Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Apple news, tech tips, and more…

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  • Neon Drive and Demoscene Roots

    Back in the day, I was very interested in game development and had many game ideas kicking around in my head, but I was never a very good or dedicated gamer myself. I tried console gaming for years, but found I am much happier just launching a game on my iPad after a long day when I want to relax. As a kid, it just required too much of an investment in a console, games, and time spent in front of the TV, but all of that has changed with Apple’s excellent game hardware in so many hands (I look forward to how the new Apple TV continues this). It’s just so easy for me to be the casual gamer I’ve been all along. My current favorites include “*Alto’s Adventure*”:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/altos-adventure/id950812012?mt=8 (a gorgeous endless snowboarding game) and “*Sky Force 2014*”:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sky-force-2014/id717233547?mt=8 (a detailed top-scrolling shooter).

    I’ve also always loved racing games and recently stumbled across “*Neon Drive*”:https://itunes.apple.com/app/neon-drive-80s-style-arcade/id1042326602?mt=8 in the App Store. It’s not a traditional racing game, but, to quote the web site, it’s a “slick retro-futuristic obstacle-dodging game”. The graphics have a neon retro-futuristic theme (think the Tron movies) with some fun visual effects and the music has an 80’s techno/tracker feel to it. One of the best parts of the game to me is the fact that the game is timed to the music, or the music to the game, and so it becomes very immersive if you put on headphones and get into the flow. You can really build your muscle & auditory memory to get through it. That’s not to say it’s too easy as it switches up the gameplay styles for an effective challenge.

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4586.png!

    The combination of the visual effects and music style hearkens back to the “*demoscene*”:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demoscene, for me anyway. The demoscene grew out of the underground software piracy scene (I do not condone software piracy, of course) during the early days of the personal computer back in the ’70s and ’80s as crackers (those who “cracked” copy protection on game disks) would make custom intros that played before the games as a signature (and to show off, of course). Not only did it take skill to break the copy protection, but there was so little space on floppy disks (even the game developers of the time crammed as much as they could onto them) that it took an extra level of skill to fit in a picture, funny animation, and sound into the minuscule remaining space. Naturally, this became a competition of bravado between individuals and groups of crackers, eventually expanding out into standalone demos with complex visual effects and music where they could really explore and hone their programming skills (esp. in the areas of compression–to fit more into less space–and procedural generation–to produce complex art and animations using mathematical equations to also do more with less).

    At the same time, Amiga users were using software called “*trackers*”:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_tracker to produce advanced musical arrangements using small sets of sounds recordings and various acoustic effects. Not only was this impressive for the simple computers of the time (I’m prepared to be flamed by Amiga users, they’re as obsessed as us Newton users)–like the programmers–they were also finding & inventing tricks to push the tracker software further than intended and expanding the art form. This music was used in games and demos, traded, and spread along with the demoscene.

    As the demoscene grew, individuals and groups got together for parties and competitions to show off their skills, art, and music in person. Competitions usually have different categories to which you can submit a demo or song to, many of which are still size limited as a greater challenge and sticking with tradition. There are now decades of demos and songs archived for posterity showing an incredible amount of programming prowess and artistic creativity. I still listen to a lot of the tracker/chiptune music, esp. while programming or writing, by streaming it from “*Nectarine Demoscene Radio*”:https://www.scenemusic.net/demovibes/. Lots of demos can be found preserved on “*pouet.net*”:http://www.pouet.net/ and “*files.scene.org*”:https://files.scene.org/, as well as “*YouTube*”:https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=demoscene. For a modern example (circa 2009), see the “*Rupture by ASD*”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmw87w7i6rQ demo video.

    As someone interested in programming and game development, but not much of a gamer, I was thoroughly interested in the demo as an art form. I only dabbled in demos, but have followed the demos and music on and off over the years. Since the iPhone’s release, I’ve seen a general resurgence of retro games with 8-bit, pixel graphics and chiptune music, just like the early consoles from the ’80s (it was a good fit for the slower processors, smaller storage capacities, and power usage considerations of the early iPhones when compared with desktop computers). Now that Apple’s devices have become so powerful, retro games are expanding out–much like the demoscene–into further visual effects and music.

