Command Control Power

A weekly Podcast where three Apple Certified Consultants look at the Mac Tech industry. Lively discussion about Apple technologies, technical challenges with Mac OS & IOS devices and client service relationships.

- Mike discusses his experience partnering with other consultants to share the ebb and flow of new client referrals - considering growing the team vs. doing a partnership - what to look out for when partnering - how to transition clients to the concept of multiple consultants; getting comfortable with the new guy - some clients prefer a "one man shop" with a single point of contact - hiring an "admin" or office manager to receive calls, provide first level support, and act as a buffer - running a GroupOn deal to generate new (usually residential) business for the new guy; repeat business can justify less up front earning - attending and/or speaking at a business conference can generate business leads

Recorded on June 16, 2015 This week we are joined by Mark Fuccio, a Go to Market Consultant who's worked with Connected Data, Drobo and other storage vendors. Follow @markfuccio and visit his company, Tactics Sells High Tech at tshti.com Special thanks to Mark for bringing up these important topics for discussion. Topics: - the business of selling hardware and extending payment terms to your clients - contract negotiations - Jerry observes that AirPort base stations can fail to pick a new channel unless "updated" (even without actually making any changes to the configuration) - Joe has trouble assigning a new TeamViewer ID, and seems to realize his mistake - considerations when migrating, cloning, and redeploying machines

Recorded on June 9, 2015 Many thanks to our sponsor this week, Watchman Monitoring. Sign up for your free trial at watchmanmonitoring.com/cmdctrlpwr. Here's an example of a smart Watchman alert: "UPS Monitoring is no longer available. Re-connect UPS to enable monitoring." - https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client - The Safe Mac on Premier Opinion - Followup re: MacBook data migration, Sam's ditto command - Jerry relays a question about Watchman Monitoring from a Chicago listener, and we discuss "white labeling" the product with your own company's branding, and the broader topic of branding in general. - Jerry discusses his note-taking workflow and operations - Jerry recommends the OWC Thunderbolt 2 Dock and Hub+ for USB-C - Joe's MacBook migration recipe: 1) New Installation 2) Create Admin User / Turn Off Sleeping 3) Create Same Name User Folder > Clone User To User 4) Terminal = sudo chmod -RN /Users/username 4) sudo chown -R username /Users/username 5) Boot Off Recovery / Reset ACL's 6) Migration Assistant > Move Everything Else - Sam's Recipe: Terminal - Move User Folder: sudo ditto -X -rsrc /Volumes/oldhomefolder /Users/newhomefolder

Recorded live on June 2, 2015 - thanks to Ben Mason at Mac-MSP for supporting the show on Patreon - as a reminder: for $15/month we'll mention your name and/or company in the live show - Joe details the ways in which the new MacBook is a pain to migrate data to, with its One port! Best sure to charge it fully before attempting migration. When Migration Assistant fails, problems are compounded since the new MacBook must be charged between attempts. Apple's USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter is now shipping, allowing users everywhere to not only connect a USB device, but also charge the MacBook at the very same time! - Joe believes that when screen goes dark on new MacBook, the machine sleeps – even if you're in the middle of a clone using Carbon Copy Cloner. Shouldn't CCC prevent machine sleep? To be safe, change Energy Saver settings to not sleep display for 3 hours while you're running a clone? - Does the Recovery partition stores passwords to wireless networks you've connected to? Actually as Andrew Ball and Ben Mason point out in the chat, it seems that the credentials are stored in NVRAM and can be removed with a PRAM reset. Add that to the refurbishment procedures! - Joe notes that magnetic Apple Watch bands can trigger MacBook "sleep on lid close" sensor. Joe's client had intermittent spontaneous sleep on his MacBook Air while using it. Joe said: "...Another thing to consider is that the sensor that detects when the lid is closed is magnetic, so magnets and certain metals can affect it." Joe's client said: "You are SO SMART! I recently got the Apple Watch with the Milanese Bracelet. It has a MAGNETIC CLOSURE!!! The problem started about the time I began using the Watch. This is a repeatable event. Perhaps you can write it up and send it to one of your professional journals or to Apple." Anyone else seeing this? MagnetGate - thanks to Morgs Daly for joining us in the live chat from Brisbane Australia! - Jerry details client issues installing Microsoft Office 2011 from a client's Office 365 account, resulting in the following error: MS Office Suite Apps Appear In The Dock This occurred after install completes and Activation or Installation Utility FAILED To Auto Launch (black background MS branded) Same If attempting to launch and individual app - Created New Users Account - Different removal techniques per Microsoft - Microsoft support article about this issue - Remote Session With MS Tech - Terrible - Installed PathFinder - Search For “microsoft”, removed all hidden documents - Created Time Machine Backup, Wiped Drive & Time Machine Restore From Recovery Partition, Installed Office = same issue Note: Restore Of Time Machine is a “cleaner install” than running Migration Assistant per Apple Resolution- Wipe Drive, Reinstall OS, Create New Admin User, Install Office, Run Migration Assistant and Import User From Time Machine Backup

- Jerry mentions black screen issues on Apple Watch; Apple Store notes issue and next time will likely "capture" offending hardware for repair/replacement - Sam describes an SMB issue with Yosemite Macs connecting to Yosemite Server via SMB: when adding a tag (colored label) to a folder, the contents disappear until a new folder is created on the server and contents moved into it - Joe mentions the Microsoft Outlook "main window bug" which was fixed in Office 2011 update 14.5.1 - Sam's new client self-installed a server and configured SugarSync; now Sam is in the position of defending a local file server; Jerry suggests Synology CloudStation - discoveryd bugs to be "solved" by bringing back mDNSresponder - Jerry installs the Ergotech Single 320 Series Articulating LCD Monitor Arm and sends photos!

