Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Apple news, tech tips, and more…

KB Dog

  • Apple TV – Some Hints and Tips

    If you are like me you are using your “*Apple TV*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/80135/apple-tv-3rd-gen to access more and more content. You might also be a little annoyed at the not-particularly-intuititive interface. Well, there are a number of ways to enhance your experience and make your Apple TV a bit easier. As Apple adds more and more content, you might find some of these helpful.

    *Remote*

    You can control your Apple TV with your iPhone using “*Apple’s Remote App.*”:https://www.apple.com/apps/remote/ I find navigation a bit easier using this app but let’s go over some interesting things you can do with your remote.

    *Subtitles*

    Watching a video and want to access subtitles, closed captioning, or speaker settings? Hold down the *select* button (the round one in the middle) for about *3 seconds* and you will have that menu. This also works when listening to audio if you want to access stuff like Genius, Up Next, browse artist, etc.

    *Organize*

    With more and more content, your Apple TV home page is getting a bit crowded. Just like on your iPhone you can get the icons to jiggle and then you can move them around. Just hold the select button until the icon wiggles and then use the remote to move it up/down or side to side. Press select again and it stops wiggling. But there are some of those icons that you are probably never going to use and it would be nice to just get them out of the way. Easy to do! Select the icon you want to hide and *hold the select button* down for a couple of seconds, then press *Play/Pause* to hide. If you are going to hide a bunch of them it might be easier to go to *Settings* > *Main Menu* > *Toggle Show to Hide*.

    *Getting Home Faster*

    How many times have you had to hit the Menu button multiple times to get back to the Home screen Particularly annoying if you are waiting for stuff to load as you back up through the menus. Well there is an easier way. If you hold down the *Menu* button for a few seconds it will take you Home.

    *Use a Keyboard*

    Using the remote to enter letters can get tiring. If you have a Bluetooth keyboard you can pair it with your Apple TV. Make sure your keyboard is discoverable and then using your remote navigate to *Settings* > *General* > *Bluetooth*. You should see your keyboard listed then and you can select it. The Apple TV will give you a 4-digit pairing code which you can then enter on the keyboard.

    Got any tricks or tips you use with your Apple TV? Drop me an email and I’ll include them in a future issue of Kibbles & Bytes.

  • _Dear Friends,_

    March is winding down but there still is a bunch of snow up at my home on Prickly Mountain where Small Dog Electronics got its start 20 years ago. Next week, we kick off the celebration of our 20th year. I started the company literally in my garage on Prickly. I would go to public auctions around the country, max out my credit cards and have Macs delivered up there. I have to give a big shout-out to the intrepid UPS drivers who came up my steep road in ice, snow, and mud lugging boxes in and out. We could not have done this without them. I clearly recall them putting on chains to get up my road, sliding off and having to get Hap’s garage to tow them out, and walking up my treacherous driveway carrying boxes. There have been a lot of people that went out of their way to help Small Dog Electronics along the way but the guys and girls in brown were a huge part of our success.

    In addition to kicking off our 20th anniversary celebration, April brings us Apple’s 41st Anniversary, the launch of the Apple Watch, and the release of the new MacBook. It is going to be a busy month for sure! We do not have a Twentieth Anniversary Mac to release on our 20th but all month long we will have some special values as we celebrate the end of our 2nd decade.

    As many of you know, we got our start with Apple Refurbished Macs and we are pleased to once again have some limited availability of Apple Certified Refurbished Macs. You can buy a lot of refurbished or used Macs out there but only the Apple Certified Refurbished Macintosh has the Apple 1-year warranty, has undergone Apple’s stringent refurbishment process, and qualifies for AppleCare, too. It is a great way to save some money, have a Mac that is fully tested (including full burn-in testing), and still have the protection of Apple’s warranty and AppleCare.

