Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Understanding FileVault Encryption

    There are several different types of passwords in Mac OS X. Today we will be discussing user account passwords and FileVault passwords. User account passwords are not considered to be secure by tech-savvy people. A user account password can be changed without knowing the original password in less than ten minutes by an individual with knowledge of the inner workings of Mac OS X. User account passwords are generally useful to keep your computer safe from snooping family members or roommates, but they are nearly useless against a knowledgeable hacker.

    FileVault passwords, on the other hand, will stop anyone without millions of dollars of hardware and several years to dedicate to cracking the password. Enabling FileVault on your computer will make it virtually impossible for the data to be accessed by unauthorized individuals, but the downside is that no one, not even Apple themselves, will be able to recover your data in the event that you forget your password. This is because FileVault encrypts the entire hard drive.

    I like to use an analogy to explain how FileVault works: Imagine you have a room full of books, with no windows and only one door. You want to prevent the books from being read by anyone you have not authorized, so you install a lock on the door; this is analogous to a user account password. This will keep out most people, but it is still possible for someone to break the door down and get into the room. If you really want to prevent the books from being read, you can use a secret code to translate each word of every book into gibberish. Now, even if someone manages to break the door down, the books are still useless to them unless they have the secret code, which only you know.

    FileVault is a very powerful tool to keep your information private, but use it with caution. As a repair technician, I have seen far more people forget their FileVault password than I have seen people use FileVault to its full potential.

    “*See this article for more information about FileVault*”:https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204837

  • _Hello Fellow Tech Enthusiasts,_

    It is finally cold here in Vermont. After an unusually warm December, we have been hit with an arctic blast that has dropped the temperature to single digits and even below zero in some places. While heat is a major killer of electronics, cold can do a number on them too. The iPhone 6 specifications, for example, indicate that the phone should not be operated below 32 degrees Fahrenheit or stored while powered down below negative 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

    I tend to leave my phone everywhere (but always eventually find it thanks to Find My iPhone!) including in my car, but I try to be especially careful not to do this when the weather is cold, and if I do, to retrieve it as soon as I remember. Please also note that quickly warming a device up can cause condensation to form, which leads to another major killer of electronics, water damage, so I always give my phone plenty of time to adjust if it gets left out accidentally.

    *REMEMBER:* Take your kids, your pets, AND your electronic devices in from the cold and they will all thank you!

    Happy New Year 2016! For those who prefer hexadecimal, Happy 7E0!

    _Mike_

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

  • As I mentioned, I will be off to Las Vegas next week and Emily will have to take the lead on Kibbles but she is really good at that. I’ll do my CES report once I get back to my office here in Key West. Vermont finally got some snow so the folks up there are feeling a bit more normal now.

    I want to wish you the happiest, safest and most wonderful New Year! Let’s make 2016 a great one!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Emily, Dean & Scott_

  • QardioArm

    Over the Holidays I purchased the “**Qardio Arm**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86560/qardio-qardioarm-blood-pressure-monitor-white for my mom. She’s been struggling with blood pressure issues over the last several months and working closer with her doctors to help manage this. She is also a recent adopter to the iPhone, so I admit, another reason for the purchase was to get her to use her phone more to see all that it’s capable of doing for her!

    It took just five minutes to set up the blood pressure cuff and download the App. With the tap of the phone to the cuff the unit quickly came to life and good it’s first reading then the information was quickly sent to your iPhone. Once the first reading is taken all you need to do is launch the App, tap “measurement” and then the green start button. One of the great features and why I purchased the product is that it easily keeps your history. No more bringing a sheet of paper or notebook to the doctor’s office. You can simply open up the App and show it to your doctor, the iPhone can provide location information, providing you with detailed information on your health. A simple yet convenient feature about this product is it runs off AAA batteries making it easy to keep up and running no matter where you are. Additionally, you can have multiple users utilizing the cuff and it even has the ability to share the information with others. Lastly it works with Apple HealthKit allowing you to fully track your fitness and health history on one convenient device.

    It’s amazing the technology that we can fit into our pockets these days, even more amazing is how useful and easy to use so much of it is.

