FEATURED SPECIAL | 06/12/09 – 06/19/09

At WWDC yesterday, Phil introduced “Bertrand Serlet”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Serlet to talk about the Mac OS. He announced that *Snow Leopard* will be available in late September for Intel Macs with either OS 10.4 Tiger or 10.5 Leopard.

*FEATURES*
Apple highlighted many of the features, including speed, refinements and support for other software.

* Faster installation process: 45% faster and 6 GB smaller
* Speed improvements for Mail, Safari 4, Spotlight and more
* Support for Microsoft Exchange Server to Mail, iCal, and Address Book

Snow Leopard will also be available with unlimited client licenses on Mac, Windows, and Linux for $499.99.

*PRICING*
For Leopard Users:

* Snow Leopard single-user license will be available for $29.99
* Snow Leopard Family Pack (five-user license), will be available $49.99

For Tiger users:

* As part of the Mac Box Set (which includes Snow Leopard, iLife ’09 and iWork ’09), the single-user license will be available for $169.99
* Again, as part of the Mac Box Set the five-user license Family Pack will be available for $229.99
* *Currently, we do not see evidence that a Snow Leopard upgrade is available for Tiger users as a stand-alone piece. However, the price of the Mac Box Set is still cheap, and you get all three!*

In addition, for any qualifying new Mac system without Snow Leopard, the Up-To-Date upgrade package will be available to customers between June 8, 2009 and December 26, 2009 for $9.95. Visit “www.apple.com/macosx/uptodate”:http://www.apple.com/macosx/uptodate for more information.

It will be great to get back to Vermont; I can only take city life is small doses. Ed’s been watching the pups while I am gone, but I miss my dogs a lot and am looking forward to being entertained by them again.

I have some motorcycle mechanics to do this weekend and I might take a ride over to Laconia for Bike Week if the weather cooperates. I hope you have a fabulous weekend and thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
_Don, Kali & Ed_

In last week’s edition of “Kibbles and Bytes”:http://blog.smalldog.com/kibbles/?c=kb624, Kali suggested uninstalling and reinstalling Flash player for Safari to improve its performance. She wrote “I use Safari daily, and have found recently that some Flash video was reallllly dragging.”

I have had similar issues, and followed her advice about uninstalling and re-installing Flash. However, I still found that Flash ads and other widgets on webpages were dragging down Safari’s performance. Fortunately, I recently discovered a simple plugin for Safari called ClicktoFlash. ClickToFlash is a Safari (WebKit) plug-in that prevents automatic loading of Adobe Flash content; instead Flash content is blocked behind a simple grey box.

If you decide you want to see the Flash content, simply Control-click (or right-click) on an unloaded Flash box to access ClickToFlash’s contextual menu, which allows you to add content or even an entire website (such as YouTube or Vimeo) to a permission list.

You need Safari 3 or greater in order to run ClickToFlash. It is reported to be working in Safari 4, but I have not tried this.

You can see the developers page and download the plugin (free) “by clicking here”:http://github.com/rentzsch/clicktoflash/tree/master. There is a lot of information for hard-core coders on that page; bypass that and look for the link that says “Download ClickToFlash 1.4.2 here”.

ClickToFlash is installed in your User folder in the Library/Internet Plug-Ins folder. To uninstall the plug-in, simply navigate to that bundle and place it in the Trash.

I don’t know about you, but I get in super Mac geek mode whenever Apple makes product announcements. This week, the Site of the Week shows appreciation for all things geeky: “ThinkGeek.com.”:http://www.thinkgeek.com

Not to promote the purchase of “stuff,” but ThinkGeek.com has fun things that range from the sublime (and useful) to the ridiculous. If you want to grab something for Father’s Day or a recent graduate (and you don’t quite have the budget for a new Mac from “Smalldog.com”:http://www.smalldog.com), head on over.

