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A Comedy of Tenors – The Show and it's Performances
Thursday to Saturday
OCT 6 & 13
OCT 4 – 19, 2019
The Director's Talk is Friday, OCT 11, 2019
The Preview is on Thursday, OCT 3 – it is the final dress rehearsal.
1370 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC. Next to the on-ramp to the Arthur Lang Bridge by Marine Drive and Granville.
Tickets are $28 for adults or $25 for seniors and students, with a special every Thursday 2 for $40. Preview performance $15.
BOX OFFICE WINDOWS HOURS start 4:30 pm on Performance Days
Press Release: A Comedy of Tenors
A Fun, Frenzied, Farce with a little Traviata on the side
It's 1930s Paris, and the stage is set for the concert of the century—as long as producer Henry Saunders can keep an amorous Italian superstar and his hot-blooded wife from causing runaway chaos. A Comedy of Tenors is an uproarious comedy filled with slamming doors, unbridled passion, and madcap hilarity on an operatic scale!
Directed by Kayt Roth, Metro Theatre is delighted to present our Season 57 opener A Comedy of Tenors, written by comic genius Ken Ludwig, on stage October 4 – 19.
A Comedy of Tenors is about love in many forms, and how you can fight with someone and still care for them despite their best efforts to drive you crazy.
Tito who does not like change, is having a mid-life crisis. Max is a singer trying to move beyond his assistant roots, and he and his wife Maggie are having a baby. The famous Russian soprano Tatiana Racón, is in Paris on the hunt for her former beau, while Tito and Maria's daughter, Mimi, is also in town with her own lover, trying to earn a role in a movie. Factor in an up-and-coming star who threatens to unseat everybody else, and everything that possibly can go wrong does.
Director Kayt Roth: "Madcap comedy is something that we don't see a lot of in the theatre these days. Mistaken identities, fast-paced jokes, impossible deadlines and sultry situations can make a person laugh like no other – A Comedy of Tenors is comedy in its purest form."
Tickets are $28 Adult or $25 Senior/Student with a special 2 tickets for $40 every Thursday.
Tickets can be reserved by leaving a Box Office message at 604 266 7191
Content advisory: "A Comedy of Tenors" contains strong language and sexual references
Metro Theatre is a non-profit theatre company, dedicated to promoting and developing theatre arts. This is our 518th show.
Henry Saunders……………………………Bill McNaughton
Max……………………………………………..…….Vicente Sandoval
Maria Merelli………………………….……..Cindy Hirschberg-Schon
Tito Merelli/Beppo…………………………Carlos Vela-Martinez
Mimi Merelli…………………………….…..….Katie Chapman
Carlo Nucci…………………………………….Mostafa Shaker
Tatiana Racón……………………………….Tracy Labrosse
Jacqueline, Announcer………………Emmanuelle Corne Bertrand
Director………………………………………….….Kayt Roth
Production Manager………..…..………Heather Stewart
Stage Manager…………………………………Sophie Gardner
Asst Stg Mgr……………………………..………Lavina Schafer
Set Designer………………………………………Kathleen Hilton
Costume Designer……………………………Chrysta Webster
Costume Designer……………………………Chloe Knowles
Lighting Designer…………………………….Les Erskine
Sound Designer……………..…………………Kayt Roth
Properties……………………………..……………Lavina Schafer
Board Operator…………………..……………Leslie Thompson
General Manager………………….………….Les Erskine
Head Carpenter………………………………….Robin Richardson
Scenic Painting……………………..……….…..Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
Set Decoration…………………………………..Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
Photographer……………………………………Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
Wardrobe Manager..………………………..Sean Ullmann
Hair & Make-up……………..……………………Abbey McLane
It's 1936, and Henry Saunders is putting on the greatest concert that Paris has ever seen – The Three Tenors. But this is not Pavarotti, Domingo and the Other Guy; this is Tito Merelli, Max, and Jussi Bjorling, the world's foremost tenors. There are problems right from the start. Tito is late, and three hours before the concert, the room is not ready for him when Henry enters to find underwear all over the floor and an offensive buffet. He calls down to get Max, his former assistant and now tenor in the concert, to come up and ready the room, taking him away from rehearsal. As Max checks the rooms, Henry complains about how irresponsible Tito was the last time he was hired for a concert, having slept through it due to copious drinking. Max finds out that the Merellis' plane has landed and heads back to rehearsal, leaving Henry to greet the Merellis with a fake smile and a brassiere in his hand.
Tito is unhappy. Everywhere he goes, he hears Carlo Nucci. This, coupled with the revelation of his voice cracking on the high C in a recent performance, and he is in the pits of despair. Maria tries to encourage him, to remind him that he's the world's biggest opera star, but nothing will quell his insecurity. She also reminds him that he is forgetful, and that it is her birthday. But for once, Tito is ahead of her, and produces a beautiful and expensive scarf as a gift. Feeling romantic, Tito suggests they head to the bedroom, but when she hesitates, they fall into their default mode – fighting. They argue about their daughter, who Tito thinks is too young to get married, but Maria points out that she is twenty-five and has urges. Tito is aghast, not only about his daughter, but at Maria's statement that women have more urges than he thinks. He then throws a fit, declares that he will kill any man that goes near his daughter, and grabs the blanket off the couch to go into the bedroom and take a nap, Maria at his heels.
Under the blanket we discover Mimi Merelli and her young lover, who have been hiding under it on the couch the entire time. Their lack of clothes is a dead giveaway, and now, they are in a panic as Mimi has an audition in thirty minutes. Wrapped in another blanket, Mimi and the young man are discovered by Maria, who promises to help find the missing clothes until Tito tries to come into the room. She holds him back, letting Mimi and her lover run to the balcony, where he tries to escape and spins her out of her blanket and over the balcony railing. The young man then hides behind the door that Tito flings open, suspicious that something is going on. Maria convinces him to go back into the bedroom and lie down, then gives her new scarf to Mimi's boyfriend to soothe his head. She helps him get dressed while, unbeknownst to them, Tito watches from the doorway, from his perspective finding them in a compromising position. He stumbles back into the bedroom, convinced that his wife is having an affair.
Henry enters in a rage, as Jussi Bjorling, the third tenor, has quit to go home to Sweden after his mother's death. He sends his assistant hunting for a replacement, finding one almost immediately, and while he goes to meet with him, Max reconnects with Tito. Tito tells him about what he's just seen, but reveals that he once had an affair before he was married, to the famous soprano Tatiana Racón, who also is in Paris to perform. Then a triumphant Henry returns, having secured the new third tenor for the concert – Carlo Nucci – rising star, Mimi's boyfriend, and Tito's new rival. Tito flies into a rage, and tries to strangle his rival.
Max tries to calm Tito down, and tells him that what he saw had to have been a dream. Once he accepts this, Tito apologizes to Carlo, who fawns over him. Max sees an opportunity, and together, the three of them rehearse the Libiamo from La Traviata. Everything is fine until Tito sees Carlo mop his brow with Maria's scarf, and so he tries to kill Carlo with a cheese knife. A chase ensues, sending everyone out the door. Maria and Tito return, where he confronts her about her alleged infidelity, but she doesn't know what he's talking about, instead gushing about her daughter's boyfriend. Tito, still convinced she is cheating, demands a divorce, and she counters that they will get two divorces, as she wants one too. Tito then quits the concert, followed by Carlo, leaving Henry with only Max to carry the entire show. Until they hear a heavenly voice out in the hallway – the bellhop, Beppo, who is a dead ringer for Tito.
Striking on an idea, Henry convinces Beppo to take Tito's place in the concert. Beppo, a former gondolier who loves everything about life, is excited to have his big chance at opera, since he had to give up his dream to support his family. Max leaves him to get dressed after receiving a call from his wife, who is having contractions. Mimi then enters and reveals that she's won the part in Marie Antoinette, playing a peasant girl who begs the queen for food. Carlo discovers her there in costume, and tells her about meeting her father. As they speak Beppo enters, now shaved and looking like Tito, and she pleads her case for Carlo to him. Seeing this kind side of 'Tito', Carlo then rejoins the concert.
While making himself a snack, Maria comes in and reminds 'Tito' of the grand love they've shared, and asks him if he thinks their marriage is worth saving, before kissing him senseless and retreating to the bedroom. As Beppo contemplates this development, he is surprised to find the great Racón on the hunt, also kissing him senseless as she then tells him that she has been thinking of him before retreating to the hotel suite's other bedroom. Faced with a dilemma, Beppo now must decide what to do, but before he does, Henry storms in, demanding to know why he's not dressed. Beppo then makes his decision.
Mimi gets some news when Tito returns, telling her about him divorcing her mother, and that the interloper is Carlo Nucci. She confronts Carlo, only to discover her father now also in a compromising position. As the minutes to the concert tick down, people are in various states of undress, and confusion reigns supreme. Will the show go on? Will the truth come out? Come see the show to find out!
Before discovering musical theatre, all the music director Kayt Roth knew revolved around love, heartbreak, and pickup trucks. But it was as a teenager that she discovered that song is also an incredible storytelling medium. And to this day, she still swings her hips when she hears Patricia the Stripper.
Kayt Roth and the cast of A COMEDY OF TENORS JOINED THE AUDIENCE .
The informal chat cover:
The challenges of crafting a sequel
Figuring out timing and needs for quick changes for actor playing dual characters.
Some production items audiences don't necessarily think about (stunts, what an ASM does, sourcing specialty props)


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Report: Cowboys have 'very real interest' in Urban Meyer, view Lincoln Riley as possibility
Cassandra Negley
·Writer
Jason Garrett's time with the Dallas Cowboys continues to run out after that embarrassing "Thursday Night Football" loss to the Chicago Bears.
