Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • 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

  • SPECIAL | Python Cord Protection for MagSafe Charger

    Python Cords prevent your Mac and PC chargers from breaking, while also keeping things organized. Your laptop cord is constantly under stress as it travels between your office, classroom, favorite coffee shop, and home. The most common stress point is where the soft rubber cord attaches to the hard plastic shell of the power supply. The Python Cord’s patent pending design fortifies the area around this stress point, effectively preventing these types of cord breaks from occurring. Constructed from dust resistant silicone rubber, Python Cords are extremely durable and elastic, with the ability to stretch many times their dormant state without tearing. This also allows Python Cords to fit all Mac chargers as well as most PC chargers on the market today.

  • The Office Analogy

    Computer terms can be very confusing. The power of different computers are generally measured by the speed and capacity of three components: the hard drive, the RAM, and the CPU. Many of us have heard these terms before, but far fewer know what these terms mean or how they affect the performance of the computer. There is an analogy I like to use to make these terms more simple to understand, called the Office Analogy.

    Imagine a man working working in an office, with a desk full of papers and a filing cabinet full of more papers elsewhere in the room. If he wants to edit or consult one of his papers, he needs to make sure there is enough room on his desk for it, walk over to the filing cabinet, find the paper, and bring it back to the desk. If his desk is full, he cannot start working on any new papers without first moving some papers back into his filing cabinet.

    In this scenario, the hard drive is represented by the filing cabinet. The hard drive is where all of the information on the computer is stored when it is not being used. In order for the computer to access information that is stored on it, the information must first be moved from the hard drive to the RAM, similar to the man walking to his filing cabinet to bring it back to his desk.

    The RAM, or Random Access Memory, is represented by the size of the man’s desk. The size of the desk limits how many different papers he can work on at once, and if the desk is filled, he cannot start working on any more. Similarly, the RAM inside a computer is a place where all of the data is stored for any applications that are in use. If your RAM becomes filled up, the computer will start to slow down, and you and won’t be able to open any new programs without closing some other ones first.

    Finally, we come to the CPU, or Central Processing Unit. It is a common misconception that the tower for a PC-type computer is referred to as the CPU. The CPU is actually a small component inside all desktops and laptops, about one square inch in size. The CPU is the component that actually processes the information once it has been loaded into the RAM. In our office scenario, the CPU is represented by the man. The speed at which he can complete his work is determined by how intelligent he is.

    I have been using this analogy to help people understand how to compare computer specifications for severaI years. I hope this will help to unravel some of the the mystery surrounding computer components for some of you.

  • Which Port Transfers Data the Fastest

    If you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of ports to plug cords into on your laptop. Although that number is getting smaller and smaller these days with newer Mac models, many people have 3 or more port options when transferring data.

    * *MagSafe port:* Used for charging
    * *Ethernet port:* 1Gbps
    * *Firewire 800:* 780Mbps
    * *Thunderbolt 1:* 10 Gbps (Wow!)
    * *Thunderbolt 2:* 10 Gbps with 2 channels allowing 20 Gpbs (Super WOW!)
    * *USB 2:* 480 Mbps
    * *USB 3:* 5 Gbps

    There is also Firewire 400 which transfers right around 400 Mbps. This is found on older Macs and is about the same as USB 2. So when choosing a port to use for backup, or just transfer some files, take a look at this chart and compare. Keep in mind when purchasing an external hard drive what ports are built in as none of these numbers are accurate unless both ends of the cable are the same. In other words if you use a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 cable, your transfer rate will be 400 Mbps because that is the bottleneck.

    “*See this article from Apple for more images and details.*”:https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201736

  • Keychain Password Change

    How many times have you logged in to your Mac and seen a pop-up that says “(this app) wants to use your ‘login’ keychain”? The keychain is Apple’s own password management system. It allows you to store passwords so the applications wanting to use them can. An application that uses the keychain a lot is Safari. If you have a lot of online logins, the keychain is a vital tool so you don’t have to remember them all (you should still have all of theses written down and stored securely in a safe place, like a house safe.)

