Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Go Back in Time

    Backing up your data is something we talk about with customers all the time but I am still amazed at the number of people that do not have backups of their critical data, photos and music. Hard drives fail. It is a simple fact that a mechanical device that may be spinning at 10,000 rpm has a number of failure modes that could cause data loss. Even if you have a solid state drive without spinning components your drive can fail. SSD drives still have components that fail such as transistors and capacitors. Wear and tear also occurs with SSD drives. The processor must read, modify, erase and write data and eventually even memory cells wear out. Your SSD drive is not an excuse to skip back-ups!

    Apple makes backing up easy and automatic with Time Machine. It keeps a copy of all your files and remembers just what it looked like on any given day so you can go back in time and grab that picture you accidentally deleted. Grabbing a single file or folder is one use but Time Machine saved my bacon once when my Mac was stolen out of my hotel room while on vacation. The hotel compensated me for my loss but I would have lost all my precious data if I hadn’t had a Time Machine backup. Fortunately, I had learned that lesson the hard way years ago, so I got my replacement Mac, connected it to my Time Machine backup and I was back in business and only lost a couple photos from that vacation.

    You can use Time Machine with an external drive connected to your USB, FireWire or Thunderbolt port on your Mac, with an external drive connected to the USB port of an AirPort Extreme or with an AirPort Time Capsule. Do not, as one customer was doing, use the same drive as your boot drive to store your backups!

    Time Machine will keep hourly backups for the past day, daily backups for the past month and weekly backups. The oldest backups are deleted as your backup drive becomes full. With the low price of terabyte drives, get a big one! Setting up a fresh new hard drive for use with Time Machine is really simple. Plug it in. Really, that is pretty much all you have to do as Mac OS X will ask you when in senses a new drive whether you want to use that drive for Time Machine backup. You will have the option to encrypt the backup disk if you wish. If you select this option you will need to remember your password for sure!

    If you are using an Apple Time Capsule or a drive connected to your AirPort Extreme you will open the Time Machine System Preference and specify that disk for backups. The Time Machine preference screen will also allow you to select the option to “Show Time Machine in menu bar”. If you select this you will have easy access to Time Machine status of your backups. The “Options” button will allow you to exclude items from backup if you are concerned about space. It also will toggle whether your Mac will backup while on battery power and notifications when backups are deleted as your drive fills.

    Garage Sale

    Your first backup will take a while because it is copying everything. If you are using a Time Capsule, I do recommend that you connect an ethernet cable from the Time Capsule to your Mac to speed up that first backup. Once your first backup is complete, Time Machine automatically backs up only files that have changed since the last backup.

    To find that homework you deleted just enter Time Machine from the Finder and go back in time to find the file. You can use the timeline on the right side of the window to reach a certain time. If you don’t know exactly when you deleted it you can use the back arrow to go back in time to show you when that folder last changed. You can search for a file using the Finder window in Time Machine, too. That is why it is always important to enter Time Machine from the Finder, not from an app or other location.

    Garage Sale

    To restore a file you select the file from way back when and simply hit the “restore” button. If you run into a problem like mine where you need to restore your entire Mac you can use the Migration Assistant to specify a restore from a Time Machine backup.

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Strawberries are getting ripe and the farm stands here have the sweet berry ready. While we have our own little garden, the Prickly Mountain micro-climate tends to be about a month behind everyone else so we stop at farm stands for spinach, lettuce and now strawberries, too. It is always a good excuse for a ride in the twisty mountain roads to hit up the veggie stands for great organic food.

    I have been playing around with El Capitan, Mac OS X 10.11 beta and while the first developer version is buggy I have been very impressed with both the compatibility with current software and some of the new features. Notes is one app that has been greatly improved. I have used Notes in the past, mostly to record expenses or well, to make notes. It was pretty much just a place to jot down some text. With the new Mac operating system coming this fall, Notes has been upgraded to be a lot more useful. In addition to text, you can now store photos, map locations, documents, PDFs, links and even videos. You can create folders and with iCloud you can keep your Notes synced between your Mac, iPhone & iPad.

