SPECIALS | 12/12/2008 – 12/19/08

_Dear Friends,_

I need to stop listening to skiers’ interpretations of the weather report. The predicted snowfall accumulation fudge factor (PSAFF) for a skier is usually 3x or 4x what we really get. For two days there was enthusiastic talk from Artie and the ski crowd of the big Nor’easter heading our way. On Wednesday, Grace was scheduled to get our snowmobile trailer from up where she works near Hyde Park, VT, and I almost called her off because of all the talk about the huge snowstorm. Of course, we got a little dusting and Grace just laughed me off and hauled the trailer.

Yesterday, the BIG storm was supposed to hit and I was scheduled for a number of meetings until late in the evening up in Burlington. I almost canceled, but when I called Grace to confer she called me a “snow wuss” and sure enough, while it was snowing a little bit (as I listened to the Boston Celtics post their 13th win in a row and the best start in that storied franchise’s history on the way home), the snow storm turned out to be mostly a dud. There was about 5 inches this morning when I awoke and rain coming down. One of the other Kibbles authors must have also been listening to skiers this morning…*

I held a couple of “all-hands” meetings here in Waitsfield and at our store in South Burlington. I try to do this at least once a quarter and it is a great time to talk to our team, answer questions and renew our commitment to our triple bottom line: people, planet and profit. It is especially important to keep an eye on how we measure our success as a company in the face of difficult economic times. As Small Dog Electronics grows, it is very important to me that we maintain the essence of what “small” meant to me as I named the company. We are an entrepreneurial company and the risk-taking and high energy that it implies is essential for success. Two of what I call entrepreneurial traps are “Work expands to fill the number of people” and “People build boxes around their jobs.” We discussed the need to constant attention to efficiency and productivity and even more importantly, the benefits of teamwork. We banned the phrase “It’s not my job” from the unique Small Dog lexicon. Customer satisfaction is a result of attention to detail and a top-down commitment to world-class customer service; we pledge to continue to improve and win your loyalty!

We are already booking appointments for Macworld and the Consumer Electronics show coming up just after the first of the year. While there are dire predictions of the impact of the economy on these major annual shows, I think we will see some awesome new products from both shows. It is hard to believe we are in the home stretch of 2008 but as they say, time flies when you are having fun!

For the seventh year in a row, the iPod is an extremely popular holiday gift. While the redesigned 4G iPod nano is selling very well, the previous generation 3G iPod nano is this year’s randomly popular iPod model. They’re on sale for $10 less than the 4G model, and have most of the same features. I admit, $10 isn’t a huge savings, but some people seem to prefer the previous design and the pastel colors.

Since the 8GB blue iPod nano 3G is particularly popular, we’re putting it on sale for $129.99 (from $139.99) with free shipping and several bundles (including a fitness kit with the Nike+ sensor, Marware pouch and free armband).

“Click here to see the 8GB iPod 3G in blue. There are four specials with that model that you can access on its product page.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/70106

In “Tech Tails #640”:http://burlington.smalldog.com/techtails/techtails_display.php?id=439 last Tuesday, Rebecca wrote an article about how to replace a MacBook LCD without removing the top case. It’s a pretty cool maneuver, and she also did an accompanying ‘how-to’ video that we’ve posted on our YouTube channel.

Take a look!
“Part #1”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD_snbFa9Zg
“Part #2”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXLs02jL_Eg

“Read the article in Tech Tails.”:http://burlington.smalldog.com/techtails/techtails_display.php?id=439

We have frisbees, hats, mugs, glasses and more. There’s even a brand-new gift-packaged pound of our famous small doggies! With most priced at $10 or less, they’re perfect gifts and stocking stuffers for someone in your life (including yourself!).

Some featured items:
* “1-lb Doggy Bag”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/40437
* “Small Dog Frisbee”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72526
* “Small Dog Pint Glass”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72532
* “Dog Screen Wipe (lemon-scented!)”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72505

“Check them all out here!”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/x/x/x/Gifts_and_Swag|Small_Dog_Swag

MacUpdate is at it again, offering another awesome bundle of Mac applications for only $49.99. This is $447 of software if purchased separately. Every one of these applications is highly recommended. I personally use Littlesnitch daily and Rapidweaver weekly. That’s $110 of apps right there, which I could have purchased for only $49.99 with this bundle, and also received the other eight applications as gravy.

All applications are download-only. Once you purchase the bundle, you’ll get an URL with serial numbers to unlock them. All apps are available now. The offer expires at midnight on 12/17/08 (5 days left!).

Again, this is a great deal, and would make a nice present for both new and seasoned Mac users. Purchasing through the link at the bottom of this post will help support our blog and newsletters (at no extra cost to you–and we truly appreciate the support.)