    Apple makes it easy for the user, because usually you only have to enter the master password once. Then the keychain takes over. The beauty of this is it is all authorized under your login password. Problems can arise when you reset your login password via the Terminal or the Password Reset utility in the recovery partition as these methods do not automatically update the keychain password, which means you will need to manually enter the old password every time.

    Fortunately, there is a fix! Here is how you correct that:

    * Open Keychain Access (you can get to it by choosing Utilities from the Go menu in the Finder)
    * From the Edit menu, choose Change Password for Keychain “login.”
    * Type the former password of the account that you are currently logged in to, then click OK.
    * If you entered the correct password, a new window appears; enter the original password again in the Current Password field.
    * In the New Password field, type the password that matches your current account password.
    * Re-enter the newer password in the Verify field, then click OK.

    If you do not know the old password, however, all of the items in the keychain are lost. In this instance, your only option is to delete the login keychain, and then run Keychain First Aid from the Keychain Access menu in Keychain Access.

  • _Hello Fellow Technophiles,_

    We strive to bring you interesting and useful information once per fortnight here in Tech Tails. But we can never cover the breadth or depth of issues that can arise with all of the devices and software out there. That is where Small Dog Electronics’ Consulting Department comes in.

    Our Macintosh certified consultants have seen it all and can help you sort out whatever problem is vexing you. We offer in-store and at-home consulting for those local to one of our stores. We also offer remote consulting where we can see your screen and even take control via GoToAssist by Citrix. To find out more information or to request an appointment, give us a call at 1-802-496-7171 x 515 or send an email to “*consulting@smalldog.com.*”:mailto:consulting@smalldog.com

    This edition of TT features an article on resetting your keychain password, ports and their data transfer speeds, and a useful analogy to explain how a computer accesses and processes data.

    Yours truly,

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

  • Halloween is over and the big party down here has ended. Up in Vermont it is stick season and the leaf peepers have gone and the skiers are not quite ready to hit the slopes. The weather has been warm and I miss my late season motorcycling in the Green Mountains. We are between seasons a bit here in Key West as the snow birds (yeah, that’s me) are just beginning to arrive and the tourist season won’t get into full swing for a few more weeks. I have a bunch of maintenance to do here, my deck seems a bit squishy so I have to tear it up and shore it up a bit.

    I am ordering a big Bernie 2016 sign to put outside so we bring a bit of the Bern to the Keys.

    Thank for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Dean, Scott_

  • Daylight Savings Time Soapbox

    I haven’t stepped up on the soapbox lately so I thought I’d do a re-run of my editorial on Daylight Savings Time. It gets dark early now that we have set the clocks back and the roosters here in Key West are up an hour earlier, too.

    p(. Spring ahead, fall behind–it is that time of year again when we revert to “standard” time. Even the dogs don’t want to get out of bed until the sun makes it way over the horizon. I hate waking up the rooster when I let the dogs out!

    p(. I guess I’ll go out on a limb here and use this week’s soapbox to discuss Daylight Saving Time and why I think it might be a good idea to eliminate “standard” time and just stay with the same time all year around. Why did daylight saving time (DST) start, and why does it still continue?

    p(. Daylight saving time began in the United States during World War I, primarily to save fuel by reducing the need to use artificial lighting. Although some states and communities observed daylight saving time between the wars, it was not observed nationally again until World War II.

    p(. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 provided the basic framework for alternating between daylight saving time and standard time, which we now observe in the United States. But Congress can’t seem to resist tinkering with it. For example, in 1973 daylight saving time was observed all year, instead of just the spring and summer.

    p(. The earliest known reference to the idea of daylight saving time comes from a purely whimsical 1784 essay by Benjamin Franklin, called “Turkey versus Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle.”

    p(. Over the years, supporters have advanced new reasons in support of DST, even though they were not the original reasons behind enacting DST. One is safety. Some people believe that if we have more daylight at the end of the day, we will have fewer accidents.