    Thanks to “*Neon Drive*”:https://itunes.apple.com/app/neon-drive-80s-style-arcade/id1042326602?mt=8 for the entertainment and the trip down demoscene memory lane! Give it a try, if you haven’t already.

  • Soapbox: Refugees, Fear and Who We Are

    If the sadness and shock of the terrorist attacks in Paris were not enough, I was in shock this week as Islamaphobia and fear overwhelmed politicians and citizens. Some politicians were tripping over themselves to stoke the flames of fear by turning on the Syrian refugees. I don’t know about you but if I lived in Syria and there was a war in my neighborhood with madmen from both sides going berserk, I’d be a refugee, too. Oh, by the way, did you know that Steve Jobs father was a Syrian refugee?

    This was seemingly fueled by what turns out to be a very sketchy report that one of the terrorists posed as a refugee. That has since been discredited but the conclusion jumping was already in full swing. Some politicians tried even to separate their distain for refugees by religion but there is no religion that makes terrorism its creed and there have been terrorist from many religions. It is when hypocritical fanatics of any religion feel that they can impose their will upon others that conflicts arise.

    Way back when the USA was young, our friends in France sent us a gift. The Statue of Liberty proudly stands by our shores with the inscription that defines who we are as a nation:

    Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses, yearning to be free,
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
    Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me,
    I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

    When we succumb to the fear the terrorists win. When we change who we are, the terrorists have won. When we let prejudice trump common sense, the terrorists have won. We must lead by example and the example of shunning refugees is the wrong one. In the height of the worst terror since WWII, President Hollande of France recommitted to taking Syrian refugees saying “We have to reinforce our borders while remaining true to our values.”

    We cannot change who we are – unless you are a native American, you are a descendant of refugees and immigrants. This anti-immigrant, anti-Islam, anti-refugee wave of fear is unAmerican and is born of ignorance and hate.

    How do you feel about this trend towards exclusion of refugees and immigrants? Share your opinion at our blog – blog.smalldog.com

    End Soapbox

  • iPad Pro First Look

    I jumped on my motorcycle and went down to our store on Truman Avenue to grab the first iPad Pro that we were going to put on demo. I get to play with it first. So, I am literally getting my first hands-on experience as I type this issue of Kibbles & Bytes. Here are a few unboxing photos that I think are required for this type of article. The packaging is up to Apple’s usual extraordinary standards. You open the box and right on top is the iPad Pro in all its glory. After you remove the paper cover you can start it up by holding down the power button.

    This one had a 75% charge and within a couple minutes I was able to bypass all the start-up stuff like entering my Apple ID so that I could get to the home page. Under the iPad is the charger and the lightning cable and the little booklet with all the warnings and stuff. The on-screen keyboard is big and easier to type on that with the smaller iPads. It comes loaded with the standard Apple apps and also has the iLife apps pre-loaded.

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4582.jpg!

    The screen is spectacular and I can easily see that an iPad Pro could be the only device someone might need depending upon their digital lifestyle needs. It would not work for me since I run a proprietary database for Small Dog but if I was just doing writing, emails, web surfing and watching media, I think it would be just fine. It is like holding a very thin, very light 13-in computer – doh! That’s exactly what it is.

    We checked out the fit with our 13-inch Hammerhead neoprene sleeves and in Rob’s words – it fits like a glove. Unfortunately, we do not have the Pencil or the Smart Keyboard in yet and I can’t wait to get this into the hands of some of my more artistically inclined friends to see how it performs as a creative platform.

    iOS9 on the iPad Pro makes Slide Over, Split Screen Multitasking and Picture-in-Picture multitasking possible. You simply touch the bezel on the right side and slide to the left to see the tiles of the available apps. Selecting one of those and sliding to the left will enable split screen and you can resize the windows with the grabber.

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4581.jpg!

    Picture-in-picture is a great little feature so you can watch the NBA game with the NBA Team Pass in a little window while you are working on that document in Pages. Very, very cool.