Some of my favorites:

“Broken Image Necklace”:http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/jewelry/a38d/
“Nintendo Wall Graphics
“:http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/stickers/a6d0/
“File Folders with Attitude”:http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/supplies/a46b/
“Young Mad Scientist Alphabet Blocks
“:http://www.thinkgeek.com/geek-kids/1-3-years/b78f/

Also, here’s some reader feedback regarding last week’s Site of the Week, “MyFonts.com:”:http://www.myfonts.com

George M. writes:
__Regarding MyFonts (the site of the week): I run my own business doing design work, and am a “fontaholic” with over 10,500 faces to manage. One feature I find most unusual about MyFonts is that once you purchase a font or family of fonts, if there is ever an update to that font, they will notify you about a free update. Now I cannot say for certain whether this is something that all of their foundries support, or if it only some foundries do it. Over the years, I have received several free updates, the most recent being a major upgrade to the Rayuela Family. Just thought I’d pass that along.

Another foundry I like is “Font Bureau”:http://www.fontbureau.com which offers a steeply descending price scheme as you purchase more fonts. The price levels off to $25/ea once you purchase 29 or 30 fonts. The initial $40/ea seems high (but not really, considering the high quality of their offerings), drops to $35/ea once you select 3 fonts, then drops again to $30 once you select 6 fonts. This break is per font, not per family, so the price reduction kicks in quickly if you are purchasing a family.__

Thanks for the tip, George!

_Dear Friends,_

I am sitting in the San Francisco airport awaiting my flight back to the Green Mountains as I write this week. I was out here for WWDC and some meetings with Apple and other Apple Specialists. In addition to the time in San Francisco, I spent one day out in Cupertino talking with the AppleCare folks and discussing service issues. Yesterday, I took the day off, rented a car and visited some of our old stomping grounds with Grace. This morning Grace is flying west to Hawaii and I’m heading east to my pups.

I know that Ed and Kali will talk about the new product announcements later in this issue but I want to talk about the general feeling of optimism and excitement that seemed to permeate the meetings both formal and informal. While the economy remains a significant challenge, the continued success of Apple on all fronts (especially with the Mac and Mac OS X) is simply invigorating. While Microsoft is struggling to finish Windows 7 and will, no doubt, have several different versions for different prices, Apple announced the ship date for Max OS X Snow Leopard and gave a full presentation of the improvements and enhancements contained in the upgrade. More astounding is that it will be only $29 for Leopard users and $49 for a family pack. Don’t worry about buying a Mac between now and the release of Snow Leopard because Apple’s Software Up-to-Date program will provide Snow Leopard for only $9.95 for anyone that purchases a Mac between now and the release date.

Most important for Small Dog Electronics and other independent resellers was a renewed confidence in our channel and a feeling that Apple truly values its partners. Actions speak louder than words but I have a finely tuned BS sensor and I am confident that our investment in growing our business will be rewarded. I saw that same feeling of confidence on the faces of the thousands of developers that were attending the WWDC.

As I was sitting in meetings, I used QuickerTek’s back-up battery and charger to power my MacBook Air for the long meeting. While others were looking for power outlets, I simply had the QuickerTek battery connected to my Air and my Mag-Safe adapter’s LED was green for the entire meeting. QuickerTek modifies your Mag-Safe adapter (or will sell you another modified one) to provide an aircraft quality connection in the middle of the cable. They basically cut the cable and install this adapter which allows you to charge your MacBook Air normally from AC current or connect it to the QuickerTek battery. Even after a 6-hour meeting, I had not used any of the MacBook Air’s power. Click here to view this.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/71826

The iPhone 3.0 software is very HOT! While I love the new features and speed of the new iPhone 3GS and will finagle my way into getting one, I think the real news is the new software that will be available for free to all iPhone owners. Cut, Copy and Paste is a huge upgrade that will make the iPhone even more useful. Landscape keyboard and improved calendar are great but the one with the biggest wow factor is the MobileMe Find and Wipe facility. If you have a MobileMe account and happen to lose your iPhone, you can direct MobileMe to find it and if you desire you can send a remote command to wipe all your data from your lost iPhone