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Todd Olthoff | Marriage & Relationship Advice, Devotional Writing, Technology Reviews/Tutorials

Mountain Lion Server: Hosted Mac Mini Server

05/30/13 11:14 PM
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One of the great things about a Mac Mini is its cost, efficiency and size. Each of these things makes the Mini a great server and now you can host these kinds of servers not only at home but in a datacenter as well. Recently I started working with MacStadium on some tutorials on how to get your Mountain Lion Server up and running in a hosted environment. Through this process I have really come to see the advantages of hosting your Mac Mini inside a datacenter. There is just something about knowing someone else is looking out for your hardware and knowing for sure that your Mini is always on and reachable with the included static ip address.

The MacStadium team has been great and I really see the value in the products they have to offer. You can see more about MacStadium’s services at their website
www.macstadium.com. If you do happen to decide to host your server, I there are various tutorials up on their blog, some of which I have been contributing on how to get your Mountain Lion Server up and running in a hosted environment.

In this screencast tutorial I give an overview of having your Mac Mini Server in a hosted environment. I cover the differences between a home hosted versus data center hosted server, some of the costs and benefits of a hosted server, and some of the basics of logging in and working with a server in a hosted environment.

As always feel free to leave a comment below or on my
YouTube Channel!



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: IceFloor Firewall

05/24/13 05:09 PM
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Earlier I covered how to set up the built in PF Firewall using system preferences found on every mac. I covered the basics of getting the firewall set up and when you might want to consider using a firewall. But there are times when you want to engage more of the advanced features found in the PF Firewall build. You might want more control over the actual ports that the firewall allows access on and you may want to specifically block certain IP addresses and block those who are trying to gain access to your server.

In this screencast tutorial I cover some advanced firewall administration for the built in PF Firewall using a donation ware software program called IceFloor. I cover how this software may be helpful for home users, how to set the software up, what settings to put in place, and ways to customize and test your firewall.

As always feel free to leave a comment below or on my
YouTube Channel if you need any help or have any questions.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: SFTP

05/17/13 05:02 PM
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Connecting to your files on a remote server to move them back and forth between your server and a remote computer is something that can be difficult if you are not familiar with the terminal. FTP is an option but it is not that secure as it sends your passwords in plain text. That is where SFTP is a benefit and a great way to move files around using a file manager client like Transmit or Forklift.

In this screencast I cover how to connect to your files and folders remotely using SFTP. SFTP is more secure that FTP and is a great way to navigate remote file systems. I talk about how to set up SFTP, how to connect to your shares both through the terminal and through an app called Forklift. I also cover some basic commands to move files from one server to another.

As always if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: SSH

05/10/13 04:51 PM
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Being able to connect to your server remotely is one of the benefits of having a server. I have already covered some of the ways you can connect to your server remotely and in this screencast I cover how to connect to your server using SSH or Secure Shell. SSH allows you to connect to your server through the terminal allowing you to have full root access to your computer. Now SSH is used over port 22 which is often looked for by bots and hackers who look to try to guess your password to gain access to your server. For added security you may want to watch my tutorial on IceFloor to see how you can block known offenders and those who continually try to guess your password.

In this tutorial I show you how to access your server remotely and how to copy files back and forth using terminal. In the next screencast I will cover how to do this using the more easy to use SFTP through a file management program called Forklift.

As always feee free to leave a comment here or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: RADIUS Set Up

05/03/13 11:01 AM
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Security on wireless networks can be a problem for those who are concerned with their one SSID getting out to those outside their network. While this may not be a big issue for home users, it can be a big one for those running a small business. Built into Mountain Lion Server is the RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service) Server which only allows those with user credentials on the server to access the wireless network. Instead of one SSID and password to access the network, users are asked for their user name and password that they use to log into the server. This creates added security and server level authentication for your wireless network.

As always, feel free to leave questions or comments below or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Splashtop iOS Screensharing

04/26/13 10:54 AM
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Continuing on in looking at iOS applications that allow you to access your server while you are on the go, I take a look this week at Splashtop. Splashtop is an iOS screen sharing application that allow you to access your server desktop on your iOS device and use it like you were right in front of your server. You simply install a little program on your server that communicates with the iOS application, install Splashtop on your iOS device (iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad), login and you are set to access your server.

Some of the controls do take some getting used to but there is a handy guide to help explain how each of the services work. The latency is really good and it makes it a great tool for every server administrator to have. As always, if you have any questions feel free to leave them below or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Server Admin Remote

04/19/13 10:46 AM
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Being able to monitor your server remotely is something that every IT guy needs to ability to do. But if you have to login with a screen share just to check the status of your services it can be time consuming and cause even the best administrator to procrastinate. I found an iOS application that allows you to check on your services, stop and start services, check logs, and look at your resources. The app is called Server Admin Remote and you can get it from the iTunes Store.

In this screencast I cover how to download, set up and use the application on your iPhone. This really is a great little app and should come in handy for helping you check in on your server. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave one below or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Firewall Set Up

04/12/13 11:04 AM
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Protecting your server is important especially when you are making services available over the internet. If you are using a router, you in essence have a hardware firewall that protects you against those from the outside trying to get in. There are instances when you want to specifically track and monitor those trying to get into your server especially when SSH is enabled and the various bots in the world start running DDoS attacks on your server. That is where a software firewall is helpful.

In this weeks tutorial I cover how to set up the built in firewall on OS X Server. I cover the basic set up and various options found in the GUI built into system preferences. In a future screencast I will cover how to run the server with the command line and a third party GUI called
Icefloor.

As always if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Server 2.2.1 Update

04/05/13 02:23 PM
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I have had a lot of questions lately about the changes Apple made to Server with the 2.2.1 Update. Some of the confusion is between previous tutorials I have done and the new changes that were made so I decided to make a tutorial to take into account a few of the changes that people were asking about. Apple’s Support Article covers the changes they made with this update found here:

Here are some of the main changes:

1. Caching Service: This allows you to cache any updates that have been downloaded from the Mac App Store so they don’t need to be re-downloaded. I covered this in detail in a previous screencast.

2. Centralized SSL Certificate Management: Apple took the SSL Certificate management out of the Server hardware area and moved it to it’s own service. I cover the changes in detail for those who had difficulty with the new interface.

3. Time Machine: Changes include seeing which computers are backed up, when they were backed up, and the size of the back up.

As always feel free to leave comments here or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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NEW! All Video Tutorials in One Place

04/01/13 02:46 PM
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I have had a lot of feedback lately asking me to put all of my tutorials on my website in an easy to view format. Some of you don’t like using the YouTube interface and would prefer to come to the website instead to view the tutorials in one place. So to make it easier, I have added a section to my website on Technology which includes all the tutorials sorted by topic. It is a start and I still have things I want to do make it better but I think it will make it easier for you to view them in order instead of using the playlist feature on my YouTube Channel.

I also included a donate button for those who want to buy me a cup of coffee (Starbucks is one of my regular hang outs) for the work on the tutorials. Please don’t think you have to donate to use the tutorials, I am just doing this for those who wanted to do something but didn’t have a way to do it.

If you get a chance to check the tutorials section out, give me some feedback on what you think and how I could improve it. You can email me or leave a comment here.

I love doing these tutorials and helping others with things I have learned. I also love to hear how they help others so drop me a line if you get a chance.

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Tags: Screencast, Tutorials

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Mountain Lion Server: Mobile Accounts

03/29/13 02:40 PM
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One of the advantages of Server is the ability to have your home folders on the server so you can log into any computer on your network and have your desktop and home folder set up available just as if you were on your local computer. But one of the problems of doing this is dealing with mobile computers. What happens when you take your laptop outside the network if your home folders are on the server?

To solve this problem, Server has the ability to set up mobile accounts where basically sets up a sync service that keeps your home folder in sync between the server and the client machine. Before a client leaves the network, the home folder syncs to the client machine. When the client comes back into the network, any changes the client has made get sync’ed back to the server to keep everything the same. This way the client can still log into any computer on your network and still take their laptop on the go.

As always, feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel. Thanks for watching!



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Work Group Manager Preferences

03/22/13 02:35 PM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover the preference settings available in Work Group Manager and I compare them to the setting available in Profile Manager. Apple is definitely moving away from Work Group Manager towards having everyone use Profile Manager but has chosen to keep Work Group Manager around for those how still like to use this legacy software for managing their directory.

Work Group Manager can still be used to manage all of your users, groups, devices and device groups in a non web interface on your server. It still works well and gives you another option for setting up your server.

As always feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel. Thanks for watching!



