Author: Emily Dolloff

  • iOS Pop-Ups

    Earlier this week while waiting for a video to load on Facebook I had my phone taken over by a ransomware popup. Rather than an adorable puppy video, youtube locked up because a popup was telling me that I could be a big winner! The message promised that if I just hit OK I would be entered to win a free iPhone 6s.

    I did a little research on the message that displayed on my phone. This is just another scam to get what ends up being large amounts of money out of the user. If I had selected OK I could have experienced anything from unknown charges on my cell phone bill to having my information sold to third party companies, potentially leaving me inundated with phone calls trying to sell me something. Thankfully I immediately closed out of the app I was using and when the message still appeared when I re-launched I simply powered down my phone. Upon restart of my phone and re-launch of the app my phone was back to normal.

    While I do wish I could really just win a new Phone, it’s important to always remember that your computer or iOS device will not tell you your a big winner, nor will it tell you that there is suddenly something wrong that requires you call a phone number right away. These are just different forms of ransomware designed to trick you into spending money in some form. Probably the most common is a message to indicate your device has some sort of a virus on it. In some cases just disabling pop-up ads will result in these going away, but not always. The design by nature of this kind of pop-up is that it gives the illusion that your device is locked up and completely unusable until you call a phone number. However, in the majority of cases simply force quitting the browser or application will cause the threat to go away and you have little worry that anything happened to your device provided you did not call the phone number or tap on the message to acknowledge that you saw it.

    The proper way to handle these should you find yourself in the situation of seeing one of these message on your iOS device first try to force quit the app by simply double tapping on the home button and then swiping up to shut the app down. If the force quit does not work then you can go to settings and then Safari. From here you can easily clear your browser history and website data and that should take care of things. I did mention earlier in my article that I just shut my phone down. This is also an option but is not the preferred method as there is always a slight chance you could lose data.

    Your best defense if you see a pop-up or even get an e-mail from someone you know that seems out of character, whether you’re using an iOS device or a Mac, is do not click on any links that might be within the message. Nine times out of ten if you just force quit the application or delete the e-mail with the suspicious link or instructions you will be just fine and have nothing to worry about. Your best defense is to contact Apple directly or a trusted local repair shop and talk to them directly about helping to solve the problem you may or may not be happening.

  • Backing Up Your iPhone

    We spend a lot of time talking about how important it is to back up your computer, but we do not spend a lot of time talking about how important it is to back up your iPhone or to check and see what is actually backing up on your iPhone. For many users, the iPhone has become their primary resource for communication and organization, myself included.

    There are two primary methods of backing up your iOS device. You can back up to iTunes or you can choose to use the iCloud. By default, Apple almost seems to prefer and suggest that iCloud back up be your primary and preferred option for backing up your iPhone. iCloud backup for most users is probably the most convenient method because it happens without your having to do much of anything once it’s set up. To set up, make sure your phone is connected to WiFi, then click on settings then general followed by iCloud and lastly Backup. From here all that you need to do is ensure that iCloud Backup is turned on, but there are a few hidden catches to be aware of.

    Just turning on iCloud Backup is not enough to ensure that you are in fact backing up your important information. You must also go into settings and then iCloud and toggle on what you want to sync and back up via iCloud including your pictures. If you do not go in and manually toggle over all the options you would like to back up, like photos, contacts, calendars etc then you can risk discovering that you are not backing up all that you thought you were backing up. Another key and often overlooked factor when it comes to iCloud backups is storage space. By default all users get 5GB of free storage space. 5GB is plenty of storage in most cases for calendars, contacts, and notes. However, if you plan to also back up your photos you will find that you will quickly run out of space. Luckily it’s very easy to get additional storage. You can upgrade to 50GB of storage for just $.99 a month.

    One downside of using the iCloud for photo backup is that it’s not always clear what photos are backing up to the cloud, many users assume that all of their photos are backing up when in fact on some or perhaps no photos at all are going to the cloud! The best way to ensure your photos are backing up in the cloud is to actually log into your iCloud account. If your photos are correctly backing up to the cloud you will see the photos icon in your iCloud account. The first time you go to open up your photos it will take a few minutes for the library to set up and sync, but after that your photos should all load instantly. You can also check the rest of your information and data as well. Anything you have toggled on to back up to the cloud on your phone should also appear in your account. I always suggest browsing through from time to time just to make sure that things are working as they should.

    If the idea of a cloud-based backup seems a little intimidating, backing up through iTunes is another option and the method that I prefer. To back up to iTunes all you need to do is plug your phone into your computer and open iTunes. Everything will automatically back up except your photos. You will need to back up your photos in the Photos application directly, and is one downside to the iTunes backup. Another downside to the iTunes back up is that it’s not always clear exactly what backed up as the backups are hidden within iTunes.

    No backup method for your phone is perfect and they both have their flaws. It’s easy to assume everything is backed up. My recommendation is to to use both iCloud and iTunes for maximum protection of your data and to check on what’s backing up from time to time. It’s important to keep in mind that no matter how diligent you might be with your backups, it’s still possible to miss information, especially photos. Apple support documentation also warns against this, but as long as you monitor your backup methods you should have little worry about.

