Have You Entered to Win an 11" MacBook Air?

“*A few issues ago*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/kibbles/kb745/, I featured a new product to “*smalldog.com*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=iwatchz and our “*retail stores*”:http://www.smalldog.com/contact: the iWatchz Q Collection Wrist Strap for iPod nano (6G).

This wrist strap is the perfect companion to the 6th-generation iPod nano, which includes 18 clock face designs (these faces are available via software update in iTunes if you purchased your iPod nano (6G) prior to mid-October).

The iWatchz Q Collection Wrist Strap turns your iPod nano (6G) into a wristwatch, and it’s also a great way to make sure you’re never without your tunes (unless you’re swimming or bathing, that is!).

This week we’re pleased to offer *free shipping on the iWatchz Q Collection Wrist Strap in Black or Gray* exclusively to Kibbles & Bytes readers!

It looks like the weather might cooperate for a late-fall ride this weekend. Grace put the straw on the strawberries this week, now that the plants and ground are frozen. Blanketed for the winter.

I saw a big coyote the other night on the way home from work. The flood damaged the covered bridge in Waitsfield, so I have been taking the back way into work, which both slows me down over the bumpy dirt road and also gives me more opportunity to enjoy the scenery and wildlife.

Don’t forget to “fall behind” and set your clocks back an hour on Sunday morning as daylight saving time comes to an end.

Thanks for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes team,
_Don, Kali & Stephanie_

Our Manchester, NH store experienced its first major snowfall of the season last weekend, and we’ve created this special iPod bundle in honor of the accumulation of white stuff (and the oodles more that’s sure to come–at least here in New England)!

This week only, Kibbles & Bytes subscribers will get a free Aura Case in Clear Diamond plus complimentary shipping when you purchase a 32GB iPod touch in White and AppleCare for iPod touch together.

The Apple Care Protection Plan for iPod touch extends both the 1-year limited factory warranty and single-incident (within the first 90 days after purchase) phone support from Apple that comes with the iPod to two total years. That’s an extra year of warranty coverage __plus__ unlimited phone support from Apple for two years!

Couple that with the protection of the Aura Case in Clear Diamond, and the iPod touch is good to go! We think this bundle would make the perfect gift for someone special…or yourself.

The winter white iPod touch bundle: *just $349.99 + FREE shipping!*

2011 was another great year for Halloween costumes at Small Dog Electronics, and the results of the customer-juried contest are in! Congratulations to BJ (as “grown up Lost-Boy”)

and Ziggy (as Jim)

who won the awards for best costume by a human and dog, respectively!

You can check out all of “*this year’s costumes*”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/smalldog/sets/72157627895580417/ on our Flickr site. Thanks to everyone who voted!

A couple of weeks ago, as complaints began to mount regarding the dismal battery life of the iPhone 4S, Apple attributed much of it to preferences in iOS 5.

The most popular tip? Navigate to *Settings > Location Services > System Services* to check to see if the location arrow icon is showing in the status bar (on the right side, by the battery icon). Tests suggest that by turning off “Setting Time Zone” in this section, you’ll save valuable battery life.* (*This has been confirmed on iPhone 4S, 4 and 3G.)

However, the problem appears to be bigger than that. This week, Apple acknowledged that there was more to it–namely that they believe excessive battery drain is due to iOS 5 bugs. An update hasn’t been released as of yet, but is in the works and should be out “in a few weeks,” according to Apple.

On Apple’s discussion forum, the thread regarding the issue is up to 228 pages (and counting) as of this writing. “*See it here.*”:https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3391947?start=15&tstart=0

We’ll report back when the update is available for download, so until then, if you’re one of the many having the issue, try the tip above!

_Dear Friends,_

We are into stick season now, and while we in Vermont missed the big freak snowstorm that hit those south of us hard, it is only a matter of time before we have snow here in the North Country. As soon as the apple trees lose their leaves, I am going to prune the big apple tree by our office that we planted when we first moved here in 1999. I haven’t quite gotten apple growing down yet, even though I have been trying for a few decades, but we did get a pie, some applesauce and some cider from the trees at home.

Small Dog Electronics is a socially responsible business. We measure our success by the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. Often as I interview new employees, I ask them what they think being a socially responsible business means. To me, I go back to the four years of Latin in high school and tear apart the word “incorporate.” When a business incorporates, it literally means that it creates a “body” in society. Without getting too much into the politics of the recent Supreme Court decision, I definitely do not think that a “body” has the same rights as a citizen in terms of voting and participation, but I do think that a business has a greater responsibility than any individual.

This is because a business has such a greater footprint than any one person. We build buildings, we create waste, we use energy resources, we have an enormous impact upon people whether they are our employees, customers or vendors, and with that greater footprint comes a greater responsibility to the community wherein we reside. We take this responsibility very seriously and teach our employees about it every day–it is a part of the DNA of Small Dog Electronics. Whether you are a customer, a vendor or an employee, I want to leave the intersection of our lives with both of us better for the interaction.