Author: Mike Moffit

Throughout the year, we’ll be doing some much-needed updates to this newsletter and to the blog, though they’re a little ways off. As always, we welcome your feedback, so I encourage you to “*email me*”:mailto:kali@smalldog.com if you’d like to tell us what you like (or don’t like!).

Thanks for reading!
_Kali, Steph & Mike_

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Welcome to another edition of Meet the Small Dogger! This week, we are happy to introduce you to the original ‘Mike B.’ (we currently have three Mike Bs here at Small Dog)! “*Mike Bagtaz*”:http://www.smalldog.com/mikeb is the Assistant Store Manager in our “*Manchester, NH*”:https://www.facebook.com/smalldognh location and has been with us since the store opened in 2010.

Mike has been settled and living in New Hampshire since he was 14, but before that, he grew up in eight different states. He currently lives with his wife and their 12-year old yellow lab, Brandi. Mike and his wife have been busy reorganizing their home in preparation for their first child. Congrats!

Mike loves everything football, but believe it or not, he isn’t a Patriots fan; instead, he’s a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan! Mike was psyched when he attended his first real, live football game in their stadium last year.

Mike’s also a big foodie, especially when it comes to burgers. He will go out of his way in search of the best burger, and his attempt to achieve that goal happens on a weekly basis. Mike also collects cookbooks. He learned to cook from his mom (which is where some of his favorite meals come from) and is constantly trying to add new and exciting recipes to his usual meals.

If you happen to be in the Mall of New Hampshire, be sure to pop into our “*store*”:http://www.smalldog.com/nh and say “Hi” to Mike and the great staff there!

Recently, it came time to update our email signatures company-wide for the new year. I thought this sounded like a fun job to do, so I hopped right on the saddle before I knew what I was getting myself into. What I found is that amidst all of the things Apple does well, their signature utility in Apple Mail is a big pain in my butt!

Through various attempts to create a signature using rich text instead of plain text, I finally had to simply give up on the endeavor and try to use HTML. Long story short, there are inconsistent layout and copy/paste issues with links and fonts, and it’s less than ideal when your goal is for consistency among employees across the company.

The HTML process went so much smoother, and I was able to recreate a signature exactly how I wanted it. The problem with HTML signatures, however, is that they are not supported by all mail clients. Since we cater to a very diverse customer base, we need to make our things work for the lowest common denominator, so to speak. Therefore, it was back to rich text for me.

Thankfully, all of my prior work wasn’t all for naught! If you’re someone who wants a sophisticated signature for personal (or business) use on either one or just a few computers, HTML is a nice option. You can easily get what you want out of a signature in Apple Mail by using a combination of HTML and rich text. (Note that the following instructions use only text and no images, though images could be added to HTML if desired.)

* The first thing you have to do is create the signature you want in HTML. (I use Sublime Text 2 for my coding.)
* Once it is created, open it up in a web browser like Safari.
* From there, simply select the entire contents of that page using the shortcut “command+a” and copy it all using “command+c”.
* With that in your clipboard, open Mail go to *Mail > Preferences > Signatures.*
* Add a new signature by hitting the “+” symbol and paste what you copied earlier into the window on the right.

All of your formatting should be preserved and everything will now be in rich text rather than HTML. You now have the signature you always wanted without the headache of fooling around with Apple’s signature utility in the Mail app!

Something cool that is either new to, or made easier by, iTunes 11 is streaming select online radio within the iTunes app. 

Every Thursday, we record our radio talk show, Small Dog Speaks, on local station WDEV in Waterbury, VT.  Normally, we office-folk listen when it airs from 1-2pm, so when 1:00 rolls around, we put on our headphones and listen via WDEV’s online stream. It takes up bandwidth for each of us to do that, so it makes sense to listen to it collectively on our “Fishbowl” speakers. (For those of you who don’t know, our “Fishbowl” is one big office here at our headquarters in Waitsfield.) 

Most days, the Fishbowl speakers are run from Don’s computer (Reggae Thursday, anyone?), which utilizes the AirPort Express we have plugged into the office sound system. The tricky thing about the Apple AirPort Express is that you are only able to play music from your iTunes library, though. (Apple is -sneaky- smart that way.) You aren’t able to play anything from around the web through the AirPort Express (i.e. Spotify, Pandora, YouTube).

So — if you’d like to stream a radio station through iTunes, Apple has actually made it pretty simple. A lot of radio station’s websites have links that will automatically open in iTunes and begin playing. But if that doesn’t happen, there’s a pretty simple way to make it so. 

On most streamable webpages you are given the option to stream in HTML or Flash; for this, choose HTML. When that opens, copy the link from the address bar. Open iTunes and choose “Open Stream” under the “File” menu (or Command U). Paste the web address into that dialog window.  Boom — you’re done. Your radio show should begin playing through the iTunes window. 

Enjoy through your headphones, or if you have that nifty AirPort Express, play through the speakers for all to hear and enjoy!

_Dear Friends,_

It’s Kali, writing for Don this week — he, Hapy and Jason W. are out in “*Vegas, baby, Vegas!*”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV1HSscPYSY at the “*Consumer Electronics Show*”:http://www.cesweb.org (commonly known as CES to the tech-inclined masses). CES is always an exciting show, since the world’s technology giants (save for Apple) showcase their latest wares for all to ogle.

Already, we’ve found that the announcements haven’t disappointed. Samsung unveiled a “*110-inch 4K LED TV,*”:http://www.techtree.com/content/news/2380/ces-2013-samsung-world-s-largest-110-4k-led-tv.html which Don frequently stated beforehand that he was most excited about (well that, and to see all of the Apple-inspired -knockoffs- products). A 4K TV is also known as Ultra HD and boasts a 3840 x 2160 resolution — amazing. We’re hoping Don still has his retinas intact when he returns. We’ve also seen the release of a “*1TB flash drive from Kingston,*”:http://www.pcworld.com/article/2024220/kingstons-1tb-thumb-drive-packs-massive-storage-capacity-in-tiny-package.html which most of us can’t imagine actually needing in real life, but it sure is cool to think about (much cooler than the roughly $3.5 grand price tag it’s rumored to have)! And finally, for something both Matt and I noticed as parents of toddler-aged children: the “*iPotty,*”:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20957844 a training potty with a built-in waterproof iPad attachment. Oy…

But, back in the Green Mountain State, which is largely covered in the fantastic white stuff at the moment, we’re enjoying the winter weather and feeling energized by the fact that it’s a “fresh new year,” as Don would say. The holidays have come to a close, and we’re concentrating on what 2013 will bring us (and what we’ll be making happen) — most notably, a new store in Rutland, VT come springtime.

We have some tips for you regarding Apple Mail and iTunes, as well as another installment of “Meet the Small Dogger.” Enjoy!