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Bind Clients to the Server

03/15/13 02:29 PM
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Your Open Directory allows you to connect your computers to that directory which gives you more management options. There were some comments lately about how to bind a computer to the server on my YouTube Channel so I thought I would do a tutorial to show how this gets set up. You want to bind your machine to your Domain Name and not to your .local name. Some had it where the .local was the only server option available on their network. This was caused by having the primary DNS be the router instead of the server. A simple change in the router set up fixed this for those I was talking to.

In this video tutorial I cover how to set that up properly. I also cover the process for binding your clients to the server and what it looks like in Work Group Manager.

As always feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel. Thanks for watching!



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Work Group Manager Overview

03/08/13 02:23 PM
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The Server Application gives you plenty of functionality for you to set up and configure your server. But Apple still provides Work Group Manager as a way for you to set up and configure services on your server. It works with your Open Directory and includes some more detailed information to help you tweak your server.

In this screencast tutorial I cover how to download and install Work Group Manager. I give a basic overview of the application and cover how to use it to work with users and groups on your server.

As always, thanks for watching. Feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel if you have a question.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Remote Server Access

02/28/13 02:17 PM
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One of the advantages of having a server is being able to access it remotely. I had some questions lately about how to do that so I decided to do a screencast on it to demonstrate how to make that happen.

In this screencast tutorial I cover how to connect to your server remotely. I demonstrate a couple of ways to do this and how to make sure you set it up properly without accidentally installing the server components on your non server device.

As always feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel. Thanks for watching!



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: NetInstall

02/22/13 02:10 PM
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With the new digital distribution of Apple’s operating systems it makes it more difficult to reinstall on various computers if you need to do so. With Server you have the ability to set up various images that you can then use to do a clean install on your computers over the air on your own network. The advantages of doing this is the fact that you can customize your install and don’t have to worry about creating your own media to make the install happen.

In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up a disk image to be used for your NetInstall. I also cover some of the customization options to simplify the install process and then show how the process works.

As always feel free to leave a comment or question here or on my YouTube Channel. Thanks for watching!



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: DHCP

02/15/13 02:04 PM
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DHCP or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, is what is used to assign IP addresses to the devices on your network. DHCP is usually set up through the router as there needs to be addresses given to your devices if they are to show on your network and connect to the internet. Server gives you the option to control DHCP through your server instead of through a router. There are advantages and disadvantages to either solution and I cover those in this tutorial. For most people the router will be the best option since a router is usually always on while there a times when a computer is shut down, thus shutting down your DHCP service. But for many in corporate environments controlling the DHCP from the server is important.

As always feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel. Thanks for watching!



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Connecting iOS to WebDAV

02/07/13 01:56 PM
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One of the struggles most people with iOS devices have is getting the documents on their Macs onto their iOS device. Sure you could use Dropbox or some other cloud service. Or you could use iTunes to sync certain files and folders through certain apps you may have on your device. But sometimes you just want to have your files available right off your computer without having to go through another service.

In Mountain Lion Server you can specify certain folders to be available to your iOS device and then connect to those files through the WebDAV interface built into your iOS device. This makes all of your files portable and allows you to use them where you are at on the road (provided you have a public domain address or VPN).

In this screencast tutorial I cover how to connect to those files and folders you designated for sharing with iOS devices. I cover how to do this in a couple of apps to give you an idea of how it works. As always, please feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Wiki Customization

01/30/13 01:49 PM
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Mountain Lion Server’s Wiki allows you to customize elements of it to make it your own. You can edit each of the elements on the site beyond the basic navigation. You can add banners, videos, audio, and other elements to make the site look unique. In this screencast tutorial, I cover how to customize the wiki and go over each of the customization options. While these options don’t quite allow you to create your own site in any way you want, it does allow you to layer some things on top of the existing layout.

As always, thanks for checking out my tutorials. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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MacWorld/iWorld

01/28/13 03:02 PM
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This week is MacWorld, a week where ifans of all sorts converge on one spot to geek out talking about and learning about all things Apple. This event has been going on for quite some time but I have never attended. There were plenty of times I thought about it but for one reason or another my schedule would not cooperate so I never made it. Well this year I am finally making the trek up to San Francisco to see what it's all about. I'll get to go with my dad who is a big Mac guy as well and really is the one who got me started on Mac stuff (I still remember when he got and Apple II and then eventually the first Mac). I really excited to see what it's all about.

While I'm there I'll have the opportunity to meet
Don Mcallister who is making the trip from the UK. I have watched Don's screencasts from ScreenCastsOnline for many years and if you haven't heard of him or checked out ScreenCastsOnline and you own a Mac you really should check it out. You can get the screencasts as standalone tutorials or subscribe to the ScreenCastsOnline Monthly Magazine and view them in a magazine format with articles by leading Mac experts. I have had the privilege of collaborating with him lately with screencast content and it has been awesome working with and learning from Don. We are finally going to connect face to face.

I am also looking forward to attending the
Omnifocus 2 unveiling party happening on Thursday night which will be presented by David Sparks, Merlin Mann, and Ken Case from the OmniGroup. It will be a lot of fun to check out the updates and be able to get early access to the private beta. I'll have to let you know how it looks! On Friday night I look forward to going to the Nosilla Castaways party on Friday night to meet Allison and some of the other podcasters I have heard but haven't met yet. Of course we'll also attend some of the workshops and roam the show floor. It should be a great trip!

I'll try to put updates on my twitter feed so if you are not following my on Twitter by sure to follow me @tolthoff. I'll also try to follow up with a blog post sometime next week.

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Mountain Lion Server: Wiki Set Up

01/28/13 02:36 PM
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One of the great advantages of using OS X Server is the built in website that comes with it. For those who just want to get their feet wet with having their own website to those who are running a small business and want a collaboration tool that all of their employees can use to communicate and share ideas, the built in website is a really nice option and has a decent amount of functionality and customization. Now if you are a person who has a vision for how you want your website to look and feel and you want the freedom to add pages and functionality on the fly, then you are still probably better off having our website hosted or hosting it on your server. While the customization on the built in site is nice, it really isn't built for a complete redesign and you have to work with the built in tools to make it work.

In this screencast tutorial I go over how to set up the Wiki Service which functions along side the Website Service to create the built in Wiki Website. I also give a basic tour of the site to give you an idea of what you can do with it. In the next screencast I will cover how to customize your site to make it your own.

As always if you have any questions, feel free to comment here or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Web Server

01/18/13 08:51 AM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up the Website service. This service is not only used for hosting your own personal websites. It is also used as a part of making the Wiki Service work so it is a service that will be running whether you are hosting your own website or not. In the screencast I talk about things to consider when hosting your own website including:

1. Does your ISP block port 80?
If your ISP blocks port 80 then you will not be able to host your own website as that is the port that those outside your network will use to access your site. You may have to call your ISP to see if there is a way to open that port. In many cases they will want you to purchase their business internet service which is usually more costly but does come with a static IP address which helps with the next issue.

2. Do you have a static IP address?
If you are using a dynamic IP address, which most home users are, you are leasing an IP address that could change at any moment. Once this IP address changes all of your web services will go offline until you discover the change and update your domain registrar to point your domain name to the new IP address. This will cause your website to be down until you make the change. Now most ISP's don't change the IP that often. It usually happens when you reboot your modem, but the risk of it changing might be too big, especially if you are dependent on having your website up and running 24/7. For home users who are only doing this for family it is not as critical, but for the rest, you really need a static IP.

3. Are you ok with Downtime?
Running a web server that hosts critical websites means that uptime of your sites is up to you and your server. So if you have a power outage and your server goes down, so does your website. If you forget you are hosting a site and turn off your server, you lose your site. So you really need to weigh the costs before you decide to do your own hosting.

Hopefully that gives you some things to consider before hosting your site. In the tutorial I cover how to get your site going and even how to set up virtual hosting if you are looking at hosting various domains/websites on your one server. This includes a look at the DNS service so if you haven't covered that yet, you may want to view my tutorial
HERE.

Thanks for watching! If you have any comments or questions leave them here or on my
Youtube Channel!



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Profile Manager-Devices

01/10/13 08:44 AM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to manage all of your devices using Profile Manager in Mountain Lion Server. Managing many devices can be difficult especially if you have to update the settings on those devices one at a time. With Profile Manager you can set up profiles for each device or device group and those changes get pushed over the air to all of your devices. Once your devices are in Profile Manager (you can see my tutorial on how to do this HERE), you can choose to manage them either individually or put them into device groups and manage them that way. You can set up everything from passwords to what items are in the dock. There really is a great amount of customization available and the great thing about Profile Manager is you can access it from any web browser anywhere you are (as long as you have either a .private network and you VPN in, or a FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name).

As always feel free to leave a comment or question here or on my
Youtube Channel. Thanks for watching!



