285: MacMini, Why For Art Thou?

Topics:

-After recent hardware announcements from Apple, Jerry, Joe & Sam discuss the Mac mini specifically and where this updated model falls into their client needs. And what about a new iMac?

-Sam is excited about the new iPad Pro (he may have purchased one) but Jerry shoots down new product talk

-TidBITS Content Network is continually proving its value for the team

-Joe has an excellent tip about using affiliate links when doing email marketing like TidBITS

-Based on a listener’s feedback in our Slack channel, Sam recommends SetApp, a subscription service for Mac apps

-Turning on mark down support in secure notes is now a feature of 1Password. Thanks to Joe’s feedback/rant online? Who knows.

-Jerry struggled on-site at a client with an odd Gmail issue with Apple Mail and as it turns out, it was the Keychain.

-One of Joe’s client has an issue where their iCloud outgoing emails are going to spam for recipients. He utilized a blacklist tool to see if their IP or domain was on any blacklists. After working hard to diagnose, it turned out to be the fact that the user was using their ISP’s mail server to send messages.

-FileVault encryption proved to be more difficult for Jerry and it required running Disk Utility from the Recovery partition

-One of Joe’s clients was trying a remote session and found MacHelp Mate!

284: When In Doubt, Whack The Plist

Special Thanks To Our VIP Sponsors!

Topics:

-Sam is at the Jamf Nation User Conference (JNUC) 2018. He discusses his time there and MDM concepts as a whole.

-While at JNUC, Sam spots a CCP shirt on a listener. Big shoutout to Chris Stout of Stout Computer Services

-Joe is Southeast of Sacramento, CA in Bakersfield. On the road, laundry is a luxury!

-Sam had the opportunity to watch a live recording the 100th episode of the Mac Admins Podcast

-To get into technical topics, Joe brings up a nagging issue he has been having with TeamViewer. After his own trials and tribulations, he has come up with a solution that should help others.

-The team also discusses other remote access tools like Bomgar, Splash Desktop, and Addigy

-An issue related to iTunes showing a phantom update when connecting an iOS device creates a head scratcher that didn’t appear to have an obvious fix

-Amongst the many issues Sam has had with his 2016 MacBook Pro, he finally has a resolution to his network lags when switching networks. HINT: go to /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration

-Jerry is very happy with his Series 3 Watch with cellular and has some tips for using it without your iPhone nearby: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205547

-Joe seems to be alone with his phantom Time Machine alerts. Jerry and Sam consider taking him home.

Thanks to all of our Patreon Sponsors!

283: The Mile High jamf Club - Interview With Weldon Dodd Of Rewind Tech

Topics:

-We welcome back Weldon Dodd of Rewind Tech to the show. Weldon was kind enough to put Sam up and host him in his training space in Centennial, CO

-Joe has a correction from listener Justen Wattenberger in the way he pronounces and writes Mojave

-In Joe’s latest feature request corner, he wants to see shared favorites. Sam would like shared contacts.

-Joe quizzes us on the domain 1e100.net (hint: it is owned by Google)

-Sam addresses the rumors about how he spends his CCP per diem and where he sleeps at night

-Weldon gives us the scoop about his business and how it involves MSP clients as well as an Apple Authorized Training Partner

-Weldon begins a conversation about how to onboard new employees and the team shares their thoughts

-One of the methods that Sam used was to have the new hire document your steps so he/she learns how to create documentation and you get to critique the way they create notes

-Joe has a client that he respects that gave him good unsolicited feedback on his new hire. She became a barometer and may be a future method for vetting potential new employees

-Weldon compares that to a situation where he was brought on board to help vet a new educator being brought into his son’s school

-Sam has a bone to pick with Joe about a new client referral that he cannot shake

-On the topic of referrals, Weldon talks about his good business relationship with Amy McKnight and the team at The Mac Spa

-Joe asks Weldon about his decision to go all in on MSP and how difficult it was at times to say no to potential business

-After heavy experience with companies like Microsoft and Cisco, Weldon realized he was the only one on his team that could handle certain tasks. So it made him sharpen his focus on things that he and his entire team could be awesome at.

-A big congratulations to Weldon for his successful presentation with Randy Saeks at JNUC 2018!

-ACEs Conference is back for 2019! It will be held in Kansas City, MO June 4-6. Visit http://acesconf.com/ccp/ for special pricing for CCP listeners.