A weekly Podcast where three Apple Certified Consultants look at the Mac Tech industry. Lively discussion about large corporate client bureaucracy and Yosemite Server Upgrades.

A weekly Podcast where three Apple Certified Consultants look at the Mac Tech industry. Lively discussion about Apple Certifications, the new Photos app and Mac professional tips.

We did something special for our 100th episode: during the live broadcast, we invited listeners to join us on the air! To kick off this free-for-all, we were honored to be joined by Kim Manitt of MacDivas & Neil Ticktin, Editor in Chief and Publisher of MacTech. Neil announced his own milestone: printing the 350th issue of MacTech Magazine! (Also: 25K food servings. [Alcoholic beverages? Not fit to print.]) Kim and Neil talk with us about the upcoming series of MacTech Pro events. Listeners: check it out! Use our link (pro.mactech.com/go/ccp/) for $200 off, plus a full year of MacTech Magazine in both print and iPad. On a sad note, condolences to the family and friends of longtime ACN, Kevin Lockey, who has passed away after a battle with cancer. Kevin will be missed. Huge thanks to our impromptu live guests: Ben Mason, BestMacs and Mac-MSP, Kansas Mike Kingsley, Kingsley Mac Consulting, Utah Allen Hancock, The Orchard Solutions, Louisiana (and Watchman Monitoring!) Remie Cremers, SUPER REMIE, the Netherlands Michael Reinhart, Above Studio 1, Edmonton, AB, Canada Plus, we discuss the genesis of the show. Jerry recommends the BlueBuds X wireless bluetooth headphones. And thanks to all of our live listeners for showing up month after month for our live broadcast.

Recorded on April 28, 2015 This week we are pleased to be joined by Alex Narvey of Precursor Systems, based in Winnipeg, Canada. Alex is known for promoting the RAIS concept, which is a method to maintain a "hot standby" server using Target Disk Mode and a mirrored RAID. R.A.I.S. stands for Redundant Array of Independent Servers. Alex's RAIS page is a wealth of resources and information, including products and services for your servers. According to Wikipedia, RAID originally stood for "redundant array of inexpensive disks" and is now commonly considered to mean "redundant array of independent disks". Joe's joke to start the show was originally considered pretty bad, and is now commonly considered to be just awful. Dealing with differing network hardware across two machines, e.g. Mac Pro with two Ethernet ports and Mac mini with one, sometimes it's easier to just manually intervene rather than engineer an automated solution. Doing something predictable, according to best practice, consistent with the expectations of an educated client or another consultant – rather than over-engineering a more "tricky" solution.

A weekly Podcast where three Apple Certified Consultants look at the Mac Tech industry. Lively discussion about backing up your Mac and your client machines. The guys share their personal favorites and chat about “real world” experiences relating to backup strategies. Discussion regarding issues with G-Technology drives and failure to correct incompatible Firewire firmware.

A weekly Podcast where three Apple Certified Consultants look at the Mac Tech industry. Lively discussion about trying on the Apple Watch, Yosemite Server Upgrades, Periscope and backup.

Recorded live on April 7, 2015 Thanks to special guest, Pam Lefkowitz of Core Computing, for joining us for this special live episode in which we discuss the difficult subject of firing clients. Follow Pam@alwaysdns on Twitter! - Pam recommends the "Hold Harmless" contract when clients refuse to take our advice - Sam shares his own recent experience parting ways with a client - new follower Jason Joyn shares a quote from Carnegie Institute of Technology: "85% of your financial success is due to your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Shockingly, only 15% is due to technical knowledge."

- Joe buys a MacBook Air from a client with a bad SSD and installs a 480 GB flash upgrade from OWC - Joe's client brings in a MacBook Air running extremely slowly; maybe thermal protection mode? AppleCare fixes it! - etiquette with "strange stuff" in downloads, trash, etc.; airing dirty laundry - strange signs in clients' homes, e.g. "please be aware of turtle" - Sam troubleshoots a machine at macminivault.com - thanks to Charles Edge for his .serversetupdone tip on Krypted.com

- Jerry's client receives a Software Alliance letter; Jerry does some research to determine legitimacy - Joe upgrades a client's custom van and details the systems including Crestron, Apple TV, small Linux PC running XBMC (now Kodi), - upgrading XBMCbuntu on slim PC in van; migrating to Kodi; using Verizon USB 4G LTE adapter in Cradlepoint router - Sam gets called in at halftime – to quarterback a different team - Jerry's client has trouble upgrading his iPhone at the Verizon store; Jerry discovers a brute force iPhone backup encryption cracker, but doesn't have occasion to try it out - followup regarding encrypted backups in iTunes: Apple says "If you can't remember the password and want to start again, you must perform a full software restore and choose set up as a new device when iTunes prompts you to select the backup from which to restore." - possible to downgrade 10.10.2 to 10.8.3 without a clean install? Joe's client seems to have done it accidentally; how? no idea Extra: - Joe and Jerry live troubleshoot very slow server connection issues to due old edu.mit.kerberos file in /Library/Preferences; hat tip to Sam Bergin