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Mountain Lion Server: Profile Manager-Users & Groups

01/04/13 08:36 AM
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In this screencast tutorial I continue my look at Profile Manager and show you how to set up profiles for Users and Groups. Users and Groups are initially configured in the Server App so whatever you set up there will be what is showing in Profile Manager itself. The cool part of this service is the level of customization you can do to a profile and how easily it pushes those changes to a particular user the next time that user logs in.

I cover each of the settings in both the User and Groups screens. I also share my own strategy of using groups to manage users instead of having to update each individual user’s profile one at a time. In the next screencast I will cover how to set up device specific profiles which is another great way to manage the settings on your network.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to leave them here or on my
Youtube Channel. Thanks for watching!



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Mountain Lion Server: Profile Manager-iOS Enrollment

12/27/12 08:26 AM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to enroll iOS devices in Profile Manager. I just got a piece of software called Reflector which allows me to mirror my iOS devices on my Mac. This has allowed me to capture these devices using my screencast software called Screenflow. This should be great for future screencasts as I will now be able to show you how to do the set up on your iOS devices and even include some iOS only tutorials in the future.

In this particular screencast I go over how to get your iOS device enrolled in Profile Manager so you can manage that device and push profile changes to it over the air. As I demonstrated in the previous screencast, you need to first install the trust profile if you are using a self signed SSL Certificate before you do any other installations. Forgetting this step will cause Profile Manager not to work and you will waste hours of tweaking for no benefit. After that profile is installed you can then install your other settings and make changes in Profile Manager itself that will be pushed to all your devices.

As always if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment here or on my
Youtube Channel. Thanks for watchingHappy.



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Mountain Lion Server: Profile Manager-Mac Enrollment

12/21/12 05:01 PM
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Profile Manager is one of the best parts of Mountain Lion Server. It allows you to manage all of your Macs and iOS Devices from a your server either locally or remotely. It gives enterprise control over your devices that was previously only available to those running enterprise level servers.

If you haven’t had a chance to view my previous tutorial on setting up Profile Manager start with that tutorial first by clicking
HERE. In this screencast tutorial, I continue my look at Profile Manager and walk through how to set up your Macs to use the service. I cover how to install the needed certificates to allow your Macs to be managed and cover how they look once enrolled within Profile Manager.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below or leave a comment on my
YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Caching Service

12/14/12 04:55 PM
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Now that Apple has two methods for pushing updates to client computers, Software Update and the Mac App Store, it makes it difficult to manage updates and the bandwidth for each and every client on your network. To help with this for Macs that use the Mac App Store, Apple has created the new Caching Service to allow the Server to save any updates that clients on your network download so future downloads will happen from your server instead of Apple’s Servers. The Caching Service only adds updates when someone accesses an update and downloads it.

In this screencast tutorial I cover how to configure the Caching Service and set your clients to use that service instead of the Mac App Store. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Software Update

12/07/12 04:49 PM
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Software Update is Apple’s method of pushing updates to their software to Macs. The problem with Software Update is the time it takes to download each of those updates individually for each machine and the bandwidth it takes for each of those individual downloads.

In Mountain Lion Server Apple has included a local Software Update Service that allows you to download all of Apples’ updates to your server and then point your clients to your server to download those updates. In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up the Software Update Service and how to point your client computers to use your Server instead of Apple’s Servers to get their updates.

If you have any questions along the way, feel free to leave a comment below or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Back Up

11/30/12 04:42 PM
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Back up is one of the things we usually think about after we needed a back up which causes us to leave all of our data. Running a Server is as much about making fast recovery possible as it is keeping your data safe. In this screencast tutorial, I cover how to use Time Machine in Mountain Lion Server to allow wireless back ups of all of your client machines to a centralized location. I also cover creating a bootable backup of your server using a program called SuperDuper! which will allow you to be back up and running in no time should you have a major hard drive failure. Finally, I cover how to back up your Open Directory so you can restore that data should you have problems with your server.

As always if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Tags: Mac OSX, Tutorials, Apple, Server, Screencast

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Mountain Lion Server: Mail

11/23/12 04:34 PM
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The dream of hosting your own web server is something most of us who are interested in things like servers have toyed with. Being in control of what comes in and out and having our own customized email address is appealing. But anyone who has run and email server knows the headaches administrating email can be!

In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up your own Mail Server. I go over the pros and cons of hosting your own email. I talk about the basic requirements of hosting your own server at home and how to set up your clients to use the service. As always if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: FTP

11/16/12 04:28 PM
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FTP or File Transfer Protocol is a way to transfer files between two computers. FTP is used for uploading and downloading files from a server and offers an easy way to access certain folders and files.

In this screencast tutorial, I cover how to set up your own FTP share in Mountain Lion Server. I talk about how to log into your FTP share using Terminal and an FTP client.

As always if you have a question, feel free to leave a comment below or leave a comment on my
YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: VPN

11/09/12 04:20 PM
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VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is a protocol that allows you to set up a secure connection between two devices. This secure connection allows you to appear as if you are on your local network so you can access the services you have running on your server. One of the things a VPN on a Mac will not do, however, is run bonjour services which means all your other local computers will not show up in your finder side bar and you won’t have home sharing services in iTunes and iPhoto work remotely. There are some things you could do to make that work but it does take a lot hacking and is probably the subject of another article.

In the screencast tutorial below, I cover how to set up the VPN Service on Mountain Lion Server including how to set up the right range of addresses that won’t interfere with your regular DHCP range, which protocol to use (L2TP or PPTP), and ways in which you can export a profile to use to set up your client machines. I also cover setting up and connecting to your VPN Service remotely.

As always if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Messages

11/02/12 04:11 PM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up the Messages Service on Mountain Lion Server. Messages is Apple’s new and improved iChat Service which allows you to set up a private chat service that lets you communicate both in and outside your network. This service can be convenient especially now that Apple is using it for it’s own texting service over wifi.

In this tutorial I cover how to set up the Messages Service and connect all your clients to the service. I also cover how to use the service and get your buddy list set up and running. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to leave a comment below or on my
YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Contacts

10/26/12 04:03 PM
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One of the benefits of having a server is the ability to host your own services like Calendars and Contacts. In Mountain Lion Server the Contacts Service allows you to set up your own contacts directory and push changes to all of your devices. In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up the Contacts Service including how to set up the services and get your clients set up to use the service. I also cover a couple of options for setting up your Contacts including individual accounts and a shared family Contact Book. If you have any questions in setting up the service, feel free to leave a comment here or on my YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Calendar

10/19/12 10:07 PM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up the Calendar Service on Mountain Lion Server. Calendar allows you to manage a CalDav standard calendar for all of the users on your server. It allows you to set up locations and resources that you can make available for scheduling and sends invitations to those you invite to events that you schedule. I cover not only how to set this up on the server but also how to configure your clients to use the service as well and even include an optional way to have one calendar that all of your users have as their primary calendar for those families that only want to worry about one standard calendar for the whole household.

As always, feel free to email any questions or leave a comment on my YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Connect & Auto Mount AFP

10/12/12 09:59 PM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to connect to any AFP shares you have set up both locally and remotely on your devices. I also cover how to set up certain files and folders to auto mount every time you log into your computer so they are mounted and ready to go when you need them instead of having to repeat the process of mounting your files and folders every time you log out or reboot.

If you have any comments or questions feel free to email or leave a comment on my YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: File Sharing

10/05/12 09:52 PM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up the File Sharing Service on Mountain Lion Server. File sharing is one of the basic things everyone thinks about when setting up a server. The need to share the same files among multiple users and have them stored in a centralized location is what servers do best and Mountain Lion Server has an excellent and easy to set up file sharing service. The service includes the ability to set the permission levels of shared files and folders with either Read & Write (the user can both view and upload/change content), Read Only (the user can only view the content but not download or upload), Write Only (the user can only add content but not take any away), and no access which hides the file or folder from the user so he/she doesn’t even know it is there. The service all allows the ability for the shared file or folder to be shared as AFP (Apple File Protocol) or SMB (Windows File Sharing Protocol), shared with iOS devices over WebDav, or used to set up and store home folders on the server. I cover all of these topics in the tutorial below.

As always, if you have any comments or questions feel free to email, or comment on my YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Users & Groups

09/28/12 09:43 PM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up users & groups on Mountain Lion Server. I explain how to tell the difference between local and network accounts and what the advantages are of each. I also talk about how setting up groups can make easier for you to manage multiple users at one time and how you can create groups for family members that allow you to do things like make on change that effects all the kids instead of having to change each child manually.