    p(. In fact, this “benefit” comes only at the cost of less daylight in the morning. When year-round daylight time was tried in 1973, one reason it was repealed was because of an increased number of school bus accidents in the morning.

    p(. Eastern standard time is the same as Central daylight time and Mountain standard time is the same as Pacific daylight time. So maybe it would be a good idea to have the Pacific and Central time zones remain on permanent daylight saving time, and the Mountain and Eastern time zones remain on permanent standard time.

    p(. In addition to releasing us from the burden of having to reset our clocks every few months, this will also reduce the number of time zones in the United States from four to two. For example, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Dallas would all be operating on the same time, and people would no longer have to adjust to different time zones when they do business or travel between any of these cities. Furthermore, people traveling or doing business between the East and West coasts will only have a two-hour time difference to contend with, instead of the three hour difference with which we are currently burdened.

    How do you feel about changing your clocks twice a year? You can share your opinion at the Small Dog blog – “**blog.smalldog.com**”:http://blog.smalldog.com.

  • The New Apple TV

    I was lucky enough to snag one of the new Apple TVs before I took the long drive down here to the Keys and I had a chance to set it up and start playing and watching this week. My first priority was to get the NBA Team Pass set up so that I could watch the Celtics’ opening game. With the old Apple TV all the Apps or Channels were present unless you made them go away. The default with the new Apple TV is that only the basics are present when you first plug it in, i.e. Apple’s apps like iTunes Movies, iTunes TV Shows, Music, Photos, Computer, Settings and the App Store.

    I went to the App store and after signing in with my Apple ID I was able to easily locate the NBA App and download it. Once I signed in with my NBA Team Pass credentials I was able to watch the game. During time-outs I downloaded a bunch of other apps, too. Some of them you are familiar with if you have used an Apple TV in the past, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, Showtime anytime as well as CNN, CBS, ABC and others. The App store, for now, shows only featured apps so if you really want to explore you need to use the search function. There are a bunch of new apps out there especially games and for some reason a ton of “fireplace” apps. I know, you want a nice crackling fire so you can imagine you are cuddled up in Vermont. Somehow a 1080p fireplace just ain’t the same.

    With all of the new apps sorting them is the same as the old Apple TV. If you select and hold the remote button down, they will start to wiggle and you can move them around. One of the first improvements I would recommend to Apple for the tvOS is to allow iOS-type folders so that you can clean up the screen and more easily find what you are looking for. Games are fun but I think Grace is getting tired of all the car crashes and casino-like sounds coming out of the Sonos set-up on my TV. I do think that this new Apple TV is going to be a great gaming platform, especially with apps that take advantage of the internet connection so you can play against people all over the world.

    The new AppleTV remote is fantastic. The top third is a touch sensitive trackpad and while it took a little getting used to, navigation is much easier. The motion sensor on the trackpad allows game action and I have gotten pretty good at one of the bowling games, although I did knock over my iced tea with one twist of my wrist. If you get enthusiastic with the remote, I do recommend that you invest in one of Apple’s remote loops that plugs into the lightning port and holds the remote to your wrist. Siri on the remote works for some functions and is especially useful in searching for content. I asked it to find all the David Lynch movies and within seconds Eraserhead, Wild at Heart, Dune and Twin Peaks popped up.

    It would be nice if Apple had a new Remote App for your iPhone and Apple Watch that could control the new Apple TV but I guess that is coming sometime later. The new search text entry is a bit laborious. Instead of the grid keyboard that we are all used to, letters are strung out in a single line and you swipe back and forth to enter text. It is not very user friendly. I’ll have to see how Siri does in searching for stuff so maybe I will only need that to enter my Apple ID every now and then.

    I have really just scratched the surface but I am a fan. I know it is a “first release” of the tvOS and there is a lot of room for improvement and enhancement but I do think the new Apple TV is a game changer and will lead to cable cutting as Apple makes deals for more content. In my very limited sampling, we are using Apple TV for content about 70% of the time and cable about 30%.