Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Apple news, tech tips, and more…

KB Dog

  • !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4384.jpg!

    With Mother’s Day right around the corner, we have everything Mom needs with *HUGE* iPad bundles! There is also no better time to congratulate that recent graduate of yours with any of our great deals on new and refurbished Macs.

    Also, visit any of our stores for a FREE 30 minute one-on-one lesson with the purchase of any new Mac!

    “*See all of these fantastic deals here!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/momsdadsgrads/moms-dads-and-grads

  • OS X: Your Way

    Apple has a knack for layout and design that is unparalleled across the industry, and has been widely regarded as the best in the business when it comes to systems that are straightforward and useful right out of the box.

    However, there’s an obvious sense in the newer versions of OS X that some things are missing, and a LOT of things are different. Having talked to a number of frustrated customers, I’ve come up with a list of common tweaks that might help both personalize and optimize your system. Though I really have been impressed and relieved by the new developments, Apple might have overstepped the line between functionality and beauty in a few places in Yosemite. That’s not to say the same functionality isn’t present – it’s actually readily available – but in my work I see plenty of users who would not know to look for it themselves.

    I’ve noticed that with each upgrade of OS X, the sidebar in Finder has changed in its focus. In the past, things were based on a hierarchical system that began with Macintosh HD, followed subfolders, and left space for smart folders and other links below. In Yosemite, Apple approaches file management in a revolutionary yet sometimes confusing way. You can easily revert to the tried-and-true sidebar or customize it exactly to your specifications within Finder’s preferences – just look for the sidebar tab and you can pick and choose a layout that works for you!

    There are similar settings for almost all of the built-in apps on your Mac. For example:

    * Don’t like the Dock on the bottom of your screen? Switch it up! A lot of customers prefer to have their dock auto-hide or on the left side of their screen: *System Preferences > Dock*

    * You can get fancy and organize your desktop by a wide range of sorting options in the View Options menu: *Command-J*

    * Try setting up some Automator workflows for common tasks every day! You can even use voice commands to trigger a script. “*Here’s a great article from Apple on Automator.*”:http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT2488

    * Color-code your files and folders! Pull up a contextual menu on any item in Finder (by right- or Control-clicking on it) and you’ll see the Label section available. It’s a great way to differentiate between projects that have multiple directories or as a progress indicator.

    * Remember that you can easily create Smart Folders in Finder to automatically run filter searches on your directories: *File > New Smart Folder*

    * You can hold the Command key and drag around menu items in multiple applications, as well as the System Menu bar (right side only).

    Remember: it’s YOUR Mac. YOU are the one who uses it every day. Why not make it work with your own style? There’s so much customization at your fingertips; don’t just settle for the default. The most common problems for computer users are issues of competency and understanding how the system is laid out. Explore your Mac – it’s not some archaic maze of technological gibberish – and just as with any other appliance or valuable piece of equipment it is IMPERATIVE that you make the effort to learn basic maintenance and usage techniques that are beneficial to the life-cycle of that system.

  • MacKeeper in Hot Water

    Every Mac user has at one point run across the program known as MacKeeper, a program that is advertised as a tool to keep your Mac clean and fast. Well, as it turns out, MacKeeper has been accused of using scare techniques to get you to buy their higher end apps. MacKeeper was released in 2010 by a company called ZeoBIT from Kiev, Ukraine and was extremely lucrative for ZeoBIT. According to them, as many as 650,000 users purchased the high end versions at the rate of $39.95 per copy in the US alone.

    In May of 2014 a lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Pennsylvania resident who claimed that the software falsely came back with exaggerated results to scare the user into buying the paid version. Under the settlement terms ZeoBIT has to pay 2 million dollars into a fund set up for those who feel that they deserve a refund.

    To complicate matters, ZeoBIT sold the software to a company called Kromtech in December of 2013. This has, in my opinion, made matters worse as MacKeeper has now transitioned to a subscription-based product, which oddly does not offer updates (unless you pay premium prices). The lawsuit, however, doesn’t include the new owners.

    So the future of one of the most hated bloatware is still in the air. For those who have installed it, “*here is how you get rid of it.*”:http://www.macworld.com/article/2861435/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-from-your-mac.html

    Surf safe, friends!

  • Spring seems to have finally sprung here in Vermont. Some might even say that the early days of summer have also begun! In the last few weeks we have seen a rise in temperatures and dry weather, making some of us hold out on admitting it’s time to consider pulling out our clunky window air conditioners and window fans. Many gardens are starting to show regrowth of flowers and it never ceases to amaze me how it seem overnight our trees go from ugly brown sticks to vibrant greens of all shades. These warm spring temperatures have already made me forget about winter and mud season as I enjoy warm spring evenings outside with the family after work. 

