MacTech Magazine: Table of Contents

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


  • Consultant Cowboy:
    Debugging Pricing Problems

    Real-world advice for real-world money problems


  • 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

See the prior year table of contents. Click here.