Established in 1984, MacTech Magazine is the only monthly magazine focused on Macintosh technology. Distributed in over 50 countries, MacTech is read by tens of thousands of technical Macintosh users … from network administrators to programmers, from solution providers to Enterprise, and in general anyone that’s interested in the Macintosh beyond the user level. Subscribe risk free today!
Want to know what’s covered in MacTech? Take a look at our table of contents for 2011:
December 2011 Issue
Mac in the Shell:
Brewing Up Missing Apps Using homebrew to install additional apps on OS X
Object Orientation:
Properties and Other References Objects knowing about other objects
An Introduction to GNU Octave Is Octave a viable MATLAB alternative?
Leaves of Data Presenting data trees with AppleScriptObjC
MacEnterprise:
Apple Software Updates with Reposado An open-source alternative to Apple’s Software Update service
2012 Buyers’ Guide
The MacTech Spotlight:
Guy English http://kickingbear.com
November 2011 Issue
Developer to Developer:
Plug It In! Enrich your Mac OS X applications with plug-ins
Typesetting a book on a Mac using LaTeX How I used LaTeX to typeset a book
Mobile Device Management (MDM) Primer Your guide to getting started with managing iOS devices
Head to Head: Virtualization Benchmarks
Parallels Desktop for Mac vs. VMware Fusion How do VMware Fusion 4 and Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac compare?
Find Your Current iPhone Location Four ways to find your location with your iPhone
Designing an Application Where do all those objects go?
The MacTech Spotlight:
MacTech Conference 2011 A photographic Retrospective
October 2011 Issue
Consultant Cowboy:
Pricing & Billing Methods and Strategies
There’s more to the (pricing) world than just an hourly rate
MacSysAdmin 2011
A conference with European flair for system administrators
Automator and Services in Lion
New features and functionality in Mac OS 10.7
MacEnterprise:
Automating Mac OS X Lion Installs
Upgrading to OS X Lion via a “payload-free” package
Objective-C: Syntax
Building upon C
Maker Faire 2011, NYC
The event for us (nerds) techs… and more
Bug Hunting with AppleScriptObjC
Learn to track and trap errors in your AppleScriptObjC project
A True Original
Steve Jobs, 1955 – 2011
September 2011 Issue
Consultant Cowboy:
Pricing and Money: Ups & Downs
Consulting is often “feast or famine” when it comes to money.
Here are some tips.
Mac in the Shell:
MacRuby Drag and Drop File Rename
An evolving foundational starter project
Objective-C: a First Look
Building upon C
Developer to Developer:
The Sandman Cometh
How Apple’s sandboxing security feature will affect your Mac apps now,
and to come.
The Whys and Hows of Lion’s Recovery HD
What is it, and why do we need it?
KosmicTask
Sharing script-based functionality across the network
WireShark and DHCP
How WireShark solved a DHCP conflict
MacEnterprise:
Payload-free Packages, Part 2
Using “payload-free” packages to install software—from an extension to a full OS.
Kool Tools:
Adobe Flash Builder and Flex
The MacTech Spotlight:
Hisham Khalifa, Binary Bakery
August 2011 Issue
Mac in the Shell:
Lion in the Shell What to expect from Lion when working in a shell
Consultant Cowboy:
Pricing and Startups Pricing thoughts particular to tech startups
FileVault 2 Decrypted for Enterprise
Developer to Developer:
A Developer’s Quick Look at Lion How you can take advantage of Apple’s latest release of OS X
Before Objective-C A 10,000-foot overview of a C program
Package Browsing by AppleScript Building a flat-package browser using AppleScriptObjC
MacEnterprise:
Payload-free Packages Leverage Apple’s package format for additional tasks
Real World Review:
Sonnet RackMac Mini A solution to rack mount Mac minis without losing access to controls
The MacTech Spotlight:
Marc Mentovai, Google
July 2011 Issue
Mac in the Shell:
MacRuby Drag and Drop
A foundational starter project
Using AppleScript and Perl for Automation
Saving Facebook pages as WebArchives in an automated way
Developer to Developer:
The Core Foundation Chasm
A look at how to bridge Core Foundation to Cocoa
FileVault 2 Decrypted
Understanding this very different disk encryption scheme
Soup up Installer Packages with Scripts
Real-world recipes for enterprise deployments
CoreSec:
What is a Security Culture?
