MacTech Conference 2012: Speakers and Sessions

Edward R. Marczak, MacTech Magazine
Conference Sessions Chair and IT Track Sessions Chair

Ed is the Executive Editor of MacTech Magazine, the author of several books, and Worldwide Mac Operations Dude at Google. Ed heads up overall conference session content, as well as the IT track.

Steve Troughton-Smith, High Caffeine Content
Dev Track Sessions Chair

Steve is an indie developer and part time investigative hacker. Steve runs High Caffeine Content, a small development shop that builds apps for iOS, Mac and other platforms. He was one of the many developing apps for the iPhone a year before the SDK and App Store existed. Originally dubbed the ‘poster child’ for iPhone development in Ireland by the media, these days Steve is also the programming half of the Grace App for Autism team, and Mobile Architect at Tethras.

Over the last couple of decades enterprise computing has leveraged the same computing technologies used by consumers. Desktops computers used in most office settings closely resemble the same personal computers used in homes. Now that consumers are starting to migrate off of traditional PCs and are moving into new Post-PC technologies, how are businesses going to react? Will enterprise computing continue using the same old desktop technologies, or will they follow this same model as consumers? Also, as consumers move off of traditional PCs at home, what will that do to the price of desktop computers used in the enterprise? This talk will start off by making a few assumptions and drivers that could push businesses and consumers to further migrate away from desktop computers, and then attempt to paint a picture for how applications that currently require high performance desktops could also adapt to the Post-PC computing model.

The technologies made common in the last few years have changed the way people see computing devices. The iPhone, iPad, and Mac have transcended merely performing tasks for us: they’re an integral part of more and more aspects of modern life not just for technical people, but for everyone. Matt will kick off the conference with a conversation about the tech community’s role in shaping the future of computing, and the ever-important impact our work and decisions have on our own lives and the lives of others.

Ever wondered how movies are made? Creating animated feature films such as Tangled or Wreck It Ralph involves collaboration from many people working across different disciplines. The total process can take years but always needs to start with a good story. Finding the best story possible is critical to giving the audience an experience they are sure to remember. This talk will focus on some of the custom tools developed at Walt Disney Animation Studios for the Story and Editorial departments that help facilitate communication and collaboration in these early stages of the film. Don’t miss this exclusive peek into the tools that helped create some of the films that so many have enjoyed.

Downloading pictures from the surface of Mars is not like surfing the web. Flying through the atmosphere of Mars at 12,500 mph; wireless links 100’s of millions of miles long; orbiting satellites that can take pictures of pizza pans from orbit and serve as routers; 20 minute passes 2-4 times a day; 50 mbytes/day; working on Mars time. Even space weather shooting holes in the data stream. Come see how Curiosity returned those fantastic pictures from 166 million miles away. Plus hear about the Interplanetary Internet of the future.

Focusing on just the features that “80% of the users want” is a rocket sled to mediocrity. That is, it’s easy to lose the focus of your app by trying to make everyone happy, but if a certain feature seems useful, is easy enough to do, and can be expressed without affecting the performance or clarity of your app, why not do it?

Apple’s App Sandboxing technology has become a hard requirement for all applications in the Mac App Store. Some have even speculated that Apple will expect all apps to be sandboxed at some point in the future. Whether your application is in the Mac App Store or not, you need to understand this key technology; it is the future of application security on the Mac. We’ll examine the ins and outs of App Sandboxing, why it’s important, how to utilize entitlements, and cover additional information that you will need to know in order to bring your apps into this brave new world.

When you start building the next great mobile app, do you want to worry about your backend? Do you want to figure out hosting and support servers, or just work on your killer app? Windows Azure Mobile Services allows you to do that. In this session we’ll cover how you can connect iOS applications to a reliable cloud based backend that gives you super easy data storage, user authentication, and push notifications with just a few clicks. You will leave knowing how to get your backend setup so you can store your apps data and more so you can start building apps immediately.

Hundreds of apps flood the App Store everyday. How can you battle them to win your position? Create the perfect blend of functionality and design. Eliminate common mobile usability problems and find the ideal interaction flow. The objective of this session is to show you how you can use the newest usability tools available at https://heatma.ps to find and fix common UI and interaction problems and improve the quality of your app. Take the advantage of touch heat maps, automatic gesture recognition, device interaction discovery, A/B testing and blur testing tools to get in-depth understanding of your users behavior.

What does Enterprise-friendly Software Development mean? Find out what you, as a developer, can do to make your software easier for larger organizations to use, deploy and manage. In other words, what can you do to make it easier for Enterprise to buy a boat load of your software.

