218: Apple TV & Smith.ai - Virtual Receptionists

TOPICS:

• Jerry discusses his experience running IOS 11 Beta
  

• Joe chats about his frustration with Apple TV screen saver and its inability to use iCloud Photo Library albums, e.g. Favorites etc. They show in the interface to select My Photos as the source, but there is no Set as Screensaver button as there is within Shared Albums. The only way to do this is to use a Shared Album? This seems to be a longstanding bug/limitation in tvOS.
  

• A long discussion about virtual receptionist services and Jerry's first hand experience using Smith.ai for the last sixty days.
  
  "Smith is a superior call answering service for small businesses and individuals. Our virtual receptionists help you build better relationships with new and existing customers."
  
  Pricing begins at $50 per month - http://smith.ai/web/pricing/
  
  Start your new Smith account today, with a, FREE 30-day/10-call trial covering 9am-9pm EST.
  
  Mention MacWorks when you signup for your trial or Command-Control-Power
  

• Finally! No more annoying robocalls and telemarketers.- Nomorobo

217: On the Road: Not The Original Scroll

TOPICS:

• Followup: Listener Jimmy Obomsawin • jimmymacsupport.com wrote in to provide additional information regrading changing the email address associated with your Apple I.D.
  

• Jerry Talks about his recent European travels
  

• Using USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports and adapters on your Mac notebook https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204360
  MacBook supports Target Disk Mode over USB-C, but you need a special "full-featured" (data/sync) USB 3.0 or USB 3.1 USB-C Cable cable. (Remember the days when all Apple products were “full featured"?)
  

• Discussion and Rave Review Of The Tom Bihn "Synaspe 19" Backpack
  https://www.tombihn.com/collections/laptop-bags/products/synapse-19?variant=17391738631
  
  "The Synapse 19 is a carefully calculated, supremely organized backpack, designed for day hiking, everyday carry, and ultralight travel. Its graceful, curvilinear exterior may on first blush look like something akin to sculpture, but in truth it is simply the judicious realization of ultimate utility. No mesh pockets clutter the exterior of this bag, nor extraneous straps festoon it; in it, you'll be able to carry more than you would imagine, and no one will be the wiser."
  
  https://www.tombihn.com/collections/laptop-bags/products/synapse-19?variant=17391738631

215: Adam Engst of TidBITS Content Network for Apple Consultants & Will O'Neal

Topics:

This week Command Control Power is joined by not one, but two guests.  Adam Engst of TidBITS and Will O'Neal of Mid-Atlantic Computer Solutions.  Both guests share their perspectives on the TidBITS Content Network.  Adam is the publisher of TidBITS, a free email and web publication for the Macintosh community.  He has recently introduced the TidBITS Content Network, which provides professionally written, edited, and illustrated tips and articles that its members can use to update their blogs, create a vibrant social media presence, and power email newsletters that people will actually read. Will O'Neal was one of the first subscribers and both gentlemen offer information on not only the creation of TCN but how it can impact your business.  Enjoy!

TidBITS Content Network: https://tcn.tidbits.com/apple-pros/
-Sign up for a free trial today and get TCN content from both July and August!”

Adam C. Engst is the publisher of TidBITS, one of the oldest and most-respected Internet-based newsletters, distributed weekly to tens of thousands of readers. He has written numerous technical books, including the best-selling Internet Starter Kit series, and many magazine articles - thanks to Contributing Editor positions at MacUser, MacWEEK, and Macworld. His innovations include the creation of the first advertising program to support an Internet publication in 1992, the first flat-rate accounts for graphical Internet access in 1993 (with Northwest Nexus for Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh), and the highly successful Take Control electronic book series. In addition, he has collaborated on several Internet educational videos and has appeared on a variety of internationally broadcast television and radio programs. His indefatigable support of the Macintosh community and commitment to helping individuals has resulted in numerous awards and recognition at the highest levels. In the annual MDJ Power 25 survey of industry insiders, he ranked as the second (2000), third (2001, 2002), fourth (2003), fifth (2004), and third (2005/2006) most influential person in the Macintosh industry. He has also been included on the MacTech 25 list of influential people in the Macintosh technical community for both 2006 and 2007, and he was named one of MacDirectory's top ten visionaries. And how many industry figures can boast of being turned into an action figure?

Will O'Neal, founder and president of both Mid-Atlantic and Metro-Atlanta Computer Solutions, has been supporting Macintosh for nearly twenty years. He began his career in 1989 operating Linotronic Typesetters for Darby Graphics and worked his way into technical support after becoming an expert with early versions of page layouts, image editing applications and font management issues. He started MACS in 2002. Since then, the company has grown from just Will to twelve Apple enthusiasts, including six Apple Certified outside technicians. Will holds the title of Apple Certified Technical Coordinator, and he regularly attends classes around the world to stay on top of the latest hardware, software and solutions for business of all types and sizes. Because of Will’s vast experience and desire to stay current on ‘all things Apple’, he is also the Lead Technical Advisor for MACS. He has a passion for providing exceptional service and solutions to his customers. 

214: Hiding In The Server Room or Where The Buffalo Roam

Topics:

Jerry shares a story about working on an older MacBook Air that takes an interesting turn

Old tricks for retrieving data from dead hard drives are discussed. Do you risk it or go right to Drive Savers?

Sam makes an attempt to restore a file for a client and takes some time to hide out in the server room when he can't find it

Jerry goes through a scare with a Buffalo NAS when at a client site and comes up with a creative solution:
Buffalo LinkStation Pro Duo 2-Bay 2 TB (2 x 1 TB) Network Attached Storage LS-W2.0TGL/R1 - https://www.amazon.com/Technology-LinkStation-Attached-LS-W2-0TGL-R1/dp/B001696ZXA

Paragon - ExtFS for Mac 11 - https://www.paragon-software.com/ufsdhome/extfs-mac/

ReclaiMe File Recovery Ultimate
to recover Windows and Linux PCs, Macs, and NASes - - http://www.reclaime.com

Working with multiple versions of software presents its challenges

Liquid spills and freezer tricks lead to a recent Apple development:

AppleCare+ for Mac now available:
MacBook Pro 13-inch: $269.00 (vs. $249 before?)
MacBook Pro 15-inch: $379.00
iMac: $169.00 (same as before!)
Get up to 3 years of accidental damage coverage and 24/7 expert telephone technical support from Apple, the people who know your Mac best.

The guys all have Late 2016 MacBook Pros and kick around the idea of upgrading to the latest model with Apple's hardware announcements

Use Etrecheck to search for legacy items that might be affecting your computer's performance:
https://www.etrecheck.com/

212: Live With Susan Chiz Berenguer of EmSpace Technology Consulting

We're sponsored this week by Watchman Monitoring, a favorite tool of ours that should be in every professional consultant's toolkit.

Visit WatchmanMonitoring.com/cmdctrlpwr and sign up for your free trial to find out how Watchman Monitoring can keep an eye on your client machines and notify you of over 100 issues. Be sure to tweet @cmdctrlpwr #CCPsentme to support the show!

This week Susan Chiz Berenguer of EmSpace Technology Consulting joins us for a conversation about her consulting practice and focusing on elder support.

EmSpace is an Independent Information Technology & Macintosh Services company, specializing in analyzing the needs and requirements of small to medium sized businesses, agencies and design firms with an emphasis on home-based clients, both on-site and via remote access. Clients rely upon EmSpace to analyze the state of their current systems, recommend the growth path necessary to enhance their production requirements, research features and develop cost/benefit analysis information. Once purchased; - install new hardware, firmware and software and train the appropriate personnel in its use and maintenance. On existing installations - advise and train clients in the practices of information archiving, memory management and network management and computing security.

http://emspaceplace.com
@emspace

211: Live At The ACES Conference 2017 - “Esposito!”

Command Control Power Live at ACEs Conference 2017!

This special broadcast of Command Control Power is sponsored by:

Thank you to our sponsors!
Prosoft Engineering - Software made with excellence since 1984
Addigy - The Cloud Based Management Platform
Jamf Now - Setup, manage and protect Apple devices in minutes
Watchman Monitoring - We find problems before they find you
 

Topics:

Jerry shares a story about the his pitch towards residential clients and using an Amazon gift card as a referral bonus
#andyesposito of Call Andy offers his insight on this as well
Steve Sorbo of MacS.O.S. also comes up to the mic for some input

A hot topic lately is that of having a live operator answer calls coming to your business. Jerry has some recent experience to offer
Karen from Answer Connect helps fill in additional details

Will O'Neal of Mid Atlantic Computer Solutions throws his experience into the ring when it comes to referrals

Michael Thompson from Origin 84 offers a wonderful idea of a weighty certificate that hangs in his client offices

Richard Wingfield of Envision Design opens the discussion about reaching out to and working with local Apple Stores

Dennis Nolan of Cirrus Partners seconds the level of importance working with the stores.  He also has a great handmade thank you that he offers to his clients.

Jason Dettbarn of Addigy and Justin Esgar (our host!) offer additional tools and references 

JD Strong reminds us to look at our existing customers

Jerry and Sam accidentally discover that you can daisy chain MacBook Pros via USB-C and charge them both!

Backup solutions are discussed and their pros & cons are weighed on air

Sam shares a scary story where a macOS Server upgrade went sideways

Joe's iPhone travel tips!

Thanks to Ryan Grimes, who suggested the WattBox for IP controllable power conditioners - https://www.onaisle8.com/shop/en/snapit/PowerOverview

Remie Cremers of Super Remie wonders about the CCP crew's collective experience

Congratulations to our winners of the Seagate IronWolf Drives Giveaway!
http://www.seagate.com/internal-hard-drives/hdd/ironwolf/
Winners - Howard Mullineck - http://wefixyourmac.com/We_Fix_Your_Mac/index.html -----
John Pawelchak - Cohort Networks Inc - http://cohort.net