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes special features one of these Apple Refurbished Macs: the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. This unit has a 2.4GHz i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB Solid State drive. We are bundling it this week with AppleCare to extend your 1-year Apple warranty to 3 years and perhaps more importantly, extend the 90 days of free Apple technical support to 3 years as well. This bundle is normally $1179 (which is hundreds less than a comparable new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro) but for Kibbles & Bytes readers this week you can get this bundle of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and AppleCare for only $1129.

    “*Check it out here!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001811

  • MARCH MAYHEM

    *St. Patrick’s Day*
    *Lots of basketball*
    *SPRING* ….*finally!*

    We are embracing the mayhem all month long with specials on monitors, speakers, fitness trackers, backup batteries, cases, headphones and much more! The second half is now underway so it is time to welcome spring with open arms, grab some wireless headphones and your backup drive, and head outdoors.

    *Trade-In and Trade-Up*
    !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4329.png!
    Set your fitness goals and track your progress. Use points to easily measure all your activities, such as walking, running, swimming, and cycling. This device tracks everything from steps to sleep, and will even keep a daily photo food journal. This small device is completely waterproof right out of the box. This is not something you have to carry on your wrist. You can simply clip it to an article of clothing, wear it as a necklace or even attach it to your sneaker during a run.

    “*Goal Zero Torch 250 Flashlight Backup Battery Solar Recharging*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001783/march-mayhem-save-20-on-goal-zero-torch-250-flashlight-backup-battery-solar-recharging
    !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4327.png!
    This fun colored speaker comes in a small package but produces a BIG sound! Great companion for a day outside in the sun. Bring it with you while you plant your seeds or mount it to your handlebar on your bicycle for a ride around town. This speaker wirelessly connects with your phone, tablet, or any other Bluetooth-enabled device.

    Check out all the specials at: “*smalldog.com/marchmayhem*”:http://www.smalldog.com/marchmayhem/march-mayhem-2015

  • Oh No! My HDD (or SSD) is Full!

    Is your HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive) full? Is your system giving you a warning about how you are running out of space? This is a problem I have very regularly due to my constant downloading. But there is the more relevant question…is my drive actually getting full?

    Find out how full your HDD really is because there is no sense in fretting over needing more free space if you actually have plenty enough. How much is plenty enough? That really depends on the individual and what your needs are.

    You can find how much space is being used on your HDD by right clicking the *HDD icon* on your desktop (if you do not have this icon, you can make it appear by going to Finder > Preferences > General and checking the Hard discs box) by pressing *Control* on your keyboard when you click. This will give you a pop-up menu where you can select “Get Info”. Another option is to use the “Get Info” shortcut: *Command-I* when the HDD icon is highlighted.

    A window should pop up with the name of your HDD followed by “Info”. In that window you should see “Capacity” in the “General” section. That’s the overall size of the drive. Below that is “Available.” That is how much space you have left. If there are hundreds or even dozens of gigabytes left, you have nothing to fear. If you have just a couple there is reason for concern, as you do not have much wiggle room. If you have just a few hundreds of megabytes left you need to start looking for stuff you can get rid of. Emptying your trash is a good place to start, just make sure to verify that there is nothing worth keeping before you hit delete.

  • The Importance Of Backing Up Your Information

    Whenever we here at Small Dog accept a device in for repair, one of the first questions we ask our customers is how their personal information is backed up. It is critical for us technicians to know this as there is alway the chance your data may be compromised in some way, which is possibly how your computer got to our Service Department in the first place.

    Data recovery can be costly, time consuming, and it is not a perfect science. There is always a chance your data can either be unrecoverable or ultimately lost forever. If a photo is worth a thousand words, there aren’t many words that can be said (in mixed company) when your memories are lost. Fortunately, there are a multitude of ways you can save your pictures of first steps, precious wedding songs, or important documents.

    *External Drives*

    An external drive gives you multiple ways and multiple options to back up your memories. A “Flash Drive” (sometimes known as a “Zip Drive” or “Thumb Drive”) is a portable and inexpensive way to store duplicates of your important files. Flash Drives come with a standard USB connection so you may transfer your files between multiple computers at multiple locations. A Flash Drive is as portable as you are.

