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š° News and Opinion
Once again, the only way forward is the Mac
If Appleās locked-down approach in the App Store era is our future, itās a bleak one indeed. But thereās good news: Apple has also built a system that provides security, flexibility, and responsibility while letting device owners run the software they want to run.
Itās called the Mac. When we consider the future of computing devices, the Mac is the model we should aspire to, not the iPhone.
Bluesky and enshittification
Cory Doctorow on Pluralistic:
I would like to use Bluesky. They've done a bunch of seriously interesting technical work on moderation and ranking that I truly admire, and I've got lots of friends there who really enjoy it.
But I'm not on Bluesky and I don't have any plans to join it anytime soon.
Also,
- Tim Bray: Why not Bluesky
- Gavin Anderegg: Maybe Bluesky has won
As mentioned last week, I have an account on Bluesky. I also created a starter pack with a list of interesting accounts for MacAdmins. Right now Bluesky certainly looks exciting and attractive. They are creating some really interesting features.
I am certainly enjoying the platform right now. Like Cory Doctorow, I really want to like Bluesky. But I am also very skeptical that it can last. It easy to claim they will hold up the user experience above all else right now, when the venture capital is flowing and the users are excited. But we don't know their business model yet. I don't believe anyone knows how Bluesky is planning to make a profit, some years down the road when the VC agencies want to see the return on their investments.
For now, I have decided to enjoy the ride until then. I generally am not too active on any social media platform, and prefer to mainly post on this newsletter or my weblog, and cross-post to multiple platforms.
Currently you can find me on LinkedIn, Mastodon.social, and Bluesky. (I also have a 'follow pack' for Mastodon/the Fediverse here.)
One of the many ways modern operating systems help you
saw that it was capped at 80% and there was a message that indicated that the computer knew I basically never used it on battery power.
Declarative Device Management
For Mac Admins navigating the future of device management, understanding declarative device management (DDM) and Appleās evolving approach is critical.
Apple: Let us be Polymacous
stop creating a situation that undoubtedly pushes people to log in to work Macs with their personal iCloud accounts.
š Security and Privacy
Reverse Engineering iOS 18 Inactivity Reboot
iOS 18 introduced a new inactivity reboot security feature. What does it protect from and how does it work? This blog post covers all the details down to a kernel extension and the Secure Enclave Processor.
AI Granny Daisy takes up scammersā time so they canāt bother you
According to Virgin Media O2ās press release Daisy has successfully kept numerous fraudsters on calls for 40 minutes at a time. To achieve this āGranny Daisyā will tell the scammers all about her passion for knitting, her cat Fluffy, and provide exasperated callers with false personal information including made up bank details.
šØ Support and Tutorials
Use emojis with SwiftDialog in a script executed by a Jamf policy
The way SwiftDialog takes emojis is very simple, as stated in the documentation, you just pass the icon as a string of text.
Turns out, it's not quite so simple...
Managing time limited admin rights with Privileges 2.x
Rich Trouton:
One of the new features in Privileges 2.x is the unified ability to set and manage how long you want to grant admin rights
Accessing the recovery key password reset option at the login window on macOS Sequoia
Rich Trouton:
it looks like Apple made a change at the login window for macOS Sequoia. Appleās instructions reference clicking on a ( ? ) symbol, which doesnāt appear in my testing on Apple Silicon Macs. Without that, how do you access the recovery key entry blank to enter the recovery key?
š¤ Scripting and Automation
Managed Apple ID Pre-work: Determining Impacted Users
Dan Snelson on Jamf Tech Thoughts
The following Domain Apple IDs Jamf Pro Computer Extension Attribute will inspect the current (or previous) logged-in userās MobileMeAccounts.plist for Apple IDs associated with domains included
Clearing failed MDM commands from members of Jamf Pro smart or static groups
Rich Trouton:
I recently learned itās also possible to clear [failed MDM commands] by using an API command which clears failed MDM commands from all members of a specified Jamf Pro smart or static group.
š Apple Support
How to keep your devices and data backed up in iOS 8 or earlier
Starting December 18, 2024, device backups will require iOS 9 or later.
If you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 5 through iOS 8, learn how to keep your devices and data backed up.
ā»ļø Updates and Releases
Workbrew 1.0
Today, Workbrew is graduating from beta to 1.0 and is generally available
Also see Homebrew and Workbrew
Streamline macOS Software Management with Jamf Now App Installers
App Installers is available for Jamf Now
š§ Listen
North Pole Security & Santa
Santaās got new digs up at North Pole Security! Join us as we talk with Russell and Pete from North Pole about what Santaās move means, how itās developing in the future, and whatās coming next for this powerful Mac Security Tool.
Navigating IT's Past and Future with Tim Nyberg of The MacGuys+
hosts welcome Tim Nyberg of The Mac Guys + as he shares his extensive journey in Mac support, starting back in the early 90s.
Behind the Masque of Network Relays with Matt Vlasach
we have Matt Vlasach here to talk about why Network Relays are awesome and how we can use them to make Apple devices more secure and useable
An air fryer, a ring, and a vacuum get brought into a home. What they take out is your data
a consumer rights group out of the UK posed a question to the public that theyād likely never considered: Were their air fryers spying on them?