    If the demand thus far from our customers is any indication, I think the iPad Pro will be a big hit! Come on into any of our stores to give it a try!

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Our hearts are broken not only for the victims of the senseless acts of terrorism in Paris but also to the victims of less publicized but equally horrible violence in Kenya, Syria, Iraq and other areas. Whether it is senseless shootings in the USA or fanatical terrorists abroad it is truly boggling to comprehend. But we do grieve for the victims as we search for ways to make our world a safer place.

    We are kicking off the holidays with a bunch of special values and working to keep the most popular items in stock for you this year. I think that the new Apple TV, the new iPads and the MacBooks are going to be very popular. We also have a good selection of Apple Factory Reconditioned MacBook Airs and iMacs. These carry the same Apple 1-year warranty as new Macs and are eligible for AppleCare, too.

    Did you know that we offer one-on-one lessons at all of our stores? We will come to you, too! If you have a whole list of things that you would like to get straightened up on your Mac or other devices we can help! Give us a call to schedule a sit-down with one of our experts.

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive features the Apple Factory Refurbished 21.5-inch iMac bundled with AppleCare that will give you 3-years of hardware warranty instead of the normal 1-year and will also give you 3-years of technical support from Apple instead of the normal 90-days. This iMac comes with 8GB of RAM and a big 1TB hard drive. For Kibbles & Bytes readers if you buy this “*iMac with AppleCare this week you will also get a free pair of Chill Pill speakers and $50 off!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002078/special-save-50-and-free-chill-pill-w-apple-factory-refurbished-21-5-imac For this week only that is only $1169.98 for the bundle.

  • iPad Goes Pro!

    Apple has released the iPad Pro and some of the first reviews are in. I haven’t had a chance to play with one yet but I think this new iPad pushes Apple into two markets for iPad that it has only brushed before. One is the enterprise market and the other is the creative market. My good friend Dave Sellers, is an architect and I often see him with yellow tracing paper sketching up new designs for whatever harebrained scheme he might be working on. I told him about the new iPad Pro and the Pencil and I know I will want to get that into his hands as soon as possible to see if that old guy can do some magic on this new technology. The business or enterprise market for iPad is blossoming with Apple’s partnership with IBM and Cisco and the iPad Pro is going to push that window even further.

    When Apple announced the iPad Pro with its A9X chip, they stated that it would be faster than 80 percent of the PCs that shipped this year. It appears to be true and the $799 base model iPad Pro is faster and more powerful than the $899 Microsoft Surface Pro 4. But speed is not the whole picture. With 5.6 million pixels the 12.9 inch Retina display is the highest resolution of any iOS device. It is a fully laminated display with anti-reflective coating and technologies like Photo Alignment and Oxide TFT to deliver rich contrast, stunning color and deeper blacks.

    One would expect the first generation of the iPad Pro to be a bit clunky in size but at just 6.9mm thick and about a pound and a half, it is a very thin and lightweight powerhouse. The iPad Pro features four speakers which will give you amazing sound and more than three times the sound output of any iPad. The speakers are orientation savvy so whether you are in landscape or portrait mode the low frequencies play on all four speakers and the higher frequencies play for the top.

    iOS 9 was built for the iPad Pro and this new iPad takes advantage of the multitasking, split view, picture-in-a-picture, Siri and Spotlight search capabilities of iOS9. Touch ID makes your new iPad Pro more secure and easy to use and with iSight and FaceTime cameras those of you that like to take photos with a giant iPad can do so.

    The Smart Keyboard is probably the feature that might make this iPad replace a Mac for some. It is a full size keyboard that is water and stain resistant and very thin. It does not require Bluetooth and connects via the iPad Pro’s Smart Connector. This provides a connection for both power and data. It is not just some third-party keyboard paired to the iPad Pro; this Apple-designed keyboard is fully integrated into the iPad Pro and iOS9. Steve Jobs once said that he saw no need for a stylus because we all have ten pointing devices, called fingers. I don’t think he rolled over in his grave when Apple introduced the Pencil because it is not designed to be a pointing device but rather as a drawing device. It is weighted but won’t roll off the desk and the Pencil is sensitive to both tilt and pressure allowing your creative impulses to flow from the thinnest line to deep shading. I am no artist but I can’t wait to see some of the digital art produced with the combination of the iPad Pro and the new Pencil.

