190: Interview With Yochai Gal of the Boston TechCollective

Joe & Sam interview Yochai Gai of the Boston TechCollective, a worker-owned cooperative in the greater Boston area.  After working first independently and then with other organizations, Yochai founded and operated the San Francisco TechCollective in 2006.  In late 2012, he took that idea coast to coast and co-founded the Boston office.

The organizations were formed based on a simple, powerful idea: that tech experts, rather than managers, should be the ones in charge of a tech support enterprise.  Have a listen as we talk to Yochai about the business, structure and technical aspect as well.

https://bostontechcollective.com

182: Tell Me About The Cloud

Recorded  November 15, 2016

Jerry revisits thin iMac upgrades and procedures.  He offers some “pro tips” based on his experiences and what he has learned from Sam’s mistakes.  He highly recommends the Anker USB 3.0 to SATA 3ft Converter Adapter Cable:
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Converter-Adapter-Cable-included/dp/B005B3VO24

Jerry and Joe discuss an interesting special consideration when upgrading a 13-inch MacBook Pro 2011: see OWC's original blog post and followup; Joe has had good luck using OWC's thermal sensor cable in all iMacs since 2009; we've previously used SSD Fan Control with good results, but generally prefer a hardware solution.

Jerry recounts a Contacts issue he was having with iCloud and third party contact syncing.  He uses the opportunity to quiz the CCP crew on the issue. 

Sam is currently struggling with an issue related to syncing his own calendar data ever since upgrading to Sierra.

Joe has a tough go trying to watch Netflix on his Apple TV and airs his frustrations.

After cloning, Jerry hits an odd issue with Apple Remote Desktop refusing to launch:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/30474023#30474023

181: Solutions For The Apple Consultant / LSD- What A Long Strange Trip Its Been

Recorded live on November 7, 2016

- Enjoy Command Control Power and want more commercial free programs? Please visit our Patreon Page where you can support Command Control Power and help us bring you more commercial free programming.

- Synology File Server Solution  
Network Attached Storage Product Selector - https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/ nas_selector

Synology "Disk Station" Operating System - https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/6.0/features

- Ubiquiti Enterprise WiFi System
Ubiquiti Networks UAP-AC-PRO-5 UniFi Access Point Enterprise Wi-Fi System
http://macs.ws/2bYGLlc

Ubiquiti Networks US-48-750W UniFi Managed PoE+ Switch
http://macs.ws/2cCnN9f

Ubiquiti Networks UniFi Cloud Key B&H # UBUCCK MFR # UC-CK  
http://macs.ws/2bYH1AN

- Joe's positive LSD story:
A Possitive LSD Story on The News - Bill Hicks on Drugs.

iMac 27-inch Retina 5K initially failed to log into user, finally logged into user but app icons were generic, apps wouldn't open, system very slow; after deleting user account, preserving home folder, and then recreating user account and reclaiming home folder, the user account would log in and work properly but system wouldn't restart or shut down, getting stuck on black screen with arrow cursor; system log showed repeating messages about com.apple.lsd process crashing; tried safe boot and re-installing 10.11.6 with no luck; tried rebuilding LaunchServices using the following command with no change:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -seed -r

Thanks to Apple discussion forums, Joe learned a command to list the open files associated with a given process:
pgrep -u `id -u` lsd | xargs slof -p
which listed a file in /private/var/folders/kv/2kk40mdv5wdccq6hb7y3rgk80000gn/0/com.apple.LaunchServices-134501.csstore

Deleting that file didn't work, but after researching whether it was OK to delete folders in /private/var/folders/, Joe deleted everything inside /private/var/folders/ and restarted. Sure enough, the system restarted successfully and has worked properly ever since. 

180: Watchman Monitoring Proactive Support Professional Certification / "Cupertino, We have a problem!"

Recorded  on November1, 2016

TOPICS:

Allen Hancock joined to discuss the new Proactive Support Professional Certification.

The certification is aimed at building upon best practices, and aims at making Proactive Support an expectation, rather than something which needs explaining.

So often, people only see the value of Proactive Support after the fact. This site aims to help consumers of IT perceive the value even before it's too late. 

IT Professionals are encouraged to submit their own stories if Proactive Support at

https://www.proactiveprofessional.com/submit-story/

Stories will be credited to you and link back to your site. There are no fees or affiliations required to have your story posted.

Certification as a Proactive Support Professional is granted after attending the 1.5 hour course and passing the exam.

Attendees of the course will receive Certified Proactive Support+ designation, use of the PSP Logo, and a listing in the upcoming Proactive Support Professional Locator. 

Online certification will be available in the future with similar benefits, but will lack the "+" designation. 