Introduction to Passbook. Learn the essentials of what Passbook is about and what it takes to implement passes within Apple’s new technology. Get an understanding of how you can tap your existing database infrastructure and let your customers and clients Passbook’s coupons, boarding passes, store cards, gift cards, and more.

OS X has long used animated transitions to convey meaning and the advent of iOS only furthered that tradition while ushering in a whole new approach to interface. Small touch screens with constrained real estate have prompted developers and designers to convey more while displaying less. To stand out, it’s not enough for users to touch your application, you must engage them. Responsive interface elements and transitions make the user feel involved in a way that was never before possible. In this session, we’ll explore some of the dos and don’ts of crafting highly interactive and meaningful interfaces. We’ll also touch on some of the techniques required to accomplish our goals. The future is here but it’s just starting.

Without a doubt, iOS has altered the course of the game industry forever. The massive, lumbering titans that have sat atop the industry for decades are now being pressured to adapt or die, and many are finding difficulty with the former. All the while, a new species of smaller, lightweight company is thriving, and power is slowly shifting from the giant company to the humble individual. Going independent is the best and most rewarding way to survive, but that will require you to take responsibility for your own future, and develop and market your games and apps with authenticity and passion. You’ll need to think about software engineering, marketing, and most importantly, yourself in a new way. The journey is one of personal development just as much as (if not more than) one of technology and software. Justin Fic, independent developer and 7-year veteran of the game industry will take you on a tour of its vastly changing landscape, introduce you to the various species of developer that now populate it, and muse on what it could all look like in years to come. Now is the best time to take control of your life and career, carve out your place in this crazy little industry, and adapt your business into one that’s built to survive for as long as you do.

Airplay for iOS was the first massive dual screen mobile experience in the world… and it’s highly underrated. Games, Lifestyle apps, social applications, they all stand to have a great experience via airplay. I would like to give a session that describes what airplay is about, common pitfalls, as well as inspirations for what you could actually do with dual screens for a mobile device.

Ways of getting down and dirty with Mach, NSZombies, and interesting ways to catch your program misbehaving even before it crashes.

Writers and publishers in Newsstand applications have a unique set of analytics requirements since they need to know what works for their audience. Web tools, such as Google Analytics and Chartbeat, offer detailed analyses, but there are few affordable solutions for iOS. At 29th Street Publishing, we’ve asked ourselves “How are people reading our apps?”, and Starwatch helps to provide this answer with quantitative evidence. Starwatch, an open-source metrics iOS library, provides a lightweight data-collection layer transparent to the end-user. A companion web-app called Starwatch Captain parses collected data and presents it in a meaningful way. I’ll share some insight in 29th Street Publishing’s platform, how we’re using Starwatch, and some of our more interesting/surprising findings.

The singular best way to give passing customers an idea of what your app does and how to use it is with an adequate set of good screenshots. In this session, I’ll explain: – Why a full text description is no substitute for screenshots – Why a screencast is no substitute for screenshots – How you can stand out from your competition by having more and better screenshots – How to make a bad impression with insufficient or poor screenshots

How does our body affect our mind? Why is it important and how does it help our development and reasoning skills by being physically fit? No need to be a tri-athlete or Olympian! Very basic exercises can make a difference. Listen to the experience of a developer that has been very active on how to improve your development through physical activity.

At MacTech Conference 2011, I claimed that iCloud Storage was one of the killer new features in iOS 5, and any app that didn’t implement iCloud Storage would quickly feel outdated. But, to date, very few applications have adopted iCloud storage. Part of the problem is simply the difficulty involved in working with the API. Part of it comes down to iCloud bugs (both perceived and real). As a result, developer uptake has been exceedingly slow. In this talk, I will describe the three basic flavors of iCloud (from a developer’s point of view): key-value storage, document storage and Core Data storage. I’ll describe how each of these work, when they should be used, and the basic steps involved in implementing iCloud storage. I will also compare and contrast iCloud storage with other document-syncing technologies like Dropbox. Then we will spend some quality time with iCloud’s weaknesses and limitations. This includes common developer misperceptions, as well as actual bugs and possible work-arounds. Finally, I will discuss new technologies in iOS 6 (if they can be discussed in public) and the current best practices for implementing iCloud storage. Yes, it’s been a bumpy road so far–but I still feel that iCloud is the future of iOS document-syncing. The information presented here will help smooth things out. Much of the information in this presentation comes from my book, ‘Creating iOS Apps: Develop and Design,’ and from my experience teaching iOS classes over the last year. If possible, I will include updated information from iOS 6 (again, if Apple has lifted the NDA).