That the Cowboys could still make the playoffs out of a dismal NFC East is no solace for fans.
The calls to can Garrett as coach are coming more fervently now, despite owner Jerry Jones insisting he won't fire the guy during the season. If and when it does happen, there are big names ready to step in.
Report: Cowboys interested in Meyer
According to NFL Network's Jane Slater, the Cowboys have a "very real interest" in former Florida Gators and Ohio State Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer.
They're also interested in Lincoln Riley, the current coach at Oklahoma, and Tony Elliott, a co-offensive coordinator at Clemson. Riley is 35-5 in three years with the Sooners. Riley and Oklahoma attempted to recruit Jones' grandson, John Stephen Jones, as a walk-on, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The quarterback plays for Arkansas.
Slater reports that the Cowboys executive vice president and CEO Stephen Jones has spoken with Meyer recently, presumably about the position.
Meyer is taking the year off from coaching, announcing a year ago he was stepping away from Ohio State for health reasons and was done with coaching. He had said so previously when leaving Florida.
The Buckeyes had a 2018 season under Meyer that was stained by the enabling of assistant coach Zach Smith, who faced domestic abuse allegations by his wife in 2015. He was previously arrested for assaulting her in 2009, while both coaches were with Florida.
During an October appearance on Colin Cowherd's radio show, Meyer addressed the possibility that Riley would take the Cowboys job and turned it into a declaration that he would "absolutely" take it.
"Sure," Meyer said to Cowherd. "Absolutely. Absolutely. That one? Yes."
Meyer also called it "the one job in professional football that you say, 'I got to go do that.' " The former Ohio State and Florida coach is 187-32 over his 17-year coaching career and has a 12-3 in bowl games with three national championship titles.
Jones said in 2017 "there aren't too many things I wouldn't do financially to win another Super Bowl," writes Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson. Offering a big contract to the coach you want would be a first step.
Urban Meyer has said he'd 'absolutely' be interested in taking the Cowboys head coaching position. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
More from Yahoo Sports:
Niners suspend broadcaster over 'dark skin' comment about Jackson
Paylor: Here's what might be ailing QB Brady
Ohio State hands UNC worst loss in years
NFL mock draft: 7 Bama players in Round 1
Warriors nail Steve Kerr's blueprint in much-needed win over Raptors
Steve Kerr laid out a simple game plan before Friday's game, and for the most part, the players executed it flawlessly, resulting in a win.
Tsitsipas - Melbourne finalist who was 'a few breaths from dying'
Stefanos Tsitsipas will become Greece's first Grand Slam champion and a world number one if he wins the Australian Open final on Sunday -- he will have his father to thank if he does."That's the trait of a champion, of someone who has great potential to be number one in the world and win Slams and be a great ambassador for the sport." dj/pst

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Alain Leporati dedicates a workshop to the students of Moodart Fashion School -Verona.
The workshop was held at partner venue Milano Fashion Library with its high profile in culture, art, fashion and design.
At MFL the Alain Leporati creations which are on display reflect the purity of Italian design and are emblematic of the company's artistic DNA.
The workshop illustrated the world of mannequins under all aspects linked to art, fashion, and therefore visual merchandising.
Milano Fashion Library presented the panorama of its invaluable content and identity as a venue for events, meetings of minds, and other collaborations.


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Senate President: Battle for David Mark's seat hots up as Akume, Saraki lock horns
As Nigerians wait patiently for May 29 handover date, there are intense battle among APC senators over who take take over the mantle of leadership from Senate President, David Mark.
In fact, two senators from the north central zone have indicated interest in the highly revered seat.
They included former governors of Benue and Kwara States, George Akume and Bukola Saraki.
According to National Mirror.
Ahead of the inauguration of a new government on May 29, under the leadership of President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), a fierce battle may have begun between Senate Minority leader and former governor of Benue State, George Akume, and the senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Bukola Saraki, over who occupies the exalted position of the Senate President.
This battle follows the zoning of the position of the Senate President to North Central geo-political zone of the country by the All Progressives Congress at the meeting over how to allocate top political offices to the different zones.
Although Akume has already been tipped for the position, some key party leaders are expressing their preference for Saraki. The choice of Saraki, it was gathered, was informed by the enormity of his sacrifice for the party's success at the polls.
With the victory of General Muhammadu Buhari (North West) and Professor Yemi Osinbajo (South West), some of the top positions left to be allotted are Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and their deputies.
Other positions are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), and the Chief of Staff. Also, in consideration are the party's national chairman which is presently occupied by a South- South personality while the party's national secretary is occupied by a Northerner.
Prior to the presidential election, the party had considered the option of rewarding the North-Central with the Senate Presidency and the South East with the Speaker. The Secretary to the Federal Government or the Chief of Staff is reserved for the South-South.
However, with the presidential election over, the party leadership may no longer be disposed to the earlier arrangement as one of the National Working Committee members said that, "it would amount to robbing Peter to pay Paul."
The party leader from the North-East who does not want his name in print argued that: "How can the party reward the zones that worked against the party and our presidential candidate with juicy positions while the zones that delivered the party are allocated mere deputies.
I am sure the party will reward hard work." APC in South-South returned only one Senator in Edo North while South- East returned two members of the House of Representatives from Imo State. PDP also posted massive victory in North-Central where it won states like Plateau and Nasarawa.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the party is scheduled to meet in Abuja after the Easter break to continue with the discussion on power sharing.
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Lies and Consequences
Eason Jordan has resigned as CNN's chief news executive following
rumors that he said at a conference in Davos that the U.S. military
had deliberately targeted journalists for death. Jordan denied making
this allegation, but two U.S. legislators who were present agree that
he did, and the Davos organizers have denied repeated requests to
release the session video.
But I am not writing to argue about what Eason did or didn't do. I
want to address the way some people have reasoned about the worst-case
interpretation of his remarks. The blogosphere pressure for release
of the video from Davos has been described
this way: "…tire-necklaced by a bloodthirsty group of utopian,
bible-thumping knuckledraggers" to "benefit the torturing,
gulag-building blood-cult known Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld's Republican
Party." Even leaving aside the bloody-minded partisanship, this
seems, shall we say, a little over the top?
Nobody should want journalists ever to fear attacking the behavior
of the U.S. military when they have actual evidence that it is wrong.
Militaries are dangerous and terrible things, and a free press is a
vital means of keeping them in check. It is right and proper that
we make heroes of those who speak damning truths to power.
But it makes all the difference in the world when a journalist does
not have actual evidence of wrongdoing. Especially when
the journalist is a U.S. citizen and the claim gives aid and comfort
to the declared enemies of the U.S. in wartime. Under those
circumstances, such an attack is not heroic but traitorous.
I hope this is a teachable moment. Oliver Wendell Holmes observed
that shouting "fire" in a crowded theater is not protected speech; if
the speaker has no evidence of actual fire, the consequences to that
speaker should be as dire as the risk of death by trampling he created
for others. The Holmes test should be applied in politics as well.
And yes, I agree that test should be applied to the Bush
administration — but, unlike the "Bush Lied, People Died"
crowd, I haven't forgotten that the warnings about Iraqi WMD were not
only backed by British and French intelligence reports, but echoed
assessments made by the Clinton administration and endorsed to this
day by Clinton himself. Whatever errors Bush & Co. may have made
on this score, they believed they had evidence to back them.
Assuming Eason Jordan said what the witnesses say he did, his
behavior was far worse — because his own account of his remarks
makes clear that does not believe he has evidence for any claim of
deliberate targeting. It is good that he has been forced out over
this. It will be better if his disgrace frightens other journalists
into paying more attention to details like having some evidence up
front. The best outcome, though probably too much to hope for, would
be the end of reflexive oppositionalism in American media.
After Vietnam and Watergate, a lot of journalists (and other
people) lost the distinction between speaking truth to power and
simply attacking whoever is in charge (especially any Republican in
charge) on any grounds, no matter how factually baseless. Mere
oppositionalism was increasingly confused with heroism even as the
cultural climate made it ever less risky. Eventually we arrived at the
ludicrous spectacle of multimillionaire media personalities posing as
persecuted victims and wailing about the supposed crushing of dissent
on national news and talk shows.
But now, for the first time in decades, irresponsible
oppositionalism just cost a major media figure his career. Better yet,
the campaign that forced him out was a grass-roots effort by people
who take seriously their responsibility to hold the media to account
for its truthfulness. These are both grounds for celebration, and for
hope that the horribly dysfunctional culture of American newsrooms
will improve in the future.
Published 2005-02-12 By admin
Scott Loveless says:
Well said. Thank you.
"But now, for the first time in decades, irresponsible oppositionalism just cost a major media figure his career."
Well, rathergate was at least costly to Dan Rather's career, if it didn't, strictly speaking, cost him his career in its entirety.
Pingback: Eric's Random Musings
Mark Smith says:
This really isn't anything new though. Journalism has always had a strong tendancy stretch, misuse, or outright fabricate stories. What is new, is the inconnectivity of news consumers. This is having a corrective effect on the MSM. I believe they are making stronger efforts to dot their i's and cross their t's.
