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We all know that there are **a lot** of options when it comes to choosing a sound system for your iPod. Gone are the days of building up a huge stereo system–everything nowadays has a focus on smaller footprint with big sound.

The new “MIX Boombox”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/74847 from “Altec Lansing”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=altec+lansing delivers on both. As somewhat of an audiophile, I am generally skeptical of small speakers in a unit promising big full sound; usually these units focus all of the power into the subwoofers, giving an overly muddy and excessively bass heavy sound. Not the case here…

I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged my iPod into the “MIX.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/74847 There was a good separation of bass, midrange and highs, lending an overall balance to the sound. I was able to hear all of the speakers doing their part–the side firing woofers providing generous bass, and great separation between the highs (cymbals, high piano notes, etc) and midrange (general guitar work, keyboards, vocals).

But, the best part is that the “MIX”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/74847 has a built-in equalizer so you can adjust the sound to your liking, either just bass and treble levels, or really getting into the frequency range and tweaking the 7 band EQ, allowing you to tailor the sound specifically to your liking. Want to groove to some bass-heavy hip hop and really feel the beat? Easily done. Want to listen to a Beethoven Symphony and hear the detail in the higher frequencies? Easily done as well.

I tend to listen to a lot of electronic music that uses the full audible sound spectrum, so the ultimate test for me is if a speaker system can support the sub bass and ultra-high frequencies present in this music without breakup–which this product does in spades. Oh, and it needs to be said that the “MIX”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/74847 can go LOUD–and I mean shake-your-walls, annoy-the-neighbors loud. I love it.

One other very impressive feature of the MIX is the ability to connect three devices easily. There is one fixed dock that will charge and play your iPod or iPhone, and two auxiliary jacks allow your friends an easy way to plug their iPods or MP3 players in without having to undock your iPod or connect a portable CD player (if you still listen to CDs!!). Of course, you can always plug your computer into the system, making this boombox a staple at parties. Throw some batteries in and take it with you to the beach get a party going!

The “MIX”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/74847 is an excellent portable system that delivers high performance sound and flexibility at a great midrange price point (and well worth every penny).

**$299.99** “See it here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/74847

We’ve added to the three Chill Pill colors, black, red and silver, with a new blue model! Check out the new color “here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/74391

*And, for one week only, we’re offering free shipping–an exclusive Kibbles & Bytes Reader Special.* “Click here to view/purchase this exclusive special.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag19564/at_kb __(Note: Be sure to use this link; otherwise, the special is not viewable on the web!)__

I love using tabs–even though I’m lucky to use a 30″ display at work, I still find that it’s the best way to maximize my desktop space and workflow. I use them in just about any application I can. Most of you are probably aware that tabs are a useful aspect of a web browser, but this tip makes Safari especially great.

Safari allows you to save a set of tabs in your bookmarks. If you have several tabs open that you use fairly often, you can save the set to be opened at any time. I find I use this every week to set up our newsletters–I simply have a bookmark in my Bookmarks Bar that says “Kibbles” and it automatically opens all associated tabs I use.

*Here’s how:*

* When you have all the tabs open you want to save in a window, select *Bookmark > Add Bookmark for…*
* Safari will prompt you to save the group in your bookmarks.
* Name it what you want, save it and then click your new bookmark when you’re ready to view your tabs!

You’ll be able to differentiate saved tabs bookmarks from regular ones by the small square icon next to the name. And I thought bookmark __folders__ in Safari were the best thing since sliced bread…!

I am pretty fussy with my pointing devices so when the new Apple Magic Mouse appeared in the warehouse, Jaime was quick to set one aside for me. My initial first impression was that the packaging is spectacular. The iPod-like plastic case showcased the Magic Mouse as a slick, sci-fi device that would fit right in on the deck of the Starship Enterprise.

I stopped ogling the packaging and was pleased to see that batteries were included and installed. There is a small latch to get to the battery compartment on the bottom and it takes two AA batteries. When the alkaline batteries die, I will replace them with lithium AAs which tend to last about 3-4 times longer.