280: A Gaggle Of Macs - George Clooney Selfie Mode

Topics:

-Joe is just about vagrant status as he gives us an update on his life on the road

-Ashleigh has some troubles with her Air Pods and her model MacBook Pro

-Apple hardware costs are making the guys wonder about new purchases

-A conversation with a client with a “gaggle of Macs” about the upgrade path

-Watchman Monitoring helps to generate customized reports either internally or for the client

-As rumors swirl about an October hardware release, Jerry hopes for an iPad with a USB-C connection that can also be used as an external display.

-PSA for Backblaze customers - upgrading to Mojave could cause Backblaze to stop backing up. Follow the article below to allow full disk access:
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/mojave-permissions/

-1Password can still autofill credentials but can no longer execute a login (ie. pressing Return) in the latest version of Safari

-Also in Safari 12, Citrix now has an issue running. One of Joe’s clients has this issue after upgrading on her own. Here is a post about the fix:
https://discussions.citrix.com/topic/398482-ica-download-on-safari-12/
And a blog post from Citrix about the issue:
https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2018/08/03/npapi-support-is-being-removed-from-safari-12/

-Jerry references MacBreak Weekly, where they mention an app called Focos, which uses computational photography to perform amazing edits on your photos

-Jerry wants the new phone for “George Clooney selfie mode”

-Joe has a client with a new domain that ends in .photography, which caused all sorts of issues as many apps don’t understand that it is a URL. His work entailed adding the domain to Google Search Console, along with adding variants, selecting defaults, and adjusting country/language settings. Here are Squarespace recommendations:
https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/205814568

-Joe shares a problem and solution for an issue in Mail app when composing a new email

-Joe introduces yet another new segment: Joe's Corner Down by the River. Note that when removing ~/Library/Mail/V5/MailData/Envelope Index, Envelope Index-shm, Envelope Index-wal, ExternalUpdates.storedata, ExternalUpdates.storedata-shm, ExternalUpdates.storedata-wal, when rebuilding mail database, messages for IMAP accounts are re-downloaded from the server! Eats up limited cellular bandwidth.

279: Pontiac Data Loss

Special Thanks To Our VIP Sponsors!

Topics:

-How do you save clients from themselves

-Jerry moves a conversation to Zendesk to have a paper trail to “CYA”

-Follow up on Joe’s gripe due to Face ID not having a “try again” feature. Michael Thomsen of Origin 84 made us aware that tilting the phone away from you and back will allow another attempt. iOS 12 has since addressed this issue.

-After a recent to the Apple Store for a screen repair, Joe receives paperwork about “Pontiac data loss”

-Joe contemplates the new iPhone Xs Max

-While at the Apple Store, seeing the new watches was tempting, although the latest pricing could be a deal breaker. Jerry finds a deal on eBay.

-Joe encounters malware that was previously undetected by Watchman but cleaned by Malwarebytes

-For Addigy subscribers, you can offer Malwarebytes breach remediation as an automated maintenance task for your customers.

-A blast from the past, Jerry has some dealings with SMB Up

-Joe takes some advice from our friend Adam Engst at the TidBITS Content Network

-It’s that time of year for users prematurely installing the latest macOS, Mojave

-Among the plethora of disreputable maintenance software, Jerry is a fan of Clean My Mac by Mac Paw.

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!

277: Tinfoil Hat With Chin Strap Security Method

Topics:

-Joe talks Apple Watch

-Joe introduces two new segments:

-“What I learned at the Apple Store”
Joe learned how to check his iTunes gift card balance

-”What I learned from the client”
The keyboard shortcut of Command+Backslash auto populates credentials from 1Password
Sam is blown away by this, yet Jerry has been doing this for years. It prompts Sam to quickly come up with a new segment of his own: “What I learned on Command Control Power”.

-Joe has a rant about 1Password 7 and offering markdown support, which inadvertently had a detrimental affect on his Secure Notes within 1Password.

-Wearing his tin foil hat, Joe talks about entering computer passwords and other potential data while on public networks or on camera that could already be compromised.

-Continuing the security topics, the gang talks about directory bound account passwords in large organizations that are set to Welcome1.

-Joe has a bone to pick with Microsoft Exchange due to another missing feature that exists elsewhere. It seems to be missing multiple alerts in calendar events!

-Sam gets frustrated about a freebie he offered to a client that turned into a much longer visit than expected

Thank you to our listeners!