As always if you have any questions, feel free to email or leave a comment on my YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Profile Manager Set Up

09/21/12 09:36 PM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up the Profile Manager service. Profile Manager is a powerful MDM (Mobile Device Management) application that puts the power of enterprise servers in the hands of home users. Profile Manager is a great way to manage all the devices in your household like Macs and iOS Devices from a web browser. The beauty of Profile Manager is you can manage these devices from any computer or device that has a web browser so you don’t need to be at your server to manager your devices.

In this tutorial I walk you through the steps of setting up the service which includes Apple’s Push Notification Certificate and SSL Certificates for secure connections between your server and your other devices. In future screencasts I will walk through each of the features available to manage and customize on your devices.

If you have any questions, feel free to email or comment on my YouTube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Open Directory

09/14/12 09:25 PM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up Open Directory on Mountain Lion Server. Open Directory Service sets up a Network Directory or LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) which allows the set up of network accounts. This allows you to set up various services on MLS that require network accounts such as Profile Manager and home folders stored on the server that allow users to log into them on any computer in the network.

There are two ways to set up Open Directory in MLS. In this tutorial I walk through how to set up the service itself. It can also be set up by starting up Profile Manager, which checks to see if an Open Directory Master exists and if it doesn’t, then it walks you through the process of setting one up.

Let me know how you enjoy the screencast and feel free to email or leave a comment on my YouTube Channel if you have any questions or comments.



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Mountain Lion Server: DNS

09/07/12 07:12 AM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up and check the DNS of your server. DNS stands for Domain Name System and it is responsible for connecting an IP address to a particular name. For instance, every website like www.toddolthoff.com had a domain name like 192.0.0.0.0. That number is difficult to remember so that is why we use things like toddolthoff.com. Your DNS controls all the naming not only on your server but also the computers on your network. So if your DNS is off, your server will not function and you will have trouble getting your services to work.

In this tutorial I cover how to set up your DNS and how to check to make sure your DNS is working properly. If you have any questions feel free to leave them here or reply on my Youtube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: SSL Certificates

08/31/12 07:06 AM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover SSL Certificates. SSL Certificates allow secure connections between computers keeping that communication safe from those who might want to get to that information. These secure connections are used by banks and other organizations that want to protect what is being transferred between their website and your computer. You can usually tell if a website is secure by the https in front of the web address (the “s” shows it is a secure connection).

In this tutorial I cover how to set up a self signed SSL Certificate for Mountain Lion Server to allow you to have secure connections with your server. This is required if you are going to use Profile Manager and is recommended for things like Calendar, Address Book, Mail, etc. I also cover how to integrate a third party verified SSL Certificate and how to get that certificate added to your server.

As always if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Port Forwarding

08/24/12 07:48 AM
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In this screencast tutorial, I cover how to set up port forwarding on your router. If any of the services you set up on your server are to be access outside of your home or work network, you will need to open up a port to the internet for that service. Your router serves as a hardware firewall that keeps people out of your home network. It is a great security tool but it also will keep you out of your home network if you try to login outside of your network. The router can open up secure “ports” or holes that allow you to use certain aspects of your sever while you are outside your network. In this tutorial I look at how to do that with an Airport Extreme Base Station from Apple and show how the Server App is a great and easy way to make that work. The great thing is your router no longer has to reboot every time a port change is made! For those of you without an Airport Extreme, you will have to open your ports manually. Here is a link to known ports for the various services available on your Server: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1629. As always if you have any questions feel free to respond here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Network Configuration

08/15/12 07:44 AM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up your network for Mountain Lion Server. Making sure you have your server with a permanent IP is important especially if you are using your server for DNS services. You also need to make a decision on how you will handle DHCP and whether your server or router will be giving out addresses to the devices on your network. In this tutorial I cover how to get these things set up so you are ready to enable the other services available on Mountain Lion Server. As always if you have questions or feedback, feel free to respond here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Install & Set Up

08/10/12 07:39 AM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to do a clean install of Mountain Lion Server starting from an install of Mountain Lion. I walk through the whole install process and what it looks like to get your server up and running. If you are new to server and are wanting to try it out on your system, this tutorial should help you get everything up and running. I will be doing a full range of tutorials on all the features and components of Mountain Lion Server so watch for updates here on my blog or on my Youtube Channel. I usually put a new tutorial out every Friday so if you subscribe to my channel you will get updated when new tutorials are posted. If you have any questions feel free to respond here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Mountain Lion Server: Upgrade From Lion Server

08/07/12 07:32 AM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to upgrade your server from Lion to Mountain Lion. I walk through the process of getting ready for the upgrade including making sure you keep a copy of your Mountain Lion install so you can use it later to create a USB bootable copy and to use it for Netinstall on your server. Having done the upgrade myself things seem to be pretty stable. There is a known issue with VPN and the interface with managing an Airport Extreme Router. If you get an error message related to your Airport Extreme and/or have problems with VPN, follow the directions on this Apple Support Article: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4353?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US, which basically has you delete your airport password from Keychain Assess and relaunch your Server App. If you have any questions on the upgrade process feel free to leave a comment here or on my Youtube Channel.



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Guest Spot on ScreenCastsOnline

06/14/12 09:53 PM
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This week I had the privilege of having one of my screencasts on MoneyWell shown on my favorite Mac tutorial site ScreenCastsOnline. Don McAllister who is the Host and Founder of the weekly screencasts was really one of the people who inspired me to do screencasts as a great way to educate people on how to use Apple Software. I started with my own YouTube Channel and started with screencasts for my family and friends and found others were interested in viewing the screencasts as well, especially the ones I have recently been doing on Lion Server. You can see my other screencasts at my YouTube Channel below or here on my site by clicking HERE.

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If you haven’t checked out ScreenCastsOnline and you are an Apple Computer user I highly recommend checking Don’s tutorials out as they are very well done and a great way to learn new ways to use your Mac. Click the screenshot below to check out my guest spot and to get a feel for the great service Don has to offer. Thanks for using my screencast Don and making it look even better to boot!

ScreenCastsOnline Guest Spot

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Tags: Screencast, Finances, Productivity, Software

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Home Server with Lion Server: VPN Server

06/12/12 10:27 PM
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VPN is something many people are interested in having for their own security while connecting to outside wired and wireless networks. With concern over security and wanting the ability to connect to your home network as if your computer was on that network locally, make a VPN Server something that is nice to have when you are on the road. Lion Server gives a simple way to set up your own personal VPN Server so you can have this connection and makes it fairly easy to set up.

In this screencast I cover which VPN protocol to choose, how to set an IP Range for your VPN Server, and how to install VPN manually on a client machine. I also show you how to connect to your VPN from a client computer and how to end your VPN session without having to use System Preferences. Enjoy!



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Home Server with Lion Server: iChat Server

06/09/12 10:22 PM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to set up your own personal iChat Server for your home server. We will cover how to set up and configure a jabber based chat server including server federation, limiting domains that can be chatted with, setting up the ichat server on clients, and how to enable auto buddy detection for the other clients on your network. Having your own personal iChat Server can be a great way to communicate and send things quickly to other members of your family. There are many other services out there but there is something about having a private and unified home messaging system. With Mountain Lion Server this will most likely change to include the iMessage application that Apple has been using for iPhones and other devices, which I will cover when the update comes out in July. But for now iChat is still a great way to communicate across all the computers in your home.



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Home Server with Lion Server: iCal Server

06/08/12 10:17 PM
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In this screencast I walk through how to set up an iCal Server on your home server. I cover the basic set up of email notifications and resources, how to connect clients to your iCal calendar, how to add events to the calendar with resources, and the difference between individual and a shared family calendar and how to set them up. There are advantages and disadvantages to setting up your own calendar on server especially with iCloud and other calendaring services out there to handle the syncing of all of our calendars. But if you are looking for a way to have a great home calendar that everyone can be on that includes managing rooms and resources in your house, iCal Server is something you should check out!



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Home Server with Lion Server: Address Book Server

06/07/12 07:40 AM
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In this screencast I cover how to set up your own personal Address Book Server using Lion Server. I talk about how to get the service started, how to add contacts to your new address book, and how to connect your client computers and users to your server so they can access and edit their contacts on your server. I also talk about the pros and cons of having one centralized address book for your whole family versus each person having their own address book and only having some contacts on a centralized address book. Let me know if you have any questions or comments below and feel free to share this on your social networks with the links at the bottom of this post.



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Home Server with Lion Server: Connect & Auto Mount AFP

04/30/12 05:39 PM
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In this screencast tutorial I cover how to connect to the AFP shares we set up in the last tutorial. I show you how to connect both locally and remotely while on the road and also take a look at how to set up your AFP shares to auto mount so every time you start up your computer or login your favorite shares will automatically mount on your computer and be read for you to use. This comes in handy in a home server setting where a couple wants to share files that they both work on but don’t want to keep separate copies on both of their computers. This way they can be working not he originals and keep them in one place on the server. It also helps for the kids who can easily lose files or delete them by accident. This way they are located on the server and can be given permissions that don’t allow the kids to edit the files. Let me know what you think in the comments and be sure to share this video with your social networksHappy.