While technology is wonderful, security starts with organizational culture
MacEnterprise:
Lion’s Share of Changes
New, changed, and missing features in Mac OS X Lion
of interest to system administrators
Kool Tools:
Navicat for Mac OS X
GUI database tool for Mac
The MacTech Spotlight
Rainer Brokerhoff
June 2011 Issue
WWDC 2011 Wrap Up
Mac in the Shell:
Ruby and the GUI, Part 2
Adding a real Cocoa GUI to a MacRuby application
Developer to Developer:
No Pane, No Gain, Part 2 Expanding our Preference Pane plug-in with Authorization Services
MacEnterprise:
Taming Automatic Updaters Disabling application auto-updates for the enterprise environment
The EDA Showcase:
Leveraging Windows Servers to Bring Sanity
to Large-scale iOS Operations
Binding with AppleScriptObjC Connecting widgets through a key/value mechanism
Examining 3 Important Nmap Scans with WireShark Using WireShark to explain Nmap traffic
The MacTech Spotlight: Kirill Luzanov, Binary Fruit
May 2011 Issue
Mac in the Shell:
Ruby and the GUI
Adding a real Cocoa GUI to a MacRuby application
Consultant Cowboy:
Pricing (Part 2)
More thoughts on pricing
MacEnterprise:
Developing Enterprise-Friendly Software for Fun and Profit
CoreSec:
Secure Shell (SSH)-A Hidden Gem, Part 2
SSH is a powerful tool with many uses. Let’s explore this staple of OS X
Meet Cappucino
Use your Cocoa skills to build stunning web applications
Developer to Developer:
No Pane, No Gain
Building a Preference Pane plug-in to integrate into System Preferences
The EDA Showcase:
Scripting Automations in Windows for Mac OS X Administrators
The SQLite DB and iOS
How to use SQLite on your iPhone and iPad
Adaptive Laptop Management with crankd
Kool Tools:
VMware View Client for iPad
Windows on iOS – to go!
The MacTech Spotlight:
Justin Williams, Second Gear
April 2011 Issue
Mac in the Shell:
Not Just Ruby…MacRuby!
Finally using Mac- and Cocoa-specific features
Swaine Manor:
The iPad 2 Coverup
What you don’t know about Apple’s Smart Covers
On Becoming a Developer
One person’s journey into the world of software development
Developer to Developer:
The NSTask at Hand
A look at spawning processes on OS X
MacEnterprise:
Customizing Packages for Deployment
Modifying metapackage choices for automated distribution
The Enterprise Desktop Alliance Showcase:
Large-Scale Mac OS X Client Management
Using Windows Servers
CoreSec:
Secure Shell (SSH): A Hidden Gem
SSH is a powerful tool with many uses; let’s explore this Unix staple
Sending Cisco logs to Syslog on your Mac
How to set up both your Cisco router
and your Mac in order to store Cisco log files
Client-centered Consulting
Let the user be your guide
The Mactech Spotlight:
Jon Nathan
March 2011 Issue
Mac in the Shell:
Rounding Out Ruby Finishing the basics
Gaming Under Parallels Desktop 6 20 popular Windows games. How playable are they?
Developer to Developer:
Extending Classes with Categories Exploring Objective-C’s way of making classes richer, without subclassing
Consultant Cowboy:
Pricing Consulting Services Pricing is hard, let’s go shopping!
An Introduction to WireShark The graphic-interface protocol analyzer
The Enterprise Desktop Alliance Showcase: Implementing File & Print Services on Windows Servers
for Mac OS X Clients
MacEnterprise:
Software Deployment Made Simple A look at StarDeploy
The Mactech Spotlight:
Martin Pilkington, M Cubed Software
February 2011 Issue
Mac in the Shell
Ruby Error Handling Expecting the worst, while still ensuring a great experience
Cocoa-Covered AppleScript Get to know the new AppleScriptObjC bridge
Consultant Cowboy
Looking Back on 2010: Retrospective for Your Consultancy Thinking about what went well, what didn’t go so well, and places you can improve
An Introduction to Nmap Using Nmap for Security
The Enterprise Desktop Alliance Showcase Imaging & Patch Management for Mac OS X Clients Using Windows Servers
MacEnterprise
Mac App Store and the Enterprise What the New Mac App Store means for the enterprise
Show Me the Money Suggested billing practices for consultants
The Mactech Spotlight Keith Alperin, Helium Foot Software
January 2011 Issue
Swaine Manor:
Bludger and Larrikin Attend a Press Conference …and say all the snarky things you’d say if you were there
Mac in the Shell:
More Ruby Basics for IT Useful Ruby for the Mac OS X Administrator
Battling the Deluge of Digital Detritus Mac housecleaning for improved organization, performance, stability
Developer to Developer:
Making a Splash Bring some pizzazz to your Cocoa applications with a splash window
MacTech Labs:
Head-to-Head: Parallels Desktop for Mac vs. VMware Fusion How do VMware Fusion 3.1 and Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac compare?
Consultant Cowboy:
Roles to Play in Your Business It’s not just about 0’s and 1’s anymore.
The Enterprise Desktop Alliance Showcase: Introducing the EDA Showcase
Centralized Mac Home Directories on Windows Servers Using Windows to Serve the Mac
CoreSec: Security Topics for Administrators and Programmers:
Shhhh.. Big Brother May be Listening What you need to know about VOIP, Face Time, Skype and iChat security
MacEnterprise:
Managing Software Installs with Munki-Part 4 Crafting pkginfo files for munki
Real World Review:
Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac, Home Edition Enterprise-grade antivirus software, now free for home Macs
The MacTech Spotlight: Manton Reece, Riverfold Software