What is metaprogramming? It’s part dark art. Part a loosely bound collection of advanced topics. For the purpose of this presentation, metaprogramming can be defined as writing code that writes code. Or, even more generally, developing tools that make writing code easier. As developers, we often find ourselves rewriting the same solution to common problems. Metaprogramming gives us a set of powerful techniques for solving these problems in a general and highly reusable way. Metaprogramming techniques often involve dynamically adding or changing methods and classes at runtime. Often, metaprogramming makes it feel like we’re changing the programming language itself. Most of the time, metaprogramming is discussed in hushed tones by users of highly dynamic languages like Ruby or Lisp. But, isn’t Objective-C a highly dynamic programming language? In truth, we can use many of the same techniques in Objective-C. The runtime may be a bit clunkier at times, but why should Ruby and Lisp programmers have all the fun? This presentation will begin with a discussion of metaprogramming–particularly focusing on what makes metaprogramming different from run-of-the-mill library development. Then I will highlight several common metaprogramming techniques, and show how they can be used to create real-world solutions. Finally, I will end with some words of warning. We will look at some of the problems that metaprogramming can create, as well as tips and tricks that will help you avoid common pitfalls.

Using as much common code as possible on a project is a goal for many developers, and it’s especially true when you’re developing for all platforms: Mac, iPhone and iPad. We’ll go over some simple strategies to make your cross platform projects as simple and easy to manage as possible. Also, stick around for the surprise twist at the end!

Let’s talk about the brave new world of Apple development: both Mac and iOS. What does the landscape look like? What is the state of Apple Developers?

After the close of the conference, Cryptic Apps software will be making a special presentation on-site about Hopper Dedicated Disassembler. All conference attendees are invited to attend (space is limited, however, so be sure to RSVP).In this special two-hour event, the man behind Cryptic Apps will discuss the premise, and how to use, Hopper Dedicated Disassembler for both Mac, and with the new iOS support. Join Vincent Bénony (aka bSr43), developer of Hopper Disassembler, as he outlines what you can use Hopper for, how to use it, and explores some of Hopper’s advanced features. You’ll have the chance to learn, ask questions, and meet the developer of this incredibly useful developer tool for Mac and iOS. RSVP, simply use this form.

iOS is changing IT support. I’m a big believer that tablets (meaning iPads) are not a fad. For nearly all users, they are the future of computing. We have embraced a culture of mobility, and laptops just aren’t mobile enough. iOS is a success because there is nothing between the user and the app. No drivers, no conflicts, barely any customization. For most users, OS doesn’t really exist. More than consumerization, this represents commoditization of computing. If it is broke, just get a new one. And it is the manufacturer, not the user, who is responsible for fixing them. This change of responsibility leaves a huge proportion of consultants, who used to make a living customizing computers and fixing them on behalf of users, wondering what to do. And not just consultants. IT departments are in the same dark alley. They are baffled by how different iOS is from Windows. Not to mention BYOD. IT used to rule the roost. Now we just keep the servers running (and those are probably in the cloud). iPads are commonly deployed without the help or even knowledge of IT. The iPad is DIY. So where does this go? As the devices are now a commodity, support services are becoming commoditized. The department or school who purchased hundreds of off-the-shelf iPads wants support to be just as easy. Today this is hard. It means MDM, VPP management, app management, carrier integration, and possibly development skills. It means rethinking what “control” means. There are few resources available to help (my site enterpriseios.com is one). This gap between demand and supply is called… opportunity!

Being a Mac sysadmin can be an accidental profession to some, at least at the outset. IT as a whole may have a higher concentration of folks who did not specifically study computer science in comparison to other fields, but luckily autodidacts can get by when they pay heed to certain maxims. Remembering back to when there actually used to be the common job title ‘computer operator’, and taking truisms from the consulting trade, we’ll see how things haven’t changed all that much when asking humans to rely on technology. Empathy can be our strongest tool when engineering people, and the reasons why other tactics are worth employing will be illustrated to drill home how we can have a better understanding of our role. Using parallels pulled from personal experience as a theater carpenter, I’ll touch on examples of practical understandings one should have when supporting others. Hopefully we should come away from this talk with tools other than complaining on Twitter to instead feel like we have control over our world.