    I hope to give you some first-hand feedback soon on this new member of the iPad family!

  • Fody Personal Weather Station: A Review

    When I saw that we had started to carry the Fody Tempus Pro Bluetooth weather station, I was immediately interested. At my apartment, I had a really old, pretty cheap, wireless thermometer I was using to help me figure out how to dress myself for the conditions outside. You know, t-shirt, sweater, jacket, full Antarctica-grade parka…it is Vermont after all. The problem I always had with it was that the remote sensor couldn’t get wet, and there just weren’t many places I could put it. Last year I got a slightly better thermometer base station that used a wired thermocouple that could easily be passed out a closed window. The thermocouple is sealed and can get as wet as you want. That worked a lot better, but the base station features weren’t as good. I didn’t like the way it recorded min/max temperature.

    So when I saw the Tempus Pro, I thought it might be able to solve all of my problems. In addition to indoor/outdoor temperature and indoor humidity, it also records outdoor humidity, rainfall, barometric pressure, windspeed and wind direction. Instead of all that data going to a limited base station, it goes to my iPad, where I can quickly see trends, share it with friends on Twitter or Facebook or just email myself the raw data.

    I had a few concerns such as whether or not the radiation shield on the outdoor temperature sensor would work. You have to install the Tempus Pro in an open location so that wind and rain can be recorded, but this most likely means it’ll be in the sun too, which would completely mess up the temperature reading. The radiation shield actually does an amazing job at preventing that. I haven’t seen any excessively high temperatures recorded even when the station was baking in the sun.

    Setup was very easy for a device that’s actually doing a lot of complicated things. The outdoor station transmits its data to the indoor base station that is plugged into the wall for power. This transmission is probably very basic radio since the range is quite a bit more than is possible with Bluetooth and the outdoor station only uses three included AA batteries. The indoor station uses low-energy Bluetooth to relay indoor and outdoor sensor data with your iOS or Android device.

    Once everything is paired and running (which is easy to do if you follow the order indicated by the instructions), you will see real-time data being displayed on your iOS or Android device via the Fody app. It also builds graphs of historical data so you can watch trends. One of the things I liked most about the app was the alerts feature. I can set high/low alert thresholds for any of the sensors. I set up an alert for when the outdoor temperature falls below freezing. A few times this past week, I was sitting on my couch and heard my iPad chime. It was an alert letting me know it had fallen below freezing outside. Very cool! You could also set other useful alerts for things like excessive rain, or high winds.

    Overall I think the Tempus Pro is a pretty neat device and the simple use and setup belies the actual complexity of having your own personal weather station. If you’ve ever been curious about setting up a personal weather station at home, or just want something a bit more than temperature readings like I did, you won’t be disappointed with the Fody Tempus Pro.

  • The Value of Applecare+ by Vincent

    Many people have asked me about the value of Applecare+. I have always told people that I think it’s worth the extra expense….

  • Grace and I are going to the Steve Jobs movie which I guess has not faired that well at the box office. I think it will be a bit different for us since we have lived and breathed Apple for so long and will remember the product introduction events, many of which I was present to witness. I will let you know what we thought so you can decide whether to rent it on the iTunes store when it is available. It is nice to be able to just ride our bicycles to the movie theater rather than the trek in Vermont up to Burlington which is an hour each way. I seem to get a lot more exercise in Key West than in Vermont – or at least my Apple Watch says so.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Dean, Morgan & Scott_

  • Fody Personal Weather Station: A Review

    When I saw that we had started to carry the “**Fody Tempus Pro Bluetooth weather station**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/87362/tempus-pro-bluetooth-weather-station, I was immediately interested. At my apartment, I had a really old, pretty cheap, wireless thermometer I was using to help me figure out how to dress myself for the conditions outside. You know, t-shirt, sweater, jacket, full Antarctica-grade parka…it is Vermont after all. The problem I always had with it was that the remote sensor couldn’t get wet, and there just weren’t many places I could put it. Last year I got a slightly better thermometer base station that used a wired thermocouple that could easily be passed out a closed window. The thermocouple is sealed and can get as wet as you want. That worked a lot better, but the base station features weren’t as good. I didn’t like the way it recorded min/max temperature.