Damian says:
This "torture" thing is getting a bit wearing. As the lady said:
"… torture means what the Nazis and the Japanese did in their concentration and POW camps in World War II; the world in which evil regimes, like those we fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, don't follow the Miranda rules or the Convention Against Torture but instead gas children, bury people alive, set wild animals on soccer players who lose, and hang adulterous women by truckloads before stadiums full of spectators; the world in which barbarous death cults behead female aid workers, bomb crowded railway stations, and fly planes filled with hundreds of innocent passengers into buildings filled with thousands of innocent and unsuspecting civilians."
http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_1_terrorists.html
Yes, even in democracies, some soldiers will misbehave when discipline is lax, but they are usually pretty soon found and dealt with. The only people who benefit from this kind of nonsense in the press are the suicide bombers and head hackers. One has to wonder just what motivates it.
bi says:
"I haven't forgotten that the warnings about Iraqi WMD were not only backed by British and French intelligence reports, but echoed assessments made by the Clinton administration and endorsed to this day by Clinton himself. Whatever errors Bush & Co. may have made on this score, they believed they had evidence to back them."
So does that mean that Eason Jordan should've simply made other journalists believe that there's evidence of the US military targetting journalists for death? That's nice. We don't need evidence, only belief that there's evidence.
Darrick Latta says:
I couldn't agree any more! I only hope that the MSM actually learns something from this along with everything else that has gone on in the media over the past couple of years. But if history is any judge they probably wont.
By the way, Oliver Wendell Holmes also observed that "all generalizations are wrong, including this one". :-)
Miles Gould says:
"I haven't forgotten that the warnings about Iraqi WMD were not only backed by British and French intelligence reports…
Um, no. They were backed by the infamous "dodgy dossier", which was heavily re-written by Blair's spin-doctor Alastair Campbell despite the complaints of the intelligence services. The "45-minute claim", for instance, was based on extremely thin and unreliable evidence, and originally appeared surrounded by a mass of caveats and qualifications: these were removed by Campbell and his team in order to strengthen the case for war. You may be interested to read about the Hutton report (though possibly not the report itself, as it's mostly regarded as a whitewash) and the David Kelly scandal.
John Cowan says:
Umm, in fact Holmes was not discussing the case of a man who had cried "Fire!" in a crowded theatre; that was a hypothetical. The actual case was against Charles Schenck, who had mailed out pamphlets to American citizens during World War I urging them to stand on their Constitutional rights and resist the draft as involuntary servitude. The Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Holmes, upheld his conviction and sentence of 15 years in prison. (Schenck served only six months, and the decision was overturned by the Court in 1959, when it replaced Holmes's "clear and present danger" standard with an "imminent lawless action" standard.)
Holmes was in general of opinion that violating the Constitution was a very difficult thing to do, and that the national legislature (at the time far more important than the Presidency) should have its head as much as possible with the minimum of judicial interference. In this case, however, he later agreed that the government had abused the discretion he had given them to silence anti-war protestors.
Even if Holmes had been discussing an actual case of panic, he would hardly have been in favor of the death penalty for it, as you seem to be.
As for "especially any Republican in charge": ya gotta be kidding, as we say here in Bluesville. Do you so quickly forget the eight Clinton years, which were one long howl of oppositionalism? By comparison, Bush has gotten a free ride.
"Giving aid and comfort to the declared enemies of the U.S. in wartime" is a little strong (particularly when the war in question is one the US *chose* to get involved in) – he said it in what sounds to have been a private session, if two US legislators had to confirm the allegations. Sounds like a common or garden vendetta to me.
Michael Vassar says:
I'm frankly astonished to see ESR indicating approval of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Based on my limited knowledge of the man, he seems to have been as great a fan of unlimited and arbitrary governmental power as our court system has been afflicted with.
markm says:
By now, there's plenty of evidence that Eason did say what he was accused of saying, that American troops are targeting journalists. When Saddam made a threat to actually target reporters – or maybe just to kick them out of the country – Eason reacted with appeasement, censoring news reports on Saddam's behalf. Since he didn't do the same this time, I see only 2 possibilities:
1. Eason is a damned liar and has no solid concerns about his reporters being in danger from American troops.
2. Unlike with Saddam, Eason hates the US military so much that he's willing to risk his people's lives…
Grendelkhan says:
If one flogs the Eason Jordan story, one is a right-wing nutjob. If one flogs the Guckert/Gannon story, one is a left-wing nutjob.
Eschewing partisanship my pimpled ass.
Oh, and by the way, Eric, what makes you relevant?
Josh Narins says:
1. Your link is to an NYU ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR of JOURNALISM's blog? Let's talk real politics, shall we? The current GOVERNOR of some redneck state goes to fundraisers run by racists. Bush goes to Bob Jones U, which calls the Pope the anti-christ and, until 2000, banned inter-racial dating on campus.
Half the population is below average in intelligence. It's pretty clear that both sides have some morons. It just so happens that Democrats don't ELECT theirs. That was perhaps unfair, but no one can deny that RW Reagan was a deeply ignorant man, with long-standing racist ties, and that GW Bush is of strictly average intelligence, and both men simply read from scripts.
2. You, like all rightists, ignore the content of the claim. Just as the right dismissed the torture allegations before the photos appeared, dismissed the idea that Enron was manipulating energy prices (on the Senate Floor), you are ignoring certain well known instances of the US military firing on clearly-marked journalists facilities (the main downtown hotel, killing the Ukrainian with camera, the arab owned TV station building (not al-Jazeera), and others).
Eric, try aiming a little higher than blogs run by ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS, in your vain attempts to damn the whole "left."
Did you delete that, or did it simply mispost?
1. An Associate Professor of Journalism at NYU is fairly low hanging fruit. Aim High.
2. What Rightists don't address is the large number of attacks on well-marked/well-known journalist facilities. Like the right pre-dismissed the torture, and seem either willing to overlook or are ignorant of what people like (the racist) Special Forces actually do.
Very little discussion of the IDF shooting journalists, banning journalists, is found in the same circles (as a general rule).
The Baptist Death Ray says:
Traitorous?
It's so easy for otherwise intelligent people to throw that word around today. Shame.
Not to mention that UN inspectors went through a lot of sites picked by the US in early 2003. Whatever was thought before then, it was pretty clear after that the the 'vast stockpiles' didn't exist.
>" irresponsible oppositionalism just cost a major media figure his career."
It's too bad that irresponsible credulity in promoting the war hasn't cost more "journalists" their careers.
Of course, they're just doing what their bosses want them too, so it's not surprising.
What is surprising is how irrational ESR's politics are, given the clarity and strength of his pro-OpenSource writing.
allen says:
Hummm… Despite billions (trillions?) of dollars spent and the most amazing technology on the plant many countries intellegence communities were 'fooled' into thinking that Iraq had WDM's.
Another way to look at it would be that the intelligence communities knew nothing and claimed (ie. lied) that S. had WMD's just to be on the safe side and cover their collective asses. Or, that they knew he had nothing and chose to inform Clinton/Blair and Bush that he did, just to justify an invasion and knock a loose cannon out of the field.
My point here is that everyone could be lying. The intelligence community lies, politicians lie, dictators lie, lying is a stategic mainstay of millitary and political campaigns…and now the press may be telling some pretty tall tales (nothing new). This latest round of crazy-talk on the part of the press just further undermines my faith that the "man in the street" is getting any truth at all to deal with. Basically, there has been very little accountability for lying on all sides of the picture, except of course for Sadaam himself. String up the press for exaggerating? Come on, we would have to gut the halls of government if we handed out the death penalty for putting people in harms way via a well-placed exaggeration.
So, as a man in the street, where can I go for the truth? If my president can't even find it, with all the data at his disposal, what level of hubris could make me think that I can just pick it out of thin air? Truth is a rare commodity, even the sacred halls of scientific academia are frequently tainted with fabricated data and manufactured conclusions. It is just a fact of post-post modern life that the more you know, the less you believe. Now, I'm gonna burry my head in my littly cubby-hole and see if I can avoid lying to myself about my chances of finding any signifigant truth at all. Mayby I'll just fudge a little bit and see if I can get the funding I need. If the press, the politicians (left and right) have taught me anything it's that when it comes to lying, a little goes a long way, and even a huge lie can pass so long as people want to believe in the cause. I guess I will be a pan-agnostic on all fronts for as long as I live. I certainly am not going to call for the death penalty just b/c somebody is making wildly false claims on T.V. Who knows who really pushed for the invade Iraq scenario? Politicians come and go, the un-elected guys in the intelligence community go on and on, decade after decade…saying whatever they want, basically without proof or personal consequences. Must be a nice gig.
It is a lot easier make critic than to be in charge and have to take decisions that are the best for the long term. Also a lot of media, is not blurring the edges between objective / subjective news and plain entertainment.
ALD says:
//The only people who benefit from this kind of nonsense in the press are the suicide bombers and head hackers. One has to wonder just what motivates it.//
What motivates it? Liberal ideals of "just saying no" to any vaguely conservative action that comes down the pike. Although I consider myself a Democrat, this tendency of my party's demagogues really puts me off. It's been said before–but sometimes I wonder if we even have a positive ideology. We're the Canadians of American politics; just as our northern neighbors have an identity of non-Americanism (rather than a positive sense of being Canadian), our Democratic Party often has an identity of non-Republicanism (rather than a positive sense of being Democratic).
Kenneth Turner says:
Your mention of Justice Holmes' "fire in a crowded theatre" line reminded me of the current Newsweek "Koran flushing" dust up. I wonder that nobody has pointed out that this is almost exactly analoguous.
Andrei Mihut says:
Come back! It' been 3 months already.
Kenneth Turner, then what about all the gloom and doom stories that terrorists are moving from explosives to biological weapons? There's not a single shred of evidence that this is happening. Is that not the same as shouting "fire" when there's no fire? Why have all the "We Are Guardians Of The Truth!" right-wingers not pointed this out?
And there were cases of Koran mishandling, so the Newsweek story wasn't completely off.
So much for the Liberal(TM) Media(TM) Bias(TM).
test says:
What Do You Believe That You Cannot Prove?