    When spring rolls around many of us are focused on cleaning up our yards, homes, and even our cars. But have you thought about what you might need to do to clean up your computer? There are a lot of quick and simply things you can do to your computer to make sure it’s running at peak efficiency and these are steps you can easily do yourself. We talk about data back up a lot, but it’s one of the best forms of preventative care you can do for you machine. So if you don’t already have a backup drive for Time Machine “*we recommend purchasing one.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/Storage_and_Backup/External_Hard_Drives Perhaps you use Time Machine but haven’t backed up recently? Now is the perfect time!

    With a current backup of your machine now complete, you can help your machine run a little faster by emptying your Trash as well as reducing the number of files being stored on your Desktop. We all do it, keep too much on your Desktop that is! It’s convenient (the files are all right there, no digging right?) The problem is that storing all these files slows your computer down because your computer needs to use more memory to render the preview icons on the Desktop.

    I also recommend looking to see what items you have selected as Login Items. Have your noticed when your start up your computer, you’re always waiting for one program like iTunes or Microsoft Office to open? This is because often times, without realizing it, you have programs set to launch upon startup. This can be a huge time saver for frequently utilized programs, but also another reason your machine might be slowing down. By simply going into System Preferences, then choosing Accounts and lastly Login Items you can check to see if you happen to have any programs set to auto launch. Remove any unnecessary programs by clicking on them and hitting the minus button.

    Lastly, software updates. Ensuring that your software is as up to date as possible can also go a long way towards keeping your computer at its peak performance! 

    Thank you for reading!
    Emily Dolloff
    “*emily@smalldog.com*”:mailto:emily@smalldog.com 

  • Not counting the Apple personnel, only a few folks had Apple Watches here at the conference, although the Watch team was at one of vendor fairs and I did get a close-up look. I’ll be using my three dog-friendly hotel apps on my drive back to Vermont, BringFido, Pets&Hotels and Dog Friendly all work great to find a place to crash with your pets while on the road.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Emily, Dean, Mike_

  • !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4384.jpg!

    With Mother’s Day right around the corner, we have everything Mom needs with *HUGE* iPad bundles! There is also no better time to congratulate that recent graduate of yours with any of our great deals on new and refurbished Macs.

    Also, visit any of our stores for a FREE 30 minute one-on-one lesson with the purchase of any new Mac!

    “*See all of these fantastic deals here!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/momsdadsgrads/moms-dads-and-grads

  • Rock On!

    Back when I was in high school I was very interested in creating electronic music. I remember going through dozens of different kinds of software and virtual synthesizers. I had a small old Yamaha keyboard that I would use to play more than should’ve been possible on such a simple instrument. We also had a full sized Korg digital piano but I only really used that to actually practice my playing. On the Yamaha keyboard, I would work out some kind of chord progression, riff, or sound that I liked and then move to a piece of software called “*Fruity Loops*”:http://www.image-line.com/flstudio/ on my desktop and try to recreate it with the bank of virtual synthesizers and sounds it had. You had to edit what’s called a “piano roll” which was basically just blocks you drew on a graph. Then when you played it back, whatever virtual instrument you selected would play the notes represented by the blocks.

    Fruity Loops was a very complex piece of software. Virtually everything was tweakable. You could change the configuration of synths and virtual instruments. You could add any number of filters and effects and then automate each aspect of them over a section of the track. I remember when I first started using it I was a bit overwhelmed, but after creating a few tracks I started to get really good at making complex and nice sounding songs.

    Fast-forward to today. I don’t have any computer that would run Fruity Loops anymore (it genuinely is Windows-only as far as know). While in college I also slowed down on writing music so I’d been out of it for a few years when I recently decided to have some fun playing around with “GarageBand”:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/garageband/id682658836 on my Macbook Air. Now, I’d used GarageBand back in high school on an iMac running OS X (probably Panther or Tiger, but I don’t remember for sure). I remembered it as a fun thing to make songs, but it didn’t have anywhere near the amount of control over composition that Fruity Loops had given me.

    I wasn’t expecting much, but as I played around with it, it was clear that it had really been updated quite a bit since 2004 or so. One thing I noticed right away was that it seemed to now support editing music notation note by note. I was intrigued. Playing around more, I noticed you could edit the configuration of the virtual instruments as well as add filters and automate them, just like with Fruity Loops. Was it actually just as capable as Fruity Loops now?