    It has been a month since I first received my Apple Watch and even though I haven’t worn a watch since I was 12, I do not leave home without my Apple Watch. I am still learning all that it can do for me but ApplePay is one of the most “wow” features. I went over to the local Shaw’s supermarket to grab some lunch and I didn’t even think to bring my wallet. A couple of clicks on the watch button and my Apple Watch was ready to pay. After the clerk commented on my watch and gave me my receipt, I was done. I am definitely not looking at my iPhone as much and Siri is so good that I am almost never misunderstood. If you have been waiting for a watch, Apple finally has them in their retail stores and the on-line wait times are short.

    With all the devices that you have you can never have too many chargers. This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive features our in-house brand Hammerhead (featuring a shark but named after my bull dog) USB chargers and MFI lightning cables. We are going to bundle one of our Hammerhead 2-port USB chargers that can charge both an iPad and iPhone simultaneously with a Hammerhead 2-Port USB Car charger which also can charge both an iPad and iPhone in your car. To complete the bundle we will be adding 2 Hammerhead Apple-licensed MFI Lightning braided cables. So you get a wall charger, car charger and 2 lightning cables in this bundle which normally sells for $72.96 for only $49! “*Click Here*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001871 to claim your Hammerhead Charging Bundle.

  • Ah, summertime in Vermont. I can get over the occasional rain and cool temps but the curvy roads and greenery are worth it for sure. I’ve got some repairs on the little Sprite to do before we can take that rig out for a ride.

    Enjoy the weekend! Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes.

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Dean, Bronson & Mike_

  • The Famous Small Dog Garage Sale

    Garage Sale

    We wanted to let you know that we have been busy in our warehouses getting ready for our Famous Semi-Annual Garage Sale! At least once a year, we clean out our inventory and offer some crazy deals on all the goodies we find. “*Click here to read more about the Garage Sale.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/garagesale

  • Red Clock

    Everyone customizes their iPhone in their own way. Maybe it’s the way they organize their Apps, some by page, some in folders, some just use the search function and don’t organize them at all. For me I organize them across the top only so I can see the beautiful photo I’m using for my background on the retina display of my iPhone 6, but this only stays up as long the auto lock is set for. Yes I know you can turn off the auto lock but then I forget and the battery dies. At my desk I use a stand, the “*Twelve South Highrise,*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/83856/twelve-south-hirise-for-iphone-5-5s-5c-6-6-plus-ipad-mini-silver, so I’m not worried about the battery dying. In comes RedClock, a great app that updates the background every hour and displays, time, date, and weather conditions (temp, humidity, wind speed and direction).

    This is the best App I’ve seen for people who dock their iPhone at home or at work. The backgrounds are great colors that are sometimes two-tone, nature, or just a nice soothing color. There is a night mode which is activated simply by swiping down. You can of course also setup different alarm clocks with the app. If you prefer one of their colors v. others you can set it to not change, and in-app purchases allow you to download different background packs. I realize it’s simple but that’s what makes it such a great addition for the iPhone.

    To download “*click here.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86478/red-clock-the-minimal-alarm-clock

  • Software on Center Stage!

    Apple showed preview versions of the three main operating systems at WWDC, Mac OS X 10.11 “El Capitan”, iOS 9 and Watch OS 2. You can get a lot of more detailed information from the Apple web site but here’s what I feel are some of the more important new features coming soon to your devices.

    *Split Screens*

    I am not talking about what happens when you drop your iPhone on the driveway but rather a new way to view and use content. This new feature comes to Mac OS X with the ability to create a dual view interactive desktop for two applications. As I am writing this issue of Kibbles I am using this feature to have Safari on 1/2 of my screen and OS X Mail on the other other 1/2. For OS X this is pretty simple since we have had multitasking for a long time. On iOS 9 it is a bit of a more dramatic change.