  • Crystal Ball Gazing

    Here’s my predictions from last year, let’s see how I did:

    h3. The Apple Watch will be huge hit with over 10 million sold in 2015

    bq. __The Apple Watch has been a hit and while the final numbers are not in for the holidays, Apple expanded distribution channels and most predict about 15 million were sold in 2015. I know I still wear mine everyday and find new uses for it all the time. One right for Don and Apple.__

    h3. Apple Pay will become the de facto standard for mobile payments

    bq. __Well, Apple Pay is the most predominate mobile payment standard with more and more locations accepting Apple Pay but there are some huge holes where Apple Pay is not accepted and there are still some competing standards. I’m giving this one a toss-up because it is the most successful but I can’t call it the de facto standard quite yet.__

    h3. Apple will become the first $1 trillion company

    bq. __Miss. Apple stock has taken a hit in 2015 regardless of the great new products, record setting sales and earnings and a huge cash stockpile.__

    h3. Okay, this year we will have undisputed evidence of extraterrestrial life

    bq. __Hmm, I thought we were really close when NASA held that press conference to announce an astounding Mars discovery but it was just confirmed evidence of water. Soon.__

    h3. Cubbies will make the playoffs

    bq. __The did but got beat by the arch-enemy Cards.__

    h3. The Patriots will not win the Super Bowl

    bq. __Rob was doing his little victory dance – yeah, the New England team won.__

    h3. There will be 11 vetoes by President Obama

    bq. __Not even close, despite the gridlock in Congress, President Obama has only use the veto 5 times in his Presidency.__

    h3. The Dallas Mavericks will win the NBA Championship

    bq. __Wrong again, the Warriors are just too good!__

    h3. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul and Chris Christie will run for President

    bq. __Got those five right and there are a bunch more, too! Feel the Bern!__

    h3. Apple will make one surprising acquisition

    bq. __Nothing too spectacular here, I mean they didn’t buy Sony, GoPro, Tesla or anyone huge.__

    h2. Sapphire Ball Gazing

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4630.jpg!

    I have traded in my crystal ball for the much tougher Sapphire Ball and hope that I do better this year.

    * Cubbies will win the World Series – THIS IS THE YEAR
    * Warriors will repeat for the NBA title but the Celtics will get by the first-round
    * Patriots will lose in the Super Bowl
    * Bernie Sanders will win the Democratic nomination
    * Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination to a lot of people’s dismay
    * Bernie Sanders will beat Trump for the Presidency
    * 2016 will be the warmest ever recorded
    * Spring will come to Vermont early
    * Apple stock will recover to record highs
    * There will be evidence of extra-terrestrial life
    * Marijuana will be legal in 7 states
    * Democrats will re-take the Senate
    * Apple will make that surprising large acquisition this year

    Whether my new Sapphire Ball is accurate or not, 2016 is going to be a great year!

  • _Dear Friends_,

    Happy 2016! Most Mondays, I change my chat status from “available” to “A Fresh New Week”. Well, here we go on a fresh new year and I am full of anticipation for a great year. There were some great new products from Apple in 2015 and I am sure that we will see some more innovation and tools coming for Apple again during this year. And for further entertainment, we have the presidential elections which should provide some thought provoking conversations, too.

    I am heading off to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show next week and I am sure that there will be a lot of new gadgets. Last year there was a whole section devoted to drones, there might be a whole hall this year. I am going to be looking for new products that would be useful to you, our customers. Last year, I found the “**Tempus Pro weather station**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/87362/tempus-pro-bluetooth-weather-station that has been a big hit. Who knows what I will discover this year. It is a great way to get a picture of the products of tomorrow in between meetings with vendors of the products of today.

    The first Kibbles & Bytes exclusive for the new year will be a bundle with my wife’s favorite Mac, the 11-inch MacBook Air. This Mac is super compact and yet powerful enough to run all your apps. We have a limited number of Apple Factory Reconditioned 11-inch MacBook Airs with the 1.4GHz i5 processor, 4GB of ram and a 256GB SSD drive. These have been brought back to as-new condition by Apple and carry Apple’s 1 year warranty. “**I am bundling this MacBook Air with Applecare that will extend that 1-year warranty to 3 years and the 90 days of free Apple tech support to 3 years as well**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002111. To complete the bundle because YOUR New Year’s Resolution should be to always have a data back-up, I will include the Seagate Backup Plus Slim portable 1 TB drive. Kibbles & Bytes readers can buy this bundle, while supplies last for only $1065! That is over $100 off.  I think we only have about 5 units available so first come, first served.