The apps are:

*”Drive Genius 2 ($99)”:http://www.prosofteng.com/products/drive_genius.php:* Currently the highest-rated disk utility on the market and used by Mac Geniuses at Apple Stores, Drive Genius diagnoses and repairs problems with your hard drive, optimizes your system, and much more.

Buyers will receive a link to download a bootable DVD image of the software to burn, which can be used to boot and fix any Mac that can run Mac OS X 10.5, including Apple’s newest laptops.

__Notable Mentions:__ MacLife Editor’s Choice pick (July 2008), 2008 MacUser Labs winner against competing disk utilities, Macworld UK Editor’s Choice (5/5 rating), “Excellent” rating from ATPM.

*”DefaultFolder X 4 ($34.95)”:http://www.stclairsoft.com/DefaultFolderX/index.html:* Fly through Open & Save dialog boxes at lightning speed.

__Notable Mentions:__ 4.5/5 rating from Macworld, 5/5 rating from MacUser UK, and numerous other awards.

*”VirusBarrier X 10.5 ($69.95)”:http://www.intego.com/virusbarrier/:* Fast, simple, and non-intrusive anti-virus software for your Mac and iPhone.

__Notable Mentions:__ 4.5/5 rating from Macworld in July 2008, which called it “the gold standard.”

*”RapidWeaver 4 ($79)”:http://www.realmacsoftware.com:* Create powerful, professional-looking Web sites quickly and easily.

__Notable Mentions:__ 2008 Macworld Editor’s Choice pick (5/5 rating), 4.5/5 rating from MacFormat magazine.

*”MacGourmet Deluxe ($44.95)”:http://www.marinersoftware.com/sitepage.php?page=130:* Like iTunes for food, track recipes, plan meals, manage wines, and more.

__Notable Mentions:__ 4/5 rating by MacLife magazine

*”LittleSnitch 2 ($29.95)”:http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html:* Monitors your network connection to make sure your Mac only sends out what you want it to.

__Notable Mentions:__ 4.5/5 rating by Macworld, 5/5 rating by MacUser UK.

*”KeyCue 4 ($27)”:http://www.ergonis.com/products/keycue/:* Displays full keyboard shortcuts for all your applications; learn them and work faster.

__Notable Mentions:__ 4.5/5 rating by Macworld, 5/5 rating by MacNotes

*”MacPilot 3 ($19.95)”:http://www.koingosw.com/products/macpilot.php:* Access hundreds of hidden features to customize and improve your Mac OS X experience.

__Notable Mentions:__ 5/5 rating by MacCompanion magazine, 4/5 rating by Macworld UK.

*”WhatSize 4 ($12.99)”:http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/index.php:* Effortlessly identify files that are hogging disk space and that you don’t need anymore.

__Notable Mentions:__ 4/5 rating by Macworld, prominently mentioned in the latest issue of MacFormat magazine.

*”iVolume 3 ($29.95)”:http://www.mani.de/ivolume/index.html:* Ensures all your iTunes tracks play back at the same level, so you never have to adjust the volume individually.

Click here to order:
http://www.mupromo.com/?ref= 5970

Arguably, I spend most of my days typing on the computer for one reason or another (emailing, searching, writing, etc…), so I always like to find shortcuts to make the process more efficient. Here are the top text tips (say that ten times fast) for selecting text that I’ve found help me the most:

* Use Command+ or Command- to change the size of the text*
Much faster than opening the font panel! __Note that this actually changes the point size of the text instead of zooming, so the document will print this way.__

* Drag cursor across to select a range of text*
The most common method to select text–great for multiple lines.

* Use the Shift key to select text.*
A faster option to select multiple lines of text. Just hold down Shift where you want to begin, and then click the mouse button at the end of your selection. The whole middle area should be selected.

* Double click on any word to select the entire word*
Really useful, especially for shorter words that are a pain to drag and select. I use it all the time in URLs! (to select “www” or “com/org” etc.)

* Triple click to select a whole line*
This will select an entire line or paragraph; also helpful when selecting urls.

* Hold Alt while dragging the cursor to select a box of text*
Really useful when working with tables (of the text variety, not the wooden kind). It will turn the regular cursor into a crosshair (ooh, snazzy).

* Use Command-A to select all*
When you just want to grab everything.

Bonus:
* Use Shift-Command-C to copy text __and__ style*
The perfect companion to Ed’s “Mac Treat #67.”:http://blog.smalldog.com/article/1487/mac-treat-67-match-font-styles-in-copy-and-paste/

__*@Don: touche… I’m from Maryland! :)__