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The world didn’t end at the end of the Mayan calendar, but how did I do on my guesses for 2012?

*WEATHER*

__”A mild winter with record snowfall in March but an early spring.”__ I’ll give myself a 50% on this one. It was a mild winter and early spring but no record snowfall
__”Dry hot summer this year.”__ Yup, it was dry, but not exceptionally hot.
__”It will not be below -20 F at my house this year.”__ Very true; it barely got below 0, but it was 0 this morning.

*SPORTS*

*MLB* — __”While I think the Cubs will be better, this is not their year. So, I am picking the LA Angels as World Series winners!”__ Nope, Hapy was in heaven as the Giants won the World Series.
*NBA* — __”Shortened season because millionaires and billionaires were feuding. While I would love to see my beloved Celtics add a banner, I am actually choosing the Chicago Bulls over the LA Clippers for the NBA Finals.”__ Whoa, way off! The Heat defeated the Thunder and the Celtics took the Heat to game 7!
*NFL* — __”Packers win the Super Bowl over the Pats, 36-24.”__ Well, it was the Giants over the Pats, but the Pats lost, so all is well.
*NHL* — __”Some team where there is natural ice in the city will win the Stanley Cup.”__ Way wrong, as there is no natural ice in Los Angeles and no NHL hockey this year.

*POLITICS*

__”There will be a third-party Presidential Candidate that receives at least 10% of the popular vote.”__ Nope.
__”Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee.”__ Not bad, Don…
__”Barack Obama will be re-elected based upon an improving economy but in a very close contest.”__ I’m giving this one to me.
__”Democrats will barely maintain control of the US Senate.”__ True.
__”Republicans will maintain control of the US House.”__ True, sorta, depending on how you define “control.”
__”Governor Shumlin will be re-elected in Vermont.”__ No contest.
__”Record number of freshmen US Reps will be elected.”__ Not by far. 67 this year compared with 94 two years ago.

*ECONOMY*

__”Overall economy will grow.”__ Yes, it did…albeit slowly.
__”Unemployment nationally will fall below 8%.”__ Yes, it did.
__”Interest rates will remain at historical lows.”__ Yes, they did.
__”The Chinese Yuan will continue to appreciate.”__ Yes, it did.

*APPLE*

__”The iPad line will expand to include multiple models aside from color and carriers (i.e. size, power, etc.).”__ Yup.
__”Apple will release a revolutionary television that changes the game (once again). We will never watch TV in the same way.”__ Not yet!
__”More Apple Products (i.e. iPad and MacBook Pro) will incorporate Siri.”__ Yes.
__”Apple will post successive record breaking quarters.”__ Yes.
__”Apple will make a surprise acquisition.”__ Not that I am aware of…

*SMALL DOG ELECTRONICS*

__”Small Dog will acquire or build three new stores in 2012.”__ Nope, but we are opening one in Rutland soon.
__”Small Dog will have over 100 employees by the end of 2012.”__ Nope, closer to 70 right now.
__”Small Dog will have 5 employees who were, at one time, CEOs of their own companies.”__ Only three.
__”Small Dog will have a syndicated talk show.”__ We have a talk show on WDEV but it is not yet syndicated.

*MISC.*

__”There will be scientifically confirmed intelligent extra-terrestrial life.”__ Nope.
__”There will be one astounding medical break through.”__ Nope.
__”Peace will come to two regions that desperately deserve peace.”__ Sadly, we have more wars not fewer.

I’ll be back next week to look in that crystal Mac Cube casing and see what 2013 will bring.

__You heard the rumors. Apple confirmed it. Now we have one to give away!__

Apple’s all-new iMac is super thin, super fast and features the latest Intel processors, all-new NVIDIA graphics, advanced storage options and the most advanced high-speed I/O. It’s the perfect gift to give away or keep for yourself.

*To celebrate the redesign of the iMac, Small Dog Electronics will be giving away a brand new 21.5-inch iMac!* As long as you’re subscribed to both our Newsflash (General Communications) and Kibbles & Bytes newsletters, you’re eligible, so you’ll just need to then submit a valid email address. We’d also love to know who’s local to our retail stores and how you heard about it!

Note that you’re already subscribed to Kibbles since you’re seeing this, and by entering an email on the contest page, you’ll be added to the General Communications list if you weren’t already (if that address is already in our database, you won’t receive any dupes). *So there’s nothing more for you to do — just click Submit and cross your fingers!*

“*Click here to enter!*”:https://www.smalldog.com/contest/imac2012

Here’s the skinny:
*Who:* Anyone with a valid email address — limit one (1) entry per person
*What:* Grand Prize is a new 21.5-inch iMac
*When:* November 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012

Good luck!

The perfect companion to a Mac mini or a secondary display for your iMac. Plus you SAVE $10 on the whole thing!

For Christmas this year, my Dad bought himself a Bose speaker with a universal remote to control his entire media center. Luckily for him, he had both of his technologically-inclined sons home to help set everything up.

My brother got started first, setting up the universal remote as I was off helping my mom. Everything went just fine until he tried to pair the Apple TV with the remote. He told my dad it couldn’t be done, but I wasn’t so sure. So, when I got home, I asked around the office and was told it __was__ possible, but not how to do it. I did a little digging and found that it is actually very easy to pair any 3rd-party IR remote to the Apple TV. It just takes a few steps.

On your Apple TV, go to the Remote menu found in this path *Settings > General > Remotes.* Once there, you should see a menu option called “Learn Remote.” This option will walk you through some simple navigation tasks like pressing and holding the Down button on the remote for a certain amount of time. Everything is displayed on the screen for what it wants you to do and should be a walk in the park.

Apparently, you can also set up basic navigation functions but since I don’t have a 3rd-party remote to test this, I can’t say whether or not it will work. The guide that I found detailing how to pair the remote mentioned that it didn’t work for him, but it may just not have been possible with the brand of remote he had. In any case, basic navigation functions do work and we should all rejoice! Now you only need one remote to control all of your electronic devices in your media room.

I think I am going to take the 4-day weekend coming up and relax and get ready for a busy January and February. I’m heading out to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks and then out to Cupertino for some meetings with Apple.

Looks like some snow shoveling is in my immediate future, though.

Thanks for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes and from all of us at Small Dog Electronics, have a very Happy New Year and may 2013 be the best year ever for you and your family!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
_Don, Kali, Stephanie & Mike_