Punishment, Coercion, and Revenge


A long right hander breaks from the reefs jutting out from the headland, often sheltered from the Northerly winds; it provides an all level wave more consistent at low tide. Often a fast peak and lovely lines coming all the way down to the beach.
When you have finished up on this wave you are a hundred yards away from Banana village (Aourir). This little town is famous for its tajines (sometimes with bananas chucked in for good measure).
Bananas is a 10 minute drive to the South of the camp, just turn off at the new Atlantic Campsite as if going to Devil's Rock (Imouran) and cruise round the headland.


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Candidates Seeking Opportunities After Graduation: Lessons Learned
When HBS students imagine their graduation, many picture themselves with a mortarboard on their heads, a gown on their shoulders, and a job offer in their hands.
Yet, as many as twenty percent of Harvard MBAs will graduate with their employment decisions still ahead of them.
For many of these students, their searches involved a greater level of complexity, perhaps because of specific location requirements or partner concerns. Some students want to focus on culture and work environment, and found waiting until they no longer had competing academic and job search priorities enabled them to meet with companies in person to find that right fit.
Most often, these students are looking for opportunities at organizations that simply hire as needed and real time; which often may be post-graduation. These students have the mindset that the right job is worth waiting – more importantly, worth working – for. As is the right candidate. Whether your organization is able to recruit students months in advance, or you are more focused on just-in-time hiring, there are HBS students who can meet you where you are in your process. Read how two of our recent graduates navigated their job search post-graduation.
Michael Rodriguez: Extending the search past graduation
For Michael Rodriguez (MBA 2019), his post-graduation job offer came as an extension of the search he had begun before classes ended and continued through graduation.
Instead of building his search on the traditional foundations of function or company, Michael crafted his around problems and people.
"I started with the challenges I'm interested in, rather than 'functions'," he explains. With an eye toward a position in media, he was looking for an opportunity to develop a digital business, define direct-to-consumer relationships, capitalize on international growth, expend into new forms of content, and/or implement new forms of technology. "If I could get experience in just two or three of these," Michael says, "I would be happy."
Further, Michael prioritized the immediate environment in which he would be working: "From a personal happiness standpoint, I wanted to know the ten people I'd be interacting and spending the most time with, the person I worked for and the people I'd be working with."
"I zeroed in on the culture of teams, looking for a collaborative environment where people rely on others to get together and get things done, nothing siloed or with an overemphasis on hyper-specialized teams," he says.
Practically speaking, Michael's search focused on people: "Who is interesting and would be willing to work with me?" To find them, he used LinkedIn, HBS databases, and contacts within the media industry.
Michael's searches led him to an HBS alum, Albert Chang, COO and co-head of Amazon Studios. After many informal conversations, the connection proved fruitful. "It was a matter of timing," Michael says. They had an opening for an international role based in Europe, and he proved to be the right fit. After a "super day" of interviews in Los Angeles, Michael got the offer. He'll spend a few months learning the ropes in California, then take on international operations in London.
"I was pretty surprised and shocked to have a dream role come up," says Michael, "and that I got the offer and opportunity."
Matt Severson: Starting over for the right fit
In the spring, Matt Severson (MBA 2019) directed his search toward venture capital, exploring his options among friends and family in the Bay Area around San Francisco. The insights he gathered suggested that he would be a more attractive candidate for V.C. if he had more operations experience.
In May, Matt landed a few interviews with health technology companies, but the fit was not quite right. "They were looking for people with more product management experience," he says.
With graduation behind him, Matt redirected his search once again, concentrating on roles that were related to his own background in supply chain management and business development. Confident that potential employers would appreciate his previous experience with Google and Google X, Matt felt at liberty to choose a sector that spoke to his values: clean energy.
"I was feeling fine, but on campus, I had felt more pressure – the progress of your job search is a common topic of campus conversation," says Matt. "It was really comforting that I had a few close friends who were in a similar place. We would check in with each other every week."
After a brief pause for travel, Matt resumed his search in earnest, reaching out to colleagues in clean tech; two of them happened to work for Tesla and Zoox (an autonomous electric vehicle startup). Both gave Matt referrals and helped him set up interviews.
The Tesla connection panned out, and Matt got an offer for a role at the heart of the electrical vehicle industry: the battery supply chain. "There's a lot of new development occurring and the challenge attracts smart talent," Matt says. "I'm super-excited about the role."
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Our furry friends Watson and Wrigley from B is for Bicycles are back in an all new story calledTaking the Lead.
When Watson's bicycle chain breaks, the doggie duo sets out to get it fixed and soon discovers their town of Spokesville has nowhere for them to go. With the help of their canine crew (and don't forget Schmiddy the cat!), they decide to take the lead and open a bike shop of their own.
Our Kickstarter Campaign for this new book funded and closed on July 21!
After falling in love with bike riding in our first book, Watson and Wrigley have a problem... a broken bike is keeping them from riding!
With the help of Jack, Schimddy the dog the cat, and other animal friends, Watson and Wrigley decide to open their own bike shop, Buddy Pegs!
An idea springs forth! Maybe the old friendly beagle who owns the local hardware store, Jack, can help them. He can fix anything!
What else? You'll have to get the book to find out!
Inspire the kids in your life to go out and take the lead!


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6 November 2017 Show excerpts
TidBITS#1393/06-Nov-2017
Last week was busy, with Apple pushing out updates to all its operating systems and posting strong Q4 results that once again proved naysayers wrong. Helping those results in a small way was the release of the iPhone X, and we've compiled opinions from the best early reviews to help you decide if it will be your next iPhone. Finally, Adam reports from the Jamf Nation User Conference, offering a glimpse of how Apple devices are increasingly making their way into big business. Notable software releases this week include TextExpander 6.2.3, Evernote 6.13, Safari 11.0.1, Security Update 2017-001 (Sierra) and Security Update 2017-004 (El Capitan), and Transmit 5.0.5.
Michael E. Cohen 31 October 2017 14 comments
iOS 11.1 Brings Bug Fixes and New Emoji
Just ahead of the delivery of iPhone X shipments to its first lucky purchasers, Apple last week released iOS 11.1. In the associated release notes, Apple highlights the addition of over 70 new emoji, along with fixes to photo handling, accessibility, and an assortment of other issues.
In addition, the update includes some twenty-odd security fixes. Among those is one for the much-publicized KRACK Wi-Fi exploit (see "Wi-Fi Security Flaw Not As Bad As It's KRACKed Up To Be," 17 October 2017). Interestingly, Apple's note implies that it's necessary only for iPhone 7 models and later and for iPad Pro 9.7-inch and later iPad Pro models.
The new emoji include food types (pie and broccoli!), animals (giraffes and hedgehogs!), and mythical creatures (mermaids and vampires!), as well as what Apple describes as "more expressive smiley faces" (which means one with cartoon swearing). iOS 11.1's emoji also include new gender-neutral characters and more clothing options.
The improvements to iOS photo handling include fixes for bugs that made some photos appear blurry, slowed down Live Photo effect playback, and prevented some images from appearing in the People album after restoring from an iCloud backup. This last fix might be particularly relevant to purchasers of the new iPhone X, who will doubtless spend some time restoring their iPhone backups to their shiny new devices.
iOS 11.1 also brings with it a slew of accessibility improvements, including braille support for Grade 2 input, VoiceOver access to multi-page PDFs, better VoiceOver rotor actions for announcing incoming notifications, and an improved VoiceOver rotor actions menu when removing an app from the app switcher. The update also fixes accessibility bugs that prevented alternative keys from displaying when using VoiceOver with touch typing, caused the VoiceOver rotor to always return to the default action in Mail, and kept the VoiceOver rotor from deleting messages.
Miscellaneous fixes and enhancements round out iOS 11.1's offerings: cleared Mail notifications should no longer appear on the Lock screen, using 3D Touch on the display edge should again invoke the app switcher, and some third-party GPS accessories should now provide better accuracy.
Although Apple also released watchOS 4.1, iOS 11.1 includes a couple of Apple Watch-related fixes (see "watchOS 4.1 Delivers on Promised Features," 31 October 2017). One resolves an issue that caused settings for Heart Rate notifications to appear in the Apple Watch app for first-generation Apple Watches, and another fixes a problem that prevents app icons from appearing in notifications on the Apple Watch. Notably missing from iOS 11.1 are the promised person-to-person Apple Pay and AirPlay 2, both of which Apple initially promised for iOS 11 but still haven't shipped.
You can get the iOS 11.1 update either in Settings > General > Software Update or via iTunes. Its size varies significantly by device, ranging from 171 MB for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and 207 MB for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro to 250 MB for the iPhone 6 Plus and 305 MB for the iPhone 7.
As always with interim updates like this, we encourage some level of caution when updating. Wait a couple of days before taking the leap, just in case there's an unanticipated problem that early adopters encounter. Of course, if you're concerned about the KRACK exploits or regularly need to communicate about broccoli in emoji, there's no inherent need to wait.
macOS 10.13.1 High Sierra Offers Minor Fixes and More Emoji
Along with updates to iOS 11.1, watchOS 4.1, and tvOS 11.1, Apple has released macOS 10.13.1 High Sierra. It's a surprisingly minor update that adds support for 70 new emoji to stay in sync with iOS 11.1 (see "iOS 11.1 Brings Bug Fixes and New Emoji," 31 October 2017), fixes three bugs, and addresses nine security vulnerabilities. The download is 2.11 GB in size.
The bugs fixed could have caused Bluetooth to be unavailable during Apple Pay transactions, caused problems when syncing Microsoft Exchange messages in Mail, and prevented Spotlight from accepting keyboard input at times.
