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Reclaim Local Storage Space by Removing iCloud Drive Downloads

With iCloud Drive, Apple provides an Optimize Mac Storage checkbox that, when checked, stores the full contents of iCloud Drive on the Mac only if there's enough space. However, you may wish to recover local storage space without selecting that option---luckily, that's easy to do. Open iCloud Drive in the Finder, Control-click a file, and choose Remove Download. The file remains in iCloud Drive, and if you need it locally, you can click the cloud icon next to its name to download it. If you're not sure which files in...

Feb 18, 2021

5% AI Use · Pre-AI

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Forget Adobe Acrobat Preview May Be All You Need to Work with PDFs

We regularly hear from people who think they need Adobe Acrobat DC to manipulate PDFs. Don't misunderstand: Adobe Acrobat is the gold standard, but it's complicated and expensive---$14.99 per month or as part of Creative Cloud for $52.99 per month. In contrast, Apple's Preview is easy and free with macOS. Many users are unaware that they can accomplish a range of tasks in Preview without needing to invest in Acrobat. Here are six tasks that people may think require Acrobat but can easily be accomplished in Preview.

Feb 16, 2021

7% AI Use · Pre-AI

Download our White Paper - Why your Small Business needs a vCISO

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Download our White Paper - Why your Small Business needs a vCISO

Cybersecurity risks and threats are issues that all organizations, large and small, must deal with. Whether the issues are information security program related or a technical challenge, organizations need to have the personnel resources to solve the cybersecurity issues as aligned to the business requirements set forth. In an ever-growing cloud-based services industry, information security risk is never greater. Cyberattacks are growing in impact and frequency. Not a week passes without a headline of another cybersecurity attack such as a data breach or a ransomware attack. Cyber criminals are becoming...

Feb 13, 2021

6% AI Use · Pre-AI

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Want an Early Warning System for COVID-19 Infections Install NOVID

With vaccinations underway, there's light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic tunnel. But given the enormity of the task and the unknowns surrounding coronavirus variants, we'll still be in this tunnel for some time to come. Happily, there's a new app called NOVID that, if you and your friends (and their friends, etc.) install it, provides early warning as COVID-19 infections creep closer in your personal network of connections. It's like weather radar for disease.

Feb 11, 2021

2% AI Use · Pre-AI

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Getting Started with 1Password

We've long recommended that everyone use a password manager like 1Password instead of attempting to memorize or write down passwords. This approach helps prevent password reuse and reduces the risk of compromised accounts. Although there are other password managers, 1Password is the leading solution for Apple users, thanks to a focus on macOS and iOS from its earliest days.

Feb 9, 2021

7% AI Use · Pre-AI

tips

What Are Those Orange and Green Dots in Your iPhone's Status Bar?

In iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, Apple added two new status indicators to the right side of the status bar at the top of the screen. They're designed to give you feedback about what an app is doing. An orange dot indicates that an app is using the microphone, and a green dot means that an app is using the camera (and possibly the microphone as well). They're subtle and shouldn't be distracting, but if you ever notice them when you don't think the camera or microphone should be in...

Feb 4, 2021

5% AI Use · Pre-AI

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ABM Warranty 0.4.1 Walkthrough: Wrap-Up and Beta

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ABM Warranty 0.4.1 Walkthrough: Wrap-Up and Beta

In this final ABM Warranty 0.4.1 walkthrough, I’m wrapping up the last features I had not covered directly in the earlier videos and then focusing on support, community, and the beta program. I also want to show where the support resources live inside the app so you know where to go if you need help, documentation, or a way to send useful feedback. Additionally, I'll be covering some of the key features that were updated since the previous version, including any bug fixes or improvements made to existing functionality.

ABM Warranty 0.4.1 Walkthrough: Managed Preferences

In this part of the ABM Warranty 0.4.1 walkthrough series, I'm focusing on managed preferences and the credential packaging workflow. In the last video, I covered multiple credentials inside the app itself. In this one, I'm showing how to package those credentials so they can be deployed securely through MDM. This process is a crucial step in ensuring that your credentials are properly configured and protected within your organization's mobile device management system.

Low Profile Walkthrough and Review

Today I’m walking through Low Profile, a utility from Nindi Gill that I use when I want to inspect profiles already installed on a Mac and figure out whether those profiles contain issues I need to clean up. The value is that Low Profile gives me a straightforward way to inspect profiles installed on any Mac. This simplicity makes it easy for me to identify and address potential problems, which is especially useful when working with multiple machines or troubleshooting complex profile configurations.