    I decided I really wanted to get back into music production and since I already had GarageBand sitting here, I might as well try to use that. This time though, I tried something I hadn’t tried before. I ordered a USB-MIDI connector. I still have the Korg digital piano and I always knew it had MIDI, but I’d never used it. MIDI-USB connectors are all basically the same, and they’re all pretty cheap. I picked up “this one”:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA3ZS1R42912&cm_re=midi_usb-_-9SIA3ZS1R42912-_-Product from Newegg.com.

    When I got it, I plugged the MIDI end into the piano, and the USB end into my mac. GarageBand immediately saw it and I was off and running using the piano as a MIDI controller for the virtual instruments in GarageBand. Wow! I had so much fun! Using an actual keyboard to play the virtual instruments is so much more natural than trying to use the keyboard on the mac. I haven’t been able to play with it too much yet, but the feature I’m most excited about is being able to record the MIDI “performance” inside of GarageBand and then actually be able to edit a piano roll or score of the performance. So if you make a tiny mistake, or your timing is off slightly, you can go into the piano roll, edit the note and it’s like the mistake wasn’t even there!

    The great thing about this setup is that if you already have a Mac, you already have GarageBand. All you need is some kind of keyboard that supports MIDI and there are many cheap ones out there that will work. One thing to note though is that when you first install GarageBand it installs with a small subset of virtual instruments in case you don’t want all of them (they take up gigabytes of space). If you want to use all of them, you can download them from the GarageBand menu. It’s a big download, so be prepared to wait, but having all the instruments is definitely worth it.

  • Automatic and Your Car

    As tech companies across the world continue to make new gadgets and devices, you just have to sit back, relax, and download the app. Technology today connects us with everything you could ever want and/or need. These various devices and their various network connections are known as the “internet of things.” One particular company that has captured our attention here at Small Dog is Automatic. “*Automatic*”:http://www.automatic.com is a company that could help you unlock the potential that is both under the hood of your car and in your pants pocket. By using your iPhone and purchasing the $99.95 Automatic adapter that snaps into the data port of your car, you can enjoy several added benefits.

    Automatic is designed to learn your driving habits and make recommendations on how to be a more efficient driver. The smartphone app will notify you if something is wrong with the car and it will give you recommended tips on how to resolve the issue. The app will also allow you to reset warning lights such as the check engine light or oil warning light as opposed to having to take your car to a specialist. Other added benefits include a tracking system that can be used both in the case of emergencies and/or if you need help locating your parked car.

    All in all, the Automatic is designed to help you save money on gas and repairs, help diagnose your engine light, help you never forget where you parked, and help you get help in a serious accident. Users of the Automatic thus far have said things like:

    * “Never got a faster 100% ROI on any gadget purchase than @automatic, paid for itself in the first ten minutes of diagnostics!”
    * “Automatic could do for driving what the iPod did for music.”

    To learn more about the Automatic, visit “*Automatic on the ‘net.*”:http://www.automatic.com

  • _Dear Friends,_

    I found some time to do some writing for Kibbles & Bytes while I was out in San Francisco. I have definitely become acclimated to tropical weather although a couple of days this week it was warmer in Vermont than it was in Key West. But out here by the Bay on the West Coast it was chilly and in the 50’s. My neighbor has sent me pictures of the daffodils around my house on Prickly Mountain so when you read this, Grace and I and the three pups should be cruising up I-95 heading for the Green Mountains.

    I was out in the hall chatting with my friend Kevin Langdon, who is the Executive Director of the Apple Specialist Marketing Coop as well as the owner of Cry Wolf, a first class Apple Specialist out in San Diego. Kevin and I have known each other a long time and we got to reminiscing about the old days. He reminded me that in one of my very first issues of Kibbles & Bytes that I talked about taking my Newton MessagePad on vacation. So, I thought it might be a good idea to give a little more history of Kibbles & Bytes. In the early days of Small Dog Electronics we would fax out a list of our inventory a couple times each week to a small list of customers. We would also be a part of Adam and Tonya Engst’s Tidbits newsletter that was called DealBits. Tidbits decided to drop DealBits and well, faxing was getting old so we launched our newsletter, which, if you “*look at our archives*”:http://www.smalldog.com/kibbles was just an email list of our price list. Actually, that price list is still “*a link on our home page.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/SmallDogPriceList.txt Soon, we started adding content and now, 20 years later and nearly 1000 (!!!) weekly issues later, Kibbles & Bytes is read by at least 25,000 subscribers.

  • Know Someone Who is Graduating?

