Jamf is opening the registration for the virtual JNUC 2021! They are also calling prospective speakers to submit their proposals.
Because I was curious what the status of the various Mac Admin conferences was this year, I put together a list.
The list is for information only. I do not intend to shame or pressure any of the organziers of these conferences, no mattter what the status of their conference is. These are harrowing times for organizing anything, let alone a conference. My deepest thanks and respect to anyone who puts together any form of conference or meeting.
Registration open
- MacDevOps YVR: June 9-11, online, registration
- JNUC 2021: October 19-21, online registration, session proposal
Not certain yet
- PSU Mac Admins Conference: “prepping the fire pit for another summer of campfire sessions“
- Objective-by-the-Sea: “Europe, October 2021“
- WWDC 2021: ? (usually June)
- MacDeployment 2021: online, “June timeframe“
- MacTech Conference: “third quarter 2021“
- MacAD.UK: “Autumn 2021“
- MacSysAdmin Conference: ? (usually October)
- Xworld/EveryWorld: ? (was November, last year)
Please let me know if missed something and I will update it next week!
If you would rather get the weekly newsletter by email, you can subscribe to the Scripting OS X Weekly Newsletter here!! (Same content, delivered to your Inbox once a week.)
News and Opinion
- Users are losing out against Big Sur’s sealed System – Howard Oakley
- Jamf boosts macOS security capabilities with the acquisition of security and compliance solutions created by cmdSecurity – Jamf
- Jamf Nation User Conference 2021 – Registration
- Apple Watch Is Now Worn on 100 Million Wrists – Neil Cybart
- Apple Virtual Tech Camps (LinkedIn)
macOS and iOS Updates
- Big Sur 11.2.2 still doesn’t fix bugs with M1 external bootable disks – Howard Oakley
- What has changed in macOS, and why it matters – Howard Oakley
- macOS Big Sur 11.2.2 Update (20D80) is Live! What’s New? – Mr. Macintosh
MacAdmins on Twitter
- Mr. Macintosh: “macOS Big Sur 11.2.2 (20D80) Full Installer is now available.”
- Wil Shipley: “Honestly if you’re distributing software that requires me to have either python or cmake (or, worse, both cough openCV) you’ve failed everyone. Anyways, the next couple hours I’ll be upgrading python and downloading modules, because that’s a fun game that I love playing.”
Security and Privacy
- 5 Things You Need to Know About Silver Sparrow – Phil Stokes, SentinelOne
- The mystery of the Silver Sparrow Mac malware – Thomas Reed, Malwarebytes Labs
- CIS Apple OS Benchmark (updated for macOS 11 Big Sur)
Support and HowTos
- Migrating Google Fi Hangouts to Messages – A.P. Orlebeke
- Jamf Pro Patch Feed Updates – Michael Delvins, Jamf Nation
- Listing the full OS installers available from Apple’s Software Update feed on macOS Big Sur – Rich Trouton
- (Really) Disabling Time Machine – a Multi-pronged Approach – Neil Martin
- The Role of Bootable Duplicates in a Modern Backup Strategy – Adam Engst, TidBITS
- Selectively removing the drop shadow from screenshots on macOS Big Sur – Rich Trouton
- The Wisdom of Quinn – Collected by Josh Wisenbaker
Scripting and Automation
- Keeping Your autopkg Cache So Fresh and So Clean, Clean – A.P. Orlebeke (I just delete the cache folder…)
- YAML-formatted AutoPkg recipes can now be run natively without conversion to plist – Graham R Pugh
- Conflict 409 Error: Duplicate alternate MAC address for Jamf API call – Alan Siu
Apple Support
Updates and Releases
- AutoPkg 2.3.1
- Netiquette 1.2.0
- Visual Studio Code 1.54 (Universal build)
- Book Update for Big Sur – Moving to zsh v5
To Listen
- The Technology Drivers Test – Mac Admins Podcast
- Never Lose Your Trash Again! — Command-Control-Power
- Defending online anonymity and speech with Eva Galperin – Lock and Code, Malwarebytes Labs
- Stephen Hackett on leveraging podcast tech in the workplace – Apple @ Work Podcast, 9to5Mac
- Getting SaaS-y with Brian Wilkins – MacDevOpsYVR
Just for Fun
- Mac sound effect (acapella) (Follow up to the iPhone sound effect video from a few weeks ago)
- NASA Perseverance Mars Rover Apple 1998 iMac Processor – Jeff Yeung, Hypebeast
Support
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