ByMike Moffit

Dear Friends,

Labor Day Weekend is upon us, and while Small Dog Electronics has traditionally been closed on Labor Day. However, in the world of retail, that is not possible and is actually against our lease in at least one store. Manchester, NH and S. Burlington, VT locations will be open while Waitsfield is closed.

We use CTO (Combined Time Off) at Small Dog Electronics so our workers don’t really lose the holiday — they have the ability to take a day off when they want. We combine vacation, sick, holiday, and personal days into CTO and let our employees manage their time. I really don’t want to be policing sick days or personal days. We have only a few restrictions — we demand that vacations be taken as a block of time, not a day here and a day there, and we ask that our employees schedule their time off in advance whenever possible.

Labor Day celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers but is also the unofficial end of summer. The local snack bar at the Maynard Farm closes, football season begins and schools are back in session. It is also the start of new product announcements, too. Apple has something scheduled for September 12th and while it is not a product announcement, Small Dog Electronics will have a special press conference and announcement next Wednesday in Rutland, Vermont. We will report on both in Kibbles next week!

Do you back up your data? I was talking to my retail managers this morning about how we should be evangelists about backing up data. That is always one of the questions I ask customers, how are you going to back up your data? Do you know that hard drives spin at high RPM and that they fail frequently? With a Mac, backing up your data cannot be easier. Time Machine is a life-saver. (See our G-DRIVE Mini special below.)

I love telling about the time I was vacationing in Mexico and had my MacBook Pro stolen from my hotel room. I lost a couple of pictures that I had uploaded to that Mac, but once I was back in Vermont (with my check from the hotel), I grabbed a new MacBook Pro, hooked it up to my Time Machine backup drive and I was up and operating with all of my data in a very short time. As my friend David Lerner from Tekserve in NYC says, “may you have 1,000 backups and never need one…”

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  • SPECIAL: Parallels, $9.99 With Mac Purchase + Free Upgrade

    For a limited time, we are offering Parallels for $9.99 with the purchase of any computer.

    Parallels Desktop for Mac is the most tested, trusted and talked-about solution for running Windows applications on your Mac. With Parallels Desktop for Mac, you can seamlessly run both Windows and Mac OS X applications side-by-side without rebooting.

    Drag and drop files between Windows and Mac applications, launch Windows applications from your Mac dock, and do much more with speed, control and confidence.

    *PLEASE NOTE:* This special does not include a copy of Windows. See Windows 7 “*here.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?x=0&y=0&search=windows+7

    To take advantage of this offer: Add any computer into your cart, add “*Parallels OEM*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/78997/at_tt into your cart, and enter coupon code *Parallels999.*

    *Details to Upgrade to Parallels 8:*
    Parallels is offering a free upgrade to Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac for all customers who purchased a qualifying upgrade version, full version, student license or OEM version of Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac.

    Purchases must have been made between July 25, 2012 and October 30, 2012 from an authorized reseller, such as Small Dog Electronics. Qualifying customers can claim an activation key for Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac until November 15, 2012.

    See this link for more information and to request your upgrade: “*Parallels Desktop for Mac Tech Guarantee 2012.*”:http://www.parallels.com/techguarantee2012/

  • Well, even though it is supposedly the end of summer, we have a glorious weekend coming up and I’ll definitely get some riding in. Although Grace will probably want me to do chores or hike up some mountain… (Psst — I’ll be riding!)

    Have a great Labor Day weekend and thank you so much for reading Kibbles & Bytes and being a loyal Small Dog customer!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes team,
    _Don, Kali, Mike & Dawn_

  • Mountain Lion, Creative Suite and Java 6

    I updated to Mountain Lion this week and things seemed going smoothly. That was until I tried to launch Adobe Dreamweaver from CS6. Each time that I try to launch it, I get this error message:

    !http://cdn.osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/install-java-os-x-mountain-lion.jpg!

    I run the installer, it runs for about 20 seconds and then returns an error message that the software can’t be found. The Dreamweaver would close.

    Then I googled to find a solution and found out problem AND the correct software to download. The info can be found on this “*Knowledge Base article*”:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5267 and the software can be “*downloaded here.*”:http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1515?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

    Now, I am back to happily using CS6 and enjoying Mountain Lion. Especially the speed of Safari 6.

  • 6th Annual Apple to iPods Event

    The Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing is holding their 6th Annual Apples to iPods event in Vermont’s apple orchards again this year — it kicks off Wednesday, September 5, at Shelburne Orchards.

    If you find a wooden apple in any of the participating orchards, you could win an iPod nano, touch, classic or even an iPad!

    We’re thrilled to be partnering with them again!

    Note that all prizes and information go through the Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing. “*View their website for more details*”:http://www.vermontvacation.com/ or contact **1-800-VERMONT!**

    Happy apple picking!

  • Good-Bye (sort of) to All of Y'all in Kibble-ville

    This issue of Kibbles & Bytes will mark my last as a member of Small Dog’s Marketing Department (AKA The Four Marketeers). It has been a great experience and I will miss being in the big office (AKA The Fishbowl) at SDE HQ.

    While leaving is always sad, my sorrow is mitigated by the fact that I am only moving to the other end of the hall. I will now be working for Small Dog’s Wholesale Division, which manufactures and sells the “Hammerhead”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?x=0&y=0&search=hammerhead and “Chill Pill”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?x=0&y=0&search=chill+pill product lines.

    In honor of my new position, check out the great Hammerhead deal below!

    For those of you who are fans of my writing (I know you are out there): fret not. I will still be contributing articles from time to time. You can also scan “the archives”:http://blog.smalldog.com/kibbles for some of my now classic articles.

    Mike D. out!