To be included in the initial Proactive Support Professional certification, register today at

https://www.proactiveprofessional.com/register/ 

Use coupon CCPSENTME and get 1/2 off the certification exam, which also includes dinner Tuesday at MacTech Conference.

PART TWO:

- http://bgr.com/2016/11/01/macbook-pro-2016-ram-specs/

- Enjoy Command Control Power and want more commercial free programs? Please visit our Patreon Page where you can support Command Control Power and help us bring you more commercial free programming

175: Sifting Through Sierra

Recorded September 27,, 2016

We are sponsored this week byGruntwork by Mac-MSP. 

Gruntwork is the ultimate managed service package for you and your clients. "Think of what you would do when trying to solve a user’s support request: run a disk verification utility. Run permission repair. Update the affected software to the latest version. With Gruntwork, those chores have already been accomplished. Your time spent troubleshooting issues is greatly reduced when the common maladies are already ruled out. Better yet, Gruntwork prevents many common problems, so the Mac just works and you can focus on higher level tasks for your client." 

Find out more at - http://mac-msp.com/gruntwork and tell them CCP sent you.

TOPICS:

Web Design:
RapidWeaver - https://realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/
SquareSpace - https://www.squarespace.com
Wix - http://www.wix.com
Logo Design:
http://www.designcrowd.com
https://99designs.com

Mailing Lists:
http://mailchimp.com
https://www.campaignmonitor.com

Belight Business Card Composer - http://www.belightsoft.com

IT Asset Management - MonkeyBox
https://monkeybox.com

Online MDM Solution
https://www.bushel.com

Alfred - Productivity App for Mac OS X
https://www.alfredapp.com

• from Ars Technica Sierra review: "Apple told us it would continue to offer an upgrade path to older Macs that stop at El Capitan but haven't yet been upgraded for whatever reason. While the installer will disappear from the public Mac App Store, anyone without the El Capitan installer already in their purchase history will be able to add it via an Apple support page."

• GateKeeper removes the option to allow apps from "Anywhere" in System Preferences, but the option is still available on the Command Line (sudo spctl --master-disable), or individual apps can still be opened using right-click and then choosing "Open" as before; does the removal of the "Anywhere" option portend a gradual deprecation of the ability to open unsigned apps at all?
• to turn off the new Universal Clipboard feature in macOS Sierra, disable Handoff in System Preferences > General; no way to turn off Universal Clipboard but keep Handoff
Remote access for business users or teams
http://www.splashtop.com

Alfred - Productivity App for Mac OS X
https://www.alfredapp.com

How to Disable Gatekeeper and Allow Apps From Anywhere in macOS Sierra
https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/gatekeeper-macos-sierra/

• Apple Watch unlock is in Security & Privacy; requires 2-factor authentication on Apple ID; requires Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi

SAMUEL VALENCIA - TEAM V | 2016 TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHON

Team V is the official endurance fundraising program for The V Foundation for Cancer Research. 
http://www.jimmyv.org
https://www.crowdrise.com/samuel-teamv/

163: The Preparedness Mindset with Shelley Watson of Wheelwrights

Recorded June 14, 2016

SAMUEL VALENCIA - TEAM V | 2016 TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHON

Team V is the official endurance fundraising program for The V Foundation for Cancer Research. http://www.jimmyv.org

https://www.crowdrise.com/samuel-teamv/

- Enjoy Command Control Power and want more commercial free programs? Please visit our Patreon Page where you can support Command Control Power and help us bring you more commercial free programming.

Thanks to all our Contributors: 

Kevin Ginger, kGinger Consulting - Weldon Dodd - Rewind Tech -Mats Schwieger - envision design, llc - Adam Rice -  Daniel Escobar, Proactechs - JD Strong, Strong Solutions - Luis Giraldo, Ook and MonkeyBox

And thanks to our other wonderful supporters who chose to donate without any reward.

TOPIC:

This week we welcome back Shelley Watson of Wheelwrights, LLC of Seattle, Washington.

Shelley Watson is currently Managing Partner at Wheelwrights, started in 2007 with Chris Dawe, to provide technology services including strategic planning, implementation, and support to business and education clients in Western Washington. An Apple consultant and trainer since 1997, Shelley’s past activities include working on curriculum development teams for Apple, and as an Apple Certified Trainer. Shelley earned her degree in Psychology from the University of California, never realizing it would be perfect for a career in IT.

In this episode, Shelley discuses her recent participation in Cascadia Rising, a Joint FEMA-OEM Catastrophic Earthquake and Tsunami Functional Exercise June 2016. She also discusses the benefits of participating in Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) training. 

Find Shelley on Twitter-  @1technodiva