  • Should You Update?

    Over the past week or two, Apple has released updates for El Capitan, iOS 9, TV OS and Watch OS. The question that everyone always asks when these updates appear on their devices is “Do I really have to do this?” The answer to this in many instances in YES

    The nature of the updates that have come out most recently are what we call minor updates. They are simply revisions and repairs to the current version already running on your device. How do we know that? The third number is the only part that has changed. OS X El Capitan updated from 10.11.4 to 10.11.5, iOS 9.3.1 went to iOS 9.3.2 and so fourth. These kinds of updates are critical updates to run on your devices because they most often fix security concerns and provide bug fixes. When these updates come out it’s admittedly not always at the most convenient time for a user, so one great feature with most of the updates is that you can schedule for them to happen when your work flow will not be interrupted. You can easily set your computer, iPhone or iPad to run these updates in the middle of the night when your not using the device. It should be noted that for these settings to work in most cases you do need to have the device plugged into power.

    We always stress the importance of ensuring you have backed up your data before performing any kind of update to your software, but what many of us might not think about is compatibility within Apple installed software. Recently I performed the above updates on my iPhone and other iOS devices as well as my home computer. I rely heavily on iCloud and syncing of information and files so that no matter what computer or device I am on and I have access to much of my basic information, including my notes. I utilize the notes program for a lot of things, from basic grocery notes to meeting notes. Most notes I only need to keep for a short period of time and delete often, but in recent weeks I discovered that several of my notes had either disappeared altogether or were not updating to my MacBook Air. I verified that iCloud had copies of all the notes on my phone, I could make a new note in the cloud and it would show up on my phone, I could log onto my home computer and find my notes but nothing was updating to my MacBook Air. I deleted my iCloud and re-added it to my machine, turned notes on and all on my iPhone and nothing worked.

    Upon digging through several pages of support information and lots of frustration I discovered a critical error made on my part (one that I warn customers about all the time). I failed to pay attention to the little warnings as I hastily clicked through updates. One of the updates was specifically for notes and I paid absolutely no attention to the fact that there was a little warning box that said El Capitan would be required to view the notes upon completion of this upgrade. So now, until I get around to updating my MacBook Air, I’ll have to remember to either grab my phone when I need to make a note or to log into my iCloud account directly. These kinds of updates mishaps are most common with third party applications, so I gave no thought to the idea that I could or would loose access to my notes. Lesson learned on my part.

  • It’s another busy weekend on the books for me. Saturday is Green Up Day here in Vermont, and we’ll be doing our part around our house this weekend to pick up litter and other debris that have shown up with the spring thaw. I’ll be spending a portion of my time as well helping a local non-profit along with other Small Dog staff members to put on a free technology seminar. Hopefully we’ll be able to get our camper moved this weekend as well and get camp ready for summer before it’s time to resume work on the new horse barn again.

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Emily, Amy & Hadley_

  • Google Apps

    I’ll be honest, Google Apps, Gmail, Google Drive and anything associated with Google beyond a web search was very foreign to me. For over a decade my only resource for e-mail was Mac Mail, my preferred web browser was Safari and I only knew of Google as the place to go to search for whatever I wanted on the web. When Small Dog switched over to Google Apps for Business for many of our services, I was a hold out and avoided the change as long as I could.

    It’s been a long road (only due to my resistance) but I have learned to truly enjoy and utilize the benefits of Gmail, Google Apps and Google Drive. I still use Mac Mail as my primary mail program, and I keep all my contacts in my address book and iCloud, but I use other Google-based features on a daily basis. Prior to using Google, when I looked at e-mails on the road from my phone, I had to wait until I was back at my computer to file them away in their respective folders. Now I can quickly file away e-mails when I am done with them. I can do this from either the Mail app on my mobile devices, or via the Gmail app. I do admit I still prefer the Mail app, but the Gmail interface is growing on me.

    In the past year, if it wasn’t for “**Google Apps**,”:https://apps.google.com I would have found completing some tasks incredibly difficult and time consuming. No matter where I am, no matter what device I am using I can access my e-mail, my files, share files with others, my calendars and more! I’ve needed to work with outside consultants and designers for work and have been able to quickly and easily share files. I’ve had staff need me to share spreadsheets and documents. Thanks to Google Drive I can uploaded and download files much larger than those I might be able to share via e-mail.

    I think my two favorite features of “**Google Apps**”:https://apps.google.com are quickly filing e-mails and being able to have multiple users view and edit documents at the same time even while in different locations. The ability to view and share documents for multiple users to view, edit and share has honestly been invaluable. You can easily set up files as read-only or read and edit. One thing that I have discovered is that when you are using mobile devices such as iPhones or iPads, you do need to make sure you download the correct application and not just Google Drive in order for all users to not only view your documents, but edit them as well. Recently I was sharing a document with my husband. He had downloaded Google Drive and I shared my Google spreadsheet with him. He could see the document, but he was not able to see any changes that I was making without closing the file and re-opening it. He was not able to make edits either even though I gave him editing rights. It took a few minutes, but I discovered he needed to download Google Sheets in order to have full access to the file. This was one part of the Google interface that I did find to be not as intuitive as I would have liked. When you’re using your computer to create the files, you can access everything (for the most part) via Google Drive. On mobile devices you need to access some files via its specific app.

