Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Apple news, tech tips, and more…

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  • Surf Safe: A Cautionary Tale

    One of my first TT articles was a piece on a cold calling scam where someone would call you out of the blue and say that you have an issue with your computer and they had a fix: “Just let me remote in, install some software and for ONLY 200 dollars all of your problems are gone!” In the article I mentioned that this called a “phishing scam.” Well folks today we’ll talk about essentially the same scam but different rods and bait.

    The scammers have gotten more high tech and are taking more risks. Instead of cold calling people out of blue, they are DNS hijacking (that is a whole other can of worms) advertising servers and are then using their scripts instead of the real code. If you accidentally click on one of these pages, you will get their script using event handlers which consist of a “alert command” and a “ONLOAD command” which display a message such as: “Your Macintosh has been infected!!! Please call this number for further assistance.”

    Now working as a technician, I have heard many times that a customer let a stranger remote in to fix a problem that didn’t exist. I wondered “what is the end game here?” When one of these victims came in to make sure her computer was safe to use, she still had the number that she called handy. I decided to play the victim and call to see what happens.

    Before I did this, I did some prep work. First I used a fresh install of OS X with no third party software. I dd not use my home or work wifi network; I used a public one. Now I was all set up with a fresh copy of El Capitan on a MacBook Pro 2010 and phone number in hand.

    I dialed the 1-888 number provided and a nice person answered: “Hello, this is Rebecca. I’m with from COMPANY X. What is your issue?” I replied in a scared tone that I was surfing the web and got a pop-up on my screen that my Mac was in trouble and might you be able to help? “Sure, sir, we can help!” she responded.

    She instructed me to go to a website which was very primitive; just a page with three links: remote help for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The link installed a program called Team Viewer. She took control of my machine and opened System Preferences and a Terminal window and ran the *netstat* command, which is used for finding problems in the network and to determine the amount of traffic on the network as a performance measurement. It has NOTHING to do with malware, but she insisted that the other computers on this public wifi network were the “bad guys” trying to get into my machine. Then, in System Preferences she clicked on Security and Privacy and showed that a firewall was not installed, and she said she could transfer me to a technician and for a mere $199.99 they could fix it!

    At this point I decided to let her know that she was talking to a IT professional and hung up the phone. As soon as I hung up, I quickly disconnect the remote session and started to run malware scans. The scans came back clean; these scammers just wanted to scare a credit card number out of me.

    Don’t let them fool you! If you think your computer may have a problem, give us a call instead.

  • Charge Safe with a REAL MagSafe

    Most of us have had the need to buy a second MagSafe charger for our Apple laptop at some point. Maybe our old charger has worn out over the years of use, or we simply want an additional one to keep at our home or workplace.

    There are many different types of MagSafe chargers for sale on various websites. Many of the chargers that can be found for sale are not manufactured by Apple. These third-party chargers are typically much cheaper than the official Apple chargers, but can be dangerous to use. Third-party MagSafe chargers can shorten the life of your computer’s battery, or even damage the computer by causing the battery to expand. Expanding batteries can damage the main logic board, top case, or other expensive components of the laptop. There have even been reports of third-party MagSafe adapters igniting during normal use.

    It is always recommended to use an official Apple MagSafe charger if one is available. You can ensure that you will receive an official charger by ordering directly from Apple or from an Apple Authorized Reseller like Small Dog Electronics.

  • _Hello Fellow Technophiles,_

    We have become so accustomed to computers that devices that would have been considered too powerful to even imagine are now commonplace. We don’t even consider items like an iPhone a computer, even though the current generation has processors that would blow away the most powerful machine from just a few years back. And let’s not forget all of the household items from our cars to our washing machines that have imbedded processors in them. Once all of these devices are connected to the so-called “Internet of things” it will truly be a worldwide web.

    As this ever faster progress marches on, I want to take a minute to acknowledge one of the ancestors of all of our computers today: ENIAC. Short for Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer, this machine is considered by some to be the first true general purpose computer. This device cost over six million dollars (adjusted for inflation) and was HUGE. How big? According to Wikipedia:

    bq. ENIAC contained 17,468 vacuum tubes, 7200 crystal diodes, 1500 relays, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors and approximately 5,000,000 hand-soldered joints. It weighed more than 30 short tons (27 t), was roughly 2.4m x 0.9m x 30m (8 x 3 x 100 feet) in size, occupied 167m2 (1800 ft2) and consumed 150 kW of electricity.