    On iOS 9 there are three new ways to split your iPad’s screen into sections, Slide Over, Picture in Picture and Split View. Slide Over allows an app to occupy about 1/3 of the screen while the other has the full screen behind it. Picture in Picture allows you to watch a YouTube video or FaceTime video call while you are continuing to use another app. You can move the video window around and resize it, too. Split View will only work on the iPad Air 2 but allows two apps to occupy portions of the screen and both are functional. This might be really handy for the rumored extra large iPad that might be in the works.

    iOS 9 has full screen mode when you double click the home button to see what apps you have running. I’ve found this to be a big improvement, too.

    *Watch OS 2*

    I talked about this in the intro but this is another step in making the Apple Watch even more valuable. Native Watch Apps will not be long in coming!

    *News*

    Apple will be releasing a News App that will learn your preferences and present you with the news tailored to your interests. It is not included in the current beta but the demo looked awesome and I can see myself using that extensively to keep informed.

    *Transit Maps*

    Nothing worse than visiting a big city for this country boy and trying to navigate the transit system. None of the US systems are as simple to navigate as the transit system in Hong Kong but with this new addition to the Maps app mass transit directions will make getting around a lot easier. Already having Maps on the Apple Watch was a great experience for Grace when she was down in NYC last week. Now she should be able to navigate public transportation, too!

    *Siri Grows Up*

    Proactive is the word here. Siri can use the information on your iPhone to give you advice and options, like having your own personal assistant. Things like scanning your email and automatically putting invitations into your calendar or suggesting music for your particular activity. I’ve just started playing with this and I want to see just how useful it will be. Apple also made Spotlight smarter in OS X 10.11 although I wonder why they haven’t brought Siri to the Mac OS yet.

    *Apple Music*

    Apple’s “one more thing” this year was Apple Music. Coming in July the service will stream your favorites, allow you to watch music videos and has curated playlists. It also have a feature called Connect that lets unsigned musicians upload their music. Add in the Beats 1 music radio channel and you have a major revision to iTunes and Apple’s music offerings. It will be a subscription and will cost $9.99 a month or $14.99 for a family of up to five. Apple announced it is giving all its 120 million or so iTunes users a free 90-day trial.

  • _Dear Friends,_

    It is so green here in the Green Mountains with every shade of the emerald color visible as I look out the window here at the office. The Apple tree that we planted when we first moved into this facility about 12 years ago has really gotten big. I’ll have to get Artie with his chainsaw and snippers to prune it back a bit in the fall when it is dormant. Right now, however; it is covered with little green apples and with all of the rain we have been getting those apples are swelling as I watch.

    Apple’s big Worldwide Developers Conference is wrapping up this week. I went home for lunch on Monday so I could watch the keynote on my AppleTV. As usual WWDC concentrates upon software so those looking for dramatic new hardware offerings were disappointed but the attendees are software developers and Apple had some great news and announcements for them. Two of these announcements may not get the headlines but they are pretty dramatic. One, Apple announced that it is releasing the toolkit for developers to create native apps for the Apple Watch. Currently, apps for the watch are really modified iPhone apps. With this new toolkit and the release of Watch OS 2, developers can now create watch-specific and standalone apps.

    The other announcement is that Apple has made its innovative programming language, Swift, open source. Swift has been adopted quickly by the development community and Apple’s move to make it available as open source means that developers have access to the source code and collaborative development to make improvements to the language.

    There were a bunch of other announcements at WWDC and I’ll do a little recap below. I am playing with the new beta versions of iPhone iOS 9 and El Capitan, or OS X 10.11 and just learning some of the new features and working around the inevitable bugs in beta software. There will be a public beta of each of these coming in July. At this point, I would say that El Capitan is much further on the development path than iOS 9 but they will catch up soon.

    Apple did mention HomeKit, their home automation app, during the keynote but since there was not much news about AppleTV which is widely expected to serve as the home automation hub, we can probably look forward to another Apple event when they are ready to say something about AppleTV. But, why wait?

