Category: Gadged

It’s no secret that I’m a firm believer in working smarter, not harder, and I try to incorporate that into everything I do. From time to time a problem will come up that simply requires putting in the hard work–and that’s OK. Even in those times there could be a thing or two that can be used to make even the most daunting of tasks a little less intensive.

SEE: Cheat sheet: Apple macOS Catalina (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

One area I find this at times is in mobile device management, specifically referring to iOS-based devices. Though much of the heavy lifting can be pushed onto a well-designed zero-touch deployment consisting of Apple School or Business Manager and a solid MDM, there will be times when devices won’t cooperate or services will be offline, and devices still need to be provisioned. And if you’re tasked with managing devices from different departments or entirely unique organizations, Apple Configurator 2 can be configured to handle it all with aplomb.

The key here is to use the Organizations

Apple is reopening more than 100 additional stores in the US this week following temporary closures in response to coronavirus quarantining. The store re-openings will occur across 21 states from Arizona to Wisconsin, with a little less than half fully accessible to customers and the rest providing curbside or storefront service only.

SEE: Life after lockdown: Your office job will never be the same–here’s what to expect (cover story PDF) (TechRepublic)

“This week we’ll return to serving customers in many US locations,” Apple said in a statement released on Tuesday. “For customer safety and convenience, most stores will offer curbside or storefront service only, where we provide online order pick-up and Genius Bar appointments.”

The new re-openings include six stores in Arizona, 29 in California, 11 in Florida, six in Georgia, one in Indiana, one in Kansas, two in Kentucky, five in Michigan, three in Missouri, three in Nevada, one in New Mexico, one in New York, seven in Ohio, one in Oregon, one in Pennsylvania, one in South Carolina, one

System administrators will tell you any process or task that needs to be run on the systems they manage is usually performed in some form of automated manner. Whether it’s scripted, enforced through policies, or handled via third-party management server, it is far simpler to execute and report back data on properly configured automated tasks than it is to leave it to the happenstance of performing these tasks across the entire fleet with little to no confirmation that it was completed correctly.

SEE: Cheat sheet: Apple macOS Catalina (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

A benefit of automating tasks beyond the obvious is that automated tasks run exactly as designed and intended. Meaning, if a script is written to check for system updates upon restart, then it will check system updates every time the device is restarted. It won’t cancel the process because now is not the opportune moment or because it simply needs to log in and print a document quickly, for example.

Specific tasks or data executed the same way each time. This allows for a system

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When considering how to share data efficiently, cloud storage has a leg up on hardware by making it easy to share files and folders with users across the globe with a few clicks. Because the data is only transmitted from server to client provides little impact on bandwidth for the sender and recipient. But storing data on the cloud is not the most secure practice since that data is effectively placed in the hands of a third party.

SEE: COVID-19: A guide and checklist for restarting your business (TechRepublic Premium)

This is especially true of data that is sensitive or confidential in nature. The trade-off is that this type of data should be shared directly between those who require access to it and no one else. By using compressed file types, such as ZIP, a sender can place multiple documents, including entire directories, together and compress them as a single file making it easy to share, while using strong algorithms to encrypt the contents based on a password that only the recipients will know.

While this technology has existed for decades,

Apple is reopening around 25 more stores in the United States as the company’s retail outlets slowly start to awaken from the coronavirus quarantine. The stores are scattered across at least six states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Oklahoma, and Washington state. At the same time, Apple is reopening several stores in Canada and Italy.

Apple has 53 stores in California, six stores in Colorado, 18 in Florida, three in Hawaii, two in Oklahoma, and six in Washington state.

At this point, the websites for stores in California show reopenings in seven of the 53 stores. These include the stores in Roseville, Sacramento, and San Luis Obispo starting Monday, May 18, and the stores in Bakersfield, Modesto, Fresno, and Monterey starting Wednesday, May 20.

In Colorado, one of the six stores shows a reopening, specifically the one in Colorado Springs, starting Monday, May 18. In Florida, four of the 18 stores are set to reopen, including one in Altamonte Springs, one in Jacksonville, and two in Orlando, starting Monday, May 18.

SEE: COVID-19: A guide and checklist for restarting your business (TechRepublic Premium)

Hawaii shows reopenings in