Perhaps the main reason to update from 10.13.0 to 10.13.1 is its inclusion of fixes for the KRACK exploits (see "Wi-Fi Security Flaw Not As Bad As It's KRACKed Up To Be," 17 October 2017). We recommend waiting a day or two to be safe and then updating. Be sure to make a full backup before updating because on one of our machines, login items and a variety of other settings seem to have been lost in the update process.
That leaves the question of whether now is the time to upgrade to High Sierra from an earlier version of macOS. Our take is that 10.13.1 doesn't change enough to affect your previous decision — if you weren't comfortable upgrading to High Sierra before 10.13.1 shipped, its existence doesn't add much new information. At best, it's a sign that Apple doesn't feel there are many problems in High Sierra.
Adam Engst 31 October 2017 No comments
watchOS 4.1 Delivers on Promised Features
Apple has released watchOS 4.1, delivering a few features promised for watchOS 4 that didn't make the initial release and fixing a variety of bugs.
Most notable is that the Apple Watch Series 3 can now stream music from either Apple Music or iCloud Music Library. Series 3 users can also now listen to live radio on Beats 1, custom stations, and expert-curated stations with the new Radio app. Plus, Apple's release notes claim that all Apple Watch users will be able to use Siri to find and play songs, playlists, and albums, but that seems to work already in watchOS 4.0.
Also reportedly new in watchOS 4.1 is the promised capability to sync fitness data with GymKit-enabled treadmills, ellipticals, stair steppers, and indoor bikes for more accurate distance, pace, and energy burn metrics.
watchOS 4.1's final new feature is the capability for Apple Watch Series 3 cellular users to use Control Center to disconnect from a Wi-Fi network. That could be useful if you want to force the Series 3 to communicate via cellular rather than Wi-Fi.
watchOS 4.1 also fixes bugs that:
Blocked haptic vibrations for silent alarms
Erroneously delivered Heart Rate notifications for the Apple Watch Series 1 and later
Prevented Stand reminders from being shown
Prevented the Stand hour indicator and Sunrise/Sunset complication from being displayed
Caused the first-generation Apple Watch to fail to charge in some situations
There are also a few security fixes, including one for the recent KRACK exploits on the Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2 (see "Wi-Fi Security Flaw Not As Bad As It's KRACKed Up To Be," 17 October 2017).
As with other updates, you may as well wait a day or two to update to watchOS 4.1, just in case it causes a problem for some users and Apple pulls or replaces it.
watchOS 4.1 is a 117 MB update that you install via the Watch app on your iPhone (in Watch > Settings > General > Software Update). Remember that the Apple Watch must be on its charger, charged to at least 50 percent, and within range of your iPhone, which itself must be on Wi-Fi. Don't start installing if you'll want to use the watch again within an hour or so — watchOS updates take surprisingly long to load.
Josh Centers 1 November 2017 6 comments
tvOS 11.1 Patches KRACK in Apple TV
Apple has released tvOS 11.1 for the fourth-generation Apple TV and Apple TV 4K, expanding the availability of the TV app to Norway and Sweden. You can update your Apple TV by going to Settings > System > Software Updates.
tvOS 11.1 also includes five security fixes — most notably to correct the KRACK Wi-Fi vulnerability discussed in "Wi-Fi Security Flaw Not As Bad As It's KRACKed Up To Be" (17 October 2017).
We haven't heard of any issues with the tvOS 11.1 update yet, but it's never a bad idea to wait a day or two to make sure none crop up.
Adam Engst Michael E. Cohen 2 November 2017 No comments
Apple Posts Strong Q4 2017 Financial Results
Reporting on its fourth quarter 2017 financial results, Apple has announced a net profit of $10.71 billion ($2.07 per diluted share) on revenues of $52.6 billion. The company's revenues were up 12 percent compared to the year-ago quarter (see "Despite $9 Billion Profit, Apple Revenues Slump Again in Q4 2016," 25 October 2016). Revenues were also higher than in Apple's record-setting Q4 in 2015, which saw $51.5 billion come in, but the company's $11.1 billion in profit that year bested this year's number. Once again, Apple will be issuing a dividend of $0.63 per share to investors.
iPhones sales continued growing, albeit not in rocket-sled fashion. Unit sales were up only 3 percent from a year ago, with 46.7 million iPhones sold this quarter compared to 45.5 million in the year-ago quarter. The iPhone accounted for $28.8 billion in revenues, fueled by the introduction of the new iPhone 8 models and a rebound in sales in China.
Although Apple never splits out sales by individual model, CEO Tim Cook said that the iPhone 8 is the most popular new iPhone to date and that the iPhone 8 Plus got off to the fastest start of any Plus model. Despite doom and gloom in the clickbait media, the later release of the iPhone X seems not to have hurt Apple's iPhone numbers significantly. We expect that the iPhone X will boost Apple's revenues even further next quarter.
The iPad continued its return to sales growth as well, with 10.3 million units sold last quarter, beating the year-ago sales numbers by 11 percent. That's down only slightly from the 11.4 million sold last quarter, during which Apple introduced new models of the iPad Pro. Nonetheless, the iPad still contributed $4.8 billion to Apple's revenues.
Despite the iPad's improved showing, the Mac continues to outshine it both in terms of sales growth and contributions to Apple's bottom line, thanks largely to the MacBook Pro. In Q4 2017, Apple sold 5.4 million Macs, bringing in $7.2 billion, a year-over-year unit sales increase of 10 percent. Apple must also be improving its margins because the associated revenue increase was a whopping 25 percent and up 28 percent from the previous quarter. Cook said that 2017 was the best year ever for the Mac.
Services and software continue to burn brightly in Apple's universe, bringing in a record $8.5 billion last quarter, and outshining last year's revenues by an incandescent 34 percent. Apple's music business has "turned the corner," according to CFO Luca Maestri, and iCloud revenues grew by double digits.
Finally, the grab-bag Other Products category tallied $3.2 billion in revenue last quarter, a 36 percent increase from last year's take. Other Products includes the AirPods, Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPod touch, Beats headphones, and all other Apple-branded and third-party accessories. We're betting that this increase comes primarily from the popular AirPods and the new Apple Watch Series 3. Cook said the Apple Watch posted unit sales growth of over 50 percent for the third consecutive quarter.
Almost two-thirds of Apple's sales, 62 percent, came from outside the United States. The biggest year-over-year increases were in Europe, sales up 20 percent. Sales rose in Greater China by 12 percent and by 5 percent in Asia Pacific. However, Apple did see an 11 percent decline in sales in Japan.
In short, Apple had an unsurprisingly good quarter and its fortunes seem on track to continue rolling happily along into the coming holiday quarter — Cook suggested that it will be Apple's "best holiday season yet."
JNUC 2017: A Glimpse into the World of Apple Enterprise
I recently attended the Jamf Nation User Conference, known colloquially as JNUC. Unless you're an IT admin or Apple consultant, you probably haven't heard of JNUC before, but it's the largest Apple IT-focused conference out there, with 1500 attendees from around the world converging on Jamf's home city of Minneapolis. Unlike more general events like MacTech Conference, JNUC focuses almost entirely on a single product, Jamf Pro, a hosted or on-premises device deployment and management solution solely for Macs, iOS devices, and Apple TVs. Jamf also makes Jamf Now, which is a cheaper, stripped-down device management solution for less technical
admins. Jamf Now used to be called Bushel, and Julio Ojeda-Zapata reviewed it in "ITbits: Bushel Helps Small Companies Manage Apple Devices" (31 March 2015).
Full disclosure: Jamf has sponsored TidBITS in the past, and the company invited me to attend, paying for my flight and hotel. I don't use Jamf Pro or even Jamf Now, but I was curious to observe and report on a slice of the Apple world that most TidBITS readers may not be aware of. Other conferences, like MacTech Conference, MacAdmins, and MacSysAdmin, cover the Apple IT space, but from a more general perspective and for fewer people (for a full list of Apple conferences, see "32 Conferences for Mac and iOS Professionals in 2017," 15 May 2017).
So how did a conference that focused on a single product attract 1500 attendees for 3 days of sessions?
The first thing you need to understand about Jamf Pro, and thus about the conference, is that it occupies a different layer of the Apple experience than most users ever consider. Most of us think about what people do on their Apple devices — the apps they run, the Web services they use, the peripherals they employ.
In contrast, Jamf Pro doesn't much care how devices are used. Its agent software lives one layer down on the Mac, relying on Apple's mobile device management (MDM) framework and leveraging three other Apple services, the Device Enrollment Program (DEP), the Volume Purchase Program (VPP), and Apple School Manager. Plus, Jamf Pro integrates with numerous other enterprise systems, such as corporate directories, patient information systems, and enterprise-focused backup and data protection services like Backblaze and Code42. Without something like Jamf Pro, large organizations would never consider buying massive numbers of Apple devices. Here's why.
Imagine you're an IT admin in a large organization. You'd like to buy 1000 Macs for your users, but you can't just pick them up from the local Apple Store, hand them out to users, and hope that everyone will follow your configuration instructions for accessing Wi-Fi networks, setting up email, using strong passwords, turning on FileVault, and so on. Many people won't, and they'll come back to you for help, which will likely overwhelm your support staff and result in unhappy users who aren't getting their work done.
Instead, when you buy the 1000 Macs, you do so through Apple or an authorized reseller that supports the Device Enrollment Program. Through DEP, all those Macs become associated with the organization that owns them. Then, using Jamf Pro, you create a profile that contains all the necessary settings. When the users unbox their Macs and turn them on, the Macs automatically know, from being part of DEP, to configure themselves as specified by your work in Jamf Pro. That's zero-touch deployment. Jamf Pro also enables ongoing management, ranging from installing designated apps (purchased in bulk through Apple's Volume Purchase Program), installing operating system and app updates, collecting inventory details so you know the status of
every device you manage, and much more.