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes Exclusive is a home automation special bundle. The bundle consists of a Nest Learning Thermostat and a Kevo lock. I use both of these items in my home and find them to be extremely easy to install and use. Like much technology that I adopt, I now cannot really imagine how I lived without them. Not only do they automate two vital functions of your home, your heating and cooling and your lock but they are also integrated. These days when I open my lock at my home, I get a notification on my iPhone and my Apple Watch that asks if I want to set my Nest thermostat to “Home” and vice-versa, when I leave and lock the door I get a notification that asks if I want to set my Nest to “Away”.

    Both these devices are pretty easy to install and come with good instructions. The Nest even comes with a little tool to make attaching the thermostat wires easier. Now you can send a key to your house via email to houseguests, workers, etc. You can revoke these keys at any time. Opening the door couldn’t be easier with your iPhone in your pocket you simply touch the lock and it opens. The Nest learning thermostat learns your heating and cooling habits and adjusts temperatures accordingly. You can manage your thermostat remotely, too, with the Nest App for the iPhone.

    For this week’s K&B exclusive choose any Kevo lock in Satin Nickel, Polished Brass or Venetian Bronze and add a Nest Thermostat. This bundle is normally $469.98 but if you buy the bundle this week you can save $50 at only $419.98. “*Click Here*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001866 to claim your bundle today.

  • Activity Monitor

    Does your computer feel sluggish? Does it pinwheel or take a long time to open Apps? If so there is a great OS X Utility called Activity Monitor that allows a user to see why these things may be happening. Please study the image below.

    Tech Talk in South Burlington

    As you can see at the top there are 4 tabs(CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, and Network). You can open Activity Monitor by selecting Go-Utilities-Activity monitor in the Finder Tab.

    *CPU* – CPU stands for Central Processing Unit and is the brain of the computer. When the CPU tab is selected, all current processes will be listed on the left side, from most usage intensive to least. This is important because it allows you to see what processes are bogging down the CPU. It is listed as a percent so a task taking more than 50% of your CPU is concerning. Take note of what it may be and do some research. Some processes are part of the operating system and it may be normal for them to hog the CPU, but an obvious problem to look for would be Mackeeper. This is Anti-Virus software that is not needed on a Mac and noting its CPU usage can help in determining why your computer may be running slow.

    *Memory* – This is possibly one of the most useful tabs in Activity Monitor. A lot of times I have customers that have upgraded to Yosemite and start experiencing a lot of pinwheeling. When the memory tab is selected, it works in the same way as the CPU tab. The process that is using the most memory is listed at the top, and least at the bottom. I personally like to pay attention to the bottom left corner. As you can see it shows how much memory you have, and how much is being used as a total. The top and second postings are most important. Don’t pay too much attention to Virtual Memory and Swap Used. As you can see in the picture above, we have 16GB of memory and 15.98GB is being used. This is not good. Our memory on this computer is maxing out. This computer is due for a RAM upgrade.

    *Energy* – I have not used this as much but if you are experiencing short battery life, this is a good place to check and see what processes are taking the most power.

    *Disk* – This tab is helpful in determining what processes are currently writing and reading to your hard drive. For the basic user, this tab may not be important. I would pay more attention to your total used and free space of your hard drive. his can be found by clicking on the apple, about this mac, and then the storage tab. As long as you have 5GB to 10GB of free space you should be fine.

    *Network* – Similar the other tabs, the network tab allows you to see what processes are currently taking network bandwidth. Although this can be very useful in determining a slow network, it won’t necessarily help determine a sluggish computer overall.

    Whether or not your computer is running slow, Activity Monitor is a very cool tool. I use it all the time here at the counter. Just remember, you should not be using more than 50% of your memory when only Activity Monitor is open and nothing else. I like to call this idling. With no other Apps open, nothing should be taxing the computer. If you do find that you are using more RAM than normal, or a certain process is hogging the CPU, a visit to Small Dog may be in order.