Command Control Power: Apple Tech Support & Business Talk

The hosts discuss Apple TV shows they were late to, including The Morning Show and For All Mankind, and talk about Hail Mary Project, comparing the film's "E.T.-esque" choices to Andy Weir's book. They segue into UFO/alien "disclosure" chatter, mentioning Spielberg's upcoming Disclosure Day, the film Age of Disclosure, alleged legacy programs, and the idea that disclosure could distract from other news. The conversation returns to Apple and IT topics: an Apple fix for managed login window settings not resetting, a Family Sharing change allowing adult members to use their own payment methods, and why hidden Wi‑Fi networks trigger Apple security warnings. They share productivity tips, including a Shortcut to sort Contacts by creation date, NFC tag uses, remapping Safari's Quit shortcut, menu bar icon spacing via defaults write, Finder column auto-sizing, and Boring Notch. Jerry describes building a client podcast studio around the RØDECaster Video S and Rode support, then they explain using Adigy DDM to automate macOS updates and upgrades with policies, scheduling, and monitoring alerts.
 
00:00 Show Kickoff Banter
00:18 Apple TV Catch Up
02:12 Hail Mary Debate
04:25 Disclosure Day Talk
07:32 Mac Login Banner Bug
09:47 Family Sharing Payments
10:50 Hidden WiFi Warning
13:25 Contacts Sort Shortcut
17:47 NFC Shortcut Ideas
20:38 Safari Quit Remap
24:00 Menu Bar Icon Tools
24:56 Menu Bar App Trust
26:16 Declutter Menu Bar
27:09 Shrink Icon Spacing
29:04 Finder Column Autosize
30:28 Boring Notch Tricks
32:10 Building Podcast Studio
33:17 RodeCaster Video S
39:27 Video Podcasts Debate
41:51 DDM Updates Workflow
49:20 DDM Policies and Alerts
55:32 Wrap Up and Patreon

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, thaey discuss technical support issues both with the technology and working with clients.

Adam Angst of TidBITS reflects on Apple's 50 years through the lens of early tech idealism, arguing that what mattered most wasn't Apple itself but the community around it, which was weakened by shifts like the end of Macworld keynotes, Apple's vertical integration, and the decline of user groups and independent resellers. He contrasts the Mac's early "create" ethos (e.g., HyperCard) with later emphasis on communication and content consumption via iPod, iPhone, and social media, while noting growing societal harms from tech giants. Angst describes renewed excitement in creation via AI tools, citing apps he built for track training and race pacing. He recounts how his 1993 Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh bundled software (including MacTCP) and a flat-rate ISP account, prompting an Apple Legal scare resolved by the MacTCP product manager, and closes by urging people to ditch social media and "go outside."
 
00:00 Part Two Kickoff
00:37 TidBITS Anniversary
00:52 Apple 50 Reflections
01:59 Pre Web News Era
04:33 Early Internet Optimism
05:20 Flame Wars Then
07:31 Apple Idealism Fades
10:20 Community Was The Magic
11:45 Macworld And User Groups
14:00 Vertical Integration Shift
17:25 Apple Turning Points
22:20 Creators To Consumers
25:43 From Consumption to Creation
26:01 Bicycle for the Mind
27:27 AI as Research Assistant
28:26 Building Runner Tools
29:40 Pacing Math Problem
33:25 AI MVP to Real Code
36:04 Internet Starter Kit Origins
40:56 Apple Legal Scare
43:09 Invent a Better Future
46:04 Go Outside Finale
 
 
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Adam Engst (TidBITS) discusses a malware incident in a long-running public "Slack Bits" group where a bad actor impersonated Glenn Fleishman via a duplicate Slack display name, tricking him into downloading an info-stealer, prompting Engst to consider shutting down the 1,400-member community. The conversation shifts to Anthropic's Mythos and Project Glasswing (as covered by TidBITS security editor Rich Mogull), which reportedly found long-standing bugs (including in OpenBSD and FFmpeg), raising concerns about AI-accelerated vulnerability discovery, defender/attacker asymmetries, costs and compute barriers, and impacts on zero-day markets. They also cover Apple's iOS signing and update/upgrade distinctions, why Apple supports macOS differently than iOS, broader distrust in institutions, social media's advertising/algorithm problems (including Section 230), bots and AI-driven phishing, and the idea of local, user-controlled AI agents to help protect individuals online.
 
00:00 Welcome Back Adam Engst
00:20 Slack Impersonation Scare
02:15 Cleaning Up a Public Slack
03:40 Mythos and Glasswing Explained
05:19 AI Bug Hunting Reality Check
08:25 Red Team Blue Team Asymmetry
09:50 Compute Costs and Access Barriers
12:19 Trust Ethics and Regulation
17:50 Personal AI Security Agents
23:34 Zero Day Markets and Exploit Kits
25:40 iOS Signing and Update Windows
27:13 Why Macs Get Longer Support
32:06 Scams Incentives and Pig Butchering
34:02 Life Offline and Misinformation
35:41 Social Media Hot Garbage
36:43 Addiction By Design
37:46 Advertising Model Flaw
38:47 Infinite Scroll Limits
39:39 Dunbar Number Reality
40:54 Platform Power Responsibility
42:46 AI Influencers And Slop
43:37 Bots And Fake Accounts
46:33 AI Phishing And Passkeys
49:21 Closed Communities Trust
53:25 CAPTCHAs And Human Help
56:08 Section 230 And Algorithms
57:46 Chronological Feed Fix
59:35 Two Week News Rule
01:02:41 Ads In Maps Backlash
01:04:10 Wrap Up And Next Part

In this Command Control Power episode, host Joe and guests discuss standards, policies, certification, and compliance with Michael Thomsen of Origin 84 in Sydney, continuing an ISO 27001 deep dive. Michael explains how policies are written to solve specific control problems (e.g., MFA) and can be reusable, while areas like data classification require tailoring based on a client's industry, legislation, contracts, and workflows; key discovery questions include where data is stored and shared, and what obligations contracts impose. The conversation contrasts frameworks (NIST, Essential Eight) and notes auditors verify that policies drive processes and are followed, emphasizing continual improvement through audits, risk/incident tracking, and iterative remediation. Jerry and Sam share healthcare/SOC 2 experiences and discuss shifting solo consultants from tactical support to higher-value strategic advisory/account management, using fractional roles and partners. Michael outlines Origin 84's fractional model (financial controller, HR, strategy officer, plus legal/CFO) and sourcing via professional networks, LinkedIn, and conferences like ACEs, where Michael will present on account management