Best Of CCP - 087: Joe's Birthday Bash

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Sam Valencia, Jerry Zigmont and Joe Saponare discuss working with Apple technology and clients. Drawn from their combined experience of over 20 years in the Apple Consultants Network, they discuss technical support issues both with the technology and working with clients.

551: Triumphs, Twists, and Unexpected Joys

Topics:

-We have recently completed our rates survey. Stay tuned for more information.

-Jerry wants to know what has changed about our businesses for the better.

-Recurring fees have been a tremendous change for him.

-He also purchases a 2023 Mac Mini to filter out his spam emails. He uses SpamSieve to filter out junk mail.

-MacAdmins Slack has a for sale channel.

-Jerry also uses the new Mac mini for home automation.

-Joe & Sam discuss their automations as well.

-For 2024, Sam has been leaning into automation (no reference to the above). Using tools like Setup Your Mac, coupled with a setup guide, has made new user setup virtually hands off for IT.

-Another great open source tool called SYM Helper has made the script configuration much, much easier.

-Joe has some excellent points about certain features that would be great to be a function of MDM and not things we have to find open source solutions for.

-Because of confusion of updates vs full version upgrades, Joe & Sam had to disable their Nudge update prompts.

-Sam had a real problem with AWS VPN on Sonoma that he could not sort out. Once he did, he packaged up the solution and placed it in Self Service for users to correct themselves.

-Joe mentions how he permanently closed his office.

-Joe uses a recovery company called Data Savers, which Jerry has never heard of.

-Both Jerry & Joe have affiliate sites for some of their partner programs. Sam needs to purchase some domains…

508: Just Give Me The Fish

Topics:

-Jerry shares an odd printer story.

-Apple Mail was having an issue using a self signed certificate.

-“Don’t trust email”

-Joe describes emulation vs virtualization.

-Virtual Buddy & UTM are solid virtualization products.

-Joe uses the ability to virtualize other versions of macOS to support clients that use a different OS than he is currently running.

-Pro Tip: You cannot use an Apple ID with a virtual OS.

503: Interview With Ross Matsuda of Sudoade.com & Sys Admin at Ntiva

Topics:

-On this episode, we welcome Ross Matsuda - Apple Systems Administrator from Ntiva.

-Ross is also the creator of sudoade

-Ross majored in theatrical direction with a minor in graphic design.

-He spent 7 years as an Apple Genius and also with Apple corporate.

-We discuss the necessity of support with Apple’s products.

-We get into GUI scripting with AppleScript on Ross’s site, sudoade. He developed a way to integrate automation with Addigy to only see the minor updates available.

-Initially using Nudge, he decided to develop a method that worked best for  his users.

-Joe has seen a much higher level of software update compliance since using Nudge and Ross’s solution.

-PSA - get your Mac computers at least to 12.6.3 to avoid unexpected problems when performing updates.

-Joe & Ross talk about simpler ways of presenting information and designing for the user experience.

495: Just Give Me The Good Support

Topics:

-We recollect the OnForce days with the Apple Consultants Network.

-Jerry has some follow up after his recent lightning strike. He has a heck of a time getting the replacement modem to operate at the proper speeds.

-It speaks to the larger issues of declining quality of technical support.

-One of Jerry’s older clients lost access to her SBC Global email account, which is now in the hands of AT&T. One month later, he has to revisit this after a phishing scam.

-Joe has follow up to his emojis not working when in clamshell mode. Command+Control+Space works as a keyboard shortcut.

-The ScriptingOSX.com newsletter helps Joe out with a tool called Screen Nudge to allow screen recording via automation.

-Although you can no longer schedule reboots in macOS Ventura, Charles Edge mentions using the pmset command on Krypted.com

-As Joe brings up Apple’s language on software updates/upgrades, we discuss the current methods of managing them for clients.

-Shoutout to TidBITS Content Network and their latest holiday gift guide.

-A big thank you to our latest patron, Rod Miller of RQM Consulting.

491: Who Am I?

Topics:

-Jerry deals with some complications when one of his clients opens a satellite office in another company’s space.

-Confusion arises when an A/V vendor Joe works with says his client mentions another “IT guy”.

-Be careful with warranty statuses for Ubiquiti purchases on Amazon.

-One of Sam’s clients receives a FUD newsletter from a competitor looking to solicit business.

-Apple software updates are continually problematic. But Joe talks about Addigy’s beta software update MDM command. He also talks about a GitHub project known as Nudge.

-S.U.P.E.R.M.A.N. is another popular software update Girhub project that has a bright future.

-An employee fired off an aggressive email chain with Sam over the weekend.

-App Updater is a useful tool that Joe has been testing and Jerry has been using for a while. Also discussed on an episode of MacGeekGab.

-Installomator is another incredibly useful GitHub app install tool by friend of the show, Armin Briegel of Scripting OS X.

-As Joe talks Ventura features, Jerry talks about the dangers of iCloud Shared Photo Library.