This is tremendously cool, and it becomes all the more so when you hear about the kinds of solutions it makes possible. For instance, some hospitals are starting to rely on iPads and Apple TVs to provide patient information and entertainment. At Jacobs Medical Center at UC San Diego Health, every patient is issued an iPad that provides access to personalized medical records and details of their patient care team, along with control over room lighting and temperature via Crestron. Apple TVs in each room provide entertainment options, and AirPlay screen mirroring lets all members of a family review
the patient information on the iPad. Thanks to DEP, VPP, and Jamf Pro, an iPad can be wiped clean automatically as soon as a patient checks out and then reconfigured for the next patient and room automatically.
That's just one example. The Bungie Foundation, the charitable arm of game maker Bungie, is doing something simpler in children's hospitals, providing iPads with age-appropriate apps to patients to help distract them from, well, being in the hospital. At Seattle Children's Hospital, a fine institution to which I had the ill luck to bring Tristan with breathing problems back in 2000 when he was 2, the Bungie Foundation's iPads for Kids program has served 123,000 children. The foundation hopes to expand to 8 more hospitals and help another 126,000 patients in the next year.
Healthcare and K-12 education, two of the largest markets for managed devices, differ from how large companies often end up with managed Apple devices these days. Back in 2005 or so, the BYOD — bring your own device — trend started, with users bringing their personal hardware to work. That took off with the release of the iPhone and iPad, and it was a major headache for IT staff. When users owned the devices they were using, that made it difficult for IT to ensure minimum security standards, protect confidential corporate data, make sure software licenses were honored, avoid issues with untested operating system and app versions, and troubleshoot problems.
More recently, businesses have been switching to a "choose your own device" model, something that's been more common in the more fluid environment of higher education for a while. These user-choice programs allow employees to pick the computer they want to use, under the philosophy that users will be the most productive when using hardware they like. That has proved to be a huge boon to Apple since surveys and past user-choice programs show that somewhere between 50 and 75 percent of users will pick a Mac over a Windows PC if given the option.
To give you an idea of the growth due to user-choice programs, Jamf has more than doubled its number of customers since 2015, going from just under 6000 to 13,000 today. Those numbers are hard to evaluate until you realize that those customers are using Jamf Pro and Jamf Now to manage over 9 million Apple devices. That's an average of almost 700 devices per customer, but some are much larger.
Thanks to user-choice programs, German software company SAP has 13,000 Macs and financial services firm Capital One has 12,000 Macs (and the guy who made that happen previously introduced user-choice programs at Expedia and Nike, growing their installed bases to 6000 and 14,000 Macs, respectively). Walmart has 7000 Macs without a user-choice program; if the company does launch its planned program and sees the same switching percentages as other companies have, it could end up with 100,000 Macs. These are mind-bogglingly large numbers, and in an age when most attention is focused on the individual consumer, it's worth keeping in mind just how many Macs — and iPhones, iPads, and Apple TVs — are purchased in bulk for use by massive
organizations.
The common refrain for why this is happening comes down to total cost of ownership, or TCO. No one disputes that Apple gear is more expensive than equivalent Windows PCs, Android smartphones and tablets, and other streaming video boxes. But nearly everyone I talked to — even beyond on-stage panelists — said that the total cost of ownership of Apple devices was lower than the competition once you factored in fewer support calls, reduced maintenance, and higher resale value.
Regardless of the hows or whys, it was fascinating to be in the midst of a such a large and bustling conference, among attendees whose concerns are so very different from the average individual user. For instance, my friend Tom Bridge of Technolutionary had just finished a Wi-Fi network installation in the Anthem, a major concert venue in Washington, D.C. In one of its first real-world tests, his network managed to serve 3300 simultaneous users thanks to a gigabit Ethernet backhaul and access points that could be mounted like spotlights to provide 30-degree cones of coverage on the wide-open floor below. (Just in case you need Wi-Fi while listening
to the likes of Bob Dylan.) That's a far cry from wondering about the best Wi-Fi router to replace an aging AirPort Extreme in an apartment, and it's a great reminder of just how far we've come.
I want to leave you with a few last thoughts. First off, though I've talked about Jamf Pro and Jamf Now here for obvious reasons, they're far from alone in the device management field. Other companies with similar solutions for Apple devices include Addigy, Filewave, SimpleMDM, and Solarwinds, and still others might be acceptable alternatives.
Second, the JNUC 2017 iOS app was by far the best conference app I've experienced. It's based on the CrowdCompass app from Cvent, and it was massively useful. It provided a session schedule, list of presenters, maps of the venue, session surveys, and more. Unlike other conference apps I've seen, it wasn't just a collection of Web pages. Once you logged in, you could track which sessions you wanted to attend, and whenever you checked your schedule, the app would display the next presentation. For anyone running a conference, it's worth checking out.
Third and finally, Jamf deserves kudos for acknowledging during the conference keynote that the company had promised Jamf Pro 10 for the first half of 2017 and then failed to ship until 31 October 2017 (yes, after the conference, since so many Jamf employees were at JNUC). As an apology, Jamf created this fabulous video that's a hilarious takeoff on Adele's "Hello" video. (Be sure to watch the original for comparison's sake.) Apparently, it's a lot harder for ordinary folks to lip sync than Jamf's marketing team initially anticipated. You can even get a glimpse of Take Control author Charles Edge at 3:48 into
the video.
Early iPhone X Reviews Praise Screen, Face ID
This year, Apple gave us a double dose of iPhone. After the release of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in September, the iPhone X is now here (see "Apple's Late 2017 Collection: A Roundup of Reviews," 26 September 2017) and is in short supply, despite its premium $999 price tag.
Before kicking off this review roundup, I'd be remiss to not mention the controversial media strategy at play here. Apple severely limited its review units to traditional outlets — most had the iPhone X for just 24 hours before Apple lifted the media blackout. Instead, Apple gave priority to a handful of moderately popular YouTubers, with only a few U.S.-based writers getting the iPhone X for a full week before publication:
Steven Levy of Wired
Nicole Nguyen of BuzzFeed
Lance Ulanoff of Mashable
Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch, who took his iPhone X to Disneyland, which is both a great conceit for a review and a great excuse to expense a vacation
Because they have the most hands-on experience with the iPhone X outside of Apple, I'm going to focus on their reviews, though I read many more before writing this roundup. I found that they were mostly in agreement about the pros and cons of the iPhone X.
Additionally, I'm organizing this roundup by feature rather than by reviewer. The iPhone X is largely similar to the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, with a few crucial differences: it lacks a Home button, it features a "super Retina" OLED display, it uses facial recognition instead of fingerprint recognition for authentication, it has a slightly tweaked dual-camera system, and its display features a distinctive "notch" that holds various sensors the phone requires. I'll focus on these differences, bringing together commentary from different reviewers.
The Learning Curve — The biggest change about the iPhone X is that the iconic Home button is gone, replaced by Face ID and a series of new gestures. With those comes a learning curve — how did that work out for reviewers?
"I've been living with the iPhone X for a week, and I'll say right off the bat: This phone isn't for everyone," Nguyen announced. "Once I learned the new finger choreography, using the new xOS was fine. But for the first day or two, I was a hot swiping mess."
Matthew Panzarino said: "Day one of using an iPhone X is profoundly strange and cumbersome in a lot of ways. If you've spent years whacking a home button you're not going to be able to break down those memetics in a couple of hours. I had to get used to swiping up, across, down and up again instead of tapping the button, double tapping the button or double tapping and swiping."
Lance Ulanoff also struggled. "You don't realize just how many features rely on the home button until it's gone. For as much as I love the iPhone X, using it in those early days was like interacting with an iPhone via funhouse mirror. I'd been schooled on where things moved, but had a nasty habit of bumping into mirrors as I forcibly retrained my digits and mind," he said.
But that awkwardness doesn't last forever. Panzarino added, "Anecdotally, I got the phone on a Monday and until Saturday I was still stabbing the home button to go home. Today, a week later as I write this, I swiped the home button on my iPhone 7 to try to unlock it. So give it a week or so to acclimate."
Steven Levy fell into the same camp as Panzarino: "I knew I'd mastered the gestures when I found myself trying to use them on my iPad. Oops. My finger no longer drifts to the home button, but pathetically swipes upwards, to no avail. And now there's that awkward moment when I expect the iPad to unlock itself when the camera looks at my face."
We've had the iPhone X for just a few days now, and we can confirm that while there is more of a learning curve than with previous iPhone models, you will indeed pick it up quickly. Adam Engst felt that he had more trouble when Apple moved the Sleep/Wake button from the top of the iPhone 5 to the side on the iPhone 6.
That said, the gestures may prove more difficult for inexperienced or tentative users. I wouldn't give an iPhone X to my mother or my four-year-old son and expect them to be able to use it fluidly. Mashing a visible button is more intuitive than remembering where to swipe on a screen. Apple is aware of this concern, and iPhone X purchasers are being offered free online training.
The Notch — Much of the discussion around the iPhone X has focused on the notorious "notch." Apple likes to brag that the iPhone X is "all screen," which is true, except for a 1.5 by 0.25-inch (3.8 by 0.6 cm) indentation in the top of the screen that contains the front-facing camera, Face ID sensors, speaker, and mic. Despite the hubbub, the reviewers weren't bothered by it.
Panzarino put it bluntly: "In use, I have to say, the notch is just zero problem for me. I don't give a rat's ass about it. I know I'll probably catch heat but I'm not carrying water for Apple here. I think it is absolutely a compromise but, after using Face ID and the True Depth camera for other stuff, I am willing to deal with it."