    ENIAC day is celebrated on February 15th, and this year marked the 70th anniversary of its dedication. To celebrate, I offer this statement in a language ENIAC would understand:

    01001000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01111001 00100000 01100010 01101001 01110010 01110100 01101000 01100100 01100001 01111001 00100000 01000101 01101110 01101001 01100001 01100011 00100001

    Mike
    “*michaeld@smalldog.com*”:mailto:michaeld@smalldog.com

  • I think we might take a drive up to the Everglades this weekend to see if we can see any wildlife. A long time ago, Grace and I were riding motorcycles in the Everglades on some gravel road and I stopped to relieve myself and suddenly Grace started one of those real sharp intakes of breath. I looked around and there were two alligators about 6 feet from me. Needless to say, we hopped back on the bikes and took no photos.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    _Your Kibbles & Bytes Team_,

    Don, Emily & Scott

  • Black History Month – Dr. Charles Richard Drew

    Drew pioneered America’s first large-scale blood bank during World War II.

    Drew was born in Washington, D.C. As a child, he was an athlete and top student. He graduated from Amherst College before studying medicine at McGill University in Canada.

    In the late 1930s, Drew invented a way to process and preserve blood plasma, allowing it to be stored and shipped for blood transfusions. Until then, blood was perishable and not fit for use after about a week. Drew’s invention vastly improved the efficiency of blood banks.

    Drew’s work took on new urgency during World War II. As the leading expert on blood storage, he worked with the Blood for Britain project to oversee blood banks for British troops. In 1941, he was named medical director of the American Red Cross National Blood Donor Service. He recruited and organized the collection of thousands of pints of blood donations for American troops. It was the first mass blood-collection program of its kind.

    At the time, the American armed forces segregated blood from black and white donors. Drew spoke out against this racist and unnecessary practice. The military refused to change the policy, and Drew ultimately resigned. He returned to teaching at Howard University, where he had worked as an instructor in surgery.

  • Last Minute Ideas for Valentines day under $100

    Valentine’s Day for some can be a very stressful time, should you get something small, something big, in between? Well I for one hate to see anyone stress over a holiday and what to get! If you’re looking for something small and quick (and perhaps last minute) an iTunes gift card is a great choice. “**iTunes gift cards**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86637/apple-itunes-50-gift-card aren’t just for buying music either. You can use them to rent movies, buy apps from the App Store or even download a new piece of Apple software. It’s a small gift, but one that can has some real versatility to it!

    Another great and useful gift for anyone on your list is a portable speaker. Portable speakers are incredibly useful in countless ways, whether you’re traveling and want some music in your hotel room, a small speaker to listen to music softly in the office or even outside in the shop or garden. Almost everyone with a smartphone or in iPod can utilize a portable speaker. The “**Turtle Shell**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/85337/outdoor-tech-turtle-shell-2-0-rugged-wireless-boombox-black or “**Buckshot Pro**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002140 are two great portable speakers that are also waterproof! So no matter where or how they are being used, they are safe from life’s mishaps.

  • Wi-Fi Menu Trick

    By default, the Wi-Fi menu in OS X’s menu bar provides a list of available Wi-Fi networks and a couple of other things like a link to open Network Preferences. That’s okay, but for the real scoop on what’s going on behind the scenes, press the Option key as you click the Wi-Fi menu. In addition to several commands to run diagnostics, the menu provides tons of details about the current Wi-Fi network. You’ll find info on your Mac’s IP address, your router’s IP address, whether or not your Mac is reachable from the Internet, what form of security is in play, the router’s BSSID identifier (helpful if you’re not sure what you’re connected to in a complex network), which channel you’re using, how strong the signal strength is (RSSI–the closer to zero, the better), and the transmit rate of the network. This information is most useful when troubleshooting problems, so take a look if something isn’t working right with your connectivity. You can also run a diagnostic of your network and generate a diagnostics report that you can send to someone helping you with your network.

  • _Dear Friends_,

    People down here are putting on their down coats as the temperatures slip into the 50s while a few people up north in Vermont decide that long pants might be a good idea this weekend with below 0 temperatures forecast for the first time this winter.

