Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Apple news, tech tips, and more…

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  • Troubleshooting your Mac: A Guide to Narrowing it Down

    As a tech, I have a unique perspective on the Apple world and the underlying factors that contribute to faults in our technology. It seems to me that the majority of issues that I handle day-to-day are often quite straightforward fixes, and yet it becomes difficult to translate that experiential knowledge into relatable and useful information that customers can use to build their own troubleshooting skills. Therefore, I am reaching out in this article to try and explain some common issues that find their way onto my bench, and how they might be diagnosed properly. A customer who is informed about the inner-workings of their machine will always experience more straightforward and reliable service from repair depots, and find that being armed with the right amount of experience makes resolving issues far less painstaking. This workflow reflects many of the steps I follow in order to track down points of failure in the event of malfunction.

    *Here are the basics:*
    * Write down your symptoms, in the CORRECT ORDER. When does the issue occur? What steps does the machine complete successfully? Make a checklist from power-on to full OS boot, and figure out specifically where the issue begins to show itself. This is key in identifying whether a problem is software or hardware based.

    * Ensure the machine is backed up completely, ideally with Time Machine or a disk cloning or sparse image software. If the machine is not able to boot and you do not have a backup, it is imperative that you have the technicians recover the drive information before any repairs are done to your machine. Creating a copy of those files as quickly as possible can make the difference between losing your data or saving priceless information.

    * Isolate Software-based issues. Once your data is securely backed up, attempt to resolve the issue by reinstalling your operating system via Recovery Disk, USB installer, or Retail OS X DVD. If you are not comfortable with this process, we are happy to provide the service for $45.

    * Once you have completed an OS refresh, if the issue persists, your machine may have hardware trouble. In this situation it would be best to have it examined by a trained Macintosh technician who is certified to disassemble and perform repairs on your model of Macintosh (that’s where small dog comes in!). Be sure to include as much detail about the issue as possible, including pertinent environmental details: How many other devices are connected to this machine? Have you experienced power-related issues such as a brownout or power surge in your home’s grid? Are there other sensitive electronic devices in the area that may be causing interference?

    These are important factors in tracking down suspected issues. To ensure that your machine is diagnosed and repaired in the smoothest and most effective way possible, making sure that you are aware of risk factors as well as the possibility of unexpected repair costs will allow your repair to move quickly through our queue and diagnostic process and get back in your hands sooner!

  • It Wasn't Me, It Was The One-Armed Robot

    Now I know this is a little off the subject of Apple tech, but if you are a tech enthusiast, then you too probably think robots are cool. I think robots are cool.

    The Curiosity Rover launched in 2011 from Cape Canaveral, FL and landed on Mars in 2012 (now that is some serious flyer miles right there). Ever since it has been the coolest over-sized RC car to inhabit another planet. In fact, Mars is the only planet to be only inhabited by man-made robots (COOL!). The rover’s task is to explore the Martian soil and study it’s climate, in preparation for future human exploration.

    But Houston we have a problem…it seems that our robot is sick. NASA stopped maintenance on the rover after a short circuit disabled one of it’s arms. Now, from a technician’s point of view, I can say it is sometimes very difficult to troubleshoot computer issues remotely. I can NOT even imagine how much of a pain it is to troubleshoot a failure on a whole other planet! Coffee consumption must be at an all time high at the NASA labs as diagnosing and testing is expected to take several days.
    Hopefully NASA’s techs will get the car-sized RC car rocking again, so we may continue to explore and, maybe, one day occupy Mars.

    “*Learn more here.*”:http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/03/05/engineers-analyzing-short-circuit-on-mars-rover/

  • iMessage: A Brief Summary

    Text messages sent via SMS are limited to 160 characters. This is because in 1985 wireless bandwidth was in extremely short supply, and characters had to be limited to a smaller number than ideal. One of the people on the team building the SMS standard found that commonly sent messages were well under 160.