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Home Server with Lion Server: File Sharing & Home Folders

04/23/12 05:29 PM
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In this screencast I cover how set up file sharing with Lion Server. One of the advantages of having a home server is the ability to share files with other people on your network and being able to access those files remotely from your server. In this tutorial I show you how to set up your users so they have permission to use the AFP file sharing protocol on your server so they can connect to those share points both locally and while they are on the road. I also cover one of the best features of Lion Server (especially for those with kids) and that is home folders. Home folders allow you to store a user’s home directory and all of their settings centrally on your server. The advantage of this is the fact that your kids can now log in to any computer on your network and have access to their stuff. No more arguing over who gets to use what computer! Let me know what you think in the comments below and be sure to share this video with anyone who might need it through your social networks.



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Home Server with Lion Server: Users & Groups

03/30/12 09:30 AM
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One of the main reasons to have a server is to manage all of your devices and the users in your network. For home users this usually means your family and all the devices in your household. When setting up users in your household who will access the services you have available on your server you need to determine who needs what type of access and what services each person is allowed to access. So at home, you may want to limit the access your kids have to certain services like email, calendar, and maybe even some web services. You may want to give your spouse the ability to administer the server just in case you are not around to do it. Lion Server gives you the ability to set that up.

When managing multiple users it can be time consuming if you have to make changes on a per account basis, so Lion Server has the ability to set up groups that allow you to make changes to the group that filters down to all the users in that group. That way you can set up groups for your kids or other groups that allows you to make those changes once that will affect everyone in that group.

In this screencast, I cover setting up users and groups in Lion Server. I cover how to determine the difference between a local and directory account, how to add new users and set the right permissions for services, and how to use groups to make changes once that affect all the users in the group. Building on this in Part 7, we will cover how to set up home accounts on the server.



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Home Server with Lion Server: Profile Manager Set Up

03/23/12 08:40 AM
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One of the best things about having a server is being able to manage the devices you have in your network from a centralized location. IT professionals have had the ability to do this for years but now with Lion Server, home users can now do the same thing with Profile Manager. Profile Manager allows you to manage all of your Apple computer, laptops, and iOS devices. Using profiles you can push changes to all devices at once, remotely wipe or reset devices, change passwords, and allow or restrict certain things.

In this tutorial, I cover how to set up Profile Manager. In the set up, Lion Server makes sure you have an Open Directory set up and your SSL Certificate in place (required for running Profile Manager). Open Directory allows you to manage global accounts and allows remote access as opposed to a local network directory which only allows local accounts. I am doing this tutorial early because Profile Manager sets up al the services required to run it without having to start each service separately. In a future screencast I will cover the web interface that is used to manage your devices and groups.



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Home Server with Lion Server: SSL Certificates

03/17/12 06:32 AM
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If you are looking at accessing your server from a remote location or are going to have devices that access it from the internet, you will need to have an SSL Certificate set up. An SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Certificate is an encrypted connection from a remote computer to another computer. This encrypted line keeps people from “listening in” on your connection and allows your server an extra layer of validation.

In most cases you want an SSL Certificate from a trusted third party registrar who vouches for the identity of your server. You would want this type of certificate if you were hosting a business or a server that a lot of people from the outside world would be accessing. Since we are talking about a home server, the only people accessing your server are people in your household so you really don’t need to buy a certificate you can generate one within the Server.app which is called a self-signed certificate. This certificate still keeps your information secure and works just like a purchased certificate. The difference is that you will get a message when logging in the first time saying that the certificate is not validated by a third party and to make sure you know who generated the certificate. Once you check allow you won’t have to answer that question again and everything works behind the scenes.

In this screencast, I show you how to set up one of these certificates and get it installed on your server.



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Home Server with Lion Server: Port Forwarding

03/09/12 08:33 AM
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In order to give your server and its services access to the internet, you need to make sure your router opens up access or “ports” to the internet so you can access those services over the internet. Opening this access is called “Port Forwarding” because it tells your router to forward certain traffic that comes in on a certain port to the proper service on your server. So your router serves as the gate keeper for all traffic in and out of your server as your router serves as a physical firewall keeping out traffic you don’t want to access your server. Thus, your router with port forwarding enabled allows you to access your server remotely over the internet while keeping others trying to access our server out unless they have been given access by you.

If your router happens to be an Airport Extreme Base Station, you can have Server App manage your router for you, making sure all the necessary ports are open and allow access to the services you have configured. If you don’t have an Airport Extreme or would like to do your own port forwarding, you can do this in the software that came with your router. It will usually be referred to as NAT (Network Address Translation) and will have a section for you to add ports that you want to open up. For Lion Server, you can see a list of ports it uses for certain services HERE. Below is a tutorial I put together that explains port forwarding and how to do it both in the Airport Utility that comes with the Airport Extreme Base Station and through the Server App in Lion Server.



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Home Server with Lion Server: Network Set Up

03/02/12 04:40 PM
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To make sure your server will function properly you need to make sure you have the DNS of the server set up properly. You need your host name set up and configured, which means determining whether your server is local only or will be accessed on the internet and, if internet accessible, making sure your domain name points to the right external internet address of your router/server. To make sure that your server is accessible from both the internet and internally at the same address all the time, we need to make sure the server is assigned a static, or permanent, IP address. In most network settings there is what is called a DHCP server which distributes addresses to computers that come on and off the local network. The DHCP server works with a bank of addresses and makes sure no computers have the same addresses so everything runs smoothly. In most cases your router is the device that is distributing these addresses. Once a computer goes off the network that address could be used for another machine that is just coming on, so there is no guarantee that your server will get the same address every time your network goes down and comes back up, or your router reboots, or you reboot your server. This is where a static IP for your server solves this problem.

In this tutorial I walk you through the steps to assigning a static IP assigned to your server using an Airport Extreme Base Station. I also cover how to update the network settings on your server to make sure it is reading the right information. This is the second part of my home server tutorials and I’ll be following up with one on port mapping in the coming week.



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MoneyWell 2.0: Event Based Budgeting

02/24/12 07:17 AM
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Budgeting is on one of those things most of us like to think we do but spend little time actually implementing it. If we do put a budget together we look at it after the fact and realize that we didn’t stick to it. For those serious about making budgeting a reality might use an envelope system of budgeting where their check is cashed and cash put in envelopes that represent their budget categories. Once the envelope is empty, you don’t spend any money in that category until the next check comes in. It is a physical way of keeping you from spending money you don’t have. The problem with that system in today’s world is the fact that everything is digital and it is difficult to keep on top of all of it. That is where MoneyWell 2.0 comes in. With MoneyWell’s event based budgeting system, built into the money management program, is the ability to set up buckets (the equivalent to envelopes) for each budget category and set up the amount each bucket has available to spend. From there you can monitor your money, just like you could with envelopes.

In this tutorial I cover the changes from version 1.7 of MoneyWell to it’s 2.0 version. I also cover the basics of using this software to set up a budget using an event based system which makes it far more flexible than the old version and saves a lot of time manually calculating what goes into each bucket category. I like the new system and think you will as well.



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Tags: Tutorials, Mac OSX, Apple, Screencast, Finances

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Money Management with MoneyWell 2.0

02/18/12 08:04 AM
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Managing finances can be a difficult thing with today’s complexities. Finding just the right computer software to help you with the task can be intimidating because there are so many titles out there. Most of the software out there really doesn’t help you manage your money. Instead it just becomes a fancy reminder of how badly you have managed your money and tells you where your money went instead of where it should go. In my search for good financial software, I came across a great software package called MoneyWell.

MoneyWell is not just a digital ledger for your finances, though it does that very well. It is also an envelope system at the same time. MoneyWell uses the analogy of buckets that you fill with money instead of envelopes. You set a budget based on your spending for different categories and MoneyWell lets you know how well you are doing against that budgeted amount. So you can actually see where your money is going instead of lamenting after the money is already gone. I have used this software for a few years now and I have really grown to love it.

Recently the developer of MoneyWell, Kevin Hoctor, put out a new update which changed the interface quite a bit. It really made it nicer to look at and updated it to the new Lion/iOS look and feel. Many people got upset and felt it was completely different and there was some uproar over at the Mac App Store about it. In and effort to show how the program is similar to old one and some of the things that have changed, I did this screencast. Hopefully it will help people to decide whether to upgrade or not. Personally, I like the new interface and some of the changes that were made. There are some things I would like to get back, but over all it has been a good upgrade for me.