    An external drive can be wired or wirelessly connected to your Mac. It can be an optical drive where you can burn data to a CD or DVD, a traditional hard drive with a spinning internal disc, or a newer solid state drive with no moving parts to safely store your data.

    “*Click here for many more alternatives to saving and backing up your important data.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/Storage_and_Backup

    *iTunes Match*

    If music makes the world go around, iTunes will keep your songs spinning like a record baby, right round baby…round round. It is built in to every Mac and is also available as a download for (gasp!) a PC! All your music is in one place, easy to organize and with iTunes Match you can even store songs you’ve imported from your own CDs, thus backing them up.

    “*Click here for more information on iTunes Match*”:https://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/

    *iCloud*

    You will not need an umbrella for this feature! The iCloud safely and securely saves your most important things like documents, notes, and contacts. It helps you easily share photos, locations, and calendars. It will even help you find your device if you lose it. iCloud Drive lets you store presentations, PDFs, images, and other documents. You can also back up photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch automatically as long as your device is plugged in a connected to Wi-Fi. You can even restore your iOS device from the cloud or set up a new one. Did you lose your iPhone? Find My iPhone can help find a lost iPhone, iPad or Macbook Air. If you cannot get to it in time, Find My Phone can make it impossible for anyone to get ahold of your information.

    “*Click here for more information on iCloud.*”:https://www.apple.com/icloud/

    *Time Machine*

    No, it doesn’t come in blue nor do you need 1.21 gigawatts of power to use yet another way to back up and store your important documents. Time Machine is a program built in to every Mac backs up ALL your data including system files, apps, photos, and documents. Your data is backed up to an external drive or to a Time Capsule.

    “*Click here for more information on Time Machine.*”:http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18835

    *Time Capsule*

    This does not come in blue either. The Time Capsule is a Wi-Fi base station and a backup device all in one. The Time Capsule provides not only super fast Wi-Fi when connected to your modem, but it also backs up your Mac exactly like the Time Machine does without the need for another external hard drive. The Time Capsule has up to 3 Terabytes of storage available so you can back up multiple Macs.

    “*Click here for more information on Time Capsule.*”:http://www.apple.com/airport-time-capsule/

    If a “stitch in time saves nine,” a timely back up will save you not only your important data and memories but also time, money, hassles and headaches.

  • Nintendo is Going Mobile

    Nintendo made a big announcement this week: They will be making Nintendo games for the mobile market, and they were not talking about the Game Boy. Nintendo is teaming up with a Japanese Company named DeNA with all of Nintendo’s intellectual property on the table for development of mobile apps as well as the possibility of online content. No word yet on whether it will be coming to iOS devices but, with the popularity of Nintendo’s games, I’m hoping to see some Mario Kart action on the iPad. After the announcement Nintendo stock spiked, but it looks like nothing is going to be released until fall of this year.

    “*Read more here.*”:http://dena.com/intl/press/2015/03/nintendo-and-dena-form-business-and-capital-alliance.html

  • _Greetings Friends,_

    Spring is here! The snow is melting and the amount of cyclists and pedestrians is steadily increasing. I can officially start wearing just my hoodie outside instead of 17 layers.

    This morning I was crossing the UVM green while commuting to work and saw a college student yank his iPhone out of his back pocket by the EarPod cable and swing it to his front to start using the device. I must say, I was surprised to see this, and it explains why we see many plugs broken off in jacks. I’d highly suggest never suspending an iOS device by the cable. It was not designed for this, and needless to say, could easily result in the device hitting the ground hard.

    I hope you enjoy the articles we have for you this week!

    Warm regards,
    -Mikhael
    “mikhael@smalldog.com”:mailto:mikhael@smalldog.com

  • With all the basketball to watch with the NCAA tourney and the NBA season’s final weeks before the playoffs, Grace will probably get tired of watching basketball every night, although she is a big fan and likes to see the up and coming college stars. Kentucky is looking pretty hot but I picked the Bulldogs for Hammerhead. The Celtics seem to be making a run for the play-offs and are getting to be fun to watch, too.

