FEATURED SPECIAL | 08/27/10 – 08/31/10

After months of silence following its announcement at the iPhone 4 keynote, Netflix for iPhone has finally landed. Coincidentally, its arrival came less than 24 hours after I posted an “*article*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/article/where-is-netflix-for-iphone/ on Barkings regarding its whereabouts.

The entire experience had an uncanny quality to it, and I couldn’t help but feel a little weirded out upon seeing it in the App Store the next morning. Now if only iOS 4.1 would come out and make my iPhone 3G usable again…

But I digress. Though the app was not released in the timeliest of fashions, Netflix clearly took the extra time to fix bugs. While performance is somewhat slow on the iPhone 3G (what isn’t lately?) 3Gs and iPhone 4 users have been reporting smooth and snappy experiences. The app is entirely oriented around Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature as opposed to DVD searching and queue management.

The app’s home screen offers suggestions based on your existing viewing or rating history, and a shortcut button to resume your last viewed video where you left off. You can also browse titles by genre or perform a manual search. The app also provides subscribers with access to their Instant Queue and allows titles found within the app to be added to it. Similar to other platforms featuring Netflix streaming capabilities, the app saves your location within a video, and allows you to resume playback where you left off, even on a different device.

Though this app is essentially the same as what iPad owners have been enjoying for months, it is a very big deal for iPhone and iPod touch users. The ability to stream over 3G is a huge perk placing a vast library of titles at your fingertips nearly anywhere you go. All in all, Netflix for iPhone is a very solid app and an absolute must have for Netflix subscribing iOS device users.

To download the app click “*here.*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Fapp%252Fnetflix%252Fid363590051%253Fmt%253D8%2526uo%253D4%2526partnerId%253D30

I feel like I’ve been living in iCal for the past few weeks. That’s because I’m using it to create and manage the marketing calendar for our new store at the Mall of New Hampshire.

When iCal debuted in the fall of 2002, I admit at first I didn’t like it. It was clumsy to navigate and in my opinion, the popsicle colors screamed “kindergarten!” Fast forward eight years, and iCal has matured into an easy-to-use essential Apple application. There are just a few features I wish Apple would add to iCal to make it close to perfect (an option for year-at-a-glance view is at the top of the list!).

Did you know that you can use iCal to schedule applications to launch? To do this, create an event, and then choose the option “Open a file” when setting an alarm. Since iCal 4 (included with Snow Leopard) easily allows for multiple alarms, you can even have iCal send you an email reminding you of the call an hour before it is scheduled, then have iCal automatically launch Skype 15 minutes before the call.

Want to learn more about iCal? I think this overview from “Mac-advisor.com”:http://www.mac-advisor.com/pages/ical101.html is quite comprehensive.

Also, here is “Apple’s support center for iCal, which features many tutorials, tips and tricks.”:http://www.apple.com/support/ical/

Did you know that yesterday, August 26, was National Dog Day! It’s a fairly new holiday, just started in 2004, and it serves to “help galvanize the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year, and acknowledges family dogs and dogs that work selflessly each day to save lives, keep us safe and bring comfort.”

“Click here to read more.”:http://www.nationaldogday.com/about.htm

Did you know that when you donate to Puppy Mill Rescue through Small Dog Electronics, we match your donation? “Click here to learn more about this.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/42762/donation-to-puppy-mill-rescue/at_kb

Here are all the dogs (in bold) who work at Small Dog Electronics, along with their owners/drivers/butlers/servants in lighter print:

Don – *Hammerhead* and *Fantail Shrimp*, Hapy – *Laika* and *Magnus*, Art – *George*, Rob – *Arlo*, Morgan – *Cinnamon*, Jon – *Parker*, Matt – *Owen*, Jaime – *BJ*, Katie – *Salty* (sometimes), Emily – *Tyson*, Cindy – *Molly*, Kerry – *Hamilton*, Tim – *Tal*, Andrew – *Truman*, Kali – *Maggie/Weenus*, Ed – *Spy*, Rebecca – *Toby*, Tony – *Waylon*, and Jim – *Ziggy*

You can see photos of some of the dogs of Small Dog “on Flickr.”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/smalldog/sets/72157594454594886/

_Dear Friends,_

Vacations are so important. We had such a great time traveling the midwest and going to one of the biggest parties on the planet. Great riding, great music and new friends. Coming home is such a pleasure; the frantic welcome from Hammerhead and Fantail were the best ever, and as we rolled into Vermont, Grace and I just looked at each other and nodded because we were home in the Green Mountains. I don’t mean to be a “state-ist” but there is nowhere like home!

I am happy to report that there is some good progress on building out the new store in Manchester, NH. We have finished tearing everything out of there and are now building walls and getting the store ready. It is a lot of work but I have an awesome team driving this project! I am heading there today to do final interviews for more new employees. In these difficult economic times, it is a real privilege to be one of the few companies hiring new workers. We always ask our new employees about their impressions of a socially responsible business and start talking about our commitment to the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit from the very start of our interaction with a new employee.

I had a Magic Trackpad waiting for me when I got back from my trip. It took me a while to get it going on my Mac, but here is an undocumented step to pair it (especially if it has been paired with another Mac first):

# Power off the Magic Trackpad
# Power on the Magic Trackpad but keep your finger pressed on the Power button (the LED will start to flash)
# While you continue to hold down the Power button, go through the pairing procedure

Now I am using both the Magic Mouse and the Magic Trackpad, but I am going to put the mouse in a drawer soon and give the trackpad a chance. I’ll pass on my observations in a future Kibbles & Bytes.

Apple has released an important security update for *Mac OS 10.5* and *10.6* users. This security update, dubbed 2010-005, carries a host of important patches as well as a series of preemptive bug fixes. Among the many items addressed in the update is a revision to Apple Type Services or ATS.

Similar to the recent PDF exploit uncovered in Apple’s mobile iOS platform, a malicious font within a document could lead to arbitrary code execution on a user’s machine. Apple has also remedied an issue in CoreGraphics which appears to be the Mac OS X equivalent of the iOS4 PDF bug.

This important update also carries fixes to PHP and Samba, and improves user security from middleman based network attacks. Apple urges users of Leopard and Snow Leopard client and server editions to install the update. Users of *10.6 Client* can download the update manually “*here*”:http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1094, or find it by running software update from the “Apple Menu.”

All versions of the security update can be seen “*here*”:http://support.apple.com/downloads, though the page will update over time. As always, we recommend that you run a quick Time Machine backup prior to any updates.

__Image Credit: Master Lock__