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Tags: Tutorials, Mac OSX, Apple, Screencast, Finances

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Home Server with Lion Server: Set Up & Installation

02/16/12 07:59 AM
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As we get more and more sophisticated as home computer users and have more and more devices we have to manage as a result, the idea of a home server is becoming more and more attractive. Apple has recently made their industry grade server software very accessible for the home user with Lion Server. Deemed as “the server for everyone,” they have lowered the price from $400 to a $49 add on to your existing Lion Client install. They have also simplified the Server App interface and made set up relatively easy with assistants that do most of the work for you.

Still with all of the improvements, this is still a server package and as a result has some complexity to it over what you may be used to with your current client software. To help you through the process of setting up and installing a home server, I am doing a series of screencasts on Lion Server to walk you through the process. This tutorial includes thinking through hardware, setting up a domain name if you want to access your server from outside your home, initial installation, and setting up your host name. All of this is done from the perspective of adding Server to your existing lion install not a new computer set up.



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Tags: Tutorials, Mac OSX, Server, Apple, Screencast

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Slink: Remote Computer Management

01/31/12 07:47 AM
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One of the things I am constantly having to do is fix my relatives computers. I am the resident computer guy so they all naturally come to me for help. Now I don’t mind helping and I actually enjoy it in some ways, but it can be extremely frustrating when you can’t actually see the screen of those you are trying to help. Because my relatives are spread out all over the country, I am not able to sit with them to help them resolve their computer issues. If you have ever tried to help someone on the phone and walk them through what to click to fix the problem, you know how frustrating that can be. Well I’ve found a program that has helped me to support my family that is cheap and works extremely well and it’s a program called Slink.

Slink is a remote computer management program that is simple to use. You install the main management component on your computer. Then you install a small preference pane program on each of the computers you want to manage. You only pay for the management component which is currently $19.99 US in the Mac App Store. Once this is all set up, you add your relatives computers to your computer list and connect to those computers with a unique code that each has. Once you have those computers added, you only have to click the computer you want to connect with from a menubar drop down, plug in their password, and you are all set. The cool thing is it sets your computer up as if you are on the local network of the computer you are trying to help. That way you can share the screen and connect to any of the bonjour services that your relative may have running on their computer, including iTunes home sharing and iPhoto sharing.

It really is a neat package. I did a screen cast walkthrough on it which you can view below. The developer Olof is a really great guy and offers excellent support. If you are the IT department for your family you will find this tool indispensable!

Tags: Tutorials, Mac OSX, Screencast, Apple

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iTunes Match Part 4-Troubleshooting

01/24/12 03:49 PM
In this screencast I go over some things you can try to get some of your uploaded files to match. Since Apple doesn't tell us what they use, we can only guess at some of the things that might make a match happen. Based on some research on what some have reported as working for them, I show how to change metadata and song length in an attempt to move a song from uploaded to matched. I have had limited success with this, but since I have had a few songs work, I thought I would share this just in case you have a few songs you really want to try to get matched. If you have any other suggestions of things to try or something that has worked for you, leave a comment in below and if I can get it to work I'll try to do another screencast on it.

Tags: Screencast, ITunes Match, Music, Apple

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iTunes Match Part 3-Upgrading Your Music

01/21/12 03:47 PM
In this screencast I cover how to upgrade your music to iTunes Plus 256kbps. We also cover a way to determine which songs in your library need to be upgraded and I walk you through how to get all of your iTunes Match music on other computers for streaming or downloading.

Tags: Screencast, ITunes Match, Music, Apple

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iTunes Match Part 2-Understanding Your Match Results

01/20/12 07:05 AM
Here is another screencast I did on iTunes Match. In this screencast I cover how to see your match results and determine what was matched, uploaded, or ineligible. We also talk about how to begin to troubleshoot some of the issues in iTunes Match. In a future screencast we will cover how to upgrade your songs and some techniques for getting some of your unmatched songs to match. Enjoy!

Tags: Screencast, ITunes Match, Music, Apple

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iTunes Match Set Up Walkthrough

12/30/11 06:11 PM
In this screencast I walk through the set up process for iTunes Match. I talk about what iTunes Match is and record my process of signing up and starting the match process. In future screencasts I will show other tips and tricks to making iTunes Match work for your music collection. So far iTunes Match has been a great way to get all of our music on all our household devices. Check out the screencast and see what you think. Enjoy!

Tags: ITunes, Match, ITunes Match, Music, Mac OSX, Screenflow, Screencast, Tutorials

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Uploading & Sharing Photos in Google+

12/08/11 07:08 AM
In this longer screencast, I cover the photo sharing aspects of Google+. This screencasts covers the size limits of photos uploaded, the process of uploading and managing photos, how to share and edit photos online, and how Google+ interfaces with Picasa Web Albums. I really like the photo features of Google+ and many photographers have been moving from Flickr to using Google+. The free uploads and unlimited storage of high resolution photos and the great sharing features and active photo community make it a great place for photo sharing. Take a look at the screencast and let me know what you think.

Tags: Tutorials, Screenflow, Social Media, Google, Plus, Google+, Screencast

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Setting Up Your Profile Page on Google+

11/18/11 01:29 PM
This is the second screencast in the series I’m doing on Google+. In this screencast I cover how to set up your profile page and what all the security features look like. If you have any questions or comments feel free to respond below. Also if there are other screencasts you would like me to do leave a comment and I’ll see if I can make it happen.

You can also follow all my screencasts at my Youtube Channel. Enjoy!

Tags: Tutorials, Screenflow, Social Media, Google, Plus, Google+, Screencast

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An Overview of Google+

11/11/11 02:34 PM
Here is a screencast walkthrough of Google+, Google’s new social media site. Google+ is a lot like Facebook but with some added features. You also get the integration of many of the other Google services into Google+ and it has become a pretty big hangout for photographers especially with unlimited uploads at high resolution (2048x2048 pixels). I will be adding more screencasts on each feature of Google+ but this should get you started if you always wondered what it was and wanted a tour without having to commit. Let me know what you think and any other screencasts you would like me to do in the comments below.

You can also follow all my screencasts at my Youtube Channel. Enjoy!

Tags: Tutorials, Screenflow, Social Media, Google, Plus, Google+, Screencast

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SuperDuper!: Backing Up Multiple Drives to One

10/28/11 11:20 AM
I recently had my dad ask how to update two drives to one. He has two internal drives in his MacPro that he he wants to back up to his Drobo without using Drobo Copy which has been giving him errors lately. He doesn’t want to go through the process of partitioning his Drobo which I have tried before on a Drobo and is not really the way I like to use my Drobo either especially since my space needs could change at anytime and having to repartition a Drobo takes a lot of time and takes away the benefit of just adding storage. I prefer to use it as one big drive myself.

To help him see how to back up two drives to one, I put together a podcast to walk him through the process. The basic instructions on how to do this can be found in the manual for SuperDuper! found HERE. Enjoy!

Tags: Mac OSX, Backup, Tutorials, Screenflow, Screencast

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Making the Move to iCloud

10/18/11 09:34 PM
Apple recently revamped their MobileMe service and moved it to iCloud which is a way to keep all of your information in sync between your devices and also available in the cloud. This is a major update and involves a few steps to get everything moved over so I thought I would do a screencast to record my process of moving my MobileMe account over to iCloud for those who are visual and want to see what will happen step by step before they take the leap. In the video I reference a few sites that Apple has put up to help walk people through the process so I am putting the links below for those who just want the facts and don’t need to see the walk through. This is my first podcast so there are probably some things in the production that are not quite right such as the number of times I say “um”.

How to Set Up iCloud: http://www.apple.com/icloud/setup/

MobileMe Move Site
: http://mobileme.com/move

Tags: Apple, ICloud, Tutorials, Mac OSX, Screenflow, Screencast

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Ooma Phone Service Review

05/19/11 07:13 AM
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For quite a while I struggled with paying my cable company for a phone line in the house. Sure I got a basic discount off of my “bundled” services, but I really couldn’t justify paying for a phone that we rarely used or when we did use it, we got charged by the minute for calls we made. When we did use it most of the calls were long distance to our family. So with the shift in the economy and my desire to rid myself of as many ongoing bills as possible I set out to find a solution to cutting the cord on my local phone bill.

In my search for the perfect solution I was chatting with a guy at my local Starbucks who said he had made the move to a VOIP phone company called Ooma. I decided to check it out and I am glad I did. Ooma is basically a voice over internet phone which means that it plugs into your existing internet connection and routes phone calls over the internet. So it is basically piggy backing off of your internet connection and therefore saves you from having to pay for phone calls (with the exception of international calls). Since many of us are paying for our broadband internet anyway this is a great way to leverage what you already have to get free phone service.