    Apple’s iMessage has changed the times, and changed with the times. It allows longer messages with more freeform text. It allows all fonts and characters, and a diverse emoji collection. This has changed how we speak to each other, and what we can say. But the biggest way it has changed communication between people day-to-day is in how it utilizes the data network. Not only are messages sent faster most of the time, but in addition media can be sent. Not just the low-resolution photos on cheap phones, but real, high definition several-megabyte images and tens of megabytes in video (iMessage videos cap at around 3.5 minutes).

    Also, moving over the data network, these messages are much less susceptible to third-party eavesdropping on communication. Text messages are essentially in the open and accessible by any telephone company. iMessages, on the other hand, are stored only on devices and Apple’s own servers, which Tim Cook has publicly stated nobody else has access to (not that taking this with a grain of salt isn’t advised).

    iMessage doesn’t even require a phone number, merely an Apple ID. One can iMessage friends to and from any Apple ID. However, one can opt to use the phone number as the identifier, and it’s bound to the user’s Apple ID. I personally use iMessage with solely my phone number.

    iMessage also allows “Read receipts”, which can be sent to the sender on the other end, enabling them to know the message has been read by their recipient. This is a feature many users value, although it would be wonderful if Apple made it possible to select who does and doesn’t receive these read receipts. Currently the only way to do it is by installing unauthorized software via jailbreaking.

    iMessage is available on all iOS devices. A couple of other fantastic features are the third-party keyboard options available to users and Siri dictation, both wonderful aspects of the iOS 8 interface.

    One other company had an iMessage-like service, using data instead of the cellular network. Blackberry Messenger is still used by people today, but not much. It lacks iMessage’s popularity and robustness. My apologies to any die-hard BBM users I offend!

    “*Learn more about iMessage here*”:https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201287

  • _Happy Tuesday Everybody,_

    This weekend I stopped into my mother’s home in Brattleboro, VT. As is typical for any parent of a tech-savvy son or daughter, my mother needed computer help from me. She had installed adware on her MacBook Pro and did not know how to remove it. Fortunately, Adware Medic is a wonderful donation-supported piece of software for Mac that cleans almost all known Mac adware/malware issues with merely a couple clicks. It could not have been easier for me to clean up her Mac. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who needs to clean up adware on their machine (and it may not be clear which apps are adware, so running this as a preventative measure might be a good idea).

    !>http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4308.gif!
    It was an exciting day yesterday, with Apple’s March media event being aired. We witnessed Apple release of what could (almost) objectively be stated to be the best notebook made so far. Thinner than the 11″ MacBook Air, the new addition to the previously discontinued MacBook line fills every bit of internal space with battery capacity, and also introduces a brand new key design, a brand new trackpad design, and fanless technology. We are all very excited to get our hands inside these!

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

  • It will be nice to see the sun set an hour later and that surely is one sign of spring even though the snow seems to still be covering the solar panels on my roof in Vermont. I’ll be watching the “*Spring Forward event.*”:http://www.apple.com/live/ I am anxious to see the details of the Apple Watch and am still trying to decide if I have to have one. I haven’t worn a watch in a very long time and pride myself on being able to know the time by instinct or by looking at any of the bajillion clocks that dot our lives instead of having a timepiece on my wrist. But a timepiece that does more? Well, that is the question not only for me, but for the ultimate success of this latest Apple invention.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Rachel, Dean & 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 first half of the month is dedicated to you sports fans out there, while the second half will have you thinking about spring weather and spring cleaning.

    *Finance SONOS speaker for 24 Months*
    !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4303.png!
    “*Samsung 26 inch LED LCD Monitor*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001759/march-mayhem-save-30-on-a-samsung-27in-led-lcd-monitor

    Enjoy the perfect viewing experience with a horizontal and vertical viewing angle of 178 degrees which means you see a clear picture from almost anywhere in the room whether you’re seated (wondering what the next pass will be), standing (cheering on your team), or lying down (because you got tied of standing up and sitting down).