But he did caution, "If, however, you use your iPhone for data entry or browsing or whatever in landscape, the True Depth camera is going to be bang in your way, especially if it's on the left. No getting around it. If that bothers you, don't get an iPhone X. But even if you think it's going to bother you I'm not sure it actually will once you spend a few days with it."
Ulanoff was a bit less optimistic. "I'd be lying if I said I never noticed the notch. It cuts into full-screen apps, movies, and photos, but, after a little while, I stopped fixating on it. I guarantee that some people will hate the notch and rail against it, and it's fun to imagine how the stoic Jony Ive, Apple's Chief Design Officer, might've lost his cool when he first saw the notch. The complaints will, I suspect, mostly be from people who do not own or use an iPhone X."
Nguyen was less bothered by the notch than the other half of the phone. "Whatever. I don't feel strongly about the notch either way, but it's really the other end of the screen that feels awkward. It's when the keyboard, in any app, is on screen (which, for me, is most of the time): There's all this dead space on the bottom, where Apple could have put common punctuation, frequently used emojis, or literally anything, but instead left it blank. Other full-screen apps on other phones put navigation or other design elements in that area, and it doesn't look crowded or crammed. It looks fine. It's puzzling why Apple didn't put something more useful down at the bottom, or why it didn't add a row of numbers or emojis up top
and push down the keyboard to make it more thumb-accessible."
However, she correctly points out that many apps have not yet been updated for the iPhone X and thus have the same screen area as an iPhone 8. "This, I expect, will change, as developers update their apps for X compatibility. But, as it stands, the X doesn't feel like the 'future of the smartphone' when I open some of my most-used apps. It feels like I'm looking at the same slab of glass I've seen for the last decade."
Overall, the reviewers seemed to agree that the notch was worthwhile because, without it, there would be no Face ID. We're again in agreement — none of us have found the notch overly bothersome, and it fades into the background in most apps that can leave the time and status icons on either side of it.
Face ID — The reviewers all agreed that Face ID, the facial recognition system that replaces Touch ID on the iPhone X, is incredible. Or as Nguyen said, "Simply put: Face ID is really f– — ng impressive. But that's because it's invisible." She relayed a story about setting up Face ID with a swollen eyelid and how the system was able to adapt to her facial changes as the swelling subsided.
Panzarino applauded the ease of setup and its security. "Face ID works really well. First, it's incredibly easy to set up. You choose to enable it and then rotate your nose around the points of a clock twice. That's it. Second, it worked the vast majority of times I tried it, it never once unlocked using a picture of myself or another person's face and the failure rate seemed to be about the same as Touch ID — aka almost never. As hoped, it's definitely faster than the first generation of Touch ID, though perhaps slightly slower than the second gen."
He also applauded how adaptable Face ID is. "I used it bare-headed, with a hat, with other hats, with glasses, without glasses, with glasses and hat — all of the basic permutations. The only times it wouldn't work at all is if I had my nose and mouth covered — something that Apple has said from the beginning was a deal breaker. For those of you in cold climates who wear face coverings, start practicing pulling that scarf down to unlock. The nice bit, of course, is that you don't have to worry about gloves that don't allow you to unlock your phone."
But he cautioned that it doesn't work with some sunglasses. "I eventually found a pair of sunglasses of mine that it could not penetrate. Apple says that the IR spectrum around 940nm is crucial to Face ID's ability to function, so sunglasses that block this are an issue. That's because the light spectrum that it uses is completely invisible to the naked eye. If you unlock in the dark it works perfectly, but no one sees anything coming from the phone — just for the record."
Ulanoff praised Face ID's speed. "I pick up the phone and swipe my finger up from the bottom edge of the screen. In the time it takes to do that, the iPhone X's Face ID system has already read my face and approved it as the one registered with the phone. Is it faster than unlocking the iPhone 8? Close, but, if so, only by milliseconds. However, unlike pressing and holding the home button, accessing my iPhone X feels like a single gesture. You can, of course, still use a PIN code, which you'll need when you turn on the phone, since Face ID won't work after a power-down."
And fear not, Face ID is hard to fool, as Ulanoff discovered. "I did try to fool Face ID. I took a photo of my face with the iPhone 8 and presented it to the iPhone X TrueDepth Camera. It didn't respond. I also tried using a short video. Again, nothing," he said.
We haven't had time to make Face ID jump through so many hoops, but it has worked well for us too. The one caveat comes from Adam Engst, who discovered that Face ID requires that the iPhone X be at least 6 inches (15 cm) away from your face. Since he's quite near-sighted, when he's not wearing glasses or contacts at night, he has to bring the iPhone X closer than that to read it, at which point Face ID doesn't work. His workaround is to re-lock the iPhone X, move it further away, and unlock again so Face ID can kick in.
The Screen — The iPhone X is the first iPhone with an OLED screen, and it occupies more of the face of the iPhone than any previous screen. It's also the first instance of what Apple calls a "Super Retina" screen — we assume Apple is referring to the fact that it boasts a whopping 458 pixels per inch, compared to the iPhone 6/7/8 Plus screens, which were the previous record-holders at 401 ppi. OLED displays are known for superior colors, richer blacks, and better power efficiency than LCDs, but tend to suffer from burn-in and color-shifted off-axis viewing. The reviewers seemed more impressed by the screen than any other feature.
Levy summed it up, "The biggest change stares you in the face: that screen, that screen. I love the larger displays of the iPhone Plus line and Android units like Google's Pixel 2 XL, but the phones are too frickin' big. They are bulky in my pocket, and making calls is like holding a frying pan to your cheek. The iPhone X is a big screen in a compact form factor — Cinerama in a phone booth. Though the device itself is only slightly bigger than the standard iPhone 8, its screen is roughly the same size as that of the iPhone 8 Plus. When you take into account its "Super Retina" capabilities (another Barnum-esque name concocted by Apple's marketers), that screen will persistently reassure buyers that emptying their wallets
for an iPhone X wasn't folly. I found the display a noticeable, and greatly pleasurable, advance over my "old" iPhone 7, whether watching The Big Sick, streaming a live football game, or simply swiping through Instagram."
Nguyen also praised both the OLED screen and the more efficient form factor. "Ultimately, the most striking thing to me about this phone isn't the Face ID, 3D-face scanning tech, or the new OLED display. It's that it's got the 8 Plus's screen size — and two-lens camera — in a form factor that's much better for smaller hands and pockets. The biggest phone is no longer the best. Apple has typically reserved its best features for its big, bulky "Plus" phones. The X changes that. For the small-handed (like me) or those who wear women's pants, which have the dumbest, shallowest pockets, the X's size is the real killer feature."
Apple's OLED is terrific, but Panzarino pointed out that it still suffers some of the typical OLED flaws. "The one area where this display falls prey to standard OLED gripes is in off-axis viewing. Apple tells me that it has done work to counter the drop in saturation and shift to blue that affects OLED screens traditionally. I can tell you that, compared to other OLED screens, you have to get further 'off of center' to see a real shift in color, holding the phone 30 degrees or more off of dead on. But it is still there."
Despite that caution, Panzarino still praised the screen. "From the front-ish though? Wooof. It's good. At a brightness of 640 nits, the view-ability is insane in the sun — much, much better than the iPhone 8 LCD. It's hard to capture via photograph to be honest (though we tried), but in person you'll be impressed by how easy it is to use in direct light… That, coupled with the True Tone tech, makes images look better and brighter on the iPhone X than any other Apple device, iMac included."
Ulanoff also sang its praises. "You have never seen such bright, touchable colors or inky blacks on an iPhone handset, nor have you ever seen an iPhone screen hug the virtually bezel-less edge and corners of a device the way the iPhone X does. Those corners of the screen are all curves — a first in iPhone history. Do not let Apple iPhone 8 owners hold their screen next to the iPhone X's, unless you want to see grown-ups cry," he said.
We noticed the difference in screens first when using iOS 11's new Quick Start feature to set up the iPhone X from an older iPhone. But I wasn't blown away by the screen until I played "Mad Max: Fury Road" in its 4K HDR glory. Wowza.
Cameras — Finally, although the cameras in the iPhone X aren't significantly better than those in the iPhone 8 Plus, the reviewers still came away with favorable impressions.
If you're a photo buff, I highly recommend reading Panzarino's review in its full glory so you can see all the great Disneyland shots he took. He was especially impressed with the telephoto lens and front-facing camera, saying "As I bummed around the park testing the iPhone X, I found myself defaulting to the 2x mode a lot. This allowed for some great sharp captures inside rides at a zoom that simply weren't possible before. I've gotten lucky a handful of times with phones in the past, but never with a telephoto lens. The train vignettes, Pirates and other rides are so incredibly dark and dramatically lit that they're a huge stress test for a zoom lens on a phone. The results were very impressive."
He also pointed out an interesting way in which the iPhone X improves on the iPhone 8 Plus. "The one other big addition to your camera bag on the iPhone X is the TrueDepth camera on the front. This selfie upgrade allows for Face ID to work, but also enables Portrait Mode for selfies. The effects are the same as on the back dual-lens system, but with the accurate depth map provided by the dot projector, Apple is able to do it with a 'single' camera."
Nguyen also praised the improved telephoto lens: "The difference in the X is that its telephoto lens has a better f/2.4 aperture (vs. f/2.8 in the 8 Plus) to let in more light. It also has optical image stabilization, which reduces blur from hand shakiness, on its telephoto lens. (The 8 Plus only has stabilization on the wide-angle, and the X has it on both.)"
