Dan Kessler is the owner of MacMaven Consulting.
MacMaven Consulting has over 400 Mac applications in our software library. We keep a library this large for several reasons: We can often solve novel problems quickly, rather than reinvent the wheel We can recommend applications that will help your workflow We can provide better support when we run the same software you do We…
Most of my long-term clients have made information security an integral part of their computing. We spend significant time on improving the security of their systems. When I visit a new client, I know what to expect. There are almost always significant deficiencies in security controls. 20% of my new clients have adware/malware that they…
Most of my clients use the stock functionality built into macOS and applications written by major publishers, such as Adobe. That’s all well and good, but independent developers have written fantastic apps to help with your day-to-day productivity. Here are some apps that I use daily. Many of these apps show up in software bundles,…
In the Mojave 10.14.5 update, Apple broke reliable SMB file sharing. Organizations found that the SMB service would stop responding after a few hours of uptime. Apple addressed this problem in 10.14.6. Apple has another SMB problem. In this case, I’m talking about Small and Medium-sized Businesses. Apple has gradually been moving away from server…
I’m a first-time Ikea customer. This experience has been exasperating. I ordered an Ikea ALEX desk, which arrived in good condition. I can’t say the same about the BROR system. Ikea markets BROR as being suitable for living rooms and garages. The reality is that Ikea’s quality control on the BROR pieces is so bad…
I had an extremely poor experience with my Verizon Fios installation today. The best way to describe the job was careless. I did not get any apology whatsoever from the installer Leonard, even after pointing out the damage and his lack of care. Here is a list of the damages and other issues. Keep in…
You’ve probably noticed that fraudsters spoof email addresses in their phishing attacks and other scams. They are probably spoofing your company’s email addresses too, sending messages to your customers and employees. While spoofed email using your domain name can’t be eliminated entirely, it can be reduced and/or marked as spam. You can also increase the…
There are two questions that most of our prospective clients ask. I’ll explain the pitfalls of relying on these questions when selecting a Mac consultancy. What is your hourly rate? Rates are much less important than you think. Most NYC-based Mac consulting companies charge in the same ballpark for basic support services. If you find…
I’m eagerly awaiting the new modular Mac Pro. I hope Apple offers a PCI expansion chassis, standard M.2 SSDs (or reasonably priced proprietary SSD cards), and standard PC graphics cards. In other words, give us outstanding hardware without crippling the expandability and gouging your customers. New iMacs. Fusion drives and rotating drives should be omitted…
APFS is Apple’s new file system, introduced in High Sierra. One of my favorite features of APFS is its partitioning mechanism. APFS volumes can be added and removed with ease to a container using Disk Utility. What’s fantastic is that there is no need to size APFS volumes. The volumes will grow and shrink…