Software Archives - The Real Mark Wagner

If you have a pre-M1 mac and care about security, throw your computer in the trash right now. Here is why…

If you physically have someones locked macbook air/pro and five minutes alone, you can change the admin password and have access to all of their data (while they are now locked out)

Instructions here but i will summarize:

Change the password in single user mode

Hold ⌘+S on startup
mount -uw / (fsck -fy is not needed)
launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.opendirectoryd.plist (or /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist in 10.6)
dscl . passwd /Users/username (without a trailing slash) and enter a new password. You can ignore the error about com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist.
reboot

You can then attach your iPhones ‘findmy’ app to the macbook you stole and lock them out or track their location FOREVER.

The best part? They can never remove your presence, even with the help of apple. So the only way to get out of this is to smash it with a hammer and buy a new mac.

Now I have hacked a few windows and linux machines in the past but never was it this easy or permanent. Apple gives you the tools to permanently ruin their ability to enjoy their device and not even apple support can see their entire email.

In my case, the guy who got me was an airbnb guest who had 45 minutes alone with my machine. His name is Matthew Tebbens and his email is c***@att.com according to apple. He also has warrants out for stealing a $7,000 camera and 200k in fraud but in a mental episode, he came clean and admitted to hacking my mac. I knew his system worked because I used the same (above) system to regain access but I cannot remove his findmy presence so I must throw away the machine.

Fortunately, the M1 Chips are not hackable in this way, however I am sure Apple will find another way to make them suck or become prematurely un-useable.

So hence, if you care about not letting someone change your admin password by pressing 4 buttons, you should only buy an M1 mac and disable findmy.

How to Communicate and Moderate on Clubhouse

Screen Shot 2021-03-06 at 11.50.18 AM

Clubhouse is the new “chat” room, that much is established by its rapid popularization by a user-base that sometimes is even featured as the logo of the app.

It is also a powerful tool for networking, learning and business.

In order to leverage the benefits of clubhouse, there are a few key things you need to bring to your room:

Your Network — The biggest rooms are led by those with the biggest existing network.
A Topic — For out-of-network follows, pick an interesting topic and name.
Communication Skills — You must know how to speak quickly and clearly.
Good Moderation — The moderator keeps the room alive, and is essential in preventing chaos.

Communication:

Unlike in a real life scenario, the others in your conversation cannot see your body language, so you must put extra emphasis into clarity.

Also unlike a typical conversation, a successful clubhouse room has 90%+ audience and 10%- quality speakers. This means that you need to make absolutely sure that what you say is of relevance to the audience.

Remember your principles:

No “umms, and ahhs”, stick to the point, and if something is not relevant, leave it out!

Moderation:

The moderator needs to be highly aware of the conversation and keep the topic to the room subject. People joined the room to hear about THAT topic, so unless many hands are being raised, they probably want to stay there and hear more about it.

Sometimes a guest will go off on a long tangent when given the stage and this must be curtailed swiftly but politely. It can be challenging to grasp the microphone away from overly confident speakers who have boguarded the stage. Even if carefully letting down the speaker, you can end up in a conflict, such a what happened to Dennis Yu last month when he tried to remove a speaker. (Grizzly details in link)

So with this in mind, get on clubhouse to community build. Use it to both listen and teach.

Go forth and build your clubhouse empire!

Oh and follow me on clubhouse @skiwheelr