    It’s taken some time, but I’ve come to see the benefits and features of Google Apps. Many folks have been using these features for years and I know I am a little late to the game on this. Change isn’t always easy when it comes to computers, interfaces, operating systems and the like no matter your age and comfort level with computers! Are you interested in Google Apps for Business for your business? Small Dog Electronics has consulting services that have plenty of “**experience setting up Google Apps**”:http://www.smalldog.com/b2b-googleapps for businesses large and small.

  • _Dear Friends_,

    Don made it back to the Green Mountains over the weekend, but he wasn’t able to enjoy the cold weather for too long! Don’s in Houston this week at the ASMC conference, he’ll back back in charge of Kibbles next week. I think he was just looking for an excuse to get back to some warmer weather as fast as he could.

    As Apple specialists and as an Apple authorized reseller we are held to pretty high standards, not only by ourselves but by Apple as well. All of our retail staff upon hire and annually thereafter take a series of online training courses that provide in depth knowledge about Apple products and cloud services. Each year we also have the opportunity to send retail staff to Apple instructed training camps to help staff brush up on their Apple customer experience skills. These training sessions are not only designed for retail staff, but for our service staff as well. All of technicians, like our retail staff, take annual exams and participate in assorted training and exams sessions on a yearly basis to ensure that they are up to speed with current repairs processes and techniques.

    Over the past decade or so our sales have sifted more to our retail stores and less in the area of online sales, but for us the online competition still remains tough. Why? It’s simple, we live in a world where just about anything we want can be found with the tap of your finger or the tap of your mouse. What you can’t get with this instant gratification is the one-on-one interaction with a sales associate or service member who works daily with the products and that is why we spend so much time working with and training our staff.

    This week’s “**Kibbles & Bytes exclusive bundle**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002216 is the perfect gift for the grad on your list this year. Whether they are graduating from college or high school, this MacBook Pro 15in with Retina, 2.5Ghz i7, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB hard drive has all the power and storage they will need for their next adventures in life. I am bundling this with free shipping and AppleCare to ensure there is service and support for the next three years. Normally this bundle would cost $2430.97, but this week only you can get it for “**$2275.98**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002216

  • I’ve got another long weekend ahead of me. We’re building a small horse barn. We’ll be pouring the concrete slab and preparing the site for the actual barn assembly and building in a few weeks. We also have to get ready for our camping season to begin in mid May. There’s not not a lot of rest at the moment around my house even on the weekends!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    Don, Emily, Hadley & Amy

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Don’s making the voyage home this week from Key West back to the Green Mountains. He’s in for a bit of a shock when he gets back. Mother Nature seems to have gotten a bit confused this week. I mentioned in the fall that I was taking a new stance on winter and was going to embrace it this year and I truly did my best though we didn’t see much snow. But when we get a snow in late April, I choose to just ignore it. I didn’t bother to shovel off my deck and I left the hose to water my horses just thrown on the ground. In the end both these decisions only made my life harder. I had to lug water buckets for my horses as my hose was not only frozen to the ground, but frozen itself because I didn’t take the time to drain the water out of it. All the slush and snow I ignored on my deck was a sprained ankle waiting to happen and my screen door only opened halfway once everything froze back up. Well, let’s just hope this was finally the last of it and spring will finally show up for real. It always looks a little funny when the trees are starting to bud and there is still snow on the ground.

    The snow this week was a bit of a shock to many of us, and so was the latest financial report from Apple. For the first time in 13 years, Apple’s financial report showed lower than expected sales figures. iPhone sales showed their first decline since their release and iPad sales have been sluggish for several quarters now, but we’ll have more on this later in Kibbles.

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive is perfect for the on-the-run Mom on your list or anyone who is on the go and trying to fit time in for themselves between home and the office. This week only, save $40 on this perfect on-the-run bundle. Get the OutDoor Tech Kodiak mini, the BlueAnt Pump Mini headphones and the Belkin Slim-Fit Plus armband for “**$99.97**.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002212 This bundle is perfect for ensuring the mom who does it all can keep can keep her phone going to capture those special moments or squeeze in an important call during her workout.

  • Cut the Cord with these Graduation Specials!

    Now through May 23rd take advantage of these Small Dog exclusive specials.

    There’s no better way to cut the cord than with AppleTV and have hundreds of movies at your fingertips! Buy any new 32gb or 64gb AppleTV and get an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard for $35!

    Save $75 on Beats Solo2 Wireless headphones or ** Save $50** Beats Pill+ Wireless speakers when you purchase any new iPad.

    Save up to $100 on all in-stock GoPro Cameras. Never miss a single splash or that once in a lifetime bike trip with a GoPro camera. Small Dog Electronics also carries a HUGE selection of GoPro accessories ensuring that the perfect shots or videos are captured every time.

    Whether you’re looking for a gift big or small we have you covered! Not sure what to get for the Mom or Grad on your list? A gift card is a perfect gift!