Mac OS X 10.6 introduced an open-source implementation of Sun’s BSMevent audit implementation, known as Common Criteria Tools auditsoftware, and is installed by default. This software has functionalityto record all specified events which take place on a Macintosh system,for example, a super user reading the Kerberos credential cache, a user writing data to a different user’s home directory, execution of a known unwanted binary or script, or connection to a known bad host. This session will provide an overviewof the audit software and discuss design for a single-user orfleet-wide implementation to detect attack, compromise, exfiltrationand other events which may take place on OS X machines.

When it comes to imaging and deployment we are quick to whip out packages and shell scripts. But how can we make our own tasks easier? How can we connect the different tools we use and love? I will show how to connect Python, Safari, javascript, Finder, ssh, Apple Remote Desktop, Casper and few more tools to create unstoppable mega-hybrid super tools! – RIP Bootpicker and a few ideas on what to do in a post-Bootpicker dual boot setup – how to connect Remote Desktop, Terminal and Casper (or another deployment tool of your choice).

(Joint presentation by Ben Levy, Phil Goodman, and Steve Leebove.) Profiles are the latest tool for management and configuration of iOS and Macintosh devices. Profiles are powerful and flexible and can make complex configurations and management a pleasure, but there’s a lot to know to ensure everything works properly for the use you intend. We’ll cover the three main Apple tools for Profile Management; iPhone Configuration Utility, Apple Configurator and Profile Manager in OS X Server. We’ll explain what the trigger points are for choosing one tool over another, the different features of each and how best to ensure that the system will accommodate the needs of today and tomorrow. We’ll explain the various kinds of Profiles, strategies for flexible and convenient Profile construction and management and how to deliver Profiles to users. We’ll also dig into the need for and use of certificates. You’ll leave the session ready to immediately create Profiles that will aid your own personal device management as well as being clear on how to develop and implement a Profile strategy to manage any number of devices!

AppleScript automation capabilities have existed on the Mac for years, and are widely used throughout the Mac enterprise market. Like many businesses, you may be using scripts to streamline your user workflows and improve productivity and efficiency. In this session, you’ll learn how to take scripting to the next level by deploying a dedicated AppleScript server. Find out how your users can hand off files and other data to the server for processing, allowing them to focus their attention on other important tasks. Explore ways of implementing schedule-based scripts, which can run at night or during other downtime. Get tips for migrating existing scripts to function in an unattended environment. Any Mac professional who wants to increase efficiency, improve quality, and take workflow automation to the limit will not want to miss this session. Attendees will learn: * What an AppleScript server is, and what it can do * Tips for implementing your own AppleScript server * Tips for implementing folder watching scripts * Tips for implementing scheduled scripts * Tips for migrating existing scripts for use on an unattended machine

We have images, packages, scripts, file drops, managed preferences, profiles and countless other means to create change on client systems. This means a practically infinite number of combinations of change on client systems. In order to qualify whether an “image”, which is in reality a combination of all of these things, passes our test of whether or not we can roll it out to users, we must first test it. Otherwise, we end up flooding our help desk, touching systems by hand, working late hours to get things fixed or the dreaded full on reimaging! Measure twice, cut once. But measuring every combination can be daunting manually. In this session, we will look at leveraging scripts, graphical automations and 3rd party tools to verify that our images mass the muster. We’ll start with how to get started and the easy scripting that can be done and then quickly jump into both open source and automated 3rd party tools that can be leveraged to quickly and reliably give you the insight into whether your imaging framework is doing exactly what it is that you want it to be doing!

Companies that are supporting devices running iOS are growing exponentially. At Mid-Pacific Institute, we took on the challenge of deploying 1600 iPads. How in the world do you prepare for something like that? Attendees will learn from the mistakes we made, find out what was successful, and get some real world data and experiences from our massive iOS rollout.

Let’s talk about the brave new world of Mac IT. While many companies are beginning to allow Macs in for the first time, or are adopting a BYOD policy, all the mainstays of Mac administration are being slowly removed. The Xserve product line is gone, the Server OS is, in many ways, no longer what it once was. ARD remains the single management product that Apple offers, but hasn’t seen a major update in dog’s years.

Day in and out as IT professionals, we are being asked at a higher frequency to help with integration of our networks, computers and other items into the production world. This can be as simple as connecting a computer to a projector or as complex as laying the foundation for a multi-screen production with live video and live video streaming. My session will cover the various intersection points happening between media and IT in the current age of technology. The path that will be covered will include items to consider when our macs come in contact with the production world. Multi-screen projection, video capture and streaming of live events will be discussed as will guidelines for video bandwidth, current resolutions used in video and codecs currently used for video capture and streaming will also be covered.