I activated the Magic Mouse by moving the little on-off switch to the on position and then using the Bluetooth assistant to locate and connect to the mouse. It worked great as a nice lightweight mouse, but the scrolling and other features did not work. I noticed that the Mouse preferences did not have any reference to the Magic Mouse either, so I concluded that I needed to download software. Luckily, the Apple Wireless Mouse Update was waiting for download at the Software Update panel. *You will need to download this 67MB file and restart your Mac to activate all the Magic Mouse features.*

Once I had updated my software, the Magic Mouse was fully functional and I could right click, left click, scroll horizontally and vertically and swipe with two fingers left or right to navigate. I have to say that I am hooked. I love the Magic Mouse. I am getting used to the feel and know that in a few days the mouse will feel like an extension of my hand with flowing motions and easy navigation.

The Mouse system preference panel now supports the Magic Mouse and lets you customize the tracking, scrolling and double-click speeds. It also will allow you to set the right click to the right or left, set scroll with or without momentum (I love momentum!) and gives options for screen zooming with the control, command or option key held down. I also allows you to toggle two-finger navigation (why would you turn that off?). The panel also has a video demonstrating each of these features and a battery meter so you know when to change the batteries on the Magic Mouse.

Kali keeps trying to convince me to give up the Magic Mouse so she can have it but no way–this is now my pointing device of choice!

__Editor’s note: When the cat is away, the mice will play…__

_Dear Friends,_

There was a dusting of snow on the ground as I came into work this morning. I take the back road called the Waitsfield Common road to work this time of year. It is a little longer and slower but I do get to drive by a couple of the last working farms in our area and often see some interesting wildlife, too. I enjoy my commute even though it is a short 15 minutes. I seldom see another vehicle, but often see deer, moose, fox, turkeys and plenty of cows and horses.

We have been working hard on the holiday promotions and I can assure you we have some of the best deals ever coming up for our customer appreciation pre-holiday sale and, of course, for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

I ask each of my employees to do three things as a job requirement here at Small Dog Electronics. Each employee must achieve Apple Product Professional status in Apple’s training program. This includes our interns and every employee. Those employees who achieve the highest level of training–Apple Sale Professional–are further recognized by a custom garment and special dinner each year.

The second job requirement is to take one paid day off to perform community service. I do not put a lot of restrictions on this community service–it can be anything from stacking an elderly neighbor’s wood pile to helping out in the schools or other volunteer effort. I was very proud of this community service idea (which I stole, lock, stock and barrel, from our local phone company, Waitsfield Telecom) until I was with Walt Freese the CEO (Chief Euphoria Officer) of Ben & Jerry’s. I told Walt about our community service program and he listened politely, then explained that he does the same thing but gives each employee 40 hours! I hope that some day we can do that at Small Dog!

The third job requirement is that each employee must write a weekly report to their direct manager, Hapy and me. This report covers accomplishments of the week, challenges met, goals for the next week, resources needed and general commentary. Each sales person is also asked to describe his or her “best” sale of the week. We have also asked lately for each employee to suggest something that the company could do to improve. We maintain these suggestions on our internal Wiki and will implement the best of these. It has taken many years, but I have nearly 100% of the company now submitting weekly reports. As Small Dog grows, these are an extremely valuable management tool!

I try to set the example by doing a daily report to all the employees. I give updates on the company, commentary and always a picture. My trip to Asia has given me a lot to work with this week but I seldom find myself at a loss for a topic. I do use my daily reports to announce policy changes and I suspected that some employees were not reading the reports so I instituted a game. I put one word in BOLD in each report. The words were a riddle that if you unscrambled the words and solved the riddle, the employee would be entered into a drawing for an iPod shuffle.

One employee who is a riddle freak guessed the riddle with just one word! Others started Googling and soon I had about a dozen correct entries. I think I need some more obscure riddles if I am going to continue this practice… Got one? Send it to me at “don@smalldog.com”:mailto:don@smalldog.com and I’ll post some of the good ones in future Kibbles & Bytes issues.