. 

-Sam mysteriously disappears!

376: The Cell Reception In Prison Is Not That Good

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Topics:

-Joe starts with a classic Watchman Monitoring corner. He uses the volumes plugin to view storage history. 

-For producing a heat map, Sam uses a tool called NetSpot. 

-Domotz gets another shoutout from Jerry for network monitoring and reporting. 

-While we sing the praises of Watchman Monitoring, Sam has a difficult experience dealing with an Eero Pro account.

-One of Joe’s clients took it upon themselves to use the LAN port on their gateway to plug in a computer. -Joe talks about opportunities like this to sell IT management services. 

-Some clients will use buzz words that they hear to sound like they know more than they do. 

-Jerry is going to be first in line Elon Musk’s Starlink space internet company. 

-Jerry has to school another tech in how the MAC address of an external Ethernet adapter can cause trouble with MAC address filtering. 

-After pushing Apple Business Manager to a particular client, Sam receives a frustrated response. 

-Can you receive text messages via email? Joe talks about “tech articles with fluff”. 

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375: Two Beacons In A Box

Topics:

-Jerry gets called to do a tough Wi-Fi job. Double masking, rubber gloves, and humidity don’t mix. 

-Jerry turns to listener and friend of the show John Moder for advice on the job. 

-after a big storm in our area, some have been left without power and internet. Even cellular was affected due to cell towers losing power. 

-Jerry realizes just how tied to the grid he is. 

-As Sam realizes the same, he describes how he could no longer manage his Philips Hue lights using his HomePod due to a lack of internet connectivity. 

-Both Joe & Jerry have done some research on backup ISP options. 

-Jerry learned about HomeBridge for Synology, which is supposed to make more devices HomeKit compatible.  His experience was not a positive one. 

-One of Jerry’s clients jumps the gun and hard restarted just SonicWall. Jerry had to go onsite and correct the issue. 

-Somehow we end up sharing stories about trying to have a conversation while at the dentist. 

-Small Cubed makes some great add ons for apple Mail. Jerry has a PSA about Send Later. 

-To wrap up, Jerry has a rant about people traveling during current times. Joe shares a rant on masks. 

374: The Sam Valencia Seal Of Approval

Topics:

-The conversation about learning on the job continues. 

-Joe throws to Sam about identity management. Services like JumpCloud come up as a good option for even small offices. G Suite Cloud Identity Management is a great option for customers who already use Google for services like email and Google Drive.  Sam shares a shameless plug about a white paper regarding G Suite and Jamf Pro. 
https://www.hcsonline.com/support/white-papers?start=20

-Microsoft provides great options in Azure as well. 

-We talk about how to implement services for a client when our own experience is limited. 

-Jerry asks a good question about how to sell something to a client that ultimately makes your life easier as a technician. 

-Sam goes on about Apple Business Manager and automated enrollment. 

-Jerry & Joe challenge Sam on why a small business should invest their time to getting this all set up. 

-Joe also makes a good point about the Apple custom store portal. This also allows the consultant to be added to create quotes.

-A call to all ACNs to sign up for Apple Business Manager: https://business.apple.com

373: Super Secret Squirrel Password

Topics:

-Joe schools us on verified phone calls on iPhone. 

-Jerry has been testing iOS 14 with positive results. 

-Both Jerry & Joe have been using RingCentral for years. Joe decided to clean house with his extensions. 

-Sam just has nana answering his calls. 

-Back to user sentiment surveys, Joe describes how apps seem to pause for an extended period before asking for a rating. 

-Exavault makes a diagnostics tool called MTR that Jerry has had success with for traceroutes.

-Security is brought up again by Joe. It reminds Sam of the “I’m a Mac” commercials with Windows Vista:
https://youtu.be/8CwoluNRSSc

-Screen Recording, a long griped about feature on the show, is an admin only feature as of now in the beta release of Big Sur. The hope is that this will be configurable via MDM. 

-System 8 is now available virtually!
https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/29/21346392/mac-os-8-electron-app-download-windows-linux-features

-One of Sam’s neighbors sometimes reminds him of Rick Moranis from Ghostbusters. It then turns into a story about the feud between his dog and the mailman. 

-Sam spins a yarn about setting up new Wi-Fi hardware and SSIDs at multiple client sites and the curve balls that are thrown at him.

-The conversation delves into Joe’s yoga practices.

-Since diving into the Wi-Fi security topic, Joe talks about 802.1x Authentication and other security measures. It starts a discussion about learning new technology on the job. 

370: Did I Not Read The Effing Manual?

Topics:

-Fake keyboard sounds drive Jerry bananas

-Amazing calculator tips are blowing our minds.

-A TeamViewer tip from Jerry. Or not.

-Sam has done some research to automate the installation of TeamViewer Host as well as auto assigning and grant easy access. 

-Jerry shared a video of a person scamming the scammers by infiltrating their call center. Here is Jim Browning’s YouTube channel. 
https://youtu.be/le71yVPh4uk

-Joe wants to get Sam’s take on his new AirPods Pro. The noise cancellation feature is incredible. He recalls Adam Engst’s TidBITS review and joe spot on it is.

-Jerry schools us about how to properly insert earplugs.

-Joe’s ears are working overtime with holding in his AirPod, holding up his glasses, and his mask. 

-Misplacing notes in the Notes app creates a difficult restore situation. Jerry gets help from MacMost.

-Joe finds himself in a similar situation to Sam where he received credit for an article with content from TidBITS Content Network. 

-Sam runs into a situation where a product he purchased form social media advertising stopped working and he found the warranty was only 30 days. Word to the wise, stay away from the Magic Bolt.