    Hey, this is a good time to order some seeds, think spring! The sap is flowing on sunny days in Vermont even if it is a bit late this year. We will be heading north as soon as Artie tells me mud season is over.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Rachel, Dean & Grace (in absentia of Mike)_

  • MARCH MAYHEM

    *St. Patrick’s Day*
    *Lots of basketball*
    *SPRING* ….*finally!*

    We are embracing the mayhem all month long with specials on monitors, speakers, fitness trackers, backup batteries, cases, headphones and much more! The second half is now underway, time to welcome spring with open arms, grab some wireless headphones and your backup drive and head outdoors.

    *Trade-In and Trade-Up*
    !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4329.png!
    Set your fitness goals and track your progress. Use points to easily measure all your activities, such as walking, running, swimming and cycling. This device tracks everything from steps to sleep, and will even keep a daily photo food journal. This small device is completely waterproof right out of the box. This is not something you have to carry on your wrist. You can simply clip it to an article of clothing, wear it as a necklace or even attach it to your sneaker during a run.

    “*Goal Zero Torch 250 Flashlight Backup Battery Solar Recharging*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001783/march-mayhem-save-20-on-goal-zero-torch-250-flashlight-backup-battery-solar-recharging
    !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4327.png!
    This fun colored speaker comes in a small package but produces a BIG sound! Great companion for a day outside in the sun, bring it with you while you plant your seeds, or mount it to your handlebar on your bicycle for a ride around town. This speaker wirelessly connects with your phone, tablet, or any other Bluetooth-enabled device.

    Check out all the specials at: “*smalldog.com/marchmayhem*”:http://www.smalldog.com/marchmayhem/march-mayhem-2015

  • LaCie Fuel 2TB Review

    When I started to strip my Series Land Rover down for a rebuild a couple years ago, I decided I wanted to attempt to document the experience & process through time-lapse photography. I dug out my old Canon SD200 digital camera, installed some custom firmware that supported time-lapse shots, and got to work. The only problem has been, even considering how infrequently I get to work on that massive project, I have ended up with a _ton_ of individual photos.

    The time-lapse alone results in 2-4GB of data for every day of work I perform, which adds up quickly. I soon went looking for a newer, bigger external hard drive to replace my 320GB LaCie Rugged Mini. Having an iPhone & iPad mini that I occasionally shot additional documentation & reference photos & video, I wanted something that could easily collect data from my MacBook Pro or my iOS devices. Oh, and I’ve been trying to perform this Land Rover disassembly & refurbishment project as off-the-grid as possible, so something small, portable, and low power was important. Enter the “*LaCie Fuel*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?search=lacie+fuel.

    When I started to strip my Series Land Rover down for a rebuild a couple years ago, I decided I wanted to attempt to document the experience & process through time-lapse photography. I dug out my old Canon SD200 digital camera, installed some custom firmware that supported time-lapse shots, and got to work. The only problem has been, even considering how infrequently I get to work on that massive project, I ended up with a _ton_ of individual photos.

    The time-lapse alone results in 2-4GB of data for every day of work I perform, which adds up quickly. I went looking for a newer, bigger external hard drive to replace my 320GB LaCie Rugged Mini. Having an iPhone & iPad mini that I occasionally shot additional documentation & reference photos & video, I wanted something that could easily collect data from my MacBook Pro or my iOS devices. Oh, and I’ve been trying to perform this Land Rover disassembly & refurbishment project as off-the-grid as possible, so something small, portable, and low power was important. Enter the “*LaCie Fuel*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?search=lacie+fuel.