Ulanoff shared similar sentiments but pointed out that Apple isn't alone in making a good smartphone camera. "The iPhone X rear dual camera is the best camera I've used on a smartphone. It takes excellent wide and 2x optical zoom photos in a wide variety of conditions. However, increasingly, the playing field is leveling out as Samsung lowers the color saturation to a more real-world vibe, Portrait Mode becomes more common, and upstarts like Google prove they can learn from everyone else and start off strong. No one will be disappointed with the iPhone X's photographic capabilities, but be prepared to get in more than one argument about which smartphone has the best camera. I still prefer Apple's, though."
We haven't had time to test the iPhone X's cameras in any real way, so we won't try to expand on the reviewers' opinions in this category.
Summing Up — In short, the iPhone X's early reviews are outstanding, and our experiences so far match up pretty well. The iPhone X is an amazing device, but it's aimed at those who are willing to pay top price for the latest technologies. The $999 price is most often quoted, but that's for only the 64 GB model without AppleCare+. Spring for the 256 GB model and add AppleCare+ and tax, and your bill can exceed $1400. Ouch.
We do recommend AppleCare+, despite its $199 price tag. As noted in "Even iPhone X Repairs Are Expensive" (30 October 2017), repairs for the iPhone X will be costly without it, and given all the new technology it uses, it's more likely that something will go wrong than in a well-tested design like the iPhone 8. The glass back is a mixed blessing in that regard — it makes the iPhone X less slippery than the aluminum-backed iPhone 6 and 7, but it stands little chance of surviving even a short drop onto a hard surface if it does slip from your hand.
Chances are, if you want an iPhone X, you already ordered one. But if you're on the fence, have the money to burn, and don't mind a bit of a wait, it's a worthwhile upgrade from even an iPhone 7. On the other hand, sticking with the tried-and-true iPhone 8 this year until Apple and third-party developers work out any kinks is also an entirely rational approach.
TidBITS Staff 6 November 2017 No comments
TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 6 November 2017
TextExpander 6.2.3 — Smile has released TextExpander 6.2.3, which updates Secure Input messaging and resolves a performance issue with very large single-line snippets. The text-expansion utility also makes improvements to using TextExpander in dark mode (fixing group name drawing and improving inline/menu search result selection highlighting), eliminates Delete as the default option for delete confirmation, and adds the Command-Delete keyboard command for deleting without confirmation. TextExpander 6 is available via a monthly or annual subscription, and Smile continues to offer TextExpander 5 as a standalone app for $44.95 (TidBITS members receive a 20 percent discount only on the purchase of version 5). ($40 annual subscription, 6.4 MB, release notes, 10.10+)
Read/post comments about TextExpander 6.2.3.
Evernote 6.13 — Evernote has released version 6.13 of its eponymous information management app with an adjustment to the toolbar, making it narrower to provide more space for content. The update also improves the Move Note dialog by listing all notebooks from both business and personal accounts, consolidates sharing options under the Share button, fixes an issue where notebooks were sometimes duplicated on upgrade, and resolves several crashes (including intermittent problems associated with moving notes, app launch, and on PDF annotation).
Perusing the comments left on the release notes in the Evernote Mac forum, it seems that many users are experiencing issues with synchronization (from discovering the sync interval preference has disappeared to the application hanging during a sync), so you may want to wait for another update. (Free from Evernote or the Mac App Store, 55.2 MB, 10.10+)
Read/post comments about Evernote 6.13.
Safari 11.0.1 — Apple has released Safari 11.0.1 for OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 and macOS Sierra 10.12.6. OS X (High Sierra 10.13.1 also includes it; see "macOS 10.13.1 High Sierra Offers Minor Fixes and More Emoji," 1 November 2017). The update fixes two security concerns: an inconsistent user interface issue that could lead to address bar spoofing if visiting a malicious Web site and multiple memory corruption issues in WebKit that could lead to arbitrary code execution. Safari 11.0.1 is available only via Software Update.
(Free, 10.11.6+)
Read/post comments about Safari 11.0.1.
Security Update 2017-001 (Sierra) and Security Update 2017-004 (El Capitan) — Apple has released Security Update 2017-001 macOS Sierra and Security Update 2017-004 OS X v10.11.6 El Capitan, patching security vulnerabilities that the company addressed in macOS 10.13.1 High Sierra (see "macOS 10.13.1 High Sierra Offers Minor Fixes and More Emoji," 1 November 2017), as well as many other security breaches in the two older operating systems. The security updates include fixes for the KRACK exploits (see "Wi-Fi Security Flaw Not As Bad As It's KRACKed Up To Be," 17 October
2017), patch multiple memory corruption issues that could lead to arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges, improve input sanitization to prevent an application from reading restricted memory, address multiple issues in Apache, and more. Apple recommends these updates for all users. (Free. For 10.12.6 Sierra, 768.3 MB; for 10.11.6 El Capitan, 853.6 MB; security content release notes)
Read/post comments about Security Update 2017-001 (Sierra) and Security Update 2017-004 (El Capitan).
Transmit 5.0.5 — Panic released Transmit 5.0.4 in early October, adding support for macOS 10.13 High Sierra to Transmit Disk (enabling you to display Transmit servers as disks in the Finder) and working around a bug in High Sierra that caused an error when Transmit's file browser used icon view. The recently upgraded file transfer app (see "Transmit 5.0," 22 July 2017) also added support for Dual Stack and Direct endpoints on the Amazon S3 cloud storage service, improved server list truncation when displayed at small sizes, added the capability to drag folders from the path bar,
and ensured that clearing a search maintains the file selection in the list view.
Later in October, Panic issued version 5.0.5 to add a Panic Sync settings shortcut to the first-launch window and remove a possible beep when selecting remote folders with Quick Look. The update also fixes a bug that could cause Transmit to revert to an unregistered state, improves accessibility support for the file path bar control, resolves an exception that could appear when viewing the activity queue pop-over in High Sierra, and ensures that renaming a new folder now updates the title in the inspector window. ($45 new from Panic, 67 MB, release notes, 10.11+)
Read/post comments about Transmit 5.0.5.


There are lots of reasons why property managers use Facebook. Of course, it's a fun way to stay in contact with friends and family. There are also compelling financial reasons. New business opportunities and attractive job offers can result from a well maintained social network.
But these benefits amount to nothing if they create a threat to a person's safety. The chances of a property manager being sacked for the contents of a poorly thought out status update are great enough to warrant concern. Too, female property managers in particular risk being stalked by a client; and this can be compounded by over-sharing photos and videos.
Facebook provides several privacy settings to which a property manager should pay close attention.
To maximise your privacy, Facebook allows you add Friends to lists, which can then be used to determine who can view your photos, videos and the various sections of your profile.
It's best to keep the lists used for privacy purposes simple. If you go overboard and create lots of lists you may find editing your privacy settings complex and daunting.
The Inner Circle. These are the people you like and trust and might include your family and those with whom you socialise. With this group you might share everything on your profile, including photos and videos of happy fun times involving too much alcohol.
The Outer Circle. These are people you know personally but wouldn't be counted as your closest friends. They could include some, or all, of your work colleagues, clients, and business contacts. As your relationship with members of this group isn't as deep as your Inner Circle, you might consider sharing a more cultured or professional version of yourself.
The Future. There are some people you don't yet know personally but think you may want to know. These might include clients you've never met, people you don't know that have sent you a friend request and people you know of that you'd like to work or play with down the track. Until you've met them face-to-face you might want to restrict what they can view on your profile.
The Past. These are people you just don't care to know. It's kind of a 'dump bin' category that might include ex-es of all kinds, people you felt compelled to add, and 'creepy' colleagues that you don't want to offend by deleting them as a Friend. With this group you would only share the most benign of pictures (or none at all) and might not allow them to view your contact information and status updates.
By treating the Outer Circle category as the default privacy setting for Friends, only three privacy lists are necessary: The Inner Circle, The Future and The Past. The Inner Circle get access to everything, The Future get access to a more guarded you, and The Past get access to very little.
There are many reasons why a property manager may not want to be found in a search, therefore adjusting your Search Visibility privacy settings makes sense. On the other hand, property managers using Facebook as a networking and business development tool can create a public search profile. This type of profile will be picked up by the major search engines and displayed in search results.
On Facebook anyone can publish any photo they own. If that picture happens to be of you displaying less than perfect judgement, bad luck. And there's nothing to stop one of your friends tagging you in on the photo. If you haven't adjusted your privacy settings this action will be displayed in your friend's friends' news feed. Pretty soon you could become an unwitting cause celebre; and possibly without a job.
To avert this problem head to Privacy/Profile/Photos Tagged of You and modify the settings so that only the people you want are notified when a picture of you is tagged. Clicking the Customize link allows you to further limit who can see photos tagged of you. You can choose either individuals and/or lists to be included or excluded as you wish. This action will leave the photos tagged but, when someone clicks on the photos tab in your profile, they will only see photos of you, if you've given them permission.
These settings don't delete the photo. If you want to do that you'll need to ask the person who uploaded the photo to remove it.
Often people make the effort to adjust the privacy settings of photos they've been tagged in on, but leave the privacy settings on their own albums wide open. Each album has its own privacy setting but the default leaves it visible to everyone.
Undoubtedly, there are many photos that you're quite comfortable sharing with the world at large. You might consider placing these in an album visible to everyone. Other photos may be better suited to an album with a more restrictive privacy setting.
There are privacy settings that allow you to control access to each part of your profile. Consider both what you reveal and to whom you'll reveal it.
In your basic information be wary of including your birth year, particularly if you decide to have very open privacy settings. Your birth date, along with other information such as your email address, pet's name, and your mobile phone number, could be enough for someone to steal your identity.
Finally, there's an excellent article on All Facebook entitled 10 Privacy Settings Every User Should Know. It's well worth the read.