SPECIALS | 12/31/09 – 01/08/10

We always know a new Apple product is going to popular when a large number of Small Dog Electronics employees decide to buy it for themselves. The new iPod nano with built-in video camera, microphone, pedometer, and FM radio is a perfect example of this. (And in case you’re wondering, green is the most popular color.)

I recently tested the video from the new nano against a Flip minoHD. In some ways, this isn’t a fair comparison. The Flip is a dedicated video camera, and shoots in HD with a wide 1280 x 720 aspect ratio. The video camera in the nano isn’t really intended to replace a dedicated video camera; it’s there to capture spontaneous, fun videos. It captures standard def. video at a 640 x 480 resolution. The nano also features 15 built-in special effects like X-Ray, Security Cam, Cyborg, and Kaleido, which further accentuate the fun factor. Still, I thought the video from the nano looked surprisingly decent.

I basically attached the two cameras with rubber bands and walked around Small Dog. Video here is shown side by side. All audio comes directly from the nano, not the Flip. Neither the Flip nor the nano has a particularly outstanding microphone.

Of course these videos are ultra-compressed by the time they’re posted online. Don’t forget to watch in HD!

“Click here to see the video on YouTube.”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB76K8hHMqA

“Click here to see the video in a larger size in better quality on Vimeo.”:http://vimeo.com/6728321

Recently, I created a Pages document that grew to be unusually large in file size due to the images that I was using. The Pages file was roughly 140MB, so even exported to a PDF, it only shrunk to about 50MB–still too big for an email.

Rather than resize the images that I put in the document itself, there’s an easier way.

In Pages, select *File > Reduce File Size.* This will resize the images according to how large they actually appear in the document itself.

*140MB > 1.2MB?* Success!

Thank you for your support in 2009! All of us here at Small Dog Electronics realize that ultimately it is you, our loyal customers, that pay our wages and we pledge to continue in 2010 to provide the very best in customer satisfaction.

We believe in making customers for life and want to hear from you with comments, suggestions, complaints, praise or just a friendly hello!

Happy New Year from Small Dog Electronics!

Your Kibbles & Bytes team,
_Don, Kali and Ed_

_Dear Friends,_

It is going to be a rare blue moon on New Year’s Eve tonight. I heard on Vermont Public Radio on the way into work this morning that happens only once every 19 years. If I can stay up, I’ll probably head down to our neighbors for the traditional Prickly Mountain New Year’s Eve with lots of friends, champaign and dancing. I saw that our pond was shoveled off, so there will also be ice skating tonight (I’m definitely skipping that, though!).

I’ll be heading west next week for the Consumer Electronics Show where I will be looking for new products and will be helping to man the Chill Pill Audio booth as we exhibit at this huge show for the first time.

All of us here at Small Dog send our best wishes to you and your family for a healthy, happy and prosperous 2010! I am a half-full kinda guy and am really pumped about heading into a new year. We are expecting snow for the next several days as we really enter the winter season with the turn of the year.

Enjoy our look back at some of the best articles of 2009 and our look forward!

Last week, I wrote about “how to make your Mac more like a PC.”:http://blog.smalldog.com/kibbles/?c=kb617 Now, here’s a Top 5 for the other side: those who want to make their PC more like a Mac! Whether you’re someone who wants the look and feel of a Mac because you’re used to one at home and your evil bosses make you work on a PC at the office (kidding) or simply because it’s fun to mix it up a bit, the following tips should help:

1) *Get Firefox (or Safari):* Seriously, ditch Internet Explorer if you haven’t already! Both “Safari”:http://www.apple.com/safari/download/ and “Firefox”:http://www.getfirefox.com are much faster, cleaner, secure browsers for the web. In addition, Safari has the same features you love on the Mac side, and Firefox offers a seemingly infinite number of extensions to customize it (including numerous Safari/OS X skins). It’s a no-brainer!

2) *Use Thunderbird:* Similarly, using Thunderbird will mimic your Mac experience. There are skins (themes) for it as well that emulate the look of Apple Mail–nice and clean. (We’ll be writing about our favorite Firefox/Thunderbird extentions in a future Kibbles.) Don’t worry about ditching Outlook; Thunderbird can handle all of the same types of email accounts (POP, IMAP, etc.) that it can, so you won’t miss a thing. (Just be sure to have someone guide you through the process if you’re unsure of some of your email settings.)

3) *Fix that UI:* Face it, the user interface of a Mac looks good. If you’re still using Windows XP, it’s especially apparent that it doesn’t look as great. Try “StarDock’s WindowBlinds,”:http://www.stardock.com/products/windowblinds/ a utility designed to make XP or Vista look amazingly Mac-like. It’s a non-permanent option that’s safe for work computers (as long as you have access) because it just gives your PC the smooth, aqua ‘skin’ of OS X.

4) *Create PDFs:* Miss how easy it is to make a PDF in OS X? Grab “PDFCreator.”:http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/ Create a PDF from anything you’d be printing instead–no rebooting necessary!

5) *Get Command back:* Use “SharpKeys!”:http://www.randyrants.com/2008/12/sharpkeys_30.html This tool allows you to switch your Alt and Ctrl keys, emulating the Command key on an Apple keyboard.

Have some tips of your own? Let us know. Next week, I’ll feature some feedback from both of these articles!

Image credit: “Instructables.com”:http://www.instructables.com

It’s sad but true: there are still many conference centers, hotels, and office buildings that lack Wi-Fi. However, many of these do offer hardwired internet access via Ethernet or (egads) a dial-up connection. If you’re solo, this is only a minor inconvenience. However, if you’re traveling or working with other people, a single wired connection can be a major productivity block.

Fortunately, Mac OS X makes it easy to share a single wired internet connection over a Mac’s built-in AirPort wireless card, to other computers that also have wireless capabilities. Except for the Mac Pro, every Mac released since early 2006 has featured a built-in AirPort card (which is what Apple calls its brand of wireless card).

This tip works best from a wired Ethernet internet connection, but I’ve read that it will also work with a cellular internet connection, such as those provided by Verizon, Sprint, etc.

To share an internet connection via a Mac’s Wi-Fi, first connect the Ethernet cable to the Mac that will be serving as the base station.

Next, navigate to that Mac’s System Preferences panel (found under the Apple in the upper left corner of the screen) and select *Sharing*. When the Sharing panel opens, select *Internet Sharing* (note that you won’t be able to check the Internet Sharing box until other options are configured). Next, make sure *”Share your connection from: Ethernet”* is selected in the drop-down list.

Since we want to share our Mac’s connection wirelessly, click *AirPort* in the “To Computers using:” box. Finally, click the *AirPort Options* button to give your new network a name and password. When you have everything the way you like it, turn Internet sharing on.

The Mac serving as base station will still be able to surf the web while others piggyback on its internet connection. Any device with Wi-Fi (including the iPhone and iPod touch) will be able to share this connection.