    !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4304.png!
    “*Folio Case with Keyboard for iPad Air and iPad mini*”:http://www.smalldog.com/marchmayhem/march-mayhem-2015

    Stop thinking about how nice it would be to have a keyboard for your iPad and take advantage of our special this month. The Logitech Keyboard Folio case is ultra-thin, with dual-viewing positions, secure lock system, and has a rechargeable battery.

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

    Please note specials will change March 18th, so if you see something you like.. better grab it before it’s gone! New specials will be added March 18th for our customers who are coming down with spring fever…stay tuned!!! We’ll be sure to post a special section in next week’s Kibbles & Bytes

  • iWork for iCloud is Now Available to Everyone!

    Some of you may be saying: “iWork for iCloud has been available for quite some time now”…and you would not be wrong. However, iWork for iCloud was only available for those users who already lived in the Apple ecosystem. If previously you only used Windows, and are looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office 365, you now have a chance to see what Apple has to offer and it won’t cost you a dime!

    Apple’s iWork productivity suite is similar to Microsoft Office in that it offers programs for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. All you have to do in order to give these programs a try is “*create an Apple ID.*”:https://appleid.apple.com/account It’s that simple. Once your Apple ID has been set up, you’ll get 1GB of complimentary iCloud storage, and can start using these new programs. Please note this free access is just for the web-based version of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

    In order to get the full benefits of iCloud, you will need to purchase a Mac or iOS device. But for those who are still on the fence in regards to switching from Microsoft Office to an alternative, this is an excellent opportunity to try something new without any risk involved. “*Give the iWork Suite a try here.*”:https://www.apple.com/iwork-for-icloud/ I’m sure you will love it and who knows, maybe this will pique your curiosity about what a Mac or iPad could offer you.

  • How The Braided Lightning Cable Was Born

    As someone who’s had the iPhone since generation 1, I have gone through a countless amount of charging cables. Whether it was because my roommates needed to “borrow” a cable without asking, the materials crumbled and frayed due to my reckless lifestyle, or I simply misplaced it, I’ve found myself purchasing a new cable every couple of months. When I started working for Small Dog in South Burlington as the Store Manager, I found my particular cable situation to be sort of the cultural norm. With the help of feedback from distraught customers and my own personal dilemma, I found myself on the hunt for the perfect cable.

    When I started working for our Wholesale brand, “*Hammerhead*”:https://www.hammerheadcase.com, I felt that my journey was still not complete. Fortunately, I found myself involved in a project to make our own charging cable. Even though I did a bunch of market research on cable widths and materials, I found myself turning to my own personal experiences for inspiration.

    On the side, I moonlight as a music producer and through my experience with countless audio cables, I settled on a particular style of cable that was durable and virtually tangle proof: *braided*. Something clicked in my head one night while deciding between the numerous cable options…why can’t I have a durable charging cable just like my audio ones? At this point, it became so painfully obvious that we needed to make a braided cable.

    I have also had a personal gripe with the Apple cables. For the amount of money I spend on their products, you would think that their cables would last me more than a couple of months. I also feel that their infamous “future white” theme they have for their cables don’t aesthetically match all their iOS products. For a company so particular on their image, I can not fathom why they do not make their cables match the corresponding colors of the iPhones and iPads. This became another major focal point for our pre-production of the cable, making them match the colors of the devices.

    After months of picking out the right supplies, the proper Apple Certifications and beta testing samples, we finally were able to release our premium Lightning Charging Cables. As somebody who is usually weary of using 3rd party products, these are hands down my absolute favorite cable I have ever owned. We ended up choosing the absolute thickest braided material you could get for the cables. They are also available in Apple’s three signature iOS colors, Gold, Space Grey and White, making them stylish and unique so I know when my friends ‘borrow’ my cable. The best part is that they are Apple MFI certified, which means the parts for the cables come from the same factory as Apple’s cables (in other terms, they meet the standards and regulations Apple requires within this program). As someone who does not like to trust 3rd parties with products, this certification is comforting.