    The time has finally come for all those hard working college students in your life to take not only their last final exam, but also their last stroll through campus. With college graduation right around the corner, thousands of our beloved college residents will begin their life out in the “real world.” While some college grads will remain here in Vermont to contribute to our growing economy, others will take their success elsewhere. Either way, all of our Vermont grads will continue to better their life and the lives of those who surround them. At any given point we know that there are tools which will aid in one’s success. According to Grad to Great, empowering college grads with tools and information is a crucial step when it comes to pursuing a fulfilling career path. That is what we are here for. Small Dog wants to help your college grad succeed by providing you with the latest technology.

    We understand the importance of reliable communication in todays business world, and there is no better or more simple way to communicate than using the iPad. The iPad delivers many of the same features as a MacBook, but in a compact, light, and convenient manner. We typically see hesitation when it comes to replacing their computer with an iPad, but with today’s list of compatible accessories such as bluetooth keyboards, styluses, drawing pads, small business applications, research applications, and even musical peripherals such as a keyboard, guitar, etc. one can use the iPad for just about anything. It is also important to note that the iPad is compatible with all cloud services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and even Microsoft’s SkyDrive. The iPad has been listed as one of the top ten items to purchase for college grads. Sure there is a lot of research and studies as to why everyone is recommending the iPad for college grads, but in plain and simple terms college grads no longer need the computing power of a personal computer. Graduates instead need something that can keep them connected with their family and friends while at the same time allow them to be productive and professional in a work environment.

    Come into one of our stores and speak with a sales associate to see why an iPad is right for your college graduate. We can design a solution for someone in any particular field of research or business.

  • The new MacBook is here!

    Here at Small Dog Electronics we are excited to present Apple’s newest addition to the family which just happened to launch the same month as our 20th Anniversary. The new **MacBook** is a marvel of engineering. It’s beautiful, and far more functional than a computer this size would seem to be.

    The latest crazy-thin Apple computer is a super lightweight 12-inch laptop with an incredible high-res display. It is so tiny you could practically stuff it into a large purse…so thin that it required Apple to create an entirely new type of ultra-shallow keyboard and touchpad so you can actually use it for work..so minimalist that it only includes a single I/O port, a do it all USB-C port that’s clearly the future.

    **Gorgeous!** There’s no other word. Even if you’re getting a little burnt out on wedge-shaped aluminum laptops, the new MacBook has a charm that’s impossible to deny. Part of that is due to just how small and light this computer really is; it makes the 13-inch MacBook Air look positively chunky by comparison. At just two pounds, I can easily lift it with a single hand. The keyboard is the same width, the screen just a little bit smaller, but the frame is dramatically reduced in every direction. It comes in 3 color choices-Gold, Silver and my favorite Space Gray.

    And what a screen. It’s a 2304 x 1440 super-high res Retina display, as crisp, clear, and colorful as any laptop display I’ve ever seen. Perhaps even better. It looks like a giant iPad, to the point where I was almost disappointed when I poked at the panel and discovered it wasn’t touch sensitive. But like the iPad-and unlike most super high-res laptops-this machine’s light enough that I feel comfortable lifting it up to eye level to see fine details in HD movies and DSLR photographs. (Yeah, I’m a pixel peeper.)

    But the screen isn’t the only reason that watching movies on the MacBook is a treat-this laptop has unheard of sound quality for a laptop anywhere near this size. I fired up Pandora, and my jaw dropped when I realized just how wide a soundstage this little laptop can produce.

    It starts at only $1299 for the base version, and you get 8GB of RAM and 256GB of speedy solid state storage for the money.

    **How do you know if the Macbook is the right computer for you?**

    Well, I feel this computer will appeal to all users. Some just want the newest technology, some will use it everyday, some will use it for travel and work, and some will try to use it for high-end use and, as I have been impressed with its power, it might just do it.

  • Small Dog is pleased to be partnering with RETN for this one-of-a-kind, “*FREE event*.”:http://www.smalldog.com/retntest/ipad-event RETN instructors Ross Ransom and Doug Dunbebin will guide you through the essential features of iMovie 10 in this hands-on workshop. With ample time for practice and questions, you will be walking away from this course with the skills to turn your photos and videos into finished professional-level movies.

    *Time*: 9am – 12pm

    *Date*: Wednesday, June 10th

    *Location*: Black Box Theatre, Main Street Landing 60 Main Street Burlington, VT

    *Cost:* *FREE*

    “*Register Here!*”:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/top-10-tips-tools-for-making-mobile-movies-tickets-16902800732