Getting Started
To get started with Ooma you need to buy an Ooma box. This box looks like any other phone machine and, in fact, includes a phone machine function. You plug the box into your router and then plug your existing phones into the Ooma box. Depending on the phones you have in your house you can use either wireless phones by plugging the main base station into the Ooma box and having that base station give the signal to the other wireless phones without having to plug into the wall. Or you can plug the Ooma into the wall and get smaller Ooma base stations, called Scouts or Telos, that you then plug into your phone sockets to allow for multiple phones in the house. I personally use a Panasonic wireless phone system with the main base station plugged into the Ooma with the other panasonic phones and chargers plugged in at various places in the house.

Ooma Premier
Once Ooma is plugged in, you walk through a set up wizard on your computer that helps you get your number set up, your voicemail customized and tests your connection. I found the process to be pretty easy with no hiccups at all. You get a free trial of their Premier service which adds other things like a second phone number, an instant second line so if one person is on one of your phones you can pick up another phone and have a dial tone to call out, Blacklists and phone number blocking, free 250 minutes on their mobile app to make calls over your data connection on your cell phone to save your cell minutes, and all kinds of other feature. To keep those features beyond the trial it costs $9.99 a month. You can read more about these features here: http://www.ooma.com/premier.

Getting Messages
You have access to your voicemail messages either from the Ooma box, from your phone if it has that feature, through the Ooma website, and you can even have Ooma text you when you have a phone message at home or pay $9.99 a month for a service that will transcribe your message to text and text or email it to you. On the website you can view your phone messages visually instead of going through them one at a time in a row, save messages, and organize them into folders. You can also see who has called in and who you have called and have a running record of phone numbers. There is a contact list you can add and with Premier you can add numbers to the global Blacklist that is constantly updated by other Ooma users. The web interface is a nice way to have your home phone and messages easily accessible while on the road.

Voice Quality
Now my biggest concern about Ooma was the voice quality. I have used other VOIP services and found that the voice quality was poor making me sound like I was in a tin can or had a lot of popping noises in the background. With Ooma I have been amazed at how good the phone quality has been. I have had friends and family tell me it sounded really good and I have not had any of the problems I have experienced with other VOIP services. It is really amazing how good the service is.

It Really is Free(or Really Cheap)
Now I know many of you are wondering, Is it really free after you buy the box? What’s the catch? Well that depends on how you use the service and what box you choose to get. If you get the older Ooma Hub and Scout combination than your service is completely free anywhere in the United States (you have to pay for international calls but the prices are quite good). If you get the newer Ooma Telo units you have to pay your monthly local taxes which are usually around $3-$5. I have the Ooma Hub and Scout and feel like I am not missing much with not having the Telo unit which includes HD voice, bluetooth connectivity for using your cell phone or wireless headset, and the ability to integrate your google voice account. The choice is yours but compared to what I was paying before the monthly taxes make this a huge bargain. So with me having the Hub and Scout combo I got my Ooma unit on sale for $180 and because I had wireless phones I sold the scout unit to the guy in the coffee shop for $50 which means I paid $130 out the door for free phone service for life. So in 3 months I had basically paid for the unit and have been enjoying free home phone service for the past year. If you are in the market for a home phone and are tired of having to look over a phone bill or cut your long distance calls short for fear of what your bill will look like, I would definitely consider Ooma. You won’t be sorry.

Tags: Cable, Phone

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My Experience with Turbo Tax

04/19/11 07:21 AM
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I just got done filing my taxes online using Intuit’s Turbo Tax Deluxe Edition. Until trying Turbo Tax last year I had always filed my taxes through an accountant. I decided to try Turbo Tax because I felt like my taxes were fairly simple and I noticed that all the same lines on my tax form were filled out every year for several years and I figured it couldn’t be that hard to file my taxes if my situation wasn’t changing enough year to year to cause any change in my filing. So I got a copy of Turbo Tax last year and compared the results of my previous year’s return with what Turbo Tax came up with and found the same identical lines filled out. So I have decided to use the program to file my taxes and I found it really pays off in the years after your first filing so I thought I would share my review here.

Start Up
When you first start up Turbo Tax it asks if you want to import data from your previous year’s taxes. Since I had my 2009 Turbo Tax file on my computer the program found it and began to import it. Once it had finished the import and recent software updates it took me to the Personal Information Screen and there was all my personal data just as I had entered it last year including social security numbers. I love the fact that I did not need to look anything up to have to fill out the same information again. It was all imported for me.

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The Easy Wizard

From there Turbo Tax walks you through a series of questions that help you to determine what your income figures and deductions are. I love the fact that everything I had put in last year was already filled in for me. I just had to update my W2 forms and the actual numbers I received from all my financial institutions and figures from my wife’s home business. Everything was right there and the process was smooth.


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Error Check
Once you have put all your information in, the program checks to make sure nothing is missing or out of place. If it finds something that you are missing it comes back asking you questions to help you finish putting in anything my may have missed. If you get stuck and are not sure if you should fill in that information or want to know where it is on the form you can simply click the form button on the top left of the window and you are taken to a screen that shows all the forms that will be used on the left and an actual editable form on the right. Any form that is missing information has a red exclamation point next to it. Once you update that information the red exclamation point goes away letting you know you are all set. This adds confidence as you know the system is checking all the bases.

State Filing
The state filing was also very well put together and up to date. Everything from my Federal Tax form was transferred to my state form so I had very little to input. I live in a state that requires you to pay taxes on purchases you made out of state or on the internet. Turbo Tax had that information available for input complete with each counties tax rate making it easy to input. The same error correction that is available on the Federal tax portion was available for the state portion as well.

Print & E-File
When you are all done with your tax preparation you are asked if you are ready to file your taxes. Before you file you have the opportunity to review and print the actual tax forms. I usually save the files as pdf’s so have them with all of my other forms electronically. You are then asked if you want to e-file or mail your forms in. I choose e-file due to speed of my return. The E-file information is pre-filled out from last year including my bank information and how I paid for the state e-file last year. So all I had to do was confirm the information and send it off. The beauty of Turbo Tax is the fact that they update you every step of the process. You get an email telling you your returns were filed. You also get emails telling you the government accepted your return and have in their possession. You can then check where your return is in the process all the way to the point where your check is mailed. Pretty cool stuff!

Overall I am pleased with my experience with Turbo Tax. The ability to do my taxes myself in a couple of hours for a fraction of the price I was paying an accountant makes it a great deal. The software does a good job covering all the bases including my tax status as a Minister which has it’s own set of complexities. I would highly recommend it if you have a pretty straight forward tax situation and are tired of paying an accountant.

Tags: Sofware

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Setting Up Pathfinder to Work with Hyperspaces

03/26/11 09:56 PM
One of the programs I love to use on my mac is Pathfinder. Pathfinder is a Finder replacement that has a ton of features, many that Apple’s Finder should take note of and add. Things like:

Dual Pane File Browsing
Drop Stack
Tabs & Bookmarks
File List Sorting and Filtering
Command Line Tools
Quick Look Support
Application Launcher


There are other ways to customize the look and feel of Pathfinder as well. There is:

Dual Pane View
Pathfinder Dual Pane
Cover flow View
Pathfinder Coverflow
A Mix of Both Dual Pane and Coverflow
Pathfinder Split View
Pathfinder as Finder Replacement
Built into Pathfinder is the ability to replace most of Finder’s functions with Pathfinder. So when you open a folder it will bring up a Pathfinder window. Finder will still be running in the background because of the way it is built into the operating system but for everyday use Pathfinder will be the primary window that will be launched. To set this up, you go to the Pathfinder drop down menu and select “Show Pathfinder Desktop.”

Using Pathfinder with Hyperspaces
Now using both Pathfinder and Hyperspaces together causes some issues with which program gets priority on the desktop. To make these two programs work together do the following:

1. show the pathfinder desktop (path finder>Show Path Finder Desktop) 2. Bring the desktop forward (click on it and make sure it is the front most item). 3. Open the view option palette (view>Show view option or command J): you should see "show desktop options" at the top. 4. Click on the "set colors.." button, select Desktop in the drop down menu, and make sure that "show desktop background" is NOT checked. 5. Now you'll need to deactivate the Apple Finder's Desktop. In Path Finder, open (Pathfinder>Preferences) and switch to "General". Uncheck "hide Finder's Desktop" and relaunch the finder when asked (here I made sure "hide Finder's Desktop" was checked).