    I enjoyed a good birthday on Sunday, watching the Celtics beat the Kings and then sort of watching the Super Bowl but mainly watching the commercials. Birthdays have become a bit different now with Facebook. Facebook lets everyone know it is your birthday and friends, family and people you haven’t heard from in years post birthday wishes. My high school class even posted. It is interesting to me how much Facebook and social media in general have changed how we do some simple things.

    Small Dog Electronics is looking for some new members to join our team for our Rutland store, marketing, bookkeeping and IT. Check out our current openings at “**smalldog.com/jobs**”:http://www.smalldog.com/jobs. If you know of someone in the area looking for a rewarding career have them send their resumé to “**jobs@smalldog.com**”:mailto:jobs@smalldog.com.

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive is a perfect little gift for Valentine’s Day. The “**Chill Pill Mobile Speaker**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002154/valentines-day-kibbles-exclusive-buy-two-get-one-free in bright red is much better than that lame box of chocolates. This week’s special is not one but 3 Chill Pills in red just in case you have more than one valentine. Normally $9.99 each this week you can get 3 for only “**$19.99**!”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002154/valentines-day-kibbles-exclusive-buy-two-get-one-free

  • Great February Savings and Last Minute Gifts for Your Valentine

    Is your old Mac feeling the winter blues? Are you sitting at your desk and finding yourself reminiscing about when you first got your Mac and it zipped along from one application to the next? Eventually no matter how great your Mac was when you first brought it home, it comes to the end of its life expectancy. Now is a great time to take advantage of our “**trade in program**.”:http://www.smalldog.com/tradein/small-dog-trade-in-program You can use your store credit toward a new computer or anything else in our store!

    “!http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4660.jpg!”:http://www.smalldog.com/presidentsday/presidents-day-sales

    Weren’t planning on buying a new computer? Did you know that Small Dog Electronics also offers financing? “**Special financing offers**”:http://www.smalldog.com/finance/affordable-financing-options are available everyday in our retail stores. On your next visit to our retail stores ask about our different financing options!

    “!http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4662.jpg!”:http://www.smalldog.com/finance/affordable-financing-options

    **Valentines Day** is only a few short days away and Small Dog has you covered! **$100 off** all Apple Factory refurbished computers while supplies last! We have in stock the “**11 inch MacBook Air**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002150 as well as the “**13 inch Macbook Air**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002152. Not sure a portable is the right solution for you or looking to make your dollar go as far as you can? The “**21 inch iMac**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002151 is perfect. And for anyone who has been wanting a new iMac for video editing check out the “**27 inch iMac**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002153. It’s an incredible machine and because it’s refurbished you save BIG verses buying it new. Don’t forget that all Apple Factory refurbished computers have 90 days of Apple phone support and a one year warranty on parts and labor. PLUS you can add Applecare to any of these computers to give you a total of three years of phone support and warranty coverage.

  • Small Dog is Hiring!

    Want to work with an amazing team AND get to work with Apple products all day? We have positions open in Rutland and in Waitsfield! See what “**jobs**”:http://www.smalldog.com/jobs/small-dog-job-openings we have open, we are eager to grow our team!

  • February Specials

    **Save $70** on the AudioEngine B2 Bluetooth Speaker

    **Save $20** on Outdoor Tech Buckshot Pro, a speaker, a powerbank and flashlight all in one

    **Save $25** on Outdoor Tech Orca wireless headphones

  • Life Expectancy

    It is well known that computers have a life expectancy. When I refer to the life expectancy of a computer I’m not referring to how long it will work, I’m referring to how long you can keep it up to date with supported software and get it serviced. Many machines will work for years past their life expectancy. If you are reading this on the model pictured on the right, your machine is definitely past its normal life expectancy.

    There are two terms that Apple uses for machine that they no longer have hardware support: Vintage and Obsolete. Apple usually classifies a machine as vintage once it reaches 5 to 7 years past its initial release and obsolete models are those that are 7 or more years old. Apple doesn’t provide hardware support for vintage and obsolete models, however most models that are vintage can support the latest software and receive updates.

    Once a machine becomes obsolete, however, it usually will no longer will be able to support the newest OS X and security updates. Once a machine has unsupported software the machine starts to be become more susceptible to security breaches. A common security breach comes from exploiting older software that has a known issue. Once your computer can’t accept a supported OS X (which is currently 10.10 Yosemite and 10.11 El Capitan) it reaches the end of its life expectancy because the machine is no longer is repairable by Apple and the machine cannot receive software updates.