ABM Warranty 0.4.1 Walkthrough: Multiple Credentials

In this part of the ABM Warranty 0.4.1 walkthrough series, I’m focusing on multiple credentials. In the first video, I showed the basic setup and how to add a single credential. Now, I want to explore what happens when I remove a credential, what changes occur when I add more than one, and how the app behaves once there are multiple contexts in play. This will help clarify any potential issues or inconsistencies that may arise with multiple credentials.

ABM Warranty 0.4.1 Walkthrough: Introduction

In this first ABM Warranty 0.4.1 walkthrough, I want to show you what the app actually does before I get into the more specific feature videos. This is the broad introduction. I’m walking through the dashboard, how I think about the warranty cards, how released devices are handled, how the filters work, how to add credentials, where the data is stored locally, and what the logging and security model looks like.

ABM Warranty 0.4.1

The 0.4.x release series for ABM Warranty is focused on operational scale. The earlier 0.3 releases were about trust, correctness, and stabilizing the foundation. Version 0.4.1 builds directly on that work by making the app more practical for consultants, internal IT teams, and managed service providers who need to support multiple environments without losing isolation, control, or visibility. This includes improvements to user interface and workflow, as well as enhanced reporting capabilities to help these users manage their workflows more efficiently.

The warranty dashboard Apple doesn’t provide… yet

Download ABM Warranty

Why Apple Fleet Risk Isn’t a Security Problem—Until It Is

Security and risk are often treated as interchangeable concepts in modern IT environments, but they are not the same discipline. Security focuses on controls, enforcement, and prevention. Risk management, by contrast, is concerned with likelihood, impact, and consequence across operational, financial, and organizational domains. Frameworks such as those published by NIST make this distinction explicit: risk assessment is not a technical exercise, but a business one. Technology informs risk decisions, but it does not define them.

ABM Warranty 0.3.1

The 0.3.x release series for ABM Warranty is about tightening guarantees. Where earlier releases focused on surfacing data and making long-running operations observable, 0.3.x focuses on ensuring that what you see is complete, consistent, and safe to trust—particularly as the app is used in larger, slower, and more varied environments. This shift in focus aims to provide a more reliable foundation for users who require higher levels of assurance from their warranty management system.

ABM Warranty 0.2.0

ABM Warranty 0.2.0 is a feature release focused on visibility, safety, and scale. This version does not change what ABM Warranty is meant to be, but it significantly improves how the app behaves under real-world conditions—large device counts, API throttling, long-running imports, and the kinds of failure modes Apple IT admins actually encounter. The improvements in this release are designed to make the app more reliable and efficient, allowing it to handle complex scenarios without breaking or becoming unresponsive.

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ABM Warranty 0.4.1 Walkthrough: Wrap-Up and Beta

ABM Warranty 0.4.1 Walkthrough: Managed Preferences

QuickPKG - More to Unpack

A few days ago I released a review of QuickPKG, a tool I love and use almost daily. What I really love about packaging and QuickPKG is that no matter what Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution I'm working with at any given moment, it provides a universal way to create a quick package to import into JAMF, Mosyle, or any MDM. This consistency is particularly valuable when switching between projects or environments, as the process remains the same regardless of the specific MDM being used.

Low Profile Walkthrough and Review

ABM Warranty 0.4.1 Walkthrough: Multiple Credentials

QuickPKG Walkthrough and Review

I use QuickPKG when I need to turn an application, DMG, or ZIP file into a package quickly without wasting time in a heavier packaging workflow. This post follows the same path as my video: what QuickPKG is, where to get it, how I run it, what a simple packaging example looks like, and where I think admins need to be careful about potential pitfalls that can arise from using this tool.

ABM Warranty 0.4.1 Walkthrough: Introduction

10 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do With Apple Configurator (That Save Mac Admins Hours)

Most of us treat Apple Configurator like a fire extinguisher: break glass, DFU, restore, move on. But it can do a lot more, and when you know the edges, you can turn a bricked morning into a ship-it afternoon. Below are ten things I regularly use (or wish I’d used sooner) that demonstrate its capabilities beyond just emergency recovery.

Secure Software, Secure Career: How I Passed the CSSLP

After passing the CISSP earlier this year, I decided to follow it up with the **Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP)** certification. For those unfamiliar, CSSLP is an ISC2 certification that focuses specifically on secure software development practices across the full SDLC—from requirements and design to coding, testing, deployment, and maintenance. My goal in pursuing this certification was to further develop my skills in ensuring the security of software throughout its entire lifecycle.