With Apple moving to yearly major OS releases, you need to be able to test and deploy faster than ever before. Gone are the days when you can afford to spend weeks or months perfecting an “image” for deployment. Learn concepts and practices to accelerate your testing and deployment time and lessen your overall workload. The central concept: Don’t Repeat Yourself. Some components or modules of the DRY approach: – “Thin images” (or even “no-image” testing and deployment) – Packages (the “object-oriented” approach to deployment) – Software deployment systems – Configuration management systems Additional tools to help you become even more agile: – Virtual Machines – Version Control/Revision Control systems Don’t solve the same problem over and over again: Don’t Repeat Yourself! By doing less work you can react faster and adapt more quickly.

“Change Your Perspective” This talk will be in a conversation, TED style whereby we challenge the audience to think and then re-think who their customer is, and how the audience’s perspective is most likely flat-out wrong. With 20 years of software product development (product management) and a couple years of consulting experience, Blacktip’s mental model is completely different than many of its peers. It’s about designing the solution without tech. In effect, designing the solution with the user’s end business goals. This is irrespective of what size organization you work with or work within. Core thought areas: * Behavioral (what are the motivations) * Political (who’s agenda are you really solving) * Emotional (what are the highs and lows – even the fears) * Results (what is the simplest?) * Mental Tools (does the audience have the mental tools to think obtusely, rather than in a linear fashion)? There will be a mix of humor and anecdotal stories from Microsoft and other software companies (personal experiences lay the groundwork for the core of the presentation).

Our roles as experts are ever changing. Who knew that the mobile devices, the cloud, and big data would be a part of a small business IT consultants go-to “bag of tricks” just 5 years ago? Over the past two years I have built my business and thrived in a world that is changing the rules of IT faster than any of us can really comprehend. This is a fast talk on an ever changing world. It is about embracing a philosophy of change. It is about transcending “job titles” and diving into new technology, new ways of thinking, new workflows, and new philosophies as one’s MO. The new economy that is emerging all around us needs smart, capable, sysadmin and developer ninjas to act as guides to smaller, leaner, visionary companies that are emerging in this environment. This means that as IT experts, we must also have heightened sense of technology when it comes to workflow, project management, design, development, and execution.

(Joint presentation by Ben Levy, Phil Goodman, and Steve Leebove.) Profiles are the latest tool for management and configuration of iOS and Macintosh devices. Profiles are powerful and flexible and can make complex configurations and management a pleasure, but there’s a lot to know to ensure everything works properly for the use you intend. We’ll cover the three main Apple tools for Profile Management; iPhone Configuration Utility, Apple Configurator and Profile Manager in OS X Server. We’ll explain what the trigger points are for choosing one tool over another, the different features of each and how best to ensure that the system will accommodate the needs of today and tomorrow. We’ll explain the various kinds of Profiles, strategies for flexible and convenient Profile construction and management and how to deliver Profiles to users. We’ll also dig into the need for and use of certificates. You’ll leave the session ready to immediately create Profiles that will aid your own personal device management as well as being clear on how to develop and implement a Profile strategy to manage any number of devices!

With the release of OS X Mountain Lion, additional management capabilities for FileVault 2 were introduced through the new fdesetup utility. This tool offers a number of new command-line abilities for administrators to manage FileVault 2. In this session, we’ll cover how how FileVault 2’s cryptographic keys work as well as examinefdesetup’s major functions in OS X Mountain Lion.

(Joint presentation by Ben Levy, Phil Goodman, and Steve Leebove.) Profiles are the latest tool for management and configuration of iOS and Macintosh devices. Profiles are powerful and flexible and can make complex configurations and management a pleasure, but there’s a lot to know to ensure everything works properly for the use you intend. We’ll cover the three main Apple tools for Profile Management; iPhone Configuration Utility, Apple Configurator and Profile Manager in OS X Server. We’ll explain what the trigger points are for choosing one tool over another, the different features of each and how best to ensure that the system will accommodate the needs of today and tomorrow. We’ll explain the various kinds of Profiles, strategies for flexible and convenient Profile construction and management and how to deliver Profiles to users. We’ll also dig into the need for and use of certificates. You’ll leave the session ready to immediately create Profiles that will aid your own personal device management as well as being clear on how to develop and implement a Profile strategy to manage any number of devices!

Time management tips for Mac admins. Not “what apps to use” but how to organize your work and you time for greater efficiency.