    So when I saw the Tempus Pro, I thought it might be able to solve all of my problems. In addition to indoor/outdoor temperature and indoor humidity, it also records outdoor humidity, rainfall, barometric pressure, windspeed and wind direction. Instead of all that data going to a limited base station, it goes to my iPad, where I can quickly see trends, share it with friends on Twitter or Facebook or just email myself the raw data.

    I had a few concerns such as whether or not the radiation shield on the outdoor temperature sensor would work. You have to install the Tempus Pro in an open location so that wind and rain can be recorded, but this most likely means it’ll be in the sun too, which would completely mess up the temperature reading. The radiation shield actually does an amazing job at preventing that. I haven’t seen any excessively high temperatures recorded even when the station was baking in the sun.

    Setup was very easy for a device that’s actually doing a lot of complicated things. The outdoor station transmits its data to the indoor base station that is plugged into the wall for power. This transmission is probably very basic radio since the range is quite a bit more than is possible with Bluetooth and the outdoor station only uses three included AA batteries. The indoor station uses low-energy Bluetooth to relay indoor and outdoor sensor data with your iOS or Android device.

    Once everything is paired and running (which is easy to do if you follow the order indicated by the instructions), you will see real-time data being displayed on your iOS or Android device via the Fody app. It also builds graphs of historical data so you can watch trends. One of the things I liked most about the app was the alerts feature. I can set high/low alert thresholds for any of the sensors. I set up an alert for when the outdoor temperature falls below freezing. A few times this past week, I was sitting on my couch and heard my iPad chime. It was an alert letting me know it had fallen below freezing outside. Very cool! You could also set other useful alerts for things like excessive rain, or high winds.

    Overall I think the Tempus Pro is a pretty neat device and the simple use and setup belies the actual complexity of having your own personal weather station. If you’ve ever been curious about setting up a personal weather station at home, or just want something a bit more than temperature readings like I did, you won’t be disappointed with the Fody Tempus Pro.

  • The Smallest iPad

    Well, I guess the iPod touch is the smallest iPad but it is still called the iPod touch so I am writing about the iPad mini 4. I have been waiting for a customer return or open box unit so that I can upgrade to this latest iPad mini. I have the 2nd generation iPad mini and it is always close by. While I primarily use it for reading, I have used it as my sole technology on journeys overseas and find that the size is perfect for me.

    The new iPad mini 4 has several new innovations but its size is simply astounding. It packs the powerful A8 chip in a sleek housing that is only 6.1mm thick and weighs about 2/3 of a pound. With the 64-bit architecture this iPad is fast and powerful. The processor is 30% faster than previous iPad minis and the graphics are an amazing 60% faster. One feature that I know I am looking forward to is the 3.1 million pixel Retina display. This will give me much crisper text and lots of detail in images. The anti-reflective coating will make it easier to use in a variety of lighting conditions including the bright sun out in my backyard.

    I think I am so used to Touch ID on my iPhone 6 that I keep trying to unlock my iPad mini 2 with my finger. Fortunately, when I upgrade I will have Touch ID on the iPad mini 4 not only to unlock the iPad but also to purchase music or other content from the iTunes store and while I doubt I will use the iPad for Apple Pay that much it is ready for me if I do.

    While I do not think I have ever taken a picture with my iPad and think it is sort of funny watching tourists take pictures of the ocean with their iPads, the iPad mini 4 has an 8 megapixel iSight camera on the back and a FaceTime camera on the front for great pictures and videos. Video can be at 1080p with the iSight camera and 720p with the front-facing camera.

    With 802.11ac wireless protocol, I will be able to take advantage of the full speed of my network, too. I wonder if I should get the gold one?

  • iPad Goes Pro!

