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438: Interview With Adam Engst Of the TidBITS Content Network
/Topics:
-This week we welcome back Adam Engst of TidBITS Content Network.
-The supply chain issues are hitting many areas hard.
-Finding people to hire is no easy task of late. Adam gives us his thoughts based on recent research.
-Quality of life is affecting people’s decisions to go back to work.
-Adam uses Keyboard Maestro to automate specific tasks: https://www.keyboardmaestro.com/main/
-Sam is seeing customers that would rather pick up in store, even if the specifications are not exactly what they want, rather than wait for the supply chain delays.
-Joe & Jerry were comparing new models but didn’t quite pull the trigger.
-Not just increased processing power and unified memory, but faster SSDs.
-The 1080p HD FaceTime camera is still weak but better than the 720p camera in previous models.
-Adam talks about ergonomics like desktop height and keyboard/trackpads.
-He recommends a roller mouse from Contour Designs: https://www.contourdesign.com
-Does virtualization change anything for people on Apple Silicon?
-Gamers are still staying away from the Mac platform.
-Monterey appears to be an easier upgrade process in comparison to the issues that have plagued Big Sur.
-Upgrading from Mojave is still troublesome: https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-upgrade-to-big-sur-failed-stuck-progress-bar-fix-prevention/
-Get your Apple gifts on the early side as supply chain issues could affect timing.
-If you aren’t already a subscriber, get well written, professional Apple Content for you to use with your customers with TidBITS Content Network.
437: Interview With Dan Monge Of Mac IT Pros
/Thank you to our VIP sponsors!
Special Thanks to our friends:
Topics:
-This week we welcome Dan Monge of Monge IT Consulting / Mac IT Pros
-In addition to running his business, Dan works with Watchman Monitoring in a variety of capacities.
-We have our usual Watchman discussion where we discuss use cases and helpful tips.
-Joe installs Watchman on his company computers as well, to keep tabs on the health of his equipment.
-Dan adds “Connect to Server” shares to make it easier for users to mount network volumes.
-Dan focuses on businesses only and refers any residential referrals to a fellow consultant.
Dan & Jerry talk about the fall of Google Ads and being mistaken for Apple.
-Another hat tip to our friends at TidBITS Content Network.
-smith.ai chat feature has really helped Jerry for no additional cost.
-Zendesk has a chat feature that Sam has put to use.
-What is chaff? Is it champing or chomping at the bit?
-The group discusses failed (or were they?) marketing ideas.
-Do you still use business cards?
-Company shirts and branded equipment gets noticed.
-Dan tries to convince Joe to move away from hourly to monthly plans.
-In Dan’s parting words, he encourages listeners to become patrons.
436: Things Everyone Knows That I Want To Talk About
/Topics:
-Sam shares a story about a stolen iPhone that, thankfully has a good ending.
-Joe debates an upgrade to the latest iPhone. He still has “the good phone”.
-AT&T has a great trade in deal that Jerry took advantage of.
-Jerry talks about the text capturing feature of iOS 15 vs Text Sniper.
-Have you tried to type “and” and your iPhone converted it to “abs”?
-An update on how to share photos to your Apple TV. Should Joe have known this?
-Microsoft Word has a transcription feature that Adam Codega reminded Jerry about.
-New segment: “Things everybody else knows”.
-Joe discusses some of the video features within Zoom.
-As Joe looks into green screen options, Sam has a good recommendation from El Gato: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0743Z892W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
-While out at a brewery to “eat”, Joe finds the restaurant uses a QR code to pay with Toast. This was a use case for app clips on the iPhone.
-MacPractice was having trouble on a weekly basis at one of Jerry’s clients. The fix was an odd one.
-The crew does their regular Dolly Drive check in.
-We make predictions about Apple’s latest announcement.
-Jerry has a heck of a time with a residential client having trouble playing music throughout their house. Using a hidden 5 GHz did the trick.
-Sam’s attempt at humor doesn’t amuse Jerry.
435: Less Than A Minute Remaining
/Topics:
-Joe has to troubleshoot his own internet connection with the ISP.
-GoNetSpeed appears to be a new provider in the Fairfield County area in CT. https://gonetspeed.com
-Jerry has some challenges connecting routers that auto config to an Altice modem/router from Optimum Online.
-One of Sam’s clients decided to upgrade their ISP service without involving his team.
-Changing the all in one modem/router solutions can be extremely frustrating.
-Another one of Sam’s clients was down after the wiring consultant installed new equipment. It turned out to be oversight but it required a Saturday visit.
-Upgrading from Mojave to Big Sur is enough of an issue where there is a MacAdmins channel dedicated to it. (Channel: Mojave-Upgrade-Problem).
-Jerry has joined the Apple Silicon bandwagon.
-Has anybody else seen performance issues on Apple Silicon that requires a restart?
434: Interview With Jon Brown CEO of Grove Technologies
/Topics:
-We welcome Jon Brown of Grove Technologies. Jon is a long time VIP supporter of the show.
-Jon recalls attending a WWE even with the CCP crew, thanks to Joe’s sister.
-Starting a new business proved to be challenging initially. He talks about his learning curve and experiences building his current business.
-Jon has a concept like Uber for Tech Support.
-Grove Technologies is going to offer its internal SaaS based tool for other businesses and industries. There are integrations built for other tools like Addigy, Watchman, Jamf, etc.
-Working with others as a sub contractor can help broaden your area of expertise as a company.
-Hiring remote technicians has proven to be useful to Jon’s business model.
-Should you increase your onsite rate vs remote?
-Do your clients care if you or your staff make onsite visits to their offices?
-Grove Technologies has put their stake in the ground about being a remote only support company.
-People still don’t seem to grasp the concept of password management or Multi-Factor Authentication.
-Cybersecurity training for end users can be incredibly useful. It can also provide some discounts with insurance.
-Malwarebytes for Mac proves to be less powerful than the Windows version.
-Hook Security and Breach Secure Now are two big services to help with employee training.
-Jerry has some recommended security methods for his clients.
-Customers have a tendency to conflate security terms like VPN vs firewall.
-Jon wants you to become a sponsor of the show!