• iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Managing iOS Devices with Apple Configurator

    My traditional interpretation of Apple’s vision on how iOS devices are used is that everyone has an AppleID. That AppleID enables them to access their apps from any iOS device they own or Mac that they own. That AppleID enables them to access mail, contacts, calendars and even files through iCloud. That AppleID also allows users to remotely wipe their device through Find iPhone and track their friends iOS devices (as in social networking via breadcrumb tracking) through Find Friends. All of this “Just Works” in a consumer sense. And it even allows for a little sharing of content across devices you own. However, larger organizations need more. They need…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  public speaking

    MacTech, Slides and Conference Goodness

    MacTech Day 1 My MacTech experience started last night. I flew into Los Angeles and was picked up at the airport by my coworker, Zack Smith. Given that I lived in Santa Monica for over a decade, I drove the Mini Cooper that 318 bought recently from LAX to Studio City. On the way, I got to get caught up with Zack’s stories from a month of vacation (living vicariously through others definitely has its moments). We got to the Universal City Sheraton in less than an hour during rush hour. Given the 405 being all messed up, we dodged a few bullets and cut through South Central Los Angeles…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mass Deployment

    The Lion Recovery Disk Assistant

    In OS X Lion, Apple has released a tool called Lion Recovery, that lets you repair disks or reinstall OS X Lion without the need for a physical disc. But a lot of administrators and other users have had concerns over how to build a custom recovery disk so they can have physical media handy to perform such restores. Today, Apple has released Lion Recovery Disk Assistant, which allows administrators to build such physical media. Lion Recovery Disk Assistant will install a recovery partition on a USB-attached volume (you can always clone from USB later if you really want it to be a SCSI or Fibre Channel volume). This partition doesn’t…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Where Did My Folder Go?

    I know I’ve written up telling OS X to show you invisible files, but what if you don’t want to make all invisible files show up, just make one file or folder go invisible, or for that matter, visible. Well, it’s easier than you might think. Apple has bundled a nice little command called chflags into the OS. To use it to hide a file, simply type chflags followed by hidden and then the folder. For example, let’s say you wanted to hide your ~/Library folder. Just run the following to hide it: chflags hidden ~/Library And then let’s say you wanted to unhide it ’cause you realized that it’s…

  • Business,  Final Cut Server,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Xsan

    The Xserve Has Been Discontinued

    The Xserve has officially been discontinued by Apple and will no longer be sold after January, 2011. Mac OS X Server will still be available on Mac Mini and Mac Pro (which will be the only option for Metadata Controllers on Mac OS X). Apple has produced a transition guide, available here. I do like the Mac Mini server, I just can’t seem to fit a fibre channel card into them. Before the Xserve, we used to buy Marathon rack mount kits for G3 and G4 systems. I would anticipate that a new business will spring up that takes the place of the Xserve, putting Apple logic boards and CPUs…

  • Articles and Books,  Mac OS X

    Time to Read MacTech

    Haven’t had much time to read, but now that I have a couple of books completely finished I can sit back and get caught up on my reading. And it is worth mentioning that the very first reading that I’ll do is getting caught up on the articles in MacTech Magazine, which is the only magazine I actually pay for. If you don’t get it yet, you really should check it out:

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X

    Apple Finally Finds YouTube

    Apple has been interfacing with YouTube for some time. They have provided YouTube integration into a number of their consumer applications and clearly understand how to aggregate content from YouTube and interface with the YouTube API. Apple also has some of the best marketing of the past 10 or more years. But until now, Apple has been quiet on the YouTube front. Now, with the introduction of the iPad, Apple has quietly started a YouTube presence. I can’t help but wonder what Apple has in store for the field of interactive marketing!