    Apple has released the iPad Pro and some of the first reviews are in. I haven’t had a chance to play with one yet but I think this new iPad pushes Apple into two markets for iPad that it has only brushed before. One is the enterprise market and the other is the creative market. My good friend Dave Sellers, is an architect and I often see him with yellow tracing paper sketching up new designs for whatever harebrained scheme he might be working on. I told him about the new iPad Pro and the Pencil and I know I will want to get that into his hands as soon as possible to see if that old guy can do some magic on this new technology. The business or enterprise market for iPad is blossoming with Apple’s partnership with IBM and Cisco and the iPad Pro is going to push that window even further.

    When Apple announced the iPad Pro with its A9X chip, they stated that it would be faster than 80 percent of the PCs that shipped this year. It appears to be true and the $799 base model iPad Pro is faster and more powerful than the $899 Microsoft Surface Pro 4. But speed is not the whole picture. With 5.6 million pixels the 12.9 inch Retina display is the highest resolution of any iOS device. It is a fully laminated display with anti-reflective coating and technologies like Photo Alignment and Oxide TFT to deliver rich contrast, stunning color and deeper blacks.

    One would expect the first generation of the iPad Pro to be a bit clunky in size but at just 6.9mm thick and about a pound and a half, it is a very thin and lightweight powerhouse. The iPad Pro features four speakers which will give you amazing sound and more than three times the sound output of any iPad. The speakers are orientation savvy so whether you are in landscape or portrait mode the low frequencies play on all four speakers and the higher frequencies play for the top.

    iOS 9 was built for the iPad Pro and this new iPad takes advantage of the multitasking, split view, picture-in-a-picture, Siri and Spotlight search capabilities of iOS9. Touch ID makes your new iPad Pro more secure and easy to use and with iSight and FaceTime cameras those of you that like to take photos with a giant iPad can do so.

    The Smart Keyboard is probably the feature that might make this iPad replace a Mac for some. It is a full size keyboard that is water and stain resistant and very thin. It does not require Bluetooth and connects via the iPad Pro’s Smart Connector. This provides a connection for both power and data. It is not just some third-party keyboard paired to the iPad Pro; this Apple-designed keyboard is fully integrated into the iPad Pro and iOS9. Steve Jobs once said that he saw no need for a stylus because we all have ten pointing devices, called fingers. I don’t think he rolled over in his grave when Apple introduced the Pencil because it is not designed to be a pointing device but rather as a drawing device. It is weighted but won’t roll off the desk and the Pencil is sensitive to both tilt and pressure allowing your creative impulses to flow from the thinnest line to deep shading. I am no artist but I can’t wait to see some of the digital art produced with the combination of the iPad Pro and the new Pencil.

    I hope to give you some first-hand feedback soon on this new member of the iPad family!

  • _Dear Friends,_

    I have been watching the weather via my Belkin webcam and my weather apps up in Vermont and it has been a remarkably mild autumn during stick season and the grass up at Prickly Mountain is still green. Down here in Key West it is just a boring sunny, 80 degrees. We picked a couple of grapefruits from the “cocktail” tree we planted last year and they were sweet and juicy. The Parrot Heads have left and I think the power boat races are up next here.

    We had a very successful one-day sale at all of our locations. I worked the Key West store with Joe and we had a good time helping customers with Macs, iPads and speakers. Our friends over at Pirate Radio here in Key West did a couple of live remotes via their iPhone and a microphone. It was a far cry from the old days when a remote meant a table full of equipment, phone lines and several people.

    The new Apple TV is now in our stores and we are trying our best to keep it in stock but I think it is going to be one of the biggest holiday gift items ever. Just as we start getting stock on the Apple TV we have received shipping notices on the new iPad Pro. I am very excited about the iPad Pro and I do think that it will help stimulate the iPad market. Tim Cook said he is traveling with only his iPad Pro and iPhone and it is certainly possible that is the new paradigm, but I cannot quite imagine going without my Mac just yet.

    The Kibbles special of the week is a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre Powerbeats2 and a sport armband case for iPhone 6/6 Plus. “**Get it here!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002016