ByMike Moffit

I really welcomed the end of daylight saving time. I believe a Native American once said, “Only the white man would think that if you cut a foot off of a blanket and sew it onto the other end of the blanket that the blanket is longer.”

Thank a veteran today for his or her service and sacrifice!

Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes team,

Don, Kali & Stephanie

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  • MAC TREAT #171: Utilizing Quick Looks in Mail

    You may have noticed that certain parts of a message in Mail can be highlighted when you hover over them, such as dates, times and addresses. For a while now, users have been able to select this information and add it to either Address Book or iCal without leaving the Mail application.

    In Lion, there is now added iCal functionality that allows the user to edit the event that has just been created–all within Mail. Along the same lines, one can now preview webpages without having to open a separate browser! In either case, there is an option to then open the application separately, but having this added integration makes workflow a lot more seamless.

  • Conserve Your iPhone's Battery, Plus iOS 5.0.1

    “*Last week,*”:http://www.loopinsight.com/2011/11/02/apple-confirms-battery-life-issues-in-ios-5/ Apple acknowledged the battery drain issue in the iPhone 4S, citing bugs in iOS 5 in addition to user preferences within it.

    I mentioned some of the preferences one could change in “*last Friday’s issue of Kibbles & Bytes*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/kibbles/kb748/, and it looks as though there are more settings that Apple recommends changing. Via a little research and a call to AppleCare, I’ve found the following have substantially improved the battery of the iPhone 4S:

    # *Settings > General > Slide Bluetooth to OFF*
    # *Settings > General > Set Auto-Lock to 1 Minute*
    # *Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data > Set to Hourly or Manually (you can leave Push ON, but turning off would likely save even more battery life)*

    Just how much more battery life have I experienced? The battery would last about 3/4 of the day (approx. 4 p.m.) before the “10% battery” message would pop up, and now that message appears either by 10 p.m. or the following morning (though I end up charging the phone every night anyway).

    The AppleCare representative also reiterated that the iOS 5.0.1 update should be out “momentarily,” and sure enough, it was released yesterday. To update to iOS 5.0.1, simply *plug your device into iTunes and click “Update”* or *update wirelessly within your device’s Settings panel.* This update marks the first available for wireless syncing.

    In addition to battery bug fixes, iOS 5.0.1:

    * Adds Multitasking Gestures for original iPad
    * Resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud
    * Improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation

    Combined with the preference changes, the iPhone 4S battery is back from the brink!

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  • Veterans Day, 2011

    We salute our veterans and honor their service and sacrifice today, Veterans Day.

    “Either war is obsolete or men are.” –Buckminster Fuller
    “There never was a good war or a bad peace.” –Benjamin Franklin

    No one hates war more than the soldiers who fight in them. A close friend of mine asked on Facebook, “What is the one thing you would change in the world if you could?” I did not have to think: It was NO MORE WAR.

    It is such a shame that we continue to send our strongest and brightest youth to fight in wars, wars that usually do not solve any of the underlying issues that caused the conflict to begin with.

    “How important is it for us to recognize our heroes and she-roes!” –Maya Angelou

    Thank you to all who have served!

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Is it still called Indian summer if we set record highs in the middle of November? The temperatures on Wednesday were in the 70s, and lucky for me, I had scheduled an appointment with the US Customs and Border Patrol way up in Champlain, NY to enroll in the Trusted Traveller program. This necessitated a motorcycle ride up US Route 2 through the Islands and across Lake Champlain for a 10-minute meeting and fingerprinting session. Now I can go in the fast lane when I re-enter the USA. The ride was spectacular and rare this time of year. Already the temperatures have changed and snow is in the forecast.

    I recorded radio and TV voice -overs this week for our new advertising campaign for our anniversary celebrations and Black Friday sales. Our South Burlington store turns five years old and our Manchester, NH store is one year old, and we are celebrating with five days of savings next week. Black Friday also promises to be a big day for our retail stores. Manchester gets the prize for opening earliest and will open the doors at 4 a.m., South Burlington opens at 5 a.m. and, due to town restrictions, Waitsfield opens at 10 a.m. All three stores will stay open late to make sure all customers can take advantage of these specials.

    With Vermont still struggling to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Irene, our hearts go out to the people of Thailand who are still under water from some of the worst flooding ever seen in that area of the world. This flooding in Thailand has had a severe impact upon the supply of hard drives; much of the world’s hard drive production is in Thailand, including some critical components in all hard drives like the motor that spins the discs. We have seen a rapid increase every day in hard drive prices and a very scarce supply as a result. Prices are rising quickly, so if you are considering a backup solution, do not hesitate as recovery is not projected for at least a few months.

  • Special: Ship It to Me!

    Small Dog staffers swill plenty of coffee out of our “*stainless steel travel mug*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/77979 featuring the Small Dog Electronics logo in eye-catching orange. Each mug holds 16 oz. of your beverage of choice and is outfitted with a snazzy blue grip to make sure it stays securely in your hand.

    These mugs are a popular favorite with staff and customers alike–especially during the holiday season–and this week we’re offering free shipping when you order one or more mugs and use code *kbtravel* in the cart.

    *The Small Dog Electronics Logo Travel Mug*–just $9.99 + free shipping with code *kbtravel* in the cart!