    For a dollar less than the standard Apple cable and a 1 year warranty, there’s really nothing to lose.

    This week only for our loyal Kibbles & Bytes readers I put together a special: purchase a braided lightning cable of your color choice and get a 2 port USB Auto Charger for half price.

    “*Snag this awesome deal here*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001789 and never be left uncharged.

  • Electronic Signing Made Easy

    I was at a customer’s office the other day helping to set up their new Mac system. It was a busy construction company and they needed help getting wireless scanning operational. I noticed that they were using Adobe Reader for their PDF files, so I introduced them to “*Preview*”:https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201740. Once I set the Finder to open PDF files with Preview instead of Reader, I showed them how to access the scanner to scan documents right from Preview.

    As I had them practice this, I noticed that much of their scanning needs were for documents that they would print out, sign, scan and then email to clients. When I showed them how to use the “signature” function in Preview they immediately saw the value and time saved. So, I know many of you already know how to use this tool, but I thought I would go over it so you too can use your electronic signature.

    Preview is used to view and edit PDFs and images, import images from a camera, import documents and images from a scanner, add pages to a PDF and also to take screen shots. When you have a PDF that needs your signature, the old way of doing this would be to print out the PDF, sign it, scan it and send it back. With Preview you can skip some of that work. You can capture your signature using your trackpad or better yet, using your camera on your Mac.

    ! Annotate > Signature > Manage Signatures*. When you select *Create Signature* you have a choice of trackpad or camera. While signing on your trackpad is okay, I prefer the camera method. Here you take a white piece of paper and sign it. Then click on *Camera* as the means of capturing your signature and hold up that piece of paper to the camera on your Mac. Once you align the signature on the blue line you can hit *Done* and your signature is stored. If you don’t like the first try, click *Clear* and do over.

    To add your signature to a PDF document click on the *Sign* button !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4295.png! or use the path *Tools > Annotate > Signature* to select the signature. Once it has been placed on the document you can drag it to where you want it, then use the handles to adjust its size. Save the document and you can include it in an email with your signature. Remember that the *Save As* command is sort of hidden now but to get to it simply hold down the *Option key* when you select *File.*

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Okay…no weather report. I’ve had a few customers remind me that most of my readers are up in the frozen Northland so I am skipping that part of my intro. It was a busy week with my daughter and my grandkids visiting but we managed to survive even though sometimes I felt like a crotchety old man with a crooked stick telling kids to stay off my lawn. But we got to spoil them and hand them back to mom and dad so that works.

    Apple’s big “*Spring Forward event*”:http://www.apple.com/live/ is on Monday and we expect to hear about the Apple Watch and more. Do not forget to set your clocks ahead 1 hour for Daylight Savings Time before you go to bed on Saturday. There have been a lot of rumors and information coming out about the new Apple Watch and it will be good to get some clarity about all the cool things it will do before it hits the market in a couple weeks.   In addition to acting as the front-end for ApplePay, it is said that the watch might be able to replace your fob to start your car, your room key at some hotels, and I am sure that integration with HomeKit and HealthKit will amaze us.

    We are doing a March Mayhem promotion on Sonos that allows you to pick up your dream Sonos system now and take up to two years to pay without interest. I have become a real fan of Sonos. I have a nice setup at my house and the Sonos controller on my iPhone, Mac, and my iPad. Last night I got hung up reading a book way into the wee hours, listening to reggae music and I kept having to advance the sleep timer since I didn’t want to stop reading. So easy to do by just clicking to the Sonos App and changing it. If you have been putting off getting a Sonos system, March Mayhem may be the time!

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive features the Apple Certified Refurbished MacBook Pro with Retina display. This 13-inch model features the 2.4GHz i5 processor 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD drive and of course, the Retina display. It normally includes a 1-year Apple warranty and 90 days of free Apple technical support, but we are bundling this MacBook Pro with AppleCare so that you will have 3 years of Apple warranty coverage and 3 years of free Apple technical support. Because 128GB may not be enough storage for everyone, and because we want you to have an easy way to back up your Mac, we are also include a 1 TB Seagate Backup Plus slim portable drive. This package would normally cost you $1340 but, exclusively for Kibbles & Bytes readers, this week this bundle is $100 off at $1239.99.

