SPECIAL | Don's Time Capsule Special

I see blueberries, motorcycles and a search for sweet corn in my weekend plans. We are definitely in the dog-days of summer and there is nothing better than Vermont in the summer!

Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

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

_Dear Friends,_

We have definitely broken the streak of over 2 months of nearly steady rain with an official heat wave of very hot and muggy weather. This has resulted in the garden actually growing, although we seem to be about a month behind now. Generally, the measure of whether your corn crop will make it before the frost is “knee-high by the 4th of July” and there was very little corn in the fields around here that was much more than a bit over one of my little dogs. The blueberries seem to have loved this rainy weather, though, and we have a bumper crop this year. Blueberry pies, milkshakes and a whole lot of grazing going on.

Last week, I mentioned the great deal on the 2nd generation 2TB Time Capsules that we purchased. It’s already a hard drive and Wi-Fi router in one; additionally, if purchased with a Mac and AppleCare, the AppleCare covers the Time Capsule, too! And don’t forget, any new Mac and AppleCare purchase already qualifies for a $100 Small Dog Gift card with our back-to-school special.

I am writing this on Thursday and it is Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday. I have an autographed picture of Nelson Mandela displayed right in the middle of my wall of heroes and role models. What an amazing and inspiring man. Happy Birthday, Madiba!

__”There is no passion to be found playing small — in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”__ — Nelson Mandela

As I prepare to head out for our weekly radio show, Small Dog Speaks, I want to remind you that you can tune in every Thursday at 1PM on “*WDEV radio.*”:http://www.wdevradio.com Rebecca and I welcome your calls (it’s toll-free at 877-291-8255), and will answer any Mac question you have for us live on the show. If you want to catch up with past shows or submit a question in advance, visit our “*Small Dog Speaks page here.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/sdspeaks?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=SDS-KB

We use Apple computers (obviously) on a daily basis, and I often find myself emailing numerous documents throughout the day. More times than not, I right-click on the attached images and switch them to an “icon view” to allow me to view more of the email content.

Sure, it’s nice seeing a preview of the attached file, but typically I just want to get to the meat and potatoes of the email! Here’s a gem of a tip that allows me to turn off automatic attachment preview in Mail.

To do this follow these steps (warning: Terminal use ahead):

* Open up Terminal by navigating to *Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app*
* Run the following command:
@defaults write com.apple.mailDisableInlineAttachmentViewing -bool yes@
* Quit and restart Mail

Now your Mail app will show any attachments you receive as icons instead of previewing the document. If you decide you don’t like that and want to go back, simply run this command:

@defaults write com.apple.mailDisableInlineAttachmentViewing -bool no@

We have talked too many times about how important maintaining a backup of your data is and just how easy it might be to lose that data. Most hard drives are made up of spinning magnetic disks that whisk around at 5-10,000 revolutions per minute (that’s fast!) while a magnetic head moves over them to extract the data and send it to your machine.

You all know I am an amateur mechanic and love to mess around in my shop, and I have learned pretty quickly that mechanical devices that move quickly break. So whether it is simply a matter of time between failures, an electrical surge or an impact, that spinning data depository in your Mac could suddenly become little more than a good doorstop.

I know this firsthand. I had a PowerBook that I took on a long motorcycle trip, and each time I stopped for the night, I transferred the hundreds of photos I’d taken along the way. It worked great, but soon after I returned home, my drive failed and I could not access these hundreds of pictures from the trip of a lifetime. I did end up recovering them with the help of DriveSavers, but it made for a lot of anxious moments, and I was out $1200!

Then, Apple made it easy! Time Machine is on Mac OS X and makes backing up simple and automatic. But they went even further when they introduced the Time Capsule which made backups not only easy, but wireless, too. The Time Capsule is the perfect solution for backing up your mobile devices because there are no cables needed. The Time Capsule combines an AirPort Extreme wireless access router with a hard drive to store your backed-up data.

As I mentioned above, we made a special purchase of some 2TB Time Capsules that are now discontinued (but brand new) and include a 1-year Apple Warranty. These provide more than adequate storage for most users and are a great solution for wireless access and backup.

I want every Kibbles & Bytes reader to be secure in their back-ups, so for this week, I am offering a Kibbles exclusive on these Time Capsules. They are already $60 off what you can buy the latest version of the Time Capsule at $239, but for Kibbles & Bytes readers I will take another $25 off so your price is just $214! See below for details.

I know, I know. Nobody really wants to think about that yet. However, it’s an inevitability for some of you (right now, I’m in my “student of life” phase, though I’ll probably go back to school at some point — __Kali Hilke, PhD__ has a nice ring to it…).

For everyone heading to high school, college, or graduate school this fall, we announce our annual Mac to School campaign. This year, in addition to all of the specials we’re running, we have the benefit of the GE Financing Promotion that is designed to help you get the Mac you need with a little extra time to pay. (More on that in a bit.)

Though they “officially” launch on Monday, loyal Kibbles & Bytes readers can get an early preview of our Mac to School deals here:

“*Smalldog.com/mactoschool*”:http://www.smalldog.com/mactoschool?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=MTS-KB

We have already been running the Mac and AppleCare specials (you know, the ones where you get a $100 gift card from Small Dog when you purchase any new Mac and AppleCare?) for a few weeks now, but we have also added some must-have third-party specials to the mix. During the first two weeks, you’ll save on the things you need to keep that computer clean, from iKlear to screen protectors, and even a $30 off deal on Microsoft Office thrown in. If you’re near a store, there’s even more to take advantage of (which we’d offer online if we could!).

If you’re wondering how to afford that new setup, be sure to click on the link for GE Financing to get the details and apply for no-interest financing (for up to 18 months, depending on the total cost of purchase).