_Dear Friends,_

As you read this I am heading off through northern New York and Ontario to South Dakota for the 75th annual motorcycle rally at Sturgis. I am bringing my full compliment of technology with me and I am sure it will get a good workout especially the travel and navigation apps. Our current plan is to head to the UP in Michigan, stop at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore before we head into Wisconsin and head west through Minnesota and North Dakota and then south to Sturgis. We’ll say hello to Mt. Rushmore and Devil’s Tower, see a bajillion motorcycles and ride the Black Hills before we meander a bit to Colorado and then head back east.

I have been using the developer’s versions of iOS9 and OS 10.11 El Capitan and as with other betas they keep getting better and better and closer to being ready for prime time. I found a bug in iOS9 that prevented my Kirkland Signature 6.0 hearing aids from pairing with my iPhone. I was missing out on some of the handy features for a couple weeks. I submitted a bug report to Apple and it was followed up upon and the latest release resolved the issue. Now I can stream my calls, music and content directly to the hearing aids. This was particularly handy as I was using GoToMeeting to interview candidates for the VBSR Executive Director opening.

Speaking of job openings, Small Dog Electronics has several openings for service techs, retail staff and marketing assistance. You can always see our latest openings at “**smalldog.com/jobs**”:http://smalldog.com/jobs.

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes special is a first-come, first-served ancient Mac special. We have seven used Mac Pros from way back in 2006. They only have a power-on warranty, will run Mac OS X 10.7.5 but nothing later. They have a 2.66GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, 250GB drive and a SuperDrive. No keyboard or mouse. Apple’s part # for these as MA356LL/A. Okay, I did say they were ancient, right? How’s $199 each for a “**piece of history**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001924/?

As I mentioned I have been using the beta version of Mac OS X 10.11 for some weeks and I thought, now that the public beta is released, that it might be a good time to review what’s new in El Capitan. I am going to do this by highlighting a few of the features that I already use and have become such a part of my Mac experience that they don’t seem new anymore.

**Shut up!**

What is more annoying than following a link to a web site and suddenly being bombarded with some automatically started video blasting audio? If you are like me, you may have several tabs open in Safari and finding that annoying one has been a pain. Well with El Capitan it is simple. When one of those tabs has audio, the tab shows the audio button and you can click on it to mute the audio. The address bar also has an audio icon where you can mute all or select which audio stream to mute or listen to.

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**Notable**

The Notes app is so improved that I am actually using it more extensively now. Most importantly, a note I create on my iPhone is available on my Mac or iPad. Not only that but the things I can put into my notes are actually useful. I can add a photo, a URL, a map location or even a video to a note and it is on all my devices. Checklists, websites, ideas for the next Kibbles & Bytes and directions can all be saved. As I am planning my trip out west and find interesting places to go or places to spend the night, I can add them to my “Sturgis” note and easily use Maps to guide me to them. I think you are going to love the new Notes app.

**Spotlight**

Spotlight is just better. Who needs Google when you have Spotlight? Whether you are searching for a file on your drive, baseball statistics, transit information, weather, stocks or just some obscure trivia to settle a bet Spotlight is there for you and now you can ask that question in you own words. Like, “find that Note I wrote about Sturgis” and boom, there it is. Here’s a list of all the places you can search with Spotlight in El Capitan. You can turn these on and off as needed:

Applications
Bing Web Searches
Bookmarks and History
Calculator
Contacts
Conversion
Definition
Developer
Documents
Events & Reminders
Folders
Fonts
Images
Mail & Messages
Movies
Music
Other
PDF Documents
Presentations
Spotlight Suggestions
Spreadsheets
System Preferences

**Shake that Thing**

I use a dual monitor set up. I have an Apple 27-inch display and a stand for my MacBook Air that makes for one large extended desktop. Sometimes, I lose my cursor and that sometimes leads to inadvertent clicks. I never thought I would say that I would find this trick useful but with El Capitan if you jiggle your mouse or trackpad your cursor grows bigger and becomes apparent so you can get back on track.

I’ll cover more of the new features in Kibbles & Bytes as we head towards the official release of El Capitan.

iPhone users have access to some incredible cases from large manufactures like “**Griffin**”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/?mmfg%5B0%5D=Griffin+Technology, “**Otterbox**”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/?mmfg%5B0%5D=OtterBox, “**LifeProof**”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/?mmfg%5B0%5D=LifeProof, and “**Speck**”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/?mmfg%5B0%5D=Speck. There are even those that are more unique and made out of wood, recycled aluminum, carbon fiber, and many finely crafted materials. As our buyer I’ve always wondered what goes into making a case selection. Do you simply purchase one case for everyday needs? Or maybe you buy the same case in multiple colors to match that day’s outfit? With the wide variety of sleek and slim to burly and drop-proof maybe you have a case for the different activities you engage in?

I find that no one case can serve all my needs, but that’s ok, because there is a case made for all the activities I enjoy. Most recently I went on a trip on Green River Reservoir and realized my sleek and slim case wasn’t going to cut it out on the water. I reached out to our friends at LifeProof for an answer. They recommended the Nuud for iPhone 6. For those readers that may not be familiar with LifeProof, it’s just that: life proof. Their cases are made to withstand whatever life throws at them, be it falls, water, dust, mud, etc. LifeProof has built both their “**Fre and Nuud cases**”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/?mmfg%5B0%5D=LifeProof&mc%5B0%5D=iPhone_Accessories to withstand it all be it for your iPad, iPad mini, or iPhone 4/5/6. They’ll keep it safe in the most extreme conditions.

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My friends use the Fre but I noticed there was one big thing missing on the Nuud: a screen protector. I quickly had a “duh moment” and realized that was the point. It used the glass on the phone to create a waterproof seal. I was skeptical to say the least. I have a 128GB iPhone 6 and am going to put it in the water? First things first, backup your iPhone! Secondly, going against all my manly instincts I read the instructions and found they included a piece to preform a water test. You need to do this. Check all the seals, place included test piece inside and seal it up. Place the case under water for thirty minutes. I took it out, and sure enough it was dry as a bone.

This still didn’t make putting my iPhone in the water any easier. After airdropping my photos to my iPad I felt confident that I wouldn’t lose anything (well, besides my iPhone). Fear not, it was a success. I’ve included some photos from my excursion. What a great case! The initial test was scary but after that I couldn’t get enough. The reservoir wasn’t as clear as a river may have been but it was still amazing to take videos and photos underwater. I also have to note that all the photos I took during the trip were taken with the case on and look great. I say that because I feared the case covering the lens would affect the photo quality. I can’t wait to get out on the river and take some more awesome photos this summer. If you’re headed out on the water this summer, be smart and protect your tech from all life can throw at it with a case from LifeProof.

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