    There are a few wireless hard drives on the market, but as a long-time fan of LaCie drives, the LaCie Fuel jumped out at me. The fact that its design is reminiscent of a Jerry can, like those I have for my Land Rover, didn’t hurt either. As LaCie is now owned by Seagate (also one of my favorite drive manufacturers), their Fuel drive is based on Seagate’s own popular wireless hard drives and can even use the same media app, though they have their own branded version. After reading favorable reviews of the LaCie Fuel (including “this one from TechRadar”:http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/storage/disk-drives-hdd-ssd/lacie-fuel-2tb-wireless-hdd-1253721/review) and the hard drive which is used internally (reported to be the Samsung M9T, “as reviewed by StorageReview.com”:http://www.storagereview.com/samsung_spinpoint_m9t_hard_drive_review), I decided to go with the larger 2TB LaCie Fuel so I’d have additional space to grow into.

    I’ve now been using it for a number of months and am finding that is has solved numerous storage problems all at once, but let’s start with the basic functionality. The USB 3 port–which doubles to charge the Fuel’s internal battery–is very fast for uploading & accessing data from my MacBook Pro. The drive runs so much quieter, smoother, and cooler than my older LaCie Rugged Mini, it is hard to believe it is on. While uploading files via WiFi is understandably significantly slower than using USB, the “LaCie Media app”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86652/lacie-media-app-for-ios makes it quite a simple process and it is certainly fast enough to stream HD movies to my iPad. There has even been nice firmware & app updates over the past few months that have added automatic photo & video upload from iOS devices, as well as Dropbox & Google Drive sync support. It is very straightforward to configure your LaCie Fuel to join your home or office WiFi so that when your iOS device is connected to it, it has Internet access in addition to access to your files & media. And, the LaCie Media app is quite powerful… letting you browse, upload, rename, and move files on the Fuel, so you really have full access to your drive and it’s data, even on iOS devices.

    As for my photos, I currently have it configured so that my iOS devices automatically upload their photos & videos, as long as I turn the Fuel on and connect them to its WiFi network. That old Canon SD200 uses SD cards, so I either pop those into the SD slot on my MacBook Pro or into my “Apple Lightning to SD Card Reader”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/82142/apple-lightning-to-sd-card-reader on my iPad and transfer them to the Fuel. I just picked up a Dropbox Pro account, so I will be moving my photos over to that directory on the Fuel and letting them sync up to Dropbox as an additional backup (it has already synced all my documents from Dropbox & Google Drive down to my Fuel automatically).

    Naturally, battery life is dependent on usage and the Fuel has quite a few options you can turn on. Fortunately, the LaCie Media app has a quick good/better/best display in the settings so you can optimize it for battery longevity when needed. I can stream a couple of movies with my default settings which includes joining my home WiFi & syncing with Dropbox. I will turn off more settings when I am away from power and want to squeeze all the battery life out of it that I can. If you are near a power outlet, you can always plug it into the included USB charger (or, as I do, my iPad’s power adapter) if you want to use it while keeping the battery topped off.

    I bought the Fuel for more photo storage, and found it has opened up possibilities I did not anticipate. I am extremely happy with the large storage capacity, performance, and especially all the options that the LaCie Fuel provides. The case design, while not intended to be as durable as my LaCie Rugged Mini, it is of better quality than any other plastic hard drive case I’ve seen. For a simple, small hard drive, it really has a diverse set of configuration options and, with battery power as well, it is quite a flexible storage product. I would highly suggest the Fuel to everyone with an iOS device, especially if you regularly use both Macs & iOS devices for fun or profit.

  • Hey! My Mac is Ringing!

    One of the cool new features of Mac OS X Yosemite is the “*Phone Call function*”:https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT6337. You can receive and make phone calls from your Mac or iPad as long as you are on the same Wi-Fi network as your iPhone. So, let’s say you are in the living room browsing the net on your Mac and your iPhone is charging in the bedroom. Your mom calls. You will see that, in addition to your iPhone ringing in the bedroom, your Mac (and in my case, my iPad, too) is also ringing. If you want to talk to mom, you can answer from your Mac using the built-in speakers and microphone or use a set of earbuds or headphones. If you want to tell mom to call back later you can decline with a text message or set a reminder to call back.
    !