Best Of CCP - Interview With Dave Hamilton - CEO of BackBeat Media, Mac Geek Gab, Gig Gab, and Business Brain Podcasts

Topics:

-This week we welcome Dave Hamilton of Mac Geek Gab!

-Dave actually grew up a street away from our very own Joe Saponare.

-Dave has some knowledge on the music history in the area.

-Dave has known his co-host, John Braun since they were 15 years old.

-He remembers the days of NCSA Mosaic.

-The Mac Observer and BackBeat Media are just some of Dave’s major accomplishments.

-Wasn’t 2001 just a few years ago?

-Dave takes us down memory lane in the early days of The Mac Observer.

-His original plan was not to continue hosting Mac Geek Gab.

-Being persistent paid off as he reached out to Steve Jobs himself to be included in their new Podcast Directory.

-In both Texas and the northeast, Dave has a quite a technical background.

-Quick Tip from Joe - If the minimum brightness is too bright on your iPhone, you can Reduce White Point under Accessibility>Display & Text Size.

-We talk about listener burnout in the podcast world.

-Mac Geek Gab is on episode 941!

-A tip that Jerry heard on Dave’s show was about Tailscale, which makes a virtual network out of your devices, no matter where you are.

-Sam talks about some tips he learned on recent episodes of Mac Geek Gab.

-The simple stuff is why you get paid the “big bucks”.

-Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast is another show Dave co-hosts with Shannon Jean.

-The 20 minute rule - keeping clients engaged every 20 minutes along the way.

-Besides his podcasts, you can find Dave at https://www.davethenerd.com or on Twitter @davehamilton

672: Apple TV Picks, Disclosure Theories, and Practical macOS Admin Tips

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

Best Of CCP - 309: The Tech Power Of Magnets

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.

670: Adam Engst (TidBITS) Apple at 50 — The Anniversary Nobody's Talking About: Community, HyperCard, and What We Lost

670: Adam Engst (TidBITS) Apple at 50 — The Anniversary Nobody's Talking About: Community, HyperCard, and What We Lost

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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669: Adam Engst (TidBITS) Slack Impersonation Malware, Anthropic's Mythos, and Why You Need a Personal AI Defender

669: Adam Engst (TidBITS): Slack Impersonation Malware, Anthropic's Mythos, and Why You Need a Personal AI Defender

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

668: Michael Thomsen of Origin 84, Part Two - Reusable Compliance Policies, ISO 27001 Audits, and Building a Fractional GRC/Strategy Bench

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.

00:00 Welcome and Recap

00:45 Reusable Policies vs Tailoring

02:20 Data Classification Nuances

03:33 Discovery Questions That Matter

06:18 Building Trust Without Conflict

07:30 Insurance as the Trigger

08:47 SOC 2 and Framework Reality

10:50 Audits and Continuous Improvement

12:48 Breaking Down Compliance Work

14:07 Jerry’s Healthcare SOC 2 Case

15:49 Fractional Support Models

17:13 Move Up to Strategic Advisor

19:16 Agency and Stakeholder Dynamics

20:41 Consulting Revenue Mindset Shift

23:26 Hand Off Tactics, Lead Strategy

24:21 Healthcare Provider Experiences

24:30 Compliance Strategy Calls

25:16 Subcontracting Specialist Help

25:55 Scaling With Key Hires

28:18 Fractional Finance And HR

30:03 Fractional Strategy Officer

31:26 Outsourced Regional Support

32:31 Finding Fractional Talent

36:55 Networking At ACEs

39:41 Account Management Matters

41:51 Wrap Up And Farewell