    “*Check it out here!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001788

  • The Safety and Security of your Personal Information

    With all the headlines these days about data breaches, hackers, and spyware it is understandable that the safety of your information in cyberspace is on everyone’s mind these days. When we hear about companies such as TJ Maxx, Target and, most recently, TurboTax (hmm…companies that begin with the letter “t”…) getting hacked and potentially losing critical customer information, it can make consumers hesitant to use a lot of this brilliant new technology.

    Here are a few ways Apple ensures the safety of your information and a few tips on how to protect your information:

    Passwords, passwords, passwords…they can be the bane of our existence and are so hard to remember: “What password did I use for this site?? Is it case sensitive?? Did I use letters or numbers?? Holy cow that’s a lot to remember. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5!?!? That’s the same combination I have on my luggage!!!”

    The strength of your password goes a long way towards protecting your information. As you might imagine, a password like “password1234” is not a very strong password. As time goes by, the requirements for passwords have become stricter and stricter as criminals devise more and more ingenious ways to steal your information. I personally recommend using a name and a year to begin with. This ensures its an easy password to remember, but not easy for someone to guess. Make certain it’s at least 8 characters. Add a capital letter and a special character to your password to make it even stronger! For example “Jenny5309!” is an example of a strong password. It has more than 8 characters, a combination of letters and numbers, a capital letter and a special character. It would be difficult for anyone to guess (unless they happen to have a family member named Jenny who was born in September of 1953.) It’s easy for you to remember because you do!

    Oh and FYI, nobody at Apple, or Small Dog Electronics has access to your passwords. If anyone ever calls or emails and asks you to give them your passwords, please feel free to refuse that information to ANYONE. That goes for any other password you use, whether it be for your email or your bank account.


    Ahh, the iCloud, is it up in the sky? Where exactly IS this cloud and will it follow me around dropping rain on me wherever I go??

    Here’s a great source of information on iCloud.

    Our main concern here is the security of your information. The iCloud uses a minimum of 128-bit encryption and as much as 256-bit to safeguard your information. What is encryption you ask? In the simplest of terms, your computer uses your password like a key to unlock your information. In the case of 128-bit encryption, your computer has THE single key to unlock ONE lock out of a possibility of 6 trillion locks. That’s trillion with a T! As you can imagine, that is a great number of locks to try to pick. Major financial institutions, the government and the military also use between 128 and 256-bit encryption.

    One of the major benefits of owning an Apple computer rather than a PC has always been they are less susceptible to viruses, trojans, malware, and other nasty bugs out there. This is still true, however some still slip through. These programs can wreak havoc on your system and cause general headaches all around.

    “Lets be careful out there.” This applies to the internet as well as the mean streets. Use strong privacy settings on social media sites. Use caution when entering financial information online. Look for a tiny picture of a padlock in the bottom right hand corner of the page you are on. Another way to tell if a site is secure is the web address. Sites with a web address that begins with https let you know the site is secure. Make sure your operating system stays up to date and your firewall is active.

    If you start to get pop ups, advertisements, and other annoyances don’t fret; there is an easy fix. Follow these steps to rid your computer of theses hooligans by following these steps to the letter.

    Woof, arf, woof! (Don’t forget to have fun!)

  • Sign Up, Thursday March 5th at 7PM!

    Click on the link below for a full overview and to register. *_Registration will open Thursday March 5th at 7pm. Please note that there are limited tickets available and have been selling out very quickly._*

    Contact us with any questions via the Eventbrite page.

    “*Register for the event by clicking here at 7pm on March 5th. Enter your first and last name as well as your email address!*”:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/copy-of-tech-talk-101-series-pages-basics-word-processing-for-the-rest-of-us-tickets-15928724243