Tags: Sofware, Utilities

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Setting Up Multiple Desktops

03/18/11 04:32 PM
I love using my Mac but I had the same problems most people do and that is having multiple windows open all the time and trying to find the one I want to view at the time. Sure I could use Expose but that just causes one window to come to the top and still doesn’t address the clutter. I could use spaces and spread my stuff all over the place but I found that without any organization I would just expand my clutter of windows to multiple spaces of clutter. To address how I handle the desktop and my open windows I set up a system using two tools that have made my life easier: Hyperspaces and Dock Spaces.

Hyperspaces

Hyperspaces
Hyperspaces is a tool created by Tony Arnold of The Cocoabots that works with Apple’s Spaces but enhances it and allow you to do a few things you can’t do with spaces alone. First, it allows my to put a desktop label on my spaces. This has allowed me to designate certain spaces for certain things. For example I have 9 spaces I use: GTD, Writing, Communications, Photos, Internet, Audio, Website Design, Utilities, Video. Each of these spaces has a different desktop wall paper so they are easy to tell apart by background in addition to the label created on the desktop. What I like about Hyperspaces is it also creates a menubar item that tells me what space I am on and clicking it shows me all 9 spaces with their backgrounds so I can click on the space I want to go to. It is a really slick way to divide up and designate space.

Dock Spaces

Dock Spaces Icon
Dock Spaces is a program that allows you to customize docks for individual spaces. This allows me to have a custom dock for each space I created with Hyperspaces. What is cool about this is I am able to put all the programs I would normally use in each of my spaces on the dock and have the dock change each time I move to a different space. So I have a dock for GTD, one for Writing, one for Photos, etc. That automatically come up when I enter that space.

How it Works

When I turn on my Macbook Pro to do some work I go to each space to bring up the programs I want to use. So I will open my mail app in the Communications space, a Safari window in the Internet space, iTunes in the Audio space, etc. Then when I want to see my email I just click on the mail icon in the dock and it whisks me away to the Communications space and brings up the corresponding dock with all of my communications apps in the dock. Or, when I decide I need to look something up on the internet, I click on the Safari icon in my dock and it takes me to the internet space. This allows me to have full use of all of my spaces without having to juggle too many windows in one space. It also works seamlessly with another favorite app of mine Pathfinder. I can have the Pathfinder desktop activated and still have these multiple spaces and docks working.

Hyperspaces

How to Set It Up

To set all of this up, get a copy of Hyperspaces and install it. Then:

  • Click the preferences pane.
    Spaces
  • Click on the Spaces Icon.
  • Decide how many spaces you want and add the columns and rows by clicking the plus button on the right.
  • Label your space in the space name field.
  • Click on the Label icon and if you want the name of the space on your desktop, check the box next to the On the Desktop line.
  • On the Desktop diagram at the bottom, click where on the desktop you want the label to appear.
  • Next, click the image button then click the magnifying glass to upload any image you want for that desktop. I usually choose “Fill Screen” for my scaling option.
  • Repeat this for each space you want to set up.

To set up a dock for each space, get a copy of DockSpaces and install it. Then:

DockSpaces
1. Click the Docks button and click the plus button for a new dock.
  • Label the dock to be the same name as the space you want it to go to (this will simplify knowing which dock goes with what space).
  • Add or remove any applications you want on that dock for that space.
  • Repeat for each space you have.
  • Click the Setup button and indicate how many rows and columns you have for your spaces. This will cause Dock Spaces to associate your docks with each space.

Now try clicking through your spaces and watch how the docks change for each space. It really works great and has made using my Macbook Pro an awesome experience. Enjoy!

Tags: Utilities, Sofware

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New Back Up Strategy

01/05/09 07:20 AM
I have been wrestling for a while with how to back up my stuff. I never seem to have enough hard drive space to do incremental back ups on Time Machine. I have over 1 TB in hard drive space in my MacPro and I only had a 500GB and 250GB external drives I could use to back up. I was using the 500GB for Time Machine and would frequently run out of space and have to restart the process of delete files from being backed up which of course would ruin the reason for backing up. So rather than playing roulette with my data I decided to do 2 things that I believe have helped me do better back ups on the cheap.

Online Back Ups
I had always heard a lot about online back ups but usually heard negative things. They are too slow to do with large amounts of data. Or, it is a pain because you have to remember to initiate it. Or, the bandwidth limitations by many online providers make it almost impossible to do. I did a little research on this and I think I have found the perfect solution from a company called BackBlaze. BackBlaze is an automated, set it and forget about it, unlimited data for $5 a month plan that, so far, has actually been painless. You download a system preference pane that backs up in the background and you hardly notice it is there. It is a back up everything solution that allows you to exclude files you don’t need backed up and even allows you to throttle the bandwidth is it using so your system does not get bogged down. The initial back up takes quite a while. My almost 500GB of data I want to back up is taking around 15 days to get online but after that, it is will incrementally back up any changes and save old data like Time Machine does for 30 days. Now I am protected against a fire or other event that would wipe out all my data at home.



Local Back Ups

Having online back ups is great but it is really slow if you have to recover all that data or expensive if you need it fast (BackBlaze will give you a DVD at $ a pop, or a 160GB hard drive for $) so local back ups are still a must. Since I didn’t want to spring for new drives just yet and I didn’t want to invest $499 for a Drobo unit that I would still have to get drives to fill (this is overkill for me at this point but I do like the concept), I decided to use a program called SuperDuper! to handle my local back ups. SuperDuper! will not only do incremental backups on any schedule you like, it also can make a bootable back up of your main drive so you can boot from the external drive if your main drive fails or if you need to recover your data all your settings are in place so it puts you right back to where you left off. I decided to use my 250GB drive as the bootable back up for my main drive and the 500GB for 2 of my internal drives (the other drive is long term storage that I wouldn’t need in a hurry so I am just letting BackBlaze handle that drive). In the settings of SuperDuper! I scheduled the bootable backup of my main drive to run every night and the other drive to run once a week. Now I don’t have to think about that either since it will run on its own as long as the computer and drives are powered on.



So that is my new backup strategy. I will write an update at some point to let you know how I like it but for right now I have a better back up strategy than I have ever had. My MacPro is handled and my laptop backs up wirelessly to an Aiport drive I have hooked up to my Airport Extreme. Now I can start the new year with confidence that I at least can get to my data if I need it. Next on the list is a ultra portable drive to do a clone of my laptop drive!

Tags: Backup

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Using Airdisk as a Time Machine Backup

11/10/08 07:51 AM
I have been wanting to get around to setting up a Time Machine back up for my laptop that allows it to work like Apple’s Time Capsule and happens wirelessly. I never liked the idea of getting a router with a hard drive enclosed because I know drives will fail that that will only set an expiration date on my router by the life of the hard drive. I have usually resisted getting all in one solutions for that reason (can anyone say a television with a VCR built in?). So having an Airport Extreme router and a drive connected to it, I set out to try to make this happen despite Apple Support saying they don’t officially support that kind of set up. For those of you trying to do this, here is what I did:

1. Reformat the Hard Drive
I took the 250GB drive I had connected to the Airport Extreme and attached it to my Macpro directly, Using Disk Utility I erased the drive and made sure it was Mac Os Extended (Journaled). If you want to set up partitions you can do so at the same time on the partition tab.




2. Plug the Drive Back Into the Airport Extreme and Mount it
Next I plugged the drive back into the Airport Extreme only, powered it up and waited for the Airport Extreme to show up in the shared section of the sidebar in the Finder. Once it showed up I clicked on it to mount it (if you have a password you will have to put in your password to get it to mount).



3. Add the Airdisk to the Devices Section of the Finder

Once the drive is mounted you have at make sure it shows up in the devices section of the Finder. Just click on the folder for your Airdisk drive and drag it to the Devices section. Once you do that it will show the drive with a new icon in the devices section. This will allow Time Machine to see the drive.



4. Make sure the Airdisk Shows up as a Device Every Time You Login

To make sure the airdisk always shows up when you login, go to System Preferences and click on Accounts. Once in Accounts (you may need to push the lock button in the bottom left corner and give your system login to unlock your preferences) click the tab that says login items. On the list that comes up, click the “+” sign in the bottom left of that window to add an item. Browse to the Airdisk you just added to devices and click add. You will now see it on the list of login items. Make sure the box next to it is checked so that you will automatically mount the Airdisk on login.



5. Set the Airdisk as your Time Machine Backup
Now go to System Preferences and click on the Time Machine Icon. On the Time Machine screen click Change Disk. You should now see your Airdisk in the list of available Time Machine Volumes. Select the Airdisk. Now Turn Time Machine on if you haven’t already and it will begin to prepare the disk for back up! Remember this will take a long time as you are doing the initial back up of your entire hard drive over the air. It took me 14 hours to back up 116GB of data. You may want to set your Energy Saver settings to not let your computer sleep while the backup is going on (System Preferences-Energy Saver-Set the time to sleep to never).

Tags: Backup

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