Amphetamine: The Ultimate Mac Utility to Keep Your Computer Awake

In today's fast-paced digital world, keeping your computer awake during important tasks is crucial. Enter **Amphetamine**, a powerful utility designed specifically for Mac users. This app ensures that your system remains active, preventing it from going to sleep or activating the screensaver when you need it most. In this article, we will explore the features of Amphetamine, how to use it effectively, and why it’s a must-have for Mac admins and everyday users alike.

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Why Focusing ON Your Business Can Lead to Greater Success

One of the hardest transitions for a business owner is moving from constant delivery work toward the kind of leadership that allows the business to scale. It is difficult to focus on the business when you are still carrying too much of the day-to-day burden yourself. Even when growth creates more resources, that does not automatically mean the work can be shared effectively right away. In fact, it's common for owners to struggle with delegating tasks and trusting others to handle responsibilities, leading to a prolonged period of burnout and...

The Importance of Effective Team Communication in Dynamic Environments

Effective team communication becomes far more important as a business moves from a small, familiar operating rhythm into a larger and more dynamic environment. When you are used to running a business as an owner-operator, much of the context lives in your head. Decisions move quickly because you already know the clients, the priorities, and the reasons behind each choice. In a larger organization, that same instinct does not scale without stronger communication.

Clearing Up Misconceptions: How Mergers Can Benefit Clients

When clients hear that a company has merged, their first assumption is often that the change is being driven by money rather than service. That reaction is understandable. If the business already seemed stable, a merger can look like a move that benefits ownership far more than it benefits the customer. That is why one of the most important parts of any merger is proving, through action, that the client experience will improve rather than decline.

Why Building a Strong Team is Essential for Post-Merger Success: Our Experience

Building a strong team after a merger is rarely as simple as adding headcount. From the outside, it can seem like joining a larger organization should immediately create more capacity, more support, and a clearer path to growth. In practice, that is not always how it works. A merger may provide a stronger platform, but it does not automatically come with an instant staffing plan or a perfect roadmap for how responsibilities will be divided.

Embracing the Change: How I Transitioned from Independent Operator to Employee

Transitioning from business owner to employee is one of the hardest identity shifts an entrepreneur can make. Running your own company means you are used to setting priorities, making final decisions, and carrying direct responsibility for the outcome. After an acquisition, that changes quickly. You may still have leadership responsibilities, but you are now operating inside a larger structure where authority is shared and not every decision is yours to make.

Bridging the Gaps: Our Focus on Unifying for Success

Acquisition changes more than ownership. It changes how you work, how you lead, and how much control you have over the decisions that shape the business every day. That shift can be harder than many owners expect, especially when you have spent years operating with full authority and direct accountability for every client relationship. As a result, it's not uncommon for acquired businesses to experience an adjustment period during which they adapt to new systems, processes, and expectations.

How SMS Can Revolutionize Your Client Assistance - Here's Why

One of the most practical ways to improve client support is to meet people where they already communicate. For many clients, that means text messaging. When used correctly, SMS can become a fast, effective support channel that reduces friction, improves response times for simple issues, and creates a cleaner record of day-to-day interactions. This approach also allows support teams to respond quickly to urgent matters, while keeping the conversation history organized and easily accessible for future reference.

Revolutionizing Tech Support with Apple Messages for Business

Apple Business Chat is one of the most practical examples of how modern tech support can become faster, cleaner, and easier for both clients and technicians. For support teams that already rely on SMS-style communication, it is not just another channel. It is a more structured way to bring real-time support into the Apple ecosystem while keeping the business side of the interaction organized. This approach allows support teams to maintain control over the conversation flow, ensuring that issues are resolved efficiently and effectively without unnecessary back-and-forth.

The Pitfalls of Growing A Team: Lessons Learned

Growing a team sounds straightforward on paper, but in practice it introduces costs and complexity that many business owners underestimate. It is easy to model growth by assuming that one additional person will quickly become productive, bill enough work, and create immediate operational relief. What often happens instead is that the owner has to spend significant time training, onboarding, and correcting work before that new hire becomes a true net gain.

Enhancing Cybersecurity on macOS: Empowering Users for a Safer Digital Journey!

macOS has earned a strong reputation for built-in security, but the real value of the platform is not just that protections exist. It is that Apple continues pushing the operating system toward more context-aware security decisions that help users make better choices before a problem becomes a breach. This approach allows users to understand and mitigate potential risks in real-time, rather than simply reacting to threats after they've occurred.

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