219: Nobody Beats The Wiz

TOPICS:

• Jerry & Joe revisit Circle by Disney - https://meetcircle.com . An issue issue with a test device still sending messages even after it was reset.

Circle Go https://meetcircle.com/circle-go/ - "works anywhere" has lowerd its subscription price to $4.99 per month for up to 10 devices

• Joe discusses offering to upload and merge client photos as a service.Her references an original Macworld article about using iCloud Photo Library to merge photo libraries; and a newer article .
  Jerry talks about using iPhoto Library Manager and PowerPhotos from
  

• Joe wheels and deals with his cable provider, Optimum for faster broadband rates.
  
  Joe contacts Verizon to add a second static IP to cellular SIM for free. PEP Wave device automatically acquired the static IP and reconnected, amazingly; doubled cellular data from 8GB to 16GB+2GB free for $5 more per month; can switch to business plan when using more than 5 lines, with discounts starting around 8%;
  
  Joe contacts AT&T to drop an old iPad line that was costing $10 per month; spoke with retention department and was offered 20GB data for same price as previous 10GB price; they offered to send free Samsung Galaxy Classic Watch (retail: $350) for free to use the with iPad line in the interest of keeping the line active; no commitment or contract; I can set up the watch and then if I don't like it I can keep it, give it away, or sell it and still cancel the line with no penalty; wonder what they'll offer me when I call back to cancel it a second time!
  

• Jerry talks about his first failure with a Samsung EVO 850 SSD. The drive tested fine with an open source tool https://www.smartmontools.org along with other more familiar utilities.
  

• - Joe chats about a recent upgrade To SoftRAID 5.6 that will support running a SMART test on both USB and FireWire disks.

OS 10 SAT Smart Driver -https://github.com/kasbert/OS-X-SAT-SMART-Driver

-A big thank you to all of our Patreon sponsors!

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

216: The Hokey Pokey

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!

Topics:

• Joe talks about slow systems that have not been upgraded.

• Joe offers a PSA: it's not possible to create an iCloud.com email address beginning with a number, but the Mac doesn't specify the error when it fails for this reason. Thankfully, the error message was specified on the iPhone. Also, there's a limit of three iCloud accounts created per device from a Mac, iPhone, or iPad.

• Joe talks about building a Frankenstein MacBook Pro that needed the firmware password reset. Mac EFI Reset Tool to the rescue!

• Jerry mentions delaminating screens and Staingate.

• Joe mentions yet another PSA about it being impossible to turn off two-factor on some Apple IDs created in iOS 10.3 or macOS 10.12.4.

• Sam talks about a VMWare Fusion issue, resolved by turning off the floppy drive... in 2017?!

• We compare the movie Inception to connecting remotely into a Mac running a virtual machine.

• Sam follows up about logging into any standard user from the login window by using the admin account.

• We discuss client confusion when setting up Touch ID. Locating the Touch ID sensor behind the screen (a possibility recently discussed on Accidental Tech Podcast) might make this much more clear for clients.

• Sam discusses feeling like one of his clients – sitting with his Mac in front of the TV, his Mac became haunted... tune in to find out how he exorcised the daemons.

• Joe wonders what listeners are recommending for antivirus.

• Joe discusses issues he's seen with malware such as Linky Search changing the homepage in Safari and making it difficult to change or reset.

• Jerry and Joe discuss the remote power switch capabilities of WattBox and the OvrC app. Thanks to listener Ryan Grimes for the great recommendation!

• Joe outlines his network failover configuration: main router fails over to WAN2 if WAN1 is down for a few minutes. WattBox power cycles both WAN 1 and WAN 2 modems if WAN still down a couple more minutes. The Cable Modem and Cellular Modem reboot if search engines are unreachable. The Router reboots if search engines and the router are unreachable. (Time Capsule reboots weekly.)

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/