The Bluetooth Chill Pill Speaker is Here!

Save $30 when you purchase a *Twelve South Compass Mobile Stand for all iPads in Silver*, a *Hammerhead Anti-Glare Screen Protector 2 Pack*, a *Hammerhead Stylus in Red* and *AppleJuice Screen Cleaner Key Chain Kit*. Plus you get FREE shipping on all these great iPad accessories.

_Dear Friends,_

Still no snow here in Vermont and with the Solstice coming up, I think Artie might have to change his slogan about the days getting shorter and hoping for snow. It will be odd for there not to be a White Christmas in Vermont, but we still have 10 days for some snow to fall.

We have had some last-minute additions to our Hammerhead and Chill Pill lines just in time for the final gifting rush. Our long-awaited Chill Pill Bluetooth speakers are now in stock in both black and red. These are great-sounding portable wireless speakers that are an ideal gift for the road warrior, camper or student in your life. Read more about it below. We also have new “*Bumpers for the iPhone 5,*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?search=iphone+5+bumpers “*8GB Flash Drives*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?search=hammerhead+flash+drive molded to the likeness of our company founder, Imelda, or a cool Hammerhead shark. If you’re in the market for a case for your iPad mini, check out our “*Folio cases here!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?search=folio+case+for+ipad+mini

I have just broken the 1000 kilowatt-hour mark on my solar electric array on my home and our array here at our Waitsfield headquarters is providing 100% of the electrical power for our S. Burlington store, and about 85% of the power we use here at the headquarters. While our electric bills are about the same, since we have entered into a power purchase agreement that allowed us to install this renewable energy system at very low out-of-pocket, it is great to know that most of our electricity now comes from the sun and as electric rates go up, ours will remain steady.

While a Mac or an iPad is the ultimate Apple gift choice, there are some other great choices at Small Dog that you might want to consider. The Apple TV has been one that has been on a lot of people’s lists, but Small Dog Electronics is also your headphone headquarters with quality offerings from Beats, Sennheiser, House of Marley and Urbanears. I am surprised that over-ear headphones have made such a dramatic comeback but we have a complete selection in our stores and on our website. Be sure to check out our *Double your Reward* promotion valid this weekend only — when you purchase a Mac plus AppleCare and a backup drive, you can either choose a $50 gift card or not one, but two Chill Pills (to either save for yourself or give…or both)! More gift ideas are below in the second installment of the Small Dog Gift Guide.

“*See our holiday page, full of headphones, speakers, Mac bundle deals and under $25 stocking stuffers!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/holiday

For four days only, we’re doubling the free gift with the purchase of any Mac bundle we’re featuring for the holidays! Here’s the deal: Buy any Mac, add AppleCare and a backup drive, and you’ll get your choice of a *$50 Small Dog gift card or two Chill Pill mobile speakers (an $80 value).*

The great thing about doubling your gift is that you now have less work to do: Keep a Chill Pill for yourself or give them both away. That special someone will definitely feel the holiday love with a $50 gift card that’s good for both Smalldog.com or in any of our retail locations. It’s a win-win — all you had to do was wait until the last minute to finish your holiday shopping!

Watching the numbers this year? So are we. AppleCare is already $20 off Apple’s pricing when bought with a Mac, select hard drives from our top brands are $10 off, and we have a huge selection of genuine Apple-refurbished Macs in stock that are up to $1,000 off original pricing. (15” or 17” MacBook Pros, anyone? They start at $1249.99 — seriously.) That potentially brings your total savings to over $1,100 off!

Shop our Holiday page for more gift ideas! Don’t forget that you can get a $25 gift card or free Chill Pill when you buy a Mac plus AppleCare and essential hard drive.

Find a retail store here! iPads are exclusively in-store, and both our S. Burlington and Manchester locations have extended holiday hours. Come see us!

This year in our retail stores, we’re collecting toys for those in need this holiday season. As an extra incentive, **if you bring in a new toy between 11/23 – 12/23, you’ll get $15 to spend toward a $50 purchase.** You must use the coupon the same day you bring your toy.

In both our **Waitsfield and S. Burlington locations,** we’ll be taking donations for the “**Rutland County Women’s Network.**”:http://www.rcwn.org/ In our **Manchester location,** all toy donations will benefit the “**YWCA.**”:http://www.ywcanh.org/

If you’re in the area, bring by a new toy for a child in need, and perhaps take care of some of your holiday shopping list at the same time!

As of yesterday, Google has released their latest incarnation of Google Maps for iOS! Everyone who hated Apple Maps can now breathe a sigh of relief and navigate their way out of the lake they mistakenly drove into while blindly following Apple Maps.

A few key things to point out. We will be doing a more in-depth review of this app once we get around to using it more. However, first impressions seem good. It looks like Google maps on my computer, it will find my location if I have cell service, and I can find a variety of places that I might be traveling to. It has turn-by-turn navigation and voiceover guidance. Some mighty neat features, but the true test will be if things are not where they are supposed to be, as was the complaint with Apple Maps. I doubt there will be, since Google is most likely pooling their map data from their existing map database, but at this time I can’t confirm or deny that.

For those interested, you can find the app “*here.*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fgoogle-maps%2Fid585027354%3Fmt%3D8%26uo%3D4%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30 (It’s free!) I recommend trying it out while you’re traveling about this holiday season and let us know if you find any inconsistencies.

One of things that Apple is known best for is its clean design aesthetic. And when it comes to ever sleeker MacBooks and iMacs, there is no doubt that aspect is a plus, but every once in a while it seems the folks at 1 Infinite Loop take things a little too far.

For instance, in recent versions of the Mac OS, the default Finder Preferences setting hides the internal hard drive, which for decades had appeared in the upper right corner of the desktop (along with any other mounted volumes). I can only imagine that it was considered an ugly blight by the designers at Apple, marring the otherwise pristine view of the desktop’s Andromeda Galaxy (in Lion) or NGC 3190 (in Mountain Lion).

I’ve had many clients ask about the mystery of both the “missing drive” or the CD or DVD they are sure they’ve put in their Mac but can’t find to eject. There are certainly other ways to access the hard drive or other mounted volumes, but for those that share my “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy, here’s a way to get these icons back.

With the Finder active, select *Preferences…* from the Finder menu. Under General, there is a section labeled *Show these items on the desktop:.* Here, you have the option to show (or not show) other items that frequently graced the desktop by default in past versions of the Finder: external disks (including USB flash drives), CDs, DVD and iPods (oh…that’s where they went), connected servers, and of course, the aforementioned internal hard drives.

Feel free to turn the devices you’d like to see on, and once again, enjoy the easy desktop access you’re accustomed to!